Pink & Link

Pink & Link (ピンク・リンク) are twin sisters. They live in a village near the Joketsuzoku called Yakusai, which is famous for its herbalists. As children they met Shampoo, who was poisoned by Pink and then healed by Link. However, as they are twins, Shampoo couldn't tell them apart and so mistook them for the same person, leading her to beat up either one on sight whenever she met them.

Like many twins around the world, Pink and Link have rhyming names. There is no hidden meaning behind them. Sometimes Link's name is translated as "Rink" due to the.

Overview
Pink and Link usually say "douzo" at the end of their sentences, meaning "if you please" in English; although this is sometimes mistranslated as. The two girls act quite opposite from each other. Pink is sadistic, ruthless and cheerful, gladly sacrificing any innocents that come in her way. She has the kanji for poison on her chest plate. Link is righteous, considerate and serious, and generally saves Pink's victims or anyone sickly she comes across, turning sad when she gets wrongly blamed. She has the kanji for medicine on her chest plate. However, they are both loyal to each other, and collaborate when taking revenge for injustices.

History
Ten years prior to the events of the series, Shampoo met Pink while she was visiting Yakusai with Cologne to get some medical herbs. Pink then blows some seeds onto Shampoo and then pours water over her. Shampoo then kicks Pink and asks her what she's doing, to which Pink explains that she is using her as a guinea pig for herbal medicine. The effects of Pink's nearly kill Shampoo, however, Link arrives and heals her in time. Shampoo, however, mistakes Link for Pink and punches her into the air.

After this incident, whenever Shampoo ran into either twin, she would stomp on them 100 times. They eventually decide to make Shampoo and her husband to suffer like they had.

Pink and Link
Thanks to Shampoo including her address when an article about her (falsely) being married to Ranma is published in a local Joketsuzoku newspaper, Nyuuchezu, the twins are able to track down Shampoo and so go to Furinkan to find her. Pink finds Ranma first and uses a cloud of dust with Mandrake seeds to make an entrance as well as allowing the seeds to attach to Ranma's clothing. After a quick friendly meeting, Pink checks the weather is correct and leaves Ranma so the Mandrake can take hold.

Due to the rain, Ranma turns into his female form. Ranma is then found by Akane collapsed on the ground covered by Mandrakes. And then Link, who explains about the Mandrake being poisonous. Link then quickly prepares the antidote and Ranma soon recovers. However, Ranma believes Link to be Pink so shouts at her for it being her fault she was poisoned in the first place. This upsets Link greatly, who runs off crying at being shouted for just helping someone.

Later that day, the twins find the Cat Café. They then try using the Mandrake on Ranma and Shampoo, but Shampoo fans the seeds away so the Mandrake plants just grow over customers orders instead. Due to the twins wearing a large cloak it appears as is it is one person, albeit with four arms. The twins soon shed the cloak and reveal themselves as twins to Ranma and Akane for the first time.

The twins then explain their reasons for wanting revenge of Shampoo and her husband given what Shampoo did to them during most of their life since meeting her. Not wasting any more time, the twins launch another herbal attack, although this time they mix two types of plants together. Ranma, Shampoo and Akane manage to avoid the attack, but several martial artists were passing the Cat Café at the time are hit by the attack and turn into the perfect housewives who won't ever defend themselves, no matter what is done to them. The twins then try to attack Shampoo again with the technique, but Shampoo just kicks the pair skyward demanding they just leave her alone already.

When Ranma returns with Akane to the Tendo Dojo he goes to have a bath, but finds the twins using the furo to grow more flowers for their "Womanhood Flower" technique and claim the bathroom to be the perfect nursery. Pink and Link tell Ranma that should he get in their way he'll regret it. The pair then attack Ranma with "Poison-Receiving Compresses" which Pink sticks to Ranma when he slips on some soap. Link then throws some "Medicinal Attack Compressess" at Soun, Genma and Akane when they enter which they block with their fists. However these compresses are attracted to those on Ranma so they begin punching him uncontrollably.

Link tells Ranma that their revenge is just beginning and the twins shut Ranma out of the bathroom. However, Ranma quickly rushes back in, only to be stopped by a large pair of leaves suddenly appearing from a plant grown by Pink and Link. The twins believe that they can now continue their work in peace, but Shampoo crashes through the wall behind them demanding they leave Ranma out of this as it's between them. The twins tells Shampoo that attacking them in the hot house was a stupid idea and then perform the "Womanhood Flower" on Shampoo before kidnapping her. They also leave a message on a mirror saying that Ranma is next.

That evening the pair manage to grow a monstrously large flower, which has Shampoo trapped in the centre of its blossom. The twins appear to Ranma and explain that if Ranma wants Shampoo back he'll have to climb the flower to save her. They continue by jumping up to the blossom themselves, just before the flower grows even larger in size. As they watch from the blossom, Shampoo regains consciousness and walks up behind them. She then mentions that they are very confident at defeating Ranma before beating them up.

Shampoo reveals she used a kenzan or mountain of swords so she wouldn't be affected by the Womanhood Flowers then tells the twins to help her, threatening them with violence if they didn't. When Ranma arrives, Pink and Link (who are bruised from being beaten up by Shampoo) pretend to still be in control of the situation as Shampoo melodramatically plays the damsel in destress. The twins then begin fighting, but struggle against Poison-Crushing Shield and Poison-Slicing Sword which Ranma acquired from Cologne earlier. However, after Link destroys the shield with its weakness, medicines, Ranma uses the sword to cut through a cloud of poisons. However as it can only be used once, he and Shampoo fall to a special pollen and are paralyzed.

The blossom of the flower then detaches from the rest of the plant and flies off, landing in the Furinkan High School grounds. A large garden of other enormous plants grows almost instantly, with all of the plants being highly poisonous. Deep inside the garden, Ranma and Shampoo are trapped in a cage of paralysing vines with flowers that release poisons when disturbed. Shampoo tells Ranma to stay still and they won't get poisoned, but this just prompts Pink to throw some spores at them, causing some acid berries to fall from above.

After Akane enters the garden to try and save Ranma, she sets off an alarm system which cause Pink and Link to go after the her. They soon find Akane and try to use a "Poisonous-Plant Barrage" on her, but Akane uses Fan of Divine Wind to blow the poison back at the pair. Link is luckily able to make the antidote, allowing the pair to attack Akane with a large poison plant that has several tendrils. Akane defends herself with Flame-Throwing Staff, which burns the plant to a cinder and hits Pink and Link as well. Akane tells the pair that if they tell her where Ranma and Shampoo are she won't hurt them, but they just tell Akane that this has already been done.

Regardless, the twins take Akane to Ranma and Shampoo. As the trio argue over Ranma nearly kissing Shampoo, Pink walks up and asks why they can't just get along, patting their backs in the process, but is quickly kicked by Shampoo and told to stay out. When Ranma and Akane decide to leave the twins and Shampoo to settle their differences on their own, Shampoo orders the twins to go after them. The pair do so, and Link asks if they are working for their enemy. Pink however, explains she put Poisonous-Snake Plant seeds on their clothes when she patted them. The seeds germinate and ensnare Shampoo, Akane and Ranma.

With Shampoo rendered unconscious, the twins begin exacting their revenge and begin stomping on her. Thy hit Shampoo over 100 times, but just as they are about to finish Shampoo off by stabbing her, she punches them into the air. This confuses Pink and Link greatly, who are then slapped as well. At first the two of them think the Poisonous-Snake Plant didn't work, but it turns out that Shampoo's hatred for them is so strong that she is fighting in her sleep.

As morning is about to break, Ranma finds Pink and Link being beaten up by the still sleeping Shampoo. When Ranma questions this, the twins say that they've been hit over 500 times already. A plant than releases some more poison in the direction of the group, so Ranma tries using the Fan of Divine Wind to deflect it. However, this just mixes more poisons in the air, forcing Link to hastily make an antidote while Ranma holds back Shampoo.

Link makes the antidote and asks Ranma have it first, as he seems the most reliable. However as she thought, it turns out to be extremely spicy, so the twins decide that it will be better to die than end up with burnt, swollen lips like Ranma now has. They promptly give up by lying down, loosing consciousness. Ranma manages to save everyone by stuffing the antidote into the mouth of the Flame-Throwing Staff, using the ensuing blast to both propel himself while carrying the others into the air and simultaneously destroy the garden. He manages to land on his feet, but the impact from carrying the four girls severely injures his legs and renders him bedridden for a month.

Following their rescue, Pink and Link return to China, leaving behind some Poisonous-Snake Plant antidote for Ranma as gratitude for saving their lives. When they return, the pair also report to the Nyuuchezu that Shampoo's husband is weak in a jab at her, which is subsequently published.

Abilities
Being herbalists, all of the twins' attacks are based on plants and poisons. Both are excellent at growing the necessary plants needed as well as being able to know if the state of the weather is correct for growing, which they have practiced from a young age.

Apart from the unnamed poisons and powders the twins use (which cause paralysis amongst other things), their most frequent and basic technique involves Pink sowing Mandrake seeds on her victim to poison them. She would then leave the victim to die, but they are usually found by Link who can quickly prepare the antidote and heal them. Along with all of their herbal remedies, Pink and Link also appear to carry pharmaceuticals with them, which they use to destroy the Poison-Crushing Shield.

The twins are also able to perform multiple special techniques, all with a herbal basis:


 * Womanhood Flower: A special technique which Pink and Link claim to have invented themselves. By combining the "Poisonious Male Flower of Weakness" and the "Medicinal Female Flower of Love", the resulting mixture created can make anyone who has it placed on their head begin to act like a spineless housewife and completely lose their will to fight, no matter what is done to them. The technique can be countered by the victim wearing a kenzan or "mountain of swords" which prevents the flowers settling in their hair.


 * Poison-Receiving Compresses: Special adhesive black compresses used by Pink to attract the Medicinal Attack Compresses.


 * Medicinal Attack Compresses: Special adhesive white compresses used by Link in conjunction with the Poison-Receiving Compresses. They are attracted to the latter, so when stuck to a target's fist they will be forced to punch whoever has been stuck with the receiving compresses.


 * Poisonous-Plant Barrage: Combing some unnamed herbs the twins create a deadly cloud of poison. However Link is still able to make the antidote while being affected by it.


 * Poisonous-Snake Plant: The twins' ultimate attack, which was created by Pink. Seeds which are activated by body heat quickly germinate, sprouting entangling tendrils with jaws that will that will automatically bite the target. The venom quickly puts them into a deep sleep, although Shampoo was able to fight the twins in her sleep before eventually succumbing.

Trivia

 * Despite being exclusive to the manga, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung, who are also from China albeit native Joketsuzoku, appear in the anime and serve a similar role to Pink and Link.
 * It is difficult to say who is the villain in the story of Pink, Link and Shampoo. On the one hand, Pink did start the whole mess by poisoning Shampoo for fun. On the other hand, Shampoo didn't have to begin beating both twins up whenever she saw them, either.
 * It is possible that Pink and Link actually further provoked Shampoo's "retaliatory beatings" by attacking Shampoo two-on-one in an effort to make Shampoo pay for hitting Link. Shampoo doesn't mention this in the manga, but it's possible she thought it was so obvious it didn't need to be said, and the twins do display a habit of picking fights for revenge when one of their own is wronged during their storyline in the series.