 Clamp designed Syaoran using the ideas of manga author Osamu Tezuka and his Star System. Syaoran was based on Syaoran Li, a character from Cardcaptor Sakura — another series written by Clamp. Syaoran and Sakura were chosen to be the series'protagonist because their Cardcaptor Sakura counterparts had a happy ending, but Clamp said that the characters would have to go throughout the series to get their own happy ending. At the start of the manga, Syaoran's character was already planned to go through development. The characters Fai D. Flowright and Kurogane were added to provide additional characters who were older than Syaoran. In early versions of the manga, Syaoran was portrayed as a mechanic rather than an archaeologist, with Fujitaka having taught him about machines. In the original design, Syaoran wore a cap, a different outfit and an enormous adjustable spanner.
