Chromatic Champions
[Two villains have met]
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder “Thunder Storm” (Season 1, Episode 32)
Mesogog: “I suppose you’re wondering why I called you here?”
Lothor: “Let me guess – does it have twelve legs and come in assorted colors?”
Mesogog: “There’s only five colors this time, but they’re no less of an irritation.”
Lothor: “I feel your pain…”
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a weird show. Taking footage from a long-running Japanese franchise called Super Sentai, each episode is part sitcom, superhero adventure, and giant monster fight straight out of a Godzilla movie. It shouldn’t have worked, but there was nothing else like MMPR at the time. Power Rangers was a hit and is still going strong thirty years later.
We were going to feature the Top 5 Rangers but you deserve better. Each team has members of different colors, so we’ll rank the best per color. These picks would make the ultimate team. So who are the best Power Rangers by color? Let’s find out. It’s Morphin’ Time!
Scene Select
Red Ranger: Lightspeed Rescue
Played by: Sean Cw Johnson
[Carter has knocked the Big Bad through a portal to Hell, but he is on the other side of it]
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue “The Fate of Lightspeed” (Season 1, Episode 40)
Carter: “Close the lid!”
Red Rangers usually lead the team and are often its strongest member. Our pick for the best Red Ranger is the Power Rangers equivalent of Captain America.
Carter Grayson was a firefighter who was attacked by a demon. He was recruited to lead Lightspeed Rescue, a government-funded team of Power Rangers that was assembled to fight demons and prevent the rebirth of their leader, Queen Bansheera.
Carter is one of the more pragmatic Rangers. Before morphing for the first time, he tried to ram a monster with the team’s jeep. He rarely wastes time with martial arts and jumps straight to his blaster. Carter also has a strong code of honor, once hesitating to destroy a monster he held at gunpoint because he refused to kill in cold blood.
Blue Ranger: Ninja Storm
Played By: Sally Martin
Tori: [blasting monsters] “What’s wrong? Never seen a girl in blue Spandex walk on water?”
Power Rangers: Ninja Storm “Prelude to a Storm” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Blue Power Rangers are usually the smart ones. They’ll often create tech that other rangers use. Our pick for the best Blue Ranger is the only one on her team with a functioning brain.
Tori Hanson studied ninjutsu at the Wind Ninja Academy. The school was attacked by an evil ninja named Lothor, who kidnapped most of the students. Tori and a few other lucky escapees became the Ninja Storm Rangers to fight Lother’s army.
Tori specializes in water ninjutsu, allowing her to manipulate water even outside of Ranger form. She’s the most rational member of the team and may be the most skilled. While trapped in a Star Trek-style mirror universe, Tori held her own against an entire team of evil Rangers without morphing.
Yellow Ranger: Dino Thunder
Played By: Emma Lahana
Kira: “Nobody messes with my mind and gets away with it!“
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder “The Missing Bone” (Season 1, Episode 17)
Yellow Power Rangers tend to be the most emotional and compassionate. But a big heart just means they’re more likely to beat the crap out of whoever hurts their friends. The best Yellow Ranger is Black Canary by way of Avril Lavigne.
Kira Ford was a high school student, scrappy tomboy, and aspiring musician. While in detention, she and two other students found strange crystals in their teacher’s possession. Touching them caused the crystals to alter their DNA. These were the Dino Gems, which bestowed superpowers and the ability to morph into the Dino Thunder Rangers.
Their teacher, Dr. Oliver, revealed that he was a former Power Ranger and trained them to use their powers. Kira developed a sonic scream that she could use unmorphed. Told you she was similar to Black Canary. Kira is the glue holding the team together.
Green Ranger: Dino Fury
Played By: Tessa Rao
[The Green and Black Rangers have morphed for the first time.]
Power Rangers: Dino Fury “New Recruits” (Season 1, Episode 4)
Izzy: “This is a dream come true! [notices her suit has a skirt] Hold that thought. [tears it off] Skirts aren’t really my thing.”
Whoa, torches and pitchforks down, folks! I know you were expecting someone else, but we’ll get to him soon enough.
Green Power Rangers are the outcasts. Sometimes that manifests as being a class clown, other times as being an alien or mutant. Our pick for best Green Ranger is different, but definitely not an outcast.
Izzy Garcia is a high school athlete. She and her brother Javi were caught in the crossfire of a monster attack and discovered an artifact that it was hunting. Inside the artifact were two Dino Keys that allowed them to become the Green and Black Dino Fury Rangers.
Izzy is the team’s youngest member and was given more mature stories to fuel her growth. She was also the first gay Power Ranger and dated one of her rivals. The most surprising thing is that the writers normalized Izzy’s relationship without having any of the characters get onto a soapbox. Kudos for that.
Pink Ranger: Lost Galaxy
Played by: Melody Perkins
[Karone is falling to her death, but is caught by an unseen force]
Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy “Protect the Quasar Saber” (Season 1, Episode 32)
Kendrix: [appears as a ghost] “Hello, Karone.”
Karone: “…Kendrix?”
Kendrix: [lowers her to the ground] “You will be the Pink Ranger. The others need your help. You have to hurry!”
Pink Power Rangers are the girls. They act feminine and often have romantic subplots with other rangers. Our pick for best Pink Ranger has a much more interesting story to tell.
Karone was kidnapped as a child and raised to be a conqueror. She became Astronema, a general of the United Alliance of Evil. She led an assault on the universe, but was defeated and redeemed by her brother Andros, the Red Space Ranger.
One season later, Pink Ranger Valerie Vernon was diagnosed with cancer and left the show. The showrunners brought Karone back to play the Pink Ranger, and good news, Valerie recovered.
As Pink Ranger, Karone struggled with guilt over her past evil deeds. On one occasion, she fought a copy of Astronema conjured by the ghost of a former victim. Karone came to terms with her past, forgave herself, and defeated the specter.
Multi-Color: Tommy Oliver
Played By: Jason David Frank
[Tommy is fighting a robot duplicate as the Black Ranger and losing]
Power Rangers: Ninja Steel “Dimensions in Danger” (Season 2, Episode 10)
Robot: [laughs] “You haven’t been Dino Thunder Black in over a decade! You’re old, but I’m a robot! I’ll never get old!”
Tommy: “There’s a lot of things I can do that you can’t. Like this. It’s Morphin Time! [transforms] Zeo Ranger 5: Red!”
It’s rare, but some Rangers have worn multiple colors. Who better to round out our Power Rangers list than the one with the most colors, the original Sixth Ranger, and the face of the franchise?
Tommy Oliver was a high school student and talented martial artist. He was mind controlled by Rita Repulsa to serve as her evil Green Ranger. He completely outclassed the heroic Rangers until they broke the spell. Tommy became the team’s ringer and eventual leader.
Rita reclaimed the Green Ranger powers, resulting in Tommy acquiring the White Ranger powers. He led several iterations of the team and also fought as the Red Zeo Ranger and first Red Turbo Ranger before retiring from Ranger duties.
Years later, Tommy formed the Dino Thunder team and served as their mentor. He rejoined the fight as Dino Thunder Black and later created the Master Morpher so he could use all of the powers.
Which Power Rangers would you want on your team? Are there any who rep the colors better? Tell us in the comments.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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