One day, Soun Tendo calls his three daughters in and tells them
that one of the three sisters is going to be ‘iinazuke’ or
fiancee to Ranma Saotome, the son of his best friend, Genma. Soun faints when
Ranma arrives and turns out to be a ‘girl’. It soon turns out
that Ranma is really a boy, but has a curse where he turns to a
girl when cold water is splashed on him. Hot water, in the mean
time, returns him to normal.
Nabiki and Kasumi immediately elect
Akane as iinazuke because "she hates boys and Ranma is only half
a boy." Ranma, for his part does not like Akane because she's
violent and uncute. Akane is miffed at Ranma when he beat her in
martial-arts (Ranma was a girl then) and shows her feelings by
crushing Ranma with a table. A wonderful start to a beautiful
relationship...
(From Alan Takahashi's Pocketguide to Anime)
It all began when...
 Ranma Saotome |
 Ranma in cursed form |
 Genma Saotome |
 Genma in cursed form |
The Tendo Family
 Akane Tendo |
 Soun Tendo |
 Kasumi Tendo |
 Nabiki Tendo |
TATEWAKI KUNO guy obsessed with Akane and the "pig-tailed girl", quite unaware that she's the same Ranma Saotome he despises. Kendo master and poetry-spouting, he's such a numbskull that he believes they're both madly in love with him.
RYOGA HIBIKI has the world's worst sense of direction and the biggest grudge on Ranma. His Jusenkyo curse is turning into a little black pig, and in this form, he was adopted by Akane (whom he now loves) as "P-chan."
KODACHI KUNO Kuno's insane rhythmic gymnast of a little sister who's fallen for Ranma (no pun intended! ->Ranma knocked her off the roof and then caught her before she hit the ground) who thinks Akane and the impudent little wretch who dared to claim his name are interfering in true love.
SHAMPOO violent Chinese amazon who Ranma bested, therefore, according to their law he must marry her. Turns into a pink-and-white kitten, which is unfortunate for her since Ranma's scared to death of cats.
MOUSSE guy that loves her who followed her from China and plans to take her back. Turns into a duck, is blind without his glasses, and is a master of hidden weapons.
UKYO KUONJI Genma promised her father that she would marry Ranma in exchange for their okonomiyaki cart, but then left her by the side of the road. Trained in okonomiyaki-style martial arts to seek revenge on Ranma, but fell for him instead.
COLOGNE Shampoo's 300 yrs. old grandmother with extensive knowledge of martial arts techniques and ancient crafts, which she uses to lure Ranma into Shampoo's arms.
HAPPOSAI trained Soun and Genma. He steals women's undergarments and weakens without them.