Some of the information that I directed at Law below. Oh, and by "solid," I mean referencing something that exists, as opposed to making something up. I just wanted to make that clear, as much of it is still circumstantial.
A better question would be: how is Cologne ordering him about indicative that he's a Joketsuzoku or not? I mean, she's going to be family if he manages to win over Shampoo, so he has that and other related reasons to not make her dislike him so much that she will no doubt become an obstacle toward him marrying Shampoo.
Doesn't he work there? Can't Cologne be generous? These are things to consider, too.
Is he truly considered a friend? (I thought the reference to friendship only pertained to Shampoo and Mousse during their childhood...) Couldn't you be assuming that they don't have a more complicated relationship? For instance, what if she doesn't particularly care for him, but she has a good enough relationship with someone in his family, like his mother or grandmother?
LawOhki wrote:Your argument is just quibbling over the meaning of a word that Cologne makes completely moot in his initial introduction. Shampoo turned him down when they were children, no mention of any challenge or that he could have done so in the interim. Being that he repeatedly shows a willingness to debase himself in anyway to get Shampoo, there's no justifiable reason for why he wouldn't have challenged her before and won if he was subject to the outsider laws.
A quibble about a word, huh? Looks like someone wasn't paying attention. Well, I'm not adverse to reiterating my argument, and elaborating while I'm at it.
#1: We know that Joketsuzoku females must marry if they're defeated by an outsider male.
#2: When Mousse introduces himself, he asserts that he's
going to be Shampoo's groom, not that he already is.
#3: Cologne brings up the point that Mousse was spurned (defeated in a fight) by Shampoo when they were three, which is counter to his assumption that he still had a chance to win her in the same fashion.
#4: Mousse didn't know that age didn't matter, that that particular fight would count, or that he'd only get one chance, which suggests that he (at that time) had only been aware of the one thing that we had been aware of up until that point; and if he knew at least that much when he was three is anyone's guess. (Now, if he was of Joketsuzoku, and was truly dead set on being married to Shampoo, I imagine he'd know more details about their laws at some point, particularly pertaining to the most relevant one(s), and especially since said laws seem to be taken seriously enough by them. Either he'd know enough to call bullshit on Cologne, or -- as an outsider -- he wouldn't know any better, or would otherwise have to accept how the law would apply to him. Either way, it does him no favors for anyone who argues that he is not an outsider, as in not being a Joketsuzoku.)
#5: When that route's shut down and he can't win Shampoo directly, he clearly intends to win Shampoo indirectly, by defeating Ranma, the guy who had "defeated" Shampoo, but is denied that before he can voice it.
It's not hard to see that all of that revolves around the idea of defeating someone to win them, both explicitly and implicitly, which relates to one of the few things that we know about the Joketsuzoku for certain. We know one way how outsider males can marry Joketsuzoku females. We don't know anything in specific about how Joketsuzoku males go about marrying their fellow females (beyond what we consider a normal convention), outsider females, or even if males in the family live in the village or are considered Joketsuzoku at all regardless of whether they do or not. Anything regarding the males is a big question mark, as even Shampoo's father does not make an appearance in the village, and his role in her life is rather nebulous. But, again, we know one thing for certain about what happens when outsider males defeat Joketsuzoku females. (Also, the term stated in the laws is one's defeat; there is no mention of needing to challenge anyone first.)
I think I've made my argument pretty clear. It has next to nothing to do with a word that Cologne had used. I'm not even sure which one you're referring to. Is it "spurned?" I see Mousse getting kicked by Shampoo, which seems to suggest a defeat in a fight, so it seems obvious that "spurn" is not being referred to as a verbal rebuff in this context.