Cerberus (Cardcaptor Sakura)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cerberus (ケロベロス Keroberosu?) 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.
In the English adaptation Cardcaptors, he is known as Keroberos or Kero. 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).
Kero also appears in the anime adaptation of Clamp's latest manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. In Tsubasa Chronicle, Aya Hisakawa reprises her role (the one and only character from Cardcaptor Sakura to do so).
Contents |
Kerberus's name and form are based on Cerberus from Greek mythology, though the Greek monster has three heads.
Kero's name in Japanese is pronounced as "keh-ro". In Cardcaptors, his name is pronounced as "kee-ro" (such that it rhymes with zero).
The older TOKYOPOP releases of the manga render his name as "Keroberos," but this was changed in later printings to "Cerberus."
Kero is the guardian of the mystical yet dangerous book of clow cards. Stuck inside an untrue form to begin with, he does what ever he can to help Sakura on her quest.
Cerberus is the Guardian of the Seal of the Clow who was napping at the time Sakura Kinomoto breaks the Seal and unleashes the Clow Cards. Cerberus is one of two guardians of the Clow (created by Clow Reed), and one of his missions is to select the candidate to become the new master of the Cards. The other guardian, Yue, is the Judge, who tests the chosen candidate on their ability to accept the role of master.
In his miniature, borrowed form he resembles an orange plush toy with white wings. Because Sakura feels that he does not resemble a "Kerberos," she calls him "Kero-chan." He initially rejects the name (Kero is also the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a frog makes, a comparison he resents), but soon comes to embrace it once he gets to know Sakura. Kero-chan is bossy, demanding, and gluttonous, but he also genuinely cares about Sakura and believes that she will become the next Master of the Clow, acting as her guide to gather the Cards. His hobbies include playing video games (which he takes up when he finds the console in Sakura's room and develops great skill) 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, and in the anime he is shown to be affected by alcohol (at one point becoming completely intoxicated after eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs with no previous knowledge of their properties), despite his fondness for sweets he is not above sharing his sweets provided there is enough left for him (one example was the disastrous incident in the anime were he forces a large amount of sweets down Spinel Suns throat causing Spinel to go on a hyper sugar rush).
He 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, Kero can be somewhat of an egomaniac, obsessing over his "coolness".
Despite his behavior, Kero 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 he mistook Kaho Mizuki for the false form of Yue because of her strong moon-aspected aura. In addition to this, Cerberus is also not quite as carefree and without inhibitions as he seems at first glance. In his profile, Cerberus's "favorite thing" is described as "anything noisy and fun", and his least favorite as "anything sad". 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 them. Throughout the first half of the series, he is plagued by nightmares about Yue and the upcoming Final Judgment though, according to Sakura, he is unwilling to discuss them. Cerberus also is seen spending much of his time dwelling on thoughts of the trial, and Sakura's ability to pass. We see more of Cerberus's more serious side in the Sakura Card arc as he spend much of his time in deep thought, or in conversation with Yue about the strange happenings going on in Tomoeda at that time. Once agin, however, he is carful to keep Sakura oblivious of his concern. We also get to see another bit of the guardian beast's more fretful side during the Sakura Card arc. Cerberus is faced early on in this half of the series with a critical problem when, in the 7th book of the manga (the first book of the second story arc), Yue confesses to him that Sakura's power is not yet strong enough to support him, a situation that endangers both his and Yukito's lives. Despite Cerberus's mostly unconcerned response to this news, twice he risks exposure to check up on Yue and his temporary form and make sure they're alright. The most obvious of these incidents is when Sakura goes over to Yukito's house to deliver a teddy bear she made for him, Cerberus, oddly enough (Yukito doesn't know about Cerberus), decides to tag along. Furthermore, when Sakura asks him about this he responds that he "thought [he]'d see how the was snowbunny's doin...To see if he's healthy", and behind a confused Sakura's back mutters something about "If he could keep on living till now" quite a contrast to his supposed lack of concern only the night before.
Cerberus often argues with Syaoran Li, who calls him "plush toy" or "stuffed animal" and whom he calls "kid" (小僧 kozō?) in the original Japanese) in return. This likely stems from Syaoran's initial arrogance and confidence that he will take over the Clow Cards, despite Cerberus's claims that Sakura is the actual Cardcaptor. Additionally, in the anime,Meiling Li also takes a similar dislike for him, calling him a "bath sponge". While Syaoran is "kid," Cerberus calls Meiling "brat" (小娘 komusume?).
Cerberus's true form resembles a winged lion, but in order for him to achieve this original form, Sakura must capture The Firey and The Earthy cards. In his true form he has jurisdiction over all things fire and earth, the elements which are "under him" and draw their power, in part from him. The known Clow Cards under his jurisdiction are Light, Firey and Earthy, but also quite probably the Glow (related to light), the Jump (unlike flying, jumping only requires a hard surface to jump from, like earth), the Sword (forged by fire and made from earth), the Thunder (related to fire and creates light), the Maze (the walls are made of stone, and it grows taller in a way similar to Earth), the Erase (only card left from the original 19, and is probably not lunar). He can also raise powerful magical barriers, use his wings as a shield, and breathe fire.
Because Clow Reed had been in Osaka for a long time, Cerberus speaks in the Osaka dialect.
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.
The segment is known as "Kero's Corner" in Cardcaptors.
The title was reused for the second movie for a comic short in which Cerberus and Spinel Sun race all over Tomoeda chasing a runaway piece of takoyaki that is at one point switched with a superball.
- Kero's design has long existed as the mascot of Piffle Corporation, a fictitious company by Clamp (appearing in several of their series) that makes and sells various toys, food, and electronics.
- Kero also appears in Clamp latest manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle at Rekord Country and in its anime adaptation in the episode "Kero-chan and Mokona".
In the English version of the anime, Kero's voice in the series is completely different from his voice from Cardcaptor Sakura (his voice was clearly a male in Cardcaptor Sakura while in Tsubasa, his voice is female, similar to a opera singer's).
- In the Filipino version aired on ABS-CBN, Kero is known as "Kerberos" in both the false and true forms. But in the Filipino version aired by GMA, Kero is first called "Kerberos" but is later changed to "Kero-chan".
- He was parodied in School Rumble when Mai Ōtsuka imagines herself as a magical girl and Iori, Yakumo's cat, as a winged and talking cat similar to Kero.
Information
|
Characters
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Clow Cards
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Episode Guide: Clow Card Arc: 1-18, 19-35, 36-46 | Sakura Card Arc: 47-59, 60-70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
