Ranma Saotome
Template:Infobox Ranma Character
Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬 Saotome Ranma) is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series Ranma ½.
History
Template:Spoiler Ranma Saotome, the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome, was taken from his home at an early age by his father, and journeyed with him on a decade-long training trip to perfect his martial arts. Along the way, he encountered many things, and many people, much of which is later revealed as the series moves on.
When Ranma was young, he befriended a girl named Ukyo Kuonji—though he didn't know she was a girl—the daughter of a travelling okonomiyaki chef and martial artist. Genma engaged Ranma to Ukyo in exchange for the vendor's cart of her father, but he abandoned Ukyo by the side of the road and ran off with the cart, never telling Ranma about the engagement or correcting him about Ukyo's real gender.
Later on, when Ranma neared the end of his training trip, Genma took him to a training ground in China named Jusenkyo. This place, however, was a training ground that no one used anymore because each of the springs that were there were cursed, and falling into them would turn you into whatever drowned there and cursed the spring before. Not knowing this, Genma led Ranma to the ground and attempted to train with him atop the bamboo poles which jutted up out of the pools. When Ranma knocked Genma into Shonmaoniichuan, or the Spring of Drowned Panda, Ranma was surprised to find that instead of his father, a panda climbed out of the pool and prepared to fight Ranma. As a result Genma, now cursed, was able to hit Ranma into another of the cursed pools. Ranma was knocked into Nyannichuan (Niángníquán 娘溺泉), or the Spring of Drowned Girl. Thus he turns into a girl with cold water, which is only reversible through hot water.
Before this incident, Genma had made a certain arrangement with his friend Soun Tendo. The arrangement was that Ranma would marry one of Soun's daughters, and carry on the Tendo Dojo of Musabetsu kakutō ryū karate ("School of Indiscriminate Grappling", more commonly known in the West as "Anything Goes Martial Arts").
Because Ranma was half-man, Soun's daughters Kasumi and Nabiki handed the engagement to their tomboyish younger sister Akane. Although unwilling to be engaged to her at first, Ranma later develops feelings for her.
Ranma and Genma had then moved into the Tendo dojo. Many events happen to Ranma, and he has endured, among other things, Amazons, old rivals, Dojo destroyers, and even evil demons. Ranma has also received several male suitors, such as Tatewaki Kuno, because of his female counterpart's buxom body.
Later on, Genma tells Ranma that if his mother, Nodoka Saotome finds out that he's half-man, she will kill them both. Therefore, Ranma always changes into a girl and is known as Ranko, a visiting cousin of Akane's, whenever she is around.
However, he later talks to his mother as a man (not revealing that he can change into a girl) and in order to show that he's manly (not a cross-dresser), he has to do several perverted things (mostly to do with Akane). However, these fail, so his mother tells him that she will return later to check on his 'manliness.'
Eventually, after he stops his father from stealing what was presumed to be a precious family heirloom and in the process saving her life, Nodoka accepts Ranma as a man amongst men despite the curse.
Ranma has not yet found a cure for this ability to change into a girl.
Personality
Ranma has a lot of pride in his martial arts ability. He usually has the skills to back up his bragging, though his overconfidence can also lead him to some comical trouble. Although he can be dense, Ranma is adept at learning from his mistakes in a fight and can usually fix them before or during the next encounter. He is quick to prove himself, and will not back down from a fight, even if he is in danger of losing, or unsure of how to beat his opponent. Unfortunately, this trait also results in him being unable to accept defeat, and becoming preoccupied with trying to beat his opponent in the next round. However, Ranma will sometimes refuse a match, such as if he deems the opponent too ridiculous to fight.
Ranma's lacks experience in social situations and often speaks without thinking of the consequences. This lack of social grace leads many people to believe him to be less considerate than he truly is. It is relatively easy to anger or embarrass Ranma. Nabiki has sometimes taken advantage of his naïveté, playing situations to her advantage.
A hardcore martial artist, Ranma is quick to use insults, intimidation and/or violence when dealing with those who upset him, typically worsening the problem instead of solving it. Using money, diplomacy or blackmail are ideas that never even come to mind. Instead, he sometimes uses his sexy female form to convince hormonal boys to do as he wishes. Ranma also says he doesn't like fighting women, partly because he is much stronger than most of his female opponents. He has battled women (or those he thought were women) on numerous occasions, however, in both male and female form.
Although Ranma seems egotistical, he tries his best to deal with the situation he's been put in. Highly stubborn, he can be insolent to authority figures, such as his father and teachers, Hinako Ninomiya and Principal Kuno. Ranma is quite irresponsible, often dodging situations that don't involve battle or his personal goals. Examples of this include juggling his various love interests or avoiding people he considers to be pests, whether they mean well or not.
Ranma sometimes blames others for his problems, but he also will take responsibility for things that are not his fault, such as Akane's hair being chopped off, or Ukyo's rage at being left behind. He's protected all of his fiancees at different times, with one of the best examples being protecting Akane from the hungry Yamata no Orochi. He's even saved enemies at times, such as Herb, who was trying to kill him. Ranma has a low tolerance for people trying to steal from him or treat him badly, though he's often very forgiving. His father frequently stole food from him and subjected him to the Cat-Fist technique when he was small, and yet Ranma usually seems no more than irritated. In spite of Happosai's groping and stealing his strength, he's never attempted revenge. In short, Ranma may get mad, but he does not stay mad.
Perhaps because of his unconventional upbringing, Ranma considers his own formidable strength to be his main virtue. Ranma's unforgiving view of his own power was shown when Happosai used the moxibustion point on him one time, reducing his strength to that of a baby. Ranma expects similar strength and striving from other martial artists, but he can also respect non-combatants (admittedly a minority in the series) such as Kasumi Tendo.
Ranma's feelings for Akane have been like a roller coaster. When they first met, he was a girl and seemed to feel a shy friendship with her. Unfortunately when Akane began insulting him upon learning of his masculinity, he changed his mind, although he retained a fondness for her, even challenging someone who threatened to kiss her. He can be romantic, but Ranma has a difficult time expressing his feelings. He is more at ease speaking moderately to people, but becomes nervous when confronted with romance, such as with Shampoo during the Reversal Jewel story, or in numerous tense moments with Akane. Because the latter's feelings changed frequently in the series, Ranma was unsure whether she was interested in him and feared rejection. His softer side started to emerge in the latter half of the series. Ranma became somewhat more romantic to Akane, even having fantasies about proclaiming his love, but he still wasn't able to admit his feelings for her until she had apparently died in one of the last stories of the manga.
Though Ranma turns into an attractive woman, he remains a heterosexual male in either form, to the point of getting turned on (as a girl) by the presence of naked women. Men who try to get grabby, such as Kuno, generally get beaten up. Ranma is especially disgusted by "that wrinkled perv" Happosai. Ironically, Ranma himself has little feminine modesty, sometimes removing his shirt in public unaware of the effect his female body has on others. The guys at school appreciate this side of Ranma as it offers them a free look at his breasts, and they openly wish there were more girls like him. His worst nightmare is being kissed by a man, and he even has a hideous dream in which he was a girl and married Kuno, spawning several children. Ironically, Ranma received his first kiss as a girl, from Mikado Sanzenin of the Golden Pair of Martial Arts Skating.
One of Ranma's worst habits is that when fighting or training with his father, he is generally oblivious to his surroundings. In this situation, he instinctively uses anything on hand such as using various objects and even people as weapons and/or "stepping stones" to accomplish his objective. The most notable consequence of this bad habit is when Ranma—in girl-form—unknowingly kicked Ryoga into the "Spring of the Drowned Pig" while pursuing his father at the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. Kuno is probably Ranma's favorite "stepping stone," although this appears intentional, since Kuno and Ranma despised each other at first sight. Another victim of his obliviousness is the Frog Hermit, who was knocked into the "Spring of the Drowned Frog" when Ranma accidentally kicked out his bamboo pole from under him.
One of Ranma's other traits is acceptance for personal contradictions, socially and philosophically. This may stem from his style of the Anything Goes Martial Arts, where practitioners are expected to be prepared to do anything in battle. Ranma will do a lot, but not "anything" to win. He almost always refuses to grovel, and the one exception (to Akane) was not in battle. He will not stoop to dirty tricks except when the opponent is doing the same to him, or someone is in danger. An example of the first would be Ranma using an arsenal of small Amazon weapons like a shock ring or a lightning pacifier after Mousse had used the magical glasses on him. An example of the second was Ranma groping Konatsu when trying to rescue Ukyo from Konatsu's family.
While Ranma has often professed his wish to become a normal person (i.e., all male) again, this has not stopped him from using his girl identity to his advantage. He has often used his female form to conceal his true male identity from others, including his mother, Nodoka. Sometimes, Ranma even declares his girl form to be more attractive than Akane, despite the fact that he was not a girl to begin with. In the anime series, one of his secrets is that he enjoys ice cream parfaits, though he is always in his girl form when he does this because he considers it embarrassing for men to consume such a food.
Under normal circumstances, Ranma's speech pattern is casual and unrefined. Ranma speaks in a coarse form of Japanese (or English in the case of the American-translated anime and manga). This especially shows up in Ranma's use of Japanese honorifics. He rarely uses -san, -kun, -chan or any other traditional honorific for most people. He does use -sempai (elder student) for Kuno, but that is more for sarcasm. Other's he uses honorifics for include Soun (Ojisan or "Uncle"), Ukyo (U-chan, his childhood nickname for her), Kasumi (usually -san) and Ojiisan and Obaasan for Happosai and Cologne when he's not mad at them. And, while Akane usually uses honorifics for other people, she returns the favor with Ranma by rarely addressing him with an honorific. This is particularly amusing since it would denote that the two are particularly intimate with each other aka "husband and wife."
Love Life
Ranma leads one of the most bizarre love lives in anime and manga. Thanks to his father's foolishness and some bad luck he has three fiancées, none of whom seem to be even slightly willing to give up on him and all with a legitimate case for their engagement to him. The first of the fiancées to be featured in the manga is Akane Tendo, who he has apparently been promised to since a young age thanks to a deal made between his father, Genma Saotome, and his father's oldest friend, Soun Tendo. Their relationship gets off to an extremely rocky start thanks to Ranma's curse, Akane's quick temper, and Ranma's smart mouth, but they do end up coming to care about each other considerably even if they rarely show it. Nearly everybody around them seems to realize it but unfortunately the pressure they put on the two often stalls their progress. During the ice skating story arc, Ranma and Akane almost kiss but were interrupted by the rest of the family, who were all waiting behind the training hall's door. Nabiki had grown impatient and told them to hurry up already.
The next of the fiancées to show up was Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon, who went from trying to kill Ranma in his female form courtesy of some extremely strict tribal laws to wanting to marry him after Ranma accidentally knocked her unconscious in his male form to stop her from attacking Akane. He drove her off temporarily by using his curse to confuse her, but she soon returned with her great-grandmother Cologne, who caused Ranma considerable trouble with her knowledge of the martial arts and obscure pressure points upon her initial appearance.
The third, and final, fiancée to appear was Ukyo Kuonji, a childhood friend of Ranma's. He did not know about the arrangement Genma had made with her father and believed Ukyo was male at first. Initially, she wanted revenge on Ranma, thanks to Genma's abandoning her and stealing her dowry. During the subsequent fight, Ranma learned she was a girl by accidentally grabbing her breasts, then pouring hot water on her to confirm she did not have a Jusenkyo curse. Ukyo was still upset, but she changed her tune when he said she was cute. Upon hearing this, she forgave him and re-established their engagement the next day.
It can be said that Ranma holds a degree of affection for each of these girls, though his feelings for Shampoo are not as strong as his feelings for Ukyo and Akane. An example of his feelings would be when he thought he'd lost Shampoo, during the Reversal Jewel story arc, he went to great lengths to try and win her back — although his only reason for doing so was because of the slight insecurity he feels when rejected which makes him feel unattracive and will do whatever it takes to feel on top, such as taking advantage of Ukyo's feelings to prove that he is "hunky" — though he couldn't bring himself to ask her to marry him. And he certainly has a degree of affection for Ukyo due to their old friendship. However, he does hold strong romantic feelings for Akane, though his stuborness prevents him from admiting it, and the end of the manga very strongly implies that they will marry (Rumiko Takahashi herself even stated in an interview that out of all the characters, Ranma and Akane would eventually marry). Throughout even the early segments of the series it can be seen that he cares deeply when he is close to losing Akane and often follows her around. He'll even attempt to take her back from a person who kidnaps her by force.
There are others who have tried to win Ranma over, both male and female depending on the form he was in at the time, but he does not appear to have feelings for them. Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno appear to be little more than annoyances to him and he displayed no desire to actually be with Nabiki Tendo during the short time that the Tendo arrangement was transferred to her. The anime introduces other suitors but they too are not in the running.
When it comes to difficult situations with his suitors—particularly with Akane, Shampoo and/or Ukyo—Ranma often feels conflicted. Unable to accept the reality of not having everything, he usually tries to find solutions that would not hurt the feelings of any of them. Thus, Ranma often tries to find a "third" option that would not favor either side of the conflict. For example, Soun tries to force Ranma into a decision to engage either Akane or Shampoo. Instead of choosing either one, Ranma instead forces Soun out of the competition, rendering his judgement void. In another example, Ranma drinks a jarful of rotten okonomiyaki sauce rather than decide between Akane or Ukyo for his engagement. By doing this, he gets out of making the decision as well as persuading Ukyo to become an okonomiyaki cook again, just as he wants it.
Rivals
Ranma has had several rivals. Mostly, because the girl they had a crush on liked Ranma instead. However, his main rivals are:
- Tatewaki Kuno is his rival at school, as well as his suitor (for his female counterpart). He has never beaten Ranma (at least, not without the aid of a plot device). Kuno is the only student at Furinkan High School who doesn't know that Ranma can change into a girl. When Nabiki tried to tell Kuno, he thought that Ranma's female counterpart was Ranma's slave.
- Kodachi Kuno, Tatewaki's sister. She sees Ranma's female half as a rival to gain the affection of the male half. Kodachi and her brother share a strong sibling rivalry.
- Ryoga Hibiki is Ranma's main rival in the martial arts and is also fighting for Akane's affection. Many times, Ranma has put on a disguise to fool Ryoga, mostly to get him away from Akane. Although they fight, Ranma helps him out of many situations (such as hiding his secret of turning into a pig). Ryoga is the strongest of Ranma's rivals, coming close to besting him several times during the series.
- Mousse is angry at Ranma for taking Shampoo away, and attempts many times to defeat him. At first, Akane convinced Ranma to lose on purpose so Shampoo would marry Mousse instead. But Ranma won anyway, since his pride refused to allow himself to be defeated. Mousse is the fastest of Ranma's rivals, but he has failed to use this to his advantage.
- Happosai is the perverted founder of the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts and is one of the more powerful characters in the series. He is always trying to force Ranma into becoming his student and succesor or model lingerie for him, but Ranma continues to refuse. By the end of the series, Ranma is nearly capable of giving him a tough match.
Ranma had numerous rivals throughout the series, though most of them only appeared in a single story arc, such as Herb, Ryu Kumon, and Saffron. They all fought and/or played tricks on Ranma for various reasons, such as for debt, honor, love, or revenge. But unlike his primary foes, most of them have released Ranma from his commitments to them after being beaten by him.
Special Techniques
Ranma is a master of many styles of martial arts, and mainly utilizes a blend of Chinese and Japanese martial arts, which he incorparates into the Saotome family's style of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū kenpo (無差別格闘流 "School of Indiscriminate Grappling"). The other School of Anything Goes, the Tendo School(無差別格闘天道流—Musabetsu Kakutō Tendo-Ryū), is practiced by Soun and Akane. The two Schools — while derived from the same basic style — vary slightly. The Tendo School focuses on strength and weapon use, while the Saotome School specializes in speed and aerial combat.
The practitioner of the Anything Goes Martial Arts is expected to be prepared to do anything, regardless of the challenges involved. This highly versatile combat style produces a warrior who is strong in virtually every aspect of combat, both mentally and physically, with no discernible weaknesses. Due to the philosophies of his highly adaptable fighting style, Ranma is a very balanced fighter who is rarely surprised, even by opponents whom he has never fought before.
On many occasions, Ranma's naïveté and overconfidence have been taken advantage of by new foes. Unless he has to actively do so to win—or utterly humiliate an opponent—Ranma never uses trickery and fights fairly with all his power, never holding back, all the while expecting his opponents to follow the same conduct. Craftier opponents have often used this naïve assumption to their advantage against him. An example of this is when Cologne held back her true power, allowing Ranma to believe that he had the advantage. With this she was able to trick Ranma into a deal: if he lost, he would marry Shampoo immediately. Flushed with his success in the fight so far, Ranma recklessly accepted. Afterwards, Cologne unleashed her true power, surprising and nearly defeating him. It often seems that when he has won, or is on the verge of victory, Ranma cannot, or will not, acknowledge the possibility of defeat. So keen is he to be the best there ever was, he takes every opportunity to flaunt his superiority, regardless of the possibility of payback from the opponent. He has often made this mistake whenever he temporarily defeats Happosai.
As the story progresses, Ranma learns and uses numerous martial art styles, many of them unusual or even ridiculous, such as Martial Arts Figure Skating—even though he cannot skate—Martial Arts Tea Ceremony, Martial Arts Dining, and Martial Arts Cheerleading. He incorporates elements of each of these new styles into his personal martial arts style, improving his already-formidable martial prowess. With every challenge he overcomes, Ranma understandably believes that there is nothing he could not defeat.
One of Ranma's long-term goals in life is to someday become powerful and skilled enough to defeat Cologne and/or Happosai in a fair fight. He may not realize it, but his true goal in life is to become the greatest martial artist of all time, and as the story progresses Ranma's ability's along with Ryoga's and Mousse's have increased to a high level even to the point of the three of them being one of the top 10 martial artist in the Ranmaverse, and only bested by Happosai, Cologne and eachother.
- Saotome Secret Technique: Fast Break: The "secret attack" of the Saotome School, which Genma says is based in the concepts of motion, contemplation, and opposition. In other words, the user runs away from his opponent, buying time to think of a better way to attack. Ranma used this only once, contributing to his victory over Ryoga after the eternal "lost boy" learned the Breaking Point.
- Cat Fist (貓拳—Nekoken): A condition Ranma is subject to when his fear of cats reaches an unbearable level. When this happens, he is nearly invincible, acting like a cat, with swipes of his "paw" that can shred everything around him; however, he is mentally a cat, making catnip a major weakness of this form. He can only be brought out of the Nekoken by triggering his curse or by falling asleep in the lap of someone he trusts deeply, usually Akane.
- Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (火中天津甘栗拳—Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken): a flurry of attacks of blinding speed. It is also known as the "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" technique due to the method of learning the technique, which develops lightning fast punches such that one can snatch chestnuts from a fire without burning themselves. Because Ranma was affected by the Full-body Cat Tongue pressure point at the time, he could not handle heat. Thus, he does not master this technique in the conventional manner, but instead does so by pulling piranhas from a fish tank at a local fair using his bare hands. Note, however, that in the manga this is not a special attack in the physical sense, but rather a speed exercise. In the anime it is his most used special attack, and it is mentioned that because of this exercise, Ranma can throw 300 punches per second.
- Shiskibob (manga only): An attack Ranma uses to counter Mousse's Takazume Ken (Hawk's Talon attack), basically he uses a rapidly ascending kick to avoid Mousse's attack and slam into his face like a kabob rod going through meat and vegetables.
- Puppet Grip (manga only): Ranma clings to his opponent's back, then manipulates his/her arms like a puppet. Used it to try and make Kuno eat some Ramen in the Martial Arts Takeout Race. His efforts failed when Kuno exploited the one flaw: the technique doesn't control the victim's head, which means the victim can thwart it by simply keeping his mouth closed.
- Parlay du Foie Gras: The "Parlay" involves quickly stuffing your food in your opponent's mouth. Because of this, the user does not have to develop the characteristic distended mouth that many champion "martial arts diners" have. It can be deflected by putting a plate in your mouth in such a way that the dish acts as a shield. Ranma used this technique to defeat Picolet Chardin III.
- Heavenly Dragon Blast (飛龍昇天破—Hiryū Shōten Ha): Cologne taught Ranma this ki-based attack where the fighter performs this by becoming a "Soul of Ice" by devoiding themself of emotion. Also then proceeding to get a rise of hot ki from the opponent(s) via a reaction. When this happens, the user then starts to lead their opponent in the "rasen stepu", or spiral step. Once this is completed, the user pours all of the ki in an upward fist strike that creates a tornado of ki that carries off the opposing fighter(s) in a single blow. It is perhaps the most powerful and versatile technique of all, this secret Amazon technique gives Ranma the edge he needs to defeat his toughest opponents: Happosai, Herb, Saffron, Kirin, and others. It has been shown that the opponent need not radiate hot ki; Ranma can gather excess hot ki in an area (such as from Saffron's heat attacks) to create the whirlwind. A great deal of cold ki can lessen, or even nullify, the effects of the whirlwind. In the manga, it is his most used special attack and works on all heat; it has even been successful against Happosai's lust. Ranma has developed and used several variations of the Hiryū Shōten Ha in both the manga and anime, including:
- Heavenly Dragon Blast Revised: Horizontal Spiral (Hiryū Shōten Ha Kaiteiban: Gedan Rasen): The unique situation offered by Natsume and Kurumi's Hiryū Carimbou attack made this possible. The spiral created from Kurumi's ribbon radiates hot ki; Ranma need only gather the hot ki from the ribbon to create the whirlwind. Since none of the combatants were radiating hot ki, Ranma used the whirlwind to push Akane into her opponents, the flying kick of doom. The side effect was the nullification of Natsume's own ki bolt, being cold ki itself, it would weaken the whirlwind, but, since the hot ki in the spiral is overwhelming, the effects were negligible. (This is the best rationalization that can be made from this alternate and anime-only attack.)
- Descending Dragon Shot (Hiryū Kourin Dan): Ranma discovered that the Hiryū Shoten Ha is ineffective against Herb, who knows of the attack (and thus managed to change his ki aura in time to lessen the effects of the whirlwind). But, Ranma noticed that excess hot ki gathered up in the sky. He created another whirlwind, allowing Herb to throw him into it. While in the air, Ranma gathered the hot ki and, with his own cold ki, fired himself downward, straight into Herb, for the final attack. It appears quite like a downward Moko Takabisha, but larger and much more deadly, backed by gravity and ki together.
- Ice Dragon Breakthrough (Hiryū Hyou Tōppa): This is Ranma's final attack against Saffron in volume 38 of the manga, completed with the aid of the Phoenix people's artifact which produced an icy cold touch based effect. Ranma plans on throwing a whirlwind though a channel of cold air surrounded on both sides by the hot air from Saffron's blasts, and that in the swirl in the middle the whirlwind will become highly concentrated, squeezing the cold spiral into a razor's edge. He is unable to find an opportunity to use the move however. He gets his chance when Akane throws her frozen doll form at Saffron, tunneling through Saffron's heat and giving a Ranma a small channel of cold air to fire the Hiryū Hyou Tōppa. The refined Hiryū Shoten Ha drills straight through Saffron's chest, defeating him.
- Heavenly Dragon Searching Blast (Hiryū Gyōten Ha): Also used in volume 38 of the manga. Because Akane is dying, and only the water from the Dragon Faucet can save her, Ranma, falling from the sky, has no time to get Akane to the water. Instead, he channels all his energies into the whirlwind. The whirlwind is forced downward, then curves as it reaches the Dragon Faucet. It breaks the Faucet, causing the Dragon Head to spew the waters into the sky. In this way Ranma saves Akane's life, but also destroys an opportunity to remove his curse.
- Pantyhose Shooting Star Kick (Pansuto Ryusei Kyaku): An extremely powerful kick Ranma uses to defeat the transformed Pantyhose Taro. Using the elasicity of Happosai's bag of pantyhose as a catapult, Ranma focuses his ki and uses the extra momentum to deliver an insanely fast and powerful kick to the giant monster.
- Pride of the Fierce Tiger (猛虎高飛車—Mōko Takabisha): Ki attack created which is based on the emotion of confidence, by and for Ranma. Since he could not get depressed enough to re-create Ryoga's attack, he made this. Ranma can fuel it with any emotion, but his personal choice is that of pride. It was mostly developed as a direct counter to Ryoga's Lion's Roar Shot (獅子咆哮弾—Shishi Hokodan) due to the fact that he could not maintain the level of bleak gloom/depression required for it. In the manga, Ranma is able to create a "Double Moko Takabisha" that fires two equally stong ki blasts.
- Thousand Fists of the Sea (海千拳—Umisenken): Created by and learned from his father Genma. These techniques are part of a set of two styles that were developed by Genma to aid in his thievery. However, he considered them forbidden because they were too much for him to handle. He only taught Ranma these techniques when Ryu Kumon arrived and challenged them for said scroll, using its companion set, Thousand Fists of the Mountain (山千拳—Yamasenken), as his arsenal. After beating Ryu, Ranma made Ryu swear off using Yamasenken, and later "sealed" his own knowledge as well.
Ranma's Fears
Ranma is generally fearless, or so he would have others believe. However, he does suffer from one weakness that leaves him paralyzed in its presence: An extreme fear of cats, a.k.a. ailurophobia.
When Ranma was young, his father tried to teach him a technique known as Nekoken (Cat Fist). Unfortunately, the training technique described the trainee being covered in fish sausage and thrown into a pit of starving cats. Naturally, this results in the trainee being attacked by dozens of hungry felines who show no hesitation in stripping the food off the victim, and possibly a few pieces of their flesh, as well. Although Genma has tried several methods to make him less afraid of them (by repeatedly shoving Ranma into a pit of hungry cats, covered in some other fish-based food each time), all his attempts failed. It was only then that he read the final page of the training pamphlet, which stated that the technique should never be used, as it only results in severe mental scarring. But by then, it was already too late, so now the mere sight of even the smallest kitten can send Ranma into a blind panic.
However, if Ranma's fear reaches a critical mass (surrounded by cats, and/or unable to get away for an extended period of time), his mental state becomes like that of a cat. Ironically, he can only use the Nekoken when in this state, which manifests as an increase in speed and agility, and the ability to attack enemies (or anything else that annoys him) with invisible claws sharp enough to slice through anything like wood, though he has even shredded water. While fighting as a cat, Ranma is generally considered unstoppable, and he knows it. He has on occasion willingly entered the Nekoken to help him win a battle, usually with the aid of Shampoo, who turns into a cat when hit by cold water. Maomolin the Ghost Cat can make Ranma instantly go into the Nekoken.
As a cat, Ranma is temperamental and generally wishes to be left alone after he is done shredding whatever annoyed him (often the person responsible for him being in that state) or was foolish enough to attack him (and thus annoy him). However, he usually comes out of it after taking a nap, something he only does in the lap of someone he trusts or cares about deeply. An old woman was able to handle him when it happened as a child, but now, he usually sleeps in Akane's lap, much to her embarrassment. They shared their first kiss while Ranma was in this state. Splashing him with water can work as well. Ranma remembers nothing of what goes on while he is in the Nekoken.
A less obvious, but possibly greater fear that Ranma has is that of defeat. If he suffers a loss that he knows he cannot do anything about, Ranma becomes despondent and hopeless. Determined to be the best martial artist there is, Ranma feels that defeat reduces his own personal value. Being extremely proud, Ranma would feel humiliated by even one defeat.
Portrayal in Fanfiction
Ranma is the centerpiece of one of the largest amounts of anime based fanfiction seen in America. Originally, Akane Tendo was given the chance to finally wind up with Ranma due to the incredible deluge of Ranma/Akane supporters who wanted to finally see this come to pass since the Ranma ½ series ending is left open for reader interpretation. However in recent years, popular opinion has seem to have turned against Akane, and Shampoo and Ukyo now see much more fanfiction that gives them the chance to be Ranma's bride. Ranma is also sometimes paired with Nabiki, though more often Kasumi, and is more often paired with his own cursed form, which in such fics, is somehow separated from him in one fashion or another. Due to the nature of Ranma's curse, which can render him in a female body while retaining the mind of a heterosexual male, he is also the subject of a large quantity of lesbian-themed hentai fanfiction.
One theme in Ranma fanfictions that has become popular in recent years is scenarios where Ranma decides to go "all-girl," as some authors like to put it. Whether it happens from becoming stuck permanently as a girl or through free will, most well-written fanfictions with this theme have some level of drama. Some of these fanfictions have Ranma-chan (female Ranma), falling in love with one of the series' other male characters, the most popular being Ryoga Hibiki. One particular episode of the Hard Battle season is seemingly used for the basis of Ranma's feminine personality, due to it showing, literally, what Ranma as a girl would have been like.
Another popular device in fanfiction is Ranma being portrayed as the reincarnation of InuYasha from another Rumiko Takahashi series, InuYasha. This is largely due to their similar personalities and the fact that they are both voiced by the same actor. Interestingly enough, this occurs both in the series' native Japan and in the US, although in Ranma's case, Richard Ian Cox, who has voiced InuYasha since the beginning of the series, was the second actor to portray male Ranma, following in the steps of Sarah Strange, who had portrayed him prior to Cox being brought in as replacement talent, because Strange went on to pursue a live action career. The female dub also had two actors, but this change was due to poor viewer response. It wouldn't make sense though, seeing as Ranma was created long before InuYasha, though their time periods are totally different.
Trivia
- It is commonly accepted that Ranma is based on Ryuunosuke Fujinami from Takahashi's earlier work, Urusei Yatsura. Ryuunosuke is a female martial artist who was raised as a boy by her overbearing father. This was further developed into Ranma's curse of being a boy who turns into a girl with cold water.
- In the original manga, Ranma-chan's hair wasn't originally red, instead, whenever there was a coloured page (usually covers), it would sport a different colour each time. In the pages of the manga itself (which are black and white) her hair was coloured in the same way as her male side. But by the end of the manga, Takahashi generally gave Ranma-chan red in her colour drawings to provide a contrast between male and female, with red eventually becoming the accepted colour thanks to the anime.
External links
- The Ranma ½ Perfect Edition, arguably the most comprehensive Ranma resource available.
- The Ranma ½ FAQ, good for those nagging questions you might have.
- The AAAnime Webpage, an out-of-the-ordinary site full of out-of-the-ordinary tidbits.
