At 03:23 PM 8/20/97 GMT, Gary Kleppe wrote:

[...]

OK, but the above assumes that Ranma really *IS* out of character in
this series. Speaking as someone who HAS read Slayers 1/2, I didn't find
this to be the case.

I sort of disagree.  And to put this in perspective, read the following
lines from Slayers 1/2 Part 3 that I have modified every so slightly
(use some imagination, since now another character is somewhat OOC):

Ranma: Okay then! (Their argument is cut short by the umbrella that is
suddenly implanted in Ranma's face.)

Ryouga: How dare you treat Akane-san so poorly, your own fiancee!

Akane: Ryouga-kun...

Ranma: Mmmph mph fnmdnph (It is relatively difficult to speak when the end
of an umbrella is still rammed inside one's mouth. Ranma yanks it out
angrily.) Butt out Ryouga, this isn't your business!

Akari: Hi! Excuse me, are you Ranma Saotome?

Ranma: Um, yes... why?

Akane: Don't tell me you're another one!

Akari: Another... what?

Akane: Another fiancee, stupid, what did you think?! Geez, we're gonna have
dozens of 'em by the time all of this is sorted out! What kind of getup is
that, anyway?

Akari: That's so rude, talking like that to the great sumo pig breeder,
Unryuu Akari! How dare you make fun of my taste in clothing!

Akane: Great, this one has delusions of grandeur...


Well, at this point, my trick stops working, since Akari would say
the above quite differently; but wouldn't you say Akane is OOC?  Would
she say that to any woman who approaches with Ryouga? (In fact, I initially
remembered this line as coming from Ranma.)  And look at this from #4:

(As the smoke clears, we see Ranma lying on the ground, his shirt has been
burnt away, and the rest of him is blackened and dirty. But you can still
see the whites of his eyes, which are like dinner plates, and his hands,
which are held out in the traditional Takahashi position. Ukyou and Shampoo
lean over him concernedly, while Lina just brushes her hands off.)

Lina: Yup, the 'ol magic's back!

Akane: That was amazing! 

Lina: (Walks over to Ranma and examines his unconcious charred form.) Still
alive! How about that! 

Ryouga: He heals fast... 

Akane: So was it you who made that explosion, Lina?

Lina: Nope, that was my new student, Ryouga!

Akane: Ryouga... you mean, you're learning black magic?

<end>

And she doesn't get bent out of shape, etc. by any of the above.

To finish with the quotes:

Lina: Maybe later. Right now, it's lunch time, and I'm starved! Hey, are
there any of those pizza thingies left?

Akane: Here you go! (She hands Lina two okonomiyakis, which she gulps
without thinking about them. She then spots the box of Chinese food Shampoo
left behind for the Tendos to eat.)

Lina: Ooh! More Chinese! (She digs in, and finishes the rest of it off as
the others watch, dumbfounded.)

Ranma: Geez, with an appetite like that, how come you're so bony and
flatchested?

[ That was basicly unprovoked, although not unusual by fanfic standards. ]

*SLAM*

(Lina and Akane have each embedded an elbow in Ranma's face.)

Akane: Ranma no baka! That's so like you, to make fun of a girl's weight!

Lina: You pig! (to herself) At least Gourry had an excuse, him being dumb
as a brick about girls and all... This guy's a pigheaded fool to insult a
powerful sorceress like that! (to Ryouga) I've had enough. Come on,
Ryo-chan, let's find somewhere more private where I can train you without
interference or eavesdropping.

Ryouga: (As Lina's dragging him away) Ite, I'm coming!

Akane: Wait up! (She hurries after the sorceress and lost boy.)

Ranma: Akane?

Akane: Well, we're out of school and I don't have anything better to do,
and I'd rather be with Lina and Ryouga than you anyway! Lina! Could I
watch? Please?

Lina: Well... (She glances at Ryouga, who shrugs.) Sure, just don't get in
the way okay?

Akane: Great! ("I always wondered if magic existed! Now I'm watching Lina
teach Ryouga how to blow stuff up with it! Amazing..." The three leave
together, so only Ranma, Ukyou, and the other Tendos are left now.

<end>

"'Now I'm watching Lina teach Ryouga how to blow up [ Ranma ] with it!
Amazing...'"

Well, I agree with the word amazing.

Anyway, this close analysis shows that Ranma is being provoked, largely
by a terribly OOC Akane, to the extreme edge of his IC envelope, or beyond
if you don't believe he'd do this to any woman other than Akane.  And
outside of that special case, I can't think of any woman who he's that
impolite to.  He may be a jerk, but not this much of a jerk.

					- Harold