The Amazon Connection
Shampoo
Seemingly innocent because of her limited knowledge of the English/Japanese language
and equipped with more Jusenkyo mail order products than you can shake a Bonbori at,
Shampoo is desperate and pushy about Ranma�s feelings towards her. She is constantly
bribing him to go on dates and trying to put Akane out of the picture. She doesn�t seem
too bright at times, but knows exactly what buttons to push to make Akane angry at
Rnam. This is how she mostly operates, until she falls into Jusenkyo herself.
Shampoo becomes a cat when splashed with cold water, which can be used to her
advantage or disadvantage. You see, Ranma is terribly afraid of cats. Since Shampoo�s
method of �winning� Ranma, so to speak, seems to be through fear and bullying, she can
use this to help her. However, if Ranma DID choose Shampoo, this would be one thing
standing between them forever.
There stands a great controversty over Shampoo�s feelings for Ranma. Whether she
loves him or she�s just spoiled from Mousse�s blinded (haha pun) love for her. After all,
the only reason she�s engaged to Ranma is because of her tribe�s tradition of marrying to
the man who can defeat her in battle. Ranma did so and Mousse did not, indicating that
Shampoo does not have much of a heart. However, she does prove something when she
cries over losing Ranma on her first trip to Japan.
She and her grandmother, Cologne, run the cat caf� while Mousse, Shampoo�s admirer,
tags along behind them.
Shampoo met Ranma, shortly after he had fallen into the cursed springs, wen he entered
an Amazoness fighting tournament to earn the food he and his father had already
half-eaten. After defeating Shampoo, the female Ranma is given the �kiss of death� as
Shampoo swears to kill Ranma. She follows Ranma back to China but when the male
Ranma defeats her in battle (on accident, might I add), she vows on her life that she will be
Ranma�s bride.
Mousse
Mousse, Shampoo�s loyal admirer, has followed Shampoo around since they were little.
He has always protected her and cared for her, but his love remains unreturned by
Shampoo because of an incident when they were five. Mousse lost to her in battle. In the
Amazon culture, if a man loses to a woman he may never marry her.
He lives with Cologne and Shampoo, and helps run the cat caf�. (Cologne, Shampoo
and Mosse? C�mon, he BELONGS in the family!) Cologne treats him cordially although
she is very firm that he can�t marry Shampoo, but Shampoo still won�t give him the time
of day. (Poor guy!) She completely despises every aspect of him. However, she begins
to soften up towards him after he seriously hurts himself when fighting Ranma for
Shampoo (Ranma: Heh, take her!). Mouse is similar to Ryoga in that he feels an
unrequited love for Shampoo as Ryoga does for Akane and both are lost to Ranma.
However, Mousse bears more of a malice towards Ranma than Ryoga does, and even
threatens to harm Akane on several occaisions to get to Ranma. He can�t see very well,
and although he looks very handsome, his glasses often hide most of his face. He wears
baggy clothes and shoulder-length hair in which to hide weapons. Even without his large
overcoat, he manages to hide enough weapons to give Ranma a very hard time.
Cologne
As strong as she is ugly and old, Cologne is the trainer of the two strongest/fastest young
characters: Ranma and Ryoga. She could still kick their butts of course, being an Amazon
herself. (She's Shampoo's Great-Grandmother). She is incredibly skilled in battle. She is
also very clever and is often pulling tricks to get Ranma to marry Shampoo.
Her initiative for training Ranma is to make him a good grandson. She puts him through
the toughest training he's ever been through. And even so, he does not even compare to
her strength, knowledge, and maturity (perhaps this comes with time. Say, 200 years?)
Her initiative to train Ryoga is so that he can possibly defeat Ranma in battle. She catches
him in a rut of his depression, and promises him that if he can defeat Ranma, he could win
Akane. And, therefore, Ranma could marry Shampoo. (Ever notice how people in
Ranma ALWAYS use Ryoga to get Akane out of the way? I gotta say, my heart goes out
to that guy.)
Apparently, Cologne had some sort of affair with Happosai a million years ago when
they were young. Either that or Happosai just imagined it.
Between her superhuman strength and wit, and her big cane, I have to admit, Cologne is
an admirable character.
