Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

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Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon May 12, 2014 8:34 am

Is it just me, or is his personality more comparable to that of a cat than any other notable/common animal that's used for such a thing? Or, do you think he has more in common with another animal?
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Re: Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Spica75 » Mon May 12, 2014 4:24 pm

Crescent Pulsar S wrote:Is it just me, or is his personality more comparable to that of a cat than any other notable/common animal that's used for such a thing? Or, do you think he has more in common with another animal?


He responds to challenges very much unlike a cat... Hmm... I think I´ll rather call him a dog if i have to use animals for classification?
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Re: Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Mon May 12, 2014 7:39 pm

In the way of responding to challenges, you can't really distinguish between cat and dog because they're fundamentally the same, and depend on temperament and experience. Some cats are skittish, some dogs cower. Some cats hiss, some dogs bark. Some cats bring out the claws, some dogs bite. And, of course, there are a lot more things to consider than just that one thing.
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Re: Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Spica75 » Tue May 13, 2014 4:35 am

In the way of responding to challenges, you can't really distinguish between cat and dog because they're fundamentally the same, and depend on temperament and experience. Some cats are skittish, some dogs cower. Some cats hiss, some dogs bark. Some cats bring out the claws, some dogs bite.


You´re kidding? It´s completely different on average. Cats will generally not get into a challenge unless they feel the "other side" is specifically a competitor for itself, and >9 times out of 10, those times will end up as staring contests.

Challenge a dog and most of the time it will challenge back. A subservient dog might be meek about it and yield quickly, but it´s not just going to sit there and look at you as if you´re crazy, like a cat might.


There was a relevant study done in England a few years ago, where they put GPS and cameras on all the cats in a village and tracked them constantly over some time.
Among other things, they found that cats timeshare territory. Cats in the same area, using the same territory, under normal circumstances there was never more than a single cat outside in the area, as they "took turns" to be out. If something upset the routine, there could be much staring and sometimes big fights, but normally they just stayed out of each others way, not seldomly sitting in a window staring at the others taking their turn.

So, effectively cats are socially antisocial, they can work and function together even despite essentially being loners, while dogs are so socially focused that they will seek out everyone and determine comparative standing, works well together as long as the "pack" has been properly determined, but barely at all if there is no clear ranking within a determined pack.

Ranma very much isn´t a loner, other than not by choice, and he´s ALWAYS out to show who´s #1(him!), except of course that he´s generally rather submissive outside of fighting, taking orders from his parents and the Tendo´s (among others) even when he really shouldn´t.
Totally dog behaviour.

A cat doesn´t get into fights "just because", and taking orders, hah...

And, of course, there are a lot more things to consider than just that one thing.


I wasn´t limiting myself to that, that was just the most obvious part that i thought of first.
There´s much more that could be said but i don´t have time(or geist) to get so convoluted now.
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Re: Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Crescent Pulsar S » Tue May 13, 2014 1:52 pm

As far as challenges go, from experience (as far as domesticated animals go) I equate dogs with more bark and less bite, which -- in human terms -- would be more talk and little walk. The people who approach Ranma do most of the yapping, and are the one's generally most active with their intentions (like an excited dog) and do the hounding (pun intended), while Ranma often bears with it up until a certain point (the sitting and/or staring cat), depending on what the challenge is. If he'd rather not deal with it or can avoid it, he's more likely to try and dismiss it or ignore it, like a cat, than waste the time or energy. (Typically, challengers often press the right button (or two) before too long. Which is just as well, since the story may not progress in the desired direction otherwise.)

While it's true that Ranma tries to impress upon others how awesome he is, that's mostly for his own sake, not to please others (not as the final result, anyway, which is why apologies and lending aid tend to blow up in his face, because he opens his mouth and displays how self-serving his actions had been). That's why nearly everyone has such a low opinion of him, because what he does is mostly self-centered and a matter of self-interest. That sounds like a cat, to me. He doesn't go out of his way to be social and make friends (no one's forcing him not to be), and seems content to do things on his own. After all, Ranma has had a lot of practice abandoning one social sphere after another, moving around with the same person rather than fitting in and establishing himself somewhere with others. Still, even cats know how to play, and to seek out the company of another.

We probably draw different conclusions simply because our perspective on Ranma himself is very different.
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Re: Despite Ranma's fear of cats...

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Wed May 14, 2014 6:01 am

I have not had the best of luck with dogs, or occasionally cats. But there is one thing I have observed: if I am damaged by a cat, I know why the cat did it. With dogs, it's not always clear. Oh, yeah, "territory". "He could tell you were afraid of him." Things like that.

If you get in a fight with Ranma, you know the reason. Cat.
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