Ami Mizuno could calm this savage beast. If he was a savage predator, she was seen as a member of his pack.
Others joined this pack soon enough. Makoto Kino and Hotaru Tomoe became a sort of "big sister" and "little sister" associated with the place. Doctor Mizuno gradually was able to influence Ranma when he shifted, apparently also getting included in that "pack".
Though Doctor Mizuno's reaction to Ranma when he shifted was rather different. When she had first studied him on his shifting, she'd looked into the eyes of the predator - and that memory stayed with her. She knew that he would not do anything to harm her daughter, that he was fiercely protective of her and eventually the other house-mates. That memory of the beast lurking in Ranma's form was quite clear though. Nothing like a human civilized moral or ethical structure had been present.
1984 had seen the home with its borders shaken by an event.
SERA had eventually come up with a ranking system for the various monsters.
Gamma Class - Least worrisome monsters. They posed a threat to cats, rats, small birds, and the like. Sleeping humans might have to worry about a Gamma Class - getting drunk and sleeping it off in a doorway outside on a foggy night was not recommended. Gamma Class mainly were mischievious or could be seen lurking.Delta Class - Powerful enough to be a threat to a lone human, but a single unarmed human could usually fend it off. Stronger than Gamma, weaker than Kappa. Human weapons were capable of slaying a Delta class. Zombies were Delta Class - only really a problem if they attacked en masse.
Kappa Class - More a problem than a Gamma. Kappa also referred to the most commonly occurred of the group - something vaguely akin to a kappa that lurked in rivers and waters on those foggy nights. Mainly if you left a kappa alone - it would leave you alone. You could even bribe a kappa - they liked alcohol. Other Kappa Class monsters were likewise a threat only if you roused them to anger. A Kappa Class monster was powerful enough to be a danger to humans, but was vulnerable to human weapons and wasn't considered a serious threat for the most part.
Beta Class - the most commonly encountered actually dangerous monsters. This had either special defenses that made typical human weapons useless or special attacks that went through human defenses. They could be held off by thresholds, by holy ground, and by special vulnerabilities. Vampiric entities, sea serpents, fetches, and the like.
Alpha Class - the ones that raised the most fear. Generals of the forces of darkness. Things that cut down on the number of demonhunters. Sometimes the demonhunter won, the best of the group with special equipment and abilities. Sometimes a demonhunter would fall.
Omega Class - not an official classification, more a speculation based on that Generals generally served someone. Whoever would be a the top of the hierarchy would be above the Alpha class.
A few were named by the press or SERA operatives. Azul the Blue, Rosso the Crimson, Phantasm, Nock.
It was in 1984 that Nock appeared in the mists and regarded Ranma.
When she was criticized for a jittery video recording of the Alpha, Doctor Mizuno advised the critics that they could stand there and face THAT and see if they could keep perfectly steady. The video had been shot from inside through a second floor window, and those yellow eyes had been at her own level.
It had dropped a local kappa, who'd begun dissolving immediately, and it had regarded Ranma. Ranma had hissed and regarded IT as well.
"Nock," had said the thing, dimly visible as a shape of twisted spikes and wrong angles.
"Ranma," had growled back Ranma, his eyes seemingly glowing red as he prepared to defend his household.
The apparition had faded after a few minutes.
Ami, Hotaru, and Makoto had been brave little girls. They had hidden behind Ranma - but despite their ages hadn't screamed once.
Ranma would later report that the thing in the mist had been Nock, and that he would be back - to deal with Ranma when he was "ripe".
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sun, 05 Nov 2006 08:52)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.