Anyone is free to post in the topic to dispute anything I've written here. The whole point of this rant is to let the truth be known. If I am wrong, I want to know it.

Ranma Saotome: Super Ninja

Saying Ranma is a skilled Martial Artist is like saying the ocean is a little damp. However, judging from certain factors I've noticed throughout the Manga I'd have to say that Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu is based in a little more than Kempo, but rather heavily derived from the teachings of Ninjitsu. My first point of proof comes from Happosai himself, the Grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. As everyone knows, Happosai is heavily skilled in the arts of escape and of taking things from people without them noticing, such as under garments. However, the prime proof that Happosai is a ninja is from his garb. If you look closely at his dimunitive form, you can see he is wearing a standard Ninja Gi. This is made far more blatently obvious when you see Young Happosai in the occational flashback. As for Ranma himself, he is well known for using Ninja related skills. Examples are Standing on surfaces that do not include the ground, Performing the Kawarimi Technique, and Ninja Dropping to name a few. When you include the simple factors that the Saotome Style includes multiple techniques of Escape and Stealth, you realize that Ranma is more than wise in the ways of the ninja.

Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken

Ranma's Signature move by this point is undeniably the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, or Chestnuts Roasing on an Open Fire Attack. Cologne taught him the move as a method of improving his overall speed, but Ranma managed to convert it into an attack. However, the exact power of this attack has been grossly exagerated by Fanfiction Authors across the net, and it seems that not a one of them realize it.

The common consensus is that Ranma punches more than 100 times in a second. The exact number of punches has ranged from 150 all the way to 700 in extreme cases, but for the sake of arguement I'll say that the average is 500 throughout most fanfics. First, let's say we do the math on this one to find out exactly how fast he's going, shall we?

For the sake of arguement, we'll say Ranma is somewhere in the 5 foot to 6 foot tall range, meaning his arm would be somewhere around two feet in length. A full punch then, starting at his side and ending straight ahead, would travel about a foot and a half or so, so all in all around 3 feet for each punch to hit the target and return to Ranma's side. We all know that Ranma punches one-handed while performing the Amaguriken, therfore the full 500 punches is achieved by this single hand. If he punches 500 times a second, that means that every time one second occurs, his fist has struck his target 500 times. and if the total distance traveled by each punch is 3 feet, then his arm gains a total speed of about 1500 feet a second.

The speed of sound is 1116.43701 feet per second at sea level. So in other words, Ranma's punches commonly reach speeds greater than Mach 1 according to a good portion of Fanfiction writers. The problem however, is that this fact is not included in the anime/manga. He isn't punching that fast. It's a misconception born from Fanfiction. Here is where I intend to prove it.

The only time I have ever seen the speed of Ranma's punches being said was the first time Ranma used the Amaguriken as an attack, against Ryoga during the Bakusai Tenketsu training. While Akane herself does in fact say he's punching hundreds of times, it is most likely that she is exaggerating, not only because it's a tendency humans have, but because Ranma is punching far too fast for her to actually count them. There's also three major differences between this amaguriken and the ones Ranma tends to throw. I'll help you out here by listing them.

Difference 1:

Exibit A has every punch hit one spot

Exibit B has the punches flying wildly in every direction

Difference 2:

Exibit A holds significant power, as ryoga is visibly hurled by it

Exibit B does not match it, as not only does Ryoga dodge a lot of the blows but those that hit him don't move him

Difference 3:

Exibit A is rediculously fast, as it looks like a single punch despite being a hell of a lot

Exibit B is fast, but not that fast. You can clearly see individual blows and most people can block or dodge them.

Difference 3 is what I'm going with mostly. Ranma has only done the Amaguriken at full speed once, and that was against Ryoga. he also only did it four times, because afterwards he was too worn out to do another one. From that point on, Ranma slowed down. His punches move slower than a few hundred a second, and he doesn't bother directing it at a single target as his fists fly randomly in his opponent's general direction. Personally, I'd say he goes at about 30 to 60 punches per second, which is still crazy when you consider the world record right now is 8. The slower attack lets Ranma get off more of them without wearing himself out, and lets him perform each amaguriken longer. For instance, against Kirin of the seven lucky gods, Ranma held up an Amaguriken for a full 25 seconds. meaning he would have thrown 12,500 punches according to the standard Fanfic author. If Ranma got worn out by a few hundred punches at the time of the breaking point, how could he pull off a few thousand shortly after learning the Hiryuu Shouten Ha? Not only that, but it would be a lot more tiring to throw punches all over the place than to hit the same general area. It simply doesn't make sense when you actually sit down and think about it.

Manga Ranma-chan's Hair Color

There is some kind of debate amongst fans and fanfictions about the color or Ranma-chan's hair in the manga. For some reason, many people insist that Ranma's hair is black, regardless of gender. This makes little sense. First, let me just say something: The Manga is in Black & White.

How can anyone claim the color of anything in a black and white medium? Hey, you know Shampoo? guess what, her hair's black in the manga. You know Ranma's shirt? Well there is this rumor that its red, but really it's a light grey in color. Akane's school uniform is also grey, contrary to those that say it's blue. Ryoga's shirt? It's not yellow. It's white with a bunch of black and grey specks all over it. Also, you may notice that everyone is severely albino in the manga. Principal Kuno is the only one who isn't as white as a sheet.

There is no way to really tell what color anything is in the manga since the whole thing is black and white. However, there is one little hint you can look for to see when someone has a dark hair color that isn't black. The wavy line!

Ranma's hair as a male is pure black. No change at all to it, just a big black spot on the page. However, when female, the wavy line mysteriously appears. I don't know about you, but adding the wavy line signifies a change of color in my book. I see no other reason for them to put it there. Especially when you consider Nabiki and Shampoo, who have brown and purple hair respectively, have the wavy line, while Akane does not.

And finally, you can always look at the cover art. Hair color changes rather dramatically throughout the cover art, shampoo was once featured with green hair, but it is still the only source when it come to the general idea of what color someone's hair is. Ranma-chan has been featured with a variety of shades of red, from light pink to nearly brown, as well as multiple shades of blue, purple, and yes, even black. Considering how often the color changes in the cover art, the only thing you can really use to tell the color of anything in the manga, it is hard to say what the color of anything actually is. However, the presence of the mysterious wavy line in female Ranma's hair leads me to believe that some change in color occurs. Even if it is only to a lighter shade of black, some change happens.

Ranma is The Best/Ranma Never Loses

There seems to be some kind of belief that Ranma is not only the best Martial Artist around, but that he never loses a fight. Both of these factors are very similar, so I've included them under the same heading. Let's take these one at a time.

1. Ranma is the best.

There are a few qualities that should be checked to see if Ranma is indeed the best there is. In order to be the best, Ranma would have to be either the strongest, the fastest, or the most skilled person in the series. Either that or a combination of all three that puts him above the rest. Let's not forget chi control, though. This is an anime, thus Martial Art power also depends on how well you can shoot a beam from your hands.

First let's start with Strength. Ranma is undoubtably a strong person. He has done various feats of physical strength. These include, but are not limited to, lifting heavy objects with his feet, tearing up a floor while almost lacking leverage and throwing 3-ton boulders at people. Does this make him the strongest person in the series though? Far from it.

Ranma is a strong person, yes. But strength is not his forte. Ranma is a speed freak, caring far more about mobility than the force of his punches. In contrast, Ryoga is the opposite. Being Ranma's rival, his methods of fighting are a perfect opposite to Ranma's. He's slower, but he packs a significantly stronger punch. Some of you may argue this, may claim that Ranma is stronger than Ryoga, but this is simply not the case. Let's take a look at some examples of Ryoga's power. He's stopped a charging boar with one hand, put craters larger than he was into solid concrete, crushed a walnut between two fingers (if you don't think that's a big deal, try it.), and managed to stand on one arm, with Ranma sitting on him and jump 20 feet into the air, all this without much leverage to begin with. And please also note that all those examples occured in his first appearance. After the Bakusai Tenketsu he did manage to become much stronger than he already was, and had a lot more endurance. I didn't even include the times Ryoga cut a tree in half with his fist or headbutted a cement pole until it broke, without feeling it. Ryoga is the strongest of the Ranma crew, but he still isn't the strongest in the series. That honor goes to Lime of the Musk Dynasty, a man who can stand up to Ryoga's strongest blows and claim they tickle. Lime can also drop Ryoga in just two punches, something that usually takes Ranma several hundred. Oh, and did I mention he could hold open a cleft in the earth?

Top four Strongest in Ranma ½:

1. Lime of the Musk

2. Hibiki Ryoga

3. Kumon Ryu

4. Saotome Ranma

Now on to Speed. This is Ranma's domain, he is a speed freak. Ranma is nothing if not fast, but is he the fastest? Some say yes, but I say otherwise. The simple fact of the matter is that Ranma isn't as fast as some people think. Though he has mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, people like Kirin can match him blow for blow with chopsticks. And while Ranma can run circles around Ryoga, Happosai can run circles around Ranma. And when it comes to speed, No one tops Mint of the Musk Dynasty. As mousse himself said, His speed is beyond human. And since Mousse has fought Ranma many times before, not to mention seen speed freaks like Colonge in action, to say such a thing of Mint is definitely saying something. Mint isn't shown doing much fighting, though. So the full extent of his speed isn't really known.

Top four Fastest in Ranma ½:

1. Mint of the Musk

2. Happosai

3. Saotome Ranma

4. Cologne

Lastly we have Chi. There are many fics that feature Ranma being some kind of Chi master, bending and shaping his energy to his will and pulling off feats worthy of Dragonball. However, this is hardly accurate. To put it simply, Ranma's chi is weak. Think about every chi related battle Ranma had. Happosai with the Weakness Moxibustion, Ryoga and the Shishi Hokodan, Herb, Saffron. How did Ranma win these fights? He used his opponent's chi against them, he didn't use much of his own. Against Happosai Ranma used the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, a technique that takes your opponents chi and uses it to form a tornado. The weaker you are compared to your opponent, the stronger the blast is. Against Ryoga, Ranma attempted to use his own chi in the form of the Mouku Takabisha. This failed miserably. In the end he was forced to intentionally depress Ryoga until the blast would be too powerful for even Ryoga to take. He then used the force of the Perfect Shishi Hokodan to speed up a punch to Ryoga's face. Herb was no different. The Dragon prince took Ranma's most powerful move and laughed. In the end, Ranma was forced to use the Hiryuu Korin Dan, a revision of the Hiryuu Shoten ha that sucked up all of Herb's energy and shot it back at him. With Saffron, Ranma had to use the Phoenix King's hot chi to sharpen his Hiryu Hotoppa to a razor's edge, though this time at least the blow itself came from his own chi. When it comes right down to it, Ranma's chi abilities are around the area of mediocre, compared to all the people above him. Even Ryoga is leaps and bounds above Ranma when it comes to chi. Though in this case, Ryoga seems to be a chi progedy. Ryoga's Shishi Hokodan's hold significant power, and he seems to be able to fire off quite a few before he even begins to tire. Not to mention the size of the resulting blast tends to look like it came from the business end of an angry saiya-jin. The most impressive thing about Ryoga's chi though is not the size of the blasts he makes, but the power of his aura. Lime, the strongest man in the Ranma series, a man who could hold open a hole in the earth, was unable to hold his arm up in Ryoga's Heavy Aura.

Top four Chi Masters in Ranma ½:

1. Herb of the Musk

2. Happosai

3. Cologne

4. Hibiki Ryoga

2. Ranma has never lost.

Well, rather than argue this, how about I just count the number of times Ranma has lost a fight. Happosai hit him with weakness moxibustion, Ryoga beat him multiple times with the God Mark, Lost to Pantyhose Taro who then kidnapped Akane, Lost to Kuno after he learned the watermelon cutter, Lost to Ryoga multiple times with the Shishi Hokodan, Lost to Genma's Hell's Cradle, Beaten by Ryoga when under the effects of the Koi Rod, Beaten by Herb a few times, got absorbed by Hinako repeatedly, Lost to Kumon Ryu and the Yama-Sen-Ken a few times, Lost to Pink's Mandragora, He lost to Akane's Battle Suit, etc. etc.

Long story short, Ranma does lose. He also isn't the best martial artist around. However these things are just what make Ranma who he is. Ranma is the underdog. He overcomes the seemingly impossible to defeat his foes. And even after getting beaten time and time again, he always comes back for a rematch until he is victorious. He doesn't care if the score is 10 to 1 against him. That one victory is all he needs.

More to come when I write it.

And as I said above, you should visit http://ryowolf0.tripod.com/rant2.htm for a version of this rant that includes evidence of my claims. And feel free to debate with me on this. If I'm wrong, I want you to tell me.

"Ranma Saotome, Super Ninja."

Yes, I agree... although I think the Saotome Ryu is primarily constructed like that because Genma is a coward...

Amaguriken.

Yes, I also agree with this, and can honestly say that I have never made that mistake myself... although I have used the Amagguriken to throw Ryoga into a wall once or twice... Oops...

"Manga Ranma-Chan's hair color"

Hmm... interesting. The VIS colorization of the manga DID have Ranma-chan's hair as black, if i remember correctly. I Myself, however go with it being a shor of Red color, if not as bright as the anime, then close.

Reasons.

1. She just looks damned cute with red hair. So, Ranma is a male character... that doesn't mean I can't say his girl side is cute...

2. In the manga, on cover art, she is usually portrayed with at least a redish hair color.

3. In the Anime, It's BRIGHT red... you CANNOT mistake that for black...

"Ranma Saotome is the best."

I contest your oppinion on this. Ranma is not the best fighter in the series, ture, however for the cercumstances, he is VERY good.

The only fighter that I think compairs to Ranma in the series is Ryoga and near the end he was falling behind. The reason for my oppinion?

1. EVERYONE but ranma has some sort of advantage that makes them increadibly hard to beat... accept Ryoga.

Herb... Dragon blood, age, training in Chi since childhood.

Lime and Mint, Animal blood, training in WARRIOR fighting since childhood, age.

Cologne and haposai AGE!!! LOTS OF IT~!!!! ande experiance.

Ryo Kumon... Secret techniques... need I say more?

And Ranma still managed to beat every one of them at least once... even if it occasionaly took some underhanded tricks, at least he managed it.

The reason I respect Ryoga so much is that he is training just like Ranma and managing to keep up reasonably well. He doesn't really have any appreciable advantages... he specializez in strength instead of speed, therefor his strength is counteracted by Ranma's speed.

Finaly, I want to dispute yourr stats.

Top four Strongest in Ranma ½:

1. Lime of the Musk

2. Hibiki Ryoga

3. Kumon Ryu

4. Pantyhose Terrow.

Terrow's monster form kicks major butt and he is DEFINATELy one of the strongest.

Top four Fastest in Ranma ½:

1. Mint of the Musk

2. Saotome Ranma

3. Haposai.

4. Cologne

Haposai isn't particularely faster than Ranma, he's smaller. Ranma can't get his hands on him because the slipery little bugger is hard to hold onto.

Top four Chi Masters in Ranma ½:

1. Herb of the Musk

2. Cologne

3. Hibiki Ryoga

4. Saotome Ranma.

Haposa isn't a Chi master... his Chi control is actually quite pathetic if you concider it. His best attack is producing those stupid bombs, which mousse could do if he really wanted to. Also, you have to give Ranma SOME credit in the Chi Control area. He figured out the Hiryu shoten ha and Moko Takabisha just by watching them. Admittedly, Cologne had to show him the spiral of the hiryu shoten ha, however he did figure out the finishing part.

"Saotome Ranma never loses!"

WRONG!!! You're right... he gets pounded quite a lot.

I intentionally didn't count Taro because his cursed form isn't really fair. He's 15 feet tall with arms larger than Ranma's entire body in length and thickness. Of course he's going to retardedly strong. The only person who could take Taro's monster form in strength is Lime, and even that isn't guaranteed. I applied the list only to humanoid people.

Happosai is much faster than Ranma. Just because he's small doesn't change the fact he can run circles around anyone. Ranma is excellent at accuracy, so he could easily hit Happosai if he was faster than him.

Happosai's chi mastery is pathetic? Go read every arc involving Happosai again. He on several occations utilizes a battle aura that makes it look like he's a 100 foot tall monster. Genma does the same but passes out before he manages anything while Happosai can go on rampages. The first time he shows up he shoots a massive chi blast at Ranma, but calls it off to go look at some girls. He taught Hinako the Happo Go Yen Satsu. The list goes on. Not to mention logically speaking Happosai wouldn't have survived as long as he had without some kind of mastery over chi. Normal people just don't get that old.

Ranma's chi control is impressive, yes. But Chi mastery is different. Chi mastery encompasses both control and sheer ammount of chi producable. And Ranma falls short in the second catagory. Ranma is incredably skilled at understanding and utilizing chi. He got the Hiryuu shoten ha down after being hit by it, figured out the shishi hokodan on his own (after a few days of trying it) and then created his own version. He also created three revisions of the Hiryuu Shoten ha at the spur of the moment. The Hiryuu Korin Dan, Hiryuu Hotoppa and the Hiryuu Gyoten ha. In terms of chi control, Ranma is probably second on the list to Herb. Third being Happosai, probably.

I'd agree there except in that Ranma does not think like a ninja and does not carry ninja weaponry. Ranma has some ninja-style training. That's it.

Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken

I personally take a conservative approach to this technique. 100 punches per second is the upper limit... but I personally prefer "hundreds of punches in the time it takes to yell Katchuu Tenshin Amaguriken." Numbers at 60 per second suit me fine.

Anything over 16 per second will be a blur to human eyes.

Now to counter your arguments. Rumiko Takahashi herself stated that in the manga, Ranma's female half DID have black hair, but for the anime they switched it to red so it would be easier to tell the difference. This is why female Ranma's hair color switches from all sorts of colors on the front of the manga's, she didn't really have a color. You can find this in the Ranma 1/2 art book in the back with the interview with Mrs. Takahashi.

Ranma is most certainly not the strongest character in the manga, absolutely, but saying that he is weak compared to Ryoga at the end of the series is pushing it. In the OAV's of the anime no less, which didn't even cover half of the manga's, Ranma had bent a 5 yen coin in half with two fingers. I realize this is a bit into the manga/anime series, but compared to crushing a walnut with two fingers... I think you get my point. Also, in the fight against Saffron, Ryoga comments on how Saffron couldn't take a hit from a boulder weight several tons that Ranma had thrown. Several tons. Ryoga elaborated by saying that since he and Ranma were hit all the time with such weights they were used to it. I imagine that near the end of the manga Ryoga is the closest to Ranma in terms of power (of the most common rivals) But I would not say that Ryoga's strength easily outmatched Ranma's. Ryoga is stronger, but remember that Ranma is nothing to sneeze at. In the first manga, Ryoga dropped his umbrella which Akane couldn't lift, even with two hands. Now Akane is stronger than the average female, or even male at the beginning of the manga, and for her not to be able to lift it is surprising enough, but then Ranma goes on to lift the Umbrella with the ease that Ryoga did. Nuff said.

Now for the chi thing. I would agree that Ranma's mastery of chi is hardly close to most of the other characters, but saying that Ryoga is better is really really over the line. Ryoga was given a scroll and shown by the miner how to do it, and even had the miner there to help. Ranma on the other hand, had only seen the technique once and already picked up on the fundamentals and learned how to do it in less than a day. You call this chi control but I beg to differ. You also state that Ryoga's ki is more powerful. Well that's because the emotion used to power the blast is more violent, it states this clearly in the manga. Ryoga's depressed or "heavy" ki made it more powerful than Ranma's confident or "light" ki. I know in the fight that Ryoga won out in power, but remember that Ranma's first blast also countered Ryoga's own, despite it being this "weaker" chi. This must mean that he had more of it, or the blast would not have countered. Next, you say Ryoga uses it more often so he has deeper reserves. I still think that this is iffy, in both the fight against herb and saffron Ranma shows that he can put out multiple blasts very quickly and still have energy left for more. This would lead me to believe that Ranma has more reserves but weaker ki, as it's powered by a different source. Also, Ranma's source of ki isn't always there, like Ryoga's. Ryoga merely has chosen a feeling that, no matter what, is present inside of him. No matter where he is he always feels depressed. Ranma on the other hand chose confidence, which while suiting him great, isn't really always there for him, like when he was losing the fights agaisnt herb and saffron respectively. However, even when he did not have this full confidence, he managed to pull out a full mouko takabisha, and even a double on occasion. Not something to sneeze at.

I found this website, and I know you already believe the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken thing is debunked so you can disregard this if you will, but the rest of it is very interesting. http://www.wot-club.org.uk/RanmaFAQ/arts/ranma.html

Now, I have several more little things to debunk that Fanfic writers seem to think is true.

Where does it ever say that the Amazons enslave men!? I read it time after time and it frustrates me to no end when people have shampoo call Ranma a weak male or the like. Shampoo is genuinely in love with Ranma, watch or read the jewel of reversal section. Cologne states that it turns feelings of LOVE into bitter hatred. The Amazons are a matriarchal society, this it makes clear, but it never states that the see men as inferior and the like.

Also. Genma is NOT an idiot. Many people think that he is some bumbling fool who has no skill whatsoever and it becames very obvious that they never read the Umisenken/Yamasenken chapters of the manga. Genma created styles that could turn you completely invisible and could cut a large stone statue into pieces with AIR. For god sakes realize that Genma is no fool when it comes to the art and if he did go all out, could actually give many of the cast a run for their money. Genma's skills are really never elaborated upon however, so this never really comes to play. Soun on the other hand, never shows he has any skill in any art.

I have a couple others and I'll post em up later but I'm a bit tired atm, hope you all think about it.

No, I don't beleav that bit of Fanfiction wierdness... I do, however, beleave that they look down on them. The term "Amazon" by it's very nature states that it is a tribe of women warriors. This means that, they're men are treated, probably, the same as japanese women used to be, and perhaps still are but I doubt it.

Switch the old Clechea woman's work slogans and you probably have the Amazons idea of men. This is NOT supported in the manga, howevverr it is also never denied. Seeing as how Takahashi named them after a tribe of women warriors, shampoo sais things about stupid men on more than one occasion, and Cologne and her ilk seem to be the ones running the place, it isn't really all that far fetched...

Ryoga is Stronger than Ranma. Ryoga is stronger than Ranma at about the same interval that Ranma is faster than Ryoga. They are opposites and they balance eachother out. Ranma throws 3 ton boulders by the end of the manga, but so does Ryoga. Probably heavier too. And Ranma lifting Ryoga's umbrella at the beginning of the manga is meaningless. As I've told someone else before, I can lift a 20 pound dumbbell and curl it, as can a body builder. Am I stronger than a body builder? No. Ranma may have lifted the umbrella and wielded it a little, but Ryoga tore it in half with his belt. (and yes, he did tear it, not cut it. You can clearly see his belt wrap around the umbrella. In the next frame where it's in two pieces, the point of the break is in a completely different location to where the belt was touching it.) Also, all Ranma did with the umbrella was hold it up infront of him and use it as a shield. Ryoga was wielding the thing like a rapier.

I've already figured out my errors from the chi thing in a different thread in a different forum. I'll probably edit the original at some point. However a lot of the points you made don't make much sense. Where does it say that confidence ki is light ki? Also, Ranma never uses chi blasts against herb or saffron, so how can you say he shows he can put out multiple blasts very quickly when he doesn't use any?

I'd agree on Ranma being trained in skills of ninjitsu, but i wouldn't say it's HEAVILY based on ninjitsu. The form of anything goes that Genma and Happosai practices may be based on ninjitsu, but Ranma's fighting style is more of a mix of soft counter-aggressive (Such as Akido or Wing Chun). And really, the ninjitsu aspect of Anything goes really is just a reflection of how Genma and Happosai really is (They are theives...). And if you think about it, Ranma's fights don't look ANYTHING like what a ninja would do, they'd probably hide when a fight breaks out, Ranma charges head first. The philosophy behind Ranma's fight style is no where NEAR ninjitsu, so i'm going to say no to this one.

The Chestnut fist is kind of a blurry subject in my opinion. But I'd actually like to point out a fact on this move, more particularly the third point you made,

Difference 3:

Exibit A is rediculously fast, as it looks like a single punch despite being a hell of a lot

Exibit B is fast, but not that fast. You can clearly see individual blows and most people can block or dodge them.

The original chestnut fist is made purely for speed, as you have said, Ranma has made it into an attack. In the case of the fight between the breaking point and chestnut fist, the move Ranma made isn't excatly the chestnut fist, but rather a revision of it. In the anime during the fight between copy cat Ken and Ranma, they both use the chestnut fist and Ranma realizes this point that the chestnut fist he's been using is actually fake. Exibit A as you pointed out isn't the TRUE chestnut fist, but rather Ranma's revision of it (Like the Hiryuu Korin Dan). So you can't really compare the two as a difference.

Hair color isn't really a big issue, but personally, I go with the anime and say it's red just cause i like redheads ^^

Hmm.. interesting rankings... But i'd change a few things

Top four Strongest in Ranma ½:

1. Lime of the Musk

2. Hibiki Ryoga

3. Kumon Ryu

4. Saotome Ranma

Here, I'd say Ryouga is actually stronger than Ryu. Ryu uses cheap shots to attack weak spots on a body, minimum effort, maximum results; Ryouga just bulls on right ahead, doesn't matter where he hits, it just hurts... thus my conclusion (Simplistic? sure, but it works for me ^^)

Top four Fastest in Ranma ½:

1. Mint of the Musk

2. Happosai

3. Saotome Ranma

4. Cologne

I'd actually put Cologne above Ranma here. Reason? Ranma has fought Cologne only a couple of times, and the only time that Ramna is "faster" than Cologne is their lil' foot race across Nerima, and that doesn't excatly mean Ranma is "Faster" per say, just means Ranma has longer legs. In all the other fights between Ranma and Cologne, it's basically the same with fights between Happosai and Ranma: Ranma can't touch her. So I'd actually put Ranma fourth here despite the fact Ranma is still pretty fast.

Top four Chi Masters in Ranma ½:

1. Herb of the Musk

2. Happosai

3. Cologne

4. Hibiki Ryoga

Here is where it gets foggy. I agree with the top 3, but believe it or not, I wouldn't put Ryouga fourth... who then might you ask! Well non other than AKANE! (J/k j/k j/k ^^;;;)

seriously, I'd say Genma actually. He replicates Happosai's chi image and develops the "Sen Ken" and to develop a whole style of fighting based on chi usage (Even if it's for theivery) is quite a task. What has Ranma done? made up the Mouko Takabisha which is heavily based on the Shi shi Hokoudan (You can say it's a revision of sorts). In pure skill in chi manipulation, I'd say Ranma isn't that great, but other than Speed, Ranma has another skill you didn't count.

Battle clarity: This I use to describe the ability to assess the situation even in high stress levels during battle. This is hard to measure as it's very subjective, but you can clearly say that Ranma IS one of the best in these cases. Being able to revise a skill on the fly in the middle of a battle. Of course, Ranma being a hot head almost never uses this to his advantages, hence all his losses. But when he actually uses this ability of his, he wins.

just my two cents... (Or maybe two hundred cents...)

second part: I've never watched the anime, so you'd have to explain this to me better. How was Ranma's version of the Amaguriken fake? Not only that, Ranma's version was stronger and faster. It should have taken Copycat Ken apart. Also, in the manga anyway, The Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken isn't supposed to be used as an attack. Ranma just managed to turn it into one.

third part: Uh, the list does have Ryoga being above Ryu.

fourth part: Ranma is higher than cologne on that list because Ranma has proved himself faster than her a few times. Mainly when he snatched the necklace from her that contained the phoenix pill. Ranma took it before Cologne even noticed.

fifth part: Genma probably does belong somewhere on that list. However where exactly he goes I'm not sure. Genma hardly ever fights anything, so his actual potential is unknown.

Ranma is definitely a very smart person who can think on his feet and come up with techniques on the fly. That, more than anything, is probably why he wins so many of his fights. Ranma outsmarts his opponents to win, which makes it a little ironic how so many author's portray Ranma as a complete idiot.

I don't know, and probably never will, why Ranma is such an all consuming moron outside of Martial arts...

He's funny that way, though.

Actually, Ranma's revision isn't "Better" it's just more focused. In the revision as the anime explained, it focus is more spread between power, accuracy and speed. Copy Cat Ken didn't know of the revisions and only saw that it's a speed punching technique and overwhelms Ranma in pure amount of punches he did. At the end, Ranma realizes this and concentrate only on speed and wins against Copy Cat Ken. As you can see, Ranma's version is more focused on doing more damage, but against the massive amount of punches Ken did, he just didn't do it fast enough, hence his lost. But you can't say one is better than the other. The original one focuses alot on speed and loses power on the punch while Ranma's version you gain lots of power, but loses out on neccasary speed.

As for the third part.. sorry.. i was half asleep, was on the forum to take a break from paper writing =p

Hmm, Maybe it's my tendancy to downplay Ranma's abilities in my mind. But i'll still put Cologne above Ranma. In the whole pheonix pill fiasco, Ranma uses the element of surprise to catch Cologne off guard. Cologne didn't think he could master the chestnut fist so probably went easy on Ranma and Ranma got lucky. Thats my take on it anyways. But I guess you have a point too.

On the fifth part I would agree on you too, but I'm assuming Genma has more experiance with Chi than Ranma does so I'm putting him above Ranma just from pure experiance.

Final note... I wouldn't say Ranma is a "Smart" Person, you'll actually call him a idiot savant (Or however you spell that). He doesn't out-smart his opponents per say, but sees the weaknesses in things that you probably won't see in a panic. I'll put out some examples. Shi shi hokodan vs Mouko Takabisha: Ranma, upon realising that he can't beat the Perfect version of the Shi shi Hokodan, he notices that Ryouga always faces downward in the decent of the chi blast. He correctly (even if by a fluke) assessed the situation and the limitations of the technique and proceeded to use the weakness (Making Ryouga look up).

In case of Herb, after the first failure in using the Hiryu Shouten Ha, Ranma realize that he needs to over power Herb and not use Herb's chi against him since his control is too good. Ranma uses the ambient chi floating around (mostly Herbs) and funnels it down the Tornado since he know Herb is going to counter his Hiryu Shouten Ha and then proceeds to make up a new cool name for it. Not excatly making a new move, just accessing the situation correctly.

Of course, Ranma can be called SMART, he just doesn't use wit, he merely knows how to use his enviroment around him to the fullest potential. He's just not the "Smart" you're thinking of.

And that doesn't make sense at all. The version ranma used during the Bakusai Tenketsu was much faster then the one he uses after. He throws a lot more punches a lot quicker, that's why it looks like a single punch. I admit you can't say one is better than the other since the one Ranma does the first time is a lot more tiring, but to say Ranma's version can't keep up in number of punches is absurd. I guess the Anime and Manga are just really different.

And Ranma is very witty. It's a comedic manga, there's wit all over the place.

At best you can call him a rogue, but not a ninja.

Well thats how the anime describes it anyways, I'm just presenting you with facts that I gleaned off of the anime. The Manga doesn't go into the difference between the "revision" and the original, only that Ranma focuses all his punches into one spot to create an attack. But really, comparing the Manga and the Anime is really bad, both have different interpretations of the same story. I tend to go with the anime since it has more detail on some things, but many times I'd like to refer back to the manga since it's more "Original". But the Chestnut fist is some of the things I'd prefer the anime over the Manga, much more clear description in my opinion.

I never said Ranma was not witty, he's not quick witted. Theres a difference. One means he says humorous things, another means he thinks very quickly and logically. Ranma doesn't think quickly nor logically... but he IS humorous...

Mastery in my terms refers to the ability to manipulate Chi for the users purposes. Ryoga has a lot of Chi, but the Shishi Hokodan doesnt count. The reason why Ryoga is so adept when it comes to that move isnt due to actual mastery but is actually due to his unique state of mind. His constant depression makes it very easy for him. The only chi ability that I have seen him use that I cant explain is his fortifying trick (His bandanna's and umbrella). Come to think of it, that may be one of the reasons why his punches pack so much power. The breaking point was imparted to him by Cologne and doesnt actually make use of a lot of Chi. It could also be argued that a lot of control is needed for the technique to work.

Im not actually saying that Ranma should be occupying the #4 spot, I think Genma should be there... or maybe he should be on #3 with cologne on #4. Genma tends to be grossly overlooked. We dont often see the extent of Genma's actual abilities, but his forbidden scrolls should place him above Ryoga in the Chi department.

As for who beats who, It's hard to tell how good a person is based on individual battles. Certain styles tend to work very well against certain opponents, but not as well on other opponents. Experience also plays a big part. For all we know Cologne and Happosai could actually be less powerful than they appear but make up for it with their almost 200 years of experience.

I inturpreted the wavy line as shine, not a color change. Looks to me like his hair is shinier as a girl. Also a quick way to tell from just a head shot if Ranma is in male or female form, although I think she did a good job of that with the shape of the face.

I would have to agree about the "Amazon" tribes. Just because the women are in charge doesn't mean that men are seen as inferior, weak, slaves or in any way, second class citizens. Only that the women of the tribe have some greater priveledges/responsibliites. The way Shampoo and the other females from her tribe have treated Ranma, it should be quite obvious that none of them harbor a hatred for men.

Another misconception that I think many have is that Ranma's love interests...the female ones at least, are madly in love with him; so much so that they'd want to be with him no matter which gender he was at the time. This is clearly untrue (perhaps just wishful thinking from perverted minds) as Akane and Shampoo have said point blank numerous times that they're interested in the male Ranma and have no interest in the female Ranma "in that way". Since Kodachi actively hates the female Ranma, she'd probably go out of her mind (even moreso :P) should she ever find out that her most hated foe and the love of her life are actually one and the same. While Ukyou never came out and said it (at least to my knowledge), the way she reacts to Tsubasa and Konatsu, it would appear she doesn't even like the idea of being with guys who look like girls, much less a guy who was a girl at the time.

I also thought it was interesting seeing it said that Ryouga was surpassing Ranma near the end of the series. I'd say this was true...in the manga, anyway. I never thought the anime did Ryouga service. There is a part late in the series where Ranma and Ryouga have another one of their skirmishes, Akari and Katsunishiki make their first appearances (Katsunishiki, of course, being the gigantic pig that was as tall as Ranma/Ryouga down on all fours [that I remember, it's been a while since I've seen that]). When Katsunishiki attacked, Ryouga was able to beat it and Ranma in a single move with all of his gear on.

Are there males in the amazon tribe? I'm sure someone may bring up the question of Mousse, but is he even an Amazon? He's Chinese, sure. He's from the same general area of China that the Jouketsuzoku hail from, sure. He has been friends with shampoo since childhood, sure. But is he technically an Amazon? Cologne has been said to be the leader of the Jouketsuzoku, and one would think that Mousse would treat his leader with a little more respect, especially if he grew up in a village of women. Also, they never outright say he's an amazon, which is a little odd. If you notice, there are no men shown in any flashback that shows the Jouketsuzoku village. I'm not entirely sure if there are very many men in the village, if any.

Point 1. Bishomonten- No one will ever know how that fight would have turned out because Happi blew him up.

Point 2. Monlon probably would have killed him if shampoo hadn't shown up.

Point 3. Wu- See Point 1. only Wu was more interested in play with Jasmine than fighting.

Point 4. Ebiten- Ranma may have pulled victory from defeat eventually but Ebiten was thrashing Ranma until he got stomped on by every body else. If nothing else Ebiten would have stalled Ranma long enough for the wedding cerimony to be completed.

Point 5. Kirin his own self- Ranma was able to defeat Kirin soley on the fact that first he happened to sweat drop on his fist and got the idea to punch Kirin with water and second because the palace happened to be buit on top of a hot spring. If the palace hadn't been built ontop of a hot spring Akane just might be married to Kirin througout the rest of the series.

Apart from that I still like Ranma and am not trying to take away any thing from him. There may be more examples of this luck that I am not aware of, I was just siteing one source. I am just trying to make people think. Ranma is good but I think some people give him to much credit

Also his reputation as a freeloader is way overblown since he gets a job at Tofu's in the first volume of the manga. He also kept Ranma in school during their travels so he is more responsible then most make him out to be.

The notion that Akane is a psycho-b**ch who gets mad at the drop of a dime and gets some sort of perverse pleasure in pounding Ranma into the dirt. I know this has been discussed in some other threads but here's something I don't know anyone mentioned before...Akane is the fiancee that smacks Ranma around the most because she's the one that has the closest proximity to him. If you look at the series from beginning to end, EVERY fiancee has taken their shots at Ranma.

Except one.

The one that just about everyone can agree IS psycho...Kodachi. (And no, I'm not including the Reversal Jewel effect for Shampoo...)

Still, I think paralyzing him to have her way with him sexually isn't as bad (nor abusive) as paralyzing to feed him to Mr. Turtle like she's done with her brother.

Besides, Akane needed a small reality check. You never know you have to get better until you see someone who IS better than you at whatever it is you do. Ranma at least has the idea of trying to improve her speed and coordination, but he can only teach her the way he was taught, which seems to be mostly a stick only method. No carrot to be had here.

But then again, Genma turned Ranma into the heavily touted best martial artist of his Generation, why can't Ranma's methods do the same for Akane?

But then again, Genma turned Ranma into the heavily touted best martial artist of his Generation, why can't Ranma's methods do the same for Akane?

Because it would about five years, even if Akane was cooperative... and when he finally finished, Ranma would STILL be the best martial artist of his generation?

Because it would not only involve giving others the same training he recieved, (I.E. Things like Jusenkyo, Neko-ken and the like) but would involve around a decade of constant training while traveling across japan?

Besides, who said Genma was training Ranma to BE a sensei? Right now, he's only teaching him to be the best fighter of his generation.

I imagine the talent and drive of the student will make a huge difference on whether Ranma could succeed. There isn't any evidence, anywhere, that Akane is willing to really /train/ in order to start matching those people who fight on a higher level than she does. Even during the training trip, she simply tried her hand at cooking.

I'd been wondering if having a dojo even implies that you're supposed to teach in it? Once again, MANGA ONLY. It's one of the things I'd been wondering about the culture that we tend to miss. If it's acceptable to have a dojo just for a family school, Ranma might only be expected to teach his children there.

Some people say look Ranma's dumb because his revenge against Nabiki was to say he loved her. I don't see that as stupid NAbiki didn't want him so by saying he loved her would of forced her to be with him. It's rather simple but not stupid. If someone doesn't want you around anymore the best way to annoy them is to stay near them.

Another example often used is he gets low grades in school. Big deal. He has most likely missed a lot of school because of his training and even during the series he skips school. The reason he doesn't get good grades is because he doesn't really care about school. Also look at who the principal is.

Another example often given is he didn't know what Romeo and Juliet was about. That's not stupidity that's a lack of knowledge.

Because he's socially inept he must be dumb. Well if you judge intelligence by social interaction alot of scientists and doctors must be stupid too. I know several people who are very intelligent but have no idea what to do in a social setting (hell I'm one of them, straight A's no problem talk to a girl have no idea what to say so start talking about antimatter in the galaxy or something I read about in popular science).

The other day I got in an argument about Ranma being stupid because he tried to sneak in to the girls locker room instead of waiting until after school. That isn't really stupid it's more about impatience and not thinking it through.

There is inductive evidence. She makes no significant strides in her abilities. Nobody ever says she improves. There is no explicit arc showing her training, which is evidence that her training habits haven't changed. She never takes advantage of a training trip to get some extra training in. She's never answered and completed a challenge on her own. She's at the bottom of the NWC.

Not even Ranma is shown to practice as much as fanfics sometimes say he is.

Ranma is one lazy boy when he thinks he's at the top. He rests on his laurels as much as Genma does. He only trains when he explicitly needs to beat someone... or when Genma kicks him out of bed.

On the other hand, he doesn't discourage people like Ryouga and Kuno from giving him regular challenges. I think he enjoys them. Fighting regularly is practice of its own sort.

I'd been wondering if having a dojo even implies that you're supposed to teach in it? Once again, MANGA ONLY. It's one of the things I'd been wondering about the culture that we tend to miss. If it's acceptable to have a dojo just for a family school, Ranma might only be expected to teach his children there.

Yes; family-school dojos are fairly common. Generally you'll teach your family and maybe a few favored students (e.g. family friends, or talented students who visit for a short period). It would also be a place to answer formal challenges.

Soun would be expected to teach his children there, if they desired it. I don't recall him teaching her, though.

Intelligence is part to do with genetic talent and part to do with nurture, much like anything else. The fact is, he /is/ stupid when it comes to social things. Both of his parents are also socially inept and stupid in their own ways, so I'm leaning a bit towards genetics. Ranma has neither attitude nor habits that would allow him to ever become smarter or more adept.

It would be really difficult to say Ranma has above average intelligence for these other things and provide much support for that statement. There is no support for the idea that Ranma is especially smart in general, or that his "powerful mind can be applied outside of martial arts" (a trite cliche for Ranma Stu's in fanfiction.) Just because you believe it doesn't make it true. You need more than belief to sway intelligent people to your opinion.

Now, saying that Ranma lacks the ability to get better with training and experience is ALSO unsupported.

But the fact exists that Ranma acts stupidly... and he isn't going to get better/smarter anytime soon.

The only real time Ranma shows he has a brain in his head is when he's fighting, so it's easy to see people extrapolate that to normally.

Some people say look Ranma's dumb because his revenge against Nabiki was to say he loved her. I don't see that as stupid NAbiki didn't want him so by saying he loved her would of forced her to be with him. It's rather simple but not stupid. If someone doesn't want you around anymore the best way to annoy them is to stay near them.

Actually, the revenge itself is rather dumb, and would likely only give her more of an excuse to squeeze him. If not for Akane being rhere, Nabiki probably would have laughed in his face. And really, if just being around her because she didn't want him around was his idea, then maybe he should just pop in and annoy her whenever he wanted instead of making himself look like an idiot?

Another example often used is he gets low grades in school. Big deal. He has most likely missed a lot of school because of his training and even during the series he skips school. The reason he doesn't get good grades is because he doesn't really care about school. Also look at who the principal is.

Actually, it's doubtful that any school, even Furinkan, would let him in if he's missed a lot of school as fanon would say. There's no real tangible proof in the canon that he did miss all of that school. Plus, if he IS intelligent outside of fighting, then he WOULD get good grades, because that would be an example of intelligence outside of battle. And just because the Principal's a loon is no excuse for not applying himself in school.

Another example often given is he didn't know what Romeo and Juliet was about. That's not stupidity that's a lack of knowledge.

...

Umm... your argument amounts to "He's not stupid, he's ignorant!" And ignorance doesn't speak well for one's intelligence.

Because he's socially inept he must be dumb. Well if you judge intelligence by social interaction alot of scientists and doctors must be stupid too. I know several people who are very intelligent but have no idea what to do in a social setting (hell I'm one of them, straight A's no problem talk to a girl have no idea what to say so start talking about antimatter in the galaxy or something I read about in popular science).

No, he's dumb because he rarely if ever shows himself to be smart, except when fighting. You've provided absolutely NO points that SHOW he is being smart outside of battle. Which is kinda what you need for an argument like this.

The other day I got in an argument about Ranma being stupid because he tried to sneak in to the girls locker room instead of waiting until after school. That isn't really stupid it's more about impatience and not thinking it through.

Actually, that IS stupid, because if he waits for the girls to leave, he won't have to sneak in and can find out the Japanese spring has gone away and won't get beat up by Akane. Not thinking it through is actually a sign of him being stupid, so that defeats the purpose of your argument.

Try again yo.

I'd have to disagree with you there. Ranma up and leaves for several days several times during the manga. When he's training for the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, When he went to Picolet's mansion, when he went to train while Genma was learning the Hell's Cradle, When he left to get the Open Water Kettle, not to mention how long he spent in china during the Saffron incident. He also goes home early on a few occations.

Ranma has easily missed plenty of school. Also, there was that one story line where Principal Kuno stole everyone's test results. If you can trust what the Principal says, then Ranma scored pathetically low.

And if Ranma missed all that school, then wouldn't he score terribly, Principal Kuno's tampering or not?

Japanese students require an aptitude test to enter most High Schools, as well as can cost cash...

The Equivalence of Middle School completetion is all that is necessary to get most basic jobs... One needs no more than that to run a Dojo or do any basic job that an American High School Graduate can do...

Whether or not he went to school much is debatable... He WAS forced to be out of school for an entire year for the trip to China as no foreign exchange program would only keep him for a short period of passing through... and he DID go to school with Ryouga for an indeterminant period....

There are High Schools that do not require Aptitude Tests nor Tuition... However any that lack the former...

Well they almost never tend to be worth anything... And any student with Akane's, let alone Nabiki's intelligence attending one is litterally almost an insult to their intellect...

Ranma being intelligent outside of battle is highly possible, however his lack of drive, disinterest, and lack of social adaptation... let alone his lone-wolf raising, would put him in a situation that even if he was a genius with an IQ of 185, would be a dumb ignorant ass, and take several years of conditioned mental training to reach where he should be at this point...

Just to make a note that most people missed...

Japanese students require an aptitude test to enter most High Schools, as well as can cost cash...

I'll bet Furinkan sets its bar quite low. No significant aptitude would be required.

Yeah, they do have tuition. It is quite high in most schools, too - quotes of 1 million to 3 million per year per student aren't unusual. (That's $10k to $30k, or as much as an expensive American college.) Seeing as Furinkan has a rather high repair bill, I imagine that is where most of their tuition ends up... since they obviously lack when it comes to amenities.

The Equivalence of Middle School completetion is all that is necessary to get most basic jobs... One needs no more than that to run a Dojo or do any basic job that an American High School Graduate can do.

To teach classes of young students at a dojo actually does take a college degree (though it may be in pretty much anything you want). Without that degree it will be difficult to obtain students and permits.

Whether or not he went to school much is debatable.

But most evidence supports the idea that he went to school much of the time... though he may have switched schools many times. Genma is Ranma's enforcer for going to school... both to Furinkan and to the school where Ryouga went.

There are High Schools that do not require Aptitude Tests nor Tuition... However any that lack the former...

Well they almost never tend to be worth anything... And any student with Akane's, let alone Nabiki's intelligence attending one is litterally almost an insult to their intellect.

Hence putting mental effort into gathering money?

I'll bet the aptitude and tuition are pretty damn low for Furinkan if they are to keep students despite their... problems. Soun is hard-pressed for money more than once; it seems unlikely he'd be able to afford a high-level tuition for Nabiki.

Ranma being intelligent outside of battle is highly possible,

It's about the same as Genma and/or Nodoka's chances of being highly intelligent outside of battle... or having the potential for it, since we are talking about a genetic talent, here. Nodoka strikes me as rather thick. Genma, I think, has the potential to be cunning and intelligent.

I'll bet Furinkan sets its bar quite low. No significant aptitude would be required.

Yeah, they do have tuition. It is quite high in most schools, too - quotes of 1 million to 3 million per year per student aren't unusual. (That's $10k to $30k, or as much as an expensive American college.) Seeing as Furinkan has a rather high repair bill, I imagine that is where most of their tuition ends up... since they obviously lack when it comes to amenities.

actually that price for a high school is quite high, usually more in the 120k yen to 530k yen is more applicable for the pricing range for the average qualified Japanese High School... Those are for the much more prestigious or well equiped facilities... Mind you as compared to American Equivalence, mediocre for them is double above par for most American education.

Mind you, I do agree that whatever tuition aquired by Furinkan's facilities immediately goes to repairs the few times it is damaged... However it is not commonly the epicenter of massive collateral damage so that is not quite an excuse. Especially the fact that it was that way when Ranma arrive, and there was little to no collateral damage before then.

To teach classes of young students at a dojo actually does take a college degree (though it may be in pretty much anything you want). Without that degree it will be difficult to obtain students and permits.

This is not quite true, especially if one is wellknown for their skill, however having a college degree does look much better on your mark record but so does the High School mark in Japan, so in essense, while pretty on paper, is unnecessary especially for one who is only running a closed family dojo, and working another job of their choice.

But most evidence supports the idea that he went to school much of the time... though he may have switched schools many times. Genma is Ranma's enforcer for going to school... both to Furinkan and to the school where Ryouga went.

Actually this is untrue, the only time Ranma is ever shown going to school in flashbacks is during the Ryouga introduction, and as a matter of fact the only three other real Ranma flash-back sets recieved save for the several from the year in China, are the Kuonji Flashbacks, both of which show only dense forest, no city scenes, other fiancee flashbacks, which he is too young to attend school for the majority, and the Cat-fist training, none of which show or state any schooling... So no, no prior evidence, nor any statement of prior schooling during the series leads to actually very little evidence yay or nay on this topic...

Hence putting mental effort into gathering money?

I'll bet the aptitude and tuition are pretty damn low for Furinkan if they are to keep students despite their... problems. Soun is hard-pressed for money more than once; it seems unlikely he'd be able to afford a high-level tuition for Nabiki.

Furinkan's Aptitude and Tuition are an issue of probable debate, however the series is a comedy, and the Kuno's Run the school, they may well pay for the entire school's facilitation as a means to allow their children and themselves free reign over the place and noone can complain... Thus if you do not like it, go pay somewhere else... This is simple conjecture however and not a statement of any fact before anyone wishes to exacerbate an argument on it.

This may or may not be true, and correct me if I am wrong, however, I do not recall a shortage of cash during the manga, only the anime as a series of gag episodes... This being as money has never shown to be a real issue, only as a plot contrivance or gag or ironic twist in the series... Hence why Kasumi introduces it by lack of food in the anime and Soun is suprised...

It's about the same as Genma and/or Nodoka's chances of being highly intelligent outside of battle... or having the potential for it, since we are talking about a genetic talent, here. Nodoka strikes me as rather thick. Genma, I think, has the potential to be cunning and intelligent.

First of all before I even comment on this statement, I wish to point out for a person who is telling others how to debate you have made a very strong flaw to your arguement, one I have only seen politicians get away with. and that is facilitating only part of a statement to validate your argument. You quoted only what would support your conjecture. This leaves any intelligent person to believe you have holes in your arguments...

now as for your statement, its highly possible, for any number of reasons, His parents could be hidden geniuses, his father being cunning as you said, or the fact that we only know the sides of his mother that are shown... He could be adopted... He could be an alien.. but in all seriousness we have proof that he is of at least average intelligence, and not an idiot savant...

This being that he shows it in one area, combat analysis, that being a combination of battle clarity and improvisation as well as combat tranference, and he also shows that he is not retarded, and only ensuredly socially inept and uneducated, and even then its more social conditioning to female prescence that we are presented with and educational function not interaction on a friend level with other males. Mind you he does show clear signs of stupidity even in battle situations, and shows clear signs of intelligence in social functions... He really is a ragtag menagerie of mixed signals... Do not take my word for it, instead of debating it, read the manga through from the many perspecitives people give ranma, and tell me which one seems more likely...

Highly intelligent, just hiding it...

Idiot Savant...

Stupid...

Socially inept combat genius...

Conditioned moron...

Average joe in a not so average life...

Or any combination there above and more... Lifes more fun that way... Now take care everyone...

Saki Xiashang...

Ranma not knowing the story of Romeo and Juliet doesn't make him any stupider than the countless people who don't know The Tale of Genji a very famous Japanese novel.

Ranma does show intelligence outside of battle.

Some examples are noticing that Akane had a crush on Dr Tofu.

Using some herbs from china on Happosai so that girls would run away from him. (The idea itself is good because it would weaken Happosai Signifigantly)

Saying He loves Nabiki and then not letting her get away with the crap she was doing would be a pretty good plan.

Ranma came up with an idea to use inscence and then wrote a play on the spot to get Happosai to change Tarous name was a pretty smart thing and it almost worked. Anyways no one else came up with any plan at all.

Ranma's plans in and of themselves are not that bad really he just lacks foresight. In other words he makes a plan and runs with it instead of thinking through the plan. If Ranma ever took some time to think through his plans and actions through and the consequences of said plans and actions they would actually work and would be able to solve alot of his problems. Ranma really needs to learn patience (i.e. stop running at everything full tilt) and to actually think about the future. The way I see it Ranma lives totally in the present if it happened in the past who cares and if its the future again who cares. What will be will be.

Another thing that bothers me is Did Ranma ever actually swear not to use the Senken techniques created by his father. Because I don't remember Ranma ever swearing not to use them. If Ranma won the battle Ryu would have to stop using them but where does Ranma ever say he will not use them?

Another big Fanon thing is Ranma lives in the ancestral Saotome home, or its the house Ranma was in as a child. This is definatly not true because Nodaka say in book 28 The POOR tenement house where we lived long ago was torn down, so I started over here... You don't remember, do you. to Ryu Kamun when she though he was Ranma.

Another thing is all those stories that say there is no way Ranma could possibly live on his own. Why not? He can cook (actually its said a few times that he's a good cook). He has taken part time jobs (working at a hot spring, working at Uchaans, working at the nekohaten, and Ranma's dad asked him on at least one occasion if he had gotten a new one if memory serves it was a a bath house.) He can do laundry, repair walls, and do most of the mundane day to day tasks needed in the world at large. Pretty good thief if he wanted to be. So why do some fanfics say that he can't possibly live on his own?

Another big fanon thing is that Ranma's mom is rich when its stated in the manga directly that she is poor.

Repair costs would run at least $200-$1000 for the tiny little things. An estimate of anywhere from $5,000 - $50,000 would not be out of reason for some of the for repairing a ripped out wall, and reparing the grounds from cratering/damage (Ryu Kumon, Ryouga (first arc, Shi Shi Hokodan, etc...), and estimate from $100,000 - $500,000+ would not be out of range for Shampoo's grand, multi wall destruction entrance.

I have no direct count on the repairs, but I imagine costs running $1,000,000+ wouldn't be at all out of hand (or more, lots of things are more expensive in Tokyo-Japan, labor costs might be twice this). Given 200,000 yen a student (~$2,000) that's the tuition of 500 students right there. For a 1000 person school this would eat up 50% of the tuition budget, and teachers would still need to be paid.

To put it simply, you only need to be the epicenter of destruction a couple of times to run the repair bill very very high.

Actually this is untrue, the only time Ranma is ever shown going to school in flashbacks is during the Ryouga introduction, and as a matter of fact the only three other real Ranma flash-back sets recieved save for the several from the year in China, are the Kuonji Flashbacks, both of which show only dense forest, no city scenes, other fiancee flashbacks, which he is too young to attend school for the majority, and the Cat-fist training, none of which show or state any schooling... So no, no prior evidence, nor any statement of prior schooling during the series leads to actually very little evidence yay or nay on this topic...

*Sigh*

Actually, there is evidence:

1) Ranma has shown lack of interest in school

2) Ranma has clearly shown avoidence of school and learning

3) Genma has put Ranma in school

4) Ranma is in Furiken, and was in School with Ryouga

5) Ranma is not showing spectucularly low schoolastic ability for a uncaring highschooler.

6) Ranma is able to go to high school... which typically requires tuition and at least a minor assessment test

7) It is highly unlikely that Genma has the skills or desires to homeschool

8) Ranma doesn't show genius like qualities necessary to perform at his schoolastic level without school

9) Ranma has said nothing that implies he didn't go to school at other times (important!)

Each of these support the notion that:

1) Genma puts Ranma in school

2) Ranma has spent a great deal of time in school

Further, there is no NEED for strong evidence, or much evidence at all, to support an assertion that would match typically events/expectations. For instance, we don't need ANY evidence to support the assertion that Ranma popped out of a womb (instead of say testube), or took his first step before taking his first roof hopping leap, etc...

In fact, for such likely commenalities you need EVIDENCE to argue /against/ them!

First of all before I even comment on this statement, I wish to point out for a person who is telling others how to debate you have made a very strong flaw to your arguement, one I have only seen politicians get away with. and that is facilitating only part of a statement to validate your argument. You quoted only what would support your conjecture. This leaves any intelligent person to believe you have holes in your arguments...

Now you are being silly. In /any/ debate you can only expect a debater to support their own assertion! The strength of the statement is not made by pulling up counter arguments ones own statement... but rather by surviving the counter arguments that are made!

Any /intelligent/ person knows this. Any /intelligent/ person accepts an argument made based on solid evidence, unless counter argument can be made, they have reason to believe the argument is flawed or counter evidence exists, or the argument is not competative with existing accepted theories. In such a case an /intelligent/ person either:

1) Declares/admits with words or actions they have no interest in debating, looking up said evidence so at this point they will 'defer'

2) Attempts to provide counter evidence, or uses the evidence to support an /equal/ and /competative/ assertion.

3) Points out the argument provided is still insufficient to compete with the current theory... due to like of evidence/plausibility/both

NO /intelligent/ individuals dismiss an argument because the arguer does not try to shoot down his own argument, this is irrational. NO /intelligent/ individuals assume that because counter argument can be made/exists that the counter arguments are /valid/.

now as for your statement, its highly possible, for any number of reasons, His parents could be hidden geniuses, his father being cunning as you said, or the fact that we only know the sides of his mother that are shown... He could be adopted... He could be an alien..

A statement of possiblity is not a statement of plausibility. Science accepts, for instance, that it is /possible/ that the gravity does not exist, and that every experiment involving falling objects is just a fluke.

It is however, IRRATIONAL, to argue this is the c