The unnamed antique shop owner is the owner of the Antique Shop Yamatai in Furinkan. He has a Legendary Phoenix egg, which Tatewaki Kuno persuaded him to sell.
Overview
The owner is an elderly man with glasses and white hair. He has a full mustache and wears glasses and a beanie. In the manga he wears a scarf, light coloured jacket with a pattern and medium coloured pants, while in the anime he wears a medium grey gi with a black belt and sandals. In the manga he only appears three times, but pops up several times in the anime, revealing new information about the phoenix in a few instances in an attempt to be helpful. In the dub he is much more of a skeptic about the phoenix and its capabilities, but in the end eventually declares that he believes. He has an idea about the potential problems that a hatched phoenix can create, but his principles are not strong enough to resist sufficient monetary temptation.
Manga Biography
The shop owner in the manga.
The owner told Kuno that the egg was similar to a swordsman’s protective charm and that whoever possessed both the phoenix and its nest could master the Phoenix Sword. Kuno immediately offered to buy the egg but the owner held out, claiming that the Phoenix Sword was too heavy a burdern for a normal person to bear. When Kuno slapped him with a wad of yen he quickly changed his mind, but warned Kuno to never put the egg on his head.
The next day the owner suddenly appeared at the Tendo Dojo and was shocked when he saw that the egg had hatched. He tried to run off by was stopped when Ranma Saotome pitched the birdhouse at him. He revealed that the phoenix had no weaknesses, but also disclosed that when it left the nest it would stop attacking Ranma. Ranma stomped on him when he learned that this would take 100 years, but the man offered a growth-accelerating feed. He asked for 100,000 yen first, but dropped it to 100 yen after getting stomped on again.
After Ranma had succeeded in growing the phoenix to its largest size, the owner thought that it looked like a Shakōki-dogū statue. After it flew off, he picked up the egg it had laid and decided to seal it away before Kuno slapped him with a wad of yen again and he agreed to sell it.
Anime Biography
Kuno and Sasuke Sarugakure learn that the egg is a magic charm for martial artists and that whoever owns it can master the Ho’oken or Sword of the Phoenix. Kuno offers to buy the egg, but the owner tells him that no ordinary man can use the Ho’oken and that he will never sell it. However when Kuno slaps him with a wad of yen he immediately changes his mind.
After he and Sasuke leave, Kuno is wondering what kind of attack the Sword of the Phoenix is. Sasuke however is worried about the shop owner’s warning to Kuno to never put the egg on his head. The owner himself appears crouched on Kuno's head repeating his warning into a megaphone. Despite being booted away, he instantly appears when Kuno gets hit with a baseball and drops the egg. After Ranma puts in on Kuno's head, the owner tries to evade responsibility for what has happened before running away.
The shop owner earns a collective beat down for asking too much for the scroll.
He later appears at the Tendo Dojo through the window of the downstairs bath to reveal that the imprinting will stop when the phoenix leaves the nest. Ranma gets mad at him for selling the phoenix egg to Kuno in the first place, while Nabiki Tendo calmly asks how long the situation will take to resolve. When the owner reveals that it will leave in about 100 years, Ranma angrily pulls him through the window and drives him into the floor. The owner then pulls out a scroll that contains the recipe for making special growth pills that will speed up the process. After asking for one million yen first, six of the characters stomp on him and he drops the price to 100 yen. He witnesses the results of Akane Tendo's attempt to feed it with the ineffective syrup that she made from the recipe.
The following morning the owner appears with a book to inform Ranma and Akane that the phoenix imprints on a new person every time it wakes up. Akane is flabbergasted at this and throws him. He is amazed when female Ranma is able to feed the phoenix and after having to duck an attack by the newly-grown phoenix, recalls that it now becomes more violent and will attack anyone it sees. He then joins Soun, Genma, and Kasumi at a table where they watch the efforts to feed the phoenix. At the end of the day, while everyone watches the massive phoenix and wonders what will happen next, the owner suddenly realizes that it looks just like his store statue, a Shakōki-dogū. After the phoenix flies away, the owner picks up its egg and plans to seal it away, but Kuno slaps him with a wad of yen again and he agrees to sell it.