Ukyo Kuonji
Names: Ukyo Kuonji; Kuonji Ukyo; Ucchan
Name Meaning: Ukyo = "right of capital"; Kuonji = "eternal temple"
Age: 16
Relatives: Unnamed father
Nationality: Japanese
Eye Color: Dark Turquoise
Hair Color: Brown
Love Interest: Ranma
Loved by: Konatsu, Tsubasa
Occupation: Student at Furinkan High; owner and cook of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki
Hobbies: Martial Arts, okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza)
Fighting Styles: Based on cooking okonomiyaki
Weapons: Huge two-handed spatula, throwing spatulas, and assorted cooking-related weapons
Weaknesses: Cats, cold water, and Akane
Opponents and Rivals: Shampoo, Kodachi
Ukyo seems to be a nice girl, and unlike her other rivals, actually gets along a little with Akane. However, Ukyo would like nothing more than to be engaged to Ranma . Not quite as willing to openly plot against Akane and Ranma's engagement (like Shampoo is apt to do), Ukyo instead tries to break them up indirectly. There is a feeling that she absolutely hates to be double-crossed or betrayed, and hates the people who do such things. Sometimes, Akane and Ranma are unaware of her plotting because it backfires before it gets anywhere. She is probably the least violent of any of Ranma's fiancees, but that doesn't mean she can't get mad. Even though Ranma may not have feelings for Ukyo, Ukyo feels a close bond of friendship with Ran-chan, which Ranma, at least, gladly returns to his friend, whom he calls by the nickname "Ucchan".
Ukyo Kuonji is an okonomiyaki, or Japanese pizza, cook who happens to be Ranma Saotome's oldest friend. It's true that many people hold or held grudges against Ranma, but Ukyo's initial problem with Ranma goes way back to when she and Ranma were little kids. During Ranma's decade-long training trip, in which he traveled to many places, Ranma met Ukyo, who was at the time with her father, an okonomiyaki vendor. In the time that Ranma stayed around the neighborhood where Ukyo and her father bartered their trade, Ranma and Ukyo played a game in which they play-fought every day. If Ranma won, he got a free okonomiyaki from Ukyo's dad. Needless to say, Ranma won every single day. At this time, Ranma had no idea that Ukyo was a girl (this comes into play later).
Eventually, Ukyo's father proposed an agreement to Ranma's father, Genma Saotome. Ukyo's father proposed to engage Ukyo to Ranma, and to throw his okonomiyaki cart in as a dowry. Genma, always mindful of where his next meal was coming from, agreed.
Unbeknownst to Ukyo's dad, though, Genma plotted to get the cart without having to take Ukyo. To do this, he decided to let the then-naive and unaware young Ranma make the decision to keep Ukyo, so that he could say Ranma made the decision when trouble arose. Genma asked the unsuspecting Ranma a question - "Who do you like better, Ukyo or okonomiyaki?" The innocent Ranma, eating an okonomiyaki at the time, said, "okonomiyaki".
Thus, Genma felt that he could justify taking the cart and leaving Ukyo. So on the day the exchange was to be made, Genma took off with the cart and Ranma, leaving a devastated and deserted Ukyo behind.
Ukyo refused to act feminine from that moment forward, as the humiliation of what had happened was too great. She began dressing in boys' clothes, and training in the art of making okonomiyaki, practicing against the raging sea.
Ukyo finally caught up with Genma and Ranma 10 years later, at Furinkan High school. Ukyo beat up Genma, and then transferred into Ranma's school (posing as a boy) to finish him off as well. Ranma, not understanding the nature of Ukyo's hatred, had to keep on his toes to keep from being killed by Ukyo.
Finally, Ranma and Ukyo squared off in a duel to settle the score. It was during the course of this fight that Ranma finally found out that Ukyo was indeed a girl and also, about the grudge she held against him. As the fight was about to continue though, Ranma totally stopped Ukyo in her tracks by calling her "cute". When Ukyo heard this from her "Ran-chan", she totally forgave Ranma, and on top of that, tried to re-establish her fiancee status with Ranma, citing that she was promised to Ran-chan way before Akane Tendo was. Ukyo has opened her own restaurant, called "Ucchan's" (after Ranma's pet name for her), and continues to pursue Ranma in order to try and engage herself to him again.