Pink & Link

Pink & Link (Pin Ke and Lin Ke, Hinku and Rinku) are twin sisters. They live in a village near to the Joketsuzoku called Yaokaicun, which is famous for its herbalists. As children they met with Shampoo who was poisoned by Pink and then healed by Link, however, as they are twins Shampoo couldn't tell them apart and so mistook them for the same person, leading her to beat up either one on sight whenever she met them.

Like many twins around the world, Pink and Link have rhyming names. There is no hidden meaning behind them. Sometimes Link's name is translated as "Rink" due to the.

Overview
Pink and Link usually say 'please' (others think they say ) at the end of their sentences and act quite opposite to each other. Pink is sadistic, ruthless and cheerful, gladly sacrificing any innocents that come in her way. Link is righteous, considerate and serious, and generally saves Pink's victims or anyone sickly she comes across, turning sad when she gets wrongly blamed. However, they are both loyal to each other, and collaborate when taking revenge for injustices.

History
Ten years prior to the events of the series, Shampoo met Pink while she was visiting Yaokaicun with Cologne to get some medical herbs. Pink then blows some seeds onto Shampoo and then pours water over Shampoo. Shampoo then kicks Pink and asks her what she's doing, to which Pink explains that she's planting flowers the way her mother showed her. The effects of Pink's nearly kills Shampoo, however, Link arrives and heals her in time. Shampoo, however, mistakes Link for Pink and punches her into the air.

After this incident, whenever Shampoo went to Yaokaicun to get herbs, Pink and Link would try to use their herbs on her. So Shampoo decided to beat them up until they learned to stop doing it to her (although it was only ever Link who got beat up). Links pain caused her to decide with Pink that they'll make Shampoo and her husband to suffer like they had.

Pink and Link
Thanks to Shampoo including her address when an article about her (falsely) being married to Ranma is published in a local Joketsuzoku newspaper, Nyuuchezu, the twins are able to track down Shampoo and so go to Furinkan to find her. Pink finds Ranma first and uses a cloud of dust with Mandrake seeds to make an entrance as well as allowing the seeds to attach to Ranma's clothing. After a quick friendly meeting, Pink checks the weather is correct and leaves Ranma so the Mandrake can take hold.

Due to the rain, Ranma turns into his female form. Ranma is then found by Akane and then Link, who explains about the Mandrake being poisonous. Link then quickly prepares the antidote and Ranma soon recovers. However, Ranma believes Link to be Pink so shouts at her for it being her fault she was poisoned in the first place. This upsets Link greatly, who runs off crying at being shouted for just helping someone.

Later that day, the twins find the Cat Café. They then try using the Mandrake on Ranma and Shampoo, but Shampoo fans the seeds away so the Mandrake plants just grow over customers orders instead. Due to the twins wearing a large cloak it appears as is it is one person, albeit with four arms. The twins soon shed the cloak and reveal themselves as twins to Ranma and Akane for the first time.

The twins then explain their reasons for wanting revenge of Shampoo and her husband given what Shampoo did to them during most of their life since meeting her. Not waisting any more time, the twins launch another herbal attack, although this time they mix two types of plants together. Ranma, Shampoo and Akane manage to avoid the attack, but several men who were passing the Cat Café at the time are hit by the attack and turn into the perfect housewives who won't ever defend themselves, no matter what is done to them. The twins then try to attack Shampoo again with the technique, but Shampoo just kicks the pair skyward demanding they just leave her alone already.

When Ranma returns with Akane to the Tendo Dojo he goes to have a bath, but finds the twins in there growing more flowers for their "Flower of Womanhood" technique and claim the bathroom to be the perfect nursery. Pink and Link tell Ranma that should he get in their way he'll regret it. The pair then attack Ranma with "Poison Pads" which Pink ends up sticking to Ranma when he slips on some soap. Link then puts some "Attack Pads" on Soun, Genma and Akane when they enter, which are attracted to the pads on Ranma so they begin punching him uncontrollably.

Link tells Ranma that their revenge is just beginning and the twins shut Ranma out of the bathroom. However, Ranma quickly rushes back in, only to be stopped by a large pair of leaves suddenly appearing from a plant grown by Pink and Link. The twins believe that they can now continue their work in peace, but Shampoo crashes through the wall behind them demanding they leave Ranma out of this as it's between them. The twins tells Shampoo that attacking them in the hot house was a stupid idea and then perform the "Flower of Womanhood" on Shampoo before kidnapping her. They also leave a message on a mirror saying that Ranma is next.

That evening the pair manage to grow a monstrously large flower, which has Shampoo trapped in the centre of it's blossom. The twins appear to Ranma and explain that if Ranma wants Shampoo back he'll have to climb the flower to save her. They continue by jumping up to the blossom themselves, just before the flower grows even larger in size. As they watch from the blossom, Shampoo regains consciousness and walks up behind them. Shampoo then asks Pink and Link what happens if she comes and beats them up, before doing so herself.

Shampoo reveals she used a Flower Holder so she wouldn't be affected by the Flower of Womanhood, she then tells Pink and Link to do as she said, threatening them with violence if they didn't. When Ranma arrives, Pink and Link (who are bruised from being beaten up by Shampoo) pretend to still be in control of the situation as Shampoo melodramatically plays the damsel-in-destress. The twins then begin fighting, but struggle against Poduduan and Zhandudoa which Ranma acquired from Cologne earlier. However, after Link destroyed Poduduan with over-the-counter medicine and Ranma used Zhandudoa once (the most the sword can be used to cut through poisons) they use a special pollen to render Ranma and Shampoo immobile.

The blossom of the flower then detaches from the rest of the plant and flies off, landing in the Furinkan High School grounds. A large garden of other enormous plants grows almost instantly, with all of the plants being highly poisonous. Deep inside the garden, Ranma and Shampoo are trapped in a cage of paralysing vines with flowers that release poisons when disturbed. Shampoo tells Ranma to stay still and they won't get poisoned, but this just prompts Pink to move the cage for them, causing more poisons to fall from above.

After Akane enters the garden to try and save Ranma, she sets off an alarm system which cause Pink and Link to go after the her. They soon find Akane and try to use a "Poison Herb Bomb" of her, but Akane uses Fuo-Shenshan (received from Cologne, along with Fuo-Yanshan) to waft the poison back at the pair. Link is luckily able to make the antidote, allowing the pair to attack Akane with a large poison plant that has several vines. Akane defends herself with Fuo-Yanshan, which burns the plant to a cinder and burns Pink and Link as well. Akane tells the pair that if they tell her where Ranma and Shampoo are she won't hurt them, but they just tell Akane that it's too late for that.

Regardless, the twins take Akane to Ranma and Shampoo. As the trio argue over Ranma nearly kissing Shampoo, Pink walks up and asks why they can't just get along (patting their backs in the process), but is quickly kicked by Shampoo and told to stay out of this. When Ranma and Akane decide to leave Pink, Link and Shampoo to settle their differences at their own pace, Shampoo orders the twins to go after them. The pair do so, but Link tells Pink that they're now nothing more than glorified slaves. Pink, however, explains she put Poison Snake Herb seeds on their clothes when she patted them. Just then the seeds germinate and ensnare Shampoo, Akane and Ranma.

With Shampoo rendered unconscious, the twins begin exacting their revenge and begin beating her up. The twins hit Shampoo over 100 times, but just as they are about to finish Shampoo off by stabbing her, she punches them into the air. This confuses Pink and Link greatly, who are then slapped by Shampoo as well. At first the two of them think the Poison Snake Herb didn't work, but then notice that Shampoo is still asleep.

As morning is about to break, Ranma finds Pink and Link being beaten up by the still sleeping Shampoo. When Ranma questions this, the twins say that they've been hit over 500 times already. A plant than releases some more poison in the direction of the group, so Ranma tries using Fuo-Shenshan to deflect it. However, this just mixes more poisons in the air together meaning Link has to hastily make an antidote while Ranma holds back Shampoo.

Link makes the antidote and asks Ranma have it first. The antidote turns out to be extremely hot (as Link thought it would be), so the twins decide it's better to die than end up with burnt, swollen lips like Ranma now has, so they don't take the antidote and just lie on the ground as they loose consciousness. Ranma manages to save everyone by stuffing the antidote in Fuo-Yanshan and using the fire produced to propel himself (as he carries the others) into the air and destroy the garden at the same time.

After this point, Pink and Link return to China, leaving behind some Poison Snake Herb for Ranma as gratitude for saving their lives. When they return, the pair also report to the Nyuuchezu saying that Shampoo's husband is weak, which gets published.

Abilities
Being herbalists, all of the twins attacks are based on plants and poisons. Because of this both of the twins are excellent at growing the necessary plants needed as well as being able to know if the state of the weather is correct for growing. Judging from Pink's comment when she first met Shampoo it is most likely that the twins learned their herbal skills from their mother.

Apart from the unnamed poisons and powders the twins use (which cause paralysis amongst other things), the most basic technique the pair use (as well as their most frequent) involves Pink sowing Mandrake seeds to her victim which would poison them. Pink would then leave the victim to die, but they are usual found by Link who can quickly prepare the antidote and heal them. Along with all of their herbal remedies, Pink and Link also appear to carry pharmaceutical with them as well as shown when they use various over-the-counter remedies to destroy Poduduan.

The twins are also able to perform multiple special techniques, again all with a herbal basis, these include:


 * Flower of Womanhood: A special technique which Pink and Link claim to have invented themselves. By combining the "Poisonious Male Flower of Weakness" and the "Medicinal Female Flower of Love Mix" the mixture created can make anyone who has it placed on their head begin to act like the perfect housewife and not matter what it done to the victim they won't defend themselves. The technique can be countered by the victim wearing a Flower Holder which removes the flowers from their hair.


 * Poison Pads: A pad which is used by Pink. These seem to have no special qualities other than attracting the "Attack Pads".


 * Attack Pads: A pad that Link uses in conjunction with Pink's "Poison Pads". These pads are attracted to the Poison Pads, so when place on a person's fist the two pads go towards each other and make it so that the person with the Attack Pad begins punching the person with the Poison Pads almost uncontrollably.


 * Poison Herb Bomb: Combing some unnamed herbs the twins create a powerful Poisonous cloud. Despite being a very strong poison, Link is still able to make the antidote while being affected by it.


 * Poison Snake Herb: A special herb which, when it germinates, ensnares whoever it is near. Once ensnared, the victim is bitten by jaw-like that grow on the end of the vines and whoever is bitten falls asleep, never to wake up. Those who are affected by the herb can still move as if they were.

Trivia

 * Despite being exclusive to the manga, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung, who are also from China albeit native Joketsuzoku, appear in the anime and serve a similar role to Pink and Link.