Top 10 Red Rangers

Perhaps the most iconic color of rangers, most people can immediately recognize the Red Ranger of any season as the clear leader of the team(even if this not always the case). Hell, Red Rangers are so popular that one of the most beloved episodes of the franchise is just a one shot episode where the Red Rangers from the first 10 years come together to fight the remnants of the machine empire. Why is that? Well, Red Rangers have always managed to find someway to stand out, whether it was Jason being the only to believe what Zordon said in Day of the Dumpster, to Andros trying to find his kidnapped sister, to Carter being the series biggest badass, etc, it’s hard for a Red Rangers to be an ignored or underdeveloped character. Most kids will say that their favorite ranger is Red, and Red Rangers usually get the Battlizers. However, as can often be the case of many pieces of fiction, a bad Red Ranger tends to be one that either steals the spotlight of the others(to the point where you wonder why there are 4+ other members of the team) or they have no personality and are pretty bland(as is the case with most Neo Saban Reds). As part of my goal for the month of August, I’m going to be going through each of the colors of the Ranger Rainbow to try and find the top 10 best of each category. Without further ado, lets begin with some honorable mentions-

13- Mack Hartford- His story near the end of his season was pretty cool and he was one of the only Overdrive rangers I wasn’t bored or annoyed by.
12- Tommy Oliver- Yeah, his stint as Red Ranger has always been kind of a low point for me personally, he was an OK leader, but he kind of took focus away from the others(He had 7 straight episodes dedicated to him, all of which ranged from OK to blah), that and like Jason before, he kind of fades into the background as leader, his character is pretty static and boring.
11- Leo Corbett- His arc with learning to believe in himself was alright, I just wish that Leo was less like Andros since we already had an arc the previous season of the Red Ranger searching for their sibling. He’s a pretty standard Red Ranger as well, cue the shirt tear.
Now it’s time to go onto the top 10, starting with-
10. Jason Lee Scott- Shock and hatred I hear coming from the fanbase. IK what your all saying- JASONS THE OG, HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!? Well, I could have been an asshole and put Rocky over him(imagine that shit show), but even I wouldn’t sink that low. Jason is honestly just decent to me, don’t have a bad word to say, he filled in the leader role fine, he was a very strong fighter, he was a team player, he’s pretty much the standard that all Red Rangers are judged by, but that’s also his weakness. Aside from the guilt of not being able to save Tommy’s powers Jason doesn’t really get much to do. Zach has his fun subplot with Angela, Tommy and Kim have their relationship, Billy has his confidence growing and being the guy who saves the day with his inventions, and Tommy had the whole evil Green Ranger thing. Jason and Trini were honestly the most underdeveloped of the MMPR rangers, but you wouldn’t notice that since Jason was leader and the one that spoke the most. I think Jason’s problem is that he really didn’t have many flaws, which is a major issue of many of Neo Saban reds. I mainly put Jason over Leo because of his stint as Zeo Gold, and the fact that the Boom comics made him a lot more interesting than his TV Show counterpart. As Zeo Gold, it was interesting to see him not being the leader, he respected Tommy’s position, and he also showed that he still had the great leadership skills from when he was Red, as the first episode he gets, he helps stop a conflict between some Bikers and Ernies Beach shop. It also shows how he’s changed since the peace conference. Its also cause the Gold Zeo Ranger is easily in my top 3 favorite ranger designs of all time, its just so regal and cool. While I am cheating just a bit, I still think Jason at least deserved a spot on the list, at number 10.

9. Andros- Let me be the first to say that Andros was the first Red Ranger to get a ton of character development within his season, and the first to have the main season story arc revolve around his issues. He’s easily one of the franchise’s most popular red rangers, due to his lone wolf persona, connection with main villain Astronema, and his relationship with Yellow Turbo and Space Ranger Ashley Hammond. Andros starts off the series extremely defensive and quiet, barely speaking to the rangers and even attacking them when they get pulled into his ship. This establishes very early on that Andros is a secretive and quiet, perhaps even shy person. It;s only when he learns about their quest to find Zordon and try to save him, in spite of their lack of powers, that he decides to demorph and gradually starts to trust them. They do some fish out of water stuff with him at first, it’s endearing, especially his scenes with Ashley, and he comes across as someone far more naive and awkward than he would like to admit, as one episode features him assisting thieves in a robbery, not knowing it was a robbery. As a leader, Andros was alright, though his tendency to put his own personal goals ahead of the teams tended to get everyone into trouble more often than not, and in terms of leadership, he’s easily on the middle to weaker end of Reds. He isn’t really a rallying kind of guy, he just has the most experience in space and the rangers are on his ship. His story with Astronema though is where he shines, as while he sometimes puts his love of her over the team, since they are siblings, he does everything he can to save her and trusts her immediately after she defects from Dark Specter, with the others questioning his decision. Often times however, it felt like TJ was much more of a leader, since he could keep his cool better than Andros, and was the team tactician, whose plans often lead the Rangers to key victories, especially against Darkliptor and Psycho Blue. Nevertheless, while TJ could have easily been leader, he never stepped on Andros’ toes, and often trusted his judgment, and Andros the same. I kind of wish they had more episodes exploring this relationship. Andros is also the one who is most likely to go undercover to get information, which makes him one of the more clever and deceptive rangers, as he can easily blend in and seems to have a good understanding of the politics of the Evil Empires and planets like Onyx. While not a conventional leader, Andros did find his way into our hearts as the number 9 red ranger.

8. Jack Landers- The rebellious thief with a heart of gold, Jack has always been an extremely selfless and generous person, even if the world hasn’t been kind to him his whole life. I feel like this is easily Jack’s most endearing quality, and this selflessness is probably what Cruger saw when he made Jack Red Ranger over Sky, as Sky’s own pride and arrogance would hold everyone back alongside the constant bickering and belittling he gives his teammates. Jack could be a bit of a hotshot, but not nearly to the same extent of Ban from Dekaranger(who I find pretty annoying) and he’s certainly not the brains of the group, but he often has good judgment, such as when in Idol he knew Drew’s arrival was fishy and tried having him interrogated. Jack may be fairly lax as a leader, but he’s the kind of guy that isn’t going to take whining or people complaining about him, mainly Sky, whose entitlement to being Red Ranger makes their initial relationship strained, but Sky’s humbling during both Idol and Walls showed how bad Sky’s behavior was and he starts to respect Jack more and more, especially after Idol. While his friendship with Z was clear, it’s sadly underutilized(like Z in general) and most of his development is focused on him and Sky’s relationship, which, once Reflections is done, gives neither character much to work with until the final 3 episodes, where Jack expresses desire to leave SPD once Grumm is defeated since he wanted to go back to helping people on the streets and realizing how much he didn’t want to join SPD. I like this decision, as it shows Jack willing to see his job through to the end, while having enough agency to want to follow the life he wants, and not the one he was sort of drafted into. At least he becomes more of a clothes distributor than a Robin Hood type thief. For being a very likeable character and his relationship with Sky, Jack earns his number 8 spot.

7. Casey Rhodes- Ah man, this guy gets way too much flack from the fanbase. I’m not kidding, Casey gets railroaded as one of the worst Red’s ever, and I really don’t get why. People often say that his first lines in the series, “I don’t want any trouble” makes him out to be some kind of coward or somehow lesser than a character, and this baffling complaint that he’s “whiney”(which he never acts throughout the show, one could argue maybe in Earn Your Stripes, but its a huge stretch). Anyway, I like Casey as a character, and he gives a characterization I wish more Reds got, that of the Rookie, the guy who isn’t as strong as his teammates but gradually grows and develops over time, which naturally leads to more character development. He starts off as a Cub, but after roaring at Jarrod, pushing him back after Jarrod was bullying another Cub, Master Mao saw potential in Casey, and a much better man than Jarrod was. Throughout the season, especially early on, due to his inexperience, Theo would often deride Casey for not being ready, being rather blunt about it, and while Casey would learn very fast under Theo, he wasn’t exactly up to their level yet. Under Theo, RJ and later Master Finn, Casey became a very formidable fighter for the Jungle Fury team, his earnestness and his selflessness making him a clear choice for leader of the team. When RJ becomes a ranger, Casey thinks that the leadership position he has earned is under threat, but RJ dissuades these thoughts by reminding Casey why he was a good leader to begin with. RJ in general is the series best mentor, and you see it most throughout his relationship with Casey. While Casey and Dai Shi had a rivalry throughout the season, Casey secretly felt guilty about perhaps being the reason Jarrod went mad and unleashed Dai Shi, and his arc in the latter half of the show is to try and redeem himself, or at least expunge his guilt, as Master Mao’s spirit yells at Casey, asking him if he’s trying to save Jarrod for Jarrod’s sake, or for his own sake, and Casey doesn’t answer. Using the prowess he’s built up all season, he confronts Dai Shi directly(convenient as Dai Shi and Jarrod were having a dispute over Jarrod’s love for Camille) and Casey manages to finally beat him, but doesn’t make the killing blow, pulling a Luke from Return of the Jedi and asking if Jarrod is willing to destroy Casey instead, which causes the separation. That is the end of Casey’s arc, his guilt is absolved, Jarrod and Camille join the rangers in the final battle, even sacrificing themselves in the final battle(but not dying) and Casey ends up becoming a teacher of the Pai Xhua academy, with Camille and Jarrod as his students. Jungle Fury as the season of growth and training, shown through both the heroes and villains, continually shows itself as the most underrated of the Disney Seasons and its Red Ranger, Casey, easily lands himself at the number 7 spot.

6. Scott Truman- One of the more underrated Reds alongside Casey, Scott was someone with a lot to prove, especially to his father Colonel Truman, who always seemed to favor his older brother Marcus, who died in the defense of Corinth, while Scott himself barely survived. You can almost feel the kind of animosity Truman had, like how some parents wish that the other child had survived an accident over the other. Its really awful, but its a sad truth of the world. Scott was a damn good leader, always able to keep the team on point, and especially being able to eventually keep Dillon under control. This kind of commanding nature makes sense, coming from a long line of military men, and having to look up to both his dad and his brother Marcus. Scott was the by the books Red Ranger, though when he felt underappreciated or when he felt the situation got dire, he wasted no time in recklessly going into the Venjix Controlled Wasteland, either to retrieve something important, or the in the worst case, just blow off steam, as shown in the episode Heroes Among Us, where Gold Ranger Gem gets a metal after a fierce battle with a monster, and Scott, feeling ignored and disrespected by his father, goes out into the Wasteland recklessly. Gem follows him, feeling guilty about talking about his metal, and tossing it, Scott telling him that Gem shouldn’t feel bad about his accomplishments, going to retrieve that metal, as they stumble upon a Venjix Factory and save its workers. Scott gets offered a medal but refuses it, since he never intended to find the factory, and was only out in the wasteland to blow off steam. He wants to earn respect, not just be given it. These nice little nuances help him stand above many of the serious, sometimes boring reds, we get nowadays. Scott still has capacity to be funny, especially when it comes to how he interacts with Dillon, especially their rivalry over their cars, their “babies”. While Scott has a lot of issues trusting people, Dillion, Ziggy, Gem and Gemma being the biggest culprits of his initial mistrust of people, as he had little patience for their antics or reckless behavior he eventually is able to lead his band of misfits to victory against the most successful PR villain in history, Venjix. He’s also well acted by Eka Darville, who brings both a commanding presence and is able to communicate very well when he’s frustrated and can still be very likeable and funny when the situation calls for it. Scott certainly earned his 6th place medal on this list.

5. Shane Clarke- Continuing the Disney Train of interesting Red Rangers, Shane is easily a highlight of Ninja Storm, as he proves to be a very competent leader, being able to be both very serious and very laid back due to his dual nature of being a ranger and being a skateboarder. It’s very easy to see why Shane is the leader- Shane, unlike Dustin, is usually very serious when it comes to what he has to do, and unlike Tori, he isn’t self conscious or easily manipulated. Shane may be a friendly guy, but unlike someone like Dustin or Tori, isn’t quick to trust people he just met, and his ability to stay on guard has made him the only ranger in the series to not be duped in one way or another. He is headstrong however, especially early on as he tries to defeat evil on his own, but he learns that there is strength in numbers. The highlight of Shanes character though comes in two episodes- Shane’s Karma and Eye of the Storm, which both show off his backstory. In Shane’s Karma, as a kid, he saved a young alien girl from Vexacus, a bounty hunter and former rival of Lothor, and showed how heroic and selfless he was at a young age. It’s easily the best battlizer episode, and it’s also the best looking Battlizer by a mile. Eye of the Storm features Shane's’ brother, played by Pua Magasiva’s actual brother Robbie Magasiva, a businessman, showing up per his parents request to try and get Shane to focus more on his future and less on what his parents believe is stupid stuff, like his skateboarding, or spending all day with his friends. Shane obviously has a very strict home and we can easily see how he can go from fun to serious in an instant, and he hates this, since he already has enough trouble keeping up his school and social life, but also has to be a ranger without telling anyone else, and he has a strained relationship with his brother, who his parents most likely always put on a pedestal to pressure Shane into using his time better. It’s so good for characterization, yet is so subtle that the show doesn’t beat you over the head with it, it’s just a really good character episode, and the way that Porter learns his brothers identity and immediately tries to help him out by keeping it a secret and probably telling his parents to keep it easy on Shane gives us a very good brotherly dynamic for what is sadly just a one episode guest star, and makes me wish Porter had returned for at least one more episode. Ninja Storm may be lighthearted and its episodes and villains being pretty silly, but one thing people always seem to miss is just how layered and interesting the Ninja Storm Rangers actually are, and how well their actors mesh well together honestly being the seasons strength, as its very rare for a PR cast to meld as well as they did, outside of Time Force, RPM, and even Dino Thunder. So yeah Shane is number 5 on the list, speaking of Dino Thunder....
4. Connor McKnight- Connor is a jerk, that is the first real thing we learn about him, and he somehow ends up becoming one of the best Red Rangers in the franchise. Where does Connor succeed where an asshole Red like Nick fails? I think its quite simple. Connor is a jerk, and so is Nick. Connor however, isn’t as tolerated of being a jerk. Connor is also a jock, and as such he rubs nerd of the team Ethan the wrong way, and unlike a usual dynamic where the Jock bullies the nerd, Ethan shows that he isn’t going to take Connors crap, and neither does Keira, the resident musician, and the three start off really on each others nerves. No other team has started off with so much friction. So what makes Connor endearing as a character? His whole arc with White Ranger and resident evil ranger Trent. White and Red start a sort of mini rivalry from the start(more a result of sentai footage than anything) and when Trent tells Kira whats going on, Connor tells Kira immediately that they can’t pull punches and have to do what they can to stop Trent, at any cost, even with Kira and Tommy objecting. We do see a great scene where Trent is recovering from a White Ranger morph on a bench, and Connor leaves the Soccer game(you know, his passion, the thing he cares about so much he wanted to quit early on to focus on his dream, to the point where realizing that saving people meant more than his dreams) to try and comfort him. This was before he learned about Trents identity. He kept giving Trent plenty of chances, even when it was clear that the White Dino Gem was controlling Trent even unmorphed, doing his best to spare Kira’s feelings by not outright giving up on Trent, and that was his test as leader, his ability to forgive. When the White Ranger coding on the gem was destroyed, Trent joined the rangers, and Connor obviously had some trust issues, but allowed him on the team anyway. While people will argue whether or not Tommy or Connor was leader, Tommy was sidelined for a good part of the season(to its benefit because it ensured Tommy wouldn’t have taken over the show) and even when Tommy was in the battle, Connor usually took point in command and formation, and this was further shown by the Triassic Powers, where the rangers have to lend him in the power necessary to fight really strong opponents. For all of the upgrades Connor got throughout the show, he never really dominated the season like a red in his position would in later seasons. His Battlizer episode, Passion of Connor, shows his insecurities when it comes to talking to girls, that he thinks that by changing who he is to please them that it will endear girls to him, but he constantly gets rejected by this girl who can see through his doucheyness, and then when she gets in trouble via Zeltrax, he goes into his VERY goofy looking Battlizer and saves the day. When it’s later revealed that Trent was keeping Mesogog’s identity a secret, his mistrust comes back and him along with the rest of the team question whether or not Trent can be trusted. He ends the season going out with that girl of the week from that Battlizer episode, and in the future he has famous soccer clubs for kids all around the world. He was a deeply flawed character who, unlike Nick, never stole the spotlight from his teammates, had his conflicts with the team but knew when he was in the wrong, and learned how to be a good leader by his conflicting relationship with Trent and learning how to forgive people, a lesson that Tommy probably wanted to instill more than anything into his rangers. Dino Thunder really is the best version of MMPR ever, with each character feeling like an improved version of their old counterpart- Connor the more interesting Jason, Ethan the more confident and prankster version of Billy, Kira the sixth ranger love interest who didn’t just get taken advantage of, and was very independant, Tommy was a very good mentor since the show knew he was the mentor and was wise to keep his presence in the season to a respectable level, it wasn’t his story anymore, it was the story of these new kids, and Trent is easily a top 3 sixth ranger, with his whole evil ranger arc being a more interesting and vastly improved version of Tommy’s arc in MMPR. See Operation Overdrive, Super Megaforce and Super Ninja Steel, this is how you show respect to the past. Onto number 3

3. Theodore Jay “TJ” Jarvis Johnson- This one will be short- TJ is a very smart and clever Red Ranger, he wasn’t a Tommy or Jason clone, he lead the team really well, he wasn’t stiff like Jason, Troy and Jayden, and was a nice mix of Jock and Nerd, as his love of Baseball was almost as valuable an asset to the Turbo Rangers as his intellect. While his better moments are as In Space Blue, he still was amazing in the second half of Turbo, and I wish more Red Rangers would be this smart, since they often get characterized as hotheaded or loners. IK its short, but TJ is such a simple yet effective Red Ranger. Especially compared to those who came before and after him.

2. Wesley Collins- Perhaps my favorite arc out of any Red Ranger, Wes is a fish out of water on his own team. He’s the one that gets his team acclimated to the 21st century. They had a rocky start, as Jen doubted his commitment to being a ranger due to his richness and being spoiled, and his penchant for just throwing himself into danger like it was a game. Wes didn’t get why Jen treated him this way until Trip told him what happened, which gets Wes to completely think about and change his perspective, and goes off to ask for one more chance, saying that he finally has something to fight for. After the first megazord fight, Wes helps the rangers get a home in his dad’s old clocktower. Throughout the series he grows from being a spoiled rich kid to a noble ranger that serves as the heart of the team as well as its eventual leader, as the rangers, after Alex came back to be a bit of a dick, agreed to follow Wes over Alex. Wes also has one of the strongest relationships in PR history, having won over the heart of his great whatever number grandsons fiance, Jen, and the two develop a really believable and well acted romance. The only part of the relationship that dropped the ball was at the end of the season, where when Jen had to leave, they hugged, but didn’t get to kiss at all. It sucked. Another important relationship to Wes was that with his former colleague and rival in Eric Meyers. Eric’s standoffish, rude behavior made him a foil for the Time Force team, as he was the first Sixth Ranger to never really join the team officially, occassionally providing assistance if needed, gradually helping them more and more, but due to Eric disliking Wes’ whole view on life, the team and Eric were always at arms length from each other. Eric, growing up poor, despised not only Wes’ spoiled attitude, but also Wes’ inability to use his advantages to the fullest, which motivates Eric to do everything he can to rise above his station in life, to completely change his destiny for the better, which is ironically what Wes’ whole deal with his father was- Wes never wanted to be a business tycoon like his dad, and so eventually split off from his dad to live with the rangers and forge his own path, with his dad at first being disappointed in what he believed his son had become, only to try and recruit Wes when he learns Wes is a Time Force Ranger. Wes also disliked the Silver Guardians, a private defense contract force that work for Mr. Collins. Eric, wanting to prove what he can do, managed to obtain the Quantum Morpher, and later the Quantasaurus Rex, to eventually become the leader of the Silver Guardians. Their conflicting viewpoints come to a boiling point in the finale, when Eric tries to denounce him and Wes having nothing in common, but Wes, being the changed man that he is, shows Eric how they both managed to change their destinies through their own actions, that the future is not written in stone. Wes is probably the most well developed Red Ranger in the franchise’s history, but how does that not land him at a solid #1? Well, for number one, what other Red Ranger could it be.......

1. Carter Grayson- Yup, you knew he was coming sooner or later. Lightspeed Rescue was the first PR show I could recall watching as a child, and so I have a good amount of attachment to the series, but I still think it holds up relatively well. Carter made one hell of a first impression as Red Ranger, and overall feels like an extreme version of what Jason could have been. Like Jason, Carter is the first one to accept the call to duty, and in the first battle, his plan to defeat the monster to try and run it over with the Teams Humvee. Badass. Whats even more badass? Carter, unlike the other Reds bar Andros sometimes, is very quick to use his guns, not needing martial arts training to be a real badass. He then has an amazing focus episode in Trial by Fire, where he learns the hard way that sometimes the obvious choice is the wrong choice, when he tries to evacuate the parking garage but Captain Mitchell demands that he put out the fire caused by Vypra. In the process of the fire and the structural damage, a young boy gets injured. Carter obviously feels guilty about this, and confronts Mitchell. When Mitchell says that he did the right thing, Carter goes back to the site and investigates, finding two hidden cans of Gasoline, which Vypra saw whens he cause the fire to escape. If the fire had reached the gas, well you know. That’s when Mitchell shows up, and he tells Carter about the kinds of hard decisions he will have to make as leader, every single day. We also learn that the reason Carter became a fireman was because a fireman saved him when he was a child, and in a later episode, we learn that that fireman was Captain Mitchell himself, who before Lightspeed was an accomplished Firefighter. Hell there’s an episode where he becomes a firefighter again in a desperate situation. Captain Mitchell is fucking awesome. Yeah I like Carter, a lot. He was the first Red Ranger that I remember giving me the image of a cool guy. He wasn’t a domineering or controlling leader, he was just the guy everyone could count on and set an example for his team. He wasn’t above his teammates, and never acted like it. He was also the bravest of the team, being the only one to Volunteer for the Titanium Ranger powers when they were being developed, shooting a monster at point blank ranger with the rangers finishing weapon and the V-Lancer, punching Queen Bansheera to near death in the stomach, and when the Megazords are wiped out by a powered up Diabolico and Olympius, he charges at the two with just his handguns just to try and distract them. Despite Carter not being the most demanding leader, his actor Sean CJ Johnson, infused the character with that special kind of charisma, he sounded and acted like a Superhero, the kind of guy you would probably want to gladly die for as he would for you 100 times over. Its cool to see more people coming around to Carter nowadays, since from what I’ve read, he used to be one of the least popular reds. At least now he gets his fair share, especially since we haven’t had a good red since Scott.

That’s my opinion on the heroes in Red, everyone has their own criteria on what makes a good Red Ranger. I would love to see your own top 10s with reasons why. Within the next week I hope to do a similar list for Blue and then Green/Black(or third rangers as I call it, since both colors are interchangeable really). I was just going to rank all of the Red Rangers, but I’m sure nobody wanted to see me write paragraphs on why Nick, Troy, Cole and Jayden are awful Reds. By the end of the month I hope to do top 10s for each ranger color including Sixth rangers. Hope you all have a nice day and remember, I have an obsession with lists(it can’t be helped, you’ll be seeing more of it).