Ryouga has never been shown to be manipulated; he's been tricked by 
Ranma several times, but has never been manipulated. Of course, that is 
not to say he *couldn't* be manipulated, just that such a thing has 
never happened. 

You're mapping an interesting border here between the idea of being
"tricked" and being "maniuplated."  I'd say this is more a matter of
fine-tuned definitions than anything else.  The things that Ranma does
to "trick" Ryouga tend to involve manipulations of Ryouga's rather 
severe emotional extremes. 

Whether you call it a "trick" or a "manipulation," certainly lots of 
characters have maneuvered Ryouga in such a way as to get him
to do the things they want him to do.  Often, this involves a sort
of alliance to make him do something that he would want to do 
anyway but which he can't accomplish on his own (beating Ranma,
dating Akane), but the characters who form these alliances or pull
these tricks (Cologne, Ukyou, Shampoo, for example) aren't really
doing it because they have Ryouga's best interests at heart.  To
me, that qualifies as a kind of manipulation.  I don't know that it
does a lot of good to mince words about the definition here, but
there's no reason to believe that Nabiki (in a "New Roles" story)
could not find ways to "trick" Ryouga to her benefit.  She might also
be able to "help" him do things that are really meant to benefit her.

There's potential there for some interesting situations.  

My point is that it probably wouldn't; people who go by 
the the few dubbed anime episodes released by Viz and who don't 
understand basic elements of Japanese culture seem to view Ryouga as 
this big bruiser type who is tricked by Bugs Bunny to walk off of a 
plank.

I am noticing that a certain Warner Brothers Analogy Trend here with 
your commentary.  Come to think of it, there are a few parallels... the 
way Ranma dresses up in drag to snow Ryouga all the time, for 
instance... nah.  Never mind.  

Ryouga sees himself as a warrior, steeped in the code of bushido. Such 
characters, including Ranma and Kunou, amongst others, feel that they 
are above normal people--they feel normal rules of politeness don't 
apply to them. This view of himself is supported by an ego the size of 
Mt. Fuji, so Ryouga would in all likelihood react badly to 
someone--especially a mere girl--trying to 'use' him. He's displayed 
murderous rage at far lesser offences to his dignity.

I've always seen Ryouga as being more self-absorbed than self-important,
which is pretty common amongst teenagers.  In a way, he's very sad.  
His constant isolation has severely stunted the growth of any of his 
social skills - he doesn't know how to relate to people, because he hasn't
developed many social bonds.  Takahashi is good at taking these kinds 
of personality traits which are prevalent in real people and exaggerating
them to define her characters.  I find there to be an underlying melancholy
to most of the characters in her work, which helps make them sympathetic.
She even does it with Happosai... sometimes.

Anyway, I don't know that you have to interpret Ryouga as looking down
on "lesser" people.  I haven't seen him display that sort of contempt for
the everyday sorts he encounters - certainly not to the extent that Kuno
does.  A certain reckless disregard, yes (like the way he busts up people's
property rather haphazardly when he's agonizing about something).  Ranma
is the same way.  I don't see that as disdain for others so much as two 
young kids who don't know their own strength, and who don't have a whole
lot of appreciation for cause and effect (i.e.; you knock down somebody's
wall, and they're out the money to replace it... unless, of course, a body
like the Nerima Public Work Corps exists [heh!]).  

Certainly my interpretation isn't the only valid one, but I think it falls within
the range of reasonable variance when it comes to writing In Character.  
The thrust of what I'm trying to say, with regards to a "New Roles" story,
is that these martial artists wouldn't necessarily muscle their way through
someone like Nabiki if she were to join the overall fray.  Certainly, you 
could write them plausibly so they don't feel like they should use their
strength and skills against a non-fighter like the middle Tendou sister.  
A "New Roles" story written like that could be quite interesting.  And then
if you wanted to create some dramatic tension, one of the more extreme
or less scrupulous martial artists (like Kodachi, for instance) might physically
threaten Nabiki, which would force others to make choices.  If Ranma is
forced to come to her rescue and you're writing it with a Ranma-Nabiki 
relationship in mind... well, heck.  There's a lot you could do.

Just for the record, I don't think that a "New Roles" story in which Nabiki
easily plays everyone like puppets would be much better than the 
"Nabiki gets creamed" version.  Plans backfire, ideas fail, unforseen
complications arise... that's the fun of it all.  Having any one character
(no matter who it is) dominate everyone else seems a bit too limited, to 
my thinking.

Grayson Towler
grayson@rigroup.net

http://www.rigroup.com/~grayson/relentless