On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Thomas R Jefferys wrote:

Yes, most violent.  If you will remember, she is the _only_ one who has
tried to _KILL_ Ranma (or anyone else for that matter)  Ukyo tried to
punish him, not kill.  Akane's not trying to kill Ranma just hurt him.  So
yes  she is the most violent.

If she was trying to kill Ranma, wouldn't Shamps have done a better job? :)

Yes, she was trying to _KILL_ Ranma.
 

First, the killing Ranma thing was a misunderstanding and a custom/law of
her village which she was _expected_ to follow. She rarely raised her had
against the male Ranma, if ever.

That is true but she spent the first _YEAR_ of their aquaintance (when she
thought that Ranma was a male trying to _KILL_ him.  I do realize that
she's not tryin to kill him now, nor was she ever trying to kill his male
form but that "misunderstanding" as you call it did lead her to try to
_kill_ the female Ranma.  Or would you call chasing her all the way to
Japan with a _very_ sharp sword a "misunderstanding."  If she had caught
him, the outcome of the "misunderstanding" would be the same:  dead ranma.

Second, Shampoo IS an Amazon. I know this doesn't excuse her from her
violence, but at least it should give her some credit. For an Amazon,
raised in a villiage where violence is a way of life, killing by your own
hand is an acceptable practice, and where women are the aggressors, Shampoo
has practiced condiderable restraint. After she found out the truth about
Ranma, her actual organic damage to her "Husband" had dropped to almost
nonexistant. (glompings resulting in Akane's thumping Ranma are not held
against her. :) Even during her first visit, Shampoo has been restrained.
She gave the Kiss of Death to Akane, but didn't follow through immediately.
She was in a perfect position to just snap Akane's neck and be done with
it, but she washes Ranma out of Akane's hair. ,:|

I said that Shampoo was the most violent of Ranma's fiancees, nothing
you've said convinces me otherwise.

For an Amazon, Shampoo is downright TAME!

Maybe.

      Shampoo is admittedly pushy, manipulative, and ruthless

That's supposed to be a _good_ thing!!!

"admittedly" suggests that it _IS_ a point against her, baka, but it
doesn't put her out of the running.

The rest of the message said that Shampoo's being pushy, manipulative, and
ruthless was better than Akane's bashing Ranma over the head.

I think Ranma would go for
Kodachi before he goes for the one who's been trying to kill him for the
last year or so (yes, I know she's not trying to anymore but her
association with dying is pretty strong in Ranma from his reactions to her
in  Manga 3 wouldn't you say?)

Shampoo is the most unsubtle in her ruthlessness, manipulation and
pushiness, but she isn't the only one who is. In their own way, the rest
are just as conniving. Ukyou is more civilized about it, maneuvering Akane
away from Ranma and vice versa, trying to make everyone come out with
something (and her with Ranma), but she's pretty damn meddlesome.

Shampoo's major problem with Ranma _isn't_ her ruthlessness, manipulation,
or pushiness, it's the fact that Ranma's been associating her with _death_
for most of the time that they've known eachother.

Kodachi...Kodachi is _very_ PM&R. Should I mention a certain cookie
episode? Pretty damn PM&R. Not to mention more likely to kill than Shampoo.
Paralytic and hypnotic (sleep-inducing) poisons of all types can easily
kill if overdosed, and Kodachi sprinkles her poisons LIBERALLY. Well, she's
nuttier than a fruitcake, so she has an excuse... :) But I would still
marry Shamps over Kodachi. At least with Shamps, you have a fighting chance
to fend her off, and you ARE her husband. With 'dachi, you'd go mad with
paranoia, as your next meal might be your last, and nothing short of a
chemical test will tell you if a meal IS safe.

Kodachi's association with death isn't as strong as with Shampoo.
Otherwise you're right.

      And this is assuming that Ranma couldn't talk her into remaining
in Japan as an embassary of some sort.

An embassary, from the _AMAZONS_ the people who are the size of a
village...are you serious?

They resisted going over to the Communists since the Cultural Revolution.
That indicates they weild some serious diplomatic pull. Besides, size is
not as important a factor as you think. There are countries called
microstates which are only big enough to have one important city. The
Vadican is a small country onto itself. All it takes is to be officially
recognized by another country, like the US.

Um, the village of the Amazons isn't exactly a powerful city.  My view of
why they weren't pacified forcefully:  1) They live next to Jusenkyo and
you've got to be willing to lose a large portion of you're army to go
through there.  2) the Chinese may not know about them (they're a small
village in the middle of nowhere.  And if they're found by anything less
than ten people, who's going to be left to report back.
 

You think they'd let one of their best
warriors get away and become a politician when they settle disputes via
combat?

And what makes you think they _can't_ be diplomatic? You don't get
political power in this world without being diplomatic. The Village of the
Amazons couldn't possibly stand up to the might of the People's Army, yet
they still survive as a traditional Chinese villiage. How did they get it?
Diplomacy.

I don't see very much diplomatic skill in either of the two amazons we've
seen to date.  Shampoo is far to blatent, and Cologne, while she does have
considerable skill in manipulation, continues to use combat as a deciding
factor (Phoenex Pill Episode, Breaking Point Episode, Fast Food Episode,
etc.)

Thanx for listening to me rant and rave

AJ