Relatively Absent: Difference between revisions

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* [[Ancient Artifact]]: The Gate describes itself as "constructed so long ago that not even I have a recollection of my own creation."

** The Crystal and the Glaive appear to be its contemporaries; it's all but stated outright that they long predate the Silver Millennium and were "repurposed" by/for Queen Serenity and her senshi.

** The Crystal and the Glaive of Space appear to be its contemporaries; it's all but stated outright that they long predate the Silver Millennium and were "repurposed" by/for Queen Serenity and her senshi. All three share a communication network between them, which points toward a common origin.

* [[Animal Eye Spy]]: Probably the closest trope to the way the Gate can ''only'' perceive things beyond its immediate physical location through its Guardian's senses.

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* [[Big "What?"]]: From Aiko upon being informed in chapter 3 that Ranma is alive.

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* [[Not Blood Related]]: The cousins, being all [[Happily Adopted]] into the clan, are not blood-related to Ranma (although two are sisters and thus related to each other).

* [[Body Language]]: Control of one's body language is an important part of the Yamada martial art, and leads directly to the complex and detailed communication possible with their [[Signed Language]]. Aiko notes upon first meeting her that, in contrast, Ranma has been deliberately taught to essentially broadcast all her thoughts through her body language.

* [[Break the Haughty]]: This happens to Nodoka in the years after she is disowned, until she reaches a point during Ranma and Genma's training trip where she is willing to be a [[High-Class Call Girl]] to feed herself.

* [[Broken Masquerade]]: In the final paragraphs of chapter 6, a panic-striken Luna rushes in and reports the theft of the Time Key to Usagi and the other Senshi, only to realize that Usagi's mother Ikuko is present and heard every word she said, and is apparently furious at the revelation. {{spoiler|It's actually a subversion. Ikuko and members of the other Senshi's families ''already knew'' they were the Senshi, and Ikuko was annoyed because she'd just lost the standing bet between them all over who would blow the secret first. (She'd bet on Minako.) At the same time, this ''is'' a proper example, as the Masquerade ''had'' been broken for them -- just not on-screen during the events of the story.}}

* [[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.

* [[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 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]].

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** The recent history of the Saotome clan is also explored in an early chapter.

* [[Coattail-Riding Relative]]: ~~((NAME))~~, wife of Aiko's son ~~((NAME))~~

* [[Coattail-Riding Relative]]: Tomoko, wife of Aiko's son Jiro.

* [[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.

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* [[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.

* [[Deprogram]]: Part of what the Gate does in the process of Bonding Ranma in chapters 6-7 is clear out some magical effects -- presumably applied by or for Genma -- which limited her intelligence and ability to approach things in any manner other than as a combat situation. Ranma comes out the other side more thoughtful and well-spoken, although she doesn't seem to notice.

* [[Disney Death]]: Twice [[In-Universe]]: First, the misapprehension that Ranma died at Mt. Horai, which is corrected (for the Yamada, at least) by chapter 3. Also, Aiko believes that her youngest granddaughter -- who by all appearances is Hotaru "Sailor Saturn" Tomoe -- died in an explosion with her father. She is, of course, not dead, but is currently in infant form after the events of Mugen Gakuen.

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* [[Emergency Transformation]]: The Gate doing a remote, incomplete bond with Ranma as a way to save her life ''and'' get a new guardian, loosely speaking.

** A better example would be the Crystal triggering Usagi's transformation into Super Sailor Moon at the end of chapter 6 -- because the Crystal couldn't contact the Gate or the Glaive and assumed there might be a crisis situation where she would be needed.

* [[Emotion Eater]]/[[The Empath]]: The Gate's relationship with its guardian includes a certain amount of this, although not in a harmful or malicious way. What emotions it possesses are (usually) muted and low-key, but along with other sensory input it enjoys from its symbiosis with a guardian, it can experience (and enjoy) their emotions. However, it receives only stimulation, not sustenance, from them; it also knows enough to recognize when its guardian might be reaching dangerous emotional extremes, and will take steps to help them stabilize themselves.

* [[Face Fault]]: Luna's response to Ikuko Tsunkino's first comment in chapter 7 is to plant herself face-first in the carpet.

* [[Face Plant]]: In chapter 5 Ranma face plants into a maple tree when distracted by a call to breakfast while practicing the morning after arriving at the Yamada compound.

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* [[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.

* [[Healing Magic Is the Hardest]]: For the Gate at least, because of how delicate the work is when it has to heal Ranma's mind and brain after the magical construct that was the Neko-ken damaged both before the Gate was able to destroy it in chapter 6-7. But not beyond its abilities.

* [[Heavy Sleeper]]:

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* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]]: Ranma is this [[In-Universe]] to Midori, who is attracted to both her forms.

* [[Insistent Terminology]]:

* ~~[[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.

** 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.

** The Crystal consistently refers to individual Senshi as "Protector (Planet Name)" instead of "Sailor (Planet Name)".

** Similarly, the Gate calls its bonded partners "Guardians".

* [[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.

* [[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 Sailor Senshi -- and socialized because of it (as well as had a running bet on which of them would blow the "secret" first). 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").

** By comparison, the trope is very oddly averted with the Glaive of Space (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.

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* [[The Men in Black]]: Various government agents of different kinds who appear in the story make appearance.

* [[Mind Virus]]: The Neko-ken turns out to have been a magical example of this trope. It's only because Genma (predictably) bungled the ritual (which he thought was a martial arts training method) that it only barely had a toehold on Ranma.

* [[Miniature Senior Citizens]]: Aiko Yamada. Although she's not as exaggeratedly short as Cologne, she's still petite enough that she has to look ''up'' into the faces of three of her four teenaged granddaughters -- all of whom are of a size with (or ''smaller'' than) Ranma's female form. The narration explicitly calls her "diminutive".

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* [[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.}}

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* [[Never Mess with Granny]]: Aiko Yamada, as the matriarch of a ninja clan, is no less skilled than any of her descendants still pursing the art, is very politically savvy, and has the ear of the emperor.

* [[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.

* [[Ninja Maid]]: All of the Yamada maids. Of them all, though, Seiko acts the most like a [[Battle Butler]] to Aiko.

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* [[Never Mess with Granny]]: Aiko Yamada, as the matriarch of a ninja clan, is no less skilled than any of her descendants still pursing the art, is very politically savvy, and has the ear of the emperor.

* [[Nosebleed]]: Midori gets one in chapter 4 when a braless Ranma stretches after a nap.

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* [[Not Blood Related]]: The cousins, being all [[Happily Adopted]] into the clan, are not blood-related to Ranma (although two are sisters and thus related to each other).

* [[Not Listening to Me, Are You?]]: Ranma is so sure upon meeting them that the cousins are new fiancees that while ranting about what Genma might have sold her off for ''this'' time, she misses the first few attempts Midori makes to tell her they're family. Midori finally has to resort to yelling at her to get Ranma to listen.

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* [[Original Character]]: The entire Yamada clan, but especially Aiko, the cousins, and the servants.

* [[Overprotective Dad|Overprotective Mom]]: Strongly implied of Minako's mother Akiko, who is ''not'' the parent who knows she's Sailor Venus; her father Hiroshi has apparently been running interference for her in this regard.

* [[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.}}

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* [[Power Strain Blackout]]: Ranma passes out from overexertion shortly after tunnelling her way out from under the avalanche at the end of chapter 2.

* [[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.

* [[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 Attacks]] 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."

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* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Nodoka after she learns of Ranma's apparent death from the videotape given to her by Harukichi. She publicly declares the end of the Saotome clan; she closes and seals the Saotome family registry, officially "killing" the clan; she declares blood feud on the Tendos; and she reverts to her kendoka training and garb to literally hunt down and kill Genma.

* [[Ritual Magic]]: The Gate's analysis of the Neko-ken revealed that the "training" was nothing of the sort -- it was a magical ritual designed to [[Mind Virus|destroy its subject's mind and personality and replace it with some manner of magical construct]] intended as an unstoppable [[The Berserker|berserker]]. Fortunately for Ranma, her father bungled it -- apparently by skipping several key steps he either didn't understand or thought were inconvenient -- allowing her to retain her own mind and fight the construct down most of the time.

* [[Sailor Fuku]]: Ranma is appalled when she realizes that the guardian's uniform is a variation on a seifuku, and accuses the Gate of misleading her.

* [[Saving the World]]: Ranma nearly undergoes a [[Heroic BSOD]] when she realizes that one of the first tasks facing her as the Gate's new guardian is undoing Sailor Pluto's plan for Crystal Tokyo and saving as much of the 95% of humanity who would have died as she can.

* [[Saying Sound Effects Out Loud]]: At the end of chapter 6, when Luna realizes she's just spoken, loud and long, in front of Sailor Moon's mother Ikuko, she looks up at Ikuko and says, "Umm, meow?"

* [[Second Law of Gender Bending]]: Nodoka attempts to enforce this on Ranma even though she's been told Ranma's [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock|lock]] will eventually end.

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* [[Understatement]]: The Gate's warning to Ranma that the diagnostic scan needed to complete the bonding process might be "slightly painful". Ranma lampshades it afterward.

* [[Upgrade Artifact]]: The Gate is this for Ranma, taking her from an exceptional martial artist to a mystically-powered warrior who, it is implied, can defend an entire world by herself.

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: [[In-Universe]]: Luna accidentally gives away Usagi and the other Senshi's secret identities to Usagi's mother Ikuko in the final paragraphs of chapter 6 -- only to find out in chapter 7 that ''she already knew'' (and so do at least one parent or guardian for each of the girls, and at least one has known since the very beginning).

* [[The Unfavourite]]: Nodoka believes that she is this, because she was disowned by her mother for marrying Genma. She isn't by any measure, but her mother was forced to do so to protect the clan from him. This is reinforced by the embezzlement of a monthly stipend set up for her, leading her to believe she had been completely abandoned by the clan.

* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: Subverted in the [[Backstory]]. Ikuko notes in chapter 7:

{{quote|It’s rather difficult to ignore the existence of a talking cat when it sits outside of your bathroom and has a *loud* conversation with your daughter.}}

* [[Wedding Day]]: Ranma (as the bride) and male!Midor (thanks to instant Jusenkyo powder, as the groom) are married at the behest of the Emperor of Japan in what is the last major set-piece of the extant story material.

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** One to ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/380988/1/PARAGON PARAGON]'' by Rob "Kenko" Haynie, another (incomplete) ''Sailor Moon/Ranma ½'' crossover, when the Gate assures Ranma that the magical girl with the talking rabbit mascot does not wear a fancy, frilly outfit.

** It's strongly hinted that Nodoka's older sister Mai is, or is based on, Mai Shiranui from ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' and ''[[Street Fighter]]''.

** Early in chapter 7 it's very obvious that Aiko in the middle of reading the comic SF novel ''[[Illegal Aliens (novel)|Illegal Aliens]]'' by Nick Pollotta and [[Phil Foglio]]. She even namechecks Pollotta.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Well, the entire story, basically. But more specifically...