Correction. Ranma would do whatever he could to best Nabiki, outside
the realm of martial arts. He would not attack her, nor would he have
someone else attack her. 

Including foiling her plots, and when the interested parties discover 
her machinations, things will get ugly.

If Bugs Bunny told Ryouga that walking off a plank would help him
defeat Ranma and/or win Akane, he'd do it. Ryouga is gullible.

He wouldn't and he isn't. He's at least as quick mentally as Ranma, he's 
just afflicted with an intense boyish attraction to love--or, I suppose 
you could call it, innocent lust. He goes wit-wanering when it comes to 
matters of the heart, as do many Takahashi characters. Each and every 
time that I can recall Ranma succeeding in tricking Ryouga, he had 
appealed to that weakness.

Ryouga typically sees through Ranma's conventional schemes.

Ryouga *has* been manipulated, BTW. Although Cologne's true motives
aren't certain (was she trying to get Ranma unhooked from Akane, or
trying to make Ranma a better martial artist, or both? We'll never
know for sure), she *did* manipulate Ryouga into learning the Bakusai
Tenketsu and fighting Ranma when she knew that the only thing the
technique would do is make Ryouga nigh-invulnerable to Ranma's
attacks. 

Cologne didn't make Ryouga do anything; she offered him something he 
wanted, and he took it; it's immaterial that Cologne had an interest in 
seeing Ryouga becoming stronger--that is what's called doing business.

In fact, when Cologne first offered to train Ryouga, I think his exact 
words were: "I'm not so weak I need to be trained by you!"

Wrong again...Ryouga is a very polite individual, except when it
comes to Ranma, and certain other martial artists. He's generally
polite to the Tendou family, to Ukyou, and even to Shampoo and
Cologne, although his relations with the latter two are a bit
strained. 

Ryouga is stand-offish and can be downright rude. He isn't this way 
conciously, it's just a part of Takahashi's cultural satire. 

As far as this ego the size of Mt. Fuji...that only applies to Ranma
and Kunou. Ryouga is, by nature, a deeply depressed individual,
fueled by negative emotions. It is this that empowers his greatest
technique, Shishi Hokoudan. People whose lives are filled with
depression and despair don't have room for ego. 

Yes, Ryouga is despressed, but he's still a warrior of bushido, and he 
sees himself above normal people. Because Ranma is also a warrior of 
bushido that he was compelled to keep Ryouga secret from Akane. Ryouga 
is constantly using speech, phrases and mannerisms that show that he 
considers himself a warrior elite--again, this is not something he does 
conciously, it's just an archtype of Japanese culture.



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