Konatsu

Konatsu is a fictional character in Rumiko Takahashi's manga series Ranma ½. The word "kenzan," used when Konatsu first introduces himself, is not his last name, though it is often claimed as such. It is an archaic Japanese word that means "I've appeared here just now" and can be broken down to mean "cruelty" and "sword." Konatsu's real surname is never revealed. Konatsu broken up can mean "Little Summer", ko meaning child or little and Natsu meaning "Summer.

History
Konatsu is a male kunoichi and supposedly a genius "female" ninja that is born every 100 years. He is very much in love with Ukyo Kuonji. When he was very young his mother died, which left his father very lonely. Afterwards his lonely father married Konatsu's stepmother. Shortly after that his father passed away, which left Konatsu to be raised by his cruel stepmother and stepsisters, who treated him like a slave.

Even though he's male he's a typical bishōnen in the respect that his face and body is indistinguishable from a female when fully clothed, and he was raised as a girl by his stepfamily in order to keep up the Kunoichi family tradition. Even though he is aware of being a male he continues to act like a woman, and he's also said to be the legendary genius ninja that's born every 100 years. Because of this he is capable of efficiently using a number of techniques, most remarkably the 'Duplicating Body Technique', but it has never been used in combat.

Konatsu fights using tea shop Kunoichi techniques and secret Ninja arts, and even though he is not nearly as strong as Ranma and Ryoga or Mousse, he is capable of efficiently using trickery and traps in combination, such as sucker-attacking Happosai through the regular 'female distraction' tactic (which generally works for anyone, while the latter is virtually unbeatable otherwise).

Character
Konatsu was brought up as a female. Because of this he behaves, thinks and talks like a demure, humble and subservient Japanese lady. He is very shy at times, barely ever shows signs of anger and can sometimes be extremely kind and naive. However, he doesn't mind trying to poison others through trickery, though generally only by temporary paralysis. He usually wears female ninja clothing or cute waitress outfits, though in his last prominent appearance he was just as happy to dress up in a men's uniform (albeit a ridiculously over-decorated one) in order to attract female customers to Ucchan's, and referred to himself as a male.

His personality seems to be that of a Cinderella, and he is extremely grateful and loyal for the least amount of offered kindness, which Ukyo takes advantage of by letting him work double shifts for 10 Yen an hour (it was originally 5 Yen, but Ranma convinced Ukyo to raise it up by five).

When Konatsu ate an ingredient called Toushintan his full fighting instinct/ability was brought forth, and his personality changed to that of a Ninja assassin whose only desire was to fight and kill Ranma. Given that the latter severely held back during the fight, Konatsu managed to reach a draw.

Relationships
While an effeminate cross-dresser and not adverse to giving a quick peck on the cheek of men, he's completely heterosexual and harbors a strong (unanswered) romantic attraction toward Ukyo. Konatsu is very devoted to her and will gladly do almost anything to help her, as long as he can be with her. He expressed regret when Ukyo felt the need to help crash Ranma & Akane's wedding.

He despises his stepmother and stepsisters, and the feeling is reciprocal. However, he's been conditioned to the point where he can perform the tasks they assign him out of habit.

Special Techniques
See also Konatsu's techniques.

Trained by his father and stepfamily, he is actually a quite good fighter. He generally doesn't seem nearly as dangerous as Ranma, Ryoga, or Mousse in open combat, but it's conceivable that he might give the last mention some challenge when brought to his peak (either through motivation or the 'Toushintan'), and is quite a bit sneakier. His strength rather lies in being a genius master in the ninja arts, i.e. stealth, distraction, ambushes and traps. That said, he possesses a number of special techniques that can be dangerous through using these methods. Most are of a silly, or very weak nature (by Ranmaverse standards) or both. Alternately simply renamed general techniques (All the kunoichi family members tend to shout out a name for anything they do, no matter how simple or pointless), but a few of them are quite useful.

Trivia

 * His hair style is very similar to Sango's in her demon slayer offit from InuYasha.
 * His outfit is a little similar to InuYasha of the series InuYasha.

Konatsu 小夏 (らんま1/2)