The Wild Horse Thesis: Difference between revisions

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The Wild Horse Thesis
 
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''[[The Wild Horse Thesis]]'' by "Calamity Cordite" (AKA "Calamity-Queen of Cordite"; real name Lisa Grey) is a [[Crossover Fic|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 and-- 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, unspokenunvarnished 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 [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3107822/1/The_Wild_Horse_Thesis here].
 
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* [[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:
{{quote|"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."}}
 
* [[All Just a Dream]]: Ranma's initial suspicion upon realizing in chapter 1 that he's inside ''Evangelion''. [[Pinch Me|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.
 
* [[Brutal Honesty]]: Ranma, even more so than in the source material:
{{quote|"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."}}
 
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: A literal one, when it turns out {{spoiler|the prime mover from almost the first sentence has been the Egyptian goddess Bast, in response to the prayers of Nodoka, and she 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}}.
 
* [[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.
* [[Identical Stranger]]: Ranma's girl form and Asuka can pass for twins.
 
* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Shampoo has strong opinions about Misato:
{{quote|"Shampoo no like Airen living with purple-haired slut."}}
 
* [[Identical Stranger]]: Ranma's girl form and Asuka can (and ''do'') pass for twins.
 
* [[Insult to Rocks]]: Ranma, regarding Gendo:
{{quote|To call him a snake is an insult to snakes everywhere.}}
 
* [[Lemony Narrator]]: The narrative voice is not above throwing in the occasional comment or explanation.
 
* [[Literal-Minded]]: Ranma does this sometimes for humor value:
{{quote|"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.}}
 
* [[Meaningful Name]]/[[Punny Name]]: The unnamed boring teacher who lectures interminably about Second Impact is here given the name [[Ben Stein|"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, {{spoiler|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:
{{quote|"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.}}
 
* [[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 {{spoiler|''both'' Rei and Asuka}}.
 
* [[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 [[Martial Arts and Crafts|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.
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* [[Twin Threesome Fantasy]]: Referenced at the end of the story by {{spoiler|Rei, who notes that she gets to experience this with Asuka and Girl!Ranma}}.
 
* [[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
 
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Trivia about ''[[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]]'' includes:
 
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** Naming the homeroom teacher [[Ben Stein|"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
 
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Banished to a doomed world, [[Ranma ½|Ranma Saotome]] fights to save humanity and befriend two girls who need it.
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FRIDGE
 
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== Fridge Brilliance ==
 
== Fridge Horror ==
 
== 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.
 
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* Although at first the idea that ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is [[Ranma ½|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.