Mallet gag



The Mallet Gag is recurring gag in the series and perhaps the most common in both the anime and manga. It usually involves Akane Tendo hitting Ranma Saotome over the head with a mallet which she pulls out of nowhere, usually when she gets angered by his antics. Akane does not have a monopoly on the use of mallets, as other characters have also pulled them out of nowhere to strike at someone else, but she uses them the most. While he can normally dodge Akane's attacks, the use of the mallet against him is highly effective and usually connects.

Most of the time when Akane hits Ranma it is due to an misunderstanding. However Akane tends to accept any "excuses" that she believes Ranma comes up with, even though most of the time the excuse is the truth. Sometimes Akane has even hit Ranma with the mallet before he even does anything, her reasoning being that he was going to do something she disagrees with.