Tommy
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Tommy Oliver (portrayed by actor Jason David Frank) is a fictional character and hero in the Power Rangers universe. He starred in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, as well as four of its successive incarnations Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers: Zeo, Power Rangers: Turbo, and Power Rangers: Dino Thunder.
He also appeared in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode, Forever Red and the Power Rangers: S.P.D. episode, Wormhole. In the episode Wormhole, he appeared only in Ranger form and was simply voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo.
Tommy is the longest-serving Power Ranger, as well as the Power Ranger with the largest arsenal available to him. His level of popularity as a Ranger is quite high for all age groups. Throughout his run as the Green Ranger, he gained a high level of appreciation from fans, being one of the most popular Power Ranger of all time. In that sense, his character is very similar to Fonzie of "Happy Days" and Urkel of "Family Matters" in that both started out as supporting characters and soon evolved into the central characters of their respective shows.
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[edit] History and Powers
Mighty Morphin' Era - Tommy was first introduced in the Mighty Morphin' incarnation as the Green Ranger in the mini-saga Green with Evil. Tommy battled it out with Jason in a Martial Arts Tournament, catching Rita's attention. Rita decided to give him a strength upgrade by bestowing him with the Green Ranger powers. Rita Repulsa had cast an evil spell, making Tommy obey her, granting him evil Ranger powers and weaponry, and the Dragon Power Coin.
He followed Rita's orders accordingly and without question and defeated her Putty Patrol as an initiation into Rita's squad of goons. Rita put the Green Ranger to good use, ordering him to decimate all connections that the Power Rangers had with Zordon. He destroyed half of the Command Center, made the Rangers lose touch with Zordon, and their Megazord. He also gave Alpha 5 a temporary virus.
Green Ranger took all the Power Rangers head on in battle although he wasn't able to defend himself from the megazord's attack and temporarily retreated. After the devious Scorpina had been let loose, she and Goldar began wreaking havoc together. When the Green Ranger joined them, they were able to use their wicked tactics and take down the Megazord with ease in a battle which drained the Megazord's power by eclipsing the sun's energy light waves. Green Ranger and Goldar joined their attack to form a dual barrage blast and instantaneously defeat the megazord.
Afterwards, Tommy used the Dragon Dagger to summon his own Zord, the mighty Dragonzord. With Zordon's help, once he had returned, the Rangers battled the Dragonzord with their Megazord. Tommy lost the quarrel and fell out of the zord, resuming his battle with the Red Ranger in a legendary showdown. Jason deflected Tommy's laser blasts and overpowered him. The Red Ranger freed Tommy from Rita's control when he destroyed the Green Ranger's weapon, the Sword of Darkness. With the sword gone, so were his evil Ranger powers. From this point on, Tommy lent his power and zord to aid the Rangers against Rita Repulsa and her diabolical forces.
He then befriended Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger, in a loving relationship, and started dating her. When she left the team to pursue her career in gymnastics, they kept in touch, but she later broke up with him in a Dear John letter when she confessed to meeting someone else while on her tours. This was a sad moment for Tommy.
As time went on, Rita cast a spell, in the form of a green candle (using her contact with the Dragon Coin as a base), to drain Tommy's Green Ranger powers and retrieve them, but Zordon was able to save them by having Tommy transfer the powers to Jason. Goldar pinned Tommy in a compromising situation, telling him that his betrayal of Rita was not forgotten. Tommy was now powerless and wasn't able to battle Goldar without his Green Ranger powers. The Red Ranger possessed his Dragon Dagger and Shield and control of the Dragonzord when Tommy's Ranger powers faded.
Tommy had returned to claim his powers when the Rangers' parents were in danger and continued his role as the Green Ranger. However, his powers were very unstable now and had to be recharged several times by Zordon. His powers were completely destroyed when Lord Zedd forced Tommy into battle with a monster called Turbanshell. For quite some time, Tommy was absent from helping the other Rangers defeat Rita's henchmen. However, when Lord Zedd unleashed his maniacal Nimrod monster, whom in turn spawned AC and DC, Alpha 5 and Zordon decided it was time to take matters into their own hands.
Luckily for the Rangers, Zordon and Alpha 5 were able to create new powers for Tommy and replenish him, making him the White Ranger, and the new leader of the Power Rangers. He uses his enchanted talking sabre, Saba, to summon the White Tigerzord.
After their Thunder Zords and Ranger powers were destroyed by Rito Revolto, Tommy and the other Rangers went on a quest to find the legendary Ninjor and receive their Ninja Coins. In addition to his re-charged Morphin powers, he gained new powers as the White Ninja Ranger with the power of the Falcon and the Falcon Ninjazord. Tommy met Katherine Hillard (whom he would wind up marrying in a possible future) at a time when she was also under Rita's spell. When she stole the Falconzord and Ninjor, Tommy gained the White Shogunzord (after battling Zedd himself to rescue a kidnapped Kimberly (also Kat's work).
He lost those powers when Rita and Zedd destroyed the Rangers' Power Coins. When Master Vile, Rita's & Rito's conniving and evil father, turned back time using the Orb of Doom, a young Tommy had to reclaim the Red Zeo Crystal in some Native American land.
Zeo Era - Tommy gained the powers of the Red Zeo Crystal, becoming Zeo Ranger V in Power Rangers: Zeo. Tommy faced a great challenge when the Zeo Zords were severely damaged and he then had to rely solely on the Red Battlezord, a machine that was telepathically controlled. Tommy had a tough time with it because it would lose control anytime he got emotional. He had to go on a spiritual quest to settle his inner demons and gain peace with himself. It was during this time that he met his half- brother David Trueheart, played by his real life brother, the late Eric Frank.
Tommy, at one time, was captured by Prince Gasket of the evil Machine Empire and brainwashed into attempting to destroy his friends, believing them to be the threat to the world. Luckily, they were able to save him.
Turbo Era - With a new villain in Divatox at the onset of Power Rangers: Turbo, Tommy and his fellow Rangers abandoned their Zeo powers for the newly created Turbo powers, becoming the first Red Turbo Ranger. His tenure as the Red Turbo Ranger was a short one, as he was allowed to move on with his life after graduating from high school. Before he left the series, he had hand-picked his successor, T.J. Johnson.
Career and College Era - For a long time, it was not explained what happened to him after he left the series, although his reappearance in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder helps to fill in some of the gaps (Some fans consider such a fill-in to be a retcon). Tommy went on to college and graduate school, gratuating with a doctorate in paleontology. During this time, he had met Hayley, and with her help he constructed the Dino Thunder powers based on parts of older Rangers' powers. He was also partners with Terrence "Smitty" Smith and Anton Mercer on a project on dinosaurs that had gone horribly wrong (the resulting explosions resulting in them becoming Zeltrax and Mesogog, villains Tommy would soon face). At the same time, he kept notes about the various teams of Power Rangers, leading to his next formal appearance in Power Rangers, in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode "Forever Red."
When word of a planned invasion of Earth by resurgent Machine Empire came to Tommy from Andros, the Red Space Ranger, he recruited eight of the other Red Rangers (Rocky DeSantos being absent) and the Quantum Time Force Ranger into helping him stop the threat.
Dino Thunder Era- After the events of "Forever Red," Tommy became a teacher, teaching science at a school in the fictional city of Reefside, California at the onset of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. There, his past, including his tenure as a Power Ranger, is unravelled to three detention students, who become the Dino Rangers. Forced back into action by Mesogog, he became the Black Dino Ranger, aided by the power of invisibility from the Black Dino Gem. For a while, he was encased in amber by the White Dino Ranger, and once freed he was unable to demorph. He was later demorphed by a special ooze, only to become permanently invisible due to losing control of his Dino Gem Power. Although he eventually restored to normalcy, his gem shattered and he was left in a coma. During this time, he fought against several of his past Ranger egos: The Green and White Power Rangers and Zeo Ranger V (Many speculate that he never fought the Turbo Ranger because, having passed those powers on to T.J, Tommy does not bear the 'burden' of them anymore) in a test of survival. After proving that he would not give up the fight for his life, he awoke from the coma, his gem was repaired, and he gained Super Dino Mode. His Dinozord was the Brachiozord carrier, he wielded the Brachio Staff, and he drove the Black Thunder ATV. At the end of the series the Dino Rangers sacrificed their Dino Gems in order to destroy Mesogog, who by that point had been separated from Anton Mercer, burning out their powers in the process. In the aftermath, Tommy decided that he would try to lay low for awhile and live a normal life as a simple high school teacher.
In an episode of Power Rangers: Zeo, a possible future is shown in which Tommy has wed Katherine Hillard, and the couple has children and eventually grandchildren, one of whom is a Ranger himself. However, this view of the future is seen as increasingly unlikely as Tommy had been seen after the series in question apparently single.
Tommy has an extensive run as a character. The Green Ranger was most likely one of the most, if not the most, influential and popular character in all Power Rangers history, regarded even today as the best of the 'Evil' Rangers. His fanbase is extensively large and incorporates people from numerous ages.
[edit] Personality
Tommy is strong and loyal, and very good in martial arts as he is both a teacher and student. A common theme of the four incarnations he plays a major role of is his loyalty, often being a victim to turn him against his fellow Rangers, resulting in performances from him as a villain and a hero. He is often a leader, instilling his leadership skills in both the Power Rangers he works with and the students that he teaches.
It can be assumed that Tommy never wanted to be a Ranger, the reason he became one in the first place was to make up for what he did as the Green Ranger. At the beginning and end of Dino Thunder, Tommy said that he was settling down and living a quiet life.
[edit] Controversy
It should be noted that there exists a clone of Tommy (1776 to be more accurate). During the three-part series, Ep 104-106, "Return of the Green Ranger", Lord Zedd created a clone of Tommy using a lock of hair, and endowed him with the Green Rangers powers. White against Green, Tigerzord against Dragonzord, the two were pitted against each other until the spell was able to be broken. The clone and Tommy ventured to the past to repair the damage done during Zedd's attempt to seperate the rest of the team from Tommy. The clone decided to remain in the past.
This issue has created some debate with older fans of the series, as what happened with the subsequent Green Ranger power coin was never resolved. Having been rejuvinated, it could possibly exist in full strength, or it could be privy to the same effects of the Mastodon Power Coin (as evident in Ep. 275 "Always A Chance"). However, it could be argued that the coin was never apart of the original morphing grid, as would be logically derived from the events of Ep. 34-35, "The Green Candle", in which his powers could not be maintained until transferred to someone holding a power coin of said grid. This is further evident with the events of Ep. 49-50, "Return of an Old Friend", where the original Green Ranger's powers are returned to Tommy temporarily, and then lost in Ep 73-74, "Green No More". However, in either case, the Green Power could still exist.
It is, however, not clear how much power is necessary to maintain the Dragonzord since the conclusion of the "Return of the Green Ranger" episodes, nor whether the clone used the powers after his last appearance. If said powers were unused, passed down through the generations, and the Dragonzord's dependence on the coin is held to a bare minimum, the Green Ranger's powers remain the only fully functional (for a limited span, as seen in the episodes after "Return of an Old Friend" to and concluding in "Green No More", providing that it is running on its own. If apart of another grid, the power would theoretically be indefinate. Five of the other six powers to be generated from coins, that weren't the ninja coins destroyed by Rita, should still have one morph left in them) of the original coins.
[edit] Trivia
- As of the early series (specifically the episode "Island of Illusions: Part I"), Tommy is a third dan black belt in karate, as seen by the three stripes on his black belt.
- In his incarnations as the Green, White, and Black Rangers, Tommy's costume has some sort of shield. The Green Ranger's Dragon Shield covered his upper chest, the White Ranger's shield protected his entire torso, and the Black Brachio Ranger costume had armored shoulder plates. The Red Zeo and Red Turbo Ranger costumes he wore were the only ones not to feature a shield.
- Tommy is the only Ranger to have his own theme song ("Go Green Ranger", which was adapted to become "Go White Ranger" later in the series). The only exception is Power Rangers Zeo's Gold Ranger.
- Tommy was the first mentor who was also a Ranger in the same season.
- Tommy Oliver is the only character to have worn four different colors as a Ranger. His colors were Green/White (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Red (Power Rangers: Zeo and Power Rangers: Turbo), and Black (Power Rangers: Dino Thunder).
- Up until the end of Power Rangers S.P.D., Tommy had met every single Red Ranger shown on the show until that point. He knew Jason, Aurico, T.J., and most likely Andros before Forever Red and he met Leo, Carter, Wes, Eric and Cole during Forever Red. He met Conner at the beginning of Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Shane in the episode "Thunder Storm", and Jack in the S.P.D. episode Wormhole.
[edit] Quotes
- Conner: "Our teacher is the oldest living Power Ranger."
Hayley: "Not the oldest. Just the best."
- Elsa: "Aren't you a little old for this, Tommy?"
Tommy: "I may be old, but I can still pull it off"
- Tommy: "Well, I've got to go and do some shopping."
Hayley: "Why?"
Tommy: "I looked in my closet this morning, and there was a serious shortage of Black in there!" (Note: this is a little joke to the fact every Ranger's civilian clothing matches their Ranger form, and the fact Tommy was previously was the Green/White Mighty Morphin', Red Zeo & Turbo Rangers.)
