Jyger’s Favourite 10?! – 10 Most Badass Red Rangers

I was recently having a conversation with my friend Sam about badasses in Power Rangers, when we eventually came upon the topic of who the most badass Red Ranger of all time is. I couldn’t really decide that, though, because in over two decades of Power Rangers, it’s usually a constant that the Red Ranger is a badass. Even the most unlikable of those that have worn the colour red have had plenty of badass moments. Nick, for all his belly aching, was still willing to charge The Master alone, and Mack, despite quitting with the other Overdrive Rangers in Once A Ranger, was willing on multiple occasions to sacrifice himself to save the world. Even Red Rangers that didn’t lead their respective teams, like Rocky, still had plenty of memorable moments where they put it all on the line to stop evil. So, with all of that in mind, I’m gonna try and determine who the 10 most badass Red Rangers are in all of Power Rangers. Before I do, though, here’re some ground rules…

1. Power Rangers ONLY, no Super Sentai entries. Main reason is because it makes the possible candidates even longer than it already is. In Power Rangers alone, there’s been like 30+ individuals that have worn Red or a variation of it, maybe even closer to 50 when you consider that the Samurai Rangers were a generational team.
2. Only one per team. In other words, if I, for example, picked one of the SPD Red Rangers, I can’t choose another.
3. No evil Rangers. Nothing against them, it’s just, when one generally thinks of badass Power Rangers, we usually think of them in terms of what they’re willing and able to do against the forces of evil.
4. The choices have to be made based on their credentials as Red Rangers, not any other powers they’ve had. As such, and I KNOW I’m gonna get a bunch of comments for this, Tommy is NOT on this list. Reason being, in having watched every episode of Power Rangers that Tommy was a participant in, his more badass moments happened when he was the Green or White Ranger, or even just as himself, plain Tommy Oliver, without his powers. Nothing against his tenure as the Red Ranger, he pulled off the role with the level of competence expected of him, just that in terms of those sheer “OMG, that was frigging awesome!” moments, they’re lacking when compared to other things he’s done.
5. The powers have to actually be THEIRS. In other words, as much as I’d like to include more potential female candidates, Gia and Emma assuming Legendary Red Ranger Mode doesn’t count toward this list.

And as always, remember that this is all opinion based, so don’t freak out if my opinion is different from yours. Anyway, with all of that out of the way, I suppose we might as well start off with the archetype and standard bearer of the badass Red Ranger…

#1 – Jason Lee Scott, the Red Mighty Morphin Ranger

There’s this constant argument over who was the more badass Ranger: Jason or Tommy. In fact, it’s an argument that spills out into real life, with people debating Austin St. John vs Jason David Frank. However, while I refuse to comment on that and thus get it started here, I will say that, much like how Tommy’s more badass moments occurred when he wasn’t the Red Ranger, Jason was probably a bigger badass when he WAS the Red Ranger, as opposed to, say, when he was the Gold Ranger in Zeo. When the Rangers lose their confidence after being subjected to horrific nightmares from Goldar, he still finds it in him to stop Goldar’s plot. He manages to fight off Goldar and Tommy as the evil Green Ranger when trapped on his own and without his powers long enough for the others to find him. He defeats a monster by himself when the Rangers have been kidnapped, and then goes to rescue them before their powers are taken. He defeated Tommy in battle and freed him of Rita’s control. He took Cardiatron out. And there’s just his opening line to the General Venjix in Forever Red: “You know, if you miss King Mondo that much, I promise we can help you join him.” In the end, all you can say about Jason is that he is a consummate badass, strong in mind, body, and spirit, and is able to stand up to any threat, no matter how imposing…Actually, here’s food for thought: In today’s day and age with Power Rangers, MMPR Season 1 probably would’ve ended with Jason fighting Rita while she’s in some powered-up form. Imagine THAT ending. lol

#2 – Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Ranger

What else can I say about a guy that tried to run down a monster with a hummer, held off two giant monsters with just his side-arms, blew up a monster at point-blank range, charged through deadly energy blasts to punch a monster in the chest, and whose trademark response to a monster terrifying people was to pull his blasters and shoot ’em down?…Well, not much, other than to say that I’m pretty sure his theme song is Move Bitch by Ludacris. lol Add in the fact that he is both an action hero and a rescuer, more concerned with the protection of people than the kicking of ass, and you’ve got more than enough reason for Carter to be one of my all-time favourites.

#3 – Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger

This was REALLY hard to determine, given his competition on his team, but ultimately, I decided to go with Eric. The first sixth Ranger to wear the colour Red while being sixth, he’s just a really ballsy, hard-assed SOB that will plough down anyone who gets in his way. And of course the Q-Rex is sheer metal awesome, too. For those that have never seen it, it’s a giant robotic t-rex with a pair of cannons strapped to its back, and can also turn into a warrior mode just for funsies. But, if nothing else, you gotta look at his Mega Battle armour and think, really, how many people can you think of who look badass while wearing ROLLER-BLADES? With that said, I DO feel bad leaving Wes outta this, because he had his awesome moments on the show. One thing I’m actually kinda upset about is that we don’t see his final stand from the timeline where he didn’t make it. Why? Because according to that, he managed to take every single one of the bad guys with him! Hot damn, that’s a hell of a way to go out!

#4 – Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger

………………Just show it.

 

Oh yeah, and he also had that fight to the death with Trakeena that ended with him blasting her at point-blank range with his Battlizer set to full power, and…My God, I could make breakfast on those abs…………………………………………*slaps myself* NEXT!

#5 – Lauren Shiba, the Red Samurai Ranger

Okay, I MAY be a bit biased in this pic given my general favoritism and desire to see a girl on this list, but let’s be fair, she DID manage to destroy a giant monster that had taken down the Claw Armour Megazord with just ONE Zord. Right from the get-go, she’s shown to be someone with skill on par or greater than Jayden’s. Plus, anyone that can take the long-since dead running gag about how Mia can’t cook and make it funny again is plenty awesome in my book. Really, the only reason Jayden might rank higher with some people is because he was around longer. I guarantee that if Lauren had been on the show from the beginning that we would’ve gotten plenty more awesome moments from her. But, I suppose I should give credit where it’s due and bring up some of Jayden’s more awesome moments, particularly his deadly duels with Deker, where he showed he was a force the likes of which only a few other Rangers could compare with.

#6 – Mackenzie “Mack” Hartford, the Red Overdrive Ranger

Looking back, I’ve realized that Mack really deserved to be on a better season with a better team. The potential of his character, being an artificial lifeform raised to believe he was human, could’ve been explored a bit more, and he wouldn’t have to be remembered as the Red Ranger on the worst season of Power Rangers. Also, while he DID quit with the others in Once A Ranger, he made it clear he wasn’t going anywhere, and I DO believe he would’ve at least tried to help out around the mansion and their base however he could. Then there’s his credentials as a badass, and he does have plenty. Ignoring probably the more infamous (and complete bullshit) of those moments, when he chopped a giant monster in half unmorphed, there’s the aforementioned moments where he was willing to die to stop evil, like when he was gonna blow himself and the Fearcats up, or when he went to the volcano alone to fight Moltor and retake the crown, or when he used every last bit of his power to destroy Flurious. Granted, one can argue that he did these things seeing himself as disposable with nothing to lose, but there’s still something to be said for his passion and relentlessness in the face of evil.

#7 – Cole Evans, the Red Wild Force Ranger

Yes, I like Wild Force. Leave me alone. lol And I like Cole Evans. Yes, his character was a ham and cheese sandwich, but he was still likable, and Goddamn if he couldn’t kick some serious ass. He was also capable of brushing off some pretty epic beatings, too. Just look at his fights with Master Org. These two lay the most epic of beat-downs on each other. He even took the team’s combined weapon, the Jungle Sword, and Savage Slashed the heck out of Zen Aku over and over on his own. AWESOME. And of course, there’s the infamous moment where he destroyed Serpentara with a frigging motorcycle. Although, looking back on it, you wanna know what annoys me more than that? The fact that, after doing so, he only ever uses said motorcycle for transportation. He has a War Zord slaughtering motorcycle, and he never uses it when, say, Master Org was killing the Wild Zords??? C’mon, given his character, you don’t think he’d summon that thing and go straight for Master Org’s head? That woulda been awesome! Oh well, Cole still had plenty of sweet moments, which make it all the easier to look past his cheesy dialogue.

#8 – Scott Truman, the Red RPM Ranger

It’s admittedly hard to stand out as a badass on a team FULL of them. For example, take Scott, RPM’s Ranger Series Operator Red and leader of the team. His whole team is one big pack of badasses. Even Ziggy, the clown of the team, has his fair share of moments where he’s walking awesome. So how do you stand out on a team like that? Answer: You be Scott. Everything he does exemplifies his awesomeness. He owns the room when he’s in it. He has mastered the art of being an action hero, where in his own words, “When it comes to talking, less is more”. And despite being from a completely different dimension than the mainstream PR universe, he’s clearly read from the Carter Grayson book of badass, in that if necessary, he can and has charged giant opponents with nothing but his weapons. To quote Jim Ross in talking about Shawn Michaels, Scott is “like a pitbulldog, he doesn’t know how big or how little he really is… he doesn’t really give a damn”. And everything he does just has this element of cool and charm to it, unless story-wise he’s specifically SUPPOSED to be shaken or vulnerable. He’s like the Will Smith of Power Rangers. How can you not like him?

#9 – Casey Rhodes, the Red Jungle Fury Ranger

Again, a tough crowd of Rangers to stand out from. Hell, one of the Jungle Fury Rangers is a blind warrior. Still, while he started off Jungle Fury as the new guy that was unsure of himself and made mistakes aplenty, Casey quickly grew into a kickass fighting machine. Even the big bad of the series, Dai Shi, found himself on the receiving side of a most righteous of beat-downs from Casey on more than one occasion, though the best was near the end of the season: Casey just walks through a squad of Rin Shi without much effort or thought put into it, and then proceeds to have a brawl with Dai Shi that trashes the villain’s lair. He’s also willing to put his life on the line to prove that Jarrod could overcome Dai Shi’s influence, turning his back on him and telling him to destroy him. He even dispenses of the standard Battlizer armour and instead gets smaller armour components meant to work with a kick-ass motorcycle that literally steams through opponents. Yes, Camille, Red IS the tough one. 🙂

#10 – Andros ‘Aliens Don’t Have Last Names’, the Red Space Ranger

HE SAVED THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE! Case dismissed! And even beyond that, just look at Andros’ first appearance, where he managed to infiltrate the meeting of the United Alliance of Evil. Not only does he manage to do so and get away while confronted with the biggest bads in Power Ranger’s history at the time, one thing I take considerable note of: He knocked Lord Zedd on his ass……..I will repeat that. Lord Zedd, one of the most feared enemies of the Power Rangers, the villain that tossed even Tommy around like a ragdoll and was only forced to retreat due to a stalemate in the fight, got KNOCKED ON HIS ASS by Andros. Anyone that can do that is a badass in my book. It kinda makes you wonder how quickly situations on Earth would’ve been dealt with if Andros was on Earth from the beginning. My guess is that, after Green With Evil, Andros would’ve been like “Nope, not going through this again, I’m taking my badass spaceship/Megazord to the moon and hacking that palace in half”.

Anyway, that’s my list. Who are some of your favourite badasses in Power Rangers? Leave a comment below, and we’ll see if the Red Dino Charge Ranger can live up to the legacy of the Red Ranger in February. Ja né!

My Thoughts on Power Rangers Super Megaforce (WARNING – ANGRY RANT AND SPOILERS AHEAD)

WARNING: The following article contains a long-winded rant about the previous two seasons of Power Rangers, and of what is termed the ‘Neo Saban Era’ of Power Rangers in general. If you’ve enjoyed the past four years of Power Rangers, the writer of this article respects that viewpoint, and is sure to try to present his argument in as fair and unbiased a manner as is possible.

The Neo Saban Era has fucking sucked for four years! It is some of the worst produced garbage in PR history, beaten only by Power Rangers Operation Overdrive in my opinion. But whereas that season was the worst in terms of quality, this most recent season, Super Megaforce, may just be the single most disappointing season of all time. And yes, I AM referring to it as Super Megaforce and as its own season, because whereas Super Samurai was just a needless and pointless extension of the same story, Super Megaforce DOES actually have some distinction from Megaforce. Whether or not that distinction makes it better or worse…well, I’ll get into that later.

First off, lemme make something perfectly clear, just so we can get this outta the way: I have no issues with the actors this season. I have seen a few of them in other stuff, and while their characters may be bland (and in one case AWFUL), they all portray them as best they can with what little they’re given and with the sort of people running the show giving them direction. Also, as bland as these characters are, they still rank higher than Operation Overdrive. Why? Because when the Overdrive team lost their powers and were forced to face overwhelming odds, something that many Rangers have had to deal with in the past, they decided to up and quit, and only rejoined the fight because their lives were BORING. These Rangers, however, find themselves time and time again put in seemingly impossible scenarios, and press on. The Armada first arrives, and they run into the city to help as many people as they can. They find a missile with a drill attached that’s going to blow up the planet, and not only do they stop it, but they chuck it at the fleet in orbit, go to wipe out a few more in the Megazord, and then drop a big banner that says “Earth Fights Back” in the mall as a big flaming FU to the Armada. Their Zords are utterly destroyed by an Armada fleet that outnumbers them by millions, and they’re still resolved to fight, and wind up winning in the end. They may be dull, they may be bland, and one of them may be an unconfirmed attention-hungry stalker who steals Gia’s underwear, but Goddammit, they get fucking results. lol

You know what else is not the problem? The overall story concept. I will go ahead and put myself out here by saying that I actually really loved the cliffhanger ending for Megaforce, where if you didn’t know what to expect for next year, you weren’t sure how the hell the Rangers were gonna get through this. The ending of the first episode of the season, while perhaps making light of the fact that there’s a massive alien fleet that just did a major attack on Earth, actually did a good job of making that dumbass line of Troy’s in the first episode of Megaforce sound a lot better in the long run. I also thought the decision to save the resolution of Vrak’s storyline for late in Super Megaforce was actually a good idea, since we can assume that nearly a year went by to give him enough time to plan out and prepare for his revenge on the Rangers, and chose the perfect time to do so. And, of course, there’s the Legendary Rangers. While I wish we had gotten more of these throughout the season, it was great seeing Casey and Jayden come back to give the team encouragement when they needed it. And while I originally said that I’d wished Lauren was the one to appear, looking back on the video packages shown for Casey and Jayden made me realize something: They were specifically picked and shown to demonstrate how these characters grew to be who they are, and how the challenges and obstacles they helped overcome specifically allowed them to give the right guidance to the current Rangers in dealing with their own problems. If we’d gotten more of that for this season, would’ve made it all the better, and would’ve made it a far more fluid celebration of the show’s longevity, as we see the development of other Rangers as characters and giving them a chance to pass on their wisdom and experience to the current crop.

So, if I like all of these elements of the show, why am I so angry, and what makes Super Megaforce such a disappointment? Ultimately, it comes down to execution, and HOW the story developed. Like I said, IF we had gotten more moments with the Legendary Rangers, we’d have had a much better season. Guess what? We only had two of ’em make appearances, and then a bunch who appeared at the very end to save random people and fight in the final battle. And for the record, having Tommy show up for the final battle and then not actually see much, if any, of him in the fight is not good enough. I did not wait two years for this epic battle just to see random hits on baddies dubbed over with the Megaforce Rangers spouting clunky exposition, and then finish it all off with the team blasting a random bunch of X-Borgs. And while I am glad that the final bout with Emperor Mavro WAS kept in for the extended version of the finale (extended because God knows we can’t take up SpongeBob SquarePants’ TV time, so it had to be cut down to size to make room for a cartoon LONG past its expiration date), the fight really should’ve been saved for AFTER the mass of X-Borgs, and rather than being a battle between him and the Super Megaforce Rangers in Legendary Mode, they should’ve instead changed it up so that he’s fighting the real Rangers all bunched up to take him on at once, having to use all their powers together to finally take this conqueror of worlds and galaxies down as a team.

The biggest thing that drove me crazy all season long was the lack of explanations. Really, it started in Megaforce, but the worst of it was in Super Megaforce. Where DO the Legendary Ranger Keys come from? How were they created? Now, I assumed from the beginning that they were copies of the previous Rangers’ powers, hence why the Legendary Rangers never helped the team in a more active sense and why going Legendary Mode was so hard for the team. Remember, it’s been established in Ranger canon that two or more of the same Ranger cannot exist simultaneously, or else it could cause the power to fluctuate and even cause harm to the ones using it. However, we’re told near the end that the Legendary Rangers supposedly gave them their powers…except we never saw that, nor was there ever a single line suggesting as much beforehand. Does that mean that none of the previous Rangers have their powers as long as the Super Megaforce team have the keys? And if so, how were they able to morph in the end? Did Gosei give the keys back for the final battle? Because if that’s true, that means they were all standing by in that area for Mavro to go down before they could do anything, meaning they stood by while the Rangers engaged a monster that very nearly almost destroyed them. And just from a logical standpoint, wouldn’t it make more sense, if all of the previous Rangers had their powers, even those who had lost them before, to be out in battle with the current Rangers, like in the final battle? Wouldn’t that have ended things a lot easier and with a lot less damage and possible people dying? What about the other teams never before seen in Power Rangers canon up until now? Who were they, and what were their stories? We have team names for them, fine, but what about anything REAL about them, like where they came from and who they were? How did Robo Knight come back for the final battle when he died and gave his power to Orion? Why doesn’t Gosei ever explain a Goddamn thing to his team unless confronted about stuff he never told them?! Why was the Silver Ranger Key and its Morpher sealed away on some random planet for Orion to find?! Why aren’t Titanium Ranger’s powers used for Legendary Sixth Ranger Mode instead of White Dino Ranger, who was the FIFTH Ranger of his team?! Why does Corinth look NOTHING like it did before?! Why did Doctor K make a new Zord that was apparently sentient?! Why did they reuse footage of Mia and Antonio’s concert instead of just having them show up?! Did it honest to God never occur to anyone that Super Mega Mode makes them look like pirates?! Why did they hire someone to do a cover of Go Go Power Rangers instead of contacting Ron Wasserman?! GAAAAHHH!!!

…*inhales hard*… …ANYway…Like I said before, the actors do the best with what’s given to them, and the characters are all decent enough in their own right, aside from Jake being a frigging creeper. However, the problem is that, in the end, they don’t really have much, if any dimension to them. The only time we ever get anything different out of the characters, it usually comes right the frak outta left field with no rhyme or reason behind it. Like, Noah deciding to fight a monster alone. It makes no sense for him as a character to behave this way. Or Jake being made into a clumsy oaf, despite being physically fit, energetic, and good at sports. Really, it just comes down to their characters shifting to match source material footage from Gokaiger, making them more like their counterparts, without any logical development leading to these changes. And then there’s Gosei. Again, my biggest complaint is how he never explains anything to his team, but more disappointingly, we never learn of his time spent with Zordon. We know he’s his apprentice or the like, but really, we never get any reflection on that, or him wondering if he’s living up to his example. Ironically, the episode I felt Gosei was at his best was an episode I otherwise hate: In The Driver’s Seat, which was a terrible representation of RPM. In this episode, not only does he explain situations to the Rangers to the best of his ability, but we also see him questioning what the right course of action is. It shows a more vulnerable side to the character, in that he doesn’t always know what he’s doing, but sometimes has to just go with what he thinks is right and believe in his team.

But the biggest let-down of all is probably Troy, which ultimately is the biggest lack of an explanation I’ve ever seen, and basically makes him a walking plot device. The reason he didn’t make it to my list of least favourite Rangers is because Jake bothers me on a more personal level, and Troy comes off as more selflessly heroic. However, with Super Megaforce being over, and this team’s story given what little resolution we can hope for, at least for now, we have to discuss Troy. Again, in the spirit of not explaining a Goddamn thing this season, we never learn how or why Troy kept having visions of the Legendary Battle, especially since we can infer from his initial appearances that he’d never seen or heard of the Power Rangers beforehand (must’ve been super young and on the other side of the planet during Dark Spectre’s invasion, I guess). Also, there’s…this.

I just have this wonderful image of Jonathan Tzachor constantly telling Andrew Gray “No, it’s not good enough! You must ham it up more! MOOOOORRRRRREEEE!”, and then finally Andrew gives up and just decides to give the most over the top performance he possibly could, and Tzachor just sheds a tear and is like “My life’s work, complete”. And before anyone asks, yes, almost this exact scene played out in Goseiger. With that said, I find it funny that a guy who loves the Sentai as much as Tzachor claims to pays zero attention to the details of it and how story elements made sense there. In Goseiger, Gosei Knight had been overwhelmed with dark energy that had corrupted him, so Gosei Red summoned up all of his energy as an angel (yes, in Goseiger, the team were angels, and I’ll get more into that later) and punched Gosei Knight hard enough to transfer that energy to him, flushing out the dark energy and restoring him to normal. And even if you wanna say that’s what Troy did, little problem: He’s HUMAN! He has no powers beyond those granted to him as a Ranger, and he is not morphed in this scene! I kept expecting them to explain what the hell Troy’s deal was and how he apparently had precognitive abilities and whatever the fuck he just did to Robo Knight, and they NEVER ONCE EXPLAINED IT! It was his whole schtick, and it was never given any kind of resolution!

And yeah, speaking of which, that’s the other major problem I have: The ending. Or rather, the fact that there is no ending for these characters. They beat the bad guys, they lay in the sand for a while, they get up to go wander off, Jake gets a kiss from Gia (and presumably goes off into the woods to jack off, if I had to guess), and Troy sticks a Super Mega Saber in the sand as a marker for where the Legendary Battle took place…Oh, and I THINK that Orion and Emma hooked up, not sure. End credits. Now, I do admit to not actually seeing anything more than clips of the extended version of the episode posted online, since I don’t have Nick (nor do I wish to), I couldn’t watch it on their site without it crapping out on me, and last I checked, it wasn’t on Netflix (and if it is, please tell me so I can go watch it, since it’s at least a vast improvement on the original version). So, maybe there was more after that scene, but I’ve asked some people who saw it and they told me there wasn’t, so I’m going to assume that’s the case. And yes, I’m aware that PR has had anti-climactic non-endings to seasons before with no final resolution to said season’s cast…and I hated them too, so don’t think I’m just singling out Super Megaforce. Hell, Samurai had a better ending, with the team discussing their future plans and Jayden looking into new things to do with his life now that his mission was finally over. And I’ll get more into THAT later on too, trust me.

So, when all is said and done, no, Super Megaforce is NOT the worst season of Power Rangers ever. So congratulations, Jonathan Tzachor, for you couldn’t even succeed at that. I hope you NEVER come back to work on this show, and that Judd Lynn gets to keep your job forever, In Chip We Trust. Hell, just looking at the trailer for Dino Charge, I can already tell it’s gonna be a lot better than the past four years, and is actually gonna have the first original villain produced for Power Rangers in YEARS. However, I will give Tzachor this much: He’s not the only problem that plagued the Neo Saban Era. Nickelodeon’s interference with the show and failure to promote it in the right way has been hell for the people producing it, as well as for the fans. I can only hope that something changes in the future, because otherwise, even with Chip in charge, it’s gonna be an uphill battle to get PR back to the level it used to be at.

Anyway, that’s my rant. However, we’re not done talking about Super Megaforce. Check in again soon, when I talk about some of the things I would’ve done differently with this season, what my original idea for the Megaforce Rangers and their story was when I first heard Goseiger would be adapted, and some more of the things I legitimately liked about the last two seasons. Ja né!

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!

Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia Continues – New Rangers, Upcoming ‘Season 2’ Story

So, as you all know, I tend to get distracted a lot by varying projects and plans of mine. As such, one project of mine that has suffered a long hiatus is my PR fic, Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia. However, I’ve recently gone back to writing it, focusing most of my efforts on finishing this story by the end of the year…sort of. We’ll talk about that later. For those that have no idea what this is, I HAVE posted an article on it once before, but here’s the basic premise of the story, which includes newer details since the story was first posted: A parallel world to Earth called Gaia, which is tied to the natural elements of the world, is facing disaster. The dark zones of said world have been taken over by a powerful being called Dradarius, who is looking to take over all of the other zones, cities, and locales of Gaia. Its ancient protectors, the Guardians of Gaia, disappeared millenia ago, and the source of their miraculous powers, the Gaian Crystals, with them. However, the crystals weren’t lost, instead passed down through the Guardians’ bloodlines…who wound up on Earth. As such, when five of them are brought back together by five college students, said students are brought to Gaia to protect it, not only as the newest Guardians of Gaia, but as the newest team of Power Rangers.

The story is very much connected to Power Rangers mythology, with name and location drops, powers and weapons based off of ones previously seen, and the previous Rangers’ existence is very much a fact, with this team at first hoping to get home and calling them in to help with the crisis on Gaia. The Zords are based off of mythological, legendary, or ancient creatures, though some are simply animals that are related to various mythologies or religions. The monsters are also usually legendary creatures, though there are some basic animals tossed in as well. Now, if you’ve read the original article I posted, you know the five Rangers’ back-stories and quirks, though they have of course developed over the course of 18 chapters, and new details about their pasts have become apparent. I won’t spoil those, since I want you to read…but that said, I WILL discuss what else is new since the beginning: The two newest Rangers.

Jowar, the Wizard Ranger: Jowar specializes in Light attacks and, unlike the other Rangers, doesn’t possess a motif based on a creature, but of a wizard. He started off as the team’s mentor, teaching them about the world they’d arrived in and giving advice and guidance where possible. While he isn’t the most effective mentor to a Ranger team, he DOES help however he can, and genuinely cares for the team. However, as time went by, the truth of his past, namely that he is the father of Walker, the Shadowmancer that has been tormenting the team since they arrived, and his own past tragedies in how his desire for a family was twisted against him by Dradarius, were brought to light. His genuine desire to help the team, despite being unable to use his powerful light-based magic much outside the boundaries of the Ancient Library, their base of operations, led to him earning the ability to become the Wizard Ranger. His personal weapon is his staff (which I just now realized I’ve never given a name to in the story…whoops), which possesses a unicorn motif, due to being guided to the library by the Unicorn Zord. The staff allows him to harness light in various forms of magical spells, or to emit powerful light-based attacks, which most of the monsters are severely weak to, thus making him a powerful ally in the field when he’s able to join the team. He tends to experiment with the limits of his magic through various botany experiments, providing plants with the light they need to live, which has become a favoured hobby of his. While he currently doesn’t have a Zord of his own, the Unicorn Zord instead being one of three auxiliary Zords that form weapons for the Megazord, he DOES control the Magna Buster, a massive crystalline device that emerges from the library roof, which can erect powerful force fields, or emit bursts of light to either destroy monsters or recharge the Zords.

…Also, if you guys could do me a HUGE favour…can you give me suggestions for what the heck to call Jowar’s staff? I mean, it’s his primary weapon/Morpher, and it doesn’t have a name. And most of the names I come up with in my head sound dumb. Wizard Staff, Unimax Staff, Gaia Staff Morpher, Wizard Force Morpher, and so on. Please, HELP ME. lol

Drayden Snyder, the Indigo Gaia Ranger: Drayden specializes in Dark attacks and possesses a Dragon motif. He’s the son of a professor, Charles Snyder, who studied various archaeological digs in his own search for Gaia. Despite being proud of him, Drayden always felt like a cheap imitation of his father, never seeming to be a unique person of his own making. As such, when he’s dragged into Gaia through the sixth crystal, his mind and body are merged with the spirit of an ancient Shadowmancer, Dargoon, and is lured into helping him with the promise of becoming his own man. However, when people start getting hurt and it’s clear that Dargoon is insane, looking to actually destroy Gaia, he tries to break away, only managing to do so with the Rangers’ help. Despite this, he felt the darkness was still with him, and alienated himself from his father and the group, thinking himself evil. Once he learned that darkness was just another element like any other, though, and that it was the people that had usurped the dark zones in Gaia that were the problem, he joined the team, taking his place as the sixth Guardian of Gaia. While he isn’t the sixth Ranger by order of appearance, he is in the more spiritual and philosophical sense, and more-so by the fact that there were originally six Guardians of Gaia, and that the Wizard Ranger is something entirely new. His personal weapon is the Dragon Buster, a massive sword that can channel the energies of three separate Gaian Crystals at once. He pilots the Dragon Zord, which can fly and breathe dark flames, but also controls the Wolf and Lion Zords, which combine with the Dragon Zord to form the Dragoon Megazord, or swap arms with the Gaia Megazord.

Now, I said that I’m planning to have this story done by the end of the year. However, I should probably put an asterisk over that, as the story I’m writing now is actually only the first half of the bigger story going on. After this, I plan to post what I’m referring to as ‘Season 2’, or the second half of the story. And for those worried, NO, I am NOT calling it ‘Super Guardians of Gaia’, although I will say that such a title worked a lot better with Megaforce than Samurai, and that I can actually buy Super Megaforce as a legitimate second season, whereas Super Samurai was just the remaining 20 episodes of Samurai being aired a year later. So, why the second season story? Well, primarily because of all the ideas I have for GoG that will ultimately stretch the story out much further than I had originally planned. New weapons, twists in the story, possibly a new Zord, hell, maybe even a team-up with a previous Ranger team. Plus, there is a point in the story coming up that serves as a major turning point, which I felt would actually work pretty well as a cliffhanger.

So yeah, ‘Season 1’ will end before the year is up, and then next year, ‘Season 2’ will ultimately tell the second half of the overarching story, and provide closure for it. But that doesn’t mean it’s lame sailing from here until the end of this half. Trust me, this half is ending with a bang in a way that I don’t believe we’ve seen before in Power Rangers. I mean, we’ve seen occasions where the bad guys send a massive army of monsters to the front doors of the heroes, and we’ve actually seen it already at around the halfway point of ‘Season 1’. However, this ending coming up is something I don’t recall ever seeing in Power Rangers: A massive army marching on the front door…of the BAD GUYS. 😀

Anyway, lemme know what you think of this decision, the story in general, and of course, click the link below to read the story itself. Ja né, and may the power protect you!

Click this image to go to the story

New Fanfiction – Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia

So, as you know, I’ve been distracted by a number of things, which has limited my use of my blog. Some are personal issues, some are other things I’m doing that are taking up my time. One of them is a new fanfiction I’ve begun, which started out as a birthday present for Emmybomber, but has quickly become an ongoing fanfic of mine. It’s also becoming one of the bulkiest fics, and has the lowest rating of any fic I’ve done thus far (K+), meaning its potential audience has the biggest age range of any I’ve done thus far. The title: Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia.

Click this image to go to the story

Here’s the jist of the story: An ancient realm tied to the natural elements of the world is in peril, and only five college students can save it before the evil threatening it can attack Earth. The Rangers are all OCs, making it a completely new team, although references to the existence of past teams are made, and there are name-drops and whatnot that refer to seasons of the show, be it city names or the like. The team is made up of three girls and two boys, and the colours of the Rangers are a bit different. The team’s motif centres around crystals, legendary creatures, and the natural elements. Here’s a quick rundown of the main characters.

Nichelle ‘Nikki’ Markson, the Red Gaia Ranger: Nikki specializes in Fire attacks and possesses a Phoenix motif. She’s African-American, of which there were three canon Red Rangers, and there were two canon female Red Rangers, but never both. She’s into martial arts, specifically karate, and is also interested in fencing. She isn’t JUST a butt-kicker, though. She’s able to make quick decisions in the field, and can assess what her teammates can do in battle to determine where best to assign each of them in a fight. While she has moments of vulnerability, she’s ultimately strong-willed and can conceivably bounce back from anything. Her personal weapons are the Heat Sabers, a pair of swords resembling Phoenix wings while also resembling wisps of flame, that can combine into the Heat Bow. She pilots the Phoenix Zord, which can breathe fireballs, rake its talons across foes, and coat itself in flames for high-speed flying tackles.

“Let’s do this. It’s Morphin Time!“

Patrick O’Donnell, the Green Gaia Ranger: Patrick specializes in Wind attacks and possesses a Hippogriff motif. He’s a redhead of Irish decent, oftentimes relying on the Luck of the Irish in situations. He’s studied parkour, which he uses to out-manoeuvre opponents with a certain level of finesse, and fencing, which he puts into effect in close combat. He’s also fascinated by meteorology. Pat’s generally annoyed by the antics of Madilyn, the Violet Ranger, and is quick to follow Nikki’s lead, recognizing her brilliance on the field of combat. Otherwise, he’s usually pretty easy-going with his team-mates. His personal weapon is the Storm Lance, a lance with three points at each end resembling a Hippogriff’s talons, that can be separated into two smaller weapons. He pilots the Hippogriff Zord, which is capable of high-speed barrel rolls and aileron rolls to whip up whirlwinds, and can stomp down on foes.

“I’ll give you guys this much: you make me look REALLY good.”

Layla Bluestone, the Blue Gaia Ranger: Layla specializes in Water attacks and possesses a Leviathan motif. She’s Madilyn’s blonde younger sister, and a self-described computer geek with a love of gaming and technology, initially thinking Gaia might be some sort of virtual reality simulation, then growing fascinated by the team’s equipment. She can occasionally get embarrassed by her sister’s antics, and can at times have issues with Dirk, but they aren’t generally that mean-spirited or result in long-term grudges. Her personal weapon is the Flood Launcher, a large blaster resembling a tidal wave ending in a Leviathan’s mouth, that’s supported with both arms to deal with the recoil, and fires wide energy blasts. Thankfully, Layla’s a bit more adept with blasters than melee weapons, as she’s not that physically strong or athletic. She pilots the Leviathan Zord, a giant sea serpent that slithers across the ground too fast for most opponents to catch, can move through the water like a jet through the air, and fires ice blasts from its mouth.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to kick a lady there?! Especially not a lady who beats suckers on Halo for a hobby!”

Dirk Slater, the Orange Gaia Ranger: Dirk specializes in Earth attacks and possesses a Behemoth motif. He’s a brunet from a family of farmers, and thus grew up surrounded by animals. As such, he’s the member of the team with the biggest connection to nature. He can sometimes get into arguments with Layla, due to the sheer difference in personality between the two and their nature vs technology debates, but they tend to let their issues slide rather easily. Dirk also has a history in high school wrestling. Using this in tandem with his work on the farm, he’s the muscle of the team, able to tackle through enemies and slam them down hard. His personal weapon is the Quake Ax, a large battle-ax resembling a Behemoth’s head and horns, which can cleave through steel and stone with ease. He pilots the Behemoth Zord, a large quadruped with long, curved horns that can ram foes like a bull or stomp the ground to cause small earthquakes.

“Yeah, you worry about finesse in a fight, I’ll just knock the suckers down.”

Madilyn Bluestone, the Violet Gaia Ranger: Madilyn specializes in Lightning attacks and possesses a Thunderbird motif. She’s a blonde with pink and purple streaks in her hair, and is Layla’s older sister. She’s also the one who started the crystallography club in college that the others all joined, and tends to think of herself as the leader, despite Nikki’s natural knack for leadership. Madilyn can get over-excited and break personal boundaries in her enthusiasm, and is generally not that great a planner. As such, she often gets on the others’ nerves. However, she always proves to be a loyal friend and team-mate, and a skilled, well-rounded fighter in the field. Her personal weapons are the Lightning Daggers, a pair of feather-like daggers that come packed with a large amount of voltage. She pilots the Thunderbird Zord, which launches thunderbolt-like feathers out of its wings, and shoots blasts of electricity from its eyes.

“And you guys all thought I was crazy nutso.”

There’s more to their arsenal than was mentioned above, but I don’t wanna give away too much. I will say that they gain access to their powers through crystals, their weapons can combine into a blaster, and the Zords can combine to become a Megazord. Will there be additional weapons, Zords, or even Rangers? You’ll just have to follow along with the story to find out. Ja né, and may the power protect you!

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