Ranma Saotome barely remembers his mother; he was taken away by his father Genma for martial arts training at a very early age. Their travels eventually ended them up in China when Ranma was sixteen. There they knocked each other into the cursed springs of Jusenkyo; Genma became a panda, while Ranma became a buxom female version of himself.
Ranma and Genma returned to Japan, moving into the house of Genma's old friend Soun Tendo. Soun and Genma announced that Ranma would be married to one of the Tendo daughters; the other two sisters nominated Akane. For Ranma and Akane it was bickering at first sight. He called her an uncute tomboy and said that his girl form was better built than she was. She called him a jerk and a pervert, and inflicted slapstick violence on him. This sort of thing became a familiar sight around the Tendo home and Furinkan High School. Over time he and Akane have come to truly care for one another, but they are unlikely to admit it either to themselves or to anyone else.
Personality: Martial arts is Ranma's life. He rarely refuses a challenge, and he hates to lose at anything. The combination of skill, resourcefulness, and persistence makes him very difficult to beat. He does have an honorable streak, and probably wouldn't try to win by cheating. He is nowhere near as skilled at personal relations as he is at fighting, however, which may explain why he hasn't dissuaded any of his many suitors. Though he would jump at the chance to get rid of his curse, he has over time gotten used to being a girl, and will use his girl form to his advantage when possible.
Appearance: Ranma has a muscular but not bulky frame. He has black hair that he wears in a pig-tail. He normally wears old-style Chinese clothes; if he wants to go formal, he'll wear a 1970's style Chinese "people's jacket" and a matching cap with a star on it. As a girl he is smaller, but otherwise looks identical. He uses rough, slangy speech in either form.