Herb (Ranma ½)
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Herb is an important one time character in Rumiko Takahashi's manga series Ranma ½. Mint and Lime are his two bodyguards.
| Herb | |
|---|---|
 Herb |
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| Alias: | Prince Herb |
| Gender: | Male/Female |
| Age: | 18-20 |
| Curse: | Male to Female |
| Species: | Half Human, Half Dragon |
| Rivals: | Ranma Saotome Mousse Ryoga Hibiki Monkeys |
| Occupation: | Ruler of the Musk Dynasty |
| Residence: | Musk Dynasty, China |
| Fighting Style: | Form Mimicry, Dragon Style |
| Attacks: | Flying Sword of the Dragon Soaring Dragon Spirit |
| Seiyū: | Katsuaki Arima |
| 1st Appearance (Manga): |
Volume 24 |
Contents |
[edit] History
The Musk Dynasty are an ancient race of Chinese martial arts masters. The Musk people practiced martial arts based on animal movements such as "tiger style" or "wolf style" martial arts. To better improve their abilities, they threw animals respective to their martial arts style into The Spring of Drowned Woman at Jusenkyo and then used the Water Pot of Preservation to trap the now female animals in their human forms. And the Royal members of the Musk Dynasty would throw Dragons in to the spring, which led to Herb's dragon abilities. According to Cologne it is believed that the Musk Dynasty died out many years ago, which would mean that Herb, Mint, and Lime are the last members of the dynasty. However, later, during a flashback, Herb is shown in a throne room, and implies the Musk is alive and well although such is not directly stated. So, it's unclear what the true fate of the Musk is.
[edit] Story
Herb had one day decided to pick a wife. Before doing so, he wished to become familiar with women and decided to use the Jusenkyo spring of drowned girl to do so. After he had thrown a monkey in to the spring, he became distracted by her naked breasts allowing her to knock him into the spring and use the ladle of preservation to keep him in a permanent female form.
After this incident, Herb and his two companions Mint and Lime traveled to Japan in order to find the lost treasure of the Musk Dynasty, the "kettle of liberation", in order to cure him. After they came to the Cat Café to speak with Cologne about the location of the Pot, she told Herb its location was on Mount Horai. As he was about to leave, Mint and Lime came back with Akane and Shampoo, but Herb told them to leave the girls because they were about to leave. After Herb treats Akane roughly, Ranma angrily fights him only to be easily beaten and intentionally trapped in his female form. Ranma comes after Herb for revenge and tries to win back his manhood in the process.
Ranma sets off with Ryoga and Mousse (who initially don't plan to help Ranma, but to use the ladle to cure themselves, and to get revenge on Mint and Lime) in search of the trio. After they reach Mount Horai a completely outmatched Ranma engages a now male Herb in one of his/her toughest battles in the series, while Ryoga and Mousse fight Lime and Mint. Ranma and Mousse manage to use strategy, trickery, cheating and surprise to prevail where direct confrontation failed, while Ryoga is initially evenly matched with his opponent, but is distracted and nearly killed until he uses his perfect shi-shi hokodan to win in one blow, his sheer chi output waking Herb up and filling him/her with awe in the process. After they've defeated the Musk warriors, they return back to Nerima for a nice hot bath, while Herb, Mint and Lime return to China with a new sense of respect for the three martial artists.
Due to his experience with the girl/monkey that cursed him, Herb possesses a fear and hatred towards female breasts and monkeys, and will quickly be paralyzed and distracted by the sight either of them.
[edit] Attacks
Herb is an immensely skilled, swift, dangerous and ruthless martial artist and repeatedly outmatched Ranma in direct combat. Repeated use of his energy blasts proved enough to destabilise and collapse Mount Horaisan.
- Flying Sword of the Dragon: With this move, Herb creates blades of ki that can fly through the air and slice through objects. He can also create a sword of ki with his hand using this move. While similar in appearance to the Yamasenken, "Demon God Multiple Strike" move, the blades are made of ki, not vacuum. He can also project and mold wider, 'regular' ki-blasts, proved capable of easily vaporising rock and apparently even the magic metal ladle itself.
- Soaring Dragon Spirit: While using his ability to fly, Herb divebombs his opponent one-handed while firing Ki blasts that bounce off the ground to catch his opponent off guard. The blasts cannot bounce off water, however.
[edit] Trivia
- The actual pun in Herb's name is that all of the Chinese characters are named after beauty products, musk fragrances or lingerie.
- Herb's Soaring Dragon Spirit is one of the few moves to be used against Ranma that he cannot counter, avoid, defend against, or trick his way out of, even after figuring out how it works (at least not without someone teaching him powerful new techniques, or backed up by massively powerful magic weaponry).
- Herb was the last boss in Ranma super hard battle. Strangely enough he seemed to want world domination in that game.
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Ranma ½ Characters
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| Saotome Family | |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome | Genma Saotome | Nodoka Saotome | |
| Tendo Family | |
| Soun Tendo | Kasumi Tendo | Nabiki Tendo | Akane Tendo | Mrs. Tendo | |
| Chinese | |
| Shampoo | Mousse | Cologne | Jusenkyo Guide | Pantyhose Taro | |
| Kuno Family | |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Kodachi Kuno | Principal Kuno | Sasuke Sarugakure | |
| Notable Furinkan Residents | |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hikaru Gosunkugi | Dr. Tofu Ono | Hinako Ninomiya | Konatsu | |
| Major Adversaries | |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Happosai | Mariko Konjo | Herb | Ryu Kumon | Saffron | |
| Recurring / Other Characters | |
| Akari Unryu | Tsubasa Kurenai | Shinnosuke | Ranma ½ minor characters | |
| Other Articles | |
| Locations in Ranma ½ | Anything Goes Martial Arts | Chinese Amazons | |
