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I'm not really sure if this is apt, but if we can have a thread for 'least favorite' Ranger, then surely we can have this too?

Every Power Rangers fan has one (or more). A character that they love to death, but the rest of the fandom seems to ignore. I have a lot of favorites that would fall into this category (Zack, pretty much everyone in Wild Force, Ethan), but I think the most obvious example in my case would be Lucas, Katie, and Trip on Time Force. It really does seem that most fans don't think that they're 'real' characters compared to Wes/Jen/Eric, which to me at least, makes me wonder if we were watching the same series.

Why is this? I think the main reason is that Time Force took the character traits/arcs from Timeranger... but Blue/Yellow/Green's arcs weren't really friendly for US children's television. Examples: Ayase/Time Blue was terminally ill, Domon/Time Yellow fell in love with a reporter (who has a baby named 'Domon Junior' at the end of the series), and Sion/Time Green is the sole survivor of a planet that blew itself up in a war. So inbetween that and Time Force having a shorter run than Timeranger, some things were bound to be cut, and this included those parts of Blue/Yellow/Green's characters. However, to believe that this left Lucas, Katie, and Trip uninteresting is a mistake.

Lucas is a former race car driver who had to send his best friend to prison after said best friend hurt people to get a thrill from racing. Not to mention he's surprisingly cynical-- he's the only one who doesn't believe that Ransik is going straight to prison in the first episode. Katie has superstrength that's never given a straight up explantion and was torn away from her family-- that's every bit as traumatic as Jen's backstory. And Trip is an awkward telepathic genius who can build ginormous guns in a conveniently short period of time* ('Uniquely Trip'). They may not have as much spotlight as Wes/Jen/Eric, but they're all fantastic characters in their own right.

So why do most fans ignore them? Because they didn't get as much focus? Because they didn't get a Very Deep Romantic Subplot (don't even get me STARTED on how people won't shut up about Wes and Jen being soulmates, and then ignore Katie and Trip's relationship, which was just as deep, if not deeper)? They didn't get a really cool Battlizer?

Or maybe, just maybe... Power Rangers fans are really crab people. Taste like crab. Talk like people.

Okay, seriously, moral of my ramble: just because Lucas/Katie/Trip didn't get as many focus episodes as Jen/Wes/Eric, it doesn't mean that they're weaker as characters. They're fun to watch on screen, and IMO at least, REALLY fun to write for.

So, anyone have an underrated Ranger they want to talk about?

*Although it was obvious at the opener that he had already put considerable work into it beforehand.

My favorite underrated Ranger is Zack, because I think that he never got any of the props he deserves. Didn't he lead the team while Jason was gone in Green with Evil?

Which makes perfect sense, since in Super Sentai the Black Ranger is second-in-command.

So thanks for starting this, Mariko. Hopefully, it will get more hits...^_^

Peace,

CJ

How about the fact As soon as Tommy came back as the white ranger, jason got pushed to the side like he didn't count? That drove me nuts.

As for underated, I would agree with Trip Lucas and Katie, but I'd also add Dax from overdrive. All we really got was he was a stuntman and he dated Miratrix briefly, that was it on character development for him. Which is a shame, because there was more that could be added.

There are two rangers that I don't think get enough credit starting with Ziggy from the new series Power Rangers RPM. Okay so he's not the best fighter out there but he does have some pretty good moves. Not to mention he cares for his friends and does whatever he can to help them even if he's not the best ranger out there.

The second one that comes to mind is Ethan from Power Rangers Dino Thunder. Next to Connor he was my favorites in that series. So what if he's the computer geek? He's the smart one of the group. And like Ziggy he's a good guy who stands by his friends no matter what. Not to mention he has super strength and can take down anything that comes his way.

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