Genma Saotome

Genma Saotome (早乙女 玄馬, Saotome Genma) is Ranma's father and the master of the Anything Goes Martial Arts (無差別格闘早乙女流, Musabetsu Kakutō Saotome Ryū, "Indiscriminate Grappling Saotome Style"). He trained with Soun under Happosai. Because they were treated like slaves, they eventually sealed him within a cave and opened their own schools. Starting from a young age, Genma took Ranma on a continuous training trip to perfect his skills. So his wife Nodoka would agree to this plan, he promised to turn Ranma into a "man-among-men" under the threat of them both committing seppuku if he failed. He originally took Ranma to Jusenkyo because he had heard about it in a Chinese brochure even though he cannot read a word of Chinese. During their training there, Genma fell into a cursed spring, which gave him a giant panda curse. Unlike Ranma, he doesn't have much trouble with his curse, especially because he can get away from his problems in his panda form. He and Ranma eventually return to Japan to fulfill an arranged marriage between Ranma and Akane to keep the school going. He hides from his wife by staying as a panda while she is around, and she simply believes Ranko, Ranma's female form, has "Mr. Panda" as a pet. Genma follows his own interpretation of the "Indiscriminate Grappling" code, which is not exactly all that virtuous itself to begin with. He frequently preaches duty and honor as a martial artist, but seems to be a poor example by which to set those standards. Though he himself claims to be a model martial artist, and makes a point of telling Ranma about the right thing to do, he is not above acting cowardly, stealing a dowry, or only looking out for his own well being. He usually tries to flee from any problems he has caused or is entangled in, foisting the matter on Ranma if he cannot. His love of food regularly overpowers his love of his son, once trading him for a bowl of ramen, and in another, he traded the infant Ranma for a meal of fish. He is very open with his panda form, and regularly uses it to avoid questions as pandas cannot speak. In panda form, he communicates by writing on wooden signs which he seems to pull out of a type of hammerspace in that form. While he's usually either too lazy or scared to show it, Genma is an accomplished martial artist. He is extremely strong and agile despite his size, and his panda form increases his abilities even further, managing to give his son a run for his money in most of their serious battles or spars. Most of his special techniques are ridiculous to behold (but, amazingly enough, not completely useless), and he uses those quite often. However, he created a couple of "serious" schools: the Umisenken that allows him to hide his aura and execute ambush attacks from behind; and the Yamasenken that allows him to make opponents lose focus, create powerful vacuum-slice barrages, or strike deadly, piercing blows. These techniques having been found to be much more dangerous than he thought, he decided to seal them; he is revealed to have created the techniques to be able to survive in dire conditions by way of thieving. He usually resorts to grapple Ranma in the way he grapples a tire when he is a panda to sway him. Genma is also able to invoke a battle aura of epic proportions similar to Happosai's, but he can only use it for very brief periods (possibly just half a minute) before collapsing from overexertion, making it rather useless.