Kirin



Prince Kirin is the leader of the Seven Lucky God Martial Artists. He travelled to Furinkan in order to claim the holder of the Scroll of Luck as his bride, so the two halves can be joined together. However, when he arrives, Akane happens to be holding the Scroll instead of it's rightful owner, Lychee.

History
Little is known about Kirin's history. What is known is that he was raised to be the leader of the Seven Lucky Gods from birth and had a very secluded lifestyle (having not experienced things a "normal" person would, such as home cooking).

Big Trouble in Nekonron, China
Kirin travels to the Tendo Dojo in order to meet the owner of the other half of the Scroll of Luck so as both halves can be rejoined. However, when he arrives, Akane is holding the Scroll so Kirin believes her to be the owner, instead of the rightful owner, Lychee.

After having Ebiten to get Akane on board his ship and easily dealing with Ranma's attempt to rescue Akane, Kirin leaves with the other Lucky Gods. Lychee follows him on the back of Jasmine in hot pursuit.

That night, while Kirin's ship is over the Sea of Japan, he formally introduces himself to Akane and reminds her of the prophecy of their people about the joining of the two Scroll halves. Akane, however, is furious about being kidnapped so tries to punch Kirin. After blocking her first punch with his chopsticks, Akane uses her other hand to land a successful hit on Kirin. This causes Kirin to fall to the floor, but he gets back up shortly afterwards and instructs Akane be put somewhere she can't harm anyone.

The next day, Akane is let out of her cell and has breakfast with Kirin (while Daihakuse & Daikokuse serve them). When Akane sees that the meal is yet again Rice with Pickled Vegetables she immediately asks if there's any other food available. Kirin tells her that there's only a large variety of pickled vegetables. This causes Akane to storm off.

Later that day and Akane has gathered all of the Pickled Vegetables on board to the hatch which opens at the bottom of the ship. She also raises the alarm to wake all of the Lucky Gods. When the Gods find Akane, she explains that she wants them to try some of her home cooking otherwise she'll pull the lever and drop the Pickled vegetables out of the ship.

For the sake of keeping Akane's best interests, Kirin decides to try some of her food. At first he seems shocked at the new flavours which he's experiencing for the first time, but shortly afterwards collapses due to his people being unable to stomach anything other than Rice and Pickled vegetables.

Ebiten, while attending to Kirin, accidentally pushes the lever, thus jettisoning the vegetable vats along with Akane who went to get a pickled vegetable for Kirin. As Akane falls with the vats, Kirin summons enough strength to go after her. The pair then fall into the ocean, where Ranma and Lychee dive in after them.

Back on the ship, Ebiten manages to cast a net which catches Ranma, Akane, Lychee and Kirin. Once returned to the ship, the Gods note that the number of brides seems to have increased from one to three (Ranma had obvious changed into his female form when he went into the ocean after Akane). Kirin eventually comes round from his unconsciousness.

With his consciousness recovered, Kirin is then told by Lychee that she is the original Scroll holder and thus meant to be his bride, not Akane. Kirin, however, quickly dismisses this by telling Lychee that Akane is the only one he loves. Ranma then puts his stance to Kirin, saying that he won't allow him to marry Akane as Akane's his fiancé. However, Kirin dismisses this as well by saying this can't be true as Ranma's a woman too.

Kirin is then escorted by Akane to the deck of his ship. Once Ranma and Lychee run up to their defeat comrades, Kirin orders they be thrown back into the ocean. The front of Kirin's ship then turns and Ranma and co fall off the side. Akane watches as some objects fall into the dark ocean below, when Kirin walks over to her and tells her to come with him, before collapsing again. Worried for their master's health, the other Lucky Gods rush to his side.

In order for him to recover fully, Kirin is taken to his bed chamber. Akane sits beside his bed and apologises for her actions as they ended up reducing Kirin to his current state. Kirin puts down his chopsticks and Rice bowl which he always carries for the first time since he met Akane and tells her that for all his life he's never met anyone who cared as much for him as she does.

Akane, overcome with emotion, runs to a nearby wall as the sun rises and asks for forgiveness from Kirin. Kirin then gets out of his bed and asks Akane if she really loves this "Ranma" who she called for back in Japan. After noting how easily he defeated Ranma, Kirin tells Akane he's the only man worthy of her. Akane then tries to slap Kirin, but he grabs her hand before making contact.

As Akane tells Kirin that Ranma will come back, Kirin tells her that he doesn't care and won't release her to anyone. Kirin then tries to kiss Akane, but she moves her face away in refusal. Annoyed slightly, Kirin leaves his chamber and tells Akane to prepare for the wedding.

Having finally returned to Seven Luck Mountain, Kirin dispatches the other Lucky Gods to try and defeat Ranma. He then waits in his castle, during which time he sees Akane in her wedding dress and notes how beautiful she appears.

After everyone but Ranma and Lychee arrive at the top of Kirin's tower just before the Scrolls are joined, Kirin becomes angered at them disrupting the traditional ceremony and attacks the group, producing a large light which can be seen from the tower's base. Akane, however, is upset at her friends and family being beaten up.

Just then Ranma and Lychee arrive as well and so Kirin prepares to defeat Ranma once and for all. The fight begins with Ranma using his "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken", but Kirin knows how to counter this technique and is able to block every single punch with his chopsticks. Ranma, however, notices this and realises a way to counter Kirin's chopsticks. Ranma then floods the tower with water. Despite Kirin's initial unimpressed reaction to this, he soon learns why Ranma did so, as the water which Ranma continuously hits towards Kirin gets past his chopsticks and lands blows to him given the high speed the water is travelling.

After being hit with a flurry of blows from the water, Kirin tells Ranma he's never faced an opponent like him before. The two then launch their most powerful attacks with Kirin using his "Hundred Chopstick Sting" while Rama uses his "Hiryū Shōten Ha". At first the attack seems evenly matched, but Ranma's Hiryū Shōten Ha comes out on top.

Unfortunately the energy released by these attacks causes the geyser which originally flooded the tower to spin violently and destroyed the tower. Inside the torrent of water, Kirin grabs the unconscious Akane in a rescue attempt. He then sees that Lychee is trying to get the other Scroll half, so throws Akane aside to retrieve it before both Lychee and the Scroll are crushed by a large piece of debris (Ranma, meanwhile, rescues Akane).

Once the waters subside, Kirin carries Lychee out of the water. Once she regains consciousness he puts her down. Lychee then hands over her half of the Scroll, and Kirin joins to the two halves together. Kirin and Lychee then stare at each other in silence as the sun rises behind them.

Some time later and Kirin organises another ship to take Ranma and co back to Japan. He also admits his defeat to Ranma and says he's unworthy of Akane as he threw he aside for the Scroll. When the question of what is written on the Scroll is raised, Kirin opens it while Shampoo translates that it is a recipe for very delicious Pickled Vegetables which a husband and wife to make together for a good, long lasting marriage. Happosai is then dealt with by Ranma and co as he's the one who got them into this mess.

Ranma and co then leave on the ship, as Kirin, Lychee and the other Lucky Gods wave goodbye to them. When Lychee finishes waving at the others, she notices Kirin stood next to her and the pair stare in silence at each other.

One month later and Kirin is married to Lychee. The pair then send a letter to Ranma and co explaining this, along with a vat of Pickled vegetables (which is presumably the vegetables they made using the recipe on the Scroll of Luck).

Abilities
As the leader of the Seven Lucky Gods, Kirin is a formidable opponent. He has formidable speed, reflexes and control, but his fighting style is hampered by the fact he is dependent upon holding a bowl of rice in one hand at all times. Kirin excels at fighting from a range with an attack that is presumably based around imbuing grains of rice with chi and then flicking them to create a spray of needle-like projectiles. In the melee, he is an expert at defense, using long, formal chopsticks to snare his opponent's limb or weapon in a vice-like grip, releasing them only when the opponent tries to withdraw their weapon. So skilled is he at doing this that Ranma mistook him for having some kind of forcefield until he saw the marks left by the grip of Kirin's chopsticks.

Relationships
Kirin, as a one-shot character, is not given many personal details and so his relationships are mostly a matter of conjecture.

While he was initially a fiercely opposed rival to Ranma Saotome, this was solely due to his kidnapping and attempted wedding of Akane Tendo, and given the matters were resolved fairly equitably, it is presumable that the two are on relatively good terms. Kirin notably was happy to send a photograph of his wedding to Ranma.

Similarly, while Akane initially was fiercely hostile towards Kirin for kidnapping her, she grew an evidenced soft spot for him as he showed himself to be, while stubborn, a kind-hearted and well-meaning individual. She presumably has far less residual hostility for him than Ranma may be expected to have.

Kirin's followers in the Seven Lucky Gods cherish and admire him; they live to serve him and are faithful unto death.

Lychee adores Kirin at first sight, and presumably the two come to share a very close bond, given they are wed soon after they finally have a chance to speak to each other in a quiet manner.

Trivia

 * Kirin always speaks in the third person. This is a traditional action emphasizing his royalty and importance.
 * As a member of the Seven Lucky Gods, Kirin cannot ingest any sort of food other than boiled rice and pickled vegetables.