Why would Ranma choose to stay?

[Zwzn]

Assume the depressed/unhappy Ranma seen in the Valentine's Day story line is the real Ranma, and he is just pretending to be happy.

Why would he choose to continue to stay in Nerima?

Please do not use any of the girls Ranma is engaged to as reasons.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Possibility one: Ignorance. Ranma has only had Genma and his travels on the road for a life. While he does know he doesn't particularly like it that the girls beat him up all the time, or that the rivals use him as an excuse for their own crappy lives, or being jerked around by the "responsible adults", he may genuinely not realise how crappy his life actually is. Or, alternatively, he has no idea that a different life would be any better; he may well believe that if he tries to run away, settling into a new life will just result in more of the same, if not worse, while being surrounded by people he has no connection to. As bad as the people in his life are, at least they're decent to him sometimes and they're the closest people he has to family.

Possibility two: "Domestic Abusee Syndrome" (I don't know the actual name for this mental state so please excuse it). Basically, if you consider this idea valid, then Ranma has been thoroughly beaten physically, emotionally and mentally into believing that he genuinely deserves all of this and so he cannot bring himself to run - this is his "righteously deserved punishment", and whenever things are made horrible for him, he's been conditioned to regard his tormentors in justified in what they do.

Possibility three: Hospitality and the lack thereof. Ranma may not leave because he has no idea where to go. As bad as Nerima is, at least he gets a warm bed, access to baths and clothes, regular meals and a roof over his head. If he up and leaves, where is he going to go? What shelter is he going to find? How is he going to survive on his own? He has no allies to turn to, no one to take him in, and he may not believe he can survive alone.

Possibility four: Denial. Ranma may be deluding himself as to how bad the situation really is. While he admits to himself that he isn't exactly happy here, he refuses to admit to himself that it truly is as bad as it really is. Under this possibility, Ranma is discontented, but not so discontented that he can bring himself to regard upping sticks and leaving as anything more than overreacting.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

I'm assuming that, by "storyline", you mean episode. Which episode is it, so I can see how he behaves?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

It's a late manga story, I don't know enough about the manga to be certain of the volume. I think he's referring to the filler chapters that include, among other things, Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi all jumping Ranma from out of nowhere and beating the living snot out of him as a "valentine's present", and Akane trying to deliver some valentine's chocolate to Ranma for a shy little girl he saved "off screen", only to run into the problem that he assumes they're some of her homemade chocolates and so he refuses to take them.

[Southern Cross]

Because he would probably be dragged back to China at worst, Nerima at best. Shampoo followed him all the way from China, Ukyo has spent ten years tracking him down for some dumb revenge plot, Genma doesn't want his meal ticket to run away, Ryoga will track him down and attack him for abandoning Akane. Plus (contrary to fanfic) I don't think he can even rent an apartment until he's twenty.

[LawOhki]

Because he would probably be dragged back to China at worst, Nerima at best. Shampoo followed him all the way from China, Ukyo has spent ten years tracking him down for some dumb revenge plot, Genma doesn't want his meal ticket to run away, Ryoga will track him down and attack him for abandoning Akane. Plus (contrary to fanfic) I don't think he can even rent an apartment until he's twenty.

If the Joketsuzoku wanted to drag Ranma back to China they would have.

Ranma is not just a meal ticket to Genma. Give the guy some credit, he raised Ranma all by himself for ~14 years.

Ryoga being angry that Ranma abandoned Akane?........... my brain hurts, doubly so because people have actually used that in fics as if it makes any kind of sense.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

That last one has actually sort of happened in canon, that's why it gets referenced so often in fanfiction. There have been several occasions where, despite the fact that Ranma hurting Akane emotionally is actually good for him and his plans to get closer to her, Ryoga has been so offended for her sake that he's gone after Ranma to hurt him for somehow making Akane upset. I'd list some, but I honestly don't recall any greatly detailed moments off the top of my head, just that it has happened.

[three headed dog]

I don't think Ranma is really all that unhappy. Sure he does get upset on occasion or depressed but in general he doesn't mind how things are.

As for reasons to stay: First off I want to say that I rule out Space Knight of Chaos possibility three entirely. Besides the fact he does have the ability to take care of himself (personally I think he'd be better off by himself). The comforts of being at the Tendo's can easily be gotten elsewhere since he could always go with Ukyo or even Shampoo (heck even Kodachi, particularly if your going by anime Kodachi who gave him his own personal dojo when he ended up staying at her house for a bit).

As for reasons to stay. Training opportunities that show up. The fact that most of his problems would follow him and do not in anyway matter where he is located at. Bidding his time until he has more options.

[Southern Cross]

Actually three headed dog, all of the other girls want to marry him, and would take him leaving the Tendos as a sign that he wants to marry one of them. And it's canon that Ranma doesn't want to get married yet - he'd rather be cured first.

[three headed dog]

Ranma has stayed with the other girls. He stayed at Ukyo's during the Gambling King arc and took her with him while training. In the anime he stayed with Kodachi for a bit. All he really has to do is make it clear that he doesn't want to live with the Tendo's for some reason. The girl would be thrilled even if he doesn't want to marry at this time simply because it makes her chances go up.

[Southern Cross]

Actually another reason why Ranma stays at the Tendos is because Akane is actually the least violent of all Ranma's suitors - she hits him more often because she's around most of the time and because he habitually insults her and because she blames him for the bad behavior of the other fiancees.

[three headed dog]

That is very arguable. While it is true that the other girls hit him as well there is nothing that shows that they would do so more than Akane does and when they did it was usually for very similar reasons as Akane did so.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

Southern Cross: Perhaps in the original manga. But, even there, she's got stuff like trying to stab him for an implied disrespectful comment about her food (Bakusai Tenketsu arc), knocking Ranma out cold simply because it was convenient (Valentine's Day Chocolates filler story), and other abuses. Ranma also doesn't insult her all that much in the manga; he's actually one of the more diplomatic characters. He's not totally innocent, but his anime incarnation is much sharper with his tongue. Akane's no worse than the other suitors, but she isn't really any better. And in the anime continuity, she's much closer to the "worst" end of the scale.

3-Headed Dog: Just to make things clear, I don't personally think that Ranma is incapable of fending for himself - he clearly is, much better than Akane would be. However, there are three reasons why I suggested that fears of being unable to find a new source of hospitality might be a possibility why Ranma chooses to stay in Nerima.

#1: Zwzn specifically mentioned to not count the various fiancees as reasons why Ranma stays. So, I assumed that would make the fact Ranma can go to most if not all of them for shelter if he leaves the Tendos invalid by default.

#2: Ranma can fend for himself, yes, but he may not believe he can fend for himself. He's mentioned at least once, during the Cradle from Hell, that he's never been seperated from Genma before in his life; he's always had Genma around to "help" him get by, and Genma... well, Genma is known to have manipulated Ranma on occasion. It is possible that Genma may have convinced Ranma that he needs Genma or somebody else to look after him.

#3: Even if Ranma can fend for himself, living on the road like a vagabond isn't comfortable. Ranma acts on several occasions like he's in no particular hurry to resume living out of a tent after having had a warm bed and bath with the Tendos. He may simply deem the comfort of being established at the Tendo Dojo more enticing than hitting the road and trying his luck elsewhere.

I will admit that the fact that most of his problems would just hit the road and chase him down is a big reason why Ranma doesn't leave if he's unhappy, even if it may not be his only reason. The Tendos may very well not come, given Akane's uncertainties and Soun's laziness, the Kunos wouldn't really notice, but Genma, Ryoga, Ukyo and the Amazons all have the skills and freedom neccessary to track him down. Admittedly, Ryoga may choose to stay in Nerima and try and win Akane for himself while Ranma's gone.

[TerraEpon]

Though the characters were really somewhat OOC in it, the Reversal Jewel story shows that having multiple girls chase after him feeds his ego, at the least.

[Drawde2]

Convenience for one. At the Tendo's house, all he has to worry about are training, fiancees (and the associated problems), school, and the occasional fight. On his own he'd have to get a job, a place to live, buy and cook food, and so on. PLUS the problems listed above, except probably school.

Although Ranma isn't always concerned with it (and no where near the fanon level) there's also honor. Even though going Ronin isn't possible anymore (as I understand it) there's still the problem of not having a family. I'm still trying to find out just what would happen with the current day. If Ranma left his family, Genma would have to kick Ranma out, or else show that Ranma's actually the one in charge of it.