Saffron

Saffron sends out his loyal followers Koruma and Masala, led by Kiema to retrive a map that would allow him to drain Jusenkyo and complete his maturation into an adult. The Jusenkyo Guide sends his daughter, Plum, to Japan in hopes that Ranma and his friends can protect her from harm.

Saffron weilds considerable influence over his followers even though his only a small child. He is extremely spoiled, but uses his Kinjakan to punish anyone who tries to instill some discipline into the brat. Ranma first encounters him terrorizing a hot spring and forces Saffron to take them to Jusenkyo. This instantly puts the boy at odds with Ranma, who assumes he's nothing more than a rude little boy.

In fact, Saffron is the the leader of the Phoenix Tribe of Mount Ho'o. It is his duty to reroute the flow of Jusenkyo in order to use the hot water that floods through Jusendo, the mountain towering above the sacred springs, to trigger his transformation into an adult. Once transformed Saffron can provide heat and light to his followers, but because Ranma cracks his egg too early, he is unable to control his massive power. Saffron's single weakness is his pampered upbringing. While he is capable of generating massive flames capable of pulverizing mountains he is physically weak and does not take punches very well.

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The Meaning Behind the Name - サフラン （薩夫郎）

Saffron, Kiema, Masala, and Kurama are all names of Indian foods. However he has kanji that phonetically spell out his name and is written with the kanji for "salvation", "man", and "son".