Ukyo Kuonji

Ukyo Kuonji (久遠寺 右京) is Ranma Saotome's childhood friend and one of his three fiancées.

Her name is derived from, the western side of. The name Ukyo is composed of the kanji for "right" and "capital city". "Kuon" means "eternity" and "Ji" means "temple."

Appearance
Ukyo has long black hair (brown in the anime) that she will usually either secure with a headband or bow, or hair tie if she is in school. She normally wears the attire of okonomiyaki chef, which consists of a short-sleeved blouse with the sleeves tied back (blue with white trim in the anime) and form-fitting black pants. This outfit is equipped with a holding several small throwing spatulas, while her larger combat spatula is worn across her back. After she began attending Furinkan High School, instead of wearing the girls' uniform, Ukyo wears the from her former school. This is a medium color in the manga and a medium gray in the anime. She has also worn a variety of other outfits.

Personality
Overall, Ukyo is charming, determined and reliable, getting along with Akane most of the time, including spending time socially independent from Ranma. However, she is not above trying to hurt Akane or guilt-tripping Ranma into being with her if it suits her needs. She frequently attempts to indirectly break Akane and Ranma's engagement, but with little success. To assist her, Ukyo will often get Ryoga to help with her schemes, but usually becomes infuriated with him given his lack of judgment, a sense of direction and general cowardice towards Akane.

Ukyo has shown charitability by temporarily hosting the Tendos (albeit unintentionally) and permanently providing room and board for the male "kunoichi" Konatsu, due to feeling empathetic when hearing about his horrible background. She generally seems dependable to her friends, as she turned very concerned and immediately ran to the aid of her fellow okonomiyaki cook Occhan, when she thought they had been hurt by the Cursed Spatula.

She is extremely principled and proud of her work, to the degree she felt compelled to devour a batch of okonomiyaki as punishment for it failing to ferment correctly. Ukyo is generally unconcerned about skipping school, since she learns more by visiting/eating at other restaurants. She appears very business-minded, being very excited at the opportunity to "make a killing", and strictly manages her finances, but occasionally feels the need to take a vacation from the "salt mines". Beyond her regular occupation she has been shown to work extra as a, and is allegedly a very talented artist.

Mostly likely due to her training as a child after being abandoned by Genma, Ukyo displays no fears in her hardworking personality, as shown by her being unfazed by the several ghosts which haunt the Tunnel of Lost Love.

Her style of fighting is a legacy style from her father based on their food preparation, and vaguely reminiscent of ninja patterns, but this status as an apparent "ninja-cook" is never expanded upon. It is somewhat noteworthy that the clan of shinobi resided in Ukyo’s home area,.

Unlike her relationship with Akane, Ukyo shares a rivalry with both Shampoo and Kodachi over who'll become Ranma's fiancé with the three of them becoming very possessive when the other's are around, resulting in several skirmishes. Despite this, Ukyo and her rivals also regularly team up against a mutual threat.

Despite finding it embarrassing to admit, Ukyo has admitted to having strong romantic feelings towards Ranma and as such is willing to give up her business, even her entire lifestyle, for his sake.

Though, while Ranma has shown concern about her feelings and considers her a good friend, he has also made it clear that he does not feel the same in return, and goes to extremes to get rid of her when she gets too close. Unlike Shampoo and Kodachi however, Ranma does not consider or treat Ukyo as a pest. He usually calls her "Ucchan" and she calls him "Ran-chan" ("Ranma-honey" in the english dub), the nicknames they used for each other as children.

Even though she moved to Furinkan, Ukyo continues to wear the uniform from the all-male school she previously attended. She does, however, choose to wear the female gym uniform. In spite of her short-temper and initially appearing rather masculine, Ukyo often displays more of a feminine demeanour, and becomes easily embarrassed when forced to talk about her affection for Ranma. That said, she has shown highly amorous desires towards him, as shown by her urging Genma to remove his fingers covering the crotch of a photograph of a nude adult Ranma. She also cheerfully entered the Tendo bathroom whilst Ranma was using it so that she may wash his back before offering they sleep in the same bed like they did during their childhood.

Ukyo appears to have some strict standards for masculine behaviour and has shown great derision towards Mousse for "disappearing" without her during the Hot Springs Obstacle race and, repeatedly, towards Ryoga's extreme shyness. Inversely, Ukyo found the discovery of Ranma's curse rather humorous and initially used him a play-thing after she first learnt of it.

History
Ukyo Kuonji is an okonomiyaki chef who is Ranma's oldest known friend. She apparently hails from Osaka, as she speaks in the Kansai-ben dialect of Japanese. When he was 6 years old, during his at least 13 year long training trip, Ranma met Ukyo, who was with her father, an okonomiyaki vendor. During the time they lived in the same neighborhood, they had a game in which they play-fought every day. If Ranma won, he got a free okonomiyaki from Ukyo's father. Needless to say, he managed to defeat her every time.

Eventually, Ukyo's father suggested to Genma Saotome to engage her to Ranma, and to throw his okonomiyaki cart in as a dowry. Genma agreed. Unwilling to let go of the okonomiyaki cart, but not wanting to break the conflicting promise he made to his friend Soun, Genma asked little Ranma which he liked better, Ukyo or okonomiyaki. The young boy, eating an okonomiyaki at the time and unaware that his friend was a girl, quickly chose the food. Thus, Genma stole the cart and left a furious Ukyo behind. The other girls at her school mocked her for not being feminine enough to keep her fianceé with her. Because of that, she decided to give up on her feminity and learned to act as a boy. She then spent the next ten years training in the martial art of okonomiyaki to prepare for her revenge against the Saotomes.

Reunion with Ranma
Ukyo caught up with Genma and Ranma ten years later, at Furinkan High School. Ukyo, still posing as a boy, beat up Genma, and then transferred into Ranma's school. Ranma remembered 'him' immediately, and had a hard time understanding 'he' wanted revenge. Akane Tendo believed that Ukyo was Ranma's brother for a while after hearing and misinterpreting a shouting match between Ukyo and Genma. Finally, Ranma and Ukyo dueled on an enormous okonomiyaki grill. After the two distanced themselves from the ring, Ranma discovered that Ukyo was a woman and why she hated him. Ukyo finally stopped fighting when Ranma said she was "cute." However, this in turn angered Akane, the daughter of Soun engaged to Ranma. Upon seeing the two quarrel and Akane "congratulating" Ranma on his "cute" fiancée, Ukyo forgave Ranma and re-established their engagement the next day.

Meeting Ryoga
Later, Ukyo intervened in Ryoga's attack on Ranma after his continuous beliefs that Ranma had treated Akane Tendo poorly clouded his judgment. She leaped towards him and attacked, only to miss in the process. As Ryoga charged at her, Akane warned him that she was a girl, something the former did not believe after inspecting her. As she was about to be hit by Ryoga, Ranma revealed her breasts to him. After doing so, Ranma placed his arms around her and kicked Ryoga away. She, in turn, slammed her spatula against his head, citing that the revealing of her breasts was unnecessary.

After hearing Akane and Ryoga exchange words, she made a plot to have Ryoga date Akane. Taking him back to her restaurant, she cooked a okonomiyaki that proclaimed Ryoga's love for Akane. After finally arriving at the Tendo residence, she expressed her distain for Ryoga's map that he had given her before leaving the parcel containing the okonomiyaki. The next day, she and Ranma discussed her plans. She told him the two would be meeting that afternoon at her restaurant, something Ranma claimed she wouldn't do, much to Ukyo's surprise. Her shock came from her reading of his tone, as she believed he seemed very certain she wouldn't attend. After Ranma explained that Akane would spend most of her time trying to devise which of her outfits to wear, Ukyo concluded that she really was Ranma's preferred fiancee, but still hoped Akane took the bait anyways.

She returned to her restaurant, where she was soon stormed in on by Akane. With her fears of her nonattendance gone, Ukyo openly expressed to Akane her happiness in her arrival before Akane angrily asked why she wouldn't. Ukyo openly expressed her belief in Ranma's previous statement of Akane not being cute, even wishing the latter would have showered before going on the date. After Akane indicated she wasn't aware of a date, Ukyo brushed her off and tried to get her to sit down before a mortally exhausted Ryoga arrived at her front door. After settling the two down, Ukyo gave them free okonomiyakis in honor of their first date. As she cooked, Akane discovered her true intentions and was determined to see her plot's end. As she prepared to leave, Ryoga got up and was astonished to see her leaving. In her own confusion, she explained she thought Ryoga wanted to be left alone with Akane. She started to argue with Ryoga, much to his chagrin. Ranma tried to break her plot, turning into a girl and disguising himself as Ryoga's "fiancée". As she moved in on her, Ukyo asked her who she was before she stated she was Ryoga's fiancee. As Ryoga pondered his next decision, Ukyo encouraged him to snap out of his trance, stating that he shouldn't let a stranger ruin his one chance for happiness. As Ryoga and Ranma ran out of the restaurant, Ukyo became frustrated that the stranger (Ranma) would ruin her hard work and later bore witness to Akane and Ryoga's real date beginning before a badly beaten Ranma came to her.

After getting him to agree to a date, the two walked together and eventually came crossroads with Akane and Ryoga. After continuing to pester the two, Ukyo took notice to Akane's referring to a red haired girl as Ranma. She joined Ranma and Akane in their search for Ryoga and alongside Akane, expressed her concerns for the former. She demanded the mysterious red headed girl to tell her what had happened to Ranma, with whom she discovered she and Ranma were in the same. After arriving at the Tendo residence, she playfully splashed both hot and cold water on Ranma's head, in an effort to continuously change him from male to female.

Receiving unwanted attention
She encountered Ranma and Akane again after Ranma was attacked by an individual hiding in a mailbox, whom revealed their self to be female before passing out. Upon arriving, she instantly recognized them and uttered the name Tsubasa Kurenai. After being asked by Akane if the two were friends, she expressed distaste at even the thought of such relationship as the two placed her comatose body in a trash can before Ukyo launched it off with her spatula. After doing so, she expressed surprise in being followed. After arriving at her restaurant with Akane and Ranma, she explained that the two were in the same homeroom at her old school. She recalled an encounter the two had, in which she revealed to her that she already had a fiancee, only for Tsubasa to arrive at the restaurant and add her own insight into their past encounter. After Ranma received a rude remark from Tsubasa, Ukyo allowed Ranma to jump into her arms and defended him as Tsubasa became enraged over losing her.

She became infuriated herself when Tsubasa damaged her restaurant by smashing through one of it's windows. As she prepared to attack her, Akane grabbed Ukyo from behind and stated she had a better idea. After Akane revealed Ukyo's breast, Akane explained to Tsubasa that Ukyo wasn't interested in her because was a girl as well. To the three's shock, she was fully aware that Ukyo was a girl all along and found that the most interesting trait to her. The next day, Ukyo physically berated Tsubasa for using her. Though, she did admit her challenge was a good idea, much to Tsubasa's delight.

After Ranma sold all except for one of his okonomiyakis, Ukyo showed up and announced to Tsubasa that she was going to buy his last one. As Tsubasa concluded that Ukyo really didn't want to go out with her, she questioned while sobbing why she could not have told her to being with. Ukyo reminded her that she did, asking her if she remembered, but reminded her that she still wouldn't give up.

After Tsubasa ran off, Ranma went after her and confronted her. Ukyo and Akane watched from afar as Ranma was chased by Tsubasa. Ukyo stated that she felt sorry for Ranma, recalling her own past with Tsubasa. Ukyo and Akane later discussed Ranma's intended date with Tsubasa, all the while in disbelief that Ranma was actually starting to like her, even questioning the fact that he scheduled a date with her. After she and Akane witnessed Tsubasa viciously attack and defeat Ranma as a male, Ukyo concluded that Tsubasa hated boys even more than Akane did. Ukyo and Akane watched as Tsubasa carried Ranma as a female off. While the two were alone, Ukyo revealed to Akane that she and Tsubasa went to an all boys school. After Tsubasa came out to the two, she commented that Ranma was weird.

Ghost at her school
After a supposed ghost sighting at her school, she met up with Ranma and several of her other classmates. She supported Akane in believing a ghost had indeed been sighted that night. She cited that since the kids inhabited the school, it was their responsibility to do something. After Ranma's suggestion of ghost-busting, she concluded the group would more or less need to do something exactly like that. She proposed that the entire group meet there later that night and asked the ones interested to raise their hands. As she started to write, Akane asked her what it was. She suggested mkaing some okonomiyaki during their then-upcoming trip and even grabbed Ranma's attention with that. Ranma said he would go and Ukyo then preceded to offer him a discount. When the two expressed distaste in having to pay, Ukyo reminded the two she was living on her own and needed to survive somehow.

As the students gathered that night, Ukyo showed her classmates all of the alleged sighting of the ghosts via a drawn out diagram on a chalkboard. She began to reveal some of the information that she and others had collected, resulting in the revelation that she and the others working on the ghost sightings had no idea what they were up to, causing a loud discomfort from the audience. After a few moments, she concluded it was time for the group to get started on their search and asked if they were ready to cooperate. She devised the students separate into smaller teams instead of a large group, in order to not risk their escape. She partnered with Akane and Ranma.

As the three walked, they heard a loud scream. Ukyo concluded it came downstairs and the group rushed off to see what it was. They found a few wounded men and tried to help them. She noticed the burns on their bodies and tried to alert Ranma. As the three continued, they noticed several pieces of what appeared to be paper levitating in the air. Near it, they found three young female students unconscious and within a stack of sheets. Ukyo took notice of this and after flashing her flash light, concluded the group was really wrapped in toilet paper. Regardless, she still questioned why they were wrapped in it to begin with. As Ranma left the scene, Ukyo was right behind him and followed alongside Akane. Shortly into their walk, they heard another scream. Ukyo and the others ran to the scene and found Ranma and Akane's fathers knocked out in similar fashions to the others. The group headed into the gym and watched as a basketball came towards them. After Happosai revealed himself, she and the others bore witness to the real suspect as it revealed it's presence through several quakes and cracks emerging from the ground.

With it's emergence inevitable, Ukyo charged at it, prepared to take it down. However, she was easily outmatched and pushed aside. The supposed ghost turned out to be Tatewaki Kuno. After Ranma failed to defeat him, he retreated with Ukyo in Akane's arms. She soon awoke and listened to Sasuke as he recounted how Kuno had become so powerful and ended in his then-current predicament. She bore witness to the sword controlling Kuno's destruction at the hands of lightning after Kuno was kicked into the air by a scare Akane.

Becoming more feminine
At her restaurant, Ukyo discovered a brochure for a vacation. As Ranma ate one of her okonomiyaki, Ukyo tried to appeal to him to go with her. As she talked to him, he unearthed that he seemingly only wanted to go because the two could train. Though she thought he would ask her something important or reconsider the trip, Ranma only continued downplay her feelings for him when he instead asked for a second helping. After Ranma left, Ukyo noticed he had forgotten it. Now by herself, she started in a mirror and was saddened that Ranma treated her like one of the guys. She devised that maybe if she acted more girly, Ranma would be more prone to like her. She arrived at her school the next day, in the female uniform for the first time and received attention from others while walking.

She approached Ranma and was instantly recognized by him for her still-present spatula hanging around her back. After concluding she accidentally forgot to take it off, Ukyo asked Ranma what he really thought of their relationship. She was disappointed to see him state once again that the two were just friends and spent the remainder of the day being heckled by boys with offers and pondering how to get Ranma to really like her. She later arrived at his residence and was greeted by Happosai, whom tried to peak under her clothes before being smacked with her spatula. After Ranma arrived, she tried to ask him out, but found herself with difficulty before Happosai convinced Ranma to go with her. As Ukyo tried to admit to Ranma her true feelings towards him, they were noticed by a few boys and were chased off by them before they lost pursuit. As the two continued to walked together, they were noticed by Ryoga. As he attacked Ranma for supposedly cheating on Akane, Ukyo struck him boldly with her spatula.

After he was hit, Ryoga recognized her before falling out. She later competed in a cooking contest for Ranma's love against Akane and Kodachi Kuno. During the contest, she reminded Kodachi that Ranma had to say which was best. Ukyo prepared for the contest before Shampoo arrived to challenge the three for Ranma's love. After Shampoo announced her presence, Ukyo concluded that the four would be competing. After the four cooked, she and the others urged Ranma to make a decision before the latter was removed via a stampede of boys. After Ranma was badly injured and the other girls started to fight over who would heal him, Ukyo concluded that it was her fault for what happened to him, even citing that she just wasn't happy with how things were.

After returning to normal, she resumed her cooking at her restaurant. She was visited by Ranma and Akane, whom she was eager to cook for. After Ranma ate her okonomiyaki, he was delighted in it's taste and expressed his gratitude in what he perceived as a delicious meal. She was surprised and asked him if he really meant it. Ranma concluded that he did, citing that no one could cook okonomiyaki as good as her and complimented her as cute in her working clothes. She blushed and attacked him with her spatula.

A weakened Ranma
As she walked to a trash can near her restaurant, she noticed a stick of black hair poking out of the garbage inside. She pulled it and discovered Ranma laying, knocked out and exhausted. As he awoke, she stopped him from explaining as she envisioned their future together. She imagined him, weak and at the mercy of their children. She blushed and revealed to him that she believed he was no longer fit to carry on the Tendo dojo with his lack of strength. As Ranma started to suck up to Akane, whom he angered after stating he didn't care about her, Ukyo remarked that he should grow a spine. She traveled with Ranma and Akane to get a pressure point scroll from within a temple. She drank tea as Akane explained the three's motives for coming. As the three started to believe he had fainted, Ukyo suggested that he may have just been meditating.

After Ranma uncovered the scroll from the elder, Ukyo viewed it alongside Akane and him. As Ranma announced that all he needed was the cure, Ukyo happily stated he was practically cured at that moment. She came to the Tendo residence with Ranma and Akane and watched Ranma start his fight with Happosai. She reassured worriedly to Akane that Ranma was actually going to fight Happosai. She and the others tried to convince Happosai to stop, asking him sarcastically if he knew when to withdraw. She noticed Ranma's depressed state after losing and asking him if he was okay. She watched as he walked away, uncertain of how to defeat Happosai.

Along for the ride
Ukyo accompanied Ranma and Genma Saotome on their trip. She provided food for the two as Ranma was trained by Genma. As Genma concluded that the three would need to retrieve Happosai's paper for recovering from the weakness, she reminded him that the three were traveling because he wouldn't give it to them. Genma knew this for a fact, something that caused Ukyo to look up at him in confusion. Genma stated he had a new plan, causing Ranma to get up and question him about it. The plan was to merely return home and gravel to Happosai, something that caused both Ukyo and Ranma to show their non-verbal cues towards it's perceived stupidity. As Shampoo's grandmother arrived, she stated Ukyo's cooking was unique, causing Ukyo to ask if she really meant it. She was knocked, alongside Genma, into trees after Ranma preformed his latest learned move.

She later cooked for Ranma and the others, with acclaim from them for her cooking. Ukyo watched with Ranma, Genma and Akane as Cologne instructed Ranma regarding the move. Along with Akane, Ukyo laughed at a picture of Ranma at the age of seven when he wet the bed. She continued to laugh with Akane when the two were shown a picture of Ranma, naked and running from a cat. She jumped out of the way as Ranma angrily asked Genma if he was trying to embarrass him to death. She watched as Ranma attacked Genma after he claimed Ranma expressed his desire to marry Akane in his sleep and became angry at him for insisting the two had any chances of a future together. Ultimately, Ranma was able to perform the first move. Both Ukyo and Akane were instructed by Cologne to leave, both of which questioned having to do so.

The two did however, realize they had to leave, when Cologne asked them if they were willing to attack Ranma without holding back. Cologne followed on by asking Ranma if he would use the attack on the two, something Ranma was unsure of and could not provide an answer. Later that day, she and the others traveled to a hot spring. She questioned their presence as Akane questioned the outfit Ranma was wearing. As Ranma continuously struggled with using the technique, Ukyo gave him encouragement to keep trying. She expressed distaste when Ryoga left the group after realizing he couldn't attack Ranma with all of his strength.

Abilities
Ukyo is a talented martial artist, with her art based on cooking okonomiyaki. She uses food-based techniques to stun, restrain or confuse opponents in somewhat archetypal 'ninja' reminiscent patterns (shuriken, confusing fog, blinding flash etc). She also uses a large spatula as a two handed weapon and has a bandolier of smaller spatulas she uses as thrown projectiles. She is strong, agile, and has a versatile range of attacks, making Ukyo a force to be reckoned with, and undoubtedly one of the most skilled female characters in the story. She has apparently received training in an inherited style, but also seems largely self-taught, through childhood wandering and "training by the sea".

In the manga, exactly how she ranks is debatable. During her introduction, Ukyo gave Ranma more trouble than Shampoo ever managed, hitting him with two restraining attacks he was unable to break out of, despite his attempts to avoid them, and afterwards knocking him down on the ground, striking him with her explosive tempura flakes, making his body sizzle in considerable pain, but Ukyo's better performance is at least partially due to being surrounded by a hot grill and that Ranma initially held back. Although he's consistently restrained himself against Shampoo as well, with the latter's full prowess while unarmed once shown as completely helpless before him in spite of this.

However, when he turned furious and highly motivated Ukyo too was shown as ineffective, not landing any offensive attacks beyond a flour bomb when they were falling together, and being easily disarmed, but she managed to avoid a spatula swipe and a kick. Ukyo also managed to fight and parry with Ryoga for a brief time before being overcome, but once again did not catch him with any attacks beyond a flour bomb, which proved ineffective. In this continuity Ukyo only had one visibly shown, very brief, skirmish with Shampoo, during the onsen race (beyond a couple of very brief or off-page team-ups/free-for-alls with her and Kodachi, assaulting Ranma or each other), but it was interrupted before it had time to start. The only shown interchange consisted of Shampoo being kept busy deflecting Ukyo mini-spatulas, while their feet were tied to Ranma and Ryoga's respectively, although Ukyo refrained from using her more powerful special techniques, and Shampoo didn't use her. They have also been involved in some very rare, indistinct 'free-for-all dust-clouds' with Kodachi.

In the anime continuity they fight each other quite frequently but mostly off-screen. However, in the Episode 'Ranma the Lady Killer' Shampoo and Ukyo fight for hours to the point of exhaustion, showing them to be equals. This battle occurs directly after Ukyo trained to fight Crepe King Joe, but it is unclear whether Shampoo used her chúi, or either used any signature moves.

While Ukyo is seldom seen fighting without her giant spatula, she has occasionally blocked projectile attacks unarmed without much effort, like casually snatching the Gambling King's cards out of the air with a single hand, deflecting Kodachi's clubs, or several shuriken using only a small bowl and towel, and has had enough force in her punches to cause Ranma pain at times when she's turned heavily embarrassed.

Techniques
Spatula shuriken: Ukyo carries several smaller spatulas in a bandoleer and uses them as shuriken to attack from a distance, throwing them with great precision. On occasion they are shown to spin like buzz saws, or been fastened in entangling wire.

Battle spatula: She also carries a large spatula on her back that she uses as a sword or club. She is highly skilled with it, but Ranma has been able to bend it enough to become unusable.

Flour Bomb: A bag of flour used for a smokescreen effect, to hide her movements or distract her opponents. It has a small range and can be overcome by jumping above.

Tempura flash: By mixing tempura flakes with gunpowder, she creates a cloud of explosives to blind and stun her opponents. It was potent enough to pain Ranma to the point of sizzling.

Yakisoba Rope: Large ropes made of rubber Yakisoba (or fried noodles), used to tangle or restrain her opponents to make them easier to hit with her spatulas. Ranma proved unable to swiftly break free. Later in the manga, it is also used like a whip and a rope to swing across gaps.

Adhesive Batter: A special batter made with rubber cement, used mainly to slow her opponents down to smack them with her spatula or other techniques. It takes a while to harden from fluid state, possibly requiring the heat of her grill, but once it did, it seemed to have similar tensile strength to her rubber noodle rope.

Okonomiyaki bombs: Okonomiyaki explosives. When Ranma was struck with one, together with Shampoo's dumpling bombs, in the final story this proved enough to momentarily stun him, though he was taken by surprise so his guard wasn't up.

Super-sized special okonomiyaki: A 4m diameter giant version. Ukyo's final attack during her battle with Hayato Myojin, which she was able to create in (at most) a few seconds. Apparently simply a blunt force restraining manoevre.

Batter Dragon: An anime only attack she used to defeat the Crepe King. In the attack, Ukyo creates a huge dragon made of batter, which fuses all of her attacks. It also traps her foe as an ingredient in a giant okonomiyaki.

Dairokkan/Sixth Sense: Like several other martial artists in the series, Ukyo has displayed a certain extrasensory awareness, warning her for incoming danger. For example when sensing the Gambling King's ambush attack.

Ranma Saotome


Ukyo and Ranma were friends during their childhood, despite the latter thinking she was actually a he. Their parents engaged them sometime after they met, but only so Genma Saotome could steal the Okonomiyaki Cart that was offered to him as a dowry. When they meet again in Furinkan, Ukyo tries to defeat Ranma in a fight, but loses to his superior skill. Ranma never figured out why she was mad until the end of the fight, where he accidently gropes one of her breasts, and gets slapped across the face for it, finally realizing she was a girl. Her attitude towards Ranma turns around after he tells her that she's cute and they reconcile and rekinlde their friendship. Ukyo then attempts to prove that she is the most worthy fiancee to marry Ranma. Nonetheless, he only sees Ukyo as more of a friend and doesn't seem to be as irritated whenever Ukyo tries to make a move like he does with Shampoo.

Akane Tendo
Despite both being fiancees of Ranma, Ukyo and Akane seem to get along on friendly terms, though they still share a rivalry much like Ranma and Ryoga do. Akane even stops by Ucchan's (usually with Ranma) to grab a bite of okonomiyaki, and Ukyo isn't hesitant to help Akane when the time comes.

Shampoo
Shampoo is Ukyo's fiercest rival due to also having her own restaurant and being another of Ranma's fiancees. Shampoo rarely gets along with Ukyo as they tend to fight over the smallest thing, no matter how trivial, and trade biting insults at times. Nonetheless Ukyo tends to team up with Shampoo and Kodachi when there is a joint threat to their chances of snagging Ranma.

Ryoga Hibiki


Ukyo and Ryoga are friends to an extent, and are (in the anime continuity) joked about as far as being a couple. Ukyo seems to be able to tolerate Ryoga's shyness and stupidity when it comes to girls (specifically Akane) but nevertheless helps him since they have a common goal, split Ranma and Akane up.

Trivia

 * It is never revealed why Ukyo never told Ranma she was a female in the first place despite dressing up as a male and having a male name as a kid.
 * Ukyo bares somewhat of a resemblance to the character Sango from Takahashi's later work InuYasha. They even share the same English voice actress, Kelly Sheridan.
 * Ukyo's character and backstory is also similar to Ryuunosuke from Takahashi's previous work, Urusei Yatsura.