List of Ranma ½ minor characters
The following characters all play minor supporting roles in the Ranma ½ manga and anime and are listed alphabetically. For manga-only minor characters, please see Minor characters of the Ranma ½ manga; for anime-only minor characters, please see Minor characters of the Ranma ½ anime. For characters who only appear in the video games, please see the relevant section of this article.
Note: Japanese names are in the Western order (given name, then family name).
Manga and anime characters
Azusa Shiratori
Dojo Destroyer
The Dōjō Yaburi, or Dojo Destroyer, is a huge man who specializes in challenging various martial arts dojos. When victorious, he takes their signs. His fighting style actually uses the signs he has taken as weapons in the duels. A combined effort of Ranma and Akane manages to defeat him.
In the manga, the Dojo Destroyer wore a white gi, had yellow skin and almost never spoke, fighting silently and restlessly. In the anime, however, he was a dark-skined man wearing a green gi, and was much more talkative, boasting about his past fights and taunting his opponents. He has a cameo appearance in the first movie as one of the larger characters seen pursuing Happosai, Ranma, and Akane.
Gambling King
The Gambling (Bakuchioh) King, who bears a striking resemblance to the 'King' Poker card, is a gambler who specializes in conning children, the only opponents he can actually defeat, out of their savings or other valuables they might have. Ten years ago, he met Ukyo Kuonji and Ranma Saotome and managed, by cheating, to win both Ukyo’s okonomiyaki cart and the Tendo Dojo, which Ranma had wagered. Enraged by their losses, the young duo turned on the gambler, wrapped him up like sushi, and threw him into a nearby river.
Years later, the Gambling King tracked Ukyo and Ranma down and took possession of the Tendo Dojo and the Tendo home, which he turned into a casino. The King lived in the Tendo home until Nabiki won back the house and Ranma managed to reclaim the dojo by cheating, since he has a bad poker face. The Gambling King makes later cameo appearances in the beginning of the first movie, and in the OVA "Tendo Family Christmas Scramble." In the latter, he is wrapped up in a tatami and kicked out the party after winning a hand with a royal straight flush. He was a playable character in Ranma ½: Hard Battle for the SNES.
Harumaki
Harumaki is an old man who sends an astral projection of himself inside Ranma's dreams; apparently, this was only because of his strong desire of dating female Ranma, who looks very much like his wife when she was young, and not an intentional thing. He gets his wish and is able to date Ranma just once. Since it appeared that Harumaki would die soon and a date would be the only way to help him rest in peace, the young Saotome unwillingly agreed to fulfill the old man's fantasy. In the end, Harumaki fully recovered from his illness.
Harumaki first appears in the anime in episode 144 Run Away With Me, Ranma!, and was seen along with every other anime character in the Ranma ½ OAV The Tendo Family Christmas Scramble.
Hiroshi and Daisuke
Legendary Phoenix
Madame Saint Paul
The Chardin Family's head maid and bridal instructor, she oversees Ranma's training as Picolet's future bride, in particular in the art of battle dining. Part of her training involves putting a steel corset on Ranma, which is too small for his male form. Her name in the sub is Madame Sanporu, the romaji for "Saint Paul".
Maomolin the Bakeneko
Mikado Sanzenin
Niku Men
The Niku men are four bald midgets with heads shaped like niku (Japanese stuffed buns). The group consists of Niku-Man, Pizza-Man, An-Man and Curry-Man, and their heads are shaped like bean, pork, pizza and curry buns. They came from China seeking the Dragon's Whisker that Ranma wore to secure his pigtail. If the Dragon Whisker was mixed in a soup before 1,000 years passed, any bald man who drank it would regain their hair and those who already possessed hair would have it continuously grow until they became bald. This led the Niku Men to attack Ranma, who used the whisker to keep his hair from continuously growing, as he had previously consumed the soup. Also involved were Ranma's father and Happosai, both of whom are also bald. The Niku Men eventually succeeded in obtaining the sacred hair growth tool, but by the time they did, 1,000 years had already passed, rendering its power useless. They later have a cameo appearance in the beginning of the first movie.
Old Washer Woman
An old woman who is frequently splashing water at the front of her house. Ranma, Ryoga, and the other cursed characters are her accidental victims. She did not appear in the OAVs, but she was in the second OAV opening theme.
Trivia
- Her seiyu was Reiko Suzuki.
Oni
The Oni was a cartoonish, goofy looking pipsqueak that wasn't very bright. It was imprisoned in a box 5,000 years ago by a monkey priest, but the box rotted, allowing it to escape. It went around possessing Kuno, Ryoga and others to do supposedly "evil" deeds. The only way to exorcise it was to hit the possessed. Once it possessed Kasumi, nobody wanted to hit her. It was released by a sutra the Oni Temple priest had.
In the anime, during the time it spent inside Kasumi, it absorbed the grief and anger of those around her and revealed its true form which was that of a hideous, powerful, demon whose desire was to kill everyone and destroy all of Japan. He set his eyes on Ranma as his first victim, but at that moment Happosai returned from his recent panty raid. The oni sensed his immense amount of evil energy, and possessed him hoping to absorb his power. But Happosai's will was strong enough to resist, Ranma took this opportunity to seal them both in a new box, with some help from Ryoga, and they threw it in the ocean, hoping never to see it again. But the next day, a news broadcast from America reported two demons terrorizing the shores of California, which were in fact Happosai and the Oni. In the manga it is very weak and stupid, more of a nuissance than an actual threat.
Trivia
- The Oni looks very similar to Shippo's balloon transformation from "InuYasha" and dresses in the manner of the invaders from "Urusei Yatsura", both also written by Rumiko Takahashi.
- Oni are beasts from traditional Japanese folklore; powerful, magically-talented ogres with one to three horns on their head clothed in tiger skins.
- Oni looks similar to 'Gema' from the anime Di Gi Charat
Orochi
Panda Scribble
It is a badly drawn painting of a female panda that was released by Ranma and Genma during one of their arguments. She refused to go back in to the painting unless Ranma went on a date with her for one night. Though she had fun, Ranma suffered humiliation after humiliation. When the date was almost over she asked Ranma to give her a goodbye kiss (Of course he did not realize that she only wanted a kiss on the forehead). After saying goodbye, she went back into the painting, and the artist who drew her added a Ranma scribble to keep her company. In the anime, she is able to briefly assume a human form that in contrast to her panda form is quite beautiful.
Pantyhose Taro's mother
Picolet Chardin III
Picolet is the current owner and master of the Chardin Family restaurant and martial arts dojo. He is an expert in what is called La Belle France School of Martial Arts. In this unique form of combat, the participants compete to see who can finish his meal first and in the most elegant manner, with the loser having to pay for all the expensive food served during the duel.
Picolet entered the scene during a visit to Furinkan High School were he declared that one of the three Tendo daughters would be his future wife and subsequently defeating Ranma — who interrupted his toast — in Martial Arts Dining. It was later explained that Soun Tendo was in debt to the Chardin Family and that he promised to give them one of his daughters in marriage as payment.
Ranma, still angry at being defeated earlier, volunteered to pose as Picolet’s future bride in order to learn Martial Arts Dining and beat him in a rematch. Eventually, after enduring gruesome training under Madame St. Paul, Ranma managed to defeat Picolet and free the Tendo sisters from the engagement agreement. Unfortunately, Picolet returned to the dojo shortly thereafter to claim the money Ranma owed him for the food they ate during their first duel. It was never shown in either the anime or manga whether he actually managed to pay at that time, or promised to do so at some point in the future.
Picolet appeared a second time in the anime, where he was suspected of suffering of vampirism. During this incident, Ranma finally revealed his curse to the other boy, shocking him back into his proper state of mind.
Trivia
- The members of the aristocratic Chardin Family have the ability to stretch their mouths and tongue in a superhuman way, being able to even swallow a whole watermelon with ease.
- The rules of La Belle France School of Martial Arts dictate that the mouth of the participants must not visibly move during a duel, otherwise, the Contestant will be penalized for lack of elegance.
Satsuki Miyako-ōji
In the manga, she is the heir to the House of Miyako-ōji and fiancée of Sentarō Daimonji. Satsuki is a user of the martial arts style of tea ceremony and was declared Miss Tea Ceremony in 1993. She was engaged to Sentarō by her grandmother, but due to her extreme shyness was unable to meet him in person, so instead she sent her pet monkey Sanae to pretend to be her. After much conflict between Ranma, Sentarō and Sanae, she revealed herself and Sentarō became smitten with her, so they agreed to marry.
In the anime, she is still the heir to the House of Miyako-ōji which is a rival school to Sentarō Daimonji's school. When the two groups start feuding again, it is decided that Sentarō should challenge Satsuki to a martial arts tea match, but instead they fall in love at seeing each other and agree to marry.
Satsuki, in the anime, is shown to normally speak so softly that most can't hear her, Kasumi being one of the few that can. However, she can speak more audibly if necessary.
Miyako-ōji (都大路) means "main thoroughfare of the metropolis", and Satsuki (茶月) means "tea moon".
Sentaro Daimonji
The heir to the House of Daimonji and fiancé of Satsuki Mikaoji, Sentaro is a user of the martial arts style of tea ceremony. As sole heir to the school, he is expected to marry, but wishes to choose his bride rather than have one selected for him. Ranma gets wrapped up in the situation when Sentaro kidnaps her, thinking to make her his bride since she appears strong. In the manga he hopes Ranma can defeat the monkey he thinks is his fiancee, while in the anime it is his grandmother he wish Ranma to defeat. After he learns Ranma is in fact a man, his interest switches to Akane. In the course of battle, Sentaro tries to kill both Ranma and Sanae until he finds that his real fiancee is Satsuki. Sentaro often rides a horse named Tsukikage when he is out in the town.
Trivia
- While in the manga the entire story was done at once, in the anime Sentaro has four main episodes, two in season five, one in season six and one in season seven. The first episode covers much of the original manga story, while Satsuki is introduced in the third episode. The monkey Sanae never appears in the anime.
Sentaro's grandmother
The matriarch of the House of Daimonji, she is a very stern woman when it comes to manner and proper etiquette. She is mocking of Ranma, but in the end says that she likes her due to her spirit in the duel. She almost never leaves her formal sitting position, but despite this can move very quickly, even jumping and clinging to ceilings.
In the anime she makes another appearance when it appeared Ranma was to be a sacrifice for some sort of ritual, but it turned out she was just leaving the tea-serving position for the first time in years and needs someone to massage her legs after doing it.
Shinnosuke's grandfather
Shirokuro
Mrs. Tendo
Mr. Turtle
Ukyo's father
Yotaro
A supposedly sickly boy who refuses to play outside unless he plays with a panda from his dreams. Naturally, Genma's panda form acts as a good substitute, who Yotaro calls Kumahachi. However, in the end it turns out he's not so sickly as he's able to chase Ranma and Genma all the way home to the Tendo dojo, which was around 20 kilometres away.
Yuka and Sayuri
Video game characters
Arisa Nanjo
Aris Nanjo was the central character in the Ranma ½ digital comic game White Orchid Serenade. She was voiced by Chisa Yokoyama.
On a trip to China to specifically visit the Training Ground of Accursed Springs, she fell into the very same pool as Shampoo, which turns her into a cat.
After investigating numerous other victims of the curses, she decided on Ranma, and orchestrated a plot, which included the rumor of a way to reverse the curse. The rumor was true — but the process would turn the victim into a monster.
She wanted to gain Ranma as a boyfriend/husband, as she felt that no one would accept her cursed form. However, in the end, she found that a scientist that was always with her had already been in love with her, and, presumably, they lived happily every after.
Crimson Cat Gang
A group of demon cats who kidnapped Genma in the Ranma ½ RPG game Hidden Treasure of the Crimson Cats. The Japanese name for the Crimson Cat Gang is the "Akaneko-dan" which is a combination of one of Ranma's favorite and least favorite words.
Important members
Kamusaru
Leader of the Crimson Cat Gang, he resembles Mao-mo-Lin, the ghost cat, except he is light purple instead of white and his bell is attached to a red collar. He was once the incredibly powerful Ghost Cat King, until centuries ago he was beaten by as warrior and had his powers sealed in a magic gem called the Star Crystal. He was then sealed in a gravestone in the God and demon graveyard. Centuries later, he was freed by a drunk Jusenkyo guide who tripped over it. He forms the Akaneko-dan and seeks the three treasures that will allow him to reclaim the Star Crystal and his powers (becoming darker purple, gaining a crown, gloves and the crystal replacing his bell). By the end of the game he accomplishes this, and is almost able to beat Ranma and Co, until, using a gift from the ancient warrior, they weaken him enough to beat him for good.
Bujin
Kamusaru's right-hand man, a mysterious figure who helps the Akaneko-dan members and slows Ranma and Co down at times. Just before fighting him at the end, he was revealed to be Happosai, though his personality should have made it obvious earlier.
Seiryu
Leader and member of the "Four Gods of the Akaneko-dan," the strongest fighters within the group (it should be noted he was actually stronger than Kasumaru before he regained his full power). His appearance is a suave-looking man in blue Japanese armor. Unlike the other three, he is fought only once in the game, and actually has a sense of honor, protecting Akane from Bujin, though he has his own reasons for being with the Akaneko-dan.
Byakko
The only female in the four gods, she dresses in a skin-tight white tiger outfit and fights with her claws and female charms. Chronologically the last of the four to appear.
Suzaku
One of the Four Gods, his appearance is a scrawny-looking young man, riding a large red mechanical phoenix named, Suzaku II (although it looks more like an emu or a giant chicken). He brainwashes the Kuno family into serving him and occasionally flies by to bomb Ranma and Co.
Genbu
The first, weakest, and most encountered member of the Four Gods. His appearance is that of a rather fat, middle-aged man wearing a full body turtle suit. He uses the shell to hide various fire-arms and body slam his opponents.
Yasha
A sumo wrestler and first member of the Akaneko-dan to appear. He kidnaps Genma for unknown reasons at first (thus starting the plot of the game), before being encountered later, trying to convince Akane to join too. After Ranma beats him, he apparently gets very depressed and stops working. A running gag is he ALWAYS mispronounces the gangs name.
Rasetsume
Yasha's wife, who is stronger than him. She is seeking revenge for her husband (really, she is just tired of him doing nothing but moping and playing a Super Nintendo all day). She does this by kidnapping a village elder's daughter to ransom for a seal needed to get the first of the three treasures, them attacking Ranma and Co after giving it to Genbu. Her fighting style seems to be similar to Kagura from Inuyasha, but using cold wind.
Minor members
Akira and his brother
Akira and his unnamed brother are brothers to Yasha and thus brothers-in-law to Rasetsume (much to her chagrin). They attempt to drive people out of a small village so they can turn it into a giant cabaret. Not really fighters at all, they run to Rasetsume after Ranma threatens them.
Fujin and Raijin
A pair of brothers who guard the entrance to the area where the Akaneko-dan's HQ is located. Like the spirits they are named after, Fujin can manipulate wind and Raijin can manipulate lightning. They are beaten by Ranma and Akane fairly easily.