List of Power Rangers RPM characters
Power Rangers RPM is the 2009 season of Power Rangers, telling the story of the fight in the future between the Ranger Operators and the evil forces of Venjix, who is trying to destroy the environment to favor one for machines.
RPM Rangers
The RPM Power Rangers (or Ranger Operators) protect the city of Corinth, the last human outpost, from destruction. Each Ranger has an "operation number" sewn on their jacket, or leg in the case of Gold and Silver. Scott, Flynn and Summer made a cameo in the flashback in Power Rangers Beast Morphers.[1]
Scott Truman
Scott Truman is the Ranger Operator Series Red, alternately referred to as Red Ranger. His operation number is one. His zord is the Eagle Racer which is a combination of a race car and an eagle. He is the confident, stubborn-headed and slightly cocky leader of the RPM team with a love of fast cars. He takes his job as leader of the Rangers seriously, and tends not to trust new recruits until they've made an effort to earn said trust. He does, however, make an effort to help keep the team together if there ever seems to be an issue.
Prior to the present day, Scott served as a pilot in the Air Force defenses during the battle for Corinth City, using the code-name Eagle 2.[2] He was often overshadowed by his more talented and more experienced older brother, Marcus Truman, lost in the battle for Corinth, code-named Eagle 1. His father, Colonel Mason Truman, often wanted him to act as a support to his brother as he believed that Scott was not ready to handle the front lines. During the battle of Corinth, both brothers were shot down. Scott managed to eject in time and was rescued by Summer, but his brother was killed.[3] At some point during the following year, he was chosen to be a Ranger, using technology designed by Dr. K to keep Corinth safe and stop any assaults by Venjix.[4]
Dillon and Ziggy began associating with the team around this time, to Scott's initial disapproval, as he was at first convinced that Dillon was neither trustworthy nor capable of handling the Series Black tech. After several initial spats, Dillon proved to Scott that he could be trusted,[5] but Scott was equally off-put by Ziggy taking the Series Green tech not long after, especially since Ziggy didn't come close to meeting any of the basic physical or skill requirements needed to become a Ranger. However, with the two additional Rangers now being necessary to stop more extravagant plans by Venjix, Scott is, at the very least, accepting of their contributions.[6] Despite this, or perhaps in compensation for this, Scott has since developed something of a rivalry with Dillon, due to their similarly stubborn, dominating personalities and Dillon's defiant tendencies. The pair are often seen trying to outdo each other, especially when it comes to their cars.[7] However, he seems to have grown a friendship with Ziggy, as the two are often seen together when off-duty.
Scott Truman appears in a crossover special of Power Rangers Samurai by himself but only in morphed form, fearing he would not be able to breathe in the atmosphere of the Samurai Ranger's universe. Sometime during the war in Corinth, Scott followed Professor Cog into the Power Rangers Samurai dimension in order to prevent him from polluting Corinth City with the water of the Sanzu River. He saved the Samurai Rangers from Venjix robots causing the Yellow and Pink Samurai Rangers to like him while the Red, Green, and Blue Samurai Rangers are jealous of him. There he assisted the Samurai Rangers in defeating Professor Cog and the massive Mooger army led by General Gut. He also had access to the Samurai Ranger's Shark Attack Mode by putting the Power Disk onto his Nitro Sword. As Darville had joined the Screen Actors Guild since working on RPM (as part of his work on the television series Terra Nova), his voice work in the teamup was credited to the pseudonym Tobias Reiss.
After the war, Colonel Truman, finally knowing his son's worth as a leader, offers Scott the leader position of Eagle Squad. He accepts, and recruits Gem and Gemma to join him.[8][lower-alpha 1]
He is portrayed by Eka Darville.[9][10]
Flynn McAllistair
Flynn McAllistair is the Ranger Operator Series Blue, alternately referred to as Blue Ranger and is the second-in-command of the Ranger Operators. His operation number is two. His zord is the Lion Hauler which is a combination of a hauler truck and a lion. A Scotsman, Flynn is generally laid-back in personality. As a mechanic, he often spends time working on his personal vehicle, a Hummer H1, and is proficient at making smoothies. He uses his basic skills and knowledge of devices and appliances to help out with technological tasks if ever need be, even once rivaling Dr. K's understanding of the Ranger technology, as well as creating an entirely new Zord with Gemma's assistance.
While Flynn was a mechanic by trade, a skill taught to him by his father, Flynn expressed a strong desire to help others like the superheroes in the comic books he read so much as a child. After graduating high school, he finally got that chance, much to the displeasure of his father, who insisted superheroes didn't exist. Not realizing the full responsibilities of such a line of work, his passion for helping others tended to get in the way as he usually overdid his jobs, (ex. spraying water into a burning building until it received unnecessary water damage, and then wanting to run back into said building to save the plants), and as a result, was fired from all of them. As soon as Venjix attacked, both he and his father fled to Corinth, but Flynn shortly after went to save a bus-full of people still outside the city, and skillfully managed to make it unharmed back to Corinth. His act of heroism earned him acceptance from his father, who finally realized that was what his son was meant to do. His dream of becoming a superhero finally came true when he was selected to become Ranger Operator Series Blue.[11]
Dillon and Ziggy's arrival resulted in feelings of distrust from Flynn, due to the nature of Dillon's mechanical upgrades, but Flynn was still clearly less antagonistic than Scott over the matter, willing to allow Dillon on board if the group consensus felt it was best.[4] Ziggy joining the team produced quite a bit more incredulity in him, however.[6] Despite any early feelings of doubt, he seems to have since fully embraced the two as members of the team. He also accepts Gem and Gemma when they are added to the team.[12] Despite his friendly personality, he is also very serious about his role as a Power Ranger always insisting to go out on the field and defeat Venjix. It becomes very tortuous to him when he is unable to be mobilized or is restrained from performing his duties for any reason.
After the war, Flynn reveals that he and his father will be building new computer systems for Corinth.[8]
He would later travel with his teammates to the dimension of the Super Megaforce Rangers in order to join in the final battle with the Warstar Armada.
He is portrayed by Ari Boyland.
Summer Landsdown
Summer Landsdown is the Ranger Operator Series Yellow, alternately referred to as Yellow Ranger. Her operation number is three. Her zord is the Bear Crawler, which is a combination of a bear and an ATV.[13][14] She is a skilled combatant and proficient at martial arts. She has a kind personality, willing to trust others and give them the benefit of the doubt, even when no one else is willing to. She isn't above getting down to business when necessary, however. She is also skilled at and enjoys riding motorcycles, but does enjoy riding the boys' cars as well.
Summer did not start off kind or caring, as she once was a rich and spoiled heiress, with constantly absent parents; when Venjix forces attacked on her birthday, she was abandoned by her equally-spoiled friends and long-suffering staff during the evacuation.[15] While wandering aimlessly in search for help, she was found by her butler Andrews, who then helped to escort her to Corinth. Along the way, Summer gained a better understanding and view on what he'd done for her, and she begins to return the favor. Some miles away from Corinth, they were ambushed by Grinders, and Andrews was killed protecting her, forcing her to grow past her formerly spoiled personality. She eventually finds her way to Corinth on her own and reunites with her parents. After hearing a report of a pilot shot down, she decides to go out again to find him.[16] She found a downed Scott and helped him return to Corinth before the city's shielding went up, making her rescue of Scott her first significant act of goodwill.[3] By the present day, she was serving as the Yellow Ranger alongside Scott and Flynn.[2] Her parents, initially distressed that Summer had accepted the assignment as the Yellow Ranger, eventually acknowledge and accept the person she had become.
When Dillon and Ziggy arrived in Corinth and were subsequently jailed, it was Summer who first considered Dillon a suitable operator for the Series Black tech, and decided to trust him even while Scott and Flynn could not.[4] While the three Rangers together were able to convince him to join up, Summer's words in particular later on were instrumental to keeping him from leaving.[5] As time passed, Summer continued to show support for Dillon in his quest to find himself and his sister. When Dillon and Summer became trapped inside a burning building in an attempt to find his sister, they started to realize that they had feelings for one another. They moved to kiss, but were interrupted twice: the first time when the Whale Zord's water spouts drenched them as it put out the fire, and the second time immediately after, when Gem and Gemma burst into the building to find them.[17]
After the war, Summer left Corinth with Dillon and Tenaya to explore the world, now no longer tainted by the pollution from Venjix. There they see the fruits of their victory, a newly restored land and the hope that the Earth will be fully restored one day.[8]
She would subsequently appear as part of the Ranger army in the finale of Super Megaforce helping the Megaforce Rangers fight the Warstar Armada.
She is portrayed by Rose McIver.
Ziggy Grover
Ziggy Grover is the Ranger Operator Series Green, alternately referred to as Green Ranger. His zord is the Tail Spinner zord which is a combination of an orca and a scooter. His operation number is four. He is generally clumsy, wacky, silly, and a bit of a coward, but for what he lacks in skill and physical prowess, he makes up for with heart. He is energetic, enthusiastic, and relentlessly (at times stupid) optimistic, which often leaves him on the receiving end of Dr. K's blunt verbal insults. He usually wants to stay out of trouble, but won't hesitate to help the other Rangers.
Before becoming a Ranger, he was an associate of Fresno Bob, the boss of the Scorpion Cartel, a well known crime family. Clumsy even back then, he would often fail missions, but continued to work under Fresno Bob in order to help support an orphanage full of children with "child gamma sickness". One day, Ziggy and a truck Fresno Bob had entrusted to him disappeared from Corinth, thus giving a reason for many criminals to target him.[18] Ziggy had discovered the truck was full of $5 million[6] worth of medical supplies, which he secretly diverted to the orphanage. With the help of one of his friends, he then fled Corinth.[18] It was outside that he met Dillon, and after failing to hijack his car, decided to escort him back to the city.[2] Ziggy views Dillon as his best friend and was the first person to help Dillon search for his sister, later joined by Summer.[17]
When Fresno Bob's men intensified their search for him, Ziggy started to become more concerned about his well-being. He is later kidnapped by Tenaya 15 and is the ante for a favor with Fresno Bob. Despite that. Ziggy rescues Fresno Bob after he is double-crossed by Tenaya; because of this, Fresno Bob absolves Ziggy of his debt.[19]
Ziggy, unlike the other Rangers, was never tested and is the least capable to use the Ranger tech. His becoming a Ranger was the result of a desperate effort to keep the Series Green morpher from Tenaya 7; he felt that the best way to keep the morpher away from her was to bond with it himself, thus becoming Ranger Green. His unauthorized bonding with the morpher initially did not sit well with Dr. K and the other Rangers, except for Dillon, due to his obvious incompetence at the beginning. Since then, however, he has been steadily showing signs of improvement, proving to be a helpful -though clumsy- ally, able to hold his own quite well in combat situations, morphed or not. He even started bringing his once problematic transportation powers under control, once heroically diving off the top of a skyscraper to save Dillon by way of teleporting both of them mid-descent to ground level safely.[6]
Dr. K initially found Ziggy to be quite annoying, and she was openly hostile to him. Even after she begins to open up upon Gem and Gemma's return, she remains frosty to him, often refusing to call him by name as she began to do with the other Rangers. Ziggy, however, seems attracted to Dr. K; in the episode "Dome Dolls", he admitted to her he had a dream where he was on a date with her.[14] He has also expressed a mild attraction towards Tenaya 7, once stating, "When she's not pounding us into the pavement, she's kind of a hottie."[20] Soon enough, it becomes obvious that Dr. K does actually think well of Ziggy; she accidentally once called him by his first name in front of Gemma[19] and even named her password after him, which Summer figured out (though she lied to the other Rangers about it to keep Dr. K's secret safe).[21] When Ziggy and Dr. K were teleported to a cave with little oxygen, he managed to get her to smile by doing a shadow puppet show for her.[21] When Venjix took over the city, he immediately got extremely concerned and left the other Rangers to protect Dr. K and stayed with her when the others went after Venjix.
After the war, Ziggy and Dr. K announce they are opening a children's school, where Dr. K will teach biofield physics and Ziggy will teach shadow puppetry and cooking. She also finally refers to Ziggy by his first name, saying that since he is no longer a Ranger, she needs to call him something. She also seems to be able to finally admit to her feelings for him, or at least tolerate his feelings for her, allowing Ziggy to put his arm around her.[8]
Ziggy later joined his teammates in traveling to the main universe's Earth in Super Megaforce to join an army of Power Rangers who fought against the Warstar Armada.
He is portrayed by Milo Cawthorne.
Dillon
Dillon is the Ranger Operator Series Black, alternately referred to as Black Ranger by his peers, and Subject D-44 by associates of Venjix. His operation number is five. His zord is the Wolf Cruiser which is a combination of a police car and a wolf. He is aloof and somewhat withdrawn, a bit of a lone wolf among his fellow Rangers. Despite this, he has a kinder side. He does not hesitate to help whenever anyone is in danger, and has even personally defended Ziggy, Summer, and to some extent, Scott. While distrustful of others, he agrees to help Dr. K and the other Rangers protect Corinth. He drives a black car called the 'Fury' which throws fire from its silencers. He can be gruff and has a bit of a rebellious side, and often criticizes and talks sarcastically to Dr. K and the Rangers, similar to Tenaya 7's defiance of Venjix.
In the start of the series, he was seen outside of Corinth, wandering the wasteland-like world in search of the city without any memory of his past, not even knowing his own name. It was there that he was confronted by Ziggy attempting to rob him, and together they drive to Corinth.[2] He and Ziggy were arrested on sight as Dillon was found with Venjix technology in his body, enhancing his physical capabilities to superhuman levels, making him a perfect candidate as Ranger Operator Series Black.[4] Though hesitating at first, he eventually came to terms about what he would be protecting and decided to join the other Rangers.[5]
Dillon's past is an absolute mystery. The only clues he has to his former life are his technological enhancements, a musical pocket watch he carries on him at all times, and several strange recurring dreams of a blind, unknown girl who, along with him, is under the custody of Venjix. He even once attempted to leave Corinth in attempt to search out the missing pieces of his past. Upon hearing a distress call from the other Rangers, he decided he needed to stay and dropped his previous plans of leaving in order to help his teammates out.[5] His dreams were proven to be of merit when a Venjix Attack Bot called Sat Bot, who had appeared in one of his dreams, showed up and had claimed to have wiped, and still possess, Dillon's memories. Before being destroyed by Dillon after his initial hesitation to do so, the Sat Bot activated a virus in Dillon's mechanical implants designed to make them grow until they take control of him, and Dr. K says there is no cure.[22] Venjix intends to use this virus to eventually bring Dillon under his control.[7] After undergoing hypnotherapy, he finds memories of an area called Kenmore located in Omega City, evacuated after the first Venjix attack. However, it was soon discovered the memories were implanted on purpose so Venjix could lure the Rangers into a trap.[23] Dillon later finds out that the blind girl in his dreams is his sister, who had been held prisoner at a Grinder-building factory. After investigating the factory, Summer finds a key matching the one Dillon has for his pocket watch, though to Dillon's dismay, it does nothing.[24] When Dillon and Summer became trapped inside a burning building in an attempt to find his sister, they started to realize that they had feelings for one another. They moved to kiss, but were interrupted twice: the first time when the Whale Zord's water spouts drenched them as it put out the fire, and the second time immediately after, when Gem and Gemma burst into the building to find them.[17] Scott later informs Dillon of the existence of a Venjix prison camp where his captives are being turned into human hybrids like him.[25]
Eventually he discovers that the two keys he possesses, when connected, cause his pocketwatch to play a different tune. When he realizes this new tune is the same one that Tenaya 7 whistles, he immediately seeks her out, and upon encountering her in the wasteland, plays the original pocketwatch tune to her. He finds Tenaya remembering it somehow, and Dillon confirms that Tenaya 7 is his lost sister who turned into a hybrid like him.[26] At this point, he becomes extremely protective of her, having already lost her once to Venjix. After returning from their first fight in the RPM Ultrazord, he sees Kilobyte kidnap Tenaya and get away.[20] Dillon, Flynn, Scott and Summer tried to find Venjix's Palace to save Tenaya, but the tracks Dillon and Tenaya had left from before faded away. However, during the Ranger's fight with Shifter, Dillon thought his sister had returned to him. She attacked Shifter as he had the Rangers on the ropes. However, when Dillon went to Tenaya (who was now Tenaya 15), he found that she only saw him as the enemy, and had no memories of before. Later, Dillon had a chance to try to get Tenaya back with the Control Key the Rangers got from inside Scott, but Dillon used the key to help save his friends instead. Dr. K then informed Dillon that the Venjix Virus inside of him had grown to 40%. Once it reaches 50%, he will lose control to Venjix, and there is no way for Dr. K to stop it.[27]
As Venjix began his final assault on Corinth, Dillon fought off the activation of his Venjix implants long enough to cure himself with Dr. K's newly developed antidote and subsequently do the same for Tenaya. When Kilobyte attacks Tenaya, he uses his invincibility shield to protect her, only to be overpowered by it. The blast froze his robotic implants, leaving him in a coma like state for the rest of the fight. He wakes up in time to rescue his sister from the destroyed control tower, parachuting both to safety.
After the war, Dillon left Corinth with Summer and Tenaya to explore the world no longer tainted by the pollution from Venjix. There they see the fruits of their victory, a newly restored land and the hope that the Earth will be fully restored one day. He also leaves his pocket watch with Dr. K as a souvenir and finally thanks her for helping him.[8]
Some time later, he would appear as part of an army of Rangers in Super Megaforce who fought to protect Earth from the final attack of the Warstar Armada.
Dillon is portrayed by Daniel Ewing.[28]
Gem and Gemma
Gem and Gemma, twin brother and sister, are Ranger Operator Series Gold and Ranger Operator Series Silver, respectively. Their operation numbers are seven and eight. Gem drives the Falcon zord which is a combination of a falcon and a helicopter and Gemma drives the Tiger Jet which is a combination of a tiger and a fighter jet. They were raised to be test pilots of the Ranger Operator suits and equipment, where they met Dr. K and eventually became her first friends. The twins are a cheery duo, having an abundance of energy and high spirits. Despite their demeanor, Gem and Gemma are highly trained and skilled fighters, and able to very effectively take part in combat. When Alphabet Soup attempted to assassinate Dr. K, Gem and Gemma rescued her by swiftly knocking out her captors, then helped her escape. They attempted to retrieve the classified Ranger Gold and Ranger Silver morphers, but an explosion seemingly killed them in front of Dr. K.[29]
Mysterious Gold and Silver Rangers later appeared twice to save the core Rangers from Venjix's new body. Afterward, they all returned to Corinth, where they revealed their identities and were reunited with an excited and teary-eyed Dr. K.[23][30] Their Rangers suits, being experimental at the time they were created, do not have the same properties that the other Rangers do. For instance, they cannot manipulate their biospheres like the other five, and the suits themselves have a pilot's jumpsuit design to fit their aircraft Zord design. This includes their wing-like cuffs on the suit which, unlike the wheel or gear (in the case of Green and Black) cuff design on the others, does not spin.
Before reuniting with Dr. K and meeting the Rangers, Gem and Gemma were out in the wasteland on an offensive campaign against Venjix. Because they were out on this campaign for so long, they have a "shoot first, ask questions later" type strategy, which greatly disturbs the more passive Colonel Truman, as well as earns them the nickname "The Boom Twins" by the other Rangers. This makes them trigger-happy, and they take very little time to plan, but more than make up for it with their fighting skills. The twins rarely separate from one another, and it often seems as though they share the same brain, or at least think very similarly, since they always end up finishing each other's sentences, but there have been times where they have had their own individual thoughts. They also have a childlike demeanor, sometimes adding sound effects while explaining their plans, leaving colorful notes and giving maps where the directions are shown as rainbows and unicorns.[13] At some point during their time on the run, they were forced to work in a Grinder-building factory, at which point they met a blind girl they would later learn was Dillon's sister.[24]
While the both of them act relatively simple-mindedly and childishly, Gem and Gemma have a genius IQ possibly equal to that of Dr. K as they can easily understand quantum mechanics.[31] After spending their time with the other Rangers, they eventually grew closer to them and work with the team, rather than just each other, even managing to restrain themselves from simply blowing things up until its necessary.
After the war, Gem and Gemma join Eagle Squadron, now under Scott's leadership, obviously recommended for the posting because of their experience with their aircraft Zords. They seem to be quite excited about their new posting, saying that they "get to blow things up, and get paid for it."[8]
They would later appear as part of the Ranger teams who joined together in the finale of Super Megaforce to help the Megaforce Rangers fight the Warstar Armada.
Gemma returned in Super Ninja Steel.
Gem is portrayed by Mike Ginn while Gemma is portrayed by Li Ming Hu.
Allies
Doctor K
Doctor K is the Rangers' mentor who created their technology and also the Venjix Virus. She is extremely sensitive about the Ranger suits, and gets hostile if someone calls them or even refers to the suits as spandex. She is a teenage genius and also musically inclined, using the violin and keyboard when working and even using them in conjunction with some of her equipment. Although her identity was initially obscured by her speaking through a computer screen and distorting her voice (the Rangers referred to K as "he"), the Rangers later learned that she is actually a teenage girl. It is revealed throughout the series that she was the creator of the Venjix Virus when she was abducted by the "Alphabet Soup" government think tank. As a result of her upbringing, she no longer knows her own name ("K" is her government code name), rarely ever leaves her base of operations, is socially inept (as demonstrated by her bluntness with others), and initially only refers to the Rangers by their colors instead of their given names. After the arrival of Gem and Gemma, she becomes more emotionally open, tries a more encouraging approach with her methods, and has begun to occasionally refer to each Ranger by name - with the exception of Ziggy, much to his chagrin. But later in the series she becomes closer to him. He also made her smile for the first time in a long time. However, she does still apparently think better of him, as she stated, "The five of you are the only family I've ever known. I love you all." It's also repeatedly hinted that, despite how she acts towards him, she does care more for him than she does the others, even making his name her password for her computer. While she is by no means a physical fighter, she can defend herself with her weapons and wits, as well as an enhanced violin. Despite her phlegmatic demeanor, Doctor K has shown an affinity for cute things, as seen by her Zord designs, puppy slippers and pajamas. Ziggy has also stated that she has a sweet tooth especially with Mr Marshmallow, which contrasts from her rather sour personality. After the war, she plans to open a children's school with Ziggy, also calling him by his real name, saying she has to call him something other than Ranger Series Green.
Doctor K appears on Power Rangers Beast Morphers as she contacts Devon to discuss any means to separate his father Mayor Daniels from Evox, suggesting to use the Split Emitter that was once used on Doomwing and Zenowing. After learning that Evox and Venjix were one in the same, she briefly travels to the Beast Morphers' dimension to assist Nate before returning back to her dimension to assess the situation of Venjix regaining a foothold within the RPM universe.
Doctor K is portrayed by Olivia Tennet.
Colonel Mason Truman
Colonel Mason Truman is Scott's father and the leader of Corinth's defense forces. Truman's relationship with his son is a strained one, as he seemingly favored his late son, Marcus, over Scott. Even after Scott's recruitment as Ranger Red, Truman is still overprotective of him. Although he does not express it openly, Truman is proud of Scott's accomplishments. Colonel Truman's primary strategy in the war against Venjix is a simple defensive one: staying behind the domed shielding while the Rangers as well as his forces take out any Venjix attackbots (Grinders) that breach the shields. Because of this, he often disapproves of any plans requiring going outside the dome, especially if it involves dropping the shields for any reason. However, he does give in under certain circumstances, such as acknowledging Scott's stubbornness or being threatened with a laxative that is ten times worse than the effects of dysentery by Doctor K. This attitude changes as soon as Doctor K reveals that hybrid humans created by Venjix are within Corinth, making him realize that they would not be in their present situation if they had taken a more proactive approach to the war. With this in mind, he assembles his troops to finish off Venjix, but are stopped by the hybrids and meets Venjix face to face where he is imprisoned along with the rest of Corinth. He continues to lead his troops after the war and gives Scott the leadership position in Eagle Squad.
Truman later appears in the final episode of Power Rangers Beast Morphers where he alongside Betty and Ben Burke busted Scrozzle in the sewers of Corinth and handed him over to Devon Daniels who then remanded Scrozzle to Grid Battleforce's holding cell.
Col. Truman is Portrayed by James Gaylyn.
Corporal Hicks
Corporal Hicks is Colonel Truman's aide-de-camp. While a capable soldier, he is curious and can be a bit clumsy, and is often seen absentmindedly fiddling with Doctor K's equipment. At the end of the season it was revealed that he was a hybrid infected with Venjix technology. His name is a reference to Michael Biehn's character in the 1986 film Aliens.
Cpl. Hicks is portrayed by Damien Avery.
Vasquez
Vasquez is female officer working with Colonel Truman. She assisted Dr. K, Summer and Gemma when all of the men were knocked out in the city. At the end of the season it was revealed that she was a hybrid infected with Venjix technology. Her name is a reference to Jenette Goldstein's character in the 1986 film Aliens.
Vasquez is portrayed by Mia Koning.
Benny
Benny is a friend of Ziggy's from his Scorpion Cartel days, who helped smuggle him out of the city and later set the record straight about why Ziggy vanished.
Benny is portrayed by Murray Keane.
Antagonists
Venjix
An aggressive self-aware, self-generating sentient computer virus AGI with an immortality-complex, Venjix was created by Dr. K on behalf of a secret government think tank known as Alphabet Soup. Dr. K eventually chose to release the virus into the Alphabet Soup facility servers as a diversion in the hopes that she would be able to escape her captors, but she was discovered and dragged away before she could install a firewall. Without a firewall to keep him contained in the facility, Venjix quickly spread through the world's computers and within three years had taken over the Earth's defense forces and data networks with the only safe haven being the domed city of Corinth.
Lacking a corporeal form in of itself, as computer viruses are purely software based in nature, Venjix is initially seen manifesting his presence in the Venjix Palace through a large rotating technological pillar with a single red optic sensor. Eventually growing tired of the constant defeats, Venjix created a Generation-13 Attack Bot body to upload himself into so that he could personally battle the Rangers. The body itself possessed a calculus theme with protractors on the chest and units of measurement on his sword. Venjix also has a fail-safe in his programming, transferring his data into either the pillar or another standby body when destroyed, allowing his consciousness to survive the Rangers' destructive attacks.
After one defeat too many, Venjix orders Shifter to upgrade his body and give him enough firepower to destroy the entire city. Before the process can be completed however, a city gate opens and Venjix orders the download be suspended even though the download is only at eighty percent. Venjix goes out to face the Rangers. Unfortunately, the body doesn't hold up as well as Venjix had hoped it would, and the robotic shell is damaged beyond repair by Scott as Shifter manages to get his master to safety. Following this, Venjix once again resides in his pillar as Shifter constructs the Generation-16 Hyperbot to serve as a new body. However, due to Tenaya's sabotage, the body was rejected and Shifter banished. Later, Venjix commissioned the creation of a new ultimate body, recycling the destroyed remains of Shifter (due to their unique metallic alloys) to complete it. The new body bears a slight resemblance to Shifter as it was recycled from his remains, but it is older looking and has black plating with gold accents.
Venjix successfully takes over Corinth when Tenaya 15 activates the Hybrids. He meets Colonel Truman and imprisons him with the rest of Corinth. Venjix makes his way to the Ranger's base and finally meets Dr. K, his creator. After discussing how the machines are perfect in every way, Venjix imprisons Dr. K and Ziggy, and downloads the Ranger data from Dr. K's computer. Downloading this allowed him to personally manipulate the biosphere (aka the Morphin Grid), deleting two Megazords and even deleting Gem and Gemma. Venjix is confronted one last time by the original three rangers. Soon Venjix discovers that Dr. K, with the help of Tenaya, hacked into his system and uploaded a counter virus that deletes his grinders. Shortly after the biofield allows Gem and Gemma to be revived by Dr. K. They then shot down the control tower. The tower falls on Venjix, destroying his ultimate body. All of his factories are then immediately shut down as a result; clearing the air from the polluted wasteland and making the rest of the world habitable once more.
Despite the destruction of his ultimate body, the exact fate of Venjix himself was left ambiguous to the viewers' interpretation due to the interaction of his base code interfacing with the Morphin Grid. The final episode of RPM ends with Dr. K securing the morphers inside a metal briefcase while Scott's morpher is shown on screen with one red light lit similar to the optic sensor of Venjix's pillar.
It is later confirmed in the alternate reality of the series Power Rangers Beast Morphers that Venjix did indeed survive within the morpher. Through experimentation with the past Ranger teams' tech by a young Nate Silva to create Grid Battleforce's Ranger tech, a portion of Venjix's code is unknowingly released from the morpher. Now combined with Morph-X and snake DNA, the portion of Venjix was reborn in the new form of Evox and became the primary antagonist of the Beast Morphers Rangers. In the penultimate episode of Beast Morphers, Evox would reveal his real identity as Venjix to the Rangers as he recombined with the rest of his un-tampered base code from the morpher to become his true self again and remove his dependency on Morph-X; a side effect of the experiment that transformed him into Evox. To regain his connection to manipulate the Morphin Grid, as he had done during RPM as Venjix, Evox takes control over the Morph-X tower system in the finale of Beast Morphers, fusing with a stolen tower to enlarge himself into a new giant robot. Before he could succeed in his plans however, the Beast Morphers Rangers manage to corrupt his base code with large amounts of Morph-X infused human DNA, finally destroying Venjix/Evox once and for all.
Venjix is voiced by Andrew Laing.
Venjix's Generals
The following are Venjix's generals who assist him in his goals:
General Shifter
A Generation-5 robot and one of Venjix's mechanical generals, General Shifter is more serious and aggressive than his counterpart, Crunch; though he can be just as stupid like the time he believed his own reflection was a secondary head inside a monster, but the incidents vary a bit.
Venjix gunned him down in a display of annoyance over the constant failures, though he was later rebuilt. Although he does not get involved on the battlefield very often, he is quite a formidable fighter.
However, when he designed the Generation-16 Hyperbot to act as a new body for Venjix, Tenaya 7 had tampered with it causing it to malfunction. Because of this, Venjix exiles Shifter into the wasteland. After this, he decides to go rogue and fight the Rangers on his own using special keys to enhance his Hyperbot. When it was destroyed, he took the key and used it on himself. Also during his fight with Ranger Red, he had shot a key into Ranger Red's body which was clearly affecting him during the battle in the Ultrazord. Shifter later used the key to control Scott briefly. After this plot was foiled Shifter grew to Megazord size and battled the Rangers. He was defeated and damaged by the RPM Ultrazord, but managed to survive. Before he could escape though, he was confronted by Scott. The two had a brief battle before Shifter was finally destroyed. Despite his destruction, the physical remains of his body were still relatively intact due to the metallic alloys that comprised it. Shifter's remains were later collected by some Grinders due to these alloys and they were recycled to become part of Venjix's ultimate body.
General Shifter is voiced by Mark Mitchinson.
General Crunch
Another of Venjix's mechanical generals, General Crunch is less serious than his counterpart, Shifter. He is also quite dim-witted, as he has been seen goofing off at their base and on duty as well as suggesting stupid ideas. Despite his lack of intellect, he is still sinister and capable in a battle with the RPM Rangers.
As with Shifter, he was shot down by Venjix, several times, the last shots being for naïvely noting some basic flaws in Venjix's plans (poking fun at Power Rangers' genre conventions), such as asking why he waits until his robots are defeated before growing them into giants. He was rebuilt soon after though. Like Shifter, he too is a formidable opponent. When Tenaya hacks into Venjix's database, Crunch breaks into the control tower and begins to fight with Tenaya, easily overpowering her. However, when Doctor K reverses the deletion of Gem and Gemma, they shoot down the control tower with Crunch still inside. Crunch is destroyed offscreen when it crashes into the ground.
General Crunch is voiced by Charlie McDermott.
Kilobyte
Venjix's most feared general, Kilobyte was thought by Venjix to have been destroyed some time ago. He survived however and was wandering the wasteland on foot for over 4,000 miles to return to Venjix. He is a cold, cool-headed chauvinistic warrior who wields a rifle-like blaster, Plasma Bazooka, and a sword in combat. In his first appearance, he showed an extremely demeaning attitude towards Tenaya 7, going as far as flat out attacking her. Both Kilobyte and Venjix know the true origins of Tenaya 7. Kilobyte was one of the ones responsible for helping recapture Dillon & Tenaya when they first tried to escape the palace years ago.
After Tenaya learned of her human past and betrayed Venjix, it was Kilobyte who managed to capture her once more and reprogram her into Tenaya 15.
He personally challenged the rangers while his army initiated the plan to set explosive charges around Corinth to destroy it. Though defeated by the RPM Ultrazord, he survived, but his inability disappoints Venjix. He creates a radio signal device that will activate any sleeper hybrids within the radio wave. He tests the device out on Hicks but is soon reprimanded by Venjix. Venjix orders Tenaya 15 to destroy Kilobyte after they take over Corinth saying he is glitched, but Kilobyte overhears this.
As Venjix begins his final attack on Corinth, Kilobyte sneaks into Corinth's defense control tower and sets Tenaya's weapons to be deleted. He then arrives to battle Tenaya. Her weapons gone, she summons Grinders to defend herself though Kilobyte destroys them. As he prepares to destroy Tenaya, Dillon appears and battles Kilobyte. Kilobyte holds him off, and just as he is ready for the final strike Rangers Red, Blue, and Yellow arrive and destroy him with the Road Blaster.
Kilobyte is voiced by Leighton Cardno.
Tenaya
A Generation-7 cyborg created by Venjix on the assumption of being a gynoid, Tenaya 7 is known for whistling the tune from A-Hunting We Will Go (also the tune to The Farmer in the Dell) before confronting and attacking her opponents. First sent to attend Ziggy's Ranger Green audition to bond with and steal the Series Green powers, Ziggy ended up bonding with the powers in an attempt to protect them. Though she failed, Venjix decides to keep Tenaya active due to her attributes.
Though believed to be a machine with a human appearance, Tenaya was actually a human who happened to be Dillon's biological sister, referred to only as "Subject G-78" at the time. Prior to her conversion and memory wipe, Tenaya was blind until the transformation provided her robotic eyes to see and had parts of her body re-constructed by Venjix robotics, among them her right leg and a detachable hand that she used for infiltration, espionage, and melee sneak attacks. She also used a mechanical visor to protect her face while in battle.
Tenaya is depicted as rebellious and patronizing, often criticizing Venjix's plans, talking to it sarcastically, and even attempting to take over after Venjix's supposed demise, but in spite of this, Venjix considers her its most wise and trusted warrior. Though her behavior patterns were much like normal humans, setting her apart from Venjix's creations, Tenaya had a condescending attitude towards humans and took offense to being compared to one. But when Tenaya learned of her origins, she became an ally of the Rangers, helping them to sabotage Venjix and its monsters. Tenaya was subsequently captured by Kilobyte after the battle and reprogrammed into Tenaya 15, a Generation-15 attack bot with no inclination towards or any recollection of being human. This is highly reminiscent of the design by which Karone was brainwashed by way of cybernetic implants to become a colder, more heartless variation of her Astronema alter ego during the events of Power Rangers in Space. Tenaya later makes a deal with Fresno Bob, agreeing to surrender Ziggy in exchange for an unidentified item. While Fresno Bob believes her she double crosses him and gets saved by Ziggy. Later he comes back and that thanks to Tenaya they seem to be even. She is later seen activating the dormant Venjix hybrids and removing all the electricity in the city.
Tenaya was eventually ambushed by Kilobyte, who attempted to delete her. She is saved by Ziggy, Dr. K and Dillon, the latter of whom inoculated her with an antidote synthesized by Dr. K, releasing her from Venjix's control. When Dillon's robotics freeze up, she goes to the control tower to upload a virus into Venjix. She is interrupted by General Crunch, who then engages her in battle as the tower is shot down. Dillon wakes up in time to save her from the falling tower and they both parachute out.
After the war, Dr. K reports that the robotics allowing her to see might stop working, but she finds that she is okay with this. When Dr. K gives Dillon and Tenaya's pocketwatch back, they insist that she keep it. She goes out into the world with Dillon and Summer and discover that the world has begun to rebuild itself.
Tenaya is portrayed by Adelaide Kane.
Grinders
The Grinders are android foot soldiers built when Venjix began its conquest of the world, the Grinders function to support the Venjix Attack Bots as well as pilot the Venjix Drone land/air assault vehicles. Grinders were made by some slaves in a factory. Gem and Gemma were once slaves there as was "Subject G-78" before becoming Tenaya 7. They are extremely easy to destroy, to the point an unarmed human can singlehandedly destroy scores of them. They make up for this, however, by their seemingly endless numbers.
In the Power Rangers Samurai television movie "Clash of the Red Rangers," the Grinders accompanied a Venjix general known as Professor Cog to an alternate reality to obtain water from the Sanzu River. The Grinders are shown to transform into motorcycles. Further Grinders would later accompany a rebuilt Cog to this reality again in Power Rangers Super Megaforce only to engage the Warstar Armada's X-Borgs, whom they later teamed up with to battle the Megaforce Rangers before being destroyed.
The Grinders made a cameo in flashback in Power Rangers Beast Morphers revolving around Venjix.
Attack Bots
The Attack Bots are highly advanced humanoid combat ready machines designed specifically for infiltrating Corinth to carry out missions and for battling the Rangers. Venjix can remotely initiate a software program to download into the Attack Bot (usually after an Attack Bot is defeated) to make the Attack Bot grow.
- Generation 5 Attack Bot - An Attack Bot that resembling an Exhaust system.
- Generation 9: Amphibious Attack Bot Water Hoser (voiced by Peter Ford) - A hose-themed Attack Bot that infiltrated Corinth through the city's water supply, through the hydraulic circulatory system.
- Subterranean Plutonic Gopher Bot - A Gopher-like Attack Bot designed to tunnel underneath Corinth.
- Generation 9: Noz Bot Attack System - An advanced Attack Bot that is based on a spray bottle.
- Magnetron - An electromagnet-themed Attack Bot built to disrupt the shields with magnetic fields.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #1 - A water bomb/pipe-themed Attack Bot.
- Boom Bot - A stereo-themed Attack Bot built mainly as a distraction while Tenaya 7 tried to steal a diamond.
- Camera Attack Bot - A camera-themed Attack Bot. He could shoot a blast of energy and take pictures to record data.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #2 - A boring machine-themed Attack Bot. His job was to dig into one of the two main fault lines that Corinth City sits on.
- Reflect Bot Generation 2 - A pair of mirror-themed Attack Bots.
- Gat Bot - A Gatling gun-themed Attack Bot.
- Broiler Bot - A water heater-themed Attack Bot.
- Sat Bot - A satellite-themed Attack Bot created sometime ago by Venjix. He is voiced by Kelson Henderson.
- Lightning Bot - An electric generator-themed Attack Bot. He could attack by using blasts of lightning.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #3 - An oil-themed Attack Bot.
- Dyna Bot (voiced by Simon McKinney) - A dynamite-themed Attack Bot that accompanied General Shifter and Venjix on a mission in the wastelands.
- Vacuum Bot - A vacuum cleaner-themed Attack Bot.
- Saw Bot Generation 15 - A saw-themed Attack Bot.
- Saw Bot Generation 16 - A chainsaw-themed Attack Bot.
- Balloon Bot - A balloon-themed Attack Bot.
- Generation 3: Textile Bot - A spinning mule-like Attack Bot. She can unleash streams of yarn strings to immobilize enemies.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #4 - A manhole-themed Attack Bot.
- Knight Bot - A knight-themed Attack Bot.
- Hammer Attack Bot - A hammer-themed Attack Bot.
- Generation 3: Chemical Bot - A drinking straw-themed Attack Bot. He uses a biochemical that affects only the XY chromosomes causing the men of Corinth to fall asleep.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #5 - An odd dowsing rod-themed Attack Bot.
- Series 2 Roto Bot - A drill-themed Attack Bot.
- Heat Bot - A heater-themed Attack Bot.
- Generation 16 Hyper Bot - A Generation 16 clockwork-powered Attack Bot that resembles a Neanderthal. He was created by General Shifter originally to serve as Venjix's new body.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #6 - A dumbbell-themed Attack Bot.
- Generation 12 Energy Attack Bot - An Attack Bot that can warp the Rangers' bio-field as well as swallowing and redirect energy-based attacks.
- Unnamed Attack Bot #7 - A scrap-metal Attack Bot that is composed of parts of nearly all previous Attack Bots.
Other antagonists
Not all of the RPM Rangers' enemies were associated with Venjix. There were also other enemies of the RPM Rangers that acted on their own.
Scorpion Cartel
The Scorpion Cartel is one of the five criminal organizations that control the Corinth underworld and are unaffiliated with Venjix. Among its members are:
- Fresno Bob - The leader of the Scorpion Cartel. Fresno is known as a criminal to both the Rangers and Colonel Truman, but manages to remain free. After being saved by Ziggy, Fresno Bob decides to let Ziggy off the hook and call them even. He once appeared to have given money to Jungle Karma Pizza. He is portrayed by John Sumner.
- Benny - A member of the Scorpion Cartel who was a friend of Ziggy.
Alphabet Soup
Alphabet Soup (assorted members voiced by Jim McLarty and Cassandra Woodhouse) is a government think tank who abducted Doctor K, Gem, and Gemma to work on secret, complex scientific projects, keeping the children at their facility by making them believe they were ill and fatally allergic to sunlight. They had both the Ranger Series technology and the Venjix virus created, and when Venjix broke free, their primary concern was to ensure nobody knew of their involvement with the creation of the virus by ordering the death of Doctor K, which was thwarted when Gem and Gemma knocked out the facility staffers. However, Colonel Mason Truman and his troops found the facility and found out where Venjix came from.
Ronin
Ronin (portrayed by Gary Young) is an inmate from an unknown cartel who has a personal grudge with Ziggy. The inmates pin him down on a table as Ronin reminded Ziggy of his past problems with his own lack respect for the people he works with that lead to their incarceration. He points to a tray in the middle of two lime gelatin dessert trays has the only remaining strawberry gelatin desert left and Ronin is only one allowed rights to it because the inmates know better than to anger him. Dillon defies him by taking the last remaining strawberry dessert and it leads to a fight between him and Ronin. He is soon knocked out along with the other inmates by Dillon.
Notes
- Power Rangers Super Megaforce similarly featured the Red RPM Ranger in morphed form only as part of the veteran army of Rangers who come to help the Megaforce Rangers in the final battle against the Warstar Armada.
References
- "Power Rangers RPM Volume 2: Race for Corinth". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- Power Rangers RPM episode "The Road to Corinth"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ranger Red"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Fade to Black"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Rain"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Go for the Green"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Brother's Keeper"
- Power Rangers RPM: episode "Danger and Destiny Part 2"
- Labi, Sharon (2008-09-07). "Craig Wing, Angry Anderson and crew in council elections | The Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- "In Production". The New Zealand Film and Video Technicians' Guild. Archived from the original on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ranger Blue"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Not So Simple"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "In or Out"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "The Dome Dolls"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ranger Yellow Part 1"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ranger Yellow Part 2"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Belly of the Beast"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ranger Green"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Run Ziggy Run"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Beyond A Doubt"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "If Venjix Won"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Blitz"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Embodied"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Prisoners"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Heroes Among Us"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Key to the Past"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Control - Alt - Delete"
- "NIDA student scores starring role". Inside Film. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original on 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Doctor K"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Ghosts"
- Power Rangers RPM episode "Three's A Crowd"