The Wild Horse Thesis

The Wild Horse Thesis

The Wild Horse Thesis by "Calamity Cordite" (AKA "Calamity-Queen of Cordite"; real name Lisa Grey) is a crossover between Ranma ½ and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Making yet another attempt to eliminate Ranma Saotome and free the heart of Akane Tendo, Hikaru Gosunkugi casts a spell from a scroll given to him by a mysterious cowled figure. To his surprise (and the readers'), the attempt succeeds and banishes Ranma into a set of of Evangelion video tapes, where Gosunkugi is sure he will come to a swift and terrible end, along with the rest of humanity.

Three days later, the Tendo household -- thoroughly agitated over Ranma's disappearance -- receives a package containing a set of video tapes entitled Neon Genesis Evangelion ½. Watching them, the Tendos learn what has happened -- Ranma has been inserted into the world of one of his favorite anime, Evangelion, and forced to take the place of Shinji Ikari. Unfortunately for the combined plans of Gosunkugi and Hideaki Anno, Ranma is not Shinji -- he knows exactly what's coming and why, and goes to work on derailing the plans of both Gendo Ikari and SEELE.

Meanwhile, the watchers in the "real" world are learning uncomfortable and unpleasant truths, thanks to the third-party omniscient viewpoint of the anime they are watching, a viewpoint that lets them hear Ranma's true, unvarnished feelings about the people who surrounded him in Nerima. As more and more members of the Ranma ½ cast join the viewing over the course of several days, they become split between those rooting for Ranma to find what happiness he can and those outraged that he is happier in Tokyo-3, even in the face of the Apocalypse, than he was in Nerima. And then it's revealed that Ranma has a secret patron who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes all along...

It can be read here.

""Let's get somethin' straight, Pop; I don't like you. I think you're an egomaniacal coward with a god complex and I intend to bust your balls every chance I get. But for now, I got a job to do and people to protect. I ain't doin' this for you. I'm doing it for those people out there.""
 * Abusive Parents: Inverted.  Ranma takes every opportunity he gets to insult, belittle or even physically assault Gendo Ikari.  But at least he's straightforward about it from the first moment:


 * All Just a Dream: Ranma's initial suspicion upon realizing in chapter 1 that he's inside Evangelion.  Feeling the heat of a piece of burning wreckage convinces him otherwise.


 * Book Ends: Each chapter begins and ends with a scene in Nerima, before and after waching an episode or more of the video tapes.

""Sorry I'm late," she chirped cheerfully. "I'm..." "Captain Misato Katsuragi," Ranma interrupted, getting in the car, "competent Tactical Operations Officer but a ditzy juicer when not in the middle of a battle.""
 * Brutal Honesty: Ranma, even more so than in the source material:


 * Deus Ex Machina: A literal one, when it turns out.


 * Fanon:
 * Akane gets the stock mallet-happy borderline-psychobitch characterization here. Unusually, though, she's not reticent about smashing people other than Ranma if she thinks they deserve it.


 * Folgers Crossover/Fusion Fic: Ranma of Ranma ½ replaces Shinji Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion.


 * Hold Up Your Score: When Akane mallets Ryoga at the start of chapter 3, Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo and Cologne all hold up scores.

""Shampoo no like Airen living with purple-haired slut.""
 * Hypocritical Humor: Shampoo has strong opinions about Misato:


 * Identical Stranger: Ranma's girl form and Asuka can (and do) pass for twins.

"To call him a snake is an insult to snakes everywhere."
 * Insult to Rocks: Ranma, regarding Gendo:


 * Lemony Narrator: The narrative voice is not above throwing in the occasional comment or explanation.

""Ah, hell, Misato, we got a problem," Ranma said. "What is it, Ranma?" Misato's face appeared in a window on Ranma's display. "It's an unsettlin' issue demandin' a solution or decision, but that's not important right now," Ranma quipped."
 * Literal-Minded: Ranma does this sometimes for humor value:


 * Meaningful Name/Punny Name: The unnamed boring teacher who lectures interminably about Second Impact is here given the name "Bendo Steinakawa".


 * Mugging the Monster: Toji's attempt to beat up Ranma on the first day of school doesn't go as easily as it did against Shinji.


 * Multiverse: Subverted.  Ranma, it turns out,.

""You really want me to teach you how to drive?" Misato asked hopefully. "Hell yeah," Ranma smirked. "You're the best driver I've ridden with." She was the only driver he'd ridden with but she didn't have to know that."
 * Overly Narrow Superlative: Although it isn't obvious to its recipient:


 * Pinch Me: Feeling the heat given off by a piece of burning wreckage in chapter 1 is Ranma's first indication that his experience isn't All Just a Dream.


 * Shipper on Deck: Kasumi, for Ranma and.


 * The Snark Knight: Ranma is this in the Evangelion world, mainly because he already knows everyone's secrets and doesn't bother to hide his disdain for anyone he thinks is useless or villainous.


 * Trapped in TV Land: Due to a magical spell, Ranma is trapped inside a series of video tapes which contain Neon Genesis Evangelion. He finds himself replacing the character of Shinji, but has all his abilities and techniques intact. Unlike some of other examples of this trope, though, we see Ranma having his Tokyo-3 adventures from the viewpoint of Ranma's family and fiancees, who are watching the tapes in the "real" world. The best part is seeing Ranma telling people in the show of his "previous" life, thinking no one knows what he's talking about, while the characters in the "real" world are subjected to his honest opinions of them.


 * Twin Threesome Fantasy: Referenced at the end of the story by.


 * Younger Than They Look: Played with.  Ranma, in Shinji's role, is "officially" fourteen years old -- but Ritsuko Akagi notes that his male form looks several years older (which he is); interestingly, his female form averts this, appearing to be closer to fourteen than Ranma's actual seventeen.


 * Your Mind Makes It Real: Unknown to Ranma a form of this trope is in play -- the world created by Gosunkugi's spell reacts to his expectations and beliefs, and shapes itself to them: if he believes he can improve his sync with Unit 01 by infusing it with his ki, he can... and if he believes he can change the outcome of Evangelion, he can do that, too.

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TRIVIA

Trivia about  includes:


 * Shout-Out:
 * Naming the homeroom teacher "Bendo Steinakawa" is an explicit shout-out to Ferris Bueller's Day Off; the auther lampshades it in a note at the start of the next chapter.

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LACONIC

Banished to a doomed world, Ranma Saotome fights to save humanity and befriend two girls who need it.

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FRIDGE

Fridge Logic

 * Misato was Asuka's guardian for some years in Germany. Why doesn't she note early on that Ranma's girl form is identical to Asuka?  Oddly, Ritsuko does.


 * Although at first the idea that Neon Genesis Evangelion is Ranma's favorite anime seems like an anachronism, it's just barely possible (especially if one simply accepts Comic Book Time) -- Evangelion ran on TV 1995-96, and Ranma (both anime and manga) ended in 1996.