Cerberus

From CardCaptor Sakura

Cerberus (ケルベロス, Keruberosu) is a fictional character in Clamp's manga and anime series Cardcaptor Sakura. His name is more commonly known in its romanized version, Kerberos, which is also often shortened to Kero-chan. He is voiced in his more common "hidden" form by Aya Hisakawa and Masaya Onosaka in his "true" form. He is voiced in the series by Matt Hill (borrowed form) and Richard Newman (true form), and in the second movie by Wendee Lee (borrowed form) and Dave Wittenberg (true form).

Contents 1 Naming 2 Appearance 3 Personality 4 Voice and Mannerisms 5 Relationships 6 Powers and Abilities 7 Appearances in Other Media 7.1 Leave it to Kero-chan 7.2 Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 8 References

[edit] Naming

Cerberus's name and form are based on Cerberus from Greek mythology, a large three-headed beast who was assigned to guard the gates of Hades, a parallel to Cerberus’s duty in the Cardcaptor Sakura storyline where he guarded a deck of cards form the cover of the book that contained them.

In Cardcaptors, his name was changed to Keroberos, but was nicknamed Kero. In Japanese this is pronounced "keh-ro" in Japanese, but "kee-ro" in English.

[edit] Appearance

In his borrowed form, Cerberus resembles a bear with orange fur and small white wings. However, once in his true form, his fur becomes darker, he grows to about the size of a lion, his wings enlarge and his tail becomes longer. His head and chest is covered in a silver armor with a red jewel in the middle of both.

[edit] Personality

By nature, Cerberus is bossy, demanding, and gluttonous, but he also genuinely cares about Sakura and believes that she will become the next Master of the Clow as he acts as her guide to gather the Cards. His hobbies include playing video games and eating snacks and sweets, even though, drawing his power from the sun, he generates his own energy, and does not need to eat to survive.

He has a particular fondness for cake, cookies, and chocolates. In the anime, he was also intoxication by a box of chocolate liqueurs, not knowing their effects. Despite his fondness for sweets and other food items, he is not above sharing, provided there is enough left for him.

Cerberus also enjoys being filmed by Sakura's best friend, Tomoyo Daidōji and, unlike his Mistress, relishes the costume accessories he is asked to wear for these recordings. Even though he has been a willing servant all his life, Cerberus can be somewhat of an egomaniac, obsessing over his "coolness", and is seen bragging about himself after watching most of Tomoyo's recordings.

Despite his sometimes erratic behavior, Cerberus is remarkably intelligent. He is knowledgeable not only on the Clow Cards but also on all forms of mysticism, with a knack for reading magical auras. At one point this leads him astray when Kaho Mizuki tricks him by using her strong moon-aspected aura to cover up Yue's, preventing Cerberus from realizing Yue's false form. In addition to this, Cerberus is also not quite as carefree and without inhibitions as he seems at first glance.

CLAMP describes Cerberus' "favorite thing" is described as "loud fun", and his least favorite as "being sad or lonely". Cerberus doesn't like wallowing in life's sad and depressing facts, which could possibly why he takes up so many indulgent pastimes like food and videogames to distract himself from them. This does not, however mean that little fiend is immune to these realities, as is shown in the first arc of the series when he is seen frequently musing about his fears concerning the rapidly approaching Final Judgment to the point of obsession. His lack of communication regarding the Final Judgment nearly causes Sakura to fail as she is unaware that Yue can turn the power of any Clow card under his jurisdiction back at her.

[edit] Voice and Mannerisms

Because the Clow Cards had been in Osaka for a long time, Cerberus speaks in the Osaka dialect, which is famous for its plain speech and unique slang. In the English dub, his plush voice is rather high, but transformed, he speaks with a more adult, low pitch.

[edit] Relationships

Sakura: Cerberus’ relationship with Sakura extends far beyond merely a servant and his master. Numerous times throughout the series Cerberus himself points out that he sees Sakura as a good friend before a master. Despite the fact that his sole duty at that point was to help the young girl collect cards and prepare for the Final Judgment, Cerberus carefully keeps the young Cardcaptor oblivious to the upcoming confrontation. Even when Cerberus himself faces intense nightmares about Yue’s oncoming judgment, he refuses to tell Sakura anything, brushing her off when she brings up the topic. Similarly, during the second arc he keeps from Sakura that Yue’s power is quickly wasting away. When she confronts his about this afterwards her guardian willingly admits that he had concealed the truth from Sakura to keep her happy. Cerberus acts as a good companion to Sakura, and often comforts her when she is in need of it, and makes sure she knows that he’s there if she needs him.

Yue: In some ways, Cerberus is closer to Yue than many other characters in the series: they have known each other longest, after all, and some variations of the storyline have even introduced the two as brothers. When Sakura is being tested by Eriol, Yue is the only character that Cerberus will talk to over the matter, and every time a new bit of information comes up his first action is to rush off to his fellow guardian. Additionally, it is certain that Cerberus showed more than a little paranoia during the second half of the series when Yue’s life was threatened.

Syaoran: Cerberus often argues with Syaoran, who calls him "plush toy" or "stuffed animal" and whom he calls "brat" (小僧, kozō) in return. This likely stems from Syaoran's initial arrogance and confidence that he will take over the Clow Cards, despite Cerberus' claims that Sakura is the actual Cardcaptor. Even though the two of them have never gotten along, Cerberus bears no objections after some time when Syaoran joins Sakura whenever she goes out on magic-related missions. He also shows sympathy when Sakura is upset and confused over her feelings for Syaoran, and comforts his master despite the fact that he is not the best of friends with the boy in question. All of this suggests that Cerberus is at least accepting of Syaoran, even if they will never be close.

[edit] Powers and Abilities

Plushy: While in his plushy form, Cerberus is able to fly but cannot use any of his magical abilities.

Clow Cards: In his true form he has jurisdiction over all things fire and earth, the elements which draw their power from him.

Barriers: Using magic, Cerberus can create barriers to protect from attacks.

Fire Breath: Being that fire is one of his elements, Cerberus is able to shoot balls of fire from his mouth.

[edit] Appearances in Other Media

[edit] Leave it to Kero-chan

In the first season of the anime, Cerberus has the additional function of being a sort of viewer's guide to the fictional world in Cardcaptor Sakura in a series of short omake called "Leave It to Kero-chan!". Unlike most omake, these were aired alongside the series, always following the ending credits and before the next-episode preview. In each segment, he would discuss costumes, props, and other characters, often in ways that are ironic (such as a mention of Tomoyo's ability to obtain shots for her videos that are utterly impossible with a hand-held camera) and which break the fourth wall. At first the segment ended with a Part called Kero's Check!, but this was later dropped.

[edit] Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Cerberus appears in the anime version of Clamp's latest series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, in the episode "Kero-chan and Mokona" in his false form. Here, he retains most of his characteristics from Cardcaptor Sakura, but he is able to create small lightning bolts. Cerberus aids Mokona in retrieving the feather after the rest of the group are unable to because they mysteriously shrunk in size.

[edit] References

Cardcaptor Sakura
Timeline of events
Media	English dub • Episodes (Clow Card: 1 2 • Sakura Card: 3) • DVDs • Albums • Clow Cards • Media
Theme Songs	Catch You Catch Me • Groovy! • Tobira wo Akete • Honey • Platinum • Fruits Candy • Tooi Kono Machi de • Ashita e no Melody
Locations	Tomoeda • Hong Kong
Main Characters	Sakura Kinomoto • Syaoran Li • Meiling Li • Tomoyo Daidōji • Cerberus • Yue • Clow Reed • Eriol Hiiragizawa • Yukito Tsukishiro
Minor Characters	Toya Kinomoto • Fujitaka Kinomoto • Nadeshiko Kinomoto • Sonomi Daidōji • Spinel Sun • Ruby Moon • Kaho Mizuki • Chiharu Mihara • Rika Sasaki • Takashi Yamazaki • Naoko Yanagisawa • Yoshiyuki Terada