Michael Chen writes:

Ok, here's the question.  Suppose Ranma never really had his "big 
bad" father and spent his childhood wandering around Japan, alone?  
How would you suppose he would be like?  

Would he be better mannered? 

Be more like Ryoga?  Be a practical person? Be more emotional?  I 
think this is going to be a major part of my next Alternative 
Reality, Ranma doesn't have parents and he doesn't have a place to 
call home, until of course, a sweet girl takes pity on him and takes 
him in.....

Well, that's what I have on my mind right now, but I just have a 
problem how to characterize Ranma the right way...

How the story proceeds depends on how you want it to turn out. If Ranma
is raised without martial arts training, it's not likely that he'll
become the master of musabetsu kakutou that we all love him for, and
expect him to be... But then again, if you write the story to be an
obvious satire about what Ranma *could* have been (with clear reference
to what presently characterizes him), you just might pull it off.

And about the "sweet girl"... who is she? The satire might not work if
you have to create her. If it's one of the Tendou girls, I'd understand,
since - for me - their influence (especially that of Akane) is what sets
the stage for Ranma 1/2.

Good Luck with this one


Nangke