Saffron (Ranma ½)

Infobox animanga character
color = Red
name = Saffron
series = Ranma ½


caption = Saffron
first = Volume 37
last = Volume 38
creator = Rumiko Takahashi
alias = Lord Saffron
Phoenix Emperor
age = True age unknown. He has appeared as, respectively, 8, 20-30, and 2 days old, with mentality matching his outward presentation.
born =
occupation = Former: Ruler of the Phoenix people
Now: Newborn baby
relatives = Apparently none. Directly served by Kiima (Babysitter), and an unnamed chamberlain.
divider = yes
aux1 name = Curse
aux1 =
aux2 name = Fighting style
aux2 =

Saffron is a fictional villain in Rumiko Takahashi's manga series "Ranma ½".

History

Saffron is presented as a humanoid phoenix, ruling over a tribe of hybrids based on more "normal" birds, who have all adopted these traits from the magical Jusenkyo waters, due to living near their source. Given the attributes connected to his archetype, he is reborn in infant form when violently killed, but it is unknown if this extends to natural causes, i.e. if he has ruled his people for many generations. His motivation was given as bathing in these waters, which were indispensable to regulate his transformation into adult form, and provide heat and light to his rural people. But this also made it necessary to strangle the flow to the cursed Jusenkyo springs, which coerced Ranma and other victims into acting to reestablish their only available cure.

When Saffron activated the bath, he was engulfed in a strange frozen material that put him in an egglike state until he finished his rebirth. After the protagonists found out about Saffron's spring, they quickly went looking for it. When they found the hidden spring of rebirth, the Jusenkyo Guide informed Akane that the only way to restore the cursed springs was to release the water from the Dragon Statue connected to Jusenkyo and to close the valve of the Phoenix Statue, which provided the rebirthing water for Saffron's bath. Afterwards, Ranma interrupted Saffron's rebirthing process. This caused Saffron's transformation to be incomplete, making him unable to control how much of his power he used. Because of this, he would run the risk of burning himself out if he did not complete the transformation. Akane then tried to shut off the valve, which was actually the Kinjakan, but its heat evaporated all of the water in her body, causing her to become a small doll.

As Akane shriveled into a doll, the Jusenkyo Guide informed them that the only way to restore Akane to normal was to give her the water from the Dragon Statue. Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse went back to Mt. Phoenix to challenge Saffron and cure Akane. In the resulting battle, the Akane doll threw herself through the hot air created by Saffron's attacks. Though it cost Akane her life, her move created a small channel of cold air and allowed Ranma to fire a whirlwind through it, squeezing the cold spiral into a razor's edge. The resulting attack drilled straight through Saffron's chest, killing him.

However, Saffron wasn't dead. Being an immortal phoenix, he revived as an egg, and hatched as a baby. Before Ranma and the others left, Ranma warned Saffron's caretaker Kiima to make sure he grows up with a much better personality this time. Miraculously, the fight between Saffron and Ranma seemed to have opened up new waterways in Phoenix Mountain, saving their people. Ranma parts ways with the Phoenix people on surprisingly good terms.

It is a common misconception that Saffron is a god or demigod. This is completely false. He is a phoenix, and is thus immortal, but he never makes any claims of being a god, nor does anyone else ever call him a god.

Personality

Saffron is portrayed as a selfish, territorial, obnoxious and utterly ruthless brat, who only cares about his own goals and desires, and is willing to kill or torture anyone who so much as annoys him, even if he bears full responsibility for initiating the conflict. He also appears to be very racist towards "landling scum".

He tends to be cold and condescending even towards those who treat him with kindness and loyalty, but it is unknown whether or not he is tyrannical. Adult subjects have been shown as kept in a storeroom full of surikomi-eggs, which enslave them to the first person they see, but this was not expanded upon. Neither has his possible status as a recurrently reborn ruler of his tribe, although Koruma and Masara referred to that only the royal family (plural) dared to touch the Kinjakan, so he has likely had at least some predecessors to his position. However, Saffron does seem to take his duties as a ruler rather seriously, as he originally wanted to use his new form to give light and energy to his people.

Despite his outwardly young age, Saffron has a devious and sadistic mind. He was able to trick Ranma and the others into going into an entranceway to Mt. Phoenix before triggering a trap send them falling several hundred meters, and came up with the plan to kidnap Akane, and imprint a Jusenkyo spring with her likeness, so Kiima could seduce Ranma and retrieve the Kinjakan.

He was enthusiastic about the prospect of eating Ranma alive as sustenance for his own transformation. During their battle, Saffron was unwilling to let the latter save the magically dehydrated Akane's life, but when misunderstanding Ranma's intent, stated that "even he" was disgusted by the notion of using someone willing to sacrifice her life for oneself as a shield. However, he had no problem blasting through Akane to hit Ranma. In the end, Saffron's own obsession and anger contributed to his loss and temporary death.

Powers and Abilities

"See also Saffron's techniques."

Aside from his immense fire power, Saffron also possesses decent skill with the Kinjakan. While flying, he has superb maneuverability. He's one of the characters with highest amount of raw power in the series, but is very lacking in fighting prowess compared to the most experienced martial artists of his world. As mentioned above, he can rapidly heal missing limbs, and is reborn as an infant after violent deaths, but can be beaten unconscious by severe blunt impacts, and his physical defenses are very low due to being pampered since birth. Limits of his rebirth ability for repeated fatalities are unknown.

Trivia

* Though he never appeared in the Anime, Saffron does bear a vague resemblance to Setsuna no Takemaru, a character that appears in the third movie of InuYasha; another successful Takahashi series. His appearance also is similar to Kyora of the Four War Gods from the fourth InuYasha movie, as they both are associated with birds and can use fire-elemental attacks.