Ryoga Hibiki's first encounter with Ranma was what began their long-standing rivalry. When Ranma was able to constantly snatch the last piece of bread at their old junior high school, Ryoga would never forgive him for making him go hungry.

After Ryoga was late to his final showdown with Ranma, due to his horrible sense of direction, he followed Ranma to Jusenkyo, and was accidently knocked into the "Spring of Drowned Black Piglet" (by Ranma as Ryoga later discovered). Once Akane found him in this form, she adopted him and gave him the name P-chan (meaning Pig Cute). Akane's affection for P-chan is what began Ryoga's undying love for Akane. Ryoga tries many times to tell Akane of his feeligns for her, but he never seems to muster the courage. Ultimately he meets Akari Unryu who actually knows of his secret curse and loves him all the more for it. One of Ryoga's most difficult decisions in life is who he loves more Akane or Akari.

Ryoga is Ranma's biggest rival, and no matter how many times he has lost to Ranma, they have all been very close battles. Ryoga is almost Ranma's equal and is constantly improving his abilities to stay at the same level as Ranma and hopefully gain enough courage to tell Akane how he really feels about her.

Even though they fight often, Ryoga and Ranma have a mutual respect for one another's abilities.