The Jusenkyo Curse

The Jusenkyo Curse is a magical affliction that affects several current and past members of the crew of the U.S.S. Sisko.

WHAT IS JUSENKYO?

Jusenkyo is a martial arts training ground located in the Bayankala mountain range in mainland China. At that location, there are several springs, each of which has a very tragic legend of a person or creature who drowned there.

Now, when anyone falls into the springs, they take on the body of the person or creature that drowned there when they come in contact with cold water. Hot water reverses the effect.

JUSENKYO AND THE SISKO

As previously mentioned, several of the current and former members of the Sisko crew are afflicted with the Jusenkyo Curse. For the most part, it does not affect their day-to-day lives as water is not something that randomly appears on a starship, nor does the crew often find themselves out in the elements.

However, it has come into play a few times, usually by accident.

CREWMEMBERS AFFLICTED

The following current and past members of the USS Benjamin Sisko are currently afflicted with the Jusenkyo Curse.

Captain Ranma Saotome

Captain Ranma Saotome is cursed from the 'Nyannichuan' spring, also known as 'The Spring of Drowned Girl' which causes him to turn into a female version of himself when he comes in contact with cold water. Captain Saotome bemoans the affliction, however, records show that it has worked in his favor far more often than it has worked against him.

Before the affliction was common knowledge the Captain was under suspicion for being a founder, including by his third officer, Lt. Commander Minako Aino.

Commander Shampoo

Commander Shampoo is cursed from the 'Maonichuan' spring, also known as 'The Spring of Drowned Cat' which causes her to turn into a small, white cat when she comes in contact with cold water. Commander Shampoo's affliction is actually quite detrimental as it can place her in life-threatening situations. As well, Captain Saotome suffers from Ailurophobia, which can cause some very tense situations if Commander Shampoo were to change in his presence.

Lt. Mousse

The now-deceased Lt. Mousse was cursed from the 'Yazunichuan' spring, also known as 'The Spring of Drowned Duck' which caused him to turn into a duck when he came into contact with cold water.

Lt. Mousse's affliction was curious as even his duck form had vision problems. One Federation scientist who has decided to investigate the springs has also gone into exploring how exactly a duck manages to drown.

Captain Ryoga Hibiki

Marine Captain Ryoga Hibiki is cursed from the 'Heitowennichuan' spring, also known as 'The Spring of Drowned Black Piglet' which turns him into a small, black piglet when he comes into contact with cold water. Captain Hibiki's affliction has been brought to the attention of the Sisko's Marine commander, however, he decided that Hibiki's positives outweighed the potential negative of his curse.

As well there have been ideas floated around that Hibiki could potentially be used to sneak transport enhancers, past enemy troops, while disguised as an innocent black piglet, allowing Sisko Marines and security personnel to beam behind enemy fortifications.

Vice Admiral Genma Saotome

While not a member of the Sisko crew, it is worthy to note that Admiral Genma Saotome is cursed from the 'Shonmaonichuan', also known as 'The Spring of Drowned Panda' which turns him into a panda when he comes in contact with cold water. Admiral Saotome had been known to abuse his transformation abilities, especially when he was needed by his then supervisor, Vice Admiral Happosai. However, since being removed as his subordinate, he's only used his ability as a stall tactic sparingly.

INCIDENTS

Surprisingly, there have only been a few incidents of note regarding the Jusenkyo Curse and the Sisko crew.

10-Forward Incident

The first incident logged happened shortly after the crew was assembled and the ship was underway. A 'misunderstanding by an idiot' as it was written in the official incident report caused the Sisko's bartender, Gosnell, to throw a glass of water on Captain Saotome. This, of course, caused his change.

Lt. Commander Minako Aino happened to be present. Suspecting that the Captain may have been a Founder, she attempted to take a blood sample. Lacking a medical hypospray though, she tried a more crude method that involved first trying to stab Saotome with a rather dull steak knife, then smashing a bottle over his head.

In an obvious act of kindness, Saotome did not discipline Aino at all for the incident.

Bridge Explosion

In what was obvious tampering with the fire suppression system (likely by Vice Admiral Happosai) as a starship would not have a water-based suppression system due to all the electronics, water managed to hit the entire bridge crew after an attack by first the Kuno Collective and then the group calling themselves the Space Pirates.

The Captain's chair exploded, luckily with the Captain not in it, which set off the suppression system. This in turn caused Saotome, Mousse, and Hibiki to all transform. Lt. Commander Aino's suspicions were reignited, however, Saotome talked her out of stabbing her fellow bridge officers.

Kuno Cube Rescue

Then Ensign Hibiki transported over (unauthorized) to assist with the rescue of Commander Akane Saotome and ended up materializing in a bathtub. When the away team that included Captain Saotome and Commander Shampoo went to investigate the disruption that Hibiki was causing, a fog of war-style chaos caused the entire group to fall into the tub and activate their curses.

Miscellaneous Incidents

There have been several miscellaneous incidents where Captain Saotome has been on an away mission or otherwise on a planet and has had his curse activated. None of which have reportedly hindered him, despite his vocal objections to the transformation.

CURING THE CURSE

Very few Federation scientists believe in the curse, despite it having been documented. Those that do have tried to study it, including one that attempted to have the body of Lt. Mousse donated for the cause. That request was denied, however. According to all parties involved, the only way to be rid of the curse is to come in contact with the spring of your proper form.

For instance, in Captain Saotome's case, he would need to take a dip in the 'Nannichuan' or 'Spring of Drowned Man'. Saotome, as well as the others, state that they would need to travel to China to take care of this. It's interesting to note that the Sisko has been to Earth on more than one occasion since deploying, and transporting down and back would take very little time, leading many to believe that the curses are not as big of a bother as those who are afflicted with them make them out to be.

Until the crew members either admit that they do not mind the curses, or they decide to get themselves cured it will still be truly unknown whether or not they dislike their transformation abilities.