At the show's start, he has been madly in love with Akane for some time. After being defeated by Ranma in his female form, he also falls for the "Pigtailed Girl" as he calls "her". After briefly wrestling with his competing desires, Tatewaki decides he wants to be with them both and, in keeping with his ego, assumes that they are so in love with him that they will accept this. Tatewaki never realizes that the Pigtailed Girl is really his mortal enemy in a female body, despite witnessing Ranma's transformation several times—he merely believes that Ranma has switched places with her in some manner. He once hears her called by Ranma's name, and attempts to write it down for future reference. Despite this, he never makes a connection and continues to refer to "her" as his "goddess in pigtails", or "the pigtailed girl" for the entire series. Akane's sister Nabiki often sells him photographs of "the pigtailed girl" in various states of undress. He also has a strong rivalry with Kodachi, who similarly has a crush on male Ranma (and much like her brother refuses to believe that Ranma and the pigtailed girl are the same person), often leading to confrontations between the siblings. Unlike Kodachi, Tatewaki doesn't actually behave in any malicious way, and although he's a buffoon and extremely forward with the girls he likes, he is shown to be traditionally courteous.
