Kinnii (キンニー Kin'ni?) is an anime-only character who volunteered to deal with people who had been abusing their Jusenkyo curses. He is considered a near invincible opponent, with his only weakness being that he fell into the Spring of Drowned Buddhist Priest (Fūshannīchuan), which causes Kinnii to lose all willingness to fight.
Anime Biography
Hard Battle
Kinnii first appeared at a meeting of members of the Jusenkyo Preservation Society, who were discussing what they should do with five individuals who had been abusing their curses. These individuals turn out to be Ranma, Genma, Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga. Kinnii volunteers himself to be the one to go and capture them, the other members agree, but only if he goes with another member, due the "one weak spot" that he has. Kinnii and the Vice Chairman go to Furinkan and begin to capture the individuals abusing their curses. Kinnii begins with Shampoo and Mouse, who are made to fall down a crevice made by Kinnii's sword, while later on he and the Vice Chairman find Ryoga in the middle on a maze and capture him. He and the Vice Chairman try to capture Genma on the street, but fail as he manages to reach the Tendo Dojo. After waiting outside, Kinnii uses his sword to break into Genma's room, capture him and then take him and the Vice Chairman away before Ranma and co. can do anything to stop them.
Kinnii kidnaps Genma.
Once Cologne identifies Kinnii's fighting style and connection to the Jusenkyo Preservation Society, Ranma, Akane and Happosai go to Furinkan High School in order attract the attention of the Preservation Society. Happosai explains that by breaking the code of modesty the JPS values so much, they're bound to show up to interfere, and indeed Kinnii along with the Vice Chairman appear. After the Vice Chairman explains on what grounds Ranma has violated their code, Kinnii begins to attack Ranma, but is quickly stopped when Ranma throws some cold water on him, causing Kinnii to turn into his cursed form (a Buddhist Priest). Ranma demands an explanation from the Vice Chairman, while Kinnii rebuilds to destroyed Locker Room wall.
The Vice Chairman promptly beats a hasty retreat, and Kinnii, upon finding out he was responsible for kidnapping a person's father and friends, is mortified and begs Ranma to let him show the way to the hiding place of his other form. However, while Ranma is distracted rescuing the other Jusenkyo victims, the Vice Chairman restores Kinnii to his true form, and he promptly catches Genma and imprisons the teens inside of the cave.
Kinni helps the Vice Chairman put Genma through "training" his cursed form
Genma is led away to undergo "training" as a form of punishment, the two members of the Jusenkyo Preservation Society eventually tiring of his "stubbornness" and going to fetch some more of the so-called criminals. Ranma nobly distracts Kinnii so the others can escape, but is forced to remain when Kinnii threatens his father's life. Kinnii proceeds to punish both Saotomes, the Vice Chairman remaining on standby with a kettle of hot water in case either of them try to tale advantage of Kinnii's curse, but a timely intervention comes in the unlikely form of Shampoo, still in her cat form. While she is latched onto Kinnii's neck and shoulders, biting and clawing for all she's worth, the Saotomes manage to shake the Vice Chairman into the river below.
When the furious Kinnii then attacks them, Ranma manages to narrowly dodge his strike in order to free herself. While Genma promptly runs for cover, Ranma and Kinnii begin to fight, Kinnii unleashing his most powerful attack, until Ranma finally manages to paralyze Kinnii's arms and drag him into the river -- and because of his own soaking, the Vice Chairman can't turn Kinnii back to his true form. Hoisted out of the river by a team effort from Genma and the teens, upon seeing the devastation he has caused, the transformed Kinnii is horrified and promptly hurls his sword over the cliff to sink into the water below.
OVA
Kinnii is seen again, along with many other characters, attending the Christmas Party at the Tendo Dojo. He is seen sat near Farmer Brown just before Nabiki, Kasumi, Akane, Shampoo and Ranma (in his cursed form) begin singing.
Abilities
A typical image of those who are part of the "Cult of the Muscle Sword".
Kinnii is a master of a fighting style translated in the Viz subtitled anime as "Blue Dragon Sword Muscle Martial Arts" and translated as "Cult of the Muscle Sword" in the Viz dubbed anime. This fighting style makes usage of a massive dao-like sword (stated in the subs to weight 25 pounds) and emphasises a combination of tremendous power and treating the sword as being an extension of the wielder's very body.
This not only makes Kinnii incredibly strong, but also allows him to wield his sword with far more speed and finesse then should be possible for such a massive weapon. He can strike like lightning, capable of such feats as slicing a flung pebble into halves, quarters, then eighths in the blink of an eye, and yet his blows land with such power that they can carve through a mountain face, or create a crevasse deep enough to swallow Genma Saotome in panda form just by striking the ground in a casual chop. Kinnii can even create "razor winds", swinging his sword with such speed and strength that the air pressure forms an invisible projectile blade that can cleave through rock; this is the ultimate foundation of his special attack, and a lesser form is used to trap Ranma, Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga in a cavern.
In fact, Kinnii has so much strength and control over his sword that he can, with one hand, spin it over his head fast enough that it can act as a helicoptor-style rotor, capable of lifting himself, the Vice Chairman and Genma Saotome in panda form off of the ground, high into the air and across considerable distances.
Kinnii performing his "Earthquake Breakdance".
Kinnii's one known special attack is only named in the subtitled version of the anime, where it is given the name "Earthquake Breakdance". Three thousand years old, Kinnii boasts that even the Great Wall of China couldn't protect against this devastating maneuver, which consists of holding his sword horizontally over his head with both hands and then spinning it with all of his strength. This creates an omnidirectional cascade of razor wind projectiles, shredding anything around him, while at the same time creating a powerful vacuum vortex that draws in anything around him.
Not for nothing is it said that a Muscle Sword Cultist is nigh invincible. Kinnii has only two real weaknesses as a fighter.
Firstly, his style is entirely dependent on his access to both his weapon and to unrestricted motion of his arms. If disarmed, or his arms are paralyzed or otherwise bound, Kinnii cannot attack or otherwise defend himself. Ranma uses this to her advantage, tricking Kinnii and then outmanuevering him so as to grapple him and lock her fingers into pressure points on the chest that paralyze his arms. This is only a set up to take advantage of his secondary weakness..
Kinnii's much weaker cursed form.
Having fallen into the Fūshannīchuan, Kinnii suffers the curse of transforming into a "Buddhist Priest" version of himself whenever splashed with cold water. As a bhikkhu, Kinnii is far too small and physically underdeveloped to wield his Blue Dragon Sword, but, to add insult to injury, Kinni's mind is also affected by the transformation. Having been rendered a docile, pacifistic, timorous being, the idea of Kinnii the bhikkhu attacking somebody is laughable at best. Thusly, anyone who can splash Kinnii with cold water can remove him from a fight instantly.
Non-canon Appearances
Kinnii briefly shows up in chibi form with other minor characters in the second OVA opening, Where Do We Go From Here (You and Me).
Trivia
- Kinnii has a considerable similarity to the Street Fighter archvillain M. Bison.
- Kinnii is the only character in all of Ranma ½ to have a demonstrated mind-altering Jusenkyo curse.
- While the concept of a "Spring of Drowned Virtuous Man" is referenced in Pantyhose Taro's second manga appearance, it was never actually displayed in use and may, in fact, possibly have been nothing but legend, seeing as how Taro came to Japan with Spring of Drowned Twins water instead.
- Kinnii's sword has some similarities to Tessaiga, the sword used by Inuyasha, the hero of Rumiko Takahashi's next major manga work of the same name.
Quotes
- Do they not know that buildings are made of wood, and wood comes from living trees? We must honour the wood for it's sacrifice. - Kinnii as his cursed self talking about the damage done to the wall of the Girls' locker room at Furinkan High School.
- Who has done this terrible thing? - Kinnii as his cursed self asking who's done the damage to trees etc around them.
References