Pantyhose Taro

Anime/Manga

Ranma ½ (Japanese: らんま ½⁠, Hepburn: Ranma Nibun-no-Ichi, pronounced Ranma One-Half in English) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. Pantyhose Taro (パンスト 太郎, Pantyhose Taro (パンスト太郎, Pansuto-Tarō), is a supporting antagonist in the Ranma 1/2 anime and manga series. He is a young martial artist, who was born in Jusenkyo and the arch-nemesis of Happosai. Happosai helps his mother with the birth, and accidentally bathes him in the most accursed spring in the area, and because of the customs of the village, Happosai also names him.

Background

Pantyhose Taro is a young martial artist who was born in Jusenkyo. Unfortunately for him, Happosai was visiting the cursed springs that day and decided, in a rare moment of altruism, to help the mother out with her birthing. Once he had the newborn baby in his hands, Happosai decided to bathe him and accidentally chose to use water from the most accursed spring in Jusenkyo: The Niuhōmanmaorennīchuan (Níuhèmànmáorénnìquán) or spring of drowned "yeti holding an eel and crane while riding an ox" (literally, "ox-crane-eel-hairy-man-drowned-spring"). Because of this, he transforms into a giant, winged minotaur-like creature when splashed with cold water. While others would consider it a tragedy, Taro in fact enjoys having the massive strength and power his cursed form grants him. However, Taro’s real misfortune was that according to the laws of his village, the person who gave him his first bath was also the one in charge of naming him. Having learned this Happosai deliberated for several days and eventually named him “Pantyhose Taro”, a name the old pervert believed everyone would love. Taro hates his name and has made his goal in life to somehow have it changed. The laws of his village, unfortunately, state that only the person who named him has the right to do this. Because of this, Taro has held a grudge against Happosai, who plainly refuses to give him a new name.