RYOUGA HIBIKI

Ryouga is the Lost Boy of Nerima. This is not an exaggeration. Ryouga has a complete inability to follow directions of any kind and even maps can't help him. Sadly enough, his parents get lost as often as he does and most of his childhood consisted of wandering around by himself. In this way, he managed to learn martial arts and gain strength and independence.

His story really starts when he was in junior high (yes, he did go to school. He just couldn't find it a lot of the time). At lunchtime, when the cooks would toss out the last bread of the day and kids would fight over it, Ryouga would use his skill to grab it for himself. Until the day he met Ranma.

One day, Ryouga was jumping up for the last curry bread of the day, Ranma Saotome jumped off the back of his head and took the bread himself. This in itself wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that every day after that, Ranma would steal the last bread just before Ryouga could get it and beat him up at the same time! This was when the famous bread duel began.

Fed up with being a jumping post, he challenged Ranma to a duel in the empty lot behind his house. Unfortunately, he forgot to factor in his directional curse when he did this and predictably he did not show up on time. Ranma actually waited three days for his enemy/friend to show up before he had to leave with his father to go to China.

Ryouga managed to show up on the fourth day and after seeing that Ranma wasn't there, he became so enraged that he chased after Ranma all the way to China where he once again got lost. Well, China is a big place. He finally ended up at the Springs of Jusenkyo where he caught up with the hated Saotome just right after Ranma had received her curse. Ryouga himself was accidentally knocked into a spring by an enraged Ranma-chan who was still furious about 'her' curse.

Ryouga's hatred towards Ranma grows and he follows his enemy to Nerima. After attacking Ranma a few times, it is discovered that Ryouga had fallen into the Spring of Drowned Pig! Ranma, ashamed of what he had done, promises to keep this curse a secret.

What he didn't foresee was that Akane would decide to keep on this piglet as a pet. She even named him 'P-chan'! As time goes by, Ryouga beings to fall in love with her and Ranma is helpless to do anything but fume in silent fury.

Anyway, when Ryouga isn't lost somewhere in Japan or posing as Akane's pet, he is constantly attacking Ranma for ruining his life or trying to beat him up for being mean to Akane.

Ryouga is one of the more serious characters of Ranma 1/2. He is usually severely depressed, but with his directional and Jusenkyo curses and the fact that the girl he loves doesn't love him back as more than a friend, it's certainly understandable.

Some paint him as suicidal, but I think he's too strong for that. He has probably endured many hardships in his travels, but he is not the type to give up. He just wants someone to care for him and that is why he is willing to give up his dignity to be P-chan.

Some say he is a pervert or a real jerk for deceiving Akane the way he does, like always trying to get Ranma in trouble or pretending to her pet. Loneliness and jealousy are incredibly strong emotions and while he was wrong to try to do what he does, one can't help but wish that things were different for him and he didn't have to be reduced to making himself miserable in his attempts to be happy. Besides, it's not like he's watching her dress or anything. This is Ryouga we're talking about! This wanderer/nomad still faints (i.e. get massive nosebleeds and passes out) whenever he even gets close to a scantily clad female body. Sheesh, after spending so much time with Ranma, star of the Martial Arts Sex Comedy, you'd think he'd be tougher than that. Oh well.

There is some doubt over whether Ryouga ever really wanted to kill Ranma, excepting his beserker rages, of course. Most of the time he imagines Ranma begging for mercy from him but never more than that. All he really wants is to be the one on top for once and be able to get back at Ranma for everything that has happened to him.

As it was said, he has a huge temper and at a certain point he is such a deep rage that he can't control himself, but unlike Akane, it is far more difficult to get him mad and only Ranma appears to be able to do it with ease. He's a pretty easy going guy most of the time and if he could just get over his anger towards Ranma and put his life in order instead of merely shifting blame elsewhere, he'd be a whole lot happier.

Ryouga is one tough guy, physically and emotionally. Physically, due in part to his lifestyle and in part to the Bakusai Tenketsu training. Emotionally... well, the Shi shi hodokan shows it best. It's amazing he has kept himself going so long. So far the only thing keeping him going is trying to defeat Ranma and protecting Akane. Life was pretty empty for him without a purpose. It's not too surprising that he is kind of nuts, but he still manages to put the needs of others before himself most of the time.

He's a good guy, but he really is very gullible. He tends to let his emotions get the better of him and instead of thinking things out he usually just believes whatever he's told. A blighted sense of direction isn't the only thing wrong with him, I'm sad to say. Ranma has taken advantage of this flaw of his many times and needless to say, Ryouga gets ticked off when he eventually finds out the truth.

It appears to me that Ryouga has the mentality of a child in many ways and that's not surprising considering that he has mainly raised himself since he lost his parents. Not many people to teach him about things like discipline, self-control, and respect for other people's property (okay, he's not the only one with that particular problem) so he really can be compared to a walking time bomb. He is impulsive and prone to throwing 'tantrums', hates it when other people takes his belongings, gets mad easily over such small things, and would rather 'roughhouse' than talk out his problems.

But even though he may have less social graces than Ranma, he is politer and more inclined to help others though he is often too trusting. All in all, not too bad of a guy.

I'm of the party that says he and Ranma are friends, rivals certainly but when it comes down to it, they're allies at best! He has helped him out on many occasions and received help in return in fact and the way they insult and interact with each other show they're just still two teenagers. Ryouga does resent Ranma, of course, but at times it really isn't as strong.

It's often forgotten that Ryouga does have a real reason to be angry at Ranma as it is Ranma's fault that Ryouga is cursed. Everyone seems to think that since Ryouga 'followed' Ranma to Jusenkyo, it's somehow his fault. According to Ryouga's own words he ended up at Jusenkyo by complete accident since he couldn't follow Ranma even if he wanted to. If somehow Ryouga ended up there simply because he wanted to take a trip would it still be his fault? I'm not saying anything negative about Ranma with this but I am just making a complaint against those who seem to blame everything on Ryouga.

On the other hand, Ryouga has that problem himself of blaming Ranma for many things but not for every little insignificant thing as a lot of people seem to think. Ryouga may blame Ranma for an extreme number of things but not to the extent of say, if an avalanche just happened to fall upon him, he would somehow find a way to blame it on Ranma. Let's face it, crap has happened to him long before Ranma. That's kind of sad now that I think about it! *Sniffle!* :)

Ryouga deserves better than his lot in life. He probably didn't have much of a childhood since his whole family was similarly cursed like him. Life could cut him a few breaks. It's no wonder he became a martial artist. Besides protecting himself in places like Siberia, he really wants to help people, like Akane. He could easily bully the weak, but his honor and life experiences stop him from doing so. A guy like that needs some happiness.