Herb (Ranma ½)
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Herb is an important one time character in Rumiko Takahashi's manga series Ranma ½. Mint and Lime are his two bodyguards.
| Herb | |
|---|---|
 Herb |
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| Alias: | Prince Herb |
| Gender: | Male/Female |
| Age: | 18-20 |
| Curse: | Male to Female |
| Species: | Half Human, Half Dragon |
| Rivals: | Ranma Saotome Mousse Ryoga Hibiki Monkeys |
| Occupation: | Ruler of the Musk Dynasty |
| Residence: | Musk Dynasty, China |
| Fighting Style: | Form Mimicry, Dragon Style |
| Attacks: | Flying Sword of the Dragon Soaring Dragon Spirit |
| Seiyū: | Katsuaki Arima |
| 1st Appearance (Manga): |
Volume 22 |
Contents |
[edit] History
The Musk Dynasty are an ancient race of Chinese martial arts masters. The Musk people practiced martial arts based on animal movements such as "tiger style" or "wolf style" martial arts. To better improve their abilities, they threw animals respective to their martial arts style into The Spring of Drowned Woman at Jusenkyo and then used the Water Pot of Preservation to trap the now female animals in their human forms. And the Royal members of the Musk Dynasty would throw Dragons in to the spring, which led to Herb's dragon abilities. According to Cologne it is believed that the Musk Dynasty died out many years ago, which would mean that Herb, Mint & Lime are the last members of the dynasty. However, later, during a flashback, Herb is shown in a throne room, and implies the Musk is alive and well although such is not directly stated. So, it's unclear what the true fate of the Musk is.
[edit] Story
Herb had one day decided to pick a wife. Before doing so, he wished to become familiar with women and decided to use the Jusenkyo spring of drowned girl to do so. After he had thrown a monkey in to the spring, he became distracted by her naked breasts allowing her to knock him into the spring and use the pail of preservation to keep him in a permanent female form.
After this incident, Herb and his two companions Mint & Lime traveled to Japan in order to find the lost treasure of the Musk Dynasty, the "Pot of Liberation," in order to cure him. After they came to the Cat Café to speak with Cologne about the location of the Pot, she told Herb its location was on Mount Horai. As he was about to leave, Mint and Lime came back with Akane and Shampoo, but Herb told them to leave the girls because they were about to leave. After Herb treats Akane roughly, Ranma angrily fights him only to be quickly beaten and trapped in his female form. Ranma comes after Herb for revenge and tries to win back his manhood in the process.
After Ranma sets off with Ryoga & Mousse, who plan to get rid of Ranma after they retrieve the Pail and get revenge on Mint & Lime, go out in search of the trio, after they reach Mount Horai Ranma engages a now male Herb in one of his toughest battles in the series, while Ryoga & Mousse are fight Lime & Mint in their hardest battle yet. After they managed to defeat the Musk warriors, they return back to Nerima for a nice hot bath, while Herb, Mint & Lime return to China with a new sense of respect for the three martial artists.
Due to his experience with the girl/monkey that cursed him, Herb possesses a fear and hatred towards breasts and monkeys and will quickly be paralyzed by the sight of breasts and will also kill any monkey that happens to cross his path.
[edit] Attacks
- Flying Sword of the Dragon: With this move, Herb creates blades of ki that can fly through the air and slice through objects. He can also create a sword of ki with his hand using this move. While similar in appearance to the Yamasenken, "Demon God Multiple Strike" move, the blades are made of ki, not vacuum.
- Soaring Dragon Spirit: While using his ability to fly, Herb divebombs his opponent one-handed while firing Ki blasts that bounce off the ground to catch his opponent off guard. The blasts cannot bounce off water, however.
[edit] Trivia
- The actual pun in Herb's name is that all of the Chinese characters are named after beauty products, musk fragrances or lingerie.
- Herb's Soaring Dragon Spirit is the only move ever to be used against Ranma Saotome that he cannot counter, avoid or defend against even after figuring out how it works.
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Ranma ½ Characters
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| Saotome Family | |
|---|---|
| Ranma Saotome | Genma Saotome | Nodoka Saotome | |
| Tendo Family | |
| Soun Tendo | Kasumi Tendo | Nabiki Tendo | Akane Tendo | Mrs. Tendo | |
| Chinese | |
| Shampoo | Mousse | Cologne | Jusenkyo Guide | Pantyhose Taro | |
| Kuno Family | |
| Tatewaki Kuno | Kodachi Kuno | Principal Kuno | Sasuke Sarugakure | |
| Notable Furinkan Residents | |
| Ukyo Kuonji | Hikaru Gosunkugi | Dr. Tofu Ono | Hinako Ninomiya | Konatsu | |
| Major Adversaries | |
| Ryoga Hibiki | Happosai | Mariko Konjo | Herb | Ryu Kumon | Saffron | |
| Recurring / Other Characters | |
| Akari Unryu | Tsubasa Kurenai | Shinnosuke | Ranma ½ minor characters | |
| Other Articles | |
| Locations in Ranma ½ | Anything Goes Martial Arts | Chinese Amazons | |
