The fictional characters appearing in the manga and anime series xxxHolic were developed by Clamp, a group of four manga artists. The series takes place in modern Japan and focuses on various supernatural themes, with most of the main characters being humans with magical powers, supernatural creatures, or spirits. Published concurrently with Clamp's ' manga, the two manga's plotlines and character cross over.
The series' protagonist is Kimihiro Watanuki, a high school student plagued by yà Âkai and ayakashi spirits. One day, when running away from the spirits, he accidentally enters the shop of witch Yà «ko Ichihara, who has the power to grant wishes for a price. Yà «ko decides to grant his wish of making his demons go away in exchange for having him work as her assistant in her shop. Working at Yà «ko's shop, Watanuki encounters various spirits and also gets to know his classmates Shizuka Dà Âmeki and Himawari Kunogi better. Although Watanuki comes to value his new life at the shop, he begins to worry about Yà «ko and eventually promises that he will try to grant her wish, should she have one.
The characters from xxxHolic were designed by Clamp's members Mokona and Tsubaki Nekoi. Some of their designs were inspired by ukiyo-e art style. The series' characters' interactions and personalities, as well as the designs, have been met with positive critical reception. On the other hand, the designs featured in the animated adaptations have received mixed reviews.
The artwork of xxxHolic is influenced by the Ukiyo-e art style. A notable theme of the work, which recurs in other Clamp works, is the use of one-eyed or blind characters to express a feeling of loneliness and perhaps parallel Nanase Ohkawa's own poor right-eye vision. Likewise, in xxxHolic<nowiki/>'s crossover series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, the loss of eyesight is also a theme, and Tsubasa includes artwork influenced by Ukiyo-e.
The series' female characters are designed by Mokona, while Tsubaki Nekoi draws the males and spirits. The characters were named so that different people would find different meanings in them.
is a high school student plagued by his ability to see spirits. One day he stumbles, seemingly by chance, upon the wish-granting shop of Yà «ko Ichihara. She promises to remove his ability to see spirits if he works part-time in her shop until his work equals the worth of his wish. Since he lives by himself, he is experienced in cooking and cleaning, much to Yà «ko's pleasure. Besides doing domestic tasks for Yà «ko, Watanuki also often completes jobs of a spiritual or magical nature. Shota Sometani plays Watanuki in the live action TV series and Kamiki Ryunosuke plays Watanuki in the live action movie.
is a witch who runs a shop that grants wishes to customers in exchange for something of equal value to the wish. Yà «ko takes anything from precious objects to abstract concepts, such as love or luck, in exchange. She is usually free-spirited and somewhat immature, drinking constantly, typically seen smoking a kiseru and forcing difficult tasks upon Watanuki. However, when giving customers or Watanuki advice, she is much more stern and offers cryptic messages that serve as warnings of impending danger. She constantly speaks of inevitability ("hitsuzen") and how nothing is a coincidence. The actress and model Anne Watanabe plays the role of Yà «ko in the live action TV series and Shibasaki Kou in the live action movie.
is a schoolmate of Watanuki. He lives in a shrine owned by his late grandfather Haruka Dà Âmeki, a Shinto priest who taught Shizuka about folklore and Shinto practices during his childhood. However, despite his heritage, Dà Âmeki does not have the ability to see ghosts or spirits, though he can sense them and has a natural ability to exorcise them. He is part of the school's kyà «dà  club and excels in school competitions. Dà Âmeki barely speaks unless explaining folklore or asking Watanuki for meals.
Despite Watanuki's initial dislike for him, Yà «ko often makes Dà Âmeki join Watanuki in his jobs as his ability to exorcise spirits negates Watanuki's ability to attract them. Utilizing Yà «ko's shop, Watanuki gives Domeki half of his eye after he loses his right eye's vision to the spirits, which allows Dà Âmeki to see and experience what Watanuki goes through. He also gives Watanuki a large amount of his blood, which, according to Yà «ko, causes their personalities to change. Yà «ko gives Domeki a magic egg obtained by Sakura while working for her; however, Dà Âmeki does not know what it does or when he should use it.
Four years after Yà «ko's death, Dà Âmeki is a university student studying ancient history. He often visits Watanuki in the shop. Because Watanuki cannot leave the shop, Dà Âmeki provides assistance both with Watanuki's work and by providing essentials, such as food. After six more years, Dà Âmeki graduates and has become an assistant to one of his professors at the university. In the xxxHolic Rà  Adayume OVA it is revealed that Dà Âmeki is engaged to Kohane Tsuyuri, having delivered his wedding's invitation to Watanuki. After more than one hundred years have passed since Watanuki inherited the shop, Dà Âmeki's great-grandson is Watanuki's new assistant and still possesses the egg Yà «ko gave to his great-grandfather. Masahiro Higashide plays Dà Âmeki in the live action TV series and Hokuto Matsumura plays Domeki in the live action movie.
is Watanuki's love interest and classmate. She is very cheerful and friendly around Watanuki and DÃ Âmeki. However, though Watanuki is very open in showing his feelings and admiration for her, she appears oblivious to the fact that he likes her. Watanuki often invites her to join him for various outings, but Himawari usually has some prior engagement, which comically and inadvertently leaves Watanuki alone with DÃ Âmeki.
Watanuki originally believes that she is his "goddess of good luck", though Yà «ko seems to think otherwise, often dropping cryptic hints about Himawari's true nature. It is eventually revealed that Himawari emanates misfortune that affects everyone around her except her parents and those with spiritual abilities, such as Dà Âmeki and Yà «ko. Her bad luck causes Watanuki to fall from a second story window and nearly die as a result of the fall and shattered glass. Yà «ko has them rush Watanuki to her shop, where they manage to save his life. Himawari offers to take on any physical scars Watanuki would have received from the accident as a payment for keeping him alive. After revealing this to Watanuki, she attempts to cut all connections with him. Watanuki, however, tells her that he is truly happy around her no matter what and refuses to stop seeing her. He later gives her a small bird he names that is immune to her bad luck. The small bird comes from an egg that was retrieved by Sakura from an alternate Tokyo in '. After Watanuki tells Himawari that he loves her and is glad to have met her, Himawari begins to develop feelings for him.
She is the only main character not shown visiting Watanuki after he inherits the shop; she attends a university far away from the shop, and because her natural misfortune causes problems with the shop's magic, she promises only to enter the shop on Watanuki's birthday, though she calls occasionally. Himawari ends up marrying a businessman whose identity is unknown. She was played by Karen Miyazaki in the xxxHolic TV drama and Tina Tamashiro in the live action movie.
is a young girl who has been featured on many paranormal TV shows as a child prodigy, medium and exorcist. After first developing her powers, she helped her mother learn that her father was having an affair, which caused her mother's personality to drastically change. As a result, her mother refuses to touch her, refer to her by name, or socialize with others; she also takes away any objects or food not considered "pure". She tries to get Kohane onto as many TV shows as possible, and uses the earnings to buy extravagant material possessions. Nevertheless, Kohane thinks that her mother's behavior is her fault for developing supernatural powers. Due to her family life, Kohane is quiet and lonely, though she attempts to stay strong for her mother's sake and takes the blame for the family's problems.
She eventually meets Watanuki and forms a bond with him. Despite protests from Kohane's mother, Watanuki continues to contact her and make her happy. It is later revealed that Kohane's powers of exorcism developed from one of Sakura's magical feathers, though her ability to see spirits is natural. She asks Yà «ko to grant her happiness, which Yà «ko does by fixing the various external problems in her life, such as her reputation, in exchange for her exorcism ability. However, Yà «ko cannot fix her issues with her mother, as a person's true character can only be changed by their own will. Four years after Yà «ko's death, Kohane is a student at Tsuji Academy and often visits Watanuki in his shop. She continues to live with the grandmother fortune teller. After six years, she is a student of folklore at the same university as Dà Âmeki. In the xxxHolic Rà  Adayume OVA it is revealed that Kohane is engaged with Dà Âmeki, who states that even so, Watanuki is Kohane's most important person.
is a spirit girl who lives on a mountain with pure spiritual energy. She is very shy and prone to crying, which causes her tiny Karasu-Tengu Guardians to defend her. Ironically, the guardians will come to her aid even if she weeps tears of joy. Zashiki-warashi develops a crush on Kimihiro Watanuki as his endeavors become known among spirits, and she first meets him when she accidentally steals Shizuka Dà Âmeki's soul while attempting to get a good Valentine's Day gift for Watanuki. He later sees her while giving her a White Day present, while restoring the pipe fox spirit to his smaller form. Watanuki later rescues her from Lady Jorà Âgumo, who captures her after a failed attempt to recover Watanuki's eye, and she appears again briefly with her friend, Ame-warashi, after Watanuki recovers from a near death experience. In xxxHolic Rei, she has gone missing, unwilling to meet Watanuki with the other spirits fearing she might be corrupted. Zashiki-warashi is played by Ai Hashimoto in the movie.
is a high-ranking rain spirit who has a very hostile attitude toward humans due to the fact that "humans have no care or regard whatsoever with living nature". She is somewhat close and protective of Zashiki-warashi and often teases Watanuki despite him helping to fulfill her request. She owned the creature Kudagitsune, which later becomes Watanuki's guardian. She gives it to Yà «ko Ichihara as a compensation for fulfilling her wish to revive the sick hydrangea. In xxxHolic Rei, she appears worried about Zashiki-warashi's health and is willing to pay any price to Watanuki to save her. Ame-warashi is played by Aoi Morikawa.
, later named by Watanuki, is a tube fox spirit given to Yà «ko as payment by Ame-warashi for Watanuki's help. It quickly becomes attached to Watanuki, and protects him during dangerous situations. It is generally a small snake-like being with a fox's head, but it can transform into a traditional nine-tailed fox when it reveals its true power. It is able to create "Foxfire" in the form of large fireballs, and it can detect evil spirits. It takes a large amount of pure spiritual energy to revert it to its initial form.
Jorà Âgumo (Japanese Kanji: , Hiragana: ) is a type of Yà Âkai who is linked with the spiders that capture a part of Watanuki's eyes. She captures Zashiki-warashi in an attempt to take the eye. In xxxHolic Ro Lady Jorà Âgumo comes to the shop as a client who wishes Watanuki to find her a carmesi pearl, which Watanuki has thanks to Ningyo. Jorogumo is mentioned again in xxxHolic Rei by Ningyo who gives Watanuki a shamisen following an interaction with the Jorogumo. Jorogumo is played by Riho Yoshioka in the movie.
and , whose respective real names are and , are two artificial beings that keep Yà «ko's shop in existence. They are energetic and often speak in unison and repeat the words of others. They cannot leave the shop, as they have no souls. They help Yà «ko around the shop most of the time, but often go into long periods of hibernation due to the difficulty of keeping the shop in existence. Yà «ko uses the last bit of her power to revive Maru and Moro and send them back to the shop. After Watanuki becomes the new shop's owner, Maru and Moro become his assistants. Later it is shown that they have developed a very close bond with Watanuki, similar to the one they had with Yà «ko. Played by Ririka Kawashima in the drama series and Daoko in the movie. Played by Tsumugi Hatakeyama in the drama series and Serena Motola in the movie.
refers to a pair of two rabbit-like creatures created by Yà «ko and Clow Reed in preparation for the events in ' and xxxHolic. The travels with 's group, while the black Mokona stays in Yà «ko's shop. Both are based upon the original Mokona of Magic Knight Rayearth, whom Yà «ko and Clow encountered while Mokona was traveling through different worlds. Mokona provided Yà «ko and Clow with the knowledge of alternate dimensions.
The black Mokona, whose real name is , acts as a liaison between the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle protagonists and Yà «ko. Mokona likes to be around Yà «ko, who treats Mokona as a "drinking buddy." He also likes to be around Watanuki and play with Maru and Moro. While allowing the two groups to speak, Mokona can also teleport and receive items from the white Mokona by swallowing them. Like the white Mokona, he has a single earring. It is a blue gem made by Clow Reed and has the ability to seal magical power, and it also holds 's memories of Syaoran and Watanuki's memory of his past.
is the deceased grandfather of Dà Âmeki, and a former Shinto priest who taught Shizuka Dà Âmeki many of his practices. He has the ability to destroy evil spirits and cross into dreams, and often appears to Watanuki's dream, taking on the appearance of a teenager. As a teenager, he looks exactly like Dà Âmeki, though he has a somewhat more cheerful and outgoing personality than his grandson, and he is always smoking. He acts like a guide to Watanuki as Yà «ko does, often giving him advice, telling him about Dà Âmeki, and helping him work out problems. Before her death, Yà «ko visits Haruka in a dream requesting that he keep protecting Watanuki. In the xxxHolic Rà  Adayume OVA, Haruka becomes Watanuki's client as he wants him to free Dà Âmeki from nightmares.
refers to two identical teenagers who appear across the series. The first one is from a parallel dimension and visits Yà «ko's shop to help him save his childhood friend Sakura. He gains the ability to travel across dimension with the white Mokona in order to recover the memories Sakura lost and remains in contact with Yà «ko. The shortly visits Yà «ko, as he is sent to another world. While Watanuki does not know him, Syaoran paid a price to save Watanuki from dying after being affected by Himawari's bad luck, and constantly he can hear him yelling him not to die. It is later revealed that the second Syaoran was responsible for creating Watanuki when he wished turn back time, but at the price of losing his freedom to the sorcerer Fei-Wang Reed. Watanuki was used to replace Syaoran in his world, sharing the same parents, but forgot all of this, when he paid Yà «ko with his memories to locate Fei-Wang. Watanuki later learns of their relationship in the ending of Tsubasa when both are imprisoned by Fei-Wang's curse. To free each other Syaoran has to travel across dimensions forever. Both Syaorans are voiced by Miyu Irino.
comes from another dimension in a catatonic state while under the care of the teenager Syaoran. As Sakura is about to die due to losing her soul, Syaoran goes on a search across dimension to save her. However, the usage of the white Mokona Modoki to travel across dimension requires Sakura to pay to Yà «ko with all her memories regarding Syaoran, her most important person. As the series continues, Sakura recovers and gives Yà «ko an egg as part of a job which then becomes two and are given to Watanuki and Domeki. Her soul is later separated from her body and appears in the Dream World where she meets Watanuki. Befriending him, Sakura finds Watanuki similar to the other Syaoran, and later disappears from the Dream World. She is voiced by Yui Makino.
is a real life singer who has performed multiple themes for the adaptations of the xxxHolic anime. He appears in a small chapter, xxxHolic Shi where he requests Watanuki the wish of becoming more famous. However, Watanuki finds it strange stating that while he is already famous in real life for his achievements, the wish would make him unable to write and sing more songs. In December 2015, Clamp collaborated with Victor Entertainment to create a music video involving a theme by Suga, a singer who performed multiple themes for the xxxHolic animated adaptations. Clamp drew Watanuki and Yà «ko, who feature in the video alongside Suga.
Akagumo is a character featured in the 2022 live-action adaptation of xxxHolic. He appears as a subordinate from the Jorà Âgumo. He is played by Hayato Isomura. Director Mika Ninagawa claimed it was difficult to include Akagumo in the movie because of the expectations of having a new character prominent in the narrative.
The characters from xxxHolic have been well received by publications from manga and anime. Although Watanuki's character was initially seen "a little bit weak to be the lead character", his interactions with other characters and his development across the series has been praised. Todd Douglass Jr. from DVD Talk agreed, focusing in the characters in general and how they were developed across the anime. The emotional focus on the series has also been well-received due to its comedy and the way characters deal supernatural elements. Yuko has also been called the "star performer" from the series, and her death has received mixed feelings; although writers found events following her death to lack the main characters' comedy, the way Watanuki dealt with her role was enjoyed. The connections between the characters from xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle has also received positive comments as how in both series, an important connection between two characters from the two series is hinted. However, the lack of reading the other series would confuse the readers or it would persuade them to read the other series.
The manga's character designs have been labelled as "striking". Carlo Santos of Anime News Network praised the artwork. Critics have found issues with anime's character designs due to how the limbs were extended in most episodes, leading to superdeformed. Nevertheless, such designs have been found comical with every character still noted to be distinctive. The voice casting for the English release of the series has been found remarkable with comments focused on the work from Colleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko and Todd Haberkorn as Watanuki; although the former was enjoyed, the latter received mixed responses.