Ranma Saotome (らんま)

~-INFO-~
Character Name: Ranma Saotome
Character Canon: Ranma 1/2 (Note: The anime and manga have some differences in characters, depictions and events, with the anime never reaching certain arcs in the manga. I'm going to be mixing the two for my Ranma.)
Gender: Male* (*Ranma has a curse that forces him to swap gender when doused in cold water, with hot water returning him back to male. He still refers to himself with masculine pronouns and identifies as male regardless of his current gender, however by this point in canon, he's okay with being referred with feminine pronouns by others in his girl form. Narration may swap between the two interchangeably for one reason or another, but will otherwise reflect Ranma's current state. Said account for Girl Ranma is treebornekettlegirl)
Age: 16-17

~-HISTORY-~
Born as the only son to Genma and Nodoka Saotome, Ranma was always meant to carry on Genma's legacy by making him the heir of the Anything Goes Martial Arts branch of fighting. His father planned on taking him away from the simple homelife to embark on a journey to hone and perfect him into a worthy successor. Nodoka initially forbid the idea, only relenting when Genma made a pledge: Should he fail to turn Ranma into a "man among men" by the time Nodoka sees him again, all three of them would undergo seppuku as punishment for his and Ranma's failure. As a woman who holds honor dearly, Nodoka obliged to the pledge, making both her husband and her son sign a contract. The latter of the two was done in handprints, as Ranma could barely walk, much less write his own name.

From then on, Ranma's decade long training begun. The two Saotome men would spend the next fifteen or so years training, with Genma doing any and everything to make Ranma into a masterful martial artist. The training and regimen needed to be done could be considered excessive by most standards, borderline draconic at times. Genma made every second of Ranma's life part of training. Sleeping, eating, bathing, Ranma wouldn't be able to breathe without his father leaping out yelling that his breathing was too loud. No matter what Ranma was put through, he overcame everything, growing stronger, faster, prolific in the arts as the years gone by with his father as his teacher.

... Unfortunately, having Genma Saotome, for as skilled at the arts he can be, as a teacher comes with a few drawbacks. A lot of his actions and ideas go against basic human rights and logic, and a most of the time he's a greedy old fool who is lazy and unwilling to put in the simplest of efforts. Such as the accursed "Neko-ken" technique he discovered in an old training manual. It required the practitioner to be covered in a bunch of salty, meaty foods and thrown into a pit or cellar full of feral, starved cats. Genma did this to Ranma when he was around young. The Neko-ken was supposed to make martial artists come out with the agility and fighting prowess as a cat by inducing a fear so potent, the mind shuts down and retreats into becoming the very thing they fear... Which was why the technique was outlawed and forbidden in the first place, which Genma would've known had he not stopped at the first page. Needless to say, being thrown into a pit of cats that clawed and bite multiple times left the young martial artist traumatized of cats, all thanks to his father. This was just one of many horrible deeds and blunders that messed with and ruined Ranma's life that Genma was responsible for.

Years later, the journey would finally near its end. Ranma had grown into a fine, strong young man just like Genma had promised his mother all those years ago. There was only one more spot they had to go to complete his training. After swimming through harsh oceans to reach China, the two men arrived at the fabled training ground of Jusenkyo. Hundreds of thousands of hot springs as far as the eye could see, all with their own history to their name. The two were to duel on top of bamboo stalks, despite the guide's warning and protests, only ending with a swift kick from the raven-haired martial artist to knock his father into one of the springs. Ranma stood on his stalk, expecting his father to come out and get heading home.

That wasn't what happened. Genma, on top of being a greedy, lazy idiot never bothers to think ahead. It's how Ranma got his ailurophobia in the first place. If the old man had bothered to look into Jusenkyo more, better yet learn to actually speak and read Chinese, he'd learn the truth: Jusenkyo is a cursed ground where victims have drowned in the various springs, cursing those waters. Whoever falls into any of the springs, they'll take the form of whatever drowned there centuries ago. So Ranma was in for a shock when it wasn't his father that came leaping out of the waters with a fierce roar, but a large 300-400 pound panda. The young man wouldn't be able to react in time to dodge, being struck down and sent falling into one of the cursed springs. The spring in question?

Nyannīchuan, a.k.a. Spring of Drowned Girl.

From the spring didn't emerge a muscular but lean black-haired man. What did was a petite and cute red-haired girl. Cursed to take that form every time she gets doused with cold water, returning back to male with hot water.

Thus marked the beginning of the insanity and chaos soon to make itself known in the life of Ranma Saotome. From there, he'd be wrapped into multple suitors and arranged marriages, powerful if strange powers and techniques, rivals and enemies that wish to grievously harm or kill him all for some petty grudges, and more. All while he deals with his own curse, potential as martial artist, and grow as a person.

~-PERSONALITY-~
On the surface, Ranma appears to be a crude, snarky, sly, blunt, secretive, aloof person. Not to say that he isn't. Living under Genma Saotome, you're not going to have the most pleasant of personalities at times. A lot of Ranma's words can be blunt and insensitive with a lack of any social cues or understandings about what he said was wrong. He's also incredibly vain, getting easily offended if you insult his manhood, his skills, or his looks as a whole. And on top of all this, he's prideful, competitive and arrogant at times, especially when it comes to martial arts. If there's any time to show-off or let his skills be known, Ranma's certainly going to take it, wanting to be the very best there ever was. And should he lose, Ranma'll be a sore loser about it, doing anything it can to come back on top.

Another thing to note about him is his manipulative nature. As a martial artist, part of Ranma's arsenal is deceiving and tricking people and foes alike into doing whatever he wants or falling into whatever pitfalls he set up prior. Lying, deceipt, disguises, even going as far as to use his cursed form's feminine charm to catch opponents off guard or swindle free stuff. On the topic of his female form, there's also Ranma's masculine pride. His manhood is his pride and joy, having been molded into a "man among men", and never stops to achieve it. A lot of what he knows about masculinity and being "manly" could be labeled as archaic and even toxic. He treats mostly everyone he meets like he's talking to another guy, doing things even as a girl without shame such as parading without a shirt on, and he's been filled with some stereotypes and teachings that are plain ridiculous, such as how eating sugary sweets like ice cream makes you less of a man.

But...

Underneath that is someone who is genuinely really kind and friendly to a lot of others. Ranma doesn't go out of his way to antagonize people unless they do something to upset or annoy him. While he is casual to a fault and easy to tease others, Ranma'll generally be friendly and kind to about anyone he meets. Because deep down, all Ranma wants is someone to care about him, to actually be his friend or something close to it. And for all his bravado in his confidence and pride, he harbors a lot of self-doubts about himself, both as a person, a martial artist and as a man. He always goes out of is way to help others due to his good heart and obligation as a martial artist, even being willing to save the lives of enemies who mere moments ago was trying to kill him. And when he does something wrong or genuinely makes someone upset, he'll apologize and try to make up for it. This had lead to a lot of people using this against him to manipulate him into doing what they want.

For at the end of the day, Ranma Saotome isn't perfect. He's a flawed human being that over the course of his life grows as not just a fighter, but a person as well. He's friendlier, more open to others. At the start of the series, he's loathed his curse and wouldn't stop thinking about getting rid of it. Now? While he still wants to find a cure for his Jusenkyo curse, Ranma's grown to tolerate and use his curse for the good of himself and others.