Ryoga Hibiki
Ryoga Hibiki (響 良牙 Hibiki Ryōga) is an important supporting character in Rumiko Takahashi's anime and manga series Ranma ½.
He is Ranma Saotome's principal rival, both in martial arts prowess and for the affections of Ranma's unwilling fiancee Akane Tendo.
Background
Ryoga first met Ranma in junior high school, where he felt slighted because Ranma was always beating him to the best food at lunch. He challenged Ranma to a duel, but did not show up for three days. Ranma was gone by the time he arrived at the vacant lot on the fourth day. Ryoga has an extremely bad problem with directions and locations, and had spent the time running all over Japan looking for "that cursed lot" which happened to be right behind his house. Ryoga is known for having a poor sense of direction, and he often refers to it as one of his many curses. In fanfiction, his sense of direction is commonly emphasized to the degree that Ryoga routinely travels to different continents. In some cases of such fanfiction, Ryoga's poor direction sense is more like a form of involuntary teleportation; he has crossed from Russia to Japan in three hours -on foot-, confused the Eiffel Tower with the Tokyo Tower and routinely turns up in cupboards, closets and cabinets despite the fact the last thing he recalled was making a turn down some road.
A few years later, Ryoga appears at Furinkan High School to challenge Ranma once again. The first charge was unsuccessful as Ryoga ends up barreling through Furinkan and getting lost for another few days. He soon returns and the two have their first match. The fight ends when Ryoga accidentally cuts off part of Akane's hair, forcing both boys to apologize profusely. During the course of the battle, Ryoga discovers Ranma's curse.
After another fight ends with a rainstorm, Ranma discovers that Ryoga has also been to the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. After finding two animals on the scene -- a dog and a pot-bellied piglet, Ranma tries to interrogate the dog while Akane tends to and takes in the pig. Akane tells Ranma to bathe the pig, but when Ranma puts the pig in the hot bath Ryoga pops out. Akane decides to adopt the pig, naming him P-chan ("cute pig"), totally unaware of his dual identity. Due to it being partially his fault that Ryoga became a piglet in the first place, Ranma has been sworn to secrecy about P-chan's identity, but likes to subtly hint to Akane about it.
Soon after, Ryoga becomes a member of the "Nerima Wrecking Crew," a term created by fans to refer to the various martial artists that live in and around Nerima. One way or another he usually finds himself back in Nerima whether to challenge Ranma, find a cure for the Jusenkyo curse, or become entangled in the schemes and chaos that seem to follow his rival.
Ryoga is known to live in a house that is within sight of Mt. Fuji where his dog, Shirokuro (Checkers in the English Anime and Manga) and her pups live. It is often empty, as his parents seem to share his horrible sense of direction.
Character Overview
Ryoga stands out in the crowd due to his often unkempt and rough appearance. He spends much of his time wandering the globe, sometimes angsting over his 'accursed fate' which results either in an emotional outburst and later massive blasts of depressive ki.
At first glance, he seems to be stoic, unfriendly and unapproachable. In reality, Ryoga is quite emotional, more often than not following his heart rather than his head. Perhaps due to his sense of direction and his years of solitude, Ryoga is quite emotionally fragile and naive. He is often easily tricked and used by some of the more manipulative characters. Because of this he is usually quite depressed and angsty, especially in regards to his 'curses.'
Despite his faults, Ryoga is an honorable warrior and a solid friend. A prime example of this is when Ranma was weakened by the Moxibustion Point by Happosai. While the rest of his rivals took advantage of this to gain their revenge over Ranma, Ryoga actually defended him. In fact, he was saddened by the loss of his rival and helped him regain his strength. He has also helped Ranma on more than one occaision like the battle with Musk Dynasty warriors and the Phoenix People. All of these are signs of a strong bond of friendship between Ryoga and his eternal rival.
Abilities
Ryoga is one of the most proficient martial artists in the Ranmaverse, second only to Ranma. His power lies in his own monstrous strength and stamina honed through years of training the mountains as well as Elder Cologne's Breaking Point Training. He's been known to plow through walls, fight wild boars, and have entire buildings dropped on him and still he'd be able to fight on. Besides his own physical prowess, Ryoga also has a variety of techinques at his disposal.
Bandannas/Umbrella/Belt: Ryoga is known to wield very unconventional weaponry, among them his own clothing. He seems to have a neverending supply of his trademark bandannas, using them as razor sharp missles and can even turns his belt into a blade capable of cutting through a tree with a single slash. His umbrella is unusually heavy, but Ryoga easily wields it with one hand to deadly effect.
Breaking Point (爆砕点穴 - Bakusai Tenketsu): A technique taught to Ryoga by Cologne. Originally used by workers to clear way debris, Ryoga is able to shatter rocks and similar substances with a finger. The training for this technique is grueling, consisting of tying yourself and a boulder to a tree and repeatedly slamming yourself into it until you figure out the 'breaking point.' The technique is useless on humans, but the side-effects of the training make the recipient nearly invincible to physical attacks.
Lion Roar Shot (獅子咆哮弾 - Shi Shi Hokoudan): Ryoga's single most powerful technique taught to him by a construction worker during his wanderings. By concentrating his depression and anger into his ki, Ryoga is able to unleash a massive blast of energy from his palms. When he was first taught it, in its imperfect form, the attack was strong enough to defeat Ranma in one shot. The secret to perfecting the technique lay in the use of the ki and the strength of the user's emotions. As ki generated by depression and anger is 'heavy,' by projecting it into the air, Ryoga creates a massive sphere of ki that can decimate a whole city block. Since Ryoga is 'emotionally hollow' after the attack, he himself is unaffected by the blast.
Relationships
Later in the manga, Ryoga meets a girl named Akari Unryuu who runs a dojo dedicated to training massive pigs called "sumo pigs". By accidentally defeating her strongest pig, Katsunishiki, Ryoga became Akari's betrothed. Akari herself is a sweet girl that even accepts Ryoga's curse. Although a comparison to all the noble qualities of pigs upsets Ryoga, Akari falls in love with him.
Many relationshippers in Ranma ½ fandom prefer to pair up Ryoga with Ukyo Kuonji, although there is little canon evidence to support this. This most likely stems from the fact that, in the early manga and all of the anime, Ukyo and Ryoga often scheme together to try and break up Ranma and Akane. The idea of them as a couple was probably cemented into fanon by the Cursed Cave of Lost Love storyline, where the ghosts who haunt the cave ignore Ranma and Akane to try and 'break up' Ryoga and Ukyo, who they feel have a much better (and more romantic) relationship than Ranma and Akane do.
In fanfiction, Ryoga usually winds up paired with Akari, however there have been cases of fanfiction in which Ryoga winds up with Akane, a few rare ones feature him and Shampoo or Ukyo, and one has him paired with Nabiki. Sometimes Ryoga, in fanfiction, will find himself paired with Ranma's girl form! And even more rarely with Ranma's male side.