Relatively Absent: Difference between revisions

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{{tropelist}}
* [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Edges sideway into this trope. The magical A.I.s in the Ginzuishou, the Gate of Time and the Silence Glaive have their own purposes and priorities that didn't align with those of their Silver Millennium owners, which is why they were "reprogrammed" and (mostly) driven into a state of "hibernation". Once they awaken again, the actions the Gate and the Glaive take to pursue those imperatives makes them ''appear'' to be going rogue. (The Crystal seems to be less inclined to buck itsher altered programming, but it's hard to be sure with the extant material.)
 
* [[Abusive Parents]]: This fic implies that Genma is abusive beyond even the usual fanfic standard, hinting strongly that he is behind the "weak neural inhibiter" magic that damped down Ranma's intelligence and libido, and showing that he only cares about his wife and son to the degree that they can get him access to the Yamada money.
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** The Americans have a spy satellite watching the Yamada compound specifically to track Ranma. Unfortunately for them, he's learned to teleport by then.
 
* [[Big Fancy House]]: The Yamada compound is ''huge'' and opoulentopulent without being crassly showy.
 
* [[Big "What?"]]: From Aiko upon being informed in chapter 3 that Ranma is alive.
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* [[Buried Alive]]: Ranma's state at the start of the story. It takes the entire first chapter (and the Gate's help) for her to dig her way out.
 
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The short scene in the "Temple of Layiru" in chapter 6. Clearly [[Foreshadowing]] for ''something'', we never got enough of the story to find out if the mysterious alert (in the form of a flaring gemstone in an intricate mosaic) was because of Ranma became the Gate's guardian, because the Gate had just accidentally unleased the "spiritual contamination" that was the Neko-ken in the immediately previous scene, because the Gate went into Alpha Override to deal with it, or because of something else entirely. Or who "Layiru" was other than (presumably) a god, nor what they were god ''of'', and why the Gate and/or Ranma or their actions ''mattered'' to them. Readers have been [[Left Hanging]] on this detail since 2009.
 
* [[The Chikan]]: In chapter 6, in reesponse to Ranma's reluctance to ride ''inside'' a train, Harukichi prompts her to tell the story of a time she was on a train with Kasumi and punished a groper with a [[Groin Attack]].
** Later in the same chapter, Harukichi herself drives a throwing spike through the hand of a groper on a train they took on the way to Prince Arisugawa Park.
 
* [[The Chosen One]]: When Ranma, faced by the magnitude of some of the tasks facing her as the Gate's guardian, has a crisis of confidence in chapter 5, the Gate blandly informs her that because of her talents and skills she is literally the only person on Earth capable of being its guardian and handling the challenges that the role will throw at her.
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* [[Compelling Voice]]: Aiko can lace ki into her voice to add a level of command to it, but more for immediate imperatives ("SILENCE!") than compulsions or manipulations.
 
* [[Conditioned to Accept Horror|Conditioned to Accept Abuse]]: As a result of epic exploitation of the [[Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male)]] trope by the fiancees, Ranma has been essentially "trained" to basically stand still and be a target for "punishment" after encountering anything that he's learned a girl might take offense to, most especially anything to do with female sexuality. When Ranma reacts this way to accidentally seeing Kioko in the nude by cringing and waiting to be beaten, it horrifies Kioko.
 
* [[Conspicuous Consumption]]: Generally averted by the Yamada, although not from Ranma's point of view, what with the family providing the cousins and her with cell phones (in 1989!), Japan Rail passes, credit cards, and an allowance that could masquerade as a salary.
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* [[De-Power]]: Many of Sailor Pluto's trademark abilities come not from her Senshi empowerment, but from being the guardian of the Gate of Time. They are stripped from her after her temporary death at Mugen Gakuen, and when Ranma accepts the Gate's guardianship they're permanently denied her (and the Garnet Rod taken from her). Their loss is both inconvenient and personally humiliating -- and turns Crystal Tokyo from a guaranteed future to ... something far less so.
 
* [[Dead Fic]]: After a prologue and eleven chapters written (and rewritten) over six years, the story was abruptly abandoned by author Shurtleff (along with all his other fan writing).
 
* [[Death by Adaptation|Death by Fanfic]]: Herb, Mint, Lime and Ryoga all died in the collapse of Mount Horai. At least, Mousse and the Yamada clan believe -- with good evidence -- that this is the case. (And none of them reappear in the extant material.) However, Ranma's confident Ryoga survived, based on past experience.
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* [[Faking the Dead]]: Done accidentally on Ranma's behalf by Aiko before she learns that Ranma has survived, when she sends a video documenting Ranma's curse -- and ending with footage of her apparent death -- to Nodoka, to indulge Harukichi's desire for a little vengeance. Nodoka then "shares" the video with the Tendos after marking Ranma ''and'' Ranko as dead in the Saotome family registry.
 
* [[Family Honor]]: An important element in both the story and the [[Backstory]]. Nodoka is disowned to protect the Yamada family honor (and finances) from Genma and Happosai, forcing Ranma to grow up unaware of any family other familythan his parents; the Yamada did not rescue him from Genma out of uncertainty whether heRanma was a willing participant in Genma's continuing honorless behavior; Nodoka considers Genma's inaction resulting in the apparent death of Ranma the final dishonorable act from him she can stand, and she also accuses the Tendos of being honorless. Other acts have ramifications on one family's honor or another, and the demands of family honor drive key moments of the plot, sometimes to whipsawing extremes.
 
* [[First Law of Gender Bending]]: Subverted -- although Ranma never returns to male in the extant material, the Gate assures her that with sufficient experience she will be able to toggle her gender-switch curse at will. And even if she doesn't, it will eventually wear off on its own over the course of Ranma's now [[The Ageless|immensely-prolonged lifespan]].
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* [[Genki Girl]]: Tsuya.
 
* [[The Glomp]]: Harukichi all but tackles Ranma when she first enters the Yamada home. Afterward, Ranma explicitly calls it a glomp -- and Harukichi a "red-haired glomp missile".
 
* [[Gold Digger]]: Genma, who had ulterior motives for marrying (so he thought) into the Yamada clan. Nodoka was disowned in part to keep him from access to the Yamada wealth and connections.
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* [[Gratuitous Japanese]]: Fortunately not to excess, but the occasional "gomen" and "kawaii" slip in here and there, along with a few other terms (like "butsudan") whose meanings can be inferred from context. (And at least one -- "koseki tōhon" -- which even in context is unclear.<ref>It's a family registry.</ref>)
 
* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: Appears to be the ethos of the Gate. When describing the events Sailor Pluto was facilitating to bring about Crystal Tokyo, particularly the canonical [[Apocalypse How|Class 3 Planetary]] disaster that ushers it in, the Gate responds to Ranma's horror by blandly noting that there was nothing inherently wrong with Pluto's plan and that many of its guardians had chosen to prioritize the survival of their own species over others. It does admit, however, that the plan is draconian and that there are less severe alternatives that would still guarantee the survival of Humanityhumanity, in larger numbers than Pluto's plan would have.
 
* [[Happily Adopted]]: Ranma's cousins, into the Yamada clan.
 
* [[Healing Factor]]: Ranma's canonical healing speed (a consequence of the manga/anime's slapstick violence) is turned into an actual ki skill for enhanced healing in the story, which then gets supercharged by the Gate's endless supply of pure ki.
 
* [[Heavy Sleeper]]:
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* [[Hollywood Healing]]: What Ranma's ki mastery gives her. The avalanche utterly shattered one forearm, and she insists certain it'll be fine in two weeks, to the utter bafflement of her cousins. (It actually gets better ''much'' faster, thanks to her connection with the Gate.)
 
* [[I Gave My Word]]: Why Ranma does not abandon the cousins and head right back to Nerima -- because she promised Akane she would return as a man. ([[Squick|And because Mr. Tendo threatened to force her to marry ''him'' if she came back still locked in female form.}}]])
 
* [[I Have No Son]]: Subverted. While Aiko is forced to disown Nodoka for marrying Genma in order to protect the clan, it is without rancor, she hopes for a reunion someday, and she sets up a monthly stipend so that Nodoka is taken care of, regardless. (Unfortunately, the stipend is embezzled by a Yamadaan accountant whom Aiko trustedhad thought trustworthy, leaving Nodoka penniless and believing that this trope is the case and that she is [[The Unfavourite]].)
 
* [[I Never Told You My Name]]: Ranma immediately realizes the cousins know who she is because Midori addresses her by name shortly after Ranma wakes from her chapter 2 [[Power Strain Blackout]].
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* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]]: Ranma is this [[In-Universe]] to Midori, who is attracted to both her forms.
 
** [[Insistent Terminology]]: Aiko makes a point of addressing and referring to Ranma with masculine pronouns and other terms, to reassure her that she is perceived as the man she was and is, despite the locked curse.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]:
** Aiko makes a point of addressing Ranma with masculine pronouns and other terms, to reassure her that she is perceived as the man she was and is, despite the locked curse.
 
* [[Invisible to Normals]]: Stunningly averted in chapter 7 when we learn that at least one parent or guardian of each of the Inner Senshi ''already knew'' they were the Sailor Senshi and had almost since the beginning. The Japanese government is very aware of them as well, thank you.
 
* [[Ironic Echo]]: When she confronts Genma in chapter 6, Nodoka angrily describes Akane as a "violent maniac", unknowingly echoing Kasumi's far fonder description of her sister from the first episode/chapter of ''[[Ranma ½]]''.
 
* [["It" Is Dehumanizing]]: Explicitly invoked by the Gate regarding itself. It takes the time to correct Ranma when she tries to assign a gender to it, telling her that "it" is the most accurate pronoun to use because it isn't human, or even alive, precisely.
** By comparison, the trope is very oddly averted with the Glaive (which is explicitly a "he") and the Crystal (which is a "she").
 
* [[Kid Samurai]]: Midori, who alone of the four cousins favors direct combat and as such is training in the Yamada sword styles.
 
* [[Kids Are Cruel]]: Before she finds out "Ranko" and Ranma are one and the same, sheNodoka blames "Ranko"'s loneliness, "tomboyishness" and desperate desire to please her on presumed mistreatment by her peers, and cites this trope by name.
 
* [[Lazy Husband]]: One of the charges Nodoka makes of Genma, as a symptom of his lack of honor and status as an unfit spouse.
 
* [[Loophole Abuse]]: The Gate of Time is unable to disobey its guardian, who has for many thousands of years been Sailor Pluto. Nor can it choose a different guardian -- unless its current guardian is ''dead'' and there is no third party present to <s>select</s> impose a candidate, which is the case with Pluto in the aftermath of Mugen Gakuen. The Gate takes advantage of its brief period of opportunity before Pluto is automatically resurrected to select and bond with a new guardian of ''its'' choice.
 
* [[Lost Forever]]:
** First, the fic itself. It only exists in offline archives, because even more than a decade after he yanked his fanwork from the Net, Shurtleff still ([[Kibo]]-like) responds to any attempt to repost it with take-down requests.
** On a smaller level, the entire section where the police arrest Akane and Nabiki -- and what happens to them at the police station -- was originally much more extreme. After complaints by some readers on the FFML (the anime Fan Fiction Mailing List, where Shurtleff was posting chapters), he reluctantly dialed back the [[Police Brutality]] in those scenes; the original version is just as lost as the rest of the fic.
 
* [[Magical Girl]]: In addition to the Sailor Senshi, the artifacts' Guardians are ''also'' Magical Girls, a fact the Gate was not clear on when offering the position to Ranma. Ranma is somewhat upset about this when she finally puts it all together and realizes what she's agreed to.
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* [[Maid Corps]]: The Yamada employ a small such corps, and they're all [[Ninja Maid|ninja]].
 
* [[Masquerade]]: Despite what they might think, the Sailor Senshi are ''far'' from the only paranormals on Earth, nor are they [[Invisible to Normals]]. Leaving aside all the magic, ghosts, monsters and other supernatural elements present due to the crossover with ''Ranma ½'', there are apparently [[Superhero]]es and other methahumans all over the world; the Emperor's security staff alone has an entire troop of psionically-active agents.
 
* [[The Men in Black]]: Various government agents of different kinds who appear in the story make appearance.
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* [[Multigenerational Household]]: The Yamada compound.
 
* [[Narrative Profanity Filter]]: Occasionally used. For instance, in chapter 6, when the Glaive awakens and discovers his guardian (Hotaru) is an infant and can't tell him why he was in Emergency Core Override (and effectively unconscious) for at least a thousand years:
{{quote|His personality matrix permitted him to swear. He did so. Profusely.}}
 
* [[Ninja]]: Nodoka was born into the Yamada, one of the last surviving ninja clans in modern Japan. Ranma's four female cousins are also being trained as kunoichi.
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* [[Parental Incest]]: {{spoiler|It's revealed that Genma is Happosai's son -- by way of Happosai's adult daughter -- and that the Yamada have long suspected this is the case. Intriguingly -- and surprisingly given Happosai's personality -- it appears to have been a mutually loving and consensual relationship between two adults.}}
 
* [[Police Brutality]]: In chapter ((X)), Akane and Nabiki are arrested by local police of Nerima, who mistreat them when they're incarcerated at the local station. (And in the original version of the scenes, [[Lost Forever|rewritten by Shurtleff after reader complaints]], the mistreatment was ''far'' more extreme, with Akane blasted with firehoses and Nabiki sexually assaunted.)
 
* [[Power Glows]]: A side effect of Ranma's [[Power Incontinence]] before she finishes the bonding with the Gate. Just as in real life it indicates that energy is being used ineffciently and wasted, as Ranma and the Gate both note several times.
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* [[Power-Up]]: In a non-video game example, Ranma explicitly describes the impending completion of her bond with the Gate as this. She's still surprised to find that even before the completion of the bond, her [[Ki Attack]]s have been turned practically into strategic weapons.
 
* [[Precision F-Strike]]: In chapter 6, Nodoka calls the Tendos "an honorless family of ''eta''." "''Eta''" is an especially nasty term for ''burakumin'', the unspoken-of outcast caste of Japanese society. It's about the worst thing you can call someone in Japanese, tantamount to "diseased, shit-covered subhuman unwelcome in the company of proper people."
 
* [[Professional Killer]]: One of the ways Nodoka makes ends meet over the years is by taking the occasional assassination contract for the government, which also allows her to keep her kunoichi skills sharp. It is strongly implied that these contracts are a kind of charity from someone in the government aware of her situation and wishing to give her an honorable means of maintaining herself. Given the interest the Emperor has in maintaining the Yamada as a living ninja clan, it may well have been at his orders.