Who is Watanuki Kimihiro? - SPOLIERS for xxxHOLiC Ch. 144
This entry was inspired by Ashura-sama and the awesome translation of Chapter 144 of xxxHOLiC. Ashura-sama has come up with the brilliant idea of who Watanuki is and how he came into existence-which I am putting under a cut because it involves a ton of spoilers for Ch. 144.
The thread that inspired this entry of mine is the translation of Ch. 144 and another encouraged more thoughts on this: Dreams, dream's, dream's.
Here is Ashura-sama basic idea as to who Watanuki is and why he is so closely bonded to real!Syaoran:
"For a long time he was what some forgotten corner of Shaoran's mind dreamt he was (like the butterfly in the story was what the man dreamt he was), but instead of going "poof" like normal dreams, he achieved actual existence."
And I totally love it! What I am proposing is that they reason Watanuki achieved actual existence is because real!Syaoran unconsciously used the power of the memories Yuuko took as the Price to make Watanuki real.
Watanuki being given life by the dreaming, sealed Syaoran explains their connection beautifully--better than my idea alone, I admit--but it doesn't explain how Syaoran could do it. I am not saying that Syaoran is weak or anything like that, just that creating a dream avatar identical to himself would be logical, but creating one as powerful and different from himself as Watanuki is, especially with his abilities, was not something that happened just because of Syaoran.
This is my new idea, incorporating Ashura-sama's brilliant theory along with mine into something even stranger:
I think that Syaoran knew what was going to happen to Sakura--we know this for a fact because that is why Fei Wong sealed him, to stop him from interfering with FWR's plan for Sakura--and yet could do nothing but watch and dream and wait for the time when he could help. I think that Syaoran's intense desire to aid Sakura and his clone in their upcoming quest, and also his strong need to somehow directly affect the world he was only a spectator to, led Syaoran to dreaming a person in to being that could do all that he wanted--that person was Watanuki.
This is all Ashura-sama's idea so far and it is very logical, plausible and brilliant. But it doesn't explain everything--no theories ever do at first--and that is where I think 'The Price' comes in to play. Yuuko never asks for a specific price without one of the following reasons--and many times both--one: to make sure that the wish-er knows the value of their wish by asking for something an equivalent value and two: knowing that that price will be integral for the fulfillment another's wish.
I have various reasons that I think Yuuko took those specific memories from Sakura-(1) to soften the eventual betrayal, or at least revealing, of the clone; and (2) to also make the feathers much less powerful and therefore less destruction to the worlds that they encountered are the two most powerful reasons. The feathers that they recover already have the memories of the most precious person removed--just think of how much more powerful those feathers would have been in left totally intact? Scar-y! I think a third reason that Yuuko took those specific memories were (3) because of their link to the sleeping Syaoran-they are his memories as much as they are Sakura's and once removed from Sakura, he becomes the keeper of those memories. He keeps those memories alive because he remembers them-he gives them his power as much as Sakura gave them hers. All of her love, friendship, companionship, everything for her most special person is in those memories, thereby making them her most valuable and strongest memories.
I think Yuuko took the Price for all the above stated reasons, but also because she knew, just as Clow knew, that those memories could be transformed into a boy that could aid the quest from Yuuko’s side. Perhaps it was decided that someone else was needed to aid the crew for the ‘second time around’ as Yuuko called this adventure-or maybe Watanuki was around the first time around and the difference this time is that fact that Doumeki can see spirits now too because the bond between him and Watanuki is so strong this time.
In CCS, Clow refers to the losing of the memory of one's most precious person as a great Evil-perhaps even the greatest evil of all. So what does that make those memories themselves? Answer: a great Good, the strongest good possible from a person. Such a power left in the feathers could have caused those feathers to rip the fabric of reality apart and yet, gathered together in one place, they are a tremendous amount of power-but pure good power, nothing evil could even use of even touch, not that it would stop evil from trying. For what is the biggest allure to evil but its antithesis, the very thing it is lacking. What stronger beacon to evil that pure goodness? But, use all of that pure positive power for a pure aim-to help the very loved one that those feelings are from and are for-and you would come up with a wildly powerful force of good that even the faintest taint of evil would make it sicken-just like Watanuki.
Because if Watanuki is solely a portion of Syaoran in the dream world that got lost on its way back to its originator and gained sentience of its own, then Watanuki's powers would be directly derived from his originator-Syaoran. And Syaoran is powerful, perhaps even equal or greater than Watanuki, but his power is a direct dichotomy to Watanuki's. What I mean is that Syaoran has 'active power', as I call it. 'Active Power' is, just as the name suggests, a power that requires it to be active for its influence to be felt.
Augh, this is harder to explain than it is in my head. I guess an easier way to explain it is to explain the opposite kind of power-‘static power'-the kind of power that Watanuki, along with Sakura-hime, possess. 'Static Power' is something that requires no effort on the part of the power-bearer for it to influence others-it is always 'on', a static effect (a term I took from Magic: the Gatehring which I love to play but am horribly such at). Watanuki's power is always on, always emitting itself to others, with no effort on Watanuki's part-which is exactly his problem: he can't turn it off. Watanuki's power allows him to see and interact with both ghosts and spirits, whether he wants to or not. His Spirit Sight is just another of his senses, like his sight and hearing, making it a power he is constantly and unconsciously using. Syaoran, in contrast, has to actively use his magic for it to affect others, by means of spells and such the like. He does also have a static portion to his power, such as his ability to sense power in others and sense other magic, but again that is most effective when he consciously uses it.
Sakura-hime's power is the same kind of power as Watanuki's-she sees ghosts, although not with the solidly and reality that Watanuki has because she seems able to differentiate between the living and the dead. She has great empathy for others, to such an extreme that something need not be sentient for her to sense it. She is a dreamseer, as recently revealed, something that is simply another part of her, like her green eyes and brown hair. She Sees in her dreams whether she wants to or not, yet it too contains a portion of the opposite type of power-she can actively seek to use that power to increase its effectiveness sometimes, which is what she was training with Yukito to do before the quest interrupted her training. But actively using it is not necessary for it to work-again, it is simply another part of her as smelling or hearing or any of her senses. Watanuki's power seems to be the extreme--total and completely passive. There is nothing that Watanuki can do to affect his powers, no amount of concentration changes how his power works.
For someone whose magic is an 'active' type to somehow create from himself someone whose power is totally and irrevocably passive would require outside interference of some type. Also, if Syaoran were setting out to actively create someone to help in the ventures, wouldn't it make sense to create someone who has the ability to direct that power to be aid when needed? Furthermore, Syaoran does not possess even a small portion of the power that is the total makeup of Watanuki. Syaoran cannot see ghosts nor is drawn to spirits of any type, at least that we have seen-it is not part of his makeup. If Watanuki came solely from Syaoran, then he would share some type of affinity towards Syaoran's magic, but he does not.
Now, if Watanuki were to come about driven by Syaoran's need and fueled, powered, by the intensely strong memories that Syaoran is so intimately a part of, then Watanuki's powers make much more sense. Watanuki was created and shaped by Syaoran from the raw magic that is the Price, it makes sense that Watanuki's powers would be a natural derivative of the raw material used. Syaoran created Watanuki, but he was given shape and sustenance by the precious memories of the two-Syaoran and Sakura. Given that the memories raw power comes from Sakura, it makes perfect sense that Watanuki’s powers are so similar to Sakura’s--as they were directly derived from Sakura’s.
What I think happened is that Syaoran so desperately wanted to help Sakura and C!Syaoran that he grabbed all the magic available to him and formed that magic into, by his will, determination and his own considerable magic, a person that could aid Sakura on her journey as best as possible. Syaoran took the raw magic of the Price and, in his dreams, formed it into someone with his heart and determination and then entrusted that person to Yuuko to care for and facilitate his aiding of the traveling group.
Now, because the Syaoran formed Watanuki, he takes after Syaoran in personality, but because the raw material came from Sakura, the physical characteristics take more after Sakura and her family. Physically, Watanuki resembles his maternal ‘grandfather’ and ‘uncle’ - even inheriting Clow’s bad eyesight. If Watanuki came solely from Syaoran’s brain, why give him bad eyesight?-as far as I know, Syaoran’s eyesight is normal, not needing correction. But Watanuki does take after Syaoran in some ways because the raw material that are Sakura’s precious memories of C!Syaoran contain a piece of Syaoran because he shares those memories and is in every single one. So a piece of Syaoran is in every memory Sakura has of him, so a piece of the raw power he used to form Watanuki belongs to Syaoran-which basically makes Sakura and Syaoran his ‘parents’ or the closest that Watanuki has.
Parents has two main definitions: the people that raise, care for, guide and provide protection for a child; or the two people that contribute a part of themselves to create another being, a baby traditionally. So when I say parents, I am referring to the fact that Watanuki contains pieces of both Syaoran and Sakura, and that each contributed a portion of themselves to bring Watanuki into existence. Now, assuming Watanuki is not human because he was created from the combination of Syaoran’s magic, his will, and Sakura’s memories is silly-just because the raw materials are different doesn’t mean that the result is any less human. Syaoran dreamed Watanuki into existence as a human, so whatever method or materials used to do it doesn’t really matter-Syaoran wanted him to be human, and since it is his dream and his will that is creating Watanuki, Watanuki is human.
Normal conception between humans, or even other animals, occurs because a piece of the father joins with a piece of the mother, they combine and a reaction occurs, resulting in a new being is created. How is that any different than what I am proposing happened to create Watanuki-yes, the pieces of each parent are different, magical instead of biological, but the way they created life is the same: the pieces combine, a reaction occurs and a new being comes into existence.
The fact that Watanuki takes after one parent more than they other is also a common occurrence for children-the dominant traits of one parent overpower the recessive traits of the other parent, so the child seems to have more in common with one parent than the other, even though the child is created by two parents. Watanuki looks more like Clow and Touya than like either parent, but this is also not uncommon in children-they do not look like their parent of the opposite sex as them, but do greatly resemble a sibling of that parent when the sibling-their aunt or uncle-is the same sex as them.
I know that because I look almost identical to my aunt on my fathers side-my dad’s younger sister-when she was my age, more than resembling my mother or father. However, I am taller than my aunt, which makes sense because my mother is also tall-though she is still taller than me and always will be *pout*-and both of her younger brothers, my uncles on the other side, are tall also. So while my appearance is eerily similar to my paternal aunt, same body type, I just have greater height. Now my one sister looks like my mother and has our maternal grandmother’s body type. My youngest sister is a good blend of both sides of the family (and is taller too).
Ok, so why the tangent on my family? Watanuki’s appearance follows the same trend: he looks similar to Touya, his ‘uncle’ and Clow, his ‘grandfather’, but his body type takes more after his ‘father’, Syaoran, more wirily and skinny than Touya, who has broad shoulders and solid body type, good for brute force when required. Clow also had broad shoulders, which Watanuki definitely did not inherit, although he did inherit some height from the maternal side of the family-Watanuki is taller than Syaoran yet has the same body type. There is another reason that Watanuki looks so much like Clow-he is a common ancestor for both parents, the number of generations separating them being different. The common ancestry explains why Watanuki displays the same recessive traits as Clow-Sakura carries all of Clow’s recessive traits and it is likely that some of Clow’s recessive traits have been passed down through the generations to Syaoran, which makes the likelihood of those recessive memories being predominant more likely. Watanuki has the same eyes as Clow--colour and quality of eyesight.
Now, I bet someone (if anyone actually reads this, which I doubt) is asking: where Watanuki's temper came from?--both Sakura and Syaoran are very even tempered. At least, in TRC they are. However, in CCS, both are shown to get irritated quickly and easily by certain people--Touya seems to be able to bring out the temper in both of them in record time and does so as often as possible. Sakura-hime and Touya-Ou are shown in the very beginning to have the same antagonistic relationship, at least when it comes to Syaoran *giggles* some things never change. Watanuki seems have inherited both of his 'parents' short tempers and, evidently when they are combined, it results in full-body shows of temper. He also has both his parents' big hearts and determination, along with a special brand of cluelessness about certain things that could only come from combining Sakura and Syaoran's naivety, along with the sharp mind about other things that both parents possess.
Watanuki does have Sakura's inability to see others suffering, willing to do anything to prevent that suffering--Watanuki with the woman in the park and Sakura with Fai's first curse. I think this, more than anything else, points to Sakura--or some part of her--being a part of his creation along with Syaoran. I know that Syaoran loves that part of Sakura as much as any other part, but I bet if he could take it away from her, he would, just so that she would suffer less because, no matter what one does, there is always suffering and always will be. I very much doubt that if Syaoran created Watanuki solely on his own that he would give Watanuki that particular trait because he knows how much Sakura suffers because of it and would not wish that suffering on anyone else. That he has the trait means that Sakura had a great influence on the creation of Watanuki and if he was truly created by Syaoran in his dreams, it means that Sakura's influence comes from whatever Watanuki was created with or created from.
~
Being created from those memories also explains Watanuki huge amount of power-a power that causes him to physically react to any evil he is near. If Watanuki were created from those memories, he was thereby created from all of those positive emotions that Sakura feels for Syaoran and also Syaoran's feelings for Sakura. It would also make him singularly unique in his existence-no one else has ever been created from the pure raw emotions that someone feels for their most important person-and also why he is getting weaker as Sakura stays separated from her body for longer.
He, unlike the other feathers, has a constant connection to Sakura. The missing memories are, well, missing, but they are totally missing-Sakura doesn't have small pieces of those memories within herself with the rest in the feather. But, if Watanuki is indeed made from the memories of Syaoran that Sakura paid as the price, then he has tiny pieces of the memories Sakura has already recovered, and are a part of her again, as a part of his being. Now, because Sakura is separated from her body, her power is also separated from her body in the form of her soul in that dream. Her power in reality is very weak now--it is still present because dreams are a part of reality, just separate, and thereby dampened. So, because Sakura's powers have considerably weakened in reality, Watanuki has also been considerably weakened (Sakura has regained a large amount of her feathers, which means that her strength, which is now the strength of those recovered memories, is directly correlates to the strength of the small pieces that are so critical to Watanuki continued existence) to the point that he actually saw a glimpse of the reality without him in it. He has also been drawn to the source of his power-Sakura's soul-as the part that is missing from Sakura is trying to rejoin with the rest of her and also in an attempt to conserve power by close proximity to the source.
Wow, that is a lot! Well, I’m posting this now-it is by no means all of my thoughts on this topic, but enough for now.
The thread that inspired this entry of mine is the translation of Ch. 144 and another encouraged more thoughts on this: Dreams, dream's, dream's.
Here is Ashura-sama basic idea as to who Watanuki is and why he is so closely bonded to real!Syaoran:
"For a long time he was what some forgotten corner of Shaoran's mind dreamt he was (like the butterfly in the story was what the man dreamt he was), but instead of going "poof" like normal dreams, he achieved actual existence."
And I totally love it! What I am proposing is that they reason Watanuki achieved actual existence is because real!Syaoran unconsciously used the power of the memories Yuuko took as the Price to make Watanuki real.
Watanuki being given life by the dreaming, sealed Syaoran explains their connection beautifully--better than my idea alone, I admit--but it doesn't explain how Syaoran could do it. I am not saying that Syaoran is weak or anything like that, just that creating a dream avatar identical to himself would be logical, but creating one as powerful and different from himself as Watanuki is, especially with his abilities, was not something that happened just because of Syaoran.
This is my new idea, incorporating Ashura-sama's brilliant theory along with mine into something even stranger:
I think that Syaoran knew what was going to happen to Sakura--we know this for a fact because that is why Fei Wong sealed him, to stop him from interfering with FWR's plan for Sakura--and yet could do nothing but watch and dream and wait for the time when he could help. I think that Syaoran's intense desire to aid Sakura and his clone in their upcoming quest, and also his strong need to somehow directly affect the world he was only a spectator to, led Syaoran to dreaming a person in to being that could do all that he wanted--that person was Watanuki.
This is all Ashura-sama's idea so far and it is very logical, plausible and brilliant. But it doesn't explain everything--no theories ever do at first--and that is where I think 'The Price' comes in to play. Yuuko never asks for a specific price without one of the following reasons--and many times both--one: to make sure that the wish-er knows the value of their wish by asking for something an equivalent value and two: knowing that that price will be integral for the fulfillment another's wish.
I have various reasons that I think Yuuko took those specific memories from Sakura-(1) to soften the eventual betrayal, or at least revealing, of the clone; and (2) to also make the feathers much less powerful and therefore less destruction to the worlds that they encountered are the two most powerful reasons. The feathers that they recover already have the memories of the most precious person removed--just think of how much more powerful those feathers would have been in left totally intact? Scar-y! I think a third reason that Yuuko took those specific memories were (3) because of their link to the sleeping Syaoran-they are his memories as much as they are Sakura's and once removed from Sakura, he becomes the keeper of those memories. He keeps those memories alive because he remembers them-he gives them his power as much as Sakura gave them hers. All of her love, friendship, companionship, everything for her most special person is in those memories, thereby making them her most valuable and strongest memories.
I think Yuuko took the Price for all the above stated reasons, but also because she knew, just as Clow knew, that those memories could be transformed into a boy that could aid the quest from Yuuko’s side. Perhaps it was decided that someone else was needed to aid the crew for the ‘second time around’ as Yuuko called this adventure-or maybe Watanuki was around the first time around and the difference this time is that fact that Doumeki can see spirits now too because the bond between him and Watanuki is so strong this time.
In CCS, Clow refers to the losing of the memory of one's most precious person as a great Evil-perhaps even the greatest evil of all. So what does that make those memories themselves? Answer: a great Good, the strongest good possible from a person. Such a power left in the feathers could have caused those feathers to rip the fabric of reality apart and yet, gathered together in one place, they are a tremendous amount of power-but pure good power, nothing evil could even use of even touch, not that it would stop evil from trying. For what is the biggest allure to evil but its antithesis, the very thing it is lacking. What stronger beacon to evil that pure goodness? But, use all of that pure positive power for a pure aim-to help the very loved one that those feelings are from and are for-and you would come up with a wildly powerful force of good that even the faintest taint of evil would make it sicken-just like Watanuki.
Because if Watanuki is solely a portion of Syaoran in the dream world that got lost on its way back to its originator and gained sentience of its own, then Watanuki's powers would be directly derived from his originator-Syaoran. And Syaoran is powerful, perhaps even equal or greater than Watanuki, but his power is a direct dichotomy to Watanuki's. What I mean is that Syaoran has 'active power', as I call it. 'Active Power' is, just as the name suggests, a power that requires it to be active for its influence to be felt.
Augh, this is harder to explain than it is in my head. I guess an easier way to explain it is to explain the opposite kind of power-‘static power'-the kind of power that Watanuki, along with Sakura-hime, possess. 'Static Power' is something that requires no effort on the part of the power-bearer for it to influence others-it is always 'on', a static effect (a term I took from Magic: the Gatehring which I love to play but am horribly such at). Watanuki's power is always on, always emitting itself to others, with no effort on Watanuki's part-which is exactly his problem: he can't turn it off. Watanuki's power allows him to see and interact with both ghosts and spirits, whether he wants to or not. His Spirit Sight is just another of his senses, like his sight and hearing, making it a power he is constantly and unconsciously using. Syaoran, in contrast, has to actively use his magic for it to affect others, by means of spells and such the like. He does also have a static portion to his power, such as his ability to sense power in others and sense other magic, but again that is most effective when he consciously uses it.
Sakura-hime's power is the same kind of power as Watanuki's-she sees ghosts, although not with the solidly and reality that Watanuki has because she seems able to differentiate between the living and the dead. She has great empathy for others, to such an extreme that something need not be sentient for her to sense it. She is a dreamseer, as recently revealed, something that is simply another part of her, like her green eyes and brown hair. She Sees in her dreams whether she wants to or not, yet it too contains a portion of the opposite type of power-she can actively seek to use that power to increase its effectiveness sometimes, which is what she was training with Yukito to do before the quest interrupted her training. But actively using it is not necessary for it to work-again, it is simply another part of her as smelling or hearing or any of her senses. Watanuki's power seems to be the extreme--total and completely passive. There is nothing that Watanuki can do to affect his powers, no amount of concentration changes how his power works.
For someone whose magic is an 'active' type to somehow create from himself someone whose power is totally and irrevocably passive would require outside interference of some type. Also, if Syaoran were setting out to actively create someone to help in the ventures, wouldn't it make sense to create someone who has the ability to direct that power to be aid when needed? Furthermore, Syaoran does not possess even a small portion of the power that is the total makeup of Watanuki. Syaoran cannot see ghosts nor is drawn to spirits of any type, at least that we have seen-it is not part of his makeup. If Watanuki came solely from Syaoran, then he would share some type of affinity towards Syaoran's magic, but he does not.
Now, if Watanuki were to come about driven by Syaoran's need and fueled, powered, by the intensely strong memories that Syaoran is so intimately a part of, then Watanuki's powers make much more sense. Watanuki was created and shaped by Syaoran from the raw magic that is the Price, it makes sense that Watanuki's powers would be a natural derivative of the raw material used. Syaoran created Watanuki, but he was given shape and sustenance by the precious memories of the two-Syaoran and Sakura. Given that the memories raw power comes from Sakura, it makes perfect sense that Watanuki’s powers are so similar to Sakura’s--as they were directly derived from Sakura’s.
What I think happened is that Syaoran so desperately wanted to help Sakura and C!Syaoran that he grabbed all the magic available to him and formed that magic into, by his will, determination and his own considerable magic, a person that could aid Sakura on her journey as best as possible. Syaoran took the raw magic of the Price and, in his dreams, formed it into someone with his heart and determination and then entrusted that person to Yuuko to care for and facilitate his aiding of the traveling group.
Now, because the Syaoran formed Watanuki, he takes after Syaoran in personality, but because the raw material came from Sakura, the physical characteristics take more after Sakura and her family. Physically, Watanuki resembles his maternal ‘grandfather’ and ‘uncle’ - even inheriting Clow’s bad eyesight. If Watanuki came solely from Syaoran’s brain, why give him bad eyesight?-as far as I know, Syaoran’s eyesight is normal, not needing correction. But Watanuki does take after Syaoran in some ways because the raw material that are Sakura’s precious memories of C!Syaoran contain a piece of Syaoran because he shares those memories and is in every single one. So a piece of Syaoran is in every memory Sakura has of him, so a piece of the raw power he used to form Watanuki belongs to Syaoran-which basically makes Sakura and Syaoran his ‘parents’ or the closest that Watanuki has.
Parents has two main definitions: the people that raise, care for, guide and provide protection for a child; or the two people that contribute a part of themselves to create another being, a baby traditionally. So when I say parents, I am referring to the fact that Watanuki contains pieces of both Syaoran and Sakura, and that each contributed a portion of themselves to bring Watanuki into existence. Now, assuming Watanuki is not human because he was created from the combination of Syaoran’s magic, his will, and Sakura’s memories is silly-just because the raw materials are different doesn’t mean that the result is any less human. Syaoran dreamed Watanuki into existence as a human, so whatever method or materials used to do it doesn’t really matter-Syaoran wanted him to be human, and since it is his dream and his will that is creating Watanuki, Watanuki is human.
Normal conception between humans, or even other animals, occurs because a piece of the father joins with a piece of the mother, they combine and a reaction occurs, resulting in a new being is created. How is that any different than what I am proposing happened to create Watanuki-yes, the pieces of each parent are different, magical instead of biological, but the way they created life is the same: the pieces combine, a reaction occurs and a new being comes into existence.
The fact that Watanuki takes after one parent more than they other is also a common occurrence for children-the dominant traits of one parent overpower the recessive traits of the other parent, so the child seems to have more in common with one parent than the other, even though the child is created by two parents. Watanuki looks more like Clow and Touya than like either parent, but this is also not uncommon in children-they do not look like their parent of the opposite sex as them, but do greatly resemble a sibling of that parent when the sibling-their aunt or uncle-is the same sex as them.
I know that because I look almost identical to my aunt on my fathers side-my dad’s younger sister-when she was my age, more than resembling my mother or father. However, I am taller than my aunt, which makes sense because my mother is also tall-though she is still taller than me and always will be *pout*-and both of her younger brothers, my uncles on the other side, are tall also. So while my appearance is eerily similar to my paternal aunt, same body type, I just have greater height. Now my one sister looks like my mother and has our maternal grandmother’s body type. My youngest sister is a good blend of both sides of the family (and is taller too).
Ok, so why the tangent on my family? Watanuki’s appearance follows the same trend: he looks similar to Touya, his ‘uncle’ and Clow, his ‘grandfather’, but his body type takes more after his ‘father’, Syaoran, more wirily and skinny than Touya, who has broad shoulders and solid body type, good for brute force when required. Clow also had broad shoulders, which Watanuki definitely did not inherit, although he did inherit some height from the maternal side of the family-Watanuki is taller than Syaoran yet has the same body type. There is another reason that Watanuki looks so much like Clow-he is a common ancestor for both parents, the number of generations separating them being different. The common ancestry explains why Watanuki displays the same recessive traits as Clow-Sakura carries all of Clow’s recessive traits and it is likely that some of Clow’s recessive traits have been passed down through the generations to Syaoran, which makes the likelihood of those recessive memories being predominant more likely. Watanuki has the same eyes as Clow--colour and quality of eyesight.
Now, I bet someone (if anyone actually reads this, which I doubt) is asking: where Watanuki's temper came from?--both Sakura and Syaoran are very even tempered. At least, in TRC they are. However, in CCS, both are shown to get irritated quickly and easily by certain people--Touya seems to be able to bring out the temper in both of them in record time and does so as often as possible. Sakura-hime and Touya-Ou are shown in the very beginning to have the same antagonistic relationship, at least when it comes to Syaoran *giggles* some things never change. Watanuki seems have inherited both of his 'parents' short tempers and, evidently when they are combined, it results in full-body shows of temper. He also has both his parents' big hearts and determination, along with a special brand of cluelessness about certain things that could only come from combining Sakura and Syaoran's naivety, along with the sharp mind about other things that both parents possess.
Watanuki does have Sakura's inability to see others suffering, willing to do anything to prevent that suffering--Watanuki with the woman in the park and Sakura with Fai's first curse. I think this, more than anything else, points to Sakura--or some part of her--being a part of his creation along with Syaoran. I know that Syaoran loves that part of Sakura as much as any other part, but I bet if he could take it away from her, he would, just so that she would suffer less because, no matter what one does, there is always suffering and always will be. I very much doubt that if Syaoran created Watanuki solely on his own that he would give Watanuki that particular trait because he knows how much Sakura suffers because of it and would not wish that suffering on anyone else. That he has the trait means that Sakura had a great influence on the creation of Watanuki and if he was truly created by Syaoran in his dreams, it means that Sakura's influence comes from whatever Watanuki was created with or created from.
~
Being created from those memories also explains Watanuki huge amount of power-a power that causes him to physically react to any evil he is near. If Watanuki were created from those memories, he was thereby created from all of those positive emotions that Sakura feels for Syaoran and also Syaoran's feelings for Sakura. It would also make him singularly unique in his existence-no one else has ever been created from the pure raw emotions that someone feels for their most important person-and also why he is getting weaker as Sakura stays separated from her body for longer.
He, unlike the other feathers, has a constant connection to Sakura. The missing memories are, well, missing, but they are totally missing-Sakura doesn't have small pieces of those memories within herself with the rest in the feather. But, if Watanuki is indeed made from the memories of Syaoran that Sakura paid as the price, then he has tiny pieces of the memories Sakura has already recovered, and are a part of her again, as a part of his being. Now, because Sakura is separated from her body, her power is also separated from her body in the form of her soul in that dream. Her power in reality is very weak now--it is still present because dreams are a part of reality, just separate, and thereby dampened. So, because Sakura's powers have considerably weakened in reality, Watanuki has also been considerably weakened (Sakura has regained a large amount of her feathers, which means that her strength, which is now the strength of those recovered memories, is directly correlates to the strength of the small pieces that are so critical to Watanuki continued existence) to the point that he actually saw a glimpse of the reality without him in it. He has also been drawn to the source of his power-Sakura's soul-as the part that is missing from Sakura is trying to rejoin with the rest of her and also in an attempt to conserve power by close proximity to the source.
Wow, that is a lot! Well, I’m posting this now-it is by no means all of my thoughts on this topic, but enough for now.