Shirokuro



Shirokuro, also known as Checkers, is Ryoga's pet dog. Half black, half white, the name "Shirokuro" can broken down into "shiro" meaning white and "kuro" meaning black, which is why it is translated "Checkers" in the English Dub.

Manga Biography
First introduce in the manga, this dog is a long-time family pet of Ryoga and the Hibiki family, as well as being a female who, when first introduced, has delivered a litter of about five puppies. She is intelligent enough to get onto a TV show to send a message to Ryoga to come and see her new family, and recognizes Ryoga in his P-chan form instantly, though it's not known whether or not this is because they have met since Ryoga was cursed.

Anime Biography
In the anime, Shirokuro is a male dog who was born in Sarugakure Village and was trained in the art of the "Ninken", or "Ninja Dog". However, one day Shirokuro decides to leave the village and becomes a "fugitive canine" and so is chased wherever he goes by a pack of other "Ninken". Ryoga, who is travelling on his own again, comes across a rapid flowing river and decides to stop and have a drink. When Ryoga is about to get some water he looks up and sees Shirokuro being carried away by the river. At first Ryoga mistakes Shirokuro as a Racoon but quickly realises that it is a dog.

Ryoga decides to save the Shirokuro by jumping onto a log and having Shirokuro grab onto his Umbrella. However, Ryoga gets splashed by the water in the river and so turns into a pig. After both Shirokuro and Ryoga fall off a Waterfall at the end of the river, Shirokuro licks Ryoga until he awakens. Once Ryoga has turned back into his human form, Shirokuro notices a letter in Ryoga's bag. After Ryoga tells Shirokuro that the letter is for Akane and tells about his true feelings for her Shirokuro decides to take the letter to the Tendo Dojo.

Shirokuro arrives at the Dojo the next morning, disrupting Ranma and Genma's training in the process. When Kasumi notices the letter in Shirokuro's mouth is addressed to Akane she gives it to her. After Akane has written a reply she gives to Shirokuro to give back to the sender. However, during this time Sasuke has realised that Shirokuro is a "fugitive canine" and has a reward for his capture. Sasuke tries several times to capture Shirokuro but fails on every attempt. Sasuke then instructs Ranma to follow Shirokuro, Ranma does as instructed and while he follows Shirokuro he sees a small child being scared by another dog, however, before Ranma can react Shirokuro headbutts the other dog and scares it away, this leads Ranma to believe that Shirokuro isn't a bad dog after all. Meanwhile, Kasumi tells the others at the Tendo Dojo that she's named the dog "Shirokuro" because of it's coloration.

After continuing to follow Shirokuro, Ranma finds that Shirokuro is outnumbered by a pack of other "Ninken" and as Shirokuro is holding Akane's letter he can't bite the other dogs. When it looks like Shirokuro is about to lose, Ryoga appears and uses his "Bakusai Tenketsu" technique and scares the pack away. Shirokuro then gives Ryoga Akane's letter. Ryoga reads the first two sentences and believes this shows she loves him, however, when he reads on he realises that Akane says that she "loves someone else". Ryoga is very upset by this, then Ranma explains that the letter is addressed to "Mr. Unknown" so Ryoga must have forgotten to write his name on the letter. This news overjoys Ryoga who decides that Akane could still be in love with him. Ryoga then leaves with Shirokuro, while Sasuke burns the Wanted scroll about Shirokuro. (A Ninja's Dog is Black and White)

Trivia

 * In the anime Ryoga never actually gave Shirokuro a name, as "Shirokuro" was given by Kasumi.

Quotes

 * Awoo - Shirokuro communicating in the manga.