Ranma 1/2: people, places, and things by Terry Martin revised December 7, 1992 {Including JIS kana and kanji codes in braces.} This started as a list of name translations to answer a query. I added descriptions to make it a cast list for anime showings. Then, someone else who wanted to make a card game asked for a list of each character's weapons and martial arts techniques, and for a list of magic items. I put in episode and manga chapter numbers for reference. And the list keeps growing... PEOPLE The cast: Saotome {早乙女} Ranma "disorderly horse" {乱馬} Our hero (sort of). The martial art of kempo is his life. Training with his father at the mysterious Jusenkyou training ground in China, he was thrown into a spring called Nyanniichuan, where a young girl drowned 1500 years ago. He emerged as a young girl, according with the spring's curse. When splashed with hot water, he changes back to a boy, but when splashed with cold to room temperature water, he turns into a girl again. He uses rough, masculine Japanese in either form. Akane's iinazuke (fiance) by their parents' arrangement. Name: In credits, written in kanji for male Ranma, and in hiragana for female Ranma. Distinctive features: Ponytail. Often wears Chinese clothing. Aliases: osage no onna "pony-tailed girl" to Kunou mukodono "son-in-law" to Cologne `Ran-chan' to Ukyou Akane's cousin `Ranko' to Nodoka Voices: (male) Yamaguchi Kappei {山口　勝平} (female) Hayashibara Megumi {林原　めぐみ} Genma "black/dark horse" {玄馬} Ranma's insensitive father. Long ago he arranged with his closest friend, Tendou Soun, that their children would marry. While training Ranma at Jusenkyou, Ranma kicked him into Shonmaoniichuan where a panda drowned 2000 years ago. Genma emerged as a panda, and as the guide explained the spring's curse, whacked Ranma into Nyanniichuan. He becomes rather accustomed to living as a panda, using wooden signs to communicate. Distinctive features: Round glasses with loops around each ear. Voice: Ogata Kenichi {緒方　賢一} Tendou "the way of heaven; providence; destiny" {天道} Akane {あかね} The youngest daughter, age 16. A hot-tempered boy-hating kempoist, yet admired by many boys at school. She refuses to be betrothed against her will, especially to a hentai weirdo like Ranma (who doesn't like being engaged to a violent tomboy any better). Despite their constant bickering and denials, they grow to like each other (and feel jealous when the other appears more interested in another suitor). At the start of the series, she's had a crush on Toufuu-sensei since she was very young. Akane is comically inept at traditional feminine pursuits like cooking, sewing, and tea ceremony. She is also unable to stay afloat in water. Aliases: Frequently called kawaikune "uncute" by Ranma Voice: Hidaka Noriko {日高　のり子} Nabiki "bend/wave/sway" {なびき} Akane's conniving older sister, age 17. A mischievous mercenary and con artist, she finds ways to turn a profit from the odd situations she becomes a part of. Voice: Takayama Minami {高山　みなみ} Kasumi "haze, mist" {かすみ} The eldest daughter, age 19. A traditional, proper Japanese girl, taking over the household duties of her dead mother, keeping house and cooking for the doujou's many guests. She takes the bizarre events around the doujou in stride with cheerful obliviousness or sympathetic remarks on the obvious. Voice: Inoue Kikuko {井上　貴久子} Souun "fast cloud" {早雲} The emotional father. Souun and Genma trained together as Happousai's students before starting their own martial arts schools. Now the fathers try to force Akane and Ranma to bond against their will, which rarely does any good. Souun is furious whenever Ranma turns out to have yet another fiancee, or when Ranma seems to prefer one of them to Akane. Voice: Oobayashi Ryunosuke {大林　隆介} Hibiki "resound" {響} Ryouga "good fang" {良牙} Ranma's rival since junior high, when he challenged Ranma to a fight in the vacant lot behind his house. But, eternally lost boy that he is, it took him a four-day journey all over Japan to find his way there, to find that Ranma has gone off with his father on a training expedition. To avenge the grudge, he went to China after Ranma, eventually blundering his way to Jusenkyou, where a pony-tailed girl chasing a panda knocked him off a cliff and into Heitouenniichuan, where a black pig drowned 1200 years ago. A panda rescued the little black pig, only to deliver him to the Chinese guide for dinner, who fortunately drops the pig into a wok of boiling water. Ryouga blames Ranma for his condition, and his anger multiplies when he finds out that Ranma is really directly responsible for it. When this comes out, Ranma remorsefully swears not to reveal Ryouga's secret. As a pig, Ryouga becomes Akane's pet "P-chan", and falls deeply in love with her, but believes no one could love him as a human with his curse. Akane is unaware that the pet pig she sleeps with is Ryouga, despite several close calls, and is angry whenever Ranma abuses her piggy. In addition to a complete inability to follow directions, Ryouga is fooled even by Ranma's most ridiculous disguises. Extremely strong, he often shatters rocks and walls in his anxiety. Entrance: Episode 7. Volume 2 part 2. Distinctive features: Cute fangs. Wears a yellow and black headband around his head, or around his neck as a pig. Weapons: Slings headbands, wields a heavy, sharp-rimmed umbrella, and uses his belt like a blade. Aliases: as a black pig: P-chan to Akane, Charlotte to Azusa Voice: Yamadera Kouichi {山寺　宏一} Kunou "9 abilities" [can also be written "no competence"] {九能} Tatewaki "belt sword, sword at one's side; bringing a sword" {帯刀} Kunou Tatewaki, 17-sai (17 years old), is the boastful school kendo champ, of wealthy samurai lineage. As class president, he ruled that anyone who would date Akane must first defeat her. At the start of the series, Akane defeats their attempts every morning. In the meantime, he falls in love with the pony-tailed girl (Ranma), and agonizes over which girl he loves more. He hates Ranma for being too close to both. After Ranma defeats Kunou, the other students accept Ranma and Akane's betrothal. Entrance: Episode 2. Volume 1 part 3. Distinctive features: Wears samurai robes and carries a bokutou. Weapons: A bokutou (wooden kendo sword) which he wields as effectively as a blade. Aliases: Aoi Ikazuchi "Blue Thunder" according to himself `Tatchi' to his father Voice: Suzuoki Hirotaka {鈴置　洋孝} Kodachi "little long sword" {小太刀} His even stranger younger sister, age 16. She's a formidable martial arts rhythmic gymnastics expert from the rival Saint Hebereke's girls' academy, who wins her matches by default by taking out her opponents before the competition. After a thwarted attack on Akane in her bedroom before their upcoming match, Ranma, chasing P-chan, accidentally knocks her off the doujou roof, then unknowingly rescues her. When she comes to and sees who "saved" her, she falls for Ranma. Enemy of Akane and Ranma as a girl. Entrance: Episode 11. Volume 2 part 9. Distinctive features: Black roses are her trademark. Sometimes they appear on her clothing, or she holds one between her teeth. Spins her lash-like ribbon in the air, sometimes casting black rose petals all around. Villanous laugh, like B-ko (Project A-ko). Weapons: Her favorite is the ribbon, but she's apparently skilled with many. Gives bouquets of black roses loaded with exploding powder causing sleep or paralysis. Aliases: Kuro-bara no Kodachi "Black Rose Kodachi" {黒バラの小太刀} `Kotchi' to her father Voice: Shimazu Saeko {島津　冴子} Midorigame "green tortoise" {ミドリガメ} Kodachi's deceptively-named pet alligator. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 19. Volume 9 part 2. (`kouchou' "principal") {校長} The antagonistic authoritarian principal of the high school with a mania for Hawaii. When he returns from America, he announces that he has a big present for his students: a new rule that all boys must have marabouzu-style shaved heads and all girls have very short okappa haircuts, unless the students get a coconut containing an exemption slip within three days. He goes to extreme lengths in his attempts to cut Ranma's ponytail and make an example of him, but gets only several poundings. In the manga, the students force him to reveal that although he doesn't remember where that coconut with the exemption slip is, he tattooed directions to it on the shaved head of his long lost son Tatewaki, who he left behind 3 years ago. He makes crazy rules to inconvenience his students, especially Ranma, who thwarts his discipline. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 46. Volume 12 part 1. Distinctive features: Deep tan. Miniature palm tree growing on top of his head. Wears sunglasses, a lei, and an aloha shirt. Often uses English (well, Japlish) words and phrases. Sometimes rides a skateboard. Weapons: Wields a pair of barikan (hair clippers) or large shears. Hands or throws exploding pineapples to unsuspecting students. Has used silly tricks like remote-control planes with sharpened propellors and trained hair-clipping lobsters. Voice: Hitouchi Tateno {仁内　建之} Happousai "8 treasures alike" {八宝斉} A powerful old man, possessed of an evil spirit. The feared and loathed sensei of Genma and Souun. 10-several years ago, he harshly trained them by making them take part in his plundering and endure the punishments when he left them behind. Finally, they got him drunk, chained him in a barrel, threw the barrel in a cave, and sealed the cave with dynamite and a boulder hung with Buddhist scriptures. Years later, he escapes. He moves into the Tendou doujou to train his successor, where Genma gives him Ranma to train. A 110% pervert, he constantly goes around lifting skirts, stealing women's underwear for his extensive collection, and committing frottage. His perversions are the source of his strength; without touching young female bodies or underwear, he loses his power. Ranma and Akane are his favorite targets. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 15. Volume 7 part 5. Weapons: A small pipe, with which he flips opponents long distances, and the long-forgotten devastating secret Happo-dai-karin technique, which turns out to be throwing fuse bombs. Alias: `Happy' to Cologne, as he called himself at 18 Voice: Nagai Ichirou {永井　一郎} Kuonji "eternal temple" {久遠寺} Ukyou "right of Kyoto/capital" {右京} Ranma's kawaii iinazuke "cute fiancee". 10 years ago, on a training journey with his father, Ranma stole okonomiyaki from Ukyou's father's yatai (food cart), defeating Ukyou every day. However, it was a friendly rivalry -- Ukyou drew pictures with okonomiyaki sauce on them for Ranma. Ukyou's father told Genma that Ukyou said she wants to be Ranma's wife. Genma said Ranma already has a fiancee. Ukyou's father said too bad, he was thinking of giving them the yatai for a dowry. Genma said we'll take her. In this quandary, he made Ranma decide; he asked Ranma which he liked better, okonomiyaki or Ukyou. Unaware of Ukyou's wish or even that Ukyou is a girl, Ranma chose okonomiyaki, so Genma and Ranma ran off with the yatai and leave Ukyou behind. Shamed and ridiculed by her peers, Ukyou decided she wouldn't like boys forever, dressed and lived as one, and devoted herself to okonomiyaki style martial arts. Years later, when Ranma discovers her actual gender and Ukyou discovers that Ranma does not get along with his other fiancee, they reconcile and she becomes enamored of him. Ranma generally treats Ukyou only like an old friend. She runs the Utchan okonomiyaki shop in town. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 23. Volume 9 part 5. Distinctive features: Wears a bandolier of small spatulas and a huge spatula on her back. Weapons: Wields a huge spatula. Throws small sharpened spatulas. Alias: `Utchan' to Ranma Voice: Tsuru Hiromi {鶴　ひろみ} (`Ukyou no chichi' "Ukyou's father") (A background character seen only in flashbacks when he arranges his daughter's marriage with Genma, who takes the dowry and runs.) Ono {小乃} Toufuu "east wind" {東風} The local chiropractor, skilled in martial arts medicine, when he's himself. Whenever he sees Kasumi, his glasses steam up and he becomes a babbling fool (and dangerous to his patients), as everyone but Kasumi knows. Genma gets a job at his clinic, doing chores. Entrance: Episode 2. Volume 1 part 3. Voice: Mitsuya Yuuji {三ッ矢　雄二} `Betty-chan' The skeleton Toufuu-sensei manipulates, and dances with in glee after seeing Kasumi. Gosunkugi "5 `sun' [measure: about an inch] nail" {五寸釘} Hikaru {光} Classmate of Ranma and Akane. Obsessed with Akane, he takes pictures of her and tries to gain her companionship. Jealous of Ranma, he nails voodoo dolls with strands of Ranma's hair to trees and posts. He becomes a spy for Kunou and Kodachi in their plots to cause trouble for Ranma. Wears unconvincing disguises when he tries to do something sneaky. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 96. Volume 5 part 1. Distinctive features: Dark patches under his eyes. Wears burning candles strapped to his head. Voice: Futamata Kazunari {二又　一成} Sarugakure "monkey + hide" {猿隠} Sasuke "help + assistance" {佐助} The Kunou's ninja, who defends the Kunou mansion against intruders with strange traps. Replaced Gosunkugi's role at the start of Ranma 1/2 Nettouhen. (A silly, cartoony character.) Entrance: Nettouhen episode 2. Name: Reference to the legendary monkey-stylist ninja Sarutobi Sasuke of Mt. Kunou. Voice: Chiba Shigeru {千葉　繁} the Nyu-che-zuu/Jo-ketsu-zoku "woman hero tribe" {女傑族} Shampoo "coral + raw, uncut jade" {珊璞} A cute Chinese girl, champion of the Joketsuzoku, defeated in her village's annual contest by Ranma as a girl. She gives her the kiss of death, and chases her out of China trying to kill her. After showing up in Japan seeking Ranma, she is defeated by Ranma the boy, but this time she declares her love for him and calls him "husband". By the customs of her clan, recorded in the Joketsuzoku scriptures, when defeated by an outsider, if it is a woman you give her the kiss of death and kill her, but if it is a man you marry him. She tries to make Akane forget everything about Ranma by washing her hair with her special formula 110. Crushed when Ranma reveals his secret to her, she returns to her village and renews her training at Jusenkyou with her grandmother, who knocks her into Maoniichuan, where a cat drowned 1800 years ago. Assured that Ranma is really a man, she returns to Japan and tries to get Ranma to fall in love with her, working at her great-grandmother's Chinese restaurant and making deliveries on her bicycle. Entrance: Episode 15. Volume 4 part 4. Distinctive features: Long purple hair. Wears Chinese clothing and round hair ornaments that stay on her fur as a cat. Weapons: Wields a pair of maces with big spheres on the end. Also wielded a big curved sword when out to kill Ranma. Voice: Sakuma Rei {佐久間　レイ} Cologne (`o-baba') "possible + rugged mountain place" {可崘} Shampoo's ancient, powerful great-grandmother, who tries to make Ranma marry Shampoo, subtly grooming him by training him in new martial arts techniques. Runs the Nekohanten restaurant. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 3. Volume 5 part 6. Name: Isn't revealed until Happousai recognizes her much later. Distinctive features: Hops around on a gnarled wooden staff somewhat like a pogo stick. Weapons: Her staff. Voice: Asou Miyoko {麻生　美代子} (`Shampoo no chichi' "Shampoo's father") In the manga, Shampoo's father witnesses her fall into Maoniichuan, and also works at the Nekohanten restaurant. (Only a background character, but he has a big part in the NES CD-ROM action game as the boss of the final stage.) Voice: Ginga Banjou {銀河　万丈} Mousse/Moose "wash + thread" {沐絲} A boy blindly following his love, Shampoo, who hates him. Even with his thick glasses, he mistakes statues, telephone poles, and bystanders for other people. He shows up in Japan looking for Shampoo, but Cologne tells him Shampoo is going to marry Ranma. A hidden weapons expert, he challenges Ranma to a man-to-man fight. When Ranma defeats him, he returns to China and goes to Jusenkyou to train, but he walks into Yaazuniichuan, where a duckling drowned 1300 years ago. He returns to Japan with a supply of Yaazuniichuan water to turn Ranma into a duck, too, but fails. Moose hates Ranma and would like to do away with his rival for Shampoo's affections. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 5. Volume 5 part 7. Name: Written "Moose" in Nettouhen, but "Mousse" was probably the original intent. Distinctive features: Thick glasses. Wears a white robe. Weapons: Mousse is a hidden weapons expert. He usually throws various tangling weapons on the ends of long chains. As a duck, his eyesight is sharp enough to accurately throw knives which he hides in his wings. Aliases: as a duck: Muu-Muu Voice: Seki Toshihiko {関　俊彦} Linlin, Ranran Shampoo's "younger sister" villagers of her clan, who trained very hard in ridiculous martial arts techniques when they saw Shampoo beaten by Ranma. They come to Japan to ask Shampoo how she killed Ranma, and when they find out she hasn't, they try to. Shampoo stops them the first time and gives them the kiss of death. But when their techniques later backfire, Shampoo ends up saving their lives. (Forgettable, silly characters who show how far Nettouhen sunk in quality, IMHO.) Entrance: Nettouhen episode 40. Name: Break the bathing-product pun pattern. (Ranma 1/2 purists may choose to ignore these two as outside the manga canon, but they come back in Nettouhen episode 72.) Voice: (Linlin) Mita Yuuko {三田　ゆう子} (Ranran) Kobayashi Yuuko {小林　優子} Guest stars: Jusenkyou guide {呪泉郷ガイド} The Chinese guide who explains the tragic legends befalling those who fall in the springs of Jusenkyou, and translates for Ranma and Genma at the Nyuchezuu village. Voice: Yamadera Kouichi {山寺　宏一} Ono Kin {きん} Toufuu-sensei's mother, who comes to town for one episode toting a butsuban shrine to her husband and a picture of a musclebound girl, with good hips for bearing grandchildren (her main qualification), that she's arranged for Toufuu to marry. Appearance: Episode 14. Voice: Oota Toshiko {太田　淑子} Sanzenin "3000 temples/mansions/palaces" {三千院} Mikado "emperor" {帝} One of the Golden Pair, a charismatic martial arts figure skater. Very handsome, and very conceited. Trying to set a new record for kissing cute girls. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 7. Volume 2 part 6. Voice: Inoue Kazuhiko {井上　和彦} Shiratori "white bird" {白鳥} Azusa "catalpa tree" {あずさ} One of the Golden Pair, a cutesy martial arts figure skater. When she sees something she considers cute, like P-chan ("Charlotte!"), she gives it a French name and very selfishly claims it (and if a man has it, beats him over the head until she gets it). She challenges Akane to a martial arts ice skating match with P-chan as the prize. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 7. Volume 2 part 6. Voice: Matsui Naoko {松井　菜桜子} Daimonji {大文字} Sentarou "boil/decoct first son" {煎太郎} Sentarou, unconscious on a wild horse charging through the rain, is "saved" by Ranma. Happy to have found a strong girl his grandmother could approve of, he tries to take Ranma for a bride (and Akane after she comes to rescue Ranma). Entrance: Nettouhen episode 75. Volume 6 part 9. Name: Common name with unusual kanji. Voice: Shimada Satoshi {島田　敏} (`baa-sama') His grandmother, master of tea ceremony style martial arts, who tests Ranma to prove her as strong and as worthy as Sentarou claims. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 75. Volume 6 part 9. Weapons: Tea ceremony implements. Alias: the Iemoto {家元} Voice: Kyouda Naoko {京田　尚子} Miyako-ooji "main thoroughfare of the metropolis" {都大路} Satsuki "tea moon" {茶月} The 1988 Miss Tea Ceremony, intended bride of Sentarou. In Nettouhen, daughter of the "dark side" martial arts tea ceremony school. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 112. Volume 6 part 11. Name: Common name with unusual kanji. Sanae "tea sprout" {茶苗} Her monkey, trained in tea ceremony, who takes her place. Entrance: Volume 6 part 10. Name: Common name with unusual kanji. (`doujou yaburi') {道場破り} The doujou yaburi, who fights the champions of each doujou for their kanban (doujou signs). He challenges the Tendou doujou to a fight the next day. Souun and Genma want Akane and Ranma to fight him together, but Akane insists she can handle it herself, and Shampoo has offered Ranma her Nanniichuan mix if he goes on a date with her then. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 12. Volume 8 part 1. Voice: Kamiyama Takumi {神山　卓三} Kurenai {紅} Tsubasa "wings" {つばさ} A beautiful junior high schoolmate of Ukyou's, who gives Ukyou presents and sends Ukyou love letters. Ukyou told Tsubasa she already has a fiance. Tsubasa challenges Ranma to win Ukyou. Skilled at camouflage and disguise. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 27. Volume 10 part 9. Voice: Yamada Eiko {山田　栄子} Shirokuro "white-black" {シロクロ} Ryouga's dog, age 4. The only one in Ryouga's household that can find her way home. Appears on television as a lost dog looking for her master, with a litter of two-tone puppies that Akane adores. Entrance: Volume 11 part 1. Distinctive features: White on one side, black on the other. Name: Shiro "white" and Kuro "black" are common dog names. Bake-neko {化け猫} A huge ghost cat, looking for a wife, inhabiting Maomoorin, a large lengedary bell given to Ranma by Shampoo. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 54. Volume 14 part 2. Distinctive feature: Giant white cat. Frequently says "nya" (meow) for "na", and uses "nya" as a verb ending. Voice: Yoshimura You {吉村　よう} (?) Yotarou {与太郎} A weak little boy who doesn't like to go outside. He loves pandas, and tells his mother he will go outside and play if he gets a panda for Christmas. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 57. Volume 14 part 6. Voice: Matsui Naoko {松井　菜桜子} (`Maman') His mother, who gratefully serves the panda expensive delicacies. Voice: Yokoo Mari {横尾　まり} Bakuchi Ou King "Gambling King `King'" {博奕王Ｋ} The unscrupulous carnival gambler to whom young Ranma, 10 years ago, loses his shirt and the Tendou doujou he would eventually marry into. King returns with Ranma's signed promise in writing, to claim the doujou and turn it into a casino. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 67. Volume 15 part 4. Distinctive features: Looks like and dresses similar to a playing card King. Voice: Aono Takeshi {青野　武} the -man men Niku, An, Karee, and Piza In the Tsinghai region of China, four little men come to the Yakusaikan store seeking a 4000 year old secret "dragon's hair". They coerce the shopkeeper to draw them a picture of the person who has it now, who has a conspicuous ponytail. Eventually they find Ranma, who uses it to tie off the end of his ponytail and never removes it because it's his "seal". Entrance: Nettouhen episode 70. Volume 15 part 8. Distinctive features: Their heads look like niku-man, an-man, curry-man, and pizza-man. Voices: Tanonaka Takeshi {田ノ中　憂} Chiba Shigeru {千葉　繁} Shimada Satoshi {島田　敏} Hase Arihiro {長谷　有洋} Picolette Chardin II The blond-haired blue-eyed French prince with the flexible face. Twenty years ago, a starving Souun and Genma, after losing in a martial arts dinner contest and being presented with a huge bill, promised one of their daughters to marry into the Chardin family. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 87. Volume 16 part 8. Distinctive features: Blond-haired, blue-eyed gaijin. Can stretch his mouth bigger than someone's head. Mixes French and Japanese. Voice: Namba Keiichi {難波　圭一} Madame Saint-Paul Monsieur Picolette's governess who trains Ranma in martial arts dinner. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 87. Volume 16 part 9. Voice: Mita Yuuko {三田　ゆう子} (`kage no don' "shadow don") Fuurinkan Koukou's school observer, appointed by its first principal. Ranma discovers him running the long-neglected second school store in the dark basement. The principal wants to get rid of him, but he knows all of Fuurinkan's secrets. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 98. Voice: Masuoka Hiroshi {増岡　弘} Pansuto Tarou A monster steals the Jusenkyou client register from the guide and comes to Japan seeking Happousai. Happousai baptised Tarou in Niuhoomanmaorenniichuan, where a yeti riding a bull carrying a crane and an eel drowned 2500 years ago, but Tarou can live with that. No, Happousai cursed him with something even worse... he baptised him with the name "Pantyhose Tarou", and by his customs, only Happousai can change it. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 103. Volume 18 part 1. Voice: Furumoto Shinnosuke {古本　新之輔} Harumaki The ghost of an old man who enters Ranma's dreams. He wishes to relive a date with lost love Gyouko-san, whom Ranma-chan reminds him of. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 126. Volume 20 part 9. Konjou (M-A-R-I-K-O) Mariko A martial arts cheerleading expert from Seisyun Gakuen, who strikes down her team's opponents while cheering. She knocks down the entire Fuurinkan Koukou volleyball team except for Akane. She falls for Kunou Tatewaki and challenges Ranma to a martial arts cheerleading contest for him during their schools' upcoming kendo match.. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 136. Volume 21 part 7. Distinctive features: Constantly cheers out words alphabetically. Weapons: Cheerleading implements (batons, pom-poms...) Saotome Nodoka When Ranma was an infant, Genma left with him because his mother's influence was detrimental to training Ranma in Saotome-style martial arts. When he left, he promised to make him a man inside and out, or they would commit seppuku like men. Nodoka wants nothing more than to see her son grown to be a man, and intends to hold Genma to his promise if he isn't. Entrance: Nettouhen episode 142. Volume 22 part 2. the Shichi Fukudoujin "7 gods of martial arts luck" When Happousai trained in China, he stole a half scroll containing a secret technique from the Shichi Fukudoujin. The legend of the scroll holds that a prince on a white horse will come for the holder and make her happy, so he sells it to an old woman for food money. Name: Based on the 7 Fukujin, the Seven Deities of Luck, who come to Japan from afar in a treasure ship on New Year's Eve, bringing good luck. The Seven Deities are: Bishamon(ten), the God of War and Defense, whose spear is said to protect people from evil. Daikoku(ten), the God of Wealth and Harvest, who brings luck to farmers. He carries a huge treasure sack and carries a magical gavel of luck. Hotei, the potbellied God of Happiness and Prosperity, who carries a huge sack of treasures to ensure a happy and prosperous life like a treasure hammer, a money-producing purse, etc. Ben(zai)ten is the Goddess of Arts and Wisdom, a talented beauty who plays the biwa. Ebisu, the smiling God of Fishing and Commerce worshipped by merchants, usually depicted with a fishing rod and a huge red sea bream. Fukurokuju, the God of Wealth and Longevity, a very old man with a huge bald head a long full beard. He holds a crooked cane with a scroll attached to the top containing the secret to gaining wealth and longevity. Usually accompanied by a crane, another longevity symbol. Juroujin, the similar God of Longevity, who looks very much like Fukurokuju. He holds a similar cane, and also a flat fan in one hand. Usually accompanied by a stag. He and Fukurokuju are usually confused, though they have different origins. They've been depicted playing karuta together. Raichi {ライチ} Granddaughter of the old woman Happousai sold the scroll to, who after a series of misfortunes, doubts the power of the scroll and seeks Happousai. She tracks him down to the Tendou doujou and throws the scroll at him. It ends up in Akane's hands, just as the "prince", Kirin, arrives. Jasmine {ジャスミン} Raichi's ususual elephant. Kirin {キリン} The leader of the 7 Fukudoujin, who finally comes and takes Akane away. He holds the other half of the scroll, whose power comes when both halves are used as a pair, so there is a rule that the bearers of the two pieces must marry. He takes Akane away to his castle in China. Ranma and company go to rescue her. Bishamonten {飛車門天} Name: The first two kanji in the traditional name are replace with "hisha", a shogi piece name. Weapon: A big polearm. Daikokusei {大黒星} Daihakusei {大白星} The go-playing twins. Name: Daikokusai doesn't resemble Daikoku at all. His counterpart Daihakusai replaces the kanji for "black" in his name with "white". They look more alike than Fukurokuju and Juroujin and play go (as black and white) instead of karuta. Muu {無} The Fukudoujin version of Hotei. A walking wall. Weapon: His tremendous belly. Monron {モンロン} The Fukudoujin version of Benten. Weapon: Her biwa. Ebiten {恵比天} The Fukudoujin version of Ebisu. Weapon: His fishing pole. Mint, Lime, and Herb Three very dangerous people from China. Entrance: Not yet in tankubon. Name: Funny how Chinese characters have kanji that sounds like English words, isn't it? Extras: Hiroshi {ひろし} Brown-haired classmate who admires Akane (and Ranma even if she is really a guy). (A common background character.) Entrance: Episode 5. Volume 1 part 8. Name: Given in Nettouhen. Voice: Tsujitani Kouji {辻谷　耕史} Daisuke {大介} Black-haired classmate who admires Akane (and Ranma even if she is really a guy). (A common background character.) Entrance: Episode 5. Volume 1 part 8. Name: Given in Nettouhen. Voice: Koyasu Takendo {子安　武人} Yuka {ゆか} Akane's friend with long brown hair. Name: Given in Nettouhen. Voice: Toshima Masami {豊島　まさみ} Sayuri {さゆり} Akane's friend with short black ponytailed hair. Name: Given in Nettouhen. Voice: Kamei Yoshiko {亀井　芳子} Arumajiro-kun Kunou Tatewaki's trusting pet dog (and his poison tester for Kodachi's cooking). Entrance: Volume 20 part 10. PLACES Jusenkyou/Chouchuanshan {呪泉郷} "Land of Cursed Springs" In the remote Pa-yen-k'a-la mountains in the Tsinghai region of China, lies the training ground of Jusenkyou (or Chouchuanshan as the Chinese call it). It contains over 100 springs, each with its own tragic legend. who how age spring --- --- --- ------ Genma kicked 2000 Shonmao-* "panda" {熊猫} Ranma thrown 1500 Nyan-* "girl" {娘} Ryouga fell 1200 Heito-uen-* "black pig" {黒豚} Shampoo thrown 1800 Mao-* "cat" {猫} Ranma seeks ? Nan-* "man" {男} Mousse walked 1300 Yaa-zu-* "wild duckling" {鴨子} Tarou dipped 2500 Niu-hoo-man- "bull-crane-eel- mao-ren-* yeti" {牛鶴鰻毛人} " bottled 1200 Shannen-* "virtuous man" {善男} " really ? Chuan-shon- got tsu-* "twins" {双生児} " doused 1600 Chan-yui-* "giant octopus" {章魚} * each spring name ends in -nii-chuan "-drowning-spring" {溺泉} Properties of the springs: Those who fall in one of the springs become cursed: cold water turns them into whatever sort of creature drowned there centuries ago, and hot water turns them back to their normal selves. Water mixed with a Nanniichuan onsen mix cured Ranma and Genma temporarily, but it was a cheap imitation that only worked once. Ranma wants to go back to the real Nanniichuan. Ranma and Ryouga found the Japanese (Wafu-) Nanniichuan, but it was inoperative. As an newborn, Happousai dipped Tarou in Niuhoomaorenniichuan, turning him into a baby monster like a winged minotaur with an eel-headed tail. When Tarou went back to Jusenkyou and doused himself with water from Chanyuiniichuan, his cursed form gained tentacles and the ability to shoot ink. He brought back Shannenniichuan to make Happousai virtuous, but it was really Chuanshontsuniichuan, which doubles what it splashes. Tendou doujou {天道道場} "Tendou martial arts school" A doujou in Nerima, Toukyou, where the Tendou family lives. Souun and Genma intend for Ranma to marry Akane and take over the doujou eventually. Fuurinkan Koukou {風林館高校} "Windy Forest Hall High" The local high school, which Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, Kunou, and later Ukyou attend. Name: Sounds like Wind Chime Hall. St. Hebereke Jogakuin {聖ヘベレケ女学院} "St. Hebereke girls' academy" The rival school for girls which Kodachi attends. Name: `hebereke' means "drunk". Neko Hanten {猫飯店} "Cat Chinese restaurant" The restaurant Cologne and Shampoo (and Shampoo's father) run. Utchan {うっちゃん} Ukyou's okonomiyaki restaurant. THINGS Magic objects and strange arts: Long ago (as told in volume 10 part 1), Happousai stole a bracelet from Cologne containing tablets that cause the swallower to fall in love with the next member of the appropriate sex one sees. In Ranma 1/2 Nettouhen episode 37, instead he stole a magic "nan-ban" mirror that had the power to transport people to another time and place when tears are shed on it, and also had the bracelet in episode 35. Nanniichuan mix Shampoo shows Ranma a packet of Nanniichuan mix, an onsen mix of the Jusenkyou niichuan series, which turns ordinary water to Nanniichuan water, and offers him some if he goes on a date with her. The mix cures Ranma and Genma temporarily, but it's a cheap imitation that only works once. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 12. Volume 8 part 1. Gouriki soba {剛力ソバ} "herculean strength noodles" On New Year's Eve, Happousai makes special noodles with male strength hormones to give the eater herculean strength. He is distracted by idol girls in bathing suits on TV, as Kasumi sets the table with New Year's soba. Akane, just beaten in an arm wrestling contest by Shampoo, unknowingly eats his soup, and plans a rematch. Ranma tries to make Akane eat antidote berries before the hormones cause an embarrassing side effect -- whiskers. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 29. Volume 11 part 9. Kou-sui sekken {抗水香皀} "resist water toilet soap" Shampoo's water-proof soap slips away and accidentally ends up in Ryouga's possession, curing him (and later Genma, in the manga). Shampoo and Ranma spend a 5-part story trying to get it back, only to discover the cure is temporary. Name: Sounds like flavored soap. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 43. Volume 12 part 7. Mao-moo-rin {猫魔鈴} "cat demon bell" A large bell possessed by a ghost cat who seeks a bride. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 54. Volume 14 part 2. Kimen-ryuu ken-in-jutsu {喜面流拳印術} "Kimen school fist print technique" Ryouga, lost in a forest, gives a starving old man some food. The grateful old man brushes a drawing on Ryouga's stomach to make Ryouga the strongest man in the world. The only way for the drawing to come off is for Ryouga to lose a match. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 61. Volume 14 part 7. Mangan maru {満願丸} "wish-fulfillment sword" At a shrine in the mountains, this magic sword in a stone withstood the trials of generations of samurai trying to pull it out. Kunou, by virtue of being the one millionth to make the attempt, draws it forth, and the sword grants him three wishes. He uses the first to beat up Ranma in front of the students and the panda. When he uses the second to get a date with the pony-tailed girl, Ranma and Genma realize that this sword could cure them, so Ranma immediately sends Kunou a letter from the pony-tailed girl asking for a date. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 64. Volume 15 part 1. In Nettouhen episode 65, Shampoo buys a magic string from a Chinese salesman. If the red string is tied around your finger and another person's for five hours, that person will love you forever. Ryuu no hige {竜の髭} "dragon's beard hair" A whisker with which a special soup can be made to cause hair to grow (and grow and grow...) on men. While training in China, Ranma-chan saw a man with a bowl of rice soup chased by a restaurant owner. She hit the runner and ate the soup. When Ranma turned back to a boy, his hair grew wildly. So the owner gave Ranma the whisker as a seal to tie off his ponytail with. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 70. Volume 15 part 8. In Nettouhen episode 115 (or volume 19 part 10), a travelling salesman sells Gosunkugi magic paper dolls. If you write a command on a paper doll and stick it on someone's back, they will follow the order. In Nettouhen episode 131 (or volume 21 part 4), another mysterious salesman sells Akane love-fortunetelling sakura rice cakes, that mark the faces of those who eat them showing their romantic love. Martial arts techniques: Neko-ken {猫拳} "cat-fist" A cat style martial arts technique Genma trained Ranma in by covering him with fish cakes and dropping him in a pit of hungry cats, causing Ranma's ailurophobia. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 2. Volume 5 part 2. (Ka-chuu) ten-shin ama-guri-ken {（火中）天津甘栗拳} "imperial broiled sweet chestnuts (in the fire)-fist" The technique of moving ones hands very very fast to snatch chestnuts from a burning fire, learned by Ranma to get the fushichogan medicine from Cologne. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 4. Volume 5 part 10. Shiryou no Bon-odori {死霊の盆踊り} "Bon-dance of the spirits" Sanzenin's combat skating technique of spinning in place and raining punches and kicks on his opponent. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 8. Volume 3 part 8. Wakare no merry-go-round {別れのメリーゴーランド} "merry-go-round separation" A Golden Pair combat skating technique of holding someone by the legs and spinning in place. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 9. Volume 4 part 1. Baku-sai-ten-ketsu {爆砕点穴} "blasting point hole" The art of making rocks explode by punching a hole with one finger. Taught to Ryouga by Cologne. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 10. Volume 6 part 5. Saotome-ryuu ougi {早乙女流奥義} "Saotome school secret technique" A technique of last resort when faced with an undefeatable foe, employed by Ranma against Ryouga, made up of three parts: run, think, attack. In other words, run away and think up some way to attack again. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 11. Volume 6 part 7. Happou dai-ka-rin {八宝大華輪} "Happou- big shining corolla" Happousai's secret technique, long ago written on a scroll and hidden because it was too powerful, which he later rediscovers. The technique is throwing firecracker bombs. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 26. Volume 11 part 4. Kunou-ryuu bokutou sasara kuzushi {九能流木刀ささら崩し} "Kunou school bokutou whisk destruction" The principal's technique of using a pair of barikan in a circular motion to reduce a bokutou (wooden sword) to a whisk, then, as the barikan comes up and around, simultaneously shave his opponent's head. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 46. Volume 12 part 3. Hi-ryuu shou-ten-ha {飛竜昇天破} "flying dragon ascension destruction/defeat" The technique of drawing your opponent into the center of a circle, making your opponent hotter and hotter while keeping yourself cool, then releasing your cool punch at the center so that the temperature difference generates a whirlwind. Taught to a weak Ranma by Cologne when Happousai took away his strength. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 49. Volume 13 part 4. Saotome-ryuu ura waza hiougi {早乙女流裏技秘奥義} "Saotome school underhanded trick secret techniques" Techniques employed by Ranma against an invincible Ryouga: Rou ga shuuhaitai {狼牙襲背態} "wolf fang attack from behind figure" Attacking from behind with hooked fingers like a the fangs of a pouncing wolf. The set-up: Ranma points behind Ryouga and cries "What's that!?" Mouko ichigeki tai {猛虎一撃態} "fierce tiger hit figure" Striking from above like a tiger pinning its prey beneath its paw. The set-up: Ranma points at the floor, "Someone dropped 100 yen!" Kaeru rekishi tai {蛙轢死態} "frog run over and killed figure" Mowing down and crushing like a frog beneath a tire. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 61. Volume 14 part 8. Shishi houkoudan {獅子咆哮弾} "lion roar projectile" A technique of projecting one's "ki" at someone, which Ryouga learns from a scroll he got from a civil engineer, who used the technique for excavation. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 123. Volume 20 part 1. Mouko takabisha {猛虎高飛車} "fierce tiger domineering" Another technique of projecting one's "ki" which Ranma discovers to counter the shishi houkoudan. Appearance: Nettouhen episode 124. Volume 20 part 5.