Name: Ryuu Kumon
Age: 16
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
First Appearance (Anime): None as of yet in the USA
First Appearance (Manga): Vol. 28 (Japanese)
Love Interest: None
Loved by: None
Rivals/Opponents: Ranma
Profile: Ryuu Kumon is a traveling martial artist who seeks the other half of a set of moves created by Genma, which are written on a scroll, and with which Ryuu believes he can restore his family dojo, which had been destroyed. While passing through the area, Genma had given Ryuu one half of the scroll, with the intention of separating the two scrolls of techniques (called Umi-sen-ken and Yama-sen-ken) because they were too dangerous. Ryuu had believed that with his half of the techniques, he could revive his family's dojo. However, while practicing the techniques, he accidentally made his dojo collapse, killing his father in the process. With his father's dying wish to be to find the other half of the techniques and to revive the dojo, Ryuu set out to find Genma.
Ryuu's travels came to an end when he finally found a member of the Saotome family. Ryuu had been callling himself "Ranma Saotome" in order to more easily find Genma, and he managed to save Nodoka from a wild bear that had escaped from the zoo. Nodoka at this time had no knowledge of the Jusenkyo curse placed on her son Ranma, so she immediately though Ryuu was the real male Ranma when he told her as such. When the real Ranma (masquerading as Ranko" in female form because of Nodoka's presence) heard of Ryuu's assertions, he challenged Ryuu to fight. After a couple of brief skirmishes, however, Rnama ended up being beaten by Ryuu's techniques, learned from the half of the scroll that Genma had given him so long ago.
Ryuu subsequently challenged Ranma to a duel with the prize being the victor getting to see the other half of the moves that they didn't know (after losing, Ranma had asked Genma to train him in the techniques of the half of the scroll that Ryuu was seeking). In the ensuing fight, Ranma is able to defeat Ryuu by virtue of the moves he had learned from Genma. Ranma's quicker, more subtle moves eventually outdo Ryuu's louder, more violent ones, and Ryuu learns the truth about the techniques Genma had created. The Umi-sen-ken and Yama-sen-ken moves were created for someone to live on in times of poverty (i.e. by stealing from people's houses). Ryuu's moves are those which emulate a noisy, loud thief, while Ranma's moves represent those of a quiet, more subtle thief. Ryuu then departs after hearing this.
Personality: Ryuu has a determiend personality fueled by the desire to restore his family's dojo and also to fulfill his father's dying wishes. Cold and somewhat unfeeling, Ryuu will stop at nothing to achieve what he wants to achieve, and does not hold back against Ranma, using everything in his arsenal. Though not an evil character, Ryuu is not really caring of mercy when it comes to a fight.
⌐ 1998 by Frank Sanchez