Name: Saffron
Age: ?
Eyes: Brown
Hair: White
First Appearance (Anime): None as of yet in the USA
First Appearance (Manga): Vol. 37 (Japanese)
Love Interest: None
Loved by: None
Rivals/Opponents: Ranma
Profile: Saffron, a boy at first and an adult later, is the self-proclaimed "Ruler of Jusenkyo". HIgh on Mount Phoenix, he is the ruler of the Phoenix people and the leader of Kiima and the others. His most distinctive feature is that he holds in his hands the Kinjakan, a weapon capable of giving off intense heat (and also allowing flight). Even without this weapon, however, Saffroin is a very powerful opponent, and well near immortal in adult form.
At first, Saffron is a child, having been raised by Kiima to be the ruler of the Phoenix people and of Jusenkyo. As a child, he is naturally attracted to hot springs and hot baths - this is because a hot bathing in the source of Jusenkyo's hot water, along with the Kinjakan, is Saffron's way to becoming a mature, incredibly powerful adult Phoenix. It is this attraction to hot water which brings him outside of Mount Phoenix and to a hot spring, where he first encounters Ranma and his companions, who had taken off after Kiima to get back both Shampoo and the Jusenkyo map taken by her from Plum. This Jusenkyo map was another of the keys to making Saffron into an adult, and Ranma and the others were after it in order to stop the Phoenix people from drying up the Jusenkyo springs inthe process, denying them all hope of a cure.
Saffron, as a child, agrees to take Ranma and company to the mountain, but then double crosses them and tries to kill them. Fortunately, Ranma and the others were not hurt seriously, and Saffron ends up being taken away from them by Kiima, minus the precious Kinjakan that was needed to make him into an adult.
Later, Saffron is able to mature into an adult, almost catching Ranma in the midst of the transformation and making him into food for Saffron's tranformation. Ranma is only saved by Akane, whjo sacrifices herself by taking out the Kinjakan, thereby cooling the water Saffron was bathing in. Though Ranma is free of the transformation, Saffron still continues it, becoming encased in an egg. Meanwhile, Akane's body has had all the water sucked out of it by the Kinjakan, turning her into a mini doll version of herself - only the water from the Dragon Tap, next to the Source of Jusenkyo Saffron was bathing in, is able to revive her - but it must be done before doll-Akane's eyes completely close.
However, Ranma's fight witht he maturing Saffron during the transformation warped the procedure, and though Saffron emerges as an adult, his power is not fully present and his transformation was unsuccessful. It is explained that the reason Saffron needed to transform was not only to gain much power, but also to fulfill the Phoenix King's destiny - to he held up by the rock face for eternity, providing his people with the intense light and heat from his immense power, granted to him through his transformaiton. However, in Saffron's case, the transformation was not complete, and instead, has only a fraction of his power (which is still quite a bit of power, as demonstrated in his fight with Ranma). Saffron, angry at Ranma's interference, attacks him, and a duel begins between Ranma and Saffron,with Ranma trying to get to the water in order to restore Akane and Saffron trying to kill Ranma.
During the battle, Saffron deomnstrates his immense, though fractional, power, and among other things, is able to regenerate, fire off energy blasts, and use the Kinjakan to deliver even more heat based attacks than before. It is only through Ranma's ingenious use of the Hiryu Shoten Ha, and the Gekkaja weapon (the counter to the Kinjakan) that he is able to just barely defeat Saffron as well as save Akane and return her to normal form. Saffron then re-emerges as a little baby - because he is Phoenix, he cannot die, but has merely expended all of his energy. As Ranma and the otehrs take their leave, ranma warns Kiima to raise Saffron better this time around.
Personality: Saffron was not raised very well, and is very spoiled and snobbish as a child, as well as vindictive and cruel - he is the one who tries to kill Ranma and his companions when they arrive at Mount Phoenix and also orchestrates the Akane capture and use of her in the new drowned spring Kiima created. As an adult, his childish tendancies leave him, but he is still just as cruel and vindictive, as well as angry. Confident in his ability to defeat anyone, he is not above using his full pwoer even on those weaker than he is.
⌐ 1998 by Frank Sanchez