Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Least Favourite Power Rangers

So, as many people who have come on here are probably aware, I’m a huge Power Rangers fan. I’ve loved the series since season one, and I still watch it to this day. So, as you can imagine, I’ve borne witness to both the ups and the downs of this series. I’ve seen a LOT of Rangers come and go, and while I generally have fond thoughts of most of them, there are also some that have left little to no positive impact on me, or in some cases, NEGATIVE. So, seeing as how Super Megaforce just ended with all of the Rangers brought together, and I’ve already done a list on some of my favourite Rangers, I thought now would be a good time to reflect on those that didn’t leave such a great impression. Now, before I start, I should probably lay out some ground rules:

1. One per team. Once I’ve chosen a Ranger from a specific team, I cannot choose one from that team again. Otherwise, I’d likely be mostly picking on Rangers from the same two to three teams a lot.
2. It has to be a problem with the character and not the actor. As such, I don’t think I’ll put Kevin from Samurai on this list, since my biggest issues with him have more to do with his actor’s performance. Also, Will from Operation Overdrive won’t be on this list, since the character, how he’s written, and how he’s portrayed have nothing to do with Samuell Benta’s actions in the past…Plus, I just have far bigger fish to fry with Overdrive. lol
3. I won’t be using comparisons to their Super Sentai counterparts as reason to put them on this list. While it’s perfectly fine to prefer a season of Super Sentai to its counterpart or vice versa, that is not why I’m doing this. I’m analyzing the characters for their own merits, or lack thereof.

Oh, and because there’s a member of Megaforce/Super Megaforce on this list, there will more than likely be spoilers, so consider yourselves warned now. And of course, this is all opinion based, so don’t freak out if I dislike your favourite Ranger, and as usual, this list is in no real order. With that outta the way, let’s look at my 5 Least Favourite Power Rangers, starting with…

#1 – Sam, the SPD Omega Ranger

Yeah, going right for one of the more obvious choices. Although, I should make clear: While Sam being a ball of light throughout SPD is a huge problem, it’s not the only reason he’s on this list. Really, it comes to just how little he actually does. I mean, he’s commonly seen helping the team in action, but aside from that, what does he really do? Even as a ball of light, there’s a lot more they could do with Sam. Heck, do an episode where he feels detached from the rest of the team as a result of this. Or maybe have him showing constant concern over his continued presence in the past and how it could affect the future (I think he only reflects on it maybe once or twice in the whole time he’s there). But nope, he apparently does not give a crap. Also, I don’t know whose fault it is, be it the voice actor or the people directing him, but Brett Stewart’s delivery comes off as very odd, like he’s never taking anything that’s going on seriously. And I know I said I wouldn’t compare to the Sentai counterparts, but something that’s always bugged me is the choice to still have Sam be the one to save the team from Mirloc, when the plot of that two-parter is changed to focus on Sky instead of him (in Dekaranger, Mirloc’s counterpart had instead killed DekaBreak’s parents). Ultimately, though, the Omega Ranger makes it on this list as a classic case of wasted potential.

#2 – Lucas Kendall, the Blue Time Force Ranger

Okay, I should probably start off by saying that I don’t HATE Lucas. I simply find his character to be…well, very uninteresting, which is more than a little off-putting, considering how he’s supposed to be the cool guy of the Time Force Rangers. He’s basically the Power Rangers equivalent of doing THIS:

…Oh yeah, I went there. lol Now, here’s where he’s a bit more redeemable in my eyes than some of the others on this list: Because while I find that aspect of him uninteresting, you get the idea on multiple occasions that it’s a very blatant smokescreen. Plus, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find IMMENSE entertainment in the episode where this came back to bite him in the worst way, when Nadira thought he was in love with him, and he had to scare her off by acting like a slob. His entrance in that scene alone might just be one of the funniest Goddamn things I’ve ever seen in Power Rangers. So yeah, he makes the list, but I can’t really hate him. This next one, however…

#3 – Dax Lo, the Blue Overdrive Ranger

…OH GOD, Dax. Like I said, I had to choose only one Ranger per team, meaning I couldn’t just spend this entire article complaining about the Overdrive team being a bunch of privileged jerks who up and quit in Once A Ranger. Also, while Will performs actions in one episode that make him a bit unlikable in hindsight, he does not earn my resentment quite like Dax does. He is by far, in my opinion, the worst Power Ranger EVER. His civilian power is stupid, basically making him Bouncing Boy from the Legion of Super Heroes. His weapon is kinda dumb, although I CAN see the occasional usefulness in a gyro powerful enough to create whirlwinds. But beyond that, Dax is the worst example of a comic relief Ranger I’ve ever known. He’s annoying, he’s not funny, he never undergoes any sort of character development, his whole schtick is saying that their adventures are ‘like a movie’, and he always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS says the worst thing to make a situation even WORSE. Now granted, a lot of people would probably say the same about people like Bridge or Ziggy. The thing is, both of those Rangers, while having negative character traits (Ziggy’s a bit too eager for attention, and I could seriously harm Bridge for transmitting his whole finger wiggling when he says “Buttery” to me), they’re nonetheless good, heroic individuals in their own ways, and are honestly WAY funnier than Dax could ever be. In short, to quote Linkara, “SHUT UP, DAX!”

#4 – Nick Russel/Bowen, the Red Mystic Ranger

Speaking of Rangers that are quitters, let’s talk about Nick. Now, I don’t wanna pick too much, because he does have his fair share of decent moments too, but he’s shown to be a little too willing to give up more than once, which is a HUGE problem for a Red Ranger to have. Plus, he comes off as more than a little dickish in terms of how he handles the obvious romantic feelings between himself and Madison. And just the fact that he’s the only member of the core team to have any kind of personal stake or reason to be involved in the events of the season and doesn’t really grow past these character defects by the end really makes the season all the more difficult to watch. Still, because he DOES have his moments where he comes around a little and can be decently heroic when the situation requires it, he’s not exactly the worst of the worst on this list.

#5 – Jake Holling, the Megaforce Black Ranger/Super Megaforce Green Ranger

… … …*sighs* Okay, let’s be real here, because I know a LOT of people, older fans in particular, are not happy with the past four seasons of Power Rangers, this last one in particular. However, I need to be clear about something: The Rangers, while being incredibly bland at times, still come off as decent people and competent heroes that I would feel safe around…minus one. Jake does not come off to me as either of these things. You might THINK he is, but he’s NOT. Every single time he is engaging in Ranger duties, he is out there to get attention, namely Gia’s. His ENTIRE CHARACTER, besides liking sports and being a doofus, is built around him chasing Gia like a sad, lost puppy. Or rather, it WAS built around that, until finally he became something far worse: A frigging STALKER. Don’t believe me? Listen to this one exchange of dialogue between him and Orion:

No, I COULD pick on this entire scene and ask when the hell any of them taught Orion ANYTHING, but again, I’m keeping this limited to one Ranger per team. As such, let’s instead focus on just how frigging CREEPY that sentence was! He’s not some poor yet likable guy with a crush on someone who can’t see how kind he is, he comes off as someone who would raid Gia’s panty drawer and then chloroform her! Now, I’m going to give Azim Rizk the benefit of the doubt and assume that he either didn’t detect the horrible implications of that last sentence, or just said it out of fear of losing his job. And for that matter, I’m gonna suggest the same of the rest of them, since otherwise, they wouldn’t be portraying this scene as a bunch of assholes who allow this sick behaviour to continue. And just from a production standpoint, the decision to make him more of a clumsy doofus as time went on so that he’d match up closer to the Sentai footage used for Super Megaforce is very at odds with his athleticism. The show wants to push him as a kid who is great at sports AND as someone who would trip over every curb on Earth, except that these two things do not match. So, if you wonder why I created a sick aunt with breast cancer for him in my fanfic, besides to tie the Rangers into a situation where they’d march in a breast cancer awareness parade, the answer is very simple: Because there’s nothing I could realistically DO with the character and still have him be likable. He may not be as blatantly annoying as Dax, but he’s still one of the worst Rangers of all time.

Anyway, those are my 5 Least Favourite Rangers. Got one that wasn’t on here? Leave a comment telling me your own least favourite Power Rangers, and be sure to check back in next week when I look at the past two seasons of PR, what I would’ve done differently, what I legitimately liked, and what I hope to see in Dino Charge. Ja né!