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[[caption-width:309:[[ScrewYourself On]] [[RuleThirtyFour your]] [[FanFic Marks...]]]]

The anime and manga ''Ranma ½'' defies simple explanation, but one can approximate its general gist as "martial arts/urban low fantasy/{{slapstick}} comedy/sex farce/romance..." yeah.

It tells the story of Ranma Saotome, a 16-year-old martial arts prodigy who, upon returning from a lifelong training journey with his father, finds himself engaged to marry Akane Tendō, the 16-year-old martial artist daughter of his father's best friend.

Complicating matters is the fact Ranma and his father Genma both [[IncrediblyLamePun bear]] shapechanging {{curse}}s. Due to an accident at a magical training ground in China called Jusenkyō, Genma turns into a giant panda and Ranma turns into a short, busty girl whenever they are splashed with cold water. Splashing them with hot water restores them to their normal selves. Further complications arise in the form of other engagements arranged by Ranma's amoral father, the boys pursuing the girls so engaged, plus various other persons wanting to kill or marry Ranma in either or both of his forms. Several of these folks also bear curses from Jusenkyō. Almost ''all'' of them are world-class martial artists, which results in considerable property damage most of the time.

This is the series which brought TheUnwantedHarem trope to its ridiculous extreme, creating the LoveDodecahedron trope. The core cast numbered more than a dozen persons caught up in a complex web of love, hate, duty, honor and rivalry, all of it played for laughs; and more characters joined the madness every year, making for one of the larger ensemble casts in anime and manga. The manga ran in the Shounen Sunday magazine from 1987 to 1996, drawn by the popular {{mangaka}} RumikoTakahashi, and was collected into 38 tankoban and shinsoban volumes, condensed to fit into 36 volumes in the American version.

The anime adaptation lasted seven seasons on television and was supplemented by a series of 11 {{OVA}}s, one theatrical short (released as the 12th OVA outside Japan) and two motion pictures.

While considered a "classic" anime, it suffers from several problems. First, it was canceled before it could complete the full storyline from the manga on which it was based, ending three years before the manga concluded; what material did make it on the air became somewhat repetitious because the production team was given to inserting cookie-cutter {{filler}} episodes that were unrelated to the original manga plot. (The final season had 25 episodes and only 10 were based on the manga.) This reflected a change in the manga itself, which had also gradually abandoned an overarching plot in favor of smaller arcs and episodic comedy. Finally, towards the middle of its run the artistic quality of the show began to suffer noticeably -- indeed, there is a noticeable decline in quality of animation, music, and writing starting in the second season. The final seasons showed considerable improvement, though, and the {{OVA}}s and movies are of superb quality.

Even given these problems, ''Ranma ½'' was quite popular in its time, a popularity that surprisingly carried over to North America. It was one of the first major crossover hits that ushered in the explosion of anime importation in the early-to-mid-1990s. The dub by Viz Video is thought by some to be the first decent effort in the history of English anime adaptation. It was even briefly optioned for a live action Hollywood film in the late 1990s, although nothing ever came of it.

''Ranma ½'' has a remarkably large and vigorous American fan community despite its age, and is still responsible for a significant fraction of the anime [[FanFic fanfiction]] on the web, including a wide variety of [[IntercontinuityCrossover crossovers]]. In fact, ''Ranma ½'' is probably one of the most crossed-over series on the internet: on fanfiction.net alone it has over 400 crossovers listed (with hundreds, if not thousands, listed elsewhere). To put that into perspective, while that's one-fifth the number of crossovers that ''{{Naruto}}'' has listed, ''Naruto'' also has ''twenty times'' as many stories listed as ''Ranma'' does total. One sub-type of these, the FukuFic, is common enough that it has its own trope entry. Predictably, its length and fanbase result in copious amounts of {{Fanon}}.

[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ptitlegynukzwikxmd Has its own Character Sheet.]]

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!!''Ranma ½'' provides examples of:

* AbortedArc: (Manga only) Ranma's attempts to conceal his curse are quietly dropped in the middle of the "Full-body Cat's Tongue" arc and the story goes from no one at school knowing about his curse to everyone (except Kunō, of course) knowing about it with hardly a comment from anybody.
** He first reveals it in a middle of a battle where he acts like it's a magic trick. It's mentioned later several times he now has a reputation as a cross dresser rather than transforming.
* TheAbridgedSeries: RanmaAbridged
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: With a wooden sword, no less.
* AbusiveParents: Staggeringly none of the parental figures in either the manga or the anime are ever considered abusive within the setting despite their actions. The sole exception is Genma, whom the Tendōs call out for Jusenkyō and the Cat-Fist. Even his best friend calls him a ''monster'' for knocking his own wife unconscious to preserve his and Ranma's secret.
* AccidentalMarriage: Ranma and Shampoo; Kodachi's behavior is similar.
* AdaptationDecay: Differences in characterization from the manga, and occasional plot alterations. It's debatable whether or not this is bad, though.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Girl-Ranma (possibly Shampoo)
* AllAmazonsWantHercules: Shampoo towards Ranma.
* [[AndCallHimGeorge And Call Him Charlotte]]: Azusa Shiratori
* [[spoiler: AnguishedDeclarationOfLove]]
* AnimeThemeSong
* ArmorPiercingSlap: Akane is capable of landing a slap to the cheek on anyone, regardless of how badly they may outclass her in terms of fighting skills. The catch is that they must first insult her fighting skills or general appearance. This effect is such an important part of her character that it was used in both the manga and the series to break her out of an amnesiac effect.
* ArrangedMarriage: The driving force of the series. Three times in the original manga (the Tendō promise, Ukyō, and Picolet Chardin,) plus an extra two time in the anime, once to serve as the justification for a {{Villain of the Week}}'s {{Martial Arts and Crafts}} challenge and the second time as a gag at the end of the episode.
* ArthurDent: Nabiki
* AssholeVictim: Given the preponderance of {{Jerkass}} characters in the cast, almost everybody deserves whatever misfortune others inflict on them.
** WordOfGod states that part of the reason Nabiki is so funny is that, unlike everyone else, she gets away with all of her evil deeds. And indeed, she almost never suffers from the local madness, choosing instead to profit from it.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: Pick any of the visiting MartialArtsAndCrafts people who come by.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The {{Orochi}}, Pantyhose Tarō's monster form, and Happōsai, Sōun and Genma's BattleAura manifestations. Not to mention the Dojo Destroyer, in the manga.
* [=~Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!~=]: Hinako Ninomiya in child form.
* AttractiveBentGender: Ranma. All the guys at school cheer whenever Ranma suffers a ModeLock as they seem to like [[GirlWatching ogling]] Ranma more than most of the ''real'' girls. Nyanniichuan victims in general seem to fall under this category, perhaps because it ups the embarassment factor of the curse; see the Musk Dynasty, especially their prince, Herb.
** Ranma's popularity as an ogling target might stem less from the fact s/he is attractive (though it's undeniable that s/he is) and more from the facts that Ranma has a tendency to suffer ClothingDamage due to his opponents often wielding blades or bombs, doesn't wear bras (for obvious reasons) and, most importantly, lacks "feminine modesty" and so is far less likely to get pissy/violent at them then any of the normal girls.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Ranma and Akane, all the way.
* BadassFamily: The Saotomes, most obviously, with Ranma and Genma both being martial arts masters. Shampoo and Cologne, the latter being the former's great-grandmother also count. The Tendōs could theoretically count, but only two of the four members are fighters, and rather weak ones compared to the other cast members (though not to anyone else).
* BadassLongcoat: Shinnosuke. A janitor's coat, yes, but Shinnosuke makes it very badass; Arguably Mousse (for all of three panels)... he's pretty much a subversion from then on; right clothes, right skill level, wrong antics.
** Given that Shinnosuke is constantly stumbling into his own traps because he forgets where he put them, wouldn't he also count as a subversion like Mousse? Or would that be more an amusing character quirk?
* TheBarnum: Nabiki to an extreme degree.
* BashBrothers: Mikado Sanzen'in and Azusa Shiratori, the Golden Pair of Martial Arts [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Ice Skating]].
* BattleAura: Pretty much every martial artist in the series. Happōsai can actually shape his into a giant copy of himself, effectively becoming kaiju-sized. One episode of the anime has Happōsai split into seven clones (long story) and all of them do this at once.
* BeachEpisode
* BeamOfEnlightenment
* BeautifulAllAlong: Inverted -- Mousse is first introduced as what appears to be a stoic {{Bishonen}}... and then he puts on those incredibly stupid-looking NerdGlasses and proceeds to make an idiot of himself.
* BigBad: Pantyhose Taro, Herb, and Saffron
* BigDamnHeroes: Quite a few times, but the best was when Ranma (who had all his strength taken away) was about to get ambushed by four of his old foes... Defenseless and pinned against a tree, Ranma closes his eyes and waits for it... But nothing happens. Looking up, he sees Ryōga, who had stepped in the way and defeated all four of the foes. First time this trooper cheered at a comic panel!
* BigEater: Ranma and Genma, the latter more than the former.
** Both are put to shame by the whole Chardin family, and later by Kurumi "Tendō" in the OAV.
** Nabiki Tendo has some traits of this, especially when she's being fed out of other peoples' wallets.
* BigFancyHouse: The Tendō home, which contains separate bedrooms for all three of the daughters, Sōun himself, and ''two'' guest bedrooms -- one downstains used by Happōsai, and another upstairs which Genma and Ranma share. It also includes a full traditional Japanese bathing area, an equally traditional dining/living room, a garden with large pond, and a dojo large enough to comfortably seat virtually every character ever seen on the show as of the series' first Christmas episode. The Kunō Estate is a massive place that almost resembles a medieval Japanese fortress -- particularly in the anime, where it has a literal labyrinth of secret passages, dungeons, and deathtraps.
** One might assume that the Tendo dojo would have some provisions for accommodating students. It is a dojo after all.
*** It's also implied that the house is rather old, they mention the wood rotting in the anime.
* {{Bishonen}}
* {{Bishoujo}}
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Nabiki, Shampoo.
* BlessedWithSuck: most of the main characters with Jusenkyo curses, or other oddities, such as Ryoga's causality-bending complete lack of direction-sense. Ranma feels this way about his curse (though he does seem to get '''some''' [[RealMenWearPink enjoyment/use]] out of it), but it's fairly neutral in and of itself... compared to, say, turning into a defenseless little animal considered tasty-looking and edible by just about everyone, ala Ryoga Hibiki. Mostly, it's BlessedWithSuck because of the {{Seppuku}} pledge his father and mother made, the fact he's physically weaker in that form, it results in various complications that wouldn't have happened if he didn't have it (first meeting with Akane, Shampoo trying to kill him, nightmares about having Tatewaki Kuno's children, etc.), and the fact it makes him the target of just about every pervert and degenerate to crawl out of the woodwork... including DirtyOldMan [[OldMaster Happosai]] and his fiancee's unscrupulous and money-crazed elder sister.
* BlindWithoutEm: Mousse
* BlowYouAway: Ranma's most frequent FinishingMove is the Hi Ryū Shōten Ha, which creates a tornado. He's also fond of modifying it [[IndyPloy on the spot]] to beat the more serious enemies.
* BlueWithShock
* BoobsOfSteel: Played straight with Shampoo and Female-Ranma, who have generous busts and are highly skilled martial artists, as well as Miss Hinako who is one of the most powerful characters in the series since she drains power from her opponents. Possibly subverted with Ukyo, who is one of the flattest girls, but is shown to still be a highly skilled martial artist.
** Atsuko Nakajima's OAV and movie character designs obviate the trope by making all of the girls extremely well-endowed, even the more modest ones.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Happens to Male Ranma when his female half is duplicated (though not split from him) and it seduces him in one anime episode. [[{{YMMV}} Possibly]] happens to Shampoo when Kiima catches her in an Imprinting Egg.
** It's also debatable whether the Oni does this to Ryoga, Kasumi and Kuno as although it seems to be a case of GrandTheftMe the victim seems to still be in control of their own thoughts.
** No, it made them act in a way that they personally considered evil. In Kuno's case, he's such a hypocrite that he behaved exactly the way he normally does...
* BroughtDownToNormal: When Happōsai used [[PressurePoint moxibustion]] to rob Ranma of his prodigious strength, to the point where a toddler could beat him up.
* BrotherChuck: What the ''hell'' happened to Dr. Tofu after volume 12?
* CallBack: To Akane and [male] Ranma's [[NakedFirstImpression first encounter]], twice: Shinnosuke running into Akane in the bath (confirming his identity to her) and [[spoiler: [[TheMole Kiima posing as]]]] Akane walking in on Ranma in the exact same pose and angles as in the introductory chapter.
* CallingYourAttacks: Almost entirely spoofed in the manga: nearly every attack, no matter how minor or improvised, has some sort of name. The Saotome school even has a named 'attack' that consists of ''running away until you can think of something else.'' But it's also played straight, particularly with Ranma and Ryōga's most devastating attacks.
** Not to mention ''The Crouch of the Wild Tiger'' -- a "maneuver" that has the martial artist dropping on all fours and begging for mercy from the "target".
** Konatsu is the most extreme spoof of this. Almost everything he does, no matter how useless or unrelated to combat, is shouted out with a silly title , including coming up with multiple names for doing the same thing...
* CanonForeigner: Sasuke Sarugakure, the Kunōs' {{Ninja}} servant, in the anime.
* CantCatchUp: Akane and the Kuno siblings to Ranma.
* CantYouReadTheSign: Has ''oodles of fun'' with this trope. Characters sit on water mains with signs that read, "Danger: Do not Sit", laugh in areas where signs read, "Do not laugh loudly in the garden", and run on fences that read "Danger: Unstable". Rumiko Takahashi has quite a bit of fun with this gag.
* CardCarryingVillain: Happōsai. However, just because he is the only character who is actually ''proud'' to be "evil", he really isn't nearly as bad as some of the others, and he always tries to be nice to little children.
* CatchPhrase: Many, but most notably Kasumi: "Oh My", Akane: "Honestly" and "Ranma no baka!" (roughly "dummy", or "Ranma you jerk" in the dub; she even has a "Baka Song"), Happōsai: "What a haul!" and "Sweeto!", Shampoo: "Nihao, Airen!" and, to a lesser extent, "Aiyaaa!" and of course Ryoga's "Ranma, prepare to die!" [[spoiler: He never follows through on it when he wins.]] Akane in particular typically uses both of her catchphrases at least OnceAnEpisode.
* [[CerebusSyndrome Cerebus Fandom]]: Despite being one of the "classic" comedy series, the fanbase is littered with angst and drama fics as all get out.
** That's partially because the characters are so screwed up, partially because it's much harder to write intelligent comedy, and partially because the manga recurrently mixed very serious, with goofy, or even very dark gag comedy. It's a diverse mixture, and comes out particularly odd when a fanfic writer makes a serious effort to translate all of the aspects into another medium. Also, fanfic authors as a whole are not very happy people. It frequently goes so far that it has nothing to do with the original though. Ranma the nihilistic lolicon-fetishist cyberpunk pimp doesn't really work very well... and no that's not remotely an exaggeration.
* ChaoticNeutral: Characters who aren't [[NeutralEvil outright villains]] (Nabiki, Shampoo, Taro, Saffron, Herb) tend to average at this. Any given individual might be affable enough normally, but they are capable of swinging from [[ChaoticGood great generosity, helpfulness, idealism, and self-sacrifice]] to fits of violence, cruel headgames, or emotional manipulation (ChaoticEvil, or ChaoticNeutral, depending on interpretation), all depending on mood, recent events, or simple whim. The differences lie in to how conscious and extreme lengths they are willing to go, and how extreme the polarities are. Akane, Ranma, Hinako, eventually Ryoga, and mostly Ukyo and Soun at heart favour ChaoticGood. Cologne generally behaves like TrueNeutral with an initially displayed [[NeutralEvil sinister streak]]. Kasumi is [[WordOfGod spelled out]] as NeutralGood or possibly a rather passive LawfulGood. Happosai is generally a less serious form of ChaoticEvil, as he's mostly [[PokeThePoodle only interested in being a nuisance]], and he [[PetTheDog has a soft spot for children]]... though this doesn't prevent him from using them as accomplices. However when provoked or motivated, he has, among other things, been willing to cripple Ranma for life, or starve his students.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Noticeably Nabiki and her apparent excitement of a possible cute fiancé (and boys in general) in the first episode/chapter. She even wore a kimono to meet Ranma (in the anime, not the manga). Compare this with her later cold and ruthless treatment of boys that confess to her -- sucking them dry of money, and then blackmailing them with their love letters. Large numbers of [[EpilepticTrees fan theories]] have been argued over amongst fans in attempt to explain this, ranging from: "Nabiki is really in love with Ranma, but feels she can't steal him away from Akane, and so has become cold and bitter as a defensive measure" to "Nabiki sees how badly love is turning out for Akane with her engagement to Ranma and has concluded that love isn't worth it." to "Nabiki had a secret crush on Kunō that embarrassed her -- then Ranma's appearance revealed that his perversion and idiocy has beyond even what Nabiki had thought possible -- and so she has turned on all boys and love in general".
** Not really. She's a completely amoral manipulative unflappable snarky sociopathic hedonist, arguably the most real world evil character in the series, and portrayed in that characterisation ever since her first interactions with Kuno in the first few chapters of the series (having apparently encouraged him and the suitors to drive her sister insane with paranoia to get paid for photographs). Briefly, she's an exaggeration or parody of several modern cultural traits, whereas Kasumi is her counterpart in satirising traditional female roles. Meaning: It's pretty typical for a less experienced version of that "My Sweet Sixteen" archetype to be interested in supposed exciting well-travelled, and possibly wealthy, foreigners; and she later turns efficient and crafty enough to instead regularly use her charms for fleecing and breaking the hearts of anyone she can. It's the development of an intelligent gold digger-slash-scam artist.
** RumikoTakahashi [[WordOfGod herself]] stated in an interview that she originally intended Ranma to be well-mannered, noble young man but he kept surprising her.
*CharacterDevelopment: Arguably Ryoga, who first appears as a mortal enemy and gradually evolves into a rival and arguably a friend. (Of all the characters who crash the abortive wedding Ryoga is the only one who is not trying to deliberately spoil the event.)
** Akane, and to a lesser degree Mousse, also turn nicer as the story marches on.
* ChefOfIron: Ukyō, master of Martial Arts Okonomiyaki and wielder of giant spatulas. Cologne to a degree with ramen noodle attacks and teaching Shampoo Martial Arts Takeout Delivery.
* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: The horn whistle Shinnosuke gave Akane during their childhood is the only thing that can pacify the {{Orochi}} and send it back to sleep.
** [[spoiler: The photo of Akane that Nabiki sells to Ryōga winds up playing a role in snapping Ranma out of his stupor after falling down Saffron's pit trap -- and winds up alerting the Phoenix to Akane's existence and leading to her kidnapping.]]
* CherryBlossoms
* ChickMagnet: Ranma attracts a good number of female characters in the series, even one-shot gag characters.
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: The foundation of the series, alongside ArrangedMarriage -- with the exception of [[AccidentalMarriage Shampoo]], all of Ranma's engagements were arranged when he was a kid.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Shampoo, Ukyō, Kodachi, and most of the ''male'' suitors.
* CloningBlues: The Haunted Mirror
* ClothingDamage: Pretty much every time Ranma fights as a girl.
* TheCombatPragmatist: Ranma and Genma. They've turned cheating, cheap shots, and taunting into an art form. Fear the mighty ''Crouch of the Wild Tiger''! [[spoiler: Beg for your life!]]
** Saotome Ultimate Technique! A special skill that relies on withdrawal, concealment, and deliberation. In other words, run away and hide until you can come up with a better idea.
* CombatCommentator: Happens occasionally, with the peanut gallery making quips to explain what may be missing in a single still panel shot. Of course, this happens to also give certain characters an unusual and inconsistent knowledge of the martial arts, even if it is accepted as fact that they have no interest in them. Such as Nabiki immediately commenting on the nature of Happōsai's "Hermit Crab Fist" being him moving from bucket to bucket really fast. Also parodied later in the Ten-yen bet saga, where Akane and Ranma serve up some overdramatic commentary on the rather mundane happenings. One of the best examples of this trope might be the anime-exclusive episode dealing with [[MartialArtsandCrafts Martial Arts Shogi]], where Happōsai and Nabiki (the former of which is just being a coward) take to the sidelines with Happōsai explaining how Battle Shogi relates to the rules of the boardgame.
* ComedicSociopathy: And how...
* CongruentMemory: Kunō's watermelon sword training.
* ContinuityNod: Remember how Akane [[SuperDrowningSkills can't swim to save her life]]? RumikoTakahashi did when she [[spoiler:dropped her in a Jusenkyō spring]].
* CookingDuel: Practically every third episode, at least two involved actual cooking. See MartialArtsAndCrafts for some examples.
* CounterAttack: The Hiryū Shōten Ha; almost all the techniques in the Umi-Sen Ken style are specific counters to the Yama-Sen Ken.
* CordonBleughChef: Akane Tendō. For reasons that are probably understandable only by herself, the girl seems to consider any recipe as always being in need of improvement... and her choice of extra ingredients is always deleterious. Unlike most examples of this trope, however, even she finds her concoctions to be thoroughly inedible, if she ever tastes them. Her main problem is that she never actually ''tastes'' the food before she serves it, occasionally being offended if the subject is even raised. Needless to say, nobody except Ryōga Hibiki is willing to even touch her food unless intimidated or guilted into doing so. Later in the manga she does make edible curry and tries it prior to serving it. In the anime she also learns to prepare Tofu.
* CovertPervert: Akane Tendō has rampant, but gradually lessening, paranoia from the start of the series, due to being harrassed by a horde of attacking boys every morning, and is afraid of being raped when she first meets Ranma as a naked stranger in the bathroom, and when Ranma goes on a date with Kuno in the Wishing Sword story Akane is terrified that the same thing will happen to her/him. Most often this is used when Ranma frequently ends up in unlikely, but amusing, extremely compromising positions, such as being embraced by a naked Shampooo in the bath, or being found covered in stolen female underwear while in the girls' locker room, just before Akane inevitably enters and lashes out before listening to explanations. Similarly, to stop the chi-vampire Hinako Ranma is required to grope her breasts, and decides to do so in public; this is repeated when she finds Ranma running from Hinako's apartment and the latter comes out naked and upset from the shower, or finding them close together in Ranma's bedroom. Although Akane recurrently apologises after being shown the truth.
* CrackingUp: Ryōga's vows of vengeance and some walnuts.
* {{Crossdresser}}: Ukyō, Tsubasa, and Konatsu. Unfortunate applications of hot water tend to make ''male'' Ranma one of these, to the horror of innocent passerby (including his own mother).
* CrossPoppingVeins
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: During the "umbrella of love" chapter of the manga, when everybody who shares this certain umbrella falls in love. This being Ranma 1/2, they end up brutally fighting over it. Eventually, the Ranma, holding the umbrella, gently floats down from the sky after the brawl is seemingly settled [[spoiler:and lands, managing to accidentally hold the umbrella open over him and Akane. They naturally start being lovey-dovey... until the bystanders reveal they were just holding onto the umbrella-stick, and the umbrella itself is broken.]]
** "Starting right now, I'm in love with... this guy!"
** Another story shows the principal, Kuno, Happosai, and Mousse land, unconscious, in the same spot. What do the students do first? ''BURY THEM!!''
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The ''Reawakening Memories'' OAV and corresponding manga story. To the point that, when the studio held a vote as to what manga story to animate next, the Japanese fans overwhelmingly replied with this arc instead of action- or humor-heavy choices.
* {{Curse}}: The keystone and main plot driver of the series.
* CursedWithAwesome: Ranma's Jusenkyo curse, according to some people, though he would not agree. The [[FanWank theory]] that Ranma is under some curse that makes him a WeirdnessMagnet counts if you believe it- though in this case it would be an example of Ranma not minding the curse. Canonically, Pantyhose Taro and Rouge; both of them have Jusenkyo curses that cause them to transform into [[OneWingedAngel super powered, if bizarre, alternate forms]]. Taro becomes a kind of flying minotaur that later gains CombatTentacles. Rouge sprouts four new arms and two more faces while gaining the ability to fly, hurl lightning bolts, and breath fire.
* CuteLittleFangs: Ryōga, primarily, though Rumiko Takahashi's art-style allowed virtually every member of the cast to acquire them during at least one rant through the course of the manga.
** Ryōga's name means "good fang", so his case it's a MeaningfulName
* DeadlyDodging: Makes up a large component of Ranma's fighting style.
* DeadpanSnarker: Nabiki of course, though most of the cast have their moments in occasion.
* DeathByMaterialism: Nabiki fights a boy whose style of "martial arts" is based on ''sticking other people with the debts he incurs''.
*DefenceMechanismSuperpower: The Neko-Ken.
* DemonHead: Sōun, whenever he needs to jolt Ranma into doing something that he wanted, usually involving swallowing his pride and being nice to Akane.
** Kasumi and Nabiki also pulled a Demon Head during the Chardin arc.
* TheDeterminator: Just about every martial artist in the main cast has pulled this act off at least once.
* DieForOurShip: Pick a pairing, any pairing.
* DifferentForGirls: Explicitly lampshaded.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Many characters have done this on whim, usually PlayedForLaughs. The worst offenders are Ryōga, Ranma and Akane. However, Nabiki's use of this trope to one of her suitors was the most ''epic''.
* DirtyOldMan: Happōsai
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Ryoga, through and through. It's played up much more in the original manga, but in either version when his mind wanders, he tends to destroy everything he's touching. It's possible that Shampoo might also be an example of this... or simply that she gets a kick out of proving how strong she is by demolishing everything in her path.
* DomesticAbuse: all of the girls who claim to want Ranma routinely beat the shit out of him. This is part of the comedy. Another example, definitely not played for laughs, is Genma being willing to knock his own wife out to steal from her.
* DoubleStandard: Astoundingly so. When Ranma's female suitors go after him, they're pests (apart from Ukyō). However, when male suitors go after him (being in girl form, of course), s/he gets very annoyed and usually pummels them. One notable example by knocking a person out by striking him over 500 times, after he kissed his female form. This has more to do with the fact that he's a man and would be ostracized for hitting girls.
** No double standard at work, since ''Ranma isn't a girl.'' It has more to do with Ranma being a man and ''not wanting other men to hit on him''. Especially since these one-shot men are just as insistent as the regular-character female suitors. Also, Ranma never pummels anyone until ''they'' start acting like a pervert towards his female side --when the girls act perversely towards his male half (Shampoo glomping him in the bath, Kodachi drugging him to kiss him) he runs away because ''he'', personally, doesn't like to hit girls, not because of a manga-wide DoubleStandard or fear of being ostracized.
** It's okay for a girl to see a guy nude but not for a guy to see a girl nude.
** The fanbase generally will always be swift to point how Ranma 1/2 is a comedy, but the vast majority of the FanFics put out by those same fans will undoubtedly be heavy handed drama and angst fics.
** Another fan favorite double standard is [[HitlerAteSugar the actions of x character are the worst atrocities ever]] while [[SelectiveObliviousness the actions of y character are ignored or outright denied.]]
* DracoInLeatherPants: The entire cast really -- it doesn't matter which one you choose, someone somewhere in the fandom will fashion some nice leather pants for them.
** Nabiki in particular, since she's the most extreme, and it involves virtually every single fanfiction story she's been prominently featured in.
* DramaticWind
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: Subverted with [[ThoseTwoGuys Hiroshi and Daisuke]], at least in the manga. Their response to discovering that cute redheaded girl they've been crushing on is, in fact, their ''male'' best friend? "We don't care, she's still hot." [[MasterOfDisguise Tsubasa]] also drops a Bridget on Ranma at the end of his introductory (and sole, in the manga) story, and [[DudeLooksLikeALady Konatsu]] drops it on Ukyou at the end of his.
* EasyAmnesia: Shinnosuke, guardian of the [[TheLostWoods Forest of]] [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Ryûgenzawa]]. There's a pressure point technique that can not only erase certain facts from the victim's memory, but also prevents the victim from re-learning the fact in the future.
* EfficientDisplacement: The surprising amount of ''detail'' on the character-shaped holes or impressions is [[RuleOfFunny part of the fun]].
* TheElectricSlide: Pick your poison; everyone does it as they're all martial artists of some form or another.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Quite obviously, Pantyhose Taro. "Pantyhose Tarō" ''is'' his full name, but he only wants to change the first half of it into something less embarrassing, such as "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Awesome]] Tarō."
* EnemyMine
* EnergyAbsorption: English teacher Hinako Ninomiya.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: everybody in this series is a JerkAss at some point, yet excepting Nabiki and Kodachi, even the most malicious of the regular cast members considers something too much even for them.
** Actually, Nabiki has had one canonical moment of this. When Soun reveals [[spoiler: that he's stolen Ranma's cure and is going to blackmail him into marrying Akane for it]], Nabiki comments that at least she only steals money. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Some fans]] also think her motive in the "Nabiki, Ranma's New Fiancee" story arc was teaching Akane to appreciate what she had in Ranma.
** It doesn't count, as she's done far worse things in the same vein. [[spoiler: Selling Ranma to be married to/enslaved by Kodachi boils down to a more extreme version of the same thing. At least Soun knew that Akane and Ranma actually cared for each other, but were too shy to ever take the step themselves. Going by in-story explanation, she did not do it to teach anyone a lesson, simply to make cash, have fun tormenting Akane's overactive compassion, manipulate Ranma by feigning affection, and dropped the engagement when she suspected that Ranma was turning affectionate, since it would be too much trouble.]]
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: During the Koi Rod arc Ranma (in both his male and female forms) falls in love with Ryoga causing much fan rejoice from the shippers.
** Technically this also applies to Ranma himself as a lot of the male students lust after Ranma (in his female form) knowing full well that he is in actuality a guy.
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Anything-Goes insert-what-have-you-here.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The [[GiantMook Dojo Destroyer]], Principal Kunō, (Kunō Kōchō in Japanese) whose given name was never revealed. The Jusenkyo Guide is only ever called "Mr. Guide" by the cast and [[spoiler: "Father" by his daughter]].
* EverythingsBetterWithPandas: Or so Genma would like you to believe.
** In the earlier arcs of the manga, he even had a tendency to appear out of nowhere and randomly save Ranma's from having people discover his curse. This is part of the AbortedArc to keep Ranma's curse a secret.
* EvilFeelsGood: Nabiki, Shampoo, Pink, to a lesser degree Happosai, as he is even more upbeat, but not quite as malevolent. A running theme of the show is that several of the most JerkAss-y characters tend to be extremely serene and happy about it, whereas people with a strong conscience tend to get depressed far more easily, much like the real world tends to work, rather than sticking to the corrupt story convention that pain equals evil and happiness equals goodness. It is most overtly displayed with Pink and Link, the former physically identical twin is a happy casual sadist, and the latter an altruist who gets victimized for her sister's misdeeds.
* EvillyAffable: Nabiki, Shampoo, Taro.
* EvilTwin: [[spoiler: Kiima, after she used the Akaneniichuan.]], Pink.
* ExtremeDoormat: Konatsu
* ExtremeOmnivore: Kurumi in the {{OAV}}s can eat six-course meals prepared by [[LethalChef Akane]] and ask for ''seconds''. Ranma supposedly gained this ability from a "noodle of strength" (which would come in handy with [[{{LethalChef}} Akane]]), but it was never mentioned again.
* FaceFault
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Ranma never escapes the curse (and the ways in which it comes crashing down sometimes meanders into YankTheDogsChain), and his UnwantedHarem never loses any members.
* FanDumb: Yee gods, the fan dumb. Mostly related to the shipping wars, but a suprising amount due to people insisting on putting serious interpretations on RuleOfFunny plot developments or minor visual gags and slapstick.
* {{Fanon}}: So, so much of it, mostly stemming from the rather uncoordinated release of English dubbed material and a huge FanFic base with more crossovers than is sane.
* {{Fanservice}}: And how. Ranma spends at least half the time female, and much of that time topless...
** And on the flipside, Ryōga and Mousse are often stark naked when they transform back into men.
* FemaleGaze
* FeminineWomenCanCook: Kasumi's defining trait and a source of major angst for Akane; this is also Ukyō's primary advantage over Akane in the fiancée sweepstakes, and one she lampshades constantly.
* FestivalEpisode
* FetishFuel: This is show is practically a DrinkingGame of fetish points.
* {{Filler}}: Some of the later seasons suffered from this, see OvertookTheManga below.
* FirstGirlWins: Manages to subvert this and play it straight... ''simultaneously''. [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that Akane Tendō, the first fiancée introduced to the series, is the girl who Ranma will marry, but chronologically, she's actually one of the last girls Ranma meets -- he met [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Ukyô Kuonji]] as a little kid, [[AllAmazonsWantHercules Shampoo]] before he returned from China, and technically met Akane's elder sisters Nabiki and Kasumi before he saw her.]]
** Played straight since Akane is the first girl extensively introduced, unless you count you count Ranma himself.
* FirstKiss
* {{Flanderization}}: Nabiki and Kasumi; Akane to a lesser extent.
* FlungClothing: Kodachi, more than once, changing to her leotard.
* FoeYay: Ryoga/Male!Ranma tend to get a lot of this.
** Hell, Ryoga/Female!Ranma works too, given how many times Ranma resorted to the "dress as a cute girl and flirt with Ryoga mercilessly" tactic whenever he needed a strategic advantage.
** Takahashi decisively punctured and made fun of this interpretation with the "Fishing Rod of Love" story. [[spoiler: Ranma turns into a [[{{Yandere}} murderously obsessive stalker]], and eventually pushes Ryoga into considering killing him/her in extreme disgust. Ditto for Ranma's reaction at the end, free of the influence, when Ryoga tries to hug Akane and proclaim his love... but got the wrong target. They're both completely heterosexual.]]
* FreakyIsCool: "So, when is Ranma gonna turn back into a guy?" "Hey, fine by me if he stays a girl."
*FruitOfTheLoon: The loon is Principal Kuno, the fruit is pineapples. Any questions?
* FuroScene: Many, given the role hot water plays in the series.
* TheGadfly: Nabiki towards Akane and Ranma, Ranma often acts that way towards Ryouga too.
* {{Gainaxing}}: And in the {{OAV}}, they have independent mobility.
* GatewaySeries: Possibly ''the'' gateway anime, along with ''SailorMoon'', in the 1990s.
* GenderBender: Making Ranma both MsFanservice ''and'' EstrogenBrigadeBait at the same time.
* GhibliHills: Anywhere in Japan that isn't [[CityOfAdventure Nerima]] tends to be presented as such. At least until Ranma and co have finished trashing it over a [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Martial Arts tiddlywinks]] challenge or some such.
* GhostlyGoals: The anime has a cute ghost girl named Kogane who wants somebody to find her lost tanuki doll. The manga has an ugly old ghost matron who places a death curse on Happōsai that won't lift unless he swipes her old-fashioned bloomers.
* TheGlassesGottaGo: Inverted; Mousse looks like a handsome Bishonen... until his terrible eyesight forces him to put on a hideous set of NerdGlasses.
* TheGlomp: Trope popularizer, if not outright Trope Namer. It's Shampoo's signature move towards Ranma, although Ryōga has also been glomped by Akane once (while she was brainwashed -- by Shampoo, natch).
** Akane has also glomped Ranma once, when he returned to the Tendō home after his fight with Herb.
** Ryōga was also glomped by Male form Ranma during the Koi Rod arc (and the shippers rejoiced).
** During the Dō-chan (Battlesuit of Armor) arc, Ranma glomped Akane the ''best he freaking could without fainting on the spot''... They ''are'' a [[TsunderesInLove Takahashi Pairing]] after all.
** The most extreme glomping-series was the chapter wherein Shampoo used a magical "shiryaki mushroom spice" that gave anyone a hypnotic command to perform over and over. An awful amount of glomping was going on there. Ranma later used a suggestion incense to get Ryoga to hug anyone that said pig since Akari really liked pigs, with similar goofy results.
* GoldfishScoopingGame
* GrandTheftMe: The Vengeful Spirit Doll
* HairColors: Mostly a consequence of the animated adaptation, which gave the characters distinctive colors that remained fixed throughout the production. The first chapter of the manga was in color and portrayed Ranma with black hair in both forms. The fact the rest of the manga was in black and white, coupled with the greater availability of the anime, means that Girl-Ranma's hair is red in the public perception, to the extent that referring to her with black hair usually confuses most fans. Takahashi herself fueled this by publishing promotional pictures of "Ranma-chan" with various hair colors.
* HalfHumanHybrids: While not half-humans themselves, the people of the Musk Dynasty have inherited the blood of powerful animal and mythological creatures by throwing them in "The Spring of Drowned Girl" and mating with them. The Phoenix Kingdom, on the other hand, became {{Winged Humanoid}}s through centuries of consuming Jusenkyo-cursed water (bird curses, natch) for pretty much every aspect of their lives ([[MundaneUtility drinking, bathing, washing...]]) [[LegoGenetics throughout generations]].
* {{Hammerspace}}: Used by nearly everyone in the cast in the name of comedy. [[HyperspaceMallet Hammers]] are but a fraction of the items pulled out.
** Usually it's a shinai, bokken, spatula, chui, kettles, tables, miscellaneous so-called-weapons, heavy blunt objects in general...
*** Of course, it's Mousse's [[HyperspaceArsenal whole schtick]].
* HandBehindHead
* HarmfulToMinors: The whole point of the Neko-Ken, a technique officially banned by all right-thinking martial artists due to the fact it revolves around traumatizing a young child physically and mentally to induce a BerserkMode. Not just TrainingFromHell, but also [[SanityHasAdvantages fundamentally flawed]] as well. Unfortunately, [[FairWeatherMentor Genma]] [[SinkOrSwimMentor Saotome]] is not a right-thinking martial artist.
* HeavySleeper: Ranma, who can dodge attacks without waking up. [[spoiler: Arguably this is yet another sign of Ranma and Akane's status as the OfficialCouple since Akane is a ''very'' active (bordering on violent) sleeper]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Ryōga, who goes from someone who attacks victims in their sleep and has no problem endangering innocent bystanders to an upright, honorable combatant by the end of the manga.
** Agreed that he gradually turns much nicer (or possibly returns to what he was like before Ranma actually did give him a life-ruining curse), but the first of those examples was a case of being so singleminded on beating Ranma that he didn't think of the far less than perfect accuracy of those bandannas. He was sorry about it, apologized, and let Akane hit him, just for being partially responsible for cutting off her hair. Not remotely the trait of someone who doesn't mind consciously killing bystanders. The only character he may have consciously tried to kill is Ranma alone (or not, depending on the interpretation, given that he never seriously harms Ranma when he does win, and has saved his life a couple of times). It was ever only an extremely selective ruthlessness towards one single person. The way I remember it, he also tried to wake Ranma up for a fight at the time he found his rival (in the night), but turned very annoyed when he kept sleeping, and tried to hit him.
* {{Henohenomoheji}}: Ranma often wears one as mask.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Though they haven't seen each other for a long time by the time the series starts, in the anime Genma and Soun are usually shown hanging out together, playing shogi, go, or enjoying the countryside. In the manga they don't spend much time together on screen. However, in both canons, Soun considers Genma to be morally reprehensible and gets mad at him for his various JerkAss deeds, although it never has any serious consequences.
* HereWeGoAgain: The end of the "Invincible" Phoenix Sword saga.
* HeroicBSOD: Ranma, upon Akane's DisneyDeath at Jusendō. Not even a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan punch from Ryōga phases him, nor is the prospect of being eaten alive by Saffron's egg.
* HeyYou: Ranma as "Boy".
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Ranma especially, but many secondary characters also have some form of trauma that's typically played for laughs (Ryōga unintentionally abandoned by his family at a young age, Mousse's constant beatdowns from Shampoo, Principal Kunō's treatment of his children).
** Topping it off... The [[{{Jerkass}} guy who's put Ranma through all of his]] HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood could very arguably be the more loving of the two parents. His mother has Ranma's [[{{Seppuku}} suicide ritual]] if he proves to be anything but a Man Amongst Men so well-memorized that she performs it in her sleep.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Herb was ultimately defeated by gathering all the [[KiAttacks energy he had released]] into one big, mountain-crushing bomb.
** Kunō's Watermelon Sword attack is defeated when Ranma places a watermelon on his head, causing him to knock himself out.
*** The Hiryu Shoten Ha technique works by turning an opponent's own strength and rage against them, and is usually a one-hit-KO. The aforementioned mountain-crushing bomb, as well as the method that defeated Saffron, were variations on this technique and worked on the same principle.
* HotAmazon: Shampoo
* {{Hulkspeak}}: Shampoo, but only in the English and German dubs.
* HyperspaceMallet: In fanon this is Akane's signature weapon. However, while she occasionally does use some form of mallet in both the anime and manga, she usually uses any available blunt object, most frequently shinai, and various other characters have used them in either medium.
* HypnoFool
* IdentityAmnesia: After bonking himself hard on the head during the Watermelon Island story, Kunō went from grabby-but-harmless buffoon to a crazed stalker whose skill actually allowed him to terrorize Ranma.
** In one anime episode, Ranma, when he got whacked upside the head hard enough, thought he really was a girl. However, that was a case of LossOfIdentity rather then IdentityAmnesia -- she remembered being "Ranma" perfectly, her personality was just twisted into an entirely new format.
* IdiotCrows
* TheIdiotFromOsaka: Ukyō; although she isn't an idiot, is often depicted as a bit moneygrubbing, another stereotypical Osakan trait.
* IDoNotDrinkWine: The Seven Lucky Gods from [[TheMovie Nekonron, China]].
* ImportantHaircut: Akane
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Lots of minor characters, but the main crew isn't too far behind.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Akane is very good at using anything at hand to bash Ranma.
** Ranma, particularly in the manga, is very good at improvising weapons and has done so with a large variety of objects things like pinweels, rocks, sticks, clothesline poles, his hair, tennis rackets, paper fans, Ryoga, etc...
* IndyPloy: Every. Single. Fight.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Ranma does not seem to comprehend that being topless as a girl is not always appropriate. He honestly isn't much better at staying clothed as a guy, either.
* InstantCosplaySurprise
* InsultedAwake
* IAmNotShazam: The Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire is a TRAINING technique, not an actual attack. It is basically composed of removing several chestnuts from on open fire by hand without getting burned, success means that the trainee is now not only very fast, but accurate. The anime usually has Ranma [[CallingYourAttacks shouting this]] when he uses his RapidFireFisticuffs, however.
* IWasJustPassingThrough: Ryōga comes to Ranma's aid a ''lot,'' especially during the moxibustion storyline. Due to his horrible directional sense, he's also one of the few people who can legitimately claim he was "just passing through."
** Which makes it rather funny that he seldom tries to claim this disingenuously -- he was fairly open about seeing weakened Ranma a loss of a great warrior.
** Ryoga basically doesn't know what to do, and gets confused or depressed, whenever he's pushed out of Ranma's league in one way or another.
* JapaneseArchitecture: The Tendō home and dojo, to the point where many of its traditional features are essential to the plot. Much if not most of the progress in Ranma and Akane's relationship takes place on the engawa overlooking the koi pond.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of the cast, but turned up to eleven for Genma. Mostly due to immaturity.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ranma, by default, and Ryōga softens into this from his initial {{Jerkass}} state.
* KamehameHadoken: the Shi Shi Hokodan and Moko Takabisha KiAttacks. This is more notable in the anime, where they're shown as sustained energy beams in the second NonSerialMovie (normally, they're [[StreetFighter Hadoken-style]] fireballs). Herb's KiAttacks are also like this once he gets out of ModeLock. The anime has Natsume & Kurumi's "Ryuka Ringu", or "Ring of Dragon Fire", which is one part this to one part EverythingsBetterWithSpinning. Though based on magic instead of ki, Saffron has a variety of fiery projectiles, all the way up to a super-blast of flame the name of which roughly translates as "Empire Instant Annihilation Blast".
* {{Kawaiiko}}: Azusa Shiratori
* KansaiRegionalAccent: Ukyō
* KarmaHoudini: Nabiki Tendō despite her callous actions has ''never'' received any sort of comeppuance in the entire show. RumikoTakahashi however, likes this character and considers her [[ComedicSociopathy sociopathic actions within the family dynamic as the reason why she's funny]].
* KendoTeamCaptain: Tatewaki Kunō
* KiAttacks
* KidSamurai: Tatewaki Kunō
* KillItWithFire: Saffron's attacks.
* KillItWithWater: Quite a number of martial artists are transformed into (relatively) harmless animals when hit with water. Once, an entire mountain was rigged so as to eliminate all enemies this way.
** In the first movie, Ranma realizes how to get past the {{Big Bad}}s perfect defense. He kicks up water in the flooding room, and punches it blazingly fast at his opponent. As he blocks punches by grabbing them with his chopsticks, this technique obviously does not work on the water punches.
* LamarckWasRight: The Musk Dynasty. To some extent, the Phoenix Kingdom. SuperpowerfulGenetics play a large role in these cultures' development.
** Well the Musk don't really fit this mold since their animalistic abilities come from ancestors who were actually magically transformed animals. The Phoenix clan does kinda fit the bill here though.
* LarynxDissonance: In the European Spanish dub, the same actress dubs female ''and'' male Ranma. Spot-on performance for the former, while the latter sounds [[CrossDressingVoices ten years old]].
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Or Bokken Guided Amnesia as it were...
* LeftHanging: The Anime series ends nowhere near the manga's climax, whose own open ending [[YourMileageMayVary may be just as bad depending on your perspective]] --though by that point both the manga and the anime had evolved into an ensemble comedy and any semblence of an overall plot arc had long-since been abandoned. Takahashi likely took one look at the LoveDodecahedron and simply gave up resolving it.
** It's worth a mention, however, that [[spoiler: Ranma and Akane made a lot of progress in their relationship, as compared to the earlier volumes. Ranma was even able to confess his love to her in the final volume.]]
*** [[spoiler: Yeah, '''after''' he thought that she had died because he'd taken too long to beat Saffron. He couldn't bring himself to say anything like that in the relatively calmer moments after they got back to Japan -- he even denied saying something like that out loud when Akane asked if he had said he loved her. (To be fair, it's unclear in the manga whether he actually said anything other than her name out loud.) And the only time Akane openly admitted her love for Ranma was during the contrary jewel arc, when her actions were suspect.]]
* LesYay: {{Fanon}} is all over the place, but Shampoo certainly doesn't hesitate to {{Glomp}} Ranma in either form, and many of Ranma and Akane's [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming most comfortable and relaxed moments]] have occurred while Ranma was female.
** Akane's impassioned rantings about how she hates boys certainly don't help matters -- or possibly do help depending on the ship you prefer.
** That's usually blown completely out of proportion. She only said that right at the start, and only about the ones that kept attacking/stalking her every morning. After they stopped she was usually shown being friendly and helpful towards boys as well as girls. She really doesn't like Kuno or Happosai though, but still always helps them out when they seem to need it.
** Though not directed at anyone really noticeable, Nabiki has some really weird habits for a presumably boy-crazy girl. Like fondling female Ranma to determine that her breasts have grown. Or all the pictures of female Ranma in various states of undress she keeps around her room.
** Well, she does sell them to an awful lot of people.
* LethalChef: Akane, at least initially; her cooking eventually improves slightly in the manga. However, this gets ridiculously {{flanderized}} in FanFic.
** She makes acceptable curry once, but attempts to cook anything else still give her trouble (even during the same story arc as the curry.)
* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LordErrorProne: Tatewaki Kunō.
* LostInTranslation: See PunnyName below. All they had to do was adjust the pronounciation of the dub (or the spelling of the subtitles) a bit...
* LoudspeakerTruck
* LoveAtFirstPunch: just about everyone who falls for Ranma or Akane seems to do so after being pounded on by them.
* LoveDodecahedron: [[TropeNamer The term was coined just to describe Ranma's relationships]]
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Dr. Tofu around Kasumi. "And he was such a good doctor".
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Pick a suitor.
* LovePotion: Not actual potions as such, but otherwise a common feature. Between the anime and manga, we've seen, among other things, a literal TogetherUmbrella and RedStringOfFate, mushrooms that become a love potion when stewed, bracelet "jewels" that are taken as love potion pills, "compatability testing" sakura-mochi, a box of aphrodesiac-soaked bandaids, and a "heart fishing pole". Thanks to his UnwantedHarem, and [[ChaoticNeutral the general lack of scruples]] on the parts of... well... ''everyone''... Ranma Saotome tends to be the one who gets whammied with these the most.
* LovableSexManiac: Happōsai, not so much lovable, but is a sex maniac. Kunō, on the other hand, is that and a [[WouldntHitAGirl masochist]].
* MadLove: Tatewaki and Kodachi are madly and unrequitedly in love with alternate halves of Ranma. Mousse, meanwhile, has been stalking an utterly disinterested (to the point where she has been willing to leave him to die in the manga) and occasionally violent Shampoo since they were three, and is so fixated on her that his whole purpose in the series is pretty much defined as MurderTheHypotenuse. She's canonically the "best" (or, rather, least worst) of the lot, but Shampoo's willingness to kill her rivals if she feels it neccessary and believes she can get away with it throws her into this trope as well.
* MakingASplash: Cologne's Shark Fist and various other water-manipulation techniques. Also Ranma himself in the climax of the first movie.
* MartialArtsAndCrafts: The TropeCodifier, if not TropeMaker. Some of them include:
** Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics
** Martial Arts Pairs Figure Skating
** Martial Arts Takeout Food Delivery
** Martial Arts Tea Ceremony
** Martial Arts Cheerleading
** Martial Arts Calligraphy
** Martial Arts Shogi
** Martial Arts Dining
* MasterApprenticeChain: Happosai > Genma & Soun > Ranma & Akane
* MasterOfDisguise: Tsubasa Kurenai, who is just as likely to [[ViewerGenderConfusion crossdress as a pretty girl]] as charge into scene disguised as a very convincing ''tree''. Kiima claims that her people have regularly used Jusenkyo to transform into humans [[spoiler: other than Akane]] when they to spy on or mingle with them.
* MegatonPunch: Akane to Ranma, but most of the martial artists do this at one time or another.
* MegumiHayashibara: Girl-type Ranma, theme songs, member of [=DoCo=] supergroup.
* MindControlDevice: quite a few, which are usually used on (and even ''by'') Ranma Saotome.
* MindControlEyes: Happens to Ranma quite a bit and usually his male half.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Animal-curse characters can fly or run on all fours instants after being cursed. Pantyhose Tarō's octopus tentacles burdened him with octopus instincts. [[YamatoNadeshiko Rouge]] goes AxCrazy when transforming into [[AGodAmI Asura]]. Hinako acts childish as a young girl, but cold as woman. Ranma normally acts the same whatever his form but will react in a feminine manner whenever RuleOfFunny requires it.
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Cologne; Happōsai; [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rakkyosai]]; Chingensai; Sentaro's grandmother; others.
** Though in flashbacks, Happōsai and Rakkyōsai were ''always'' that small (though [[BlatantLies they would have you]] [[{{Bishonen}} believe otherwise]].)
* MisplacedWildlife: Lampshaded and justified with the forest of Ryugenzawa.
* MistakenForCheating: Multiple times, and almost always over-the-top.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Pantyhose Tarō's monster form; he later augments it ''himself'' with extra body parts.
* ModeLock: Depending on the mode, either the method of curing the curses or a reason to look for an antidote.
* MomentKiller: '''All the time''', whenever Ranma and Akane are making any ''real'' progress in their relationship.
* MoneyFetish: Nabiki Tendō, without a shadow of a doubt. There's nothing she won't do to make a few yen. Ukyo has a tiny bit of it as well.
* MoodWhiplash: The [[WalkingTheEarth Ryû]] [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Kumon]] [[{{Angst}} storyline]]. While still crammed with the usual Takahashi humor, his backstory is surprisingly somber (at least initially), and his relationship with Nodoka Saotome has [[FridgeBrilliance layers upon layers of meaning]].
* MostCommonSuperpower: particularly in the anime, all of the girls are fairly buxom. ''[[NonSerialMovie Nihao! My Concubine]]'' [[{{Gainaxing}} took it even further]].
* MoralEventHorizon: Nabiki Tendo crosses [[YourMileageMayVary this line]] when she [[RuleOfFunny casually sells Ranma as a bunny girl casino slave]] [[TheChessmaster to pay off her gambling debts]], or [[ManipulativeBastard attempted to frame him for rape]], [[UngratefulBastard even though he's saved her life in the past]]. Shampoo did this when she planned to kill a bound and gagged Akane Tendo, intending to blame it on Taro, all while the naive Akane thought that her rival was attempting to save her. Kodachi Kuno technically crossed this line when she [[{{Slapstick}} drugged her brother, tied him up, and threw him to her giant pet crocodile]] (which is completely in line with her general behaviour), but she's also over-the-top insane.
* MoralityPet: Inverted. ''Being'' the pet, and his subsequent falling in love with Akane, is part of what sets Ryōga on the path to his eventual HeelFaceTurn.
* MorallyAmbiguousDucktorate: Mousse; he's an antagonist often enough to qualify.
* TheMourningAfter: Sōun Tendō, never quite got over his wife's death, as [[TearJerker painfully illustrated]] in the end of the {{manga}} Hinako arc.
* MST3KMantra: Invoked by the author regarding the technicalities of Ranma's shapeshifting.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Pretty much every crazed suitor in the entire series. Shampoo is willing to pull this on Akane and Ukyō if she thinks she can get away with it, as is Kodachi, while Mousse tries to dispatch Ranma in the same way. It's not entirely clear whether or not Tatewaki Kunō or early-series Ryōga would kill Ranma, but they definitely want to hurt him/her badly.
** Ranma, under the Koi Rod of Love's spell, viciously attacks Akane, believing her to be the Hypotenuse.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: Several times; most notably Akane and Ranma sensing Ryoga being killed by Lime in the manga, but there are other examples.
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: Obvious here.
* NeckLift
* NerdGlasses: Mousse
* {{Ninja}}: Subversion: Sasuke. Played straight: Konatsu the Genius Kunoichi, who lives up to the "Genius" part but [[WholesomeCrossdresser not so much the "kunoichi" part]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: Kodachi Kunō, and it's really exaggerated, played up to the point of absurdity.
** This may have to do with the fact pretty much everything about Kodachi is absurd.
** Once done in an area where a sign read, "Please do not laugh loudly in the garden".
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Ranma, moreso in the anime than the manga
*NonFatalExplosions: Happosai regularly throws around homemade gunpowder hand grenades. It's usually [[ButtMonkey Ranma]] himself that gets left charred, smoking and pissed off, but otherwise unharmed. In one episode of the anime he also uses AbnormalAmmo, altering this move from the "Happo Daikarin" to the "Happo Daikabin", or "Happo Mold Burst". That's right, as in the nasty fuzzy stuff that grows on spoiled food.
* TheNoseBleed: Ryōga, mainly.
* NoSenseOfDirection: Ryōga is the king of this trope.
* OcularGushers
* OffModel: You can tell which Season 4, 5, and 6 episodes were outsourced to low-budget studios.
* OneHourWorkWeek: Sōun Tendō's seat on the neighborhood council seems to give him an inordinate amount of free time (enough for a few training trips and playing Shogi all day with Genma), yet yields enough cash to pay the taxes and bills on his BigFancyHouse and attatched dojo, plus cost of Martial Artist induced repairs, support his daughters, and still fit in family holidays to the seaside or mountains. He does complain about the bills, but it's only been twice in the entire anime and manga that they've ever been a problem. Also, the Tendō Dōjō doesn't appear to have any actual students.
** He does rent out the dojo for social gatherings, seen in one saga, and gets paid to take monster- or hoodlum-hunting missions though.
* OldMaster: Cologne and Happōsai, each of whom is 100+ years old (300+ years old in the anime) and can kick the asses of the rest of the cast combined.
* OneOfTheBoys: Ukyō gets this treatment a lot.
* OneWingedAngel: Subverted by Saffron's transformation, which only turns him into a more adult version of himself. Possibly played straight with Tarō's Monster Form.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: All of Ranma's recurring rivals to some extent, leading to plenty of RivalsTeamUp situations.
* OracularUrchin: Miyo
* {{Orochi}}
* OvershadowedByAwesome: in the beginning, Akane and the Kuno siblings were hot stuff. Then Ranma Saotome rolled into town, and Akane became a definate second-stringer, due to being completely unable to touch Ranma unless he let her. Kuno and his sister were still a credible threat... but then [[TheRival Ryoga Hibiki]] arrived... and then [[HotAmazon Shampoo]] showed up... and soon the original "best martial artists in Nerima" were at the bottom of the totem pole.
* OvertookTheManga
* {{Pair the Spares}}: Played with and postulated, but not actually done. However, there are enough unattached red strings left around for some rather nifty strangling to be done.
* PantyThief: Happōsai
* PaperFanOfDoom
* ParentalAbandonment: Half-way done to Ranma by Genma, who takes him away from his mother before he can even walk. Genetically-induced in the case of Ryōga, whose parents' sense of direction is as bad as his; whenever he manages to get home, he finds out they've been absent for weeks.
* ParkerLewisFerrisBueller: Nabiki, in fanon -- in canon, she's more of TheBarnum.
* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame
* PayEvilUntoEvil
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Ranma & Akane
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Phoenix King Saffron; Dragon Prince Herb; Battle Aura Happosai; Asura Cursed Rouge; Ultimate Shishi Hokodan Ryoga;
* PillarsOfMoralCharacter: Pretty much the point of the plot and part of the reason why Ranma has such a large UnwantedHarem. Ranma cannot break ''any'' promise made to his fianceés due to this, nor reveal Ryōga's secret to anyone. The irony here is that Ranma, while being one of the more honorable characters, is a {{Jerkass}}.
** It should be noted that this is largely {{Fanon}} as this trope is based almost entirely on interpertation.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Despite being shown attending school and having a few scenes set in school, they don't seem to be doing that much academic work. Ryoga appears to have dropped out in Jr. High to follow Ranma. Shampoo and Mousse are implied to be around the crew's age yet have never been shown going to school.
* PlayboyBunny: Several times.
* PlayingWithFire: Saffron, "a flamethrower without a safety valve".
* PosterGalleryBedroom: Tatewaki Kunō, with his giant posters of Akane and female Ranma, possibly to help him "[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow meditate]]" and choose one of them. Also, Mariko Konjō, but she probably changes her poster each time a cute guy comes along.
* PoweredArmor: Dō-chan the sentient Battle Dōgi and Gosunkugi's mail-order Power Suit.
* PunnyName: In the original Japanese the names of the Joketsuzoku characters were BilingualBonus {{Punny Name}}s -- Shanpū, Koron and Mūsu had Chinese-sounding names that coincidentally sounded like the English words for hygiene products; similarly, the Musk Dynasty warriors Haabu, Raimu, and Minto, whose ThemeNaming revolves around food ("herb", "lime", and "mint".) The English and Spanish translations play the pun straight by spelling out the English words.
* PuppyDogEyes
* QuiveringEyes
* RainAura
* RaisedByWolves: Ranma
* RapidFireFisticuffs: the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Fans argue over whether this is an actual technique or not, but it '''does''' allow the trainee to pull this feat off.
* RealMenWearPink: Ranma Saotome is skilled enough at cooking that his [[SupremeChef mother]] is impressed, at least passably skilled at sewing, good at tea ceremony and gymnastics, and seems to take pride in his ability to [[TheTease wind guys up by acting cute]] when [[GenderBender in girl form]].
** This is more of a result of him spending most of his life on the road. He and his father had to know how to cook and sew just to get along. The teasing is just a variation of what Genma does. Instead of outright lying and stealing, he just manipulates people.
* TheRedSonja: Shampoo, and indeed, all of the Chinese Amazons.
* RedStringOfFate: a literal one of these shows up in the anime, whereupon Shampoo promptly tries to use it on Ranma
* TheRival: Ryōga, primarily, but truckloads of guest-rivals filled out an awful lot of story arcs. Ukyo and Shampoo have this relationship in the anime.
* RonTheDeathEater: Happens to everyone in the cast at some point, but if you see a fic not pairing Ranma with Akane, be prepared for the absolute worse.
** Akane is easily the most frequent and extreme shift in this direction, just like Nabiki is the most frequent and extreme DracoInLeatherPants.
* RooflessRenovation
* SayMyName: "Ranmaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
* SelectiveObliviousness: Just about everyone in the series at some point. Most notably: Kuno's apparent refusal to understand either that Ranma and "the pigtailed girl" are one and the same, or that neither "the pigtailed girl" nor Akane Tendo are at all attracted to him, seems to be one part this, one part massive ego; Also, Akane Tendo either remains unaware of Ryoga's attraction to her, no matter how obvious it turns, or immediately forgets it. She also tends to believe the worst of Ranma even when he doesn't deserve it, or in other cases, want to believe the best of characters when they don't deserve it, such as Nabiki, Shampoo, Ryoga, or in Ranma's case the battle-dougi story.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sōun, and to a lesser extent Ryōga & Ranma.
** Ranma filling the "Manly Man" half being of course rather ironical.
* TheScottishTrope: Happōsai, in {{Fanon}}, though Sōun and Genma have made jokes referring to similar superstitions.
* SecondLove: Akane ending up with Ranma after getting over her first love, Dr. Tōfū.
* {{Seppuku}}: Genma promised Ranma's mother that he and Ranma would commit {{seppuku}} if he didn't raise Ranma to be "a man among men".
* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Nearly happens to the final arc of the manga of all things, as the Guide casually reveals to Akane he's going to wait for the Phoenix to leave and turn back on the Dragon Tap, refilling Jusenkyō. Luckily, Takahashi realized how utterly stupid this was and the plot of the final arc shifted from saving Jusenkyō to saving Akane.]]
* ShipSinking: Most of the teased ships are ruthlessly sunk right in the harbor before they can truly sail.
* ShipTease: Takahashi has teased a wide variety of the ships found in the yard, even going so far as to tease a RivalShip (Ranma/Ryōga) during the Koi Rod of Love arc. But nearly all of them are followed by ShipSinking.
* ShipToShipCombat: One of earliest shipping wars to break out on the Internet, mostly among die-hard partisans of the three "official" fiancées.
* TheShipYard: Most, if not all, varieties of {{Shipping}} described here have shown up in both canon and FanFic -- most notably the Ghost Ship, when in the anime Gosunkugi acquires a girlfriend who is an actual ''ghost''.
* {{Shorttank}}: Akane
* SiblingTeam: The {{OAV}}s' Natsumi and Kurumi.
* SignLanguage: Genma-Panda
* SittingOnTheRoof
* SingleMindedTwins: the anime has Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, the manga has Pink and Link.
* SlapSlapKiss: Subverted -- Ranma and Akane bicker constantly but never quite succeed at kissing, despite their obvious growing attraction to each other.
* SleevesAreForWimps: Many of Ranma's Chinese outfits, and also Pantyhose Tarō and Ryū Kumon's entire look.
* SmashingWatermelons: Used as part of one of the early storylines. Tatewaki Kunō also turns this into a inverted form of TrainingFromHell.
* {{Snapback}}
* SnotBubble
* SmokeOut
* SobbinWomen: Once to female Ranma [[RescueRomance in the manga]], once to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo Akane in the first movie]], and ''every female but [[{{Squick}} Cologne]]'' in the [[{{BeachEpisode}} second movie]].
** Given all the "female counterpart" rescues in that story (inverted when Kuno is too incompetent, and Nabiki rescues him instead), it would have been particularly funny to have seen one for Happosai and Cologne.
** Female Ranma was also kidnapped for this purpose, and very nearly bewitched with a LovePotion in the ''Toraware no Hanayome'' [[TurboGrafxSixteen PC Engine]] video game. Akane had to rescue her from being married to a [[spoiler: bear]] prince.
* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: How Genma could pull off the Cat-fist training and ''not'' get jailed for child abuse is a wonder to everyone, in the show and out.
* SpiderSense: Most of the martial artists have this.
* SpoiledBrat: The Kunō siblings, most obviously, but some of the minor villains like Picolet Chardin the 3rd, Azusa Shiratori, or Asuka the White Lily also fit. Saffron may be the most extreme example.
** The Kuno siblings were harrassed by their crazy father and then left alone without parents for three years. That's not exactly spoiled. Kodachi is psychotic, and Kuno is extremely delusional though.
* SqueakyEyes
* StalkerWithACrush: Both of the Kunōs, and Mousse too.
** Tsubasa would also qualify.
** Shampoo. Probably most characters in the unwanted harem would count since both Ranma and Akane rejects all their suitors yet those suitors still hang around. She also seems to enjoy dropping onto Ranma's head on her magical flying bike in the manga.
* StandingInTheHall
* StatusQuoIsGod: No one ages, no one graduates, and Ranma and Akane's relationship develops at a positively glacial pace.
* StealthClothes
* StoutStrength: Genma. Yeah, he's a fat, old, lazy part-time panda, but he's still able to go toe-to-toe with Ranma and often comes out on top. Arguably the Dojo Destroyer too, but that is more a case of an InformedAttribute (at least in the manga; the anime version is definitely portrayed as formidable).
* SupernaturalMartialArts
* SuperSpeed: While none of the characters travel at 'standard super speed', Ranma is capable of punching dozens, or even hundreds of times at such speeds that not even those attacked noticed. At least until they realize that they can't be hurting that much from one punch.
** When so inclined, the characters can actually run (or cycle, or row, or swim, or whatever) at greater-then-human speed, even if they don't quite hit the "run 100 miles in a second" pace typically associated with SuperSpeed.
* SurrogateSoliloquy: Subverted -- Akane talks to P-Chan, who's actually Ryōga.
* TheSweatDrop
* SweetheartSipping: Kuno and Girl-type Ranma (yeah, it's a long story). Also Girl-type Ranma and Harumaki (one part softheartedness to one part blackmail- the old lecher won't stop haunting her dreams unless she gives him a date). Come to think of it, doesn't it happen with Girl-type Ranma and Densuke too?
* SweetPollyOliver: Ukyō, for all of one episode.
* SweetTooth: Ranma takes advantage of his much-hated girl form at any opportunity to get ice cream.
* TastesLikeDiabetes: Azuza Shiratori
* TasteTheRainbow: A martial art for every interest.
* TheTease: Girl-Ranma; Nabiki; to a small extent Hinako;
* ThanksForTheMammary: And he just freezes in shock and dread, forgetting to let go!
* ThemeNaming: Pretty much every regular that is part of a group or family: The Tendōs, all Chinese characters, the Kunōs, the Saotomes...
* TheThingThatGoesDoink
* ThoseTwoGuys: Hiroshi and Daisuke for Ranma and their [[DistaffCounterpart Distaff Counterparts]] Yuka and Sayuri for Akane. These are filler characters in the anime. [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Lime and Mint]] and [[WingedHumanoid Koruma and Masara]] act like this towards their respective lords. In the anime, Nabiki gets two unnamed extras usually helping her run her gambling pools.
* ThroughHisStomach: Over and over again. It gets to the point that even Akane realizes Ranma is more like to succumb to temptation by ThroughHisStomach instead of ShowSomeLeg. A RunningGag is that Akane constanty tries to invoke this trope despite being a LethalChef.
* ThunderingHerd: Used many times, most notably in the opening of the first movie.
* TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential: Which then involves TrainingFromHell.
* TimeTravel: The Nanban Mirror, only in the anime.
* {{Tomboy}}: Akane; Ukyō. Ironically, WholesomeCrossdresser Ukyō is actually ''less'' of a {{Tomboy}} than RealWomenWearDresses Akane.
* TookALevelInBadass: It is never explained how Nodoka went from being hideously clumsy with a sword (such as accidentally flinging it at people while ''unsheathing it''), which is very very bad for a ''[[{{Seppuku}} kaishakunin]]'', to handling it with skill perhaps equivalent to [[KendoTeamCaptain Tatewaki]] shortly before becoming a permanent member of the Tendō Dōjō.
** In the {{OAV}}s, Akane specifically trained to take back the Tendō Dōjō from [[SiblingTeam Natsume and Kurumi]].
* TrainingFromHell: seems to be the only way any of the higher-grade special techniques can be learned. Also inverted in one storyline; training on Watermelon Island is TrainingFromHell... that's actually useless in battle. It's TrainingFromHell for the SmashingWatermelons game.
** Soun and Genma spent years with Happosai, supposedly training. Of course, the training is implied (they are strong martial artists, OvershadowedByAwesome not withstanding), we are only shown the hell.
* TransformationRay: Jusenkyō
* TricksterMentor: Happōsai again. He really IS that annoying. Cologne also qualifies.
* TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Ranma; Genma
* {{Tsundere}}: Akane; precisely which type is heavily debated, but the closest thing to general consensus is she was intended to be a Type B, and remains that way in the manga, while the anime makes her come off as a Type A. Probably because the anime gives her much, much ''fewer'' chances for her to interact with characters that aren't Ranma and the English Dub tends to play up her Tsundere tendencies.
** Akane is a type B Tsundere in the manga, through and through. She's not even anywhere ''close'' to a type A. (At least in the manga. This troper has never seen the anime, but in terms of the original manga, calling her a type A Tsundere is absurd.)
** Definitely type B in the anime. She has some Type A moments at the beginning but they were all exclusively towards Ranma and in most of them, Ranma did provoke her in some minor way.
* TugLoverWar
* TunnelKing: Ryoga
* TheUnfairSex
* UnfortunateImplications: Ranma's female form is practically a KryptoniteFactor in some stories. Physically this is justified; ''her'' arms and legs are shorter than ''his'' are, throwing off his timing and resulting in a number of embarrassing beatdowns. Where it really starts getting unfortunate is when Ranma meets fellow GenderBender Herb, whose KiAttacks are so much weaker in his female form that they lose visibility. In other words, a female body automatically weakens ''spiritual energy''.
** This one probably has a lot to do with how yin (feminine energy) and yang (masculine energy) are understood. Specifically, yin tends towards darkness and stillness, while yang tends towards light and motion. In other words, switching from male to female would, in this understanding, ''necessarily'' dampen energy output; it goes from naturally-outward to naturally-inward (or stationary). Herb probably hasn't realized he needs to put more output into play to overcome yin's (allegedly) natural inertia.
** This troper would note the possibility that this isn't a question of the female forms simply being "bad" for spiritual energy, but that a technique requiring so much coordination of mind and body will be thrown off greatly if the body is suddenly changed drastically and the mind remains the same. That is, Ranma and Herb simply haven't practiced enough with their female forms.
** Also specifically averted in the two part OVA ''The One to Carry On'' when Genma tells Ranma that his real problem is he's never even tried to exploit the advantages inherent in his female form. Once Ranma admits that the DumbassHasAPoint, he quickly realizes that his female form is faster than his male form and concentrates his training on speed techniques (does not happen in the manga).
* UniversalAdaptorCast
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Ukyō; Mousse; Shinnosuke
* TheUnwantedHarem: The TropeNamer, both played straight and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]]; Ranma's status as a chick magnet gives the JerkWithAHeartOfGold a fairly debilitating guilt trip. But though he's not enough of a cad to abuse the situation, it also soothes his [[TestosteronePoisoning manly]] {{Pride}} -- badly battered by his AttractiveBentGender curse. And though all the girls involved adore him, they're also rather exasperated by his [[CanNotSpitItOut wishy-washy]] attitude. It should be no surprise that the end-of-series [[spoiler:attempted marriage]] ended in a [[spoiler:BlastOut]].
** Somewhat subverted during the Reversal Jewel arc when Shampoo, under the jewel's effect, attempts to leave the harem, Ranma rather insistently runs after her to get it back, due his ego rather than true feelings. Lampshaded by Cologne when she notes that he got so used to Shampoo chasing him, he ''had'' to find out why she stopped.
* WalkingTheEarth: Ryōga, though rarely on purpose; Ryū Kumon, since he's looking for the counterpart technique to his own; Ranma and Genma prior to the manga.
* WardingGestures
* WeakButSkilled: Occasionally Ranma, relatively speaking.
** Specifically, Ranma is usually untrained at whatever MartialArtsAndCrafts of the week he is challenged at, but his genuine aptitude for anything Martial Arts lets him triumph. In a straight fight, he is only ever really challenged by the magically enhanced, Ryoga (Who is as tough as steel and rediculously strong), and by actual monsters. Ranma wins by being faster, and through judicious use of the Saotome Ultimate Technique (Run away and come up with a better plan).
* WeaksauceWeakness: Ranma's [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes ailurophobia]]; Rouge's back pain due to having six arms; any Jusenkyō-cursed martial artist and water.
* WelcomeTitles
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: Take Out Delivery Martial Arts, Fine Dining Martial Arts, Tea Ceremony Martial Arts, and so forth...
* WhenAJerkLovesATsundere AKA TakahashiCouple: Ranma & Akane -- the trope codifiers.
*WhenSheSmiles: Ranma's opinion of Akane.
* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve
* WhereItAllBegan: The final arc of the manga revolves around returning to Jusenkyō to save it. The readers finally get to see [[spoiler: Akane at Jusenkyō, and fall in a spring]].
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Ukyō; Konatsu
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Ranma's fear of cats.
** Also somewhat invoked by Ranma in the anime; while falling into the pool he screams, "Why does it always have to be water?!"
* TheWoobie: Depending on version and your own opinions, any of the main teen cast can come off as this. The curses, Ranma's ''rotten'' family and love life, Ryōga's lonely existence and poor direction sense, the sheer onesideness of many of the character's romantic interests... the adults, however, are pretty much unsympathetic scum.
** The trope is played with a bit during the introduction of Nodoka, and there is some sympathy built up for this lonely, abandoned woman, desperately pining for her long lost, only child. Then you find out she is just as AxCrazy (possibly moreso) than the rest of the cast, of course.
* {{Woolseyism}}: the English manga and dub script go to great lengths to adapt painfully-obtuse wordplay and remain faithful to the source. Similarly, they took great care to replace Kunō's quotations of classical Japanese poetry with equivalent passages from Shakespeare.
* TheWorfEffect: Done most often to Ranma himself, as most of the (anime) VillainOfTheWeek characters wind up proving their cred by kicking Ranma's ass. Mousse and Ryōga get this treatment during the Herb arc, as both are effortless beat by Mint and Lime respectively to build hype on Herb... who proceeds to Worf the crap out of Ranma just to prove this is serious opponent.
** Usually done to point out Ranma's (relatively) weak but skilled nature. He almost always wins his fights through some [[IndyPloy clever ruse]].
** Ryoga also occasionally gets his ass kicked, but generally much less often then Ranma does and usually to help highlight that this is an unusually potent opponent.
* WouldntHitAGirl: Mostly {{Fanon}}, though there is a degree of it in both Ranma and Ryōga's actions -- though the former can work around the issue, rather obviously. Likewise, Ryōga has no problem hitting Ranma's girl side... unless a [[WigDressAccent wig and glasses]] disguise is involved (though that's ''only'' while he's unaware of Ranma's real identity).
** Also averted early on by the [[FanNickname Hentai Horde]], who would hit Akane if they were good enough to lay a finger on her.
*** In the anime, they actually could touch her on occasion, but either they used grabs (which she could break out of, due to being much stronger then them) or she blocked them with her bookbag. That was only in the first season, though, and no other {{Mooks}} would ever be able to touch her afterwards.
* YamatoNadeshiko: [[DissonantSerenity Kasumi]], [[WhileRomeBurns Kasumi]]. Can you respond to any situation in any other way than to say, "Oh, my!"?
** Sure. She also says "Dinner's ready!"
* {{Yandere}}: Most of the girls get accused of this by different fan groups. However, while under the influence of the Fishing Rod of Love, Ranma becomes a terrifying Yandere towards Ryōga. HilarityEnsues. (Perhaps we should be glad Ranma is such an easy-going guy.)
** Kodachi and Shampoo are the only ones who have been flat out shown as very willing to kill anyone in the way, although Shampoo isn't crazy, but rather really really into expediency. (Even scarier)
** To point out how insane Ranma got, he deliberately triggered his curse for him and told Ryōga she'd [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy gladly let him kill her if it would make him happy.]] Oh, and he also tried to MurderTheHypotenuse with Akane, which finally prompted Ryōga to step through his fears and doubt to defeat Ranma cleanly, for perhaps the only time in the manga. Notable because Ranma never got his win back from that.
* YouALLShareMyStory: Ryōga very prominently; many others as well throughout the series.
* YouFailBiologyForever: Akane somehow survives all of the water in her body being instantly evaporated by the Kinjakan. Of course, like almost everything else in the series, [[AWizardDidIt A Magical Device Did It]].
** Seriously, after 36 volumes of [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting Magic Curses]], [[HealingFactor broken bones that heal in a week]], {{Megaton Punch}}s, {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s, [[ReallySevenHUndredYearsOld 300/100 year old]], [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens two-foot-tall old people]] (one of which was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in a cave]] with no food or water for ten years,) KiAttacks, [[{{Fountain Of Youth}} de-aging mushrooms]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a woman who ages by]] LifeEnergy [[EnergyAbsorption Absorption]] [[MagicPants gaining and losing mass without explanation]], not to mention the [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant wildlife]] [[WhenTreesAttack and sentient plants]], and people breaking [[RequiredSecondaryPowers the laws of physics]] ''and'' [[SquareCubeLaw biology]] with SupernaturalMartialArts on a daily basis, and ''this'' is where you start invoking that trope? Note that the Kinjakan's opposite number, the Gekkajan, ''[[HarmlessFreezing froze]]'' Ranma solid and he was no worse for wear either.
*** To note even further, Ranma froze himself solid in the middle of one of Saffron's fireballs and remained frozen afterwards. Yikes.
*** Don't forget when Akane shoved Ranma in the fridge! Literally. And he came out frozen, yet ''still able to move his body completely'', forgetting the fact that the laws of physics should have rendered him dead then and there. And of course, he proceeded to ''sneeze iceballs'' at Happōsai.
*** In conclusion, this isn't a series that attempts to adhere even remotely to realistic biology. Complaining about "[[AWizardDidIt Dehydrated Akane]]" [[MisaimedFandom is like complaining about people changing height, mass, and gender because of the water they touch]].
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Both Akane (black with blue highlights) and Shampoo (lavender/violet) in the anime.
* YouKnowWhatYouDid: Akane gets lured into this a lot.

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