Ranma/Bleach Crossover Idea

[Frog]

While Ishida would be able to tell that Ranma is a Shinigami right off the bat, I doubt he would hurry a confrontation with him.

I'll grant you this point. I've just been re-reading the manga and Ishida did wait a while before finally showing himself to Ichigo and Rukia. He could tell who Rukia was the moment she showed up, and he could tell Ichigo got Shinigami powers (Ishida, in the manga, says it was around May that this happened). Then we had the '6/17' story and some other random stuff. It's until after the Hospital incident that Ishida finally starts moving around and nuking hollows. My guess is that he'd probably recognize Ranma as a Shinigami but just bide his time for whatever reason. Doubt he'd try and make any contact with Ranma or Ichigo though, at least until he feels ready to have a confrontation.
Like it's said in the manga: Ishida doesn't make friends easy...

Jusenkyo affects more than just the body, it affects the soul as well. So Jusenkyo victims retain their curses even during their deaths. In otherwords: Shinigami Ranma-chan!

Brilliant. I assume that the Shinigami form, being immaterial, is immune to the effects of water, but if the Gigai is splashed and then he goes Shinigami then we'd have a female soul as well. Neat.

Heck, Kenpachi would consider a visit to meet the NWC to be the perfect vacation.

He'd probably accidentally kill them all just with the reiatsu that he exudes, even with his eyepatch on.

Nah, I want him to be 1st squad. He may have what it takes to be a captain, but decided to serve under Yama-jii instead of it.

Are you insinuating that Ranma, like Ikaku, also has a bankai and the capability to become a Captain but chooses to be a seated soldier for personal reasons? If that's the case I hope you explore these reasons and why he chose to serve under Yama-ji instead of taking the prestige of Captain for himself.
Anyways, a few random comments and questions based on your first post:
- You mention that Ranma would belong to a Noble Family. If I recall right there are 4 Greater Noble Families to Bleach and several lesser Noble Families who are vassals of the greater. To which would Ranma belong? Would he have been born into Nobility or adopted?
- You mention that Ranma was a VC 16~18 years prior to Bleach, depending on what you want to make Ranma's age. That means he was probably a seated officer by the time that Aizen 'showed' his Zanpakutou to all the influential people in the Seireitei, unless this happened during the interim when he was missing.
- We don't know just how long ago Renji's, Rukia's, Kira's, and Momo's generation graduated from the Shinigami Academy. We do know that Ranji became VC of the 6th a month before he went to look for Rukia, so that would probably be around the time Ichigo fought the King Fisher. Do you intend to have Ranma form a part of their group, albeit one who flew through the ranks quickly, unlike Renji?
- If you do intend to make Ranma a part of Rukia's and Renji's groups then his soul would be a bit below 200 years old by the time he became VC. Rukia's soul is old but she did not know of the Quincy's (who became extinct 200 years before Bleach) so either (a) her soul is younger than that or (b) she was not in the Seireitei when this happened and therefore ignorant. Something to keep in mind when adding information to Ranma's Shinigami background.
- Will Ranma be considered a SS criminal? One of the charges brought up against Rukia was her long and unexplained absence from the Seireitei (2months). Ranma's absence was much longer than that. So what will it be? Will he be considered a criminal or MIA?
- I see you already named Ranma's zanpakutou and even gave it a Shikai command. What type of sword will it be? Will it have any kidou powers (Yumichika) or will it be a booster type sword (Zangetsu Bankai) or will it be a very strong sword (Zangetsu) or some unique effect?
Hm... can't think of anything else right now. I'll keep on re-reading my manga and post more questions as they come to me.

[Bjorn]

If you're going to have Ranma from one of the noble families, why not Shihouin? That could help explain why he isn't freaked out by Yoruichi's cat form as much - maybe make them related or somesuch? Her disappearance could also be a factor in his own absence.

[bissek]

If Ranma is of Rukia's generation of Shinigami, he'd be approximately 150. Vol 1, Chapter 1 of Bleach has Rukia stating she had lived "ten of your lives", to a 15 year old Ichigo. A pointer to keep track of generations.
In terms of rapid power advance, remember that Rukia, Renji and Hinamori entered the Shinigami academy before Hitsugaya, but Hitsugaya became a captain before Renji made Lieutenant (Whitey-chan was referred to as a prodigy, though). Ichigo made Bankai three months after discovering his powers. Having Ranma at least achieve a high-end Shikai is plausible.
If Ranma ever became captain, he'd do it the same way that Kenpachi did - a one-on-one duel with a standing captain in front of a quorum of the unit.
Rukia's prolonged absense without reporting in was the more minor of the charges brought against her (That caused the investigation. When they found out that she gave her powers to Ichigo, THAT'S what really got her in trouble - not that Aizen wouldn't have found some way to get her sentenced to death no matter what she did), but Ranma not checking in for seventeen years would be more serious than Rukia not checking in for two months.
Water would still affect Ranma in Shinigami form - Ichigo can still interact with solid matter as a Shinigami, so Shinigami are still substantial, therefore they can get wet. The fact that there is water in SS (As shown in a flashback when Renji and Rukia stole water as kids) means that you can get soaked in SS.
How many people in Nerima would be able to sense Hollows? Only ones that seem likely to me would be Ranma, Happosai, Cologne, and possibly Tofu.
Ranma would probably be even less impressed by Don Kanonji that Ichigo was.

[Sailor Sedai (Ellf)]

Thanks for the questions and the things for me to think about. As for the answers, well I'll be getting to them. This indeed is a fic that I am going to write, and have started the prologue. Most of the questions will be answered within the fic itself, which will at least encompass Ranma's own return to Soul Society and the progression as his memories return. Eventually Vice Captain Ranma will reappear, but unfortunately he has been stripped of that rank.
I don't want anyone thinking that Ranma isn't Ranma in this fic, because regardless of his last name, Ranma will remain Saotome Ranma in character. I want people to recognize him in such a way that if I gave him another name you would still see him as Ranma.

[Knight of L-sama]

Another issue I can think might crop up are the are the differences between reiatsu and ki.
Ki is generated by living objects while reiatsu is used by spirits, whether they inhabit a living body (Quincy, Chad, Orihime, Don Kanonji) or not (Shinigmai, Hollows and both sets of hybrids). Unless Kon is in his body, when Ichigo leaves it it's technically a corpse.
Also in spirit form how recognisable would be be to those from Soul Society? Cuase if he runs into Isshin or Urarhara...

[Adyen]

There is another spoiler that unless you got the most recent volume of Bleach or read ahead in books like EXAM you would not know. And from what I'm reading, it affects your storyline quite sharply as well.
I'd suggest either waiting a month or so to write this (after you read about the beings Ichigo fight after returning to the mortal plane) or you can PM me and I'll spoil it for you.
I am not going to post it here cause it's a REALLY big surprise.

[Cheb]

Ki is generated by living objects while reiatsu is used by spirits,

They are generally the same thing. A spiritual energy. Ki=spirit/air, Rei=soul/spirit. I, personally, think that "Reiatsu" is just a new fancy name for it. There is no indication that it differs from "ki" in any way.
Maybe it is just much easier to use it for a spirit? How do you think?

[Knight of L-sama]

Even if you consider ki and reiatsu the same thing then there's a big difference in how it's used in Bleach than Ranma, namely kido/Demon Arts. It's essentially spell casting and uses the same energy that shinigami use to pull off the various physics defying stunts that are attributed to ki use in Ranma.
Plus there's the fact that Quincy would essentially be performing the equivalent of the Hiryu Korin Dan every time they fire off an arrow since the majority of their power is drawn from external sources. That means that is Ranma does adapt the Hiryu Shoten Ha to use as a shinigami people are going to sit up and take notice becuase its Quincy type technique.

[Cheb]

In short, it's not a matter which energy is which, but a matter of merging two anime universes.
Which, in turn, raises the question of the level of this merging. In my opinion, better idea would be to *completely* replace Ichigo/Karakura with Ranma/Nerima and watch how will it deviate the flow of events. Let's just assume that Tendou mother was killed by a Hollow, and make *Akane* a Shinigami (she has a lot of untapped potential, as the battle suit story tells us).
*That* would be interesting - how Ranma would react ...? Would he be able to keep up, to fight Hollows with his bare hands? Or would he die of jealosity fit ?
"Step back, stupid tomboy! You could get hurt!"
"Hey! It's my duty as a Shinigami! You can't stop me!"
"Fine! See if I care!"
...and so on.

Then, let say, Quincy's main weapon in this universe is not an energy bow, but a Ki-charged giant spatula. A whole new levels of rivalry between Ukyou and Akane... And so on.
What am I trying to say is that if the two Canons contradict each other, you need to change them anyway to make a good merger. And when making these changes nothing can stop you from making them deeper.
Creating your own story is both harder and easier than trying to follow the anime storyline. Harder because you are in a free sail and have nothing to rely on. Easier because you are in a free sail and don't need to fit the actions of the heroes and their outcomes into a pre-built course set in concrete.

[Cheb]

P.S. The idea was so interesting that I have already performed a test of it...

[Sailor Sedai (Ellf)]

*Notes that he has started the fic, and is currently working on it.*
By the way, I made Nodoka into a Quincy, Ishida Uryuu's Aunt. That's how I'm dealing with the Ishida problem.

[bissek]

Akane would be a terrible Shinigami. She considers the offer of help from a third party to be an insult to her skills (despite the fact that she considers Ranma helping her when she's in trouble to be her just due). She also tries to go for easy powerups rather than work for them. She'd look at the sword and think "you're a magic sword, give me power NOW", even though asking, not demanding, is how you learn to use the abilities of a zanpakuto. As such, she'd NEVER be able make a proper partnership with a zanpakuto (if she had one though, the shikai form would almost certainly be a mallet). Even in 11th squad, where brute force can earn you respect as much as skill can, Akane would never be more than a low-end piece of cannon fodder. Kasumi as a Shinigami in 4th squad (medical/support) is plausible. Nabiki in 5th squad under Sosuke Aizen would also be interesting - an invisible duel over who can manipulate who (Advantage: Aizen).
I think a major part of the reason that every Quincy uses a spirit bow is because the original Quincies used spirit bows, and when they taught their descendents, they taught the tricks they knew. The later generations never considered the possibility that they could make weapons in other forms (Its possible that the only ones who knew they could were killed by the Shinigamis before they could pass on the knowledge). As such, there's no reason why some person who has Quincy powers but isn't Quincy trained couldn't create a spirit sword/bonbori/umbrella/spatula/whatever instead of a bow.

[Knight of L-sama]

(Its possible that the only ones who knew they could were killed by the Shinigamis before they could pass on the knowledge). As such, there's no reason why some person who has Quincy powers but isn't Quincy trained couldn't create a spirit sword/bonbori/umbrella/spatula/whatever instead of a bow.

Chad's Right Arm of the Giant is pretty much Kubo-sensei's agreement with that. (The Shun Shun Rika have been confirmed as being closer to a zanpaktou in nature than anything else).
I've played around with the idea of a bunch of Quincy's called Quincy Marauders who were close combat specialists using pole arms. The reason they're not around is becuase they were fewer in number than the Archers (getting close to a Hollow to fight is not without it's dangers) and they were wiped out in the Quincy/Shinigami war 200 years ago and it's only through Urahara's intervention that the new one comes about.

[Frog]

By the way, I made Nodoka into a Quincy, Ishida Uryuu's Aunt. That's how I'm dealing with the Ishida problem.

Making them cousins does solve the Ishida problem still... relatives, especially cousins, is such a cliche'd way to deal with the problem. To keep the relationship without the bond of kinship why not have Nodoka be a former student of Ishida's grandfather, albeit one who never completed her Quincy training? Just a random idea that doesn't turn Ranma into characters-X cousin, which is quickly becoming a small pet peeve of mine.
At any rate, best of luck writing this and, most importantly of all, have fun. It's no good if the author isn't enjoying his own work.

She also tries to go for easy powerups rather than work for them. She'd look at the sword and think "you're a magic sword, give me power NOW", even though asking, not demanding, is how you learn to use the abilities of a zanpakuto.

More like when easy power-ups find her she does not complain and uses them to her advantage. I don't recall her actually looking for easy powerups. Also, like the latest chapter revealed, not even seasoned Shinigami's have an easy time talking to their Zanpakutou's. Seems like they're not exactly easy to get along with.

Chad's Right Arm of the Giant is pretty much Kubo-sensei's agreement with that.

I was under the impression that the Right Arm of the Giant was closer to being a Hollow sort of power, rather than simply being Quincy powers adapted to another weapon medium? Ch 224 page 17 has Urahara saying: "Sado-san there is room for your ability to grow, that much is certain... Such growth will be the key in allowing you to use the power of bankai in battle. There is just one thing you need to be careful of... The power you possess is different that that of Shinigami or Quincy... It is, in fact, no other than..." Cuts to a shot of Ichigo's hollow mask.

[Sailor Sedai (Ellf)]

It may be cliche the way that I'm dealing with the Ishida problem, but there was one other way that I thought of dealing with it.
Nodoka and Ryuken were the last two Quincy initiates and were fiancees, but the two of them had a falling out and both ended up with their respective spouses. This would make the Ishida situation worse if I did it that way.