Akane Tendo is the youngest daughter of Soun Tendo and one of the heirs to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Born August 24, 1971, she is sixteen years old and a student at Furinkan High School. Her mother died when she was very young, so she grew up without learning many traditional domestic skills; her cooking is notoriously dreadful, often making people ill, though her curry is a rare exception. She is a tomboy who dedicated herself to martial arts from an early age, developing immense physical strength and athleticism. At school, she was forced to fight off dozens of male suitors every morning after Tatewaki Kuno declared that only someone who could defeat her could date her, leading her to claim that she hates boys. Her life changes with the arrival of Ranma Saotome, her reluctant arranged fiancé, and their tumultuous relationship becomes the emotional center of the story. Akane initially had a crush on the local doctor, Tofu Ono, and grew her hair long to appear more feminine, but her hair is accidentally cut short during a battle between Ranma and Ryoga Hibiki. Ranma comforts her by saying she looks cute, a turning point that helps her move past her feelings for Dr. Tofu and toward Ranma. Her personality blends genuine kindness, compassion, and self-sacrifice with a famously explosive temper, deep insecurity about her femininity, and intense jealousy, most often directed at Ranma. Despite their constant bickering and insults, she repeatedly risks her life for him, and he for her. As a martial artist, she is highly capable by ordinary standards, able to defeat groups of attackers and shatter concrete with her bare hands, but she is generally one of the weaker fighters compared to prodigies like Ranma, Ryoga, or Shampoo. She fights with a bokken, staff, or a giant mallet, relying on brute force and determination rather than special techniques. Her notable weaknesses include a fear of ghosts and an inability to swim. Throughout the series, she slowly becomes more confident in her identity and more accepting of her feelings for Ranma, though she struggles to express them openly.