The Wild Horse Thesis

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Wild Horse Thesis by "Calamity Cordite" (AKA "Calamity-Queen of Cordite") is a crossover between Ranma ½ and Neon Genesis Evangelion written in 2006. 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 than he ever was in Nerima, even in the face of the Apocalypse. 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.

Tropes used in The Wild Horse Thesis include:
  • 108: In what may be a coincidental appearance, this is the number of beers left the morning after Ranma, Rei and Asuka first have sex together. It's probably coincidental because they are said to have drunk twelve beers between them, for a total of 120 -- a number that can be neatly divided by the numbers of beers in various pack sizes.
  • Abusive Parents: Ranma considers Gendo this by proxy, having handed the young Ranma (in his In-Universe Backstory) to his lunatic cousin Genma to raise and train (with the intent that Ranma return broken in spirit, not the supremely skilled and confident warrior he became).
    • Also inverted in that 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 they face each other:

"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."

  • Accusation Fic: Ranma spends quite a lot of time venting to various Evangelion characters (as well as musing privately) about his life in Nerima and the people who surrounded him there, which usually results in denial and/or beatings among the viewers in Nerima.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Shampoo deliberately chooses to ignore her epiphany about Ranma's true feelings -- and power level -- and chooses to join an ambush on him, Rei and Asuka in the final chapter as a last-ditch attempt to eliminate "obstacles" and force him to love her.
  • Affectionate Nickname: Asuka ends up calling Ranma both "liebling" (German for "darling") and "Variable-chan".
  • 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.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: Misato suffers from this for a good way into the story, initially refusing to believe Ranma about various of his abilities despite all the other "impossible" things he's proven to be able to do. She does get better, though. Oddly, scientist Ritsuko is a bit quicker to accept Ranma's claims.
  • Babies Ever After: After Ranma returns to Nerima along with Rei and Asuka, Bastet informs him that while he can take his time, she does expect "kittens".
  • Barrier-Busting Blow: Ranma accidentally destroys the door to Rei's apartment by knocking too vigorously.
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind: When Ranma is absorbed by Unit 01 in chapter 14, Bastet gives him the chance to win his way back out of the EVA and gain mastery of the Nekoken by hunting down and overcoming the cat spirit that shares his mind..
  • Berserk Button: When Fuyutsuki suggests NERV has been humiliated by Ranma and Asuka's initial performance against Israfel, Ranma's Battle Aura ignites and she slams him against a wall before giving him a dressing-down that leaves him pissing his pants.
  • Bi the Way: Once her feelings about Ranma begin to awaken, Rei appears to be attracted to both his male and female aspects equally.
  • Book Ends: Each chapter begins and ends with a scene in Nerima, before and after watching an episode or more of the video tapes.
  • Bound and Gagged:
    • Genma and Soun end up in plaster casts and gagged when they act out one too many times early in the story.
    • When Akane flips out over how Ritsuko characterized her in chapter 9, she wakes up in chapter 10 tied up and gagged herself, propped up on the wall next to her father and Genma. She calms down enough that they do let her out, once she's had her Epiphany about her relationship with Ranma.
  • Bring My Brown Pants: In chapter 8 Ranma rips into Fuyutsuki with a Tranquil Fury that leaves him pissing in his pants.
  • Brutal Honesty: Ranma, even more so than in the source material:

"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."

  • His candid revelations to Evangelion characters what he thinks of the people from Nerima also have this effect on the watchers.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Ranma gives Gendo a "The Reason You Suck" Speech virtually every time they come face-to-face.
    • Then there's the dressing-down she gives Fuyutsuki in chapter 8.
  • Camp Gay: The ice cream shop where Ranma, Rei and Asuka normally scam ice cream hires a counter boy who is apparently one and can thus resist the girls' feminine wiles. It apparently doesn't work as well as he planned; the ice cream shop goes out of business at some point around three-quarters of the way through the story.
  • The Chessmaster: Although Ranma would deny it, this is how Nabiki characterizes the way he sets up and executes the campaign against Gendo and SEELE.
  • Corpsing: In-universe -- Nabiki has to suppress her laughter at the Hypocritical Humor she witnesses among the fiancées watching the tapes.
    • Later, Rei uses her stoic appearance to hide her own amusement and pleasure at various developments.
    • Misato does an adequate job of hiding her hilarity at Ranma's reactions to her proposals for parceling out bedrooms when Asuka moves in.
  • Creepy Twins: Ranma (in girl form) and Asuka can do this for humor value when they care to.
  • Cross-Popping Veins: A rare text example appears in chapter 9.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Ranma completely overwhelms an overconfident Kaoru Nagisa. It ends in Ludicrous Gibs thanks to a couple of Ranma's Kijin Raishu Dan vacuum blades.
  • A Date with Rosie Palms: Rei discovers and explores her sexuality in the wake of watching a bare-chested Ranma utterly thrash Gendo in a "sparring session".
  • Deus Ex Machina: A literal one, when it turns out the prime mover from almost the first sentence has been the Egyptian goddess Bastet, in response to the prayers of Nodoka. She appears to Ranma when he's trapped in the Sea of Dirac and gives him a clue on how to escape, and ensures that Rei and Asuka -- previously wholly fictional entities -- are rescued from the end of the anime and transported into the "real" world with Ranma at the conclusion of the story.
  • Egyptian Mythology: We learn at the start of chapter 9 that Nodoka had found an incredibly out-of-place shrine to Bastet somewhere in Japan while pregnant with Ranma, and had made a pilgrimage there to pray for a blessing on her unborn child.
  • Epiphany: Amazingly, Akane undergoes one as a result of watching the video tapes and realizes that she had become an abuser of a boy she loved. The other girls have their own, sometimes less visible, epiphanies about their relationships with Ranma as well.
  • Face Fault: Ranma suffers one inside a ventilation duct when rather than kicking him for looking up her skirt, Asuka giggles and wiggles her butt at him.
  • Fake Weakness: Asuka feigns a reduced sync ratio for almost the last quarter of the story, only to stop "sandbagging" when SEELE attacks NERV.
  • Fanon:
    • Akane gets the stock mallet-happy borderline-psychobitch Lethal Chef characterization here, complete with the "depleted uranium mallet-sama +5 versus perverts". Unusually, though, she's not reticent about smashing people other than Ranma if she thinks they deserve it, and she actually gets enough Character Development to end up regretting how she treated Ranma.
    • Ranma's ailurophobia is so severe he cannot even say the word "cat". He is also portrayed as so "conditioned" by fiancée abuse that honest affection from Rei and Asuka puts him a terror-based fugue.
    • Soun is a human waterfall at the least provocation.
    • Nodoka spouting "My son is so manly" and waving fans at every opportunity.
    • Shampoo's trademark weapons (called chui) are referred to as bonbori, a fan usage dating back to the 1990s.
  • First Kiss: Several take place in chapter 12.
  • Folgers Crossover/Fusion Fic: Ranma Saotome of Ranma ½ replaces Shinji Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
  • For Want of a Nail: Ranma deliberately sets about to change the ending of Evangelion. Although he's careful about early changes that might send the timeline spiraling off into something unrecognizable where his knowledge of the series would be useless, he does achieve a number of surprising direct and indirect successes, including keeping Toji from losing An Arm and a Leg and his own relationships with Asuka and Rei.
  • Friendly Fireproof: Averted during the ambush attack on Ranma, Rei and Asuka (now in the "real" world) in the final chapter. Ranma dodges poisoned shuriken thrown by Mousse; they hit Ryouga instead and kill him.
  • God Test: Ranma repeatedly has to demonstrate what he's capable of when his claims and explanations are doubted by the people around him, like Misato and Asuka -- at least the first few times.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: Misato's attempt to prank Ranma in chapter 9 is basically harmless, but results in him curled into a fetal ball, nearly catatonic and expecting to be beaten by the girls.
  • Groin Attack:
    • Gendo inflicts one on Ranma during their "spar" in chapter 3. Unfortunately for him, Ranma toughs it out instead of folding.
    • Judging by Kaji's off-screen cries of pain, Misato inflicts one on him in chapter 12 while extracting some revenge for the plan he came up with to deal with Israfel.
    • Akane inflicts one on Kuno during his few moments "on-screen" that effectively (and permanently) neuters him.
  • Hold Up Your Score: When Akane mallets Ryoga at the start of chapter 3, Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo and Cologne all hold up scores.
  • Hurricane of Puns: Misato and Ritsuko trade cat jokes and puns while discussing the physical changes Ranma underwent after mastering the Nekoken in chapter 14.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Shampoo has strong opinions about Misato:

"Shampoo no like Airen living with purple-haired slut."

  • Later, when Ranma's Inner Monologue describes Akane as an "abusive hypocrite". she immediately vows to beat him for it on his return.

To call him a snake is an insult to snakes everywhere.

  • Inner Monologue: Ranma's thoughts are apparently presented to the show's watchers in Nerima as some manner of narration, given their responses to things he does not say out loud.
  • Karma Houdini: Gosunkugi, whose spellcasting sent Ranma into the Evangelion tapes, disappears from the story after he plays his part and never gets any kind of comeuppance for a successful attack on the other boy.
  • Kawaiiko: Ranma (and later Asuka) can turn this on and off at will; they usually use it to scam ice cream or just for humor's sake.
  • Killed Off for Real:
    • Ritsuko takes a bullet for Misato during SEELE's invasion of the Geofront.
    • Ryoga as a result of the ambush at the end of the story
  • Lemony Narrator: The narrative voice of the story is not above throwing in the occasional comment or explanation.
  • Lickspittle: Ranma's opinion of Fuyutsuki. She calls him a "boot-licking toady" and a "spineless worm" to his face in chapter 8.
  • Literal-Minded: Ranma does this sometimes for humor value:

"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.

  • Rei gets away with a few things once she starts embracing her emotions simply by playing up her earlier literal-mindedness and ignorance, such as when she walks in on Ranma in the bath in chapter 8.
  • Male Gaze:
    • Invoked by Asuka in chapter 11 as the pilots crawl through ductwork to get into the Geofront. Ranma is bringing up the rear, and Asuka demands to know if he's looking up her skirt. (When he truthfully answers "yes", she replies "Good, just checking" and wiggles her butt at him.)
    • Exploited by Ranma in early chapter 12 when, in girl form, she leads Kaji to meet with Misato in a NERV gym; she puts a little swing in her hips to keep him distracted about why Misato wants to see him.
  • Meaningful Name/Punny Name: The unnamed boring teacher who lectures interminably about Second Impact is here given the name "Bendo Steinakawa".
  • The Mole: Ranma becomes this inside NERV, undermining Gendo, subverting Ritsuko's loyalty to him, winning Misato, Rei and Asuka to his side, and eventually making contact with the JSSDF to get their help against the inevitable invasion by SEELE.
  • 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.
  • The Multiverse: Subverted. Ranma, it turns out, has not been transplanted to an actual different universe in which the events of Evangelion play out, but in a full-experience recreation of it in which he is the only "real" person -- at least until the end.
  • Overly Narrow Superlative: Although it isn't obvious to its recipient:

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.

  • Parental Relationship Veto: Gendo tries to exercise this in chapter 16 when he finally learns of Rei's relationship with Ranma and Asuka, but she defies him and walks out on him.
  • 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.
  • Post-Victory Collapse: Ranma collapses in exhaustion and passes out after defeating Adam in Terminal Dogma.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: At one point Ranma does this to Asuka, overwhelming her with faux cuteness.
  • Reality Ensues: When Ranma is attacked by the usual gang of idiots after he has moved away from Nerima in the final chapter. The police arrive, one of the attackers is accidentally killed by another, the rest are arrested, and in general it is nothing like the Slapstick violence we're used to.
  • Reverse Polarity: Effectively what Rei does to defeat Armisael, the sixteenth angel. Using a technique she and Ranma had developed after an earlier angel battle, she overpowered the angel's corruption attack, forcing it back and instead corrupting the angel before absorbing it into her Evangelion.
  • The Rival: As part of enticing Asuka into a friendship, Ranma points out that they can be best friends and rivals at the same time. For Asuka, who was already inclined to accept the offer, this just seals the deal.
  • Shipper on Deck: Kasumi (and later Nabiki), for Ranma and both Rei and Asuka.
  • Single-Minded Twins: During (and sometimes after) the training to defeat Israfel, Ranma (in girl form) and Asuka do this. Toji thinks it makes them Creepy Twins.
  • Smarter Than You Look: Ranma. The author writes a Ranma who is very intelligent but ignorant outside of martial arts. Part of this story involves him becoming motivated to learn some (many?) of the things he was ignorant about.
  • 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.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: One of the reasons Rei and Asuka give to Ranma to convince him to make love to them in male form for the first time in chapter 17 -- that if he does get one or both of them pregnant, and they survive SEELE's upcoming attack and only for him to be returned to his original timeline, they'll still have "a little piece" of him with them.
  • Staring Contest: Rei and Pen-pen get into a series of them in chapter 9. She wins them all.
    • Hikari tries her luck against Pen-pen later; it's not revealed who won.
  • The Stoic: Rei, as in canon Evangelion, but here we learn that she's been trained to be a stoic, rather than it being a consequence of her isolated upbringing. With Ranma's encouragement, she abandons her training.
  • Sweat Drop: Multiple appearances, usually in response to something Ranma has done or said, often in conjunction with Asuka and/or Rei.
  • Sweet Tooth: Ranma introduces Rei to the wonders of ice cream and chocolate, and she is never the same again.
  • Time Skip: Calamity Cordite left out the tenth and eleventh angels, claiming in an author's note that Ranma's presence caused no significant differences from canon in their battles.
  • Training from Hell: Ranma inflicts his own version (substantially less insane than Genma's) on Misato, in part as revenge for the stupid and useless dance-coordination training that was supposed to help with Israfel.
  • Tranquil Fury: Rei's response to Ritsuko's prevarications about the chances of recovering Ranma from his merger with Unit-01.
  • Trapped in TV Land: Due to a magical spell, Ranma is trapped inside a series of video tapes which contain a copy of the anime series 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 fiancées, 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.
  • Triang Relations: When Asuka arrives in Tokyo-3, she, Ranma and Rei end up in a type 7, where Ranma is "a". Eventually, though, it evolves into a type 8.
  • Twin Threesome Fantasy: Referenced at the end of the story by Rei, who notes that she gets to experience this with Asuka and Girl!Ranma.
  • What Is This Feeling?: Rei is ... confused by the pleasant sensations she feels while watching a bare-chested Ranma as he fought with Gendo during their "spar" in chapter 3, and while remembering it afterward. Analyzing them eventually leads her to A Date with Rosie Palms. This leads her into exploring all the other emotions she has been suppressing for years.
  • Women's Mysteries: Ranma finds himself having to explain Asuka's first period -- and everything that goes along with it -- to her. And then gets forced by Misato and Asuka to do the same for Rei some weeks later.
  • You Don't Want to Die a Virgin, Do You?: Never actually said by anyone, but it's certainly an undercurrent when Asuka and Rei insist Ranma make love to them in his male form for the first time right before they expect SEELE to attack NERV.
  • 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.
  • Zany Scheme: Kaji's "train the pilots with dance to work in perfect coordination" plan to deal with Israfel, in Ranma's opinion. When Ranma learns the EVAs are ready long before Israfel has finished regenerating, he blows his stack. Abandoning the training, he and Asuka deploy immediately to kill the twin angel on a simple count of three while it's still immobile and weakened.
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