Question: What if Ryoga was truly as evil and honor less as most authors portray him to be?
A Darker Path Taken
Daisuke hummed a mindless tune as he exited the school grounds. Mamori had finally agreed to go on a date with him that Saturday, a concession to the countless hours he had spent whining about it to her.
'Score one for persistence!' he thought pumping his fist in the air. He idly noted a rough looking stranger standing by the gates of Furinkan High, looking at the gates in puzzlement.
Daisuke kept on walking right past the stranger, until his motion was abruptly and painfully halted. His head spun as he felt his feet leave the ground. Focusing his eyes, he saw that the strange boy was holding him up in the air with one hand, a fistful of his shirt in the boy's clenched fist.
"Where is Furinkan High School?" he said, his tone of voice calm, but with an undercurrent of something….darker. Daisuke gulped.
"Ah, it's right there…" He pointed to the school building, then to the sign on the gates that read: "Furinkan High School". The boy studied the plaque for a second, before turning his intense gaze back onto Daisuke.
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" Daisuke almost panicked before he noticed Ranma walking out of school with Akane. "He's…over there…" he rasped, his dry throat contracting as he swallowed nervously.
The boy tossed him to the side negligently, not even looking back as Daisuke hit the wall hard.
Ranma reflected on his first week of school as he left the building, Akane walking silently beside him. All in all, it hadn't been too bad a week, aside from Kuno groping him at every opportunity.
Things were starting to settle down a bit and it looked like he would have some momentary peace and quiet.
His thoughts were shattered as he heard a loud voice coming from above him.
"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!"
Pushing off with his legs, he twisted to the side, flipping out of the way. Landing easily, he assessed the shaggy haired boy kneeling in the massive crater he had created. The boy raised his head, revealing a grin that was mostly feral. "You haven't changed Ranma. You're still good at running away."
Ranma cocked his head to the side. "Do I know you?"
The boy stood up slowly, raising his umbrella to point at Ranma's chest. "I'll give you a clue. Do you remember junior high? The curry bread?"
Ranma's eyes widened in recognition. "Hey! Ryoga, Ryoga Hibiki! How you doin' man!"
Ryoga snarled an ugly, hateful sound. "Shut up! I'm here for revenge, not to chat about old times. Say your prayers Saotome. I'm going to kill you."
Ranma smirked, his carefully practiced grin guaranteed to drive his opponents mad in less than five seconds. "Yeah, yeah. Let's see if you can actually pull it off." With a yell of rage, the lost boy jumped at Ranma, swinging his umbrella in a deadly arc. Ranma nimbly jumped to the side, kicking the lost boy in the back as he went by.
Ryoga stumbled to a halt, digging his umbrella into the ground to stop his momentum. 'He's fast…'
As the infuriated lost boy chased Ranma around the gates area, the students were offering running commentary. Ever since Ranma had come into their lives, casual violence and things that defied the laws of physics no longer shocked them.
"That guy is pretty good. Might even be a match for Saotome."
"No way man! He can't even hit Saotome!"
"Yeah, but he's got some serious strength. Look at the size of that crater!"
"I wonder if he's single?"
"What! Are you crazy Yuki! He's obviously crazy! Mentally unbalanced!"
"Well, you do have to admit he's kinda cute. In a bestial kinda way."
"Yeah, well, whatever floats your boat. I don't care how cute he is."
Ryoga finally tired of chasing Ranma around the gates. "Enough playing around. It's time to end this!"
He turned around slowly, reaching into his pack. Ranma tensed himself for an attack, then paled as Ryoga pulled out a sawed off shotgun. "W..what kinda marital artist are you? No honorable martial artist uses a gun!"
Ryoga bared his teeth in a horrible rictus of a grin, his extra long canines giving him the appearance of a demon. "I never said this was about martial arts! This is about revenge! Die!"
He jumped for Ranma, cocking the barrel as he flew closer. Ranma watched the gun intently. 'Okay, I can handle this. Just gotta time it right.' He waited until Ryoga was almost in range, then threw himself to the side, out of effective range of the gun. He might have made it if he hadn't collided with Ryoga's umbrella, set up directly in his path.
Ryoga grinned evilly. "Game over, Saotome." He pulled the trigger and Akane screamed as Ranma's head disappeared in a spray of blood. The students looked on in shock.
"Holy crap, he just killed Saotome!"
"Somebody get the cops!"
Ryoga looked down at the corpse that was once Ranma Saotome. "Debt paid in full Ranma." He staggered as a strong punch connected with the back of his head.
Turning, he saw the girl that had been with Ranma, fist drawn back for another punch. As her fist flashed forward, he caught it easily with one hand. "What's your problem?"
"You murderer! You killed Ranma! What did he ever do to you?" Tears streamed down Akane's face as she struggled to remove her fist from his iron grip. Seeing that it wasn't working, she put all of her strength into a punch with her other fist. Ryoga caught the other fist as easily as the first, holding the struggling girl immobile as she screamed obscenities at him.
"His list of grievances is longer than I can count. His past has finally caught up with him. As mutual respect for a great martial artist, I'll let you bury him in the plot of his families choosing. Goodbye." With that final statement, he leapt onto the roof of the school and soon bounded out of sight.
A.N. Before Ryoga fans lynch me at high noon, let me say that I'm a fan too.
I don't think he's perfect, of course, but I'm fascinated by the complexity yet simplicity of his character.
This is but one scenario that might have occurred were Ryoga truly as honor less and evil as he is often written. I've never bought into the 'honor less, violent beyond all reason, always blames Ranma for his problems-bastard' that Ryoga is often cast as. That is purely a fanon creation. Those who think that he is really like this either never read the manga or have only watched the anime. The anime is quite misleading as it exaggerates the character flaws of the Ranma ½ crew. So I never use that as source material.