Seven Lucky Gods

The Seven Lucky Gods are a group of seven martial artists, masters of the "Seven Lucky Gods School of Martial Arts", who rule a small kingdom in deep China named Nekonron. Very little is known about these people, save that they are all in some way representative of one of the Seven Immortals, figures from Chinese and Japanese mythology revered as gods of protection and good luck, and that they have lived for so many generations on nothing but rice and pickled vegetables that they can no longer eat any other form of food.

The Seven Lucky Gods consist of:

Kirin - Prince of Nekonron and leader of the Seven Lucky Gods. Forever carrying a long pair of chopsticks and a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables, he is able to use his chopsticks as a shield and his rice as deadly projectiles.

Bishamonten - A fierce, massively beared armor-clad warrior and an expert with the trident.

Wu - A huge man with nearly impenetrable skin and very little brainpower.

Monlon - The only woman in the group, a scantily clad musician who wields her lute as a weapon.

Daikokusei and Daihakusei - Identical twin youths obsessed with the board game "go", who can be distinguished only by the color they prefer to play.

Ebiten - A large-eared dwarf of a man who wields a fishing pole as his weapon.

Decades before the series began, Happosai invaded their kingdom and made off with half a precious relic, the Scroll of Luck. Eventually, he gave it to the owners of a restaurant in lieu of paying his bill there, claiming it would bring them good luck. In the present era, the descendant of that restaurant's owners, a young girl named Lychee, tracks Happosai to Nerima and angrily confronts him over the fact it has brought her nothing but bad luck. By sheer coincidence, it ends up in the hands of Akane Tendo, whereupon the Seven Lucky Gods appear to take it back - the Scoll of Luck is used in the wedding ceremonies of the kings and queens of Nekonron, and Kirin declares that as its holder, that means Akane must now marry him.

Between their abduction of Akane, and Happosai's claims that the Scroll of Luck actually contains a technique that could be used to conquer the world, a team of Happosai, Ranma Saotome, Mousse, Ryoga Hibiki, Genma Saotome, Soun Tendo and Shampoo set off to defeat them. After a series of grueling battles, in which their castle atop Seven Luck Mountain is levelled, the Seven Lucky Gods conceed defeat. To the disgust of the teenaged martial artists, though, they reveal that the "Scroll of Luck" Happosai stole is actually the ceremonial steps and recipe that the rulers of Nekonron use to make Seven Lucky Gods Pickled Vegetables as part of the royal wedding ceremony.