Cliches & Tropes of Ranma fanon

[Drawde]

Shampoo would not hestate to kill anyone

During Taro's introduction, Shampoo found Akane, all tied up, and was about to kill her, and blame it on Taro, when she hit a cold water trap. Her main reason for not killing anyone seems to be whether Ranma would know. She doesn't want to alienate him, which is why she just blocked Akane's memory that one time.

As for Happosai being evil, and actually for most other things in the series as well, Ranma 1/2 is PRIMARILY a comedy. Making someone who lives in the house evil in a serious manner would detract from that. Notice that most of the serious chapters involving danger, oneshot characters were used, like Herb and Saffron.

[claymade]

During Taro's introduction, Shampoo found Akane, all tied up, and was about to kill her, and blame it on Taro, when she hit a cold water trap. Her main reason for not killing anyone seems to be whether Ranma would know. She doesn't want to alienate him, which is why she just blocked Akane's memory that one time.

With the memory shampoo, it actually didn't seem to have quite clicked just yet that killing Akane would alienate Ranma, since she does try to kill her later when after Akane breaks the shampoo's effects--right in front of Ranma, with no apparent concern that he might be annoyed by it. To her credit, the shampoo bit really does seem to have been an effort to avoid unnecessary killing.

Still, the larger point does hold. In those cases where she killing is necessary to her goals, she displays little compunction in doing so. By the time of the Taro arc, it is pretty clear that she has realized Ranma would not take Akane's death kindly (probably as a result of that whole first venture) and thus only makes her attempt when Taro could have been framed for it.

[TerraEpon]

One definition for fanon is: Things that are not strictly canon, but do not contradict it and are widely accepted by most fans.

Well yeah, but all that has nothing to do with Ranma or Akane dieing.

-Joshua

[Ran]

One definition for fanon is: Things that are not strictly canon, but do not contradict it and are widely accepted by most fans.

Another is: elements which are not in the official canon of a fictional world but are widely believed to be or treated as if they were canonical

Which does allow the fanon to contradict the canon, which in my experience it often does to some degree. (See usage of mallets and Nabiki the source of household income)

[Drawde]

I'll address two fanon concepts with one answer here. Though the second one can be argued about, given the comedic nature of it.

1: Ranma was locked during the cat's tongue arc.
2: Jusenkyo curses have a water attracting component.

Ranma kept being splashed at the wrong moment because it was funny. The manga never said anything about him attracting water, and he never got splashed when it would detract from the story. Yes, he got splashed when "Ranko" and Akane were out bra shopping with Nodoka, but that's because he was still hiding the curse from his mother.

He only got hit by hot water ONCE during the cat's tongue arc. And that was because he was fighting above a heated pool, and just learned that the pill he got was a fake. The cat's tongue made him extremely sensitive to heat, so that even barely warm water felt like it was boiling. It did nothing to the curse. Hot water would still change him back, but it hurt too much for him to use it. It wouldn't be funny to see Ranma rolling on the ground, screaming in agony, because he happened to get hit by hot water at a random moment, so Takahashi never did it. The time he fell into the pool, we see him falling in one panel, then you see Akane hear him screaming, then the next time you actually see Ranma, he just had a fishtank full of pirahna dumped on him. Takahashi never directly showed Ranma between falling in and getting cold water poured on him, though he would have change back to male during that time.

As I said, the second point can be argued, but it's never stated in the manga.

[Jupiah]

Here's probably the biggest one of all fanfiction, and one that has no support in canon at all:

Ranma is some sort of nexus of chaos or an avatar of a chaos god.

Basically, anyone who uses this one typically uses it to claim that everything weird that happens around Ranma is his fault, by virtue of his presence alone. No matter where he goes or what he does, he is destined to have chaos follow him, and his aura is so chaotic that it can thwart even the most powerful of magical artifacts, including the freakin' Time Gates of Sailor Moon canon themselves.

This one really annoys me, both because it's an exaggeration so extreme that it's approaching hyperbole status, and because it's way overused. Ranma does attract weird people, but it's his personality that does it, not some abstract "chaos magnet" effect. Ranma is a very unique and outgoing person, he's a natural leader, he's physically very attractive (in either form), and he goes out of his way to help others all the time. Lots of people are drawn to him because of these traits, and many of those people just happen to be weird.

The weirdness, in my opinion, is more Nerima than Ranma anyway. Nerima is a weird place. Lots of martial artists pass through the area, is seems to have a very high number of spirits and ghosts wandering around, and it's barely governed and apparently not policed in the slightest. Even if Ranma had never showed up, lots of weird stuff would have still happened there.

[mondu_the_fat]

Ranma is some sort of nexus of chaos or an avatar of a chaos god.

God, I hate that. I have yet to read a fanfic that I liked with that as the premise, and there's a LOT of them.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Ranma is some sort of nexus of chaos or an avatar of a chaos god.

Basically, anyone who uses this one typically uses it to claim that everything weird that happens around Ranma is his fault, by virtue of his presence alone. No matter where he goes or what he does, he is destined to have chaos follow him, and his aura is so chaotic that it can thwart even the most powerful of magical artifacts, including the freakin' Time Gates of Sailor Moon canon themselves.

I just figure, what with all the curses, he has "interesting times" on him. Fits the data, doesn't thwart anything except the desire for a bit of peace and quiet.

[TerraEpon]

Still, the chos god thing isn't really /fanon/ per se, just an overused plot point. I agree that it's annoying, because people usually try to turn Ranma into this epic when it's supposed to be a comedy with a touch of magic.


-Joshua

[antimatterenergy]

The weirdness, in my opinion, is more Nerima than Ranma anyway. Nerima is a weird place. Lots of martial artists pass through the area, is seems to have a very high number of spirits and ghosts wandering around, and it's barely governed and apparently not policed in the slightest. Even if Ranma had never showed up, lots of weird stuff would have still happened there.

I don't see it that way. Part of this is because Ranma and the Tendo's actually seek it out like the magic dogi or they are called to deal with it like the oni or bean gun plant (they are known for dealing with the super natural so get called about it). Other things were brought to Nerima for one reason or another Shampoo brought the Ghost cat from China for example. Ryoga showed up with several things like mushrooms of aging and koi rod but he randomly walks everywhere and we've seen that he stops at dojo's/shrines through out the country (he was a dojo destroyer during mark of the gods). Many of the other things were not in Nerima at all and personally I'm of the opinion that someone is using Nerima as a testing ground for products like the food Akane makes to tell who loves her and the paper dolls Gosungunki had.

As for there being a lot of martial artists not really when you think about it most aren't native and came there for a purpose seeking out Ranma (Ukyo, Ryoga, Amazons, Ryu) others came for other reasons (Taro sought Happosai, Herb came to ask Cologne a question, Piccollote came to get payment or a bride from the Tendo's/Genma). Others were not in Nerima (Tea Ceremony guy was not in Nerima, Konatsu was not in Nerima until they brought him). There really aren't that many Martial artists in Nerima.

As for super natural creatures in the manga there really aren't that many. Not counting the ones they seek out, are called about, and bring with them. The manga even states that there are few supernatural beings left the bean gun is said to be little more than a myth because there are so few monsters left. Think about it the super natural beings we see live out of the way places like the giant jelly fish (who also is friends with the natives), are dying out (Musk are so few they were thought extinct as are the Phoenix people), or had been trapped for a thousand years (oni). Even Jusenkyo has so few visitors that Taro was able to hunt down everyone who visited it easily (and it's relatively unknown since Shampoo who doesn't live that far from it didn't know about implying to me that the Elders don't talk about it to the younger generation).

Also there are police in the Manga Ranma jokingly comments that he should call them for sibling abuse after pretending to be Ryoga's sister. The people with the most reason to call the police wouldn't (Ranma definitely would not), many of the fights are planned in advance and have audiences (Chardon fight, Rythmic Gymnastics, ki blast fight) so there would be no reason to call the cops others are out in the wilderness (Herb fight, breaking point battle, Konatsu fight). In the manga they don't really damage all that much stuff most of the damage happens at the school or the Tendo's house. You also have to remember that the Japanese do not like involving the police unless they have to preferring to deal with things themselves and don't like getting involved if it doesn't involve them directly (for example the people who just watched Ranma be kidnapped not there problem so they ignored it is a common in Japan).

[three headed dog]

I never really thought about it but Nerima really doesn't have that many martial artists. In real life a district/city the size of Nerima would have quite a few martial artists. My city here in the USA (little more than 30,000 people in my city) has 4 martial arts academies (one karate, one tai-chi and dance, one karate and cheerleading, and one judo/ basic self defense). Though some of the people who go to them are from neighboring cities.
Edit 5 I forgot and just remembered the place that does wrestling and boxing on Broadway near the bowling alley.

As for ghosts it can be argued that in real life there are a lot of ghosts. According to CNN 34% of US citizens believe in ghosts and I think the percentage of Japanese who believe is much higher (what with ghosts being Kami in Shinto belief). There are entire encyclopedia's and book series documenting people sighting ghosts.

[Jupiah]

As for there being a lot of martial artists not really when you think about it most aren't native and came there for a purpose...

Exactly my point. I said that lots of martial artists pass through Nerima, not that they live there or necessarily frequent the area. Many of them weren't seeking out Ranma, and would have still showed up if he had never came to Nerima.

The Tendo family would still have lived there, of course. Tatewaki, Kodachi, and their father would also still live there. Dr. Tofu would still live there. Happosai would still have showed up and likely moved into the Tendo home. Kinnosuke would still have challenged Nabiki to a Martial Arts Bankruptcy battle. Happosai likely would have still blown up the Sexy Kunoichi Teahouse and Konatsu would have been sent to punish him. Lukkosai would have still came to Nerima looking to take his Butterfly Brocade back from Happosai. Ryu Kumon would have still passed through looking for the Umisenken and might have still met Nodoka. Sentaro would have still passed through Nerima looking for a girl to kidnap (and by the laws of cosmic irony, likely would have kidnapped Akane). Also, Sentaro might live in Nerima, it's never stated that his home was in another ward. The Dojo Destroyer still have attacked the Tendo dojo. Picolet would still have come looking for the Tendos. Mikado and Azusa would still have visited the district(they may even go there regularly to eat at the restaurant where they met Akane and Ranma). They might also live there, it's not like the entire ward has only one high school. Pantyhose Taro would still have showed up looking for Happosai. Mariko would still have challenged Akane to a Martial Arts Cheerleading match, and she might also live in the district. Rouge might have still followed Taro to Nerima. Akari still would have passed through with her giant sumo pig looking for a husband.

Even if they don't live there, lots of martial artists seem to be drawn to Nerima for whatever reason.

As for super natural creatures in the manga there really aren't that many. Not counting the ones they seek out, are called about, and bring with them.

You're missing my point. Even if they don't originate in Nerima, most of those supernatural creatures still eventually wind up there. Even if Ranma had never showed up, the Tendo dojo would still have been asked to deal with all of those things, the only difference is that Soun and Akane would have had to do the work, rather than pawn it off on Ranma. Nerima seems to attract weirdness.

Also there are police in the manga Ranma jokingly comments that he should call them for sibling abuse after pretending to be Ryoga's sister.

The police don't do much in Nerima then. Why was the Tendo dojo asked to hunt down and capture the Pigtail-bandits? Isn't that the job of the police force? If the police do have authority in Nerima, then they're less effective than Chief Wiggum.

[antimatterenergy]

Even if they don't live there, lots of martial artists seem to be drawn to Nerima for whatever reason.

Not really, It's not that many martial artists (do around a dozen count as a lot since 1 class at a dojo could be expected to have more than that and Nerima is big and should have multiple dojo's) and considering they live in a dojo you would expect martial artists to show up. Most did come because of Ranma or because of the people who followed Ranma.

The police don't do much in Nerima then. Why was the Tendo dojo asked to hunt down and capture the Pigtail-bandits? Isn't that the job of the police force? If the police do have authority in Nerima, then they're less effective than Chief Wiggum.

Because Soun's on the city council and part of the Neighborhood watch the person who asked was stated to be the head of the neighborhood watch. For all we know the police were looking but it was low priority (They may have better things to do).

if Ranma had never showed up, the Tendo dojo would still have been asked to deal with all of those things

If Ranma didn't show up the number decreases significantly. Musk, Phoenix, and the ghost cat are just a few that wouldn't have happened. Anyways the argument is about Nermia not the Tendo's. While the Tendo's still would get called and go, Nerima itself doesn't have that many supernatural things come to it or live in it.

[Jupiah]

Possibly one of the most annoying fanon clichés I've ever seen:

Ranma is utterly naive and innocent in all matters sexual.

This is really annoying, especially because any author that uses this one usually takes it to the extreme - he has no idea what sex even is, and he's never even seen a naked girl before coming to Nerima. I've even seen a few fics that take this cliché to it's absolute limit - he's literally incapable of being sexually aroused, due to a brain injury, mental trauma, or Genma secretly using lust-blocking pressure points on him (the last one baffled me when I read it. Genma wants Ranma to marry Akane! How the hell would making him impotent help that goal?).

This cliché is complete bullshit. Ranma has gone to an all-boys Jr. High School, and he attends Furinken High. How can anyone seriously think that he's never attended a sex-ed class, or seen a nudie-mag or overheard perverted conversations in the boy's locker room?

His two best friends at school are Hiroshi and Daisuke, two notorious perverts. He's had at least one perverted conversation with them. He doesn't look embarrassed or flustered during their interrogation, only angry that they think he would do those things with a "dorky chick" like Akane.

Besides those facts, he's a sixteen year old boy that can turn into a girl. Do you seriously think he's never, ahem, "experimented"? Ranma is probably more knowledgeable about sex than any other boy his age.

Also, why exactly would someone who didn't understand sex be so skilled at seduction? In both forms, even! He turned on the charm for Shampoo during the reversal jewel arc, and later actually trained her mirror clone in how to pick up guys!

And he has gotten aroused before. Even in his girl-form, she certainly got a kick out of watching dozens of naked girls bathe when she was trying to get to Happosai's Fire Burst scroll. And when Shampoo burst out of his bathtub at the end of her introduction arc, he fainted from "over-stimulation".

Sure, Ranma's almost certainly sexually inexperienced. He knows several girls who would be willing, but each of them come with a "sleep-with-me-and-you-marry-me" string attached. But he's sure as hell not innocent, even if he's still a virgin.

[Southern Cross]

And how about the old Akane is secretly a lesbian trope?
How many people seriously believe that bit of fanon?