This kanji character...

[Crescent Pulsar R]

What does 妖 mean? I know what the two characters that it consists of means separately, but not what they mean as one idea.

Babel Fish is no help. ;/

[Spokavriel]

Maybe it needs a bit more context to clear up what it means?

[Circe]

Well, Google Translate is telling me that it's pronounced "Ayakashi", which Wikipedia says is the name for a ghost lost at sea, though it can also be used as a synonym for yokai.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

That's interesting. In part because one of the definitions that I get for "you" is "ocean."

Maybe it needs a bit more context to clear up what it means?

Perhaps. I was reading it as "you," in "youma." I figured, since "demon" (ma) was accounted for, that "you" would also have an independent meaning.

[Makoto]

Here's the entry from my kanji dictionary:

妖 YOU: bewitching, enchanting; calamity

---(1st)---
妖女 youjo: enchantress, a bewitching beauty
妖気 youki: ghostly, weird
妖怪 youkai: ghost, apparition
妖婦 youfu: enchantress, siren
妖婆 youba: witch, hag
妖術 youjutsu: magic, witchcraft
妖雲 youun: ominous cloud
妖精 yousei: fairy, sprite, elf
妖艶 youen: voluptuous charm, bewitching beauty
妖魔 youma: ghost, apparition
---(2nd)---
面妖 men'you: strange, mysterious

(source: Japanese Character Dictionary - Mark Spahn/Wolfgang Hadamitzky (1989))

[Crescent Pulsar R]

I wish my dictionary was that thorough. ;/

Thanks! It makes sense, now.

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

In the second season of the Sailor Moon anime, the first forces coming up against the Sailors are the Ayakashi Sisters. I believe I've seen the "ghost lost at sea" translation used for them.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Too bad they weren't lost at sea in the anime... Wait, what?

Say, if "youma" means "bewitching demon," does that mean that Kuno is essentially accusing Ranma of being such? ;p Makes me think of tossing the idea into a story, where Kuno, convinced that Ranma is a youma, goes on an advertising campaign to get the senshi's attention, in order to get them to deal with it.

[Spokavriel]

Unfortunately he only accuses the male side of being a demon or sorcerer.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Yes, but either through force or bewitchment, which would fit with the definition. It doesn't even have to be explicitly said, so long as it suggests the idea. And demons and sorcerers would mean that it'd like be done via magic, and thus bewitchment. Especially demons, which are usually known for their temptation.