Rouge (Ranma½)

Infobox animanga character
color = violet
name = Rouge/Asura
series = Ranma ½


caption = Rouge in human form.
first = Volume 32
last =
creator = Rumiko Takahashi
voiced by = Kumiko Nishihara (Japanese)
alias = Asura
The Glowing Girl
age = 16
born =
occupation = Unknown
relatives = Unknown
divider = yes
aux1 name = Curse
aux1 = Spring of drowned Asura
aux2 name = Fighting style
aux2 = None

Rouge is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's manga series "Ranma ½".

History

Rouge is a 16 year old Hindu girl from China who holds a grudge against Pantyhose Taro. This is because one night while he was exercising, he heard some strange noises nearby and when he checked to see what it was, it turned out to be a beautiful girl bathing in a hot spring. As he stared at her, she quickly became aware of his presence, and began throwing what ever she could find at his head, including items she called her sources of power which somehow ended up inside Taro's barbells. Taro managed to escape with his barbells, but after Rouge realized her sources of power were gone, she quickly went after him and changed into her cursed form Asura.

The two subsequently battled in their respective cursed forms. After Taro was defeated, Rouge became a huge fireball and shot themselves all the way to Nerima. After arriving in Nerima Rouge was knocked into a fountain by Taro and fell unconscious. Akane and Ranma soon find Rouge and take her back to the Tendo home. After she awakens, she requests Ranma's assistance in getting back the source of her powers, which she believes was stolen by Pantyhose Taro. After much carnage and destruction, Rouge discovers that the power source she uses are fairly common and buys quite a few of them before heading back to China. Taro believed he could use the source of power to take over the world. Instead, he ended up looking foolish upon learning that Rouge's sources of power were simply small magnetic disks used to prevent stiffening in one's back, a serious problem for her since her cursed form has six arms.

Personality

Rouge is generally presented as ‘over-feminine’. She is vain, shy, melodramatic, sensitive to the point of easily fainting when mentally exhausted, and fond of traditionally ‘girlish’ superstition like astrology and blood groups. Very polite, somewhat helpful, and apparently compassionate in her regular state, but also violently vengeful when upset, and mostly disregards any damage she causes, or doesn’t act consistent with her regret, alternately thinks it’s a “sign of bad luck”. She’s compared entering her ‘Asura’ form with going into a trance.

An Asura is a Hindu demon/god that is said to be extremely powerful. These three-faced, six-armed creatures are described as being very aggressive. In this state Rouge's personality turns far more brash and destructive, greatly enjoying the battle. her mind is apparently split into three mostly identical, independently sentient parts.

Powers and abilities

"See also Rouge's techniques."

Rouge seems almost completely unable to fight in her normal form. Her warrior form, however, is one of the characters with highest amount of raw power ever to appear in the series, but also seems quite physically weak and susceptible to impacts, when compared to the cast of highly trained martial artists. Being unexpectedly hit to the head by a frying pan, falling from just a few meters above, immediately made her unconscious, but given her ability to hover and attack from out of reach this has not constituted a serious problem. Beyond this weakness, her three separate minds can occasionally make it very difficult to make quick decisions.

Other appearances

*Rouge only appears in the manga. However she makes an appearance as the boss of the video game "", in which she was voiced by Kumiko Nishihara. There was also a planned english version where she was going to be voiced by Lynda Boyd. However, it was canceled for unknown reasons.