Ranma Saotome
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| Ranma Saotome 早乙女 乱馬 | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ranma2.jpg Ranma Saotome, male and female | |
| Alias: | Pigtailed Girl, by the Kunos Ranma Darling, by Kodachi Airen, by Shampoo Son-in-law (Muku-Dono) Ranma-Honey/Ran-chan, by Ukyo Ranko, to Nodoka |
| Gender: | Male/Female |
| Age: | 16 |
| Curse: | Male to Female |
| Family: | Genma Saotome, father Nodoka Saotome, mother Mr. Panda, pet (as Ranko) |
| Love Interest: | Akane Tendo, fiancée |
| Loved By: | Akane Tendo, fiancée Shampoo, fiancée Ukyo Kuonji, fiancée Tatewaki Kuno (girl-form) Kodachi Kuno (boy-form) Many minor characters |
| Rivals: | Happosai Ryoga Hibiki Mousse Tatewaki Kuno (boy-form) Kodachi Kuno (girl-form) Hikaru Gosunkugi Pantyhose Taro Many minor characters |
| Occupation: | Student Martial Artist Occasionally: Waitress |
| Residence: | Formerly: The Saotome Household Now: Tendo Dojo, Furinkan |
| Fighting Style: | Anything Goes Martial Arts |
| Attacks: | Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken) Flying Dragon's Ascension Blast (Hiryü Shöten Ha) Pride of the Fierce Tiger (Moko Takabisha) Cat Fist (Nekoken) Sea of a Thousand Fists (Umisenken) |
| Seiyū: | Kappei Yamaguchi (male) Megumi Hayashibara (female) |
| Voice Actor: | Sarah Strange/Richard Cox (male) Brigitta Dau/Venus Terzo (female) |
| 1st Appearance (Manga): | Volume 1 |
| 1st Appearance (Anime): | TV Series, Season 1 |
Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬 Saotome Ranma) is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series Ranma ½.
Contents |
[edit] History
Ranma Saotome, the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome, was taken from his home at an early age by his father on a decade-long training trip to perfect his martial arts. Along the way, he encountered many things, and many people, which is revealed later in the series.
When Ranma was young, he befriended Ukyo Kuonji, the daughter of a travelling okonomiyaki chef and martial artist, though Ranma didn't know she was a girl. Genma engaged Ranma to Ukyo in exchange for the vendor's cart of her father, but he abandoned Ukyo and ran off with the cart, without telling Ranma about the engagement or correcting him about Ukyo's real gender.
Later, near the end of the training trip, Genma took Ranma to a training ground in China named Jusenkyo that no one used anymore because the springs there were cursed. Falling into them would turn you into whatever drowned there and cursed the spring before. Not knowing this, Genma attempted to train with Ranma 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. Genma, now cursed, was able to hit Ranma into another of the cursed pools, 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 an arrangement with his friend Soun Tendo, 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 developed feelings for her.
Ranma and Genma moved into the Tendo dojo. Since then, Ranma 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, Genma told Ranma that if his mother, Nodoka Saotome found that he was a half-man, she would kill them both. Therefore, Ranma changed into a girl and was known as Ranko, a visiting cousin of Akane's, whenever his mother was around.
Later, Ranma talked to his mother as a man (not revealing his curse) and to show that he was manly (not a cross-dresser), had has to do several perverted things (mostly to do with Akane). However, these failed, so his mother told him that she would return later to check on his 'manliness.' Eventually, after Ranma saved her life, Nodoka accepted him as a man amongst men despite the curse.
Ranma has not yet found a cure for this ability to change into a girl.
[edit] 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. This trait often results in him being unable to accept defeat and becoming preoccupied with trying to beat his opponent. Ranma will sometimes refuse a match if he deems the opponent too ridiculous to fight.
Ranma's lacks experience in social situations and often speaks without thinking of the consequences. 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, in conjunction with a fabricated innocent persona, to convince hormonal boys to do as he wishes. Ranma says he doesn't like fighting women, perhaps 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.
Ranma 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. Ranma may get mad, but he does not stay mad.
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 varied. When they first met, he was a girl and seemed to feel a shy friendship with her. 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 becomes nervous when confronted with romance, such as with Shampoo during the Reversal Jewel story, or in numerous 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 Happosai. Ranma himself, however, 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 ever - as a girl - from Mikado Sanzenin of the Golden Pair of Martial Arts Skating, an occurrence that, by Ranma's own admission, made him truly angry for the first time.
One of Ranma's worst habits is that when fighting or training with his father, he is generally oblivious to his surroundings. The most notable consequence of this 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.
Another of Ranma's 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. In the anime, 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.
Ranma's speech is casual and unrefined, using a coarse form of Japanese (or English in the case of the American-translated anime and manga). He rarely uses -san, -kun, -chan or any other traditional Japanese honorifics. He does use -sempai (elder student) for Kuno, but that is more for sarcasm. Others 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 rarely addresses Ranma with an honorific. This is amusing since it would denote that the two are particularly intimate with each other.
[edit] 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 the Nekoken (Cat Fist) technique. The training technique described the trainee being covered in fish sausage and thrown into a pit of starving cats, but that only made Ranma afraid of cats. Only then did Genma read the next page of the training book, which stated that the technique should never be used, as it only results in severe mental scarring. Genma then tried to make Ranma less afraid of cats by repeatedly shoving him into a pit of hungry cats, covered in some other fish-based food each time. His attempts failed to cure the phobia, but they did teach Ranma the intended technique, albeit with potentially dangerous ramifications.
If Ranma's fear reaches a critical point (surrounded by cats, and/or unable to get away for an extended period of time), his mental state becomes like that of a cat. 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 seemingly anything - wood, metal, stone and ice all fall to his claws. He has even shredded water. He has willingly entered the Nekoken on a few occasions in order to help him win a battle, usually with the aid of Shampoo, who turns into a cat when hit by cold water.
As a cat, Ranma is temperamental and generally wishes to be left alone after he is done shredding whatever annoyed him or was foolish enough to attack him. However, he usually comes out of it after taking a nap, something he only does in the lap of someone he trusts. An old woman who lived near the Saotome home was able to handle him when it happened as a child, but now he generally sleeps on Akane's lap, much to her embarrassment. Splashing him with water can work as well. Ranma remembers nothing of what goes on while he is in the Nekoken, which can cause great problems if his behavior was unacceptable by human standards.
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. Extremely proud of his abilities, Ranma feels humiliated by even one defeat.
[edit] 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 multiple fiancées, none of whom seem willing to give up on him and all with a legitimate engagement to him.
The first fiancée 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 a rocky start thanks to Ranma's curse, Akane's quick temper, and Ranma's smart mouth, but they do end up coming to love each other even if they rarely show it.
The next fiancée 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 became embarrassed when he said she was cute. She then forgave him and re-established their engagement the next day.
There are others who have tried to win Ranma over--both male and female, depending on the form he was in at the time. Although Ranma does not return their affections, he's not above using them to get what he wants either. Two of his more determined suitors are Tatewaki Kuno and his sister, Kodachi. The anime introduces other suitors as well, though they are mostly for laughs and are not meant to be taken very seriously.
Even though Ranma shows no real interest in marrying any of his fiancees, he will often go to great lengths to avoid making any decision on the matter at all. Yet, he shows no real interest in rectifying his situation either. In fact, in several instances, Ranma has gone out of his way to ensure that things don't change; or, at the very least, to ensure that his status as a "man among men" remains uncompromised. However, despite his stubborn protests and his pride, Ranma does hold strong romantic feelings for Akane, and by the end of the manga, he has admitted it to himself that he loves her, even if he can't bring himself to admit it out loud.
The end of the manga strongly implies that Ranma and Akane will marry once they have sorted out their personal affairs. After the final fight with Saffron it is implied that Ranma is more careful with his words to Akane.
[edit] Rivals
Ranma has several rivals. However, his main opponents are: Image:Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno.jpg
- Tatewaki Kuno is his rival at school, as well as his suitor (for his female counterpart). He has never beaten Ranma 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, in part because they are each in love with the other's object of hatred: Kodachi for Ranma and Tatewaki for the enigmatic "pigtailed girl."
- 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. 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. He is the fastest of Ranma's rivals, but has yet to use that to his advantage.
- Happosai is the perverted founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts and one of the more powerful characters in the series. He frequently tries to force Ranma into becoming his student or model lingerie for him, but Ranma continues to refuse.
Ranma had other 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.
[edit] 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 incorporates 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.
A 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 can produce 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.
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 that he takes every opportunity to flaunt his superiority, regardless of the possibility of payback, a mistake he has often made after temporarily defeating 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 did not master the technique in the conventional manner, but instead does so by pulling fish from a fish tank using his bare hands. In the manga this is not a special attack, but 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). 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 Ranma clings to his opponent's back, then manipulates his/her arms like a puppet. Used it to try and make Kuno apologize to Kodachi and also to 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 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. The fighter performs this by developing a "Soul of Ice", devoiding himself of emotion. They then use an opponent's hot ki, typically from battle aura. The user then leads their opponent in the "rasen stepu" or spiral step. Once this is completed, the user pours the ki in an upward fist strike that creates a tornado of ki that carries off the opposing fighter(s). It is perhaps the most powerful and versatile technique of all, this Amazon technique gives Ranma the edge he needs to defeat his toughest opponents: Happosai, Herb, Saffron, Kirin, and others. 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 radiated hot ki; Ranma gathered 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 planned 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 would become highly concentrated, squeezing the cold spiral into a razor's edge. He was unable to find an opportunity to use the move until Akane threw 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 drilled straight through Saffron's chest, defeating him.
- Heavenly Dragon Searching Blast (Hiryū Gyōten Ha): Also used in volume 38 of the manga. Akane was dying and only the water from the Dragon Faucet could save her. Ranma, falling from the sky, had no time to get Akane to the water. Instead, he channeled all his energies into the whirlwind. The whirlwind was forced downward, then curved as it reached the Dragon Faucet. It brokes the Faucet, causing the Dragon Head to spew water into the sky. In this way Ranma saved Akane's life, but also destroyed an opportunity to remove his curse.
- Pantyhose Shooting Star Kick (Pansuto Ryusei Kyaku): An extremely powerful kick Ranma used to defeat the transformed Pantyhose Taro. Using the elasicity of Happosai's bag of pantyhose as a catapult, Ranma focused his ki and used the extra momentum to deliver an insanely fast and powerful kick.
- Pride of the Fierce Tiger (猛虎高飛車—Mōko Takabisha): A ki attack based on the emotion of confidence, created by and for Ranma. It was mostly developed as a direct counter to Ryoga's Lion's Roar Shot (獅子咆哮弾—Shishi Hokodan) since Ranma could not maintain the level of depression required for it. In the manga, Ranma is able to create a "Double Moko Takabisha" that fires two equally stong ki blasts.
- Sea of A Thousand Fists (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 thievery. However, he decided they were too dangerous and considered them forbidden. He only taught Ranma these techniques when Ryu Kumon arrived and challenged them for said scroll, using its companion set, Mountain of A Thousand Fists (山千拳—Yamasenken). Responsible for the downfall of the Kumon dojo. Emulates the movements of a noisy thief. Ranma made Ryu Kumon swear off using Yamasenken after defeating him, and "sealed" his own knowledge of the Umisenken as well.
[edit] 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.
- Ranma can mean "chaotic or reckless horse". Saotome means "rice-planting girl."
- In the manga, Ranma-chan's hair wasn't originally red, instead, whenever there was a coloured page (usually covers), it would be 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 hair in her colour drawings to provide a contrast between male and female, with red eventually becoming the accepted color thanks to the anime.
[edit] External links
| Saotome Family | |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome | Genma Saotome | Nodoka Saotome | |
| Tendo Family | |
| Soun Tendo | Kasumi Tendo | Nabiki Tendo | Akane Tendo | Mrs. Tendo | |
| Chinese | |
| Shampoo | Mousse | Cologne | Jusenkyo Guide | Pantyhose Taro | |
| Kuno Family | |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Kodachi Kuno | Principal Kuno | Sasuke Sarugakure | |
| Notable Furinkan Residents | |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hikaru Gosunkugi | Dr. Tofu Ono | Hinako Ninomiya | Konatsu | |
| Major Adversaries | |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Happosai | Mariko Konjo | Herb | Ryu Kumon | Saffron | |
| Recurring / Other Characters | |
| Akari Unryu | Tsubasa Kurenai | Shinnosuke | Ranma ½ minor characters | |
| Other Articles | |
| Locations in Ranma ½ | Anything Goes Martial Arts | Chinese Amazons | |
