Clow Cards

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The rear-face design of the Clow Cards

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The rear-face design of the Sakura Cards

The Clow Cards (クロウカード, Kurō Kādo) are fictional magical cards used in the manga and anime series Cardcaptor Sakura.

In the manga series, there are nineteen cards specifically named, while the anime series has fifty-three (fifty-two in the series proper, the last from the second movie). The Clow Cards were created by the half-English half-Chinese sorcerer Clow Reed. After Clow's death the cards were sealed in the Clow Book. The cards represent a combination of Eastern and Western magic centered on the concepts of natural forces and elements. Each Clow Card has its own personality, ranging from good-natured to violent, and its own powers that are mostly centered around an elemental force or performing a specific task. When in use or acting on their own, the cards assume alternative forms that vary from card to card. The original Clow Cards fall under a specific sign, sun or moon, corresponding to the guardians Cerberus and Yue. After becoming the new master of the cards, Sakura was tasked with transforming them all into her own personal "Sakura Cards". She also creates a card herself at the end of the anime series-the "Hope" card.

The nineteen cards in the manga are The Light, The Dark, The Windy, The Earthy, The Firey, The Wood, The Watery, The Flower, The Fly, The Jump, The Erase, The Mirror, The Maze, The Illusion, The Sword, The Shield, The Shadow, The Thunder, and The Glow.

Cards

The Arrow (矢)

The Arrow is an attack card capable of creating and firing a continuous stream of magical arrows. When used it resembles the Shot Card, but fires a volley rather than a single homing shot. In its visible form, Arrow is a blue-purplish girl with a pudding basin haircut and two long pigtails. The Arrow carries a short bow.

According to CLAMP, the Arrow is an attack card with an aggressive temperament. The Arrow card is notable in that it was introduced exclusively for the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie. It appears briefly in the anime in its card form as one of the cards Sakura captures during her spring break and is counted amongst the 52 cards introduced in the anime. The Arrow is captured during the movie's opening story arc, and plays a pivotal role in the movie finale, saving Sakura from drowning inside a skyscraper located in Hong Kong. It is exclusive to the anime and is one of only six cards whose transformation was not seen during season 3.

The Big (大)

The Big card has the power to grow any person or object in size. Its physical form is that of a tall woman, dressed like a medieval princess with a divided hennin. The Big is almost an exact copy of its sister card, The Little, except for color and height.

Big first appeared in episode 31: Sakura and the Nameless Book, where it was both captured and used for the first time. Big is portrayed as a generally harmless card who makes objects around her bigger, including a cat, a fish and plants. It appears again in Episode 55 , when it was transformed, where Sakura used it to restore herself to her normal size after being shrunk.

The Bubbles (泡)

As its name suggests, Bubbles is a mass of soap bubbles. It was created specifically to wash Kerberos. It was also used to wash dishes and other things. She is a card that falls under Watery.

The Bubbles is unusual in that it was only ever referenced in the anime as incidental material, most notably during episode 36 when its capture was (partially) shown during a replay of Tomoyo's video library. Bubbles' capture is later shown in a bit more detail during the second film, appearing as a large pile of pink bubbles. Bubbles is transformed into a Sakura Card when Sakura uses it to bathe Cerberus in episode 58. On its card, Bubbles appears as a young little mermaid girl wearing a blue gem necklace along with some pearls tied around her bubbly head.

The Change (替)

The Change (替) is able to do things involving change. The Change appears as a blue chameleon-like creature. It falls under the control of the Dark.

In the anime, Change is able to swap the minds (or bodies) of two people. This swapping can only occur once a day, and if a change is not reverted after some time, it becomes permanent. Syaoran and Kerberos become victims of Change's ability, resulting in a rather unique day at school and at home, before Sakura is able to reverse their switched minds a day later (Episode 32).

Change is transformed into a Sakura Card in Episode 53 during Sakura's frantic wave of transformations.

The Cloud (雲)

The Cloud creates thick clouds all over the sky which it can move however it pleases. It resembles the Rain.

Like Rain, it has a gentle and playful personality and is more mischievous than combative. It was captured in episode 39, Shaoran defeating it by using his fire element summon. Cloud is transformed during Sakura's panicked rush of transformations in episode 69.

The Create (創)

The Create (創) is able to give existence to anything written in its visible form, a mostly blank storybook. There is no limit as to what can be brought to life, provided the writer keeps Create opened and filled with ideas. It can also give the writer inspirations. Created life forms can interact with their surroundings, both benevolently and malevolently. However, its power is only active at night.

In Episode 31, Naoko Yanagisawa, after buying Create from its hiding place in a bookstore, writes a story in it about princesses, flying animals, and a dragon. All of Naoko's imagined creatures, all bearing spiral eyes, come to life a short distance away in town. After its capture, Sakura continues to use this card to fight illusionary monsters, both for training and for Tomoyo's video recordings.

The Create's transformation is not shown in the series. However, Create is seen to be transformed in a Video Diary (Specials: Tomoyo's Video Diary 2) - it is used along with Move to trick Kerberos with a lemon cake.

The Dark (闇)

The Dark (闇) is able to create and control darkness, its also able to warp space, creating darkness that can isolate and nullify non-magical beings if given enough time (like Erase). Her visible form is that of a regal woman draped in black with straight ebony hair. On its card, it clutches a crescent moon in one hand, and a star in the other. Dark is an elemental card in a category of its own, outside the four basic elemental cards and is the first card under Yue.

The Dark is special in that it cannot be physically attacked. It is sealed only after Sakura is able to identify it as the Dark, done through the use of the Mirror, and then by breaking through the darkness by summoning the Light, which had hidden itself within Sakura. The Dark and Light reveal that they had been testing Sakura's ability to become the new master of the Clow and recognize her strength. The two cards request to be sealed together, explaining that as Light and Dark, are always together and must be sealed together. They are transformed together in the very last episode of the anime.

The Dark first appears episode 42, interrupting Sakura and Shaoran's play just when they are about to kiss and engulfing everyone except Sakura and Kerberos in darkness. Dark is transformed in Episode 69; Sakura transforms it along with Light to end Eriol's everlasting night and uses Dark to change everything back to night. But in the anime Dark is never used, only Light was used.

The Dash (駆)

The Dash (駆) is able to run at supernatural speeds for short distances. It can grant this ability to others as well. Dash's visible form is a blue, fox-like creature with long rabbit ears. It is among the cards which fall under Windy.

In episode 30 of the anime, Dash takes shelter at the home of Rei Tachibana (Jessie), one of Tomoeda Elementary's star track runners who takes in Dash after it escapes Sakura's initial attempt at capturing it. Dash helps Rei by speeding up her legs whenever she runs, allowing her to break records and to qualify for a position in the city-wide track meet. Sakura and Syaoran capture Dash prior to the competition; however, Rei manages to advance to the final round on her own. She had been missing Dash, whom she named Peewee (Hoppy), but gains enough motivation to win the final hundred-meter dash when she sees an image of Dash at the end of the track. The image is not an illusion, but Dash itself as summoned by Syaoran.

In episode 53, Sakura panics when Cerberus warns her that untransformed Clow Cards will gradually lose their powers and, in response, frantically transforms a small assortment of cards into Sakura Cards. Sakura's magic is still too weak to transform all the remaining cards, however, and she nearly faints after the seventh card. Unfortunately, the last card she attempted to transform, Dash, had not been completely transitioned. Being now stuck between two magic sources cause Dash to panic and escape into town, possessing Toya's bicycle in the process. Sakura and Cerberus chase Dash into the park, where Sakura uses The Loop in order to catch up and get close to it. She takes Dash in her arms and calms it until she is able to perform a full transformation.

The Dream (夢)

The Dream (夢) is able to create all sorts of dreams, including prophetic ones for those with magical powers. Though it is not aggressive or malicious, dealing with it can be difficult, as it is relatively undetectable when one does not know it is nearby. Like with Return, Time can be used to disrupt it. The Dream falls under the control of the Dark.

One of Dream's visible forms is a mysterious blue butterfly. Another form is a female humanoid dressed in flowing robes and an elaborate headdress that covers its eyes, perhaps indicating its status as a blind prophet, such as the Greek prophet Tiresias.

In episode 40, some of the primary characters have dreams that seem to represent their greatest desires. Tomoyo has a dream about being surrounded by millions of Sakura clones in her battle costumes, while Syaoran has a dream of being in an empty cinema where a romance film plays involving him and Sakura hugging on a beach.

In Episode 62, Sakura transformed Dream in her sleep, causing her to have a dream involving Eriol, Spinel Sun, and Ruby Moon at Tsukimine Shrine.

The Earthy (地)

The Earthy (地) is able to create and manipulate earth. As one of the four elementals and the last card to be captured in both manga and anime, it is perhaps the most powerful of the Clow Cards (except for The Nothing). It is one of the two basic elemental cards under Cereberos. However, in accordance with the Chinese balance of five elements, it is vulnerable to Wood. Earthy's visible form is a giant dragon pile of earth and rock. In the manga it appears as the woman depicted on the Card. The woman form is briefly shown in the anime while Sakura is sealing the card.

Using its elemental weakness against it, Sakura captures it using the Wood card. This capture finally allows Cerberus to regain his true form. Earthy's transformation is not shown in the anime. However in the manga (Volume 9) Sakura transforms Earthy in order to restore a hole made by Eriol at Penguin Park.

The Erase (消)

The Erase (消) has the power to make almost anything, including people, disappear. Erase also has the power to erase magical elements, once banishing a pit full of stuffed sheep created by Eriol during one of Sakura's trials. Once something has been erased by Erase, it can be returned if the card is captured, but if that person or object is gone for too long, it disappears permanently. Erase also bears the ability to erase other people's memory

Erase often appears as a bank of grayish fog, but its visible form is a small imp dressed in a yellow-and-white-patterned court jester's outfit. It has a large ruff around its neck with a long hat with two points that trail almost to the ground. On the Card, it carries a cape posed as if to hide something -- similar to how magicians use capes during a magic trick. She falls under the control of the Dark.

In the anime, Sakura first encounters Erase during a school field trip. A "Test of Courage" activity is held at night, where students are grouped in pairs or trios and must traverse a cave with only a candle for light. However, all the students that enter do not return, as Erase has erased them in the back of the cave. Eventually Sakura and Syaoran are the only students remaining. Sakura, after (temporarily) overcoming her fears, makes it to the end of the cave, where Erase was waiting. After Erase's capture, all the students return to safely, although their memories have been erased by the card.

Erase is transformed into a Sakura Card in Episode 52. Sakura used it to erase all the plush sheep that Eriol sent down the hole she was in. In the English dub, Erase is transformed in episode 48. In the manga, Erase is transformed right before Sakura transforms Earthy in Volume 9.

The Fight (闘)

The Fight (闘) is an accomplished martial artist who lives for the challenge of seeking new opponents for her skills. Calling on Fight allows its caster to gain great fighting skills.

In its visible form, Fight resembles a teenage girl with cropped shoulder length hair and four ponytails, two long and two short. She wears a blue leotard with white trimmings and a pair of blue and white thigh-length boots. Based on this appearance, it has been suggested that Fight is supposed to be Chinese rather than Japanese-a fact that would fit in well with Clow Reed's Chinese heritage.

When first encountered in episode 20 of the anime, Fight is haunting the local park, looking for new opponents after having already beaten several of Tomoeda's best martial artists. Knowing that the only way to seal Fight is to defeat her in battle, Meiling Li (herself an accomplished fighter) tries to challenge Fight, but the card's supernatural strength and endurance prove too much for her, and she was defeated. Fight's next target is Sakura, who is both outmatched and outclassed compared to the card, but she fortunately manages to find a way.

In one final attack, Fight charges at Sakura. In a blind panic, Sakura countered by wielding her sealing wand, endowed with the enormous strength of The Power, and crashed it down on Fight's head, knocking the card out cold. Fight most likely suffered the most painful capture of any of the cards. Fight is transformed in episode 69 when Sakura transforms the last remaining Clow Cards.

The Firey (火)

The Firey (火) is able to create and control fire, and its one of the elemental cards. The Firey is one of the two basic elemental cards (aside from Light and Dark), that is directly connected to Cerberus, the other being the Earthy. The Firey first appeared in episode 35, Sakura's Wonderful Christmas. The Firey resembles an angel covered with flames. Despite its troublesome and dangerous nature, it obeys Sakura readily once captured.

As one of the four elementals, the Firey is quite powerful, making it difficult for Sakura to capture. She initially uses the Windy to extinguish the flames, but unfortunately spreads it as the wind increases the oxygen flow for the fire. Subsequently, Sakura contemplates using the Watery against it, but decides against it; in the manga, she does employ the Watery, but the attempt fails because the Firey evaporates it immediately. To stop the Firey, Sakura risks using both the Windy and the Watery in combination against it, despite the dangers of using two elementals at once; she successfully uses the doubled might of the two cards and defeats the Firey, allow her to transform it back into a card.

Sakura transforms the Firey in episode 48 to save her friends from being drowned by a cyclone of water. It is the first card she transforms into a Sakura Card.

The Float (浮)

The Float (浮), as its name implies, likes to make things float. Float is a mischievous spirit, but it is also quite gentle and was easy for Sakura to seal. Float's normal form resembles a large balloon with white wings. It falls under the control of Windy.

In the anime, Cerberus discovers Float when it starts levitating objects in a little girl's room, including the girl, Akane, herself. Cerberus contacts Sakura via a fax machine, and she arrives in time to seal Float away before it floats Akane above the atmosphere (episode 15). Akane starts falling as a result, but Sakura uses Wood to cushion her descent. Float is also used one episode later, to get to the Erase Card lying at the other side of the cave.

Float was transformed during episode 57, when Sakura fell into darkness. It returned her to the floor of the elevator.

The Flower (花)

The Flower (花) is a gentle and fun loving spirit, able to create and manipulate any kind of flower or blossom. Flower's visible form is a young lady in a long flowing pink dress, with corkscrew pigtails and a flower pattern on her forehead. On its card, it appears to be holding a large blossom.

Though Flower has no offensive capability, Sakura has used it to create bouquets and blossoms as presents for others. Sakura also witnessed Clow Reed using it to bring a tree into blossom when she uses The Return to go back to Clow's time in Episode 68. In the manga (captured in volume 2), Flower has been used defensively to create a shield of blossoms around Sakura.

Flower is captured in episode 10, when her enthusiasm gets the better of her and she nearly buries Sakura's school underneath a mountain of flower petals. Soon after discovering the flower petals came from a Clow Card, Sakura uses the Fly to find the Flower, dancing on top of her school building. According to Cerberus, the Flower is a card that loves to play and party, and was causing so much mischief because she wasn't invited to attend Sakura's school athletic festival. At the end of the chapter (in Volume 2) Sakura uses the Flower card to stop the arguing between Fujitaka Kinomoto (Sakura's father), and Sonomi Daidouji (Tomoyo's mother) by giving them both a Nadeshiko flower, which was the name of Sakura's mother. Flower is transformed in Episode 54. Sakura used it to create flowers to include in her birthday present for her great-grandfather namely, Sakura and the calendar of memories. In the manga, the flowers were given to her great-grandfather for Valentine's Day.

The Fly (翔)

The Fly (翔) is the first Clow Card captured using Sakura's sealing wand. It has since become Sakura's most used card. When activated it adds large wings to the end of the sealing wand that allow Sakura (and at least one passenger) to fly. After its transformation into a Sakura Card, the wings appear from Sakura's back, allowing her to keep her wand free to use with other cards, like the Sword. Fly resembles a giant white bird with a long neck and short beak and is one of the cards under the Windy.

In the anime, Fly is captured using Windy. In the manga however, Windy's powers are ineffective towards the Fly because the Fly is a card based on Windy's magic. After failing her first attempt to capture it, Sakura returns home and Fly appears to Sakura in a dream, revealing it has been badly injured. Sakura makes her second attempt and, realizing her dream was true, notices that Fly is not an aggressive card by nature, but has become frightened because of its injuries. Using the Jump to reach the Fly, Sakura hugs it to calm it down and Fly comes to her willingly.

Fly is transformed in episode 51 of the anime. When Eriol possesses a teddy bear and expands it to great heights to terrorize Yue, Sakura needs the use of both Fly and Sword to defeat it. Since both cards require the wand to transform, Sakura asks the Fly to provide her a means to use both cards simultaneously. She transforms the card and Fly's wings appear from her back instead, providing Sakura a greater flexibility with her magic, as she can now use the Fly in combination with any of her other cards.

In episode 55, there is a blooper that shows the Fly card being transformed for a second time, though this may be a result of Sakura being with in the story of Alice in Wonderland.

In the second movie, Fly is one of the remaining five cards that Sakura has in her possession, and the third one that she uses against the Nothing. Sakura uses Fly to chase the Nothing around the amusement park, but when she and the Nothing directly confront each other, the Nothing easily steals Fly from Sakura, leaving Sakura with only two cards left-the Shield and the Nameless Card.

The Freeze (凍)

The Freeze (凍) is able to freeze things, emit ice as a weapon, and lower the temperature of a localized area to freezing point (and possibly beyond it). It is very crafty when using its abilities in combat, such as attacking with frozen glaciers or attacking targets from behind with pillars of ice. Freeze's visible form resembles a giant goldfish-like creature seemingly composed of ice. It falls under the Watery.

In episode 33 of the anime, Freeze lowers the temperature to freezing point inside a skating rink where Sakura's class has taken a field trip. In addition to the freezing temperatures, everybody except for Sakura, Syaoran, and Kaho Mizuki is magically frozen in ice. While Ms. Mizuki hides (the reason is left unsaid, but it is implied that she wants to let Sakura and Syaoran deal with the card on their own), Sakura and Syaoran are left to battle Freeze on the rink as it swims through the ice as if it were water, with them eventually overpowering the card and Syaoran becoming the Freeze's master. In Episode 60, Sakura transforms Freeze to stop some magically animated penguin statues.

The Glow (灯)

The Glow (灯) is one of the harmless cards, as its only power is the ability to create and manipulate hundreds of tiny glowing orbs that resemble fireflies. It is the card that causes the least trouble in Tomoeda before its capture. When enacting its power, Glow casts off hundreds of tiny softly glowing green orbs that float down slowly to the ground like flower petals. In its visible form, it resembles a tiny fairy that has a glowing tail like a firefly.

Sakura first encounters Glow during the summer festival at Tsukimine Shrine (episode 18 in the anime), where it was casting tiny glowing lights among the trees. In the manga, Glow was caught due to another one of Sakura's "Prophetic," dreams in which she dreamed herself in the festival saying "It's probably a Clow Card!"

Glow is transformed into a Sakura card in episode 67 (episode 63 of the English dub). When one of Eriol's magical trials cuts off the electricity supply to the lanterns at the festival, Sakura transforms Glow and uses its power to save the festival.

The Hope (希望)

The Hope (希望) is the result of a merge between The Emptiness and the nameless card. The Hope exists only as a Sakura Card and never existed as a Clow Card. At the end of the second movie, when The Hope is sealed, all the damage dealt by The Emptiness is instantly undone. In the American dub, Hope was the nameless card seen at the end of the last episode, causing naming problems for the Emptiness and nameless card fusion at the end of the second movie.

The Hope Card shows a young girl with an expression of happiness on her face instead of sorrow from The Nothing. She is embracing the winged heart that was pictured on the nameless card. The Hope Card's power remains unknown.

The Illusion (幻)

The Illusion (幻) is an aggressive card (reasons for this behavior are unknown) capable of creating illusions based on whatever the viewer expects to see or wants to see. Each person will see something different when viewing the Illusion unless everyone is thinking of the same thing at the same time. Usually this illusion takes the form of whatever the person is most afraid of, though it has been known to take the form of whatever is most significant in a person's mind at the time. Illusion can change its form based on what the watcher expects to see, but while transitioning between forms, it resembles a kaleidoscope pattern.

In the anime, Illusion uses an image of Sakura's deceased mother, Nadeshiko, to lure Sakura into walking over a ledge. In the manga, it disguises itself as Nadeshiko and tries to drown Sakura by luring her into a lake and holding her down. While Cerberus attempts to save Sakura, it is later explained that Sakura's happiness with being reunited with her mother prevented Cerberus from entering the lake. In both instances, Sakura is rescued by Yukito Tsukishiro when she first attempts to capture Illusion. Later, after almost being tricked again, she is able to see through the illusion created by the card, at which point it reverts to its visible form, allowing Sakura to seal it.

Illusion is transformed into a Sakura Card in episode 66. Used in conjunction with The Maze, they create a surreal 'planetarium' effect inside a maze for visitors to marvel at, and to contain the fact Sakura is using her magic to try and decipher who is giving off Clow Reed's presence.

The Jump (跳)

The Jump (跳) is one of Sakura's most used cards along with The Windy and The Fly. While Fly is often used for long-distance travel, Jump is used for evasion when battling a Clow Card entity. In its visible form, Jump resembles a rather strange looking stuffed pink rabbit with long floppy ears (almost resembling CLAMP's mascot Mokona Modoki), in its card form The Jump has a pair of wings.

When summoned Jump appears as pair of wings on Sakura's ankles and allows her not only to jump great distances but also to land safely from falls that would otherwise kill or injure her. In the anime Jump appears to have a number of other powers, including the ability to possess inanimate objects, allowing them to jump, as well as the ability to merge many smaller objects into a larger version of itself. Sakura never uses these additional powers, though, and they are never demonstrated in the manga. According to Cerberus, Jump is not very bright.

When Sakura first encounters Jump in episode 5 of the anime, it has taken over the body of a stuffed panda, hiding in the Twin Bells store. Each time the panda is sold, Jump inside it would 'jump' it back to the store. Sakura initially traps Jump in a cage of branches using Wood, but Jump manages to escape. It is eventually sealed after it wears itself out and falls down. In the manga (volume 1), Jump has the distinction of being the very first card shown to be captured by Sakura and is used to introduce the spirits inside the Clow Cards. No back-story is given about what Jump was up to when it was caught, but it is sealed after being bound by a chain created by Windy.

When Sakura faces Yue in the Final Judgment, Yue uses Jump in order to summon her towards him while she is under his powerful 'moonlight' hypnosis spell. In the second movie, Jump is the card most commonly used by Sakura, who invokes Jump's magic to reach a huge fire monster created by the Create and to evade numerous attacks from the Nothing. It is also one of the last five cards Sakura has in her possession, and the first of the five Sakura uses to fight the Nothing, though it does not last too long against her.

Jump is transformed in Episode 51. Sakura tries to jump up to the head of a giant teddy bear during one of Eriol's trials in order to cut off the source of magic that is causing the bear to enlarge. Unable to reach the bear's ear, she is forced to use Fly instead.

The Libra (秤)

The Libra (秤, ライブラ raibura) is able to determine whether a person is lying or not, though its use is never demonstrated in the anime. It is one of the few cards not used in either the manga or anime, the others being The Wave and The Through.

The Libra Card shows a pan-scale, one side holding a sun and the other holding a moon, and evokes the symbolism of justice and truth. Libra's form is reminiscent of the astrological sign of Libra. Libra's capture is not shown directly in the series, but Episode 36 shows that Sakura had captured it over spring break (the time period following Episode 35).

Libra is transformed in Episode 53 during Sakura's frantic wave of transformations.

The Light (光)

The Light (光) is able to create and control light, also able to turn night into day; she can only be countered by her sister, Dark. Light is in a category of its own, outside the four basic elements and is the first card under Cerberus.

It is revealed in Episode 42 that Light had resided in Sakura's heart all along, ever since she accidentally scattered the Clow Cards using Windy. Light and Dark are always together and the two most loyal cards, making them the most difficult for Sakura to transform into Sakura cards.

Light's visible form is a regal woman draped in white with white flowing hair. Its Card form clutches a sun in one hand, and a cloud in the other. Light is transformed in Episode 69; Sakura transforms at the same time as Dark so as to end Eriol's ever lasting night.

The Little (小)

The Little is able to shrink things into miniature versions of itself by simply touching them; this also shrinks the victim's ability to use magic. Though small in size, Little is very nimble with is prodigious jumping skill. It is a mischievous card, who greatly enjoys laughing and taunting Sakura after it shrinks her to a height of a few inches. After a tiring chase in which Little constantly giggles at what its done to Sakura, Sakura manages to return to normal size by coming into contact with Little again. Once sealed, She used it to shrink Cerberus so that he could enjoy his dessert. (episode 24 of the anime).

The Little is transformed in episode 55. After Sakura uses The Big, she becomes too big and then needs to correct it. Once again, she becomes too small and is put on a chessboard during a match between Humpty Dumpty (played by Tomoyo), and the Queen (humorously played by Cerberus).

Little's visible form resembles a tiny yellowish child. Little is almost an exact copy of its sister card, The Big, except for color and height.

The Lock (錠)

A weaker version of Shield, The Lock (錠) is able to lock almost anything (doors, padlocks, etc.), also preventing their unlocking by conventional means. Lock can seal off entire rooms by magically shielding any and all exits such that they cannot be penetrated or destroyed. Similar to an ability of Maze, magical senses are diffused when in an area sealed by Lock. Though weaker than Shield in terms of defensive strength, Lock can actively defend itself by creating a psychokinetic storm to drive away threats. Lock's visible form is a small green and yellow padlock with a front mounted drum. It has wings on the front, straddling the chamber of the lock.

In episode 38 of the anime, Lock inhabits a storage building (currently used as a kitchen and presentation room) at a strawberry plantation, where it traps Sakura and company until Sakura drives it out of the room's lock using her Clow Key. Lock immediately tries to reenter the keyhole of the lock, but Syaoran blocks the way with one of his wards. This reveals one of Lock's weaknesses, where it cannot simply merge with something in order to 'lock' it, but it instead must find a lock or catch from which to inhabit and activate its abilities.

Lock is transformed during Sakura's panicked rush of transformations in episode 53.

The Loop (輪)

The Loop (輪) is one of the strangest of the Clow Cards. Loop is capable of warping reality--bending the time-space continuum (so to speak) into a continuous, repeating loop. Anything or anyone unfortunate enough to be trapped inside it will be left stranded in an environment that repeats on itself, with no way of getting out. Loop is a simple small band or loop, red on one side and yellow on the other. It is often pictured with one twist such that it resembles an infinity symbol (∞) or a Möbius strip.

It is defeated by the combined efforts of both Sakura and Syaoran (episode 21 of the anime), who manage to cut the loop in half. When the Dash possesses Toya's bike, Sakura uses Loop to trap it in order to get close to Dash and calm it down in Episode 53.

The Maze (迷)

The Maze (迷) is able to create pocket dimensions inside the real world, which contain giant mazes. Unlike conventional mazes, which work in three dimensions, the puzzles created by Maze are twisted through four or more dimensions, allowing people to walk upside-down, up staircases that cannot really exist, and generally to become lost in a world that defies the laws of perspective. Maze is invisible from the outside, but from the inside it resembles a multi-dimensional green maze with upside-down staircases and impossible perspectives similar to those drawn by M. C. Escher in his sketch called "Relativity"

Maze also prevents any kind of "cheating" by raising walls to stop people from climbing over them and by repairing walls that have been damaged by people trying to break through. Maze also cannot be captured from the inside.

In episode 26 of the anime, Maze is the first Clow Card that Sakura and Syaoran are unable to conquer on their own. They need the powers of Kaho Mizuki and her Moon Bell, which is able to break through Maze's walls. As such, the card recognizes Kaho as its master and initially goes to her. Kaho, however, gives it to Sakura, who takes ownership by signing her name on the card.

Maze is transformed in Episode 66, when it was used in conjunction with Illusion to create a three-dimensional version of the planetarium exhibit at Toya's high school fair, in order to cover Sakura's tracks while she undertook one of Eriol's magical trials.

The Mirror (鏡)

The Mirror (鏡) is able to copy people like a reflection in a mirror and literally become that person. In the anime it is also capable of becoming a mirror and reflecting objects. Mirror's visible form resembles a beautiful green-haired girl, draped in a long flowing kimono holding a mirror in her hands. On some occasions, Mirror just appears as the mirror that she carries, useful for reflecting images and deflecting magical attacks.

Mirror appears to be troublesome and mischievous, but it really is a frightened and lost spirit. Mirror is the most human of the cards, as its ability to duplicate an identical copy of its (usually human) target also allows it to speak and express emotions. Before its capture in episode 25, Mirror injures Toya but later is seen crying in guilt about it. Right before returning to card form, Mirror (in her normal visible form) apologizes to Toya. Mirror seems to have a special affection and is very shy towards Toya.

Mirror is one of Sakura's most helpful cards, as Sakura can essentially clone herself in order to be in two places at once. Usually this is done in situations where Sakura must distract Toya in order to capture or transform cards; unfortunately, Toya sees through the magic right away. However Toya keeps this a secret, instead interacting with Mirror as if it were an individual person. Through these interactions, Mirror develops a fondness for Toya, possibly even falling in love with him.

After episode 61, Mirror wears a green ribbon in her hair. It is both an early Christmas gift from Toya and a gift of thanks for protecting Sakura during times when he cannot (Toya knew she had long hair in her true form). Mirror is transformed before Episode 61. At the beginning of the episode, Sakura returned to her room and thanked Mirror for covering for her. In the manga, Mirror was transformed when Sakura was sick and needed Mirror to cover her, much like in episode 39.

The Mist (霧)

The Mist (霧) is a corrosive entity, able to eat through almost any material including metal bars. It can also create a blanket of fog for cover. Mist's visible form is a thick bank of green fog with a woman in a meditative stance.

Mist is first seen in episode 14 of the anime during a play at Toya's high school, where the errant card dissolves much of the stage and scenery, before finally being contained using Shadow. Mist is transformed into a Sakura card in episode 61, where it is used to dissolve a metal railing that had been brought to life by Eriol Hiiragizawa as one of Sakura's trials.

The Move (移)

The Move (移) is a mischievous spirit, capable of inhabiting objects and magically moving them by making them disappear from one place and appear in another, similar to teleportation. Move is not a very powerful card, as it can only move small objects (i.e. books or pencils) and only for a short distance. Move cannot move living creatures. Though relatively weak, Move's speed and unpredictability make it a very difficult card to capture. Sakura manages to capture Move by waiting for it to vanish and then magically sensing where it will appear next. Move resembles a pair of "Clow Wings", which appear on whatever object it inhabits just before it moves it.

In episode 19 of the anime, Move is first encountered when it decides to make its home inside a library book that both Sakura and Syaoran want to use for their summer book report. Move forces the unfortunate duo to chase their book all around the Tomoeda library and also the nearby park.

Move's transformation is not shown in the series. However, Move is seen to be transformed in a Video Diary (Specials: Tomoyo's video Diary 2) - it is used along with Create to trick Kero with a Lemon cake.

The nameless card

This unnamed card is an unexpected creation of Sakura in episode 70, born from a teardrop and a surge of magical energy resulting from Sakura's emotions. It was created when Sakura was thinking of Syaoran after hearing that he was moving back to Hong Kong and realizing that she may not see him again for a very long time. The nameless card depicts a crowned heart with wings.

Sakura keeps the card on her person with the Sakura Cards, and in the second movie, it autonomously "sacrifices" itself to pay the cost of sealing and transforming The Nothing - giving up one's most cherished feelings. Originally The Emptiness was ready to take Syaoran's feelings for Sakura, but the nameless card offers itself instead, because it is an embodiment of those feelings. The nameless card and The Nothing merge to become The Hope. Interestingly, this card was named "The Hope", in the last episode of the English dub. This was possibly due to Nelvana not dubbing the second movie.

The Emptiness/Nothing (無)

In order to balance the immense positive magic of the Clow Cards, Clow Reed created the Emptiness Card (無), containing negative magic equivalent in magnitude to the other fifty-two cards. Anything that comes into contact with it will cease to exist.

Emptiness appears in the second movie and is terribly lonely in the beginning, unable to interact with others without destroying them. The only beings that can interact with her safely are the other Clow Cards. As a result, Emptiness tries to steal the Clow Cards (now Sakura Cards) so that she would not be alone again. Emptiness' presence is vastly encompassing, once detecting Eriol's attempt to call Sakura about the card and destroying the phone lines as a result. Nothing continues to steal the Sakura Cards and destroys everyone and everything that Sakura holds dear; Emptiness likely views Sakura as a villain who stole her "friends" (the Clow Cards) and intends for Sakura to suffer the same pain of loss that it has felt for centuries.

In the end, the Sakura Cards try to return to Sakura, and Emptiness falls into hysterical despair, believing that her friends have abandoned her. However, Sakura convinces Emptiness that it can be her friend too, together with all the Cards. She returns Emptiness to a Clow Card form and then transforms it into a Sakura Card by merging it with the Nameless card to form The Hope. All the damage and deaths caused by Emptiness are miraculously undone.

Emptiness is composed of a spherical black void of emptiness where nothing exists. In the center of this black void, one could make out a young girl with long, silvery hair wearing a frilled dress. There is a constant expression of sorrow on the girl's face. When captured and changed into a Sakura Card, she clasps the winged heart that was the Nameless card and has, for the first time, a smile upon her face. Emptiness was voiced by Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese) and Lia Sargent (English).

In the Japanese version of the second movie, Emptiness is also known as The Negative Card. In end of the movie, the card turns into The Hope card.

The Power (力)

The Power (力) is able to give its user an incredible amount of physical strength, granting whoever activates it the ability to lift objects weighing several tons. Power's visible form is a tiny, pink little girl in a sleeveless pink dress. She has long hair with Chinese buns and two ponytails. Power is very proud and loves physical challenges, as it also likes to show off.

Power's strength can be merged with the sealing wand, providing Sakura with a very powerful blunt object. Such a combination is used to defeat The Fight card in a later episode.

When Power is free, it becomes invisible and it likes to show off by destroying things. It becomes visible only if a person challenges it with strength and tells it what the challenge is. If the challenger wins, Power will surrender itself. Power is captured (in episode 13) when Syaoran invokes Time and sabotages her physical challenge with Sakura, causing her to lose. Power is transformed in Episode 52. Sakura used it to move the King Penguin slide back into place.

The Rain (雨)

The Rain (雨) is a mischievous entity that is able to control rain and create powerful downpours on anybody who tries to spoil its fun. Rain's physical form resembles a young elf girl dressed in a jester outfit adorned with raindrops. It rides a cloud and has a teardrop shaped jewel on its forehead. It is very similar in appearance to The Cloud, and it has been assumed the two are related. Rain, as a free spirit, is very chaotic and tries to drown Sakura with a waterfall-like attack as a means of playing with her. It falls under the Watery.

Rain is the Cloud's twin, and in the anime, its water gives The Wood enough power to cause chaos in Sakura's house (episode 4). Sakura seals Rain with help from the Watery, which was also able to feed off Rain's power to increase its own. Rain is transformed in episode 69 when Sakura transforms the last remaining Clow Cards.

The Return (戻)

The Return (戻) allows its user to travel to the past. Return's visible form resembles a swift-moving, tangible black mist. Its card image displays a young female elf holding an hourglass and dressed in a robe identical to The Time card. It is captured in episode 27 of the anime.

Return protects its user from detection (both magical and mundane) but exceptionally powerful or knowledgeable magicians such as Kaho Mizuki and Clow Reed himself can pierce Return's protections. Return, like The Time, requires a considerable amount of magical power to use; in the series the spiritual energies of the cherry tree at Tsukimine Shrine are needed to power the spell. One can disrupt Return by using Time, though that is difficult given the amount of effort needed to use Time. This method is used by Syaoran when he brings Sakura back from the past, though almost all of his energy is taken from him.

In Episode 68, Sakura transforms and uses Return in order to go to Clow's time and talk with him.

The Sand (砂)

The Sand (砂) is able to create and manipulate sand, often creating vortexes of it to trap targets. Sand's visible form is that of a flow of sand that moves vaguely like a serpent. Its card form shows a woman dressed in Arabic clothes made of sand. It falls under the Earthy.

In episode 41, Sakura and Syaoran captured Sand in a joint effort using both Watery to wet the sand and Freeze to solidify and immobilize it. As a result, Sand hovers between Sakura and Syaoran after capture, open to either captor as its master. They both reach for the card, but Sakura kindly lets Syaoran keep it. Sand is transformed in Episode 53 during Sakura's frantic wave of transformations.

The Shadow (影)

The Shadow (影) is a mysterious card able to manipulate shadows. It can gather shadows from people or things to increase its own power, but these shadows fade when they are exposed to bright light, leaving only Shadow itself behind. According to Cerberus, "Shadow can touch us, but we can't touch it." Shadow looks like a cloaked figure in a black cloak and hood resembling the Grim Reaper.

When first seen in episode 2 of the anime, Shadow causes mayhem at Sakura's school by stealing all the shadows of the students and piling up the school desks. When Sakura tries to capture it, Shadow forms all of the surrounding shadows into one big shadow monster. Tomoyo Daidōji and Cerberus help to disperse the extra shadows by using the school's floodlights, weakening Shadow enough for Sakura to capture it with Windy. Shadow becomes very loyal to Sakura and is used to capture the Silent, Mist and Thunder Cards.

In volume 2 of the manga, Shadow appears in a sweets shop, where it tries to tip over shelves on the customers. After seeing that Syaoran Li's thunder wards are able to dissolve the shadows captured by Shadow, Sakura uses Thunder to the same effect and was able to capture it after pinning it with Sword. In Episode 59, Shadow was transformed into a Sakura Card to help Sakura find Tomoyo who was trap in a room by Eriol's spell.

The Shield (盾)

The Shield (盾) is Sakura's most-used defensive card, able to create a force field around its target that is impenetrable to almost all physical and magical attacks, including the effects of other Cards (i.e. Time). When guarding an object, Shield appears as a blue-white-green sphere or dome. For all other uses it is a single 'Clow Wing' shield with a red jewel on both sides. In its card form, the Shield is bound by several chains.

Shield has a protective personality and is first seen in episode 11 of the anime protecting a box containing keepsakes belonging to the Daidōji family, to the point of keeping Tomoyo and Sonomi from opening the box at all. However, the Sword is able to penetrate through the Shield, enabling Sakura to capture Shield.

Shield is transformed in Episode 58, when Sakura uses it to shut out the magic that is preventing Cerberus and Yue from returning to their disguises. In the manga, Sakura transformed Shield to block one of Eriol's attacks, but it plays no further role in the finale after that, except for continuing to protect Syaoran and the unconscious Toya and Tomoyo.

In the second movie, Sakura uses Shield in the beginning of the movie to block an attack from an ice monster created by the Create. With the exception of the nameless card, the Shield is the final card Sakura has against the Nothing, who absorbed all of the others. Sakura uses it to protect herself from the Nothing's powers, but it is soon captured.

The Shot (撃)

The Shot (撃) is one of the more dangerous cards. Unless sealed, it can be activated simply by saying "shoot" or "aim" (even if the person calling it has no magical powers), at which point it will target the person to which the command refers, attacking him or her relentlessly until either the target is destroyed or the card is forced to return to its card form. When attacking, Shot appears as a fast moving bolt of energy. Its visible form is a young boy with red and yellow hair and large pink eyes.

Once activated, Shot transforms into a body of light that fires out beams of energy, like lasers, that become increasingly more accurate with each attack. Shots can be neutralized by Shield, but only for a short time as Shot has more endurance than Shield. The main reason why the Shot cannot be captured or sealed easily is because it is extremely fast.

In episode 28 of the anime, Shot is discovered by Meiling, hiding in its card form amongst a store display of charms, and is accidentally activated when she says she will use it to get a "shot" at Syaoran's heart. Shot attacks Syaoran and is defeated by Sakura's use of Mirror to reflect the Sun's rays. Shot is transformed in Episode 69 when Sakura transforms the last remaining Clow Cards.

The Silent (静)

The Silent (静) is a mysterious card that shuns loud noises. It is able to stifle all forms of sound, rendering even the noisiest room completely silent. It also has the power to "move" away anything that is making noise, though the movement has a limited range. Cerberus admittingly revealed he did not know Silent's special power, either because he forgot it or because Silent doesn't talk and hasn't told him.

Silent appears as a tall slender woman wearing a long blue-black dress and wrapped in dark cape with a high collar. She has long, straight blue hair and a jewel with bat wings on her forehead. She is usually seen standing up with one finger raised to her lips. It is one of the cards which falls under the domain of Dark.

When first encountered in episode 7 of the anime, Silent takes up residence in an oil painting in the Tomoeda art gallery. Because Silent automatically removes anything that causes noise, it is very difficult to capture. Every time Sakura approaches it or tries to say the sealing incantation, Silent simply teleports her out of reach. Sakura eventually manages to seal Silent by using Shadow to extend her reach, so that she could capture Silent from a quiet distance. Silent is transformed in Episode 69 when Sakura transforms the last remaining Clow Cards.

The Sleep (眠)

The Sleep (眠) is able to put people to sleep, whether it be one person or a whole festival full of people, and is one of Sakura's most frequently used cards. It is often used in combination with Time; after Time stops time, Sleep is activated on all the people. When Time wears off, everyone falls asleep at once. This prevents people from noticing others falling asleep before they do and also from seeing Sleep while it does its work.

Sleep resembles a tiny periwinkle fairy with a star on its forehead and one overlarge feathered ear. Sleep sometimes carries a small wand, which usually produces the magical dust that induces sleep. It is one of the cards under the control of the Dark.

In episode 22 of the anime, Sleep takes up residence at the university where Sakura's father works. Sleep puts everyone to sleep except Sakura, who corners Sleep in her father's study and then captures it using Windy.

The Sleep is transformed into a Sakura Card in episode 56 in order to conceal the activities of Spinel Sun after he becomes "drunk" on sugar at a sweets fair. Sakura also considers using Sleep in Episode 64 to make Eriol fall asleep so she can stop the avalanche with her magic unnoticed, but decides against it, fearing that she can't carry Eriol back to the resort after he has fallen asleep.

In the second movie, Sakura uses the Sleep to put everyone to sleep in fear of them noticing the presence of the Nothing, but Sleep's magic is easily nullified when it is captured by the Nothing seconds after Sakura uses it.

The Snow (雪)

The Snow (雪) is able to cause a considerable amount of snow to fall, even during weather that does not promote snow. She is quite aggressive, usually attacking in the form of a blizzard. However Snow is far weaker than Firey, which Sakura summoned in episode 36 in order to defeat it.

Snow's visible form resembles a traditional Japanese 雪女 yuki-onna, or Snow Woman. She wears a blue-white kimono with a blue obi and a necklace that appears to be made from icicles. She has a yellow, upwards facing, crescent moon on her forehead.

Snow is transformed in Episode 68 when Sakura is attacked by a horde of snowmen during one of Eriol's magical trials. Sakura attempts to evade the incoming snowballs but, after becoming overwhelmed by the snow (and angry as a result), transforms and summons Snow, neutralizing all the snow that had appeared.

The Song (歌)

Like The Voice, The Song (歌) loves singing. It is attracted to any beautiful songs that it hears, often copying them to memory. However, unlike Voice, Song cannot steal people's voices, it merely copies them. Song is very shy and is easily scared away by loud sounds or sudden movements, but it can be coaxed into its visible form if it feels safe. Song's visible form resembles a young girl wearing a blue and lavender dress and bluish-lavender headgear. The headgear resembles a treble clef, and the dress resembles the front of a string instrument. Her dress also has the F holes, which look like the violin.

In episode 23 of the anime, Sakura first encounters Song in the school music room while investigating a rumor that it was haunted. While investigating the mysterious singing, Sakura discovers that it is emanating from Song, but every time she tries to get close enough for capture, Meiling accidentally makes a noise that frightens the card away. After a continued pursuit, Sakura realizes that Song is singing a song that Tomoyo had been rehearsing earlier that day and that it is using Tomoyo's voice. Tomoyo starts singing and draws the card out and into its visible form. After singing a duet with Tomoyo, it is immediately captured by Sakura. In episode 46 of the series, The Song appears behind Sakura to help her to remember her world.

Song is transformed in Episode 49, when Sakura uses it to lure a cursed piano, which follows the sound of Tomoyo's voice, off the roof of her school.

The Storm (嵐)

Closely related to Cloud, Rain, Thunder, Watery, and Windy, The Storm (嵐) is a powerful and aggressive card that is capable of summoning huge rainstorms and tornadoes that can be used both to attack an opponent and to bind them. However, despite its power, Storm is vulnerable to attacks directed towards its center (the eye of the storm) and is easily defeated by Syaoran's "Raitei Shourai" in episode 15. Because Syaoran is the one who forces it to return to its visible form, Storm belongs to him.

Syaoran rarely uses the Storm card but does so notably in the first movie, when he calls Storm to distract Madoushi (Su Yung) in order to buy Sakura time to escape her dimension.

Storm appears as a young elf with curly shoulder length hair and also appears to be wearing some form of armor. Storm bears some similarity to The Cloud and The Rain. It has also been surmised that Storm is a male card.

Storm is transformed in Episode 69 when Sakura transforms the last remaining Clow Cards.

The Sweet (甘)

The Sweet (甘) is able to turn objects into edible sweets or make other foods taste sweet. It dislikes being sprinkled with salt. Sealing the card causes everything changed by Sweet to revert to its original form. Sweet's visible form is a small fairy with afro-like hair resembling cotton candy and a yellow dress with a similarly shaped skirt resembling cream puffs. She also holds a wand. It is one of only a few cards, along with Mirror, Light, and Dark, that speak in the anime, saying "No!" after Sakura covers it in salt.

In episode 29 of the anime, Sweet causes mayhem during cooking class at Tomoeda Elementary School for over a week. On Sakura's class's second attempt to bake cakes, Cerberus mentions to Sakura their failures may have been the work of Sweet. Sakura and Syaoran manage to capture Sweet by throwing a bag of salt over it. Sweet is transformed in Episode 53, the first card that Sakura transforms in her frantic wave of transformations.

The Sword (剣)

The Sword (剣) is able to cut through almost anything, including magical barriers. The card gains its strength from the heart of the person who wields it and gives the wielder the skills of a master swordsman. However, Sword can also overwhelm and take control of the person holding it, especially if he or she is non-magical. Sword is so powerful that it is even capable of penetrating through the Shield in Episode 11 and slashing through the time and space continuum warps created by the Loop in Episode 21.

The Sword has two forms: a sword-shaped brooch and a sword. In both forms it resembles a European rapier. Its hilt and hand-guard resemble Clow's wing emblem. In its card form the Sword is bound by several chains for some unknown reason, like the Shield. However it is one suggested theory that both are in chains due to them being the only cards to transform into actual weapons instead of calling upon an animated spirit. Unusually for a sword, Sword finishes in a diamond shaped tip, rather than a conventional tapered or chiseled tip. Although Sword has its own form, Sakura is only able to use it by binding its power to the sealing wand, turning it into a sword. Curiously, Syaoran's Tsurugi Sword is able to deflect several blows from Sword with relative ease. Presumably, its magical nature protected it from damage.

In both the anime (episode 9) and manga (volume 2), Sword possesses Sakura's friend Rika Sasaki (Rita) and forces her to attack Sakura. In both instances, Sakura is saved by Syaoran and then uses Illusion to distract Rika in order to separate her from Sword. In the English dub, Illusion shows Rika what she feared most at that moment in time, but in the original series, it shows her an image of her true love.

Sword is transformed into a Sakura Card in episode 50 when Syaoran is bound by strange threads. Sakura uses Sword to release Syaoran from his prison. In a later episode, Sakura finds the need to fight with both Sword and Fly, but she is limited in that both cards involved the sealing wand and could not be used together. This prompts Sakura to transform Fly, merging with it, so that the wand is left free to turn into Sword.

In the second movie, Sakura uses Sword in the beginning of the movie to destroy a gigantic monster created by the Create in a battle scene for one of Tomoyo's videos. However, it was soon captured by the Nothing and plays no further part in the movie.

The Through (抜)

The Through (抜) is able to allow its user to pass through solid objects, such as walls. The thickness of the object and the strength of the user's magical powers are factors for using the card successfully. Failure will result in the summoner being stuck in the wall forever. There have been two cases where Sakura intends to use Through but, in the end, does not: once during one of Eriol's magical trials when she needs to find Tomoyo at school, and again during the second movie when Sakura needs to cross through a mirror at the amusement park.

There was a third possible time, where she actually used Through, though it's not been proven. In the first movie, when she is chasing the spirit birds for a second time she turned a corner and then there as a light. It could have been the power of the women that made the birds, or Sakura used the though cards. Again, this is just a thought.

Through's card form shows a woman dressed in a flowing gown jumping through a silver, presumably solid, disk. Through's capture is not shown directly in the series, but Episode 36 shows that Sakura had captured it over spring break (the time period following Episode 35). Through's transformation is also not shown in the series.

The Thunder (雷)

The Thunder (雷) is able to create and control all forms of lightning and electricity, similar to Syaoran's often-used "Raitei Shourai" spell but far more powerful, and is one of Sakura's early offensive cards. In its visible form, Thunder resembles a large wolf and is made out of crackling blue-white energy. Its appearance is similar to Japanese mythology, resembling a raiju or thunder creature.

The English dub of the anime names the visible form of Thunder as Raijū (雷獣) (Rai (雷) means thunder and Jū (獣) means beast, meaning literally - Thunder Beast). This is done in order to fill in 'surplus' lip movement after a dialogue change. The visible form of Thunder is never named in the original anime nor in the manga. Raijū is an actual name for a mythical Japanese creature with many forms.

In episode 8 of the anime, Thunder is the first card that Syaoran and Sakura capture together. In the manga (volume 2), Sakura captures it alone. In Episode 67, Sakura transforms Thunder into a Sakura Card when she used Thunder to defeat a magical horse that was attacking her.

The Time (時)

The Time (時) has the ability to influence the passage of time in the world: speeding it up, slowing it down, stopping it entirely, and even turning back the passage of time by a whole day. Altering the passage of time is extremely taxing for all but the most powerful of sorcerers, and a great deal of magic is required even to activate it. At their present magic levels, neither Sakura nor Syaoran are able to do more than pause time for a matter of minutes.

Time is one of the most powerful cards and, when activated, is even able to freeze other cards (except The Nothing, which appears to be immune to Time's powers), though its magic is unable to penetrate through the Shield, which is able to protect Sakura from Time's powers and provides Sakura the chance to capture Time.

Curiously, magic users like Syaoran and Sakura are able to tell if time has been reversed and also retain their memories of the period of time that has been wound back. However they are unable to tell if time has been paused. Time first appeared in the clock tower of Sakura's school and repeated the same day three times before it was eventually captured.

Time's visible form in the anime serie and in the Sakura Card is a robed old man with a long beard (similar to Father Time and the Hermit in Tarot) and pointed ears, carrying a large hourglass.

In episode 12 of the anime, Time is the first card that goes to Syaoran instead of Sakura. This occurs because it is Syaoran who forces time to return to its visible form, not Sakura. The English dub excludes this explanation, instead suggesting that the way that cards 'choose' their holders is a mystery yet to be solved. It is revealed in the Season 2 finale that Time is one of the cards under Yue's jurisdiction.

Time is transformed into a Sakura card in episode 64 to stop an avalanche. She tries melting the snow with Firey, but does not have enough power and fails. Because of the deletion of a number of episodes, the transformation of Time is not seen in the American adaptation (was shown in other English layouts), and it is seen several episodes earlier (about episode 60) in the English dub.

In the second movie, Time is one of the remaining five cards that Sakura has in her possession, and the second one that she uses against the Nothing. Sakura uses Time to stop a roller coaster that the Nothing sends at her, but its magic is soon neutralized by the Nothing's own power.

The Twin (双)

The Twin (双) is an aggressive card, able to produce duplicates of objects, including people. In episode 43 of the anime, Cerberus informs Sakura that both entities that comprise Twin must be captured at the same time and that the only way to successfully attack them is by using two simultaneous attacks. Syaoran and Meiling are able to achieve this through their martial arts training.

Twin's visible form is two yellow-colored small children wearing long sleeves. One of them has a pink tuft of hair on the forehead, while the other one has a blue tuft. Twin's transformation is not shown in the series.

The Voice (声)

The Voice (声) is a mischievous card that is able to steal people's voices. Usually, Voice is content with listening to people, but if it hears a voice that it likes, it is capable of stealing it, rendering that person completely mute. Tomoyo becomes victim to Voice's thievery in episode 37. In order to capture Voice and return Tomoyo's voice, Sakura lures it by summoning Song, which sings one of Tomoyo's songs from memory.

Voice's visible form is a young girl with long feather-like ears and long wavy hair similar to that of a Harpy. Voice is transformed in Episode 53 during Sakura's frantic wave of transformations.

The Watery (水)

The Watery (水) is one of the four elemental cards. It has a very temperamental personality and is able to control and create water. Watery appears to be female, although her looks are somewhat boyish.

Watery is able to absorb power from other water-based cards like Rain and is one of the two elemental cards directly linked to Yue (the other being the passive more gentle counterpart, The Windy). She resembles a blue mermaid with webbed fingers and large ears that appear to be a cross between webbed flippers and pointed elf's ears. It has no legs but instead rides on a column of water that resembles a tail. Watery can also dissolve itself into any body of water, becoming indistinguishable from its surroundings.

In episode 3 of the anime, Watery makes a home in an aquarium where it attacked the animals and keepers, and later Sakura. In the manga (Volume 1), Watery first appears in school's swimming pool, where it tries to drown a number of students. In both cases Sakura manages to capture Watery by luring it into a walk-in freezer and locking it in until it froze. In the anime, Sakura used Windy to lure it into the freezer and stir up the ice inside, speeding up the process.

Sakura subsequently uses Watery to capture Rain and in conjunction with the Windy to capture the Firey. She uses Watery in an attempt to defeat Earthy in Episode 45, but Earthy does not seem to be affected by Watery's powers. In Episode 63, Sakura transforms Watery to save Rika from drowning in a pool gone haywire. In Volume 11 of the manga, Sakura transforms Watery to avoid Eriol's fire attack.

In the second movie, Sakura uses Watery at the beginning of the movie to vanquish a fire monster created by the Create in a battle scene for one of Tomoyo's videos. However, the Nothing soon captures Watery and it plays no further part in the movie.

The Wave (波)

The Wave (波) capture is never seen in the anime but, from its name, it has been surmised that it is a less powerful version of Watery, probably able to control existing water near it but unable to create new water magically like Watery can, capable of creating gigantic tidal waves. Wave's card form shows a stream, implying some affiliation with water. It falls under the Watery

Wave's capture is not shown directly in the series, but episode 36 shows that Sakura had captured it over spring break (the time period following episode 35). The Wave is transformed in Episode 53 during Sakura's frantic wave of transformations.

The Windy (風)

The Windy (風) is able to create and manipulate air and is one of the four elemental cards. Being so, it is one of the most powerful Clow Cards. Although it is powerful enough to create massive whirlwinds, Windy is probably the most gentle and non-aggressive card. Instead of being used for attack, Sakura uses the Windy to bind her opponents in its winds to help her capture other Clow Cards. Windy is mostly yellow-coloured and looks like a woman with wings (like a Fairy) on her shoulders and coming out of her forehead. Windy is transformed in Episode 53. Sakura uses it to try to catch the frantic Dash, unsuccessfully at first, but later with success. In the manga, Windy is transformed when Sakura uses it to clear up the smog created by Eriol.

Windy is the only Clow Card that Sakura does not have to capture, as it is in her hand at the time the other Cards scatter, which begins her adventure. In the manga, the Windy is scattered along with the rest of the cards, but because of its gentle nature, the Windy simply returned peacefully to the Clow Book. In the anime, Windy can be used by the other cards as a conduit to communicate with each other. Windy is one of the two elemental cards directly linked to Yue (the other being the offensive and aggressive counterpart The Watery).

Windy is first seen in volume 1 of the manga, by which time it had already been captured. Sakura plans to use Windy to capture Thunder in Episode 8, but Syaoran informs her gruffly that Thunder is immune to Windy's powers. She uses Windy in Episode 22 to successfully capture Sleep. Sakura uses Windy to defeat Yue in the Final Judgement, despite the fact that Windy is one of the cards under his jurisdiction. In Episode 69, when Sakura battles Eriol, Sakura uses Windy to try to defeat Eriol, as it overpowered Yue in the Final Judgement, but Eriol easily disperses Windy. In the second movie, Windy is one of the last cards that Sakura possesses, and she uses it in a desperate attempt to retrieve the cards that the Nothing stole from her, but even Windy's mighty winds were unable to return the stolen Sakura Cards.

The Wood (樹)

The Wood (樹) is a gentle spirit that is able to control and create trees, branches, vines, etc. Sakura often uses Wood to form cages with which to trap other Clow Cards. Although gentle in nature, Wood sometimes becomes "overexcited" when exposed to water cards like Rain, and it can even draw enough power from them to escape its card form even after capture. Although Wood can form herself into trees and branches, her natural form appears to be a small mossy green and yellow wood nymph about 8 inches high. She has long green leaf-like hair with vines and wears tiara made of leaves.

Sakura, even after the use of many other cards, could not capture the Earthy, but, in accordance with the Chinese balance of five elements, wood is superior to earth, so Wood was able to overpower Earthy. In episode 4 of the anime, Sakura simply finds Wood in card form in her basement, but she forgot to sign her name on the card, leading to Wood's escaping and ransacking Sakura's house.

Sakura uses Wood in Episode 15 to cushion the descent of a small girl who had been whisked into the air by the Float. In Episode 67, Sakura used Wood to constrain a magical horse that was attacking her. It is revealed in the Season 2 Finale that Wood is one of the cards under Yue's jurisdiction. In the second movie, Sakura uses Wood in an attempt to capture the Nothing, who was hiding behind a mirror at a Monster House of an amusement park, but fails and Nothing quickly captures Wood.

References

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Series 1-3, Bandai Visual
• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volumes 1-6, Nakayoshi
• Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow, Volumes 7-12, Nakayoshi
• Cardcaptor Sakura Art-book (I-III)
• Cardcaptor Sakura - Official Website (NHK)
• Card Captor Sakura Clow Card Fortune Book, Kodansha (2000), ISBN 4063342980