I've always liked Ryouga, and continue to quite enjoy the lovable lost lunkhead, which puts me decidedly in the majority opinion (for once). Yet Ryouga's popularity might well be his downfall, at least insofar as fanfic goes. To wit, while many fanfics have had well-written Ryougas, very few if any authors have really done anything interesting with his character. He is a lovable lost lunkhead, and he remains a lovable lost lunkhead (or he's mangled into something unrecognisable as himself, but that's the risk all characters take), never really growing, maturing or changing in any significant way.
Is it just because Ryouga is such a popular character by himself that nobody really wants to mess with a winning formula? Or is it because many authors (and I'll freely include myself here) find it tricky to have a character arc where Ryouga grows and changes, given how stubborn and naive he is? Or something else entirely? I'm not sure, but I do find it interesting he is so uniquely static among the main Ranma cast.
Ryouga Pictures
Go back to the Gallery.
