> > >Well, I would rank her ahead of Kodachi, who is insane :)

At least with Shampoo, you wouldn't get unpredictable behavior and random
poisoning.  So I can say ONE good thing for her.  You wouldn't have to
worry about waking up dead or tied to ceiling.  Probably.

Just how would one wake up dead, anyways? :)

I think that I would have to dissagree with you on those points.  You know
how potion happy Shampoo gets. 

I would like to point out that in the actual Anime/Manga Shampoo uses 
drugged/enchanted food very rarely, in fact, only once I am certain of (the 
compulsion mushrooms).  In her other plots SHampoo normally waves some 
Magic item/cure in front of Ranma and then stands back as Ranma charges into 
her trap.

Not exactly.  The 'formula 911' plot, the 'red thread' plot, the 
'magic mushroom' plot, and the 'magic egg' plot (Manga 38) don't 
follow this pattern.  They may not be magic _food_, per se, but the 
intent is the same - only the method of delivery is different.  
Although Shampoo is never seen drugging Ranma's food, it really isn't 
difficult to imagine it happening.
 

The notion that Shampoo regularly drugs food is an invention of certain 
FANFIC writers and is at variance with the source material.

Not totally - see above.

You might say that it is at variance with the letter, but not of the 
spirit of the original.
 

On the other hand every time Kodachi is shown cooking, the food turns out 
to drugged.

If she had a husband, she would see him as a
guniea pig more then anything else. 

This actually sounds more like Kodachi.
 

I disagree totally here.  I think it is quite plain that Shampoo does 
develop genuine feelings of affection for Ranma as the series 
progresses.  She may not, in fact, love Ranma as much as she thinks she 
does, but that she would use him as a guinea pig is utterly unbelievable 
(for one thing Shampoo doesn't invent items, she uses reliable artifacts and 
recipes handed down by her ancestors, she doesn't *NEED* a guinea pig ^_^ 
).  

As for being tied to the ceiling, well,
we all know how playful cats can be.  And that wouldn't be too bad.  All in
all, I'd rank her behind Kodachi.  

It's quite plain from the way the Manga/Anime was written that there was 
never any serious threat to the Ranma-Akane match, however it is equally 

As far as threats to the Ranma-Akane match go, I think they're their 
own biggest threat.

clear that Takahashi-san saw Shampoo as Akane's most dangerous rival with 
Ukyou a distant third and Kodachi a possibility only in her own mind.

As a minor comment on strategies... Ukyou has tried a number of clever 
ways to seperate Ranma & Akane, evidently acting on the assumption that 
with Akane out of the picture Ranma would become hers.  Shampoo has 
tried, in her own clumsy fashion, to make Ranma like her despite Akane 
still being in the picture.  I think Ukyou is far more likely to succeed 
in a plot to break up Ranma & Akane, but I have doubts about the 2nd 
stage of her plan.  Shampoo is extremely unlikely to get anywhere, but if 
she does, she has won.

Did you ever notice that _nobody's_ schemes and plots ever work 
properly? :)
 
Methinks that if one of the others _did_ end up with Ranma, it would 
be because Ranma and Akane blew their own relationship apart, not 
because of any scheme on the part of the others.

At least Kodachi's drugs and mental
imbalances are already known, 

You say that like you actually believe it...

unlike the full extent of Shampoo's depravity.
Better the devil you know...

This seems to get bandied around a lot, for some reason or other.

"At least Kodachi is obviously crazy, but (Shampoo|Ukyou|Akane)..."

 

- Sean Connor (connor@meena.cc.uregina.ca)

        "It jams." - Intel TV ad, referring to the Pentium chip.