Ninja Storm Power Rangers

The Ninja Storm Power Rangers are fictional characters and heroes in the Power Rangers universe, appearing as protagonists in the television series Power Rangers Ninja Storm.^[1]

This generation of Power Rangers is unique in which they were originally two separate teams; the Wind Rangers of the Wind Ninja Academy and the Thunder Rangers of the Thunder Ninja Academy. After initial hostilities, they banded together and were later joined by the Green Samurai Ranger.

Wind Rangers

The Wind Rangers are the last students of the Wind Ninja Academy, given their morphers by Sensei Kanoi Watanabe and his son Cam when the other students were kidnapped by Lothor.

Shane Clarke

Shane Clarke (Pua Magasiva) is the main character and the Red Wind Ranger. He is the leader of the Ninja Storm team. Shane is an excellent skateboarder, and his love of flight is evident in his fighting style. Shane is scared of spiders. When he was young, Shane saved an alien woman from a bounty hunter, and that alien later returned and gave Shane the power of the Battlizer armor. After Lothor's defeat, Shane became an instructor at the Wind Ninja academy.

Shane watches out for his friends and tries to make sure Tori, Dustin, and later Cam stay out of trouble. When the Bradley brothers, Hunter and Blake, show up in town, Shane stresses the importance of knowing who to trust to Dustin as Shane is the only one to suspect that the brothers aren't who they say they are.

Shane doesn't come to trust Hunter or Blake until the incident with Toxipod. During that time, Shane is aggravated with the fact that Hunter and Blake always seem to have ill intentions when their groups meet in battle. When the fact that both Blake and Hunter have been brainwashed by Choobo is revealed to him and his friends, Shane slowly comes to trust Blake and Hunter when they are brought back to their senses. Hunter and Shane's differences cause them to develop a rivalry, but they eventually overcome their differences and become friends.

Thanks to his ninja training, Shane possesses several superpowers independent of and prior to the acquisition of his Ranger skills. Like his fellow ninja, Shane possesses superhuman speed and can move faster than the eye can see, leap higher than an average person, evade detection by normal persons, and focus his inner energies to resist mental attacks and manipulation. Shane's ninja powers give him the ability to control the element of air for effects including projecting gusts of wind as an offensive weapon, and "walking" on air as if on solid ground.

Shane's older brother, Porter (played by Pua Magasiva's actual brother, Robbie Magasiva), who was a successful businessman, was concerned about Shane's seeming lack of a sense of responsibility, and paid him a visit, lecturing his younger brother on the matter. After accidentally discovering that Shane was the Red Ranger, however, Porter gained significant respect for Shane, realizing the measure of responsibility that his younger brother had taken upon himself.

When Lothor comes back in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Shane temporarily becomes evil alongside his teammates. They battle the Dino Rangers, but are set free by their comrades. The Ninja and Dino Rangers then team up to do battle with Lothor and Mesogog's combined forces, with him teaming up with Red Dino Ranger Conner. Afterwards, the Wind Ranger loses his Ranger powers.

Tori Hanson

Tori Hanson (Sally Martin) is the main female protagonist, and the Blue Wind Ranger.

Tori is the logical and sensible member of the team. She is loyal to her friends, but sticks up for Cam when her fellow Rangers pick on him, and has an innate skill for ending conflicts with words instead of fists. Tori Hanson has an affinity for water, surfing in her spare time and mastering water based fighting techniques while training at the Wind Ninja Academy. She also has a crush on Blake Bradley, the Navy Thunder Ranger, which, while obviously mutual, was never acted upon (most likely due to the show's targeting a younger audience).

Tori's ninja training has endowed her with skills independent of her Ranger powers. Like her fellow ninja, Tori possesses superhuman speed and can move faster than the eye can see, leap higher than an average person, evade detection by normal persons, and focus her inner energies to resist mental attacks and manipulation. Her training based on her affinity for water allows her to move across water as if it were solid ground, create high-powered bursts of water as an offensive weapon, and manipulate and control water for a number of effects, such as creating objects. As the Blue Ranger, Tori relies on the power of water to thwart evil, and pilots the Dolphin Zord. In the finale, Tori becomes an instructor at the Wind Ninja Academy.

When Lothor comes back in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Tori temporarily becomes evil alongside her teammates. They battle the Dino Rangers, but are set free by their comrades, Cam, Blake and Hunter. The Ninja and Dino Rangers then team up to do battle with Lothor and Mesogog's combined forces, with her teaming up with Yellow Dino Ranger Kira. Afterwards, the Wind Rangers lose their powers, leaving things to the next generation.

In the Power Rangers Operation Overdrive team up episode "Once a Ranger", Tori is called upon by the Sentinel Knight along with Adam Park,[Kira Ford,[Bridge Carson]] and Xander Bly to relieve the Operation Overdrive Rangers when they lost their powers. It is also revealed that Tori now runs her own surf shop. It is implied that her powers still remained intact.

Preceded by Max Cooper

Blue Ranger 2003

Succeeded by Ethan James

Dustin Brooks

Waldo 'Dustin' Brooks (Glenn McMillan) is the co-protagonist and the Yellow Wind Ranger as well as the second male Yellow Ranger (after Tideus, the Yellow Alien Ranger). As such, he is capable of fighting underground and moving through the earth. Dustin's specialized weapon was called the Lion Hammer, which he could slam into the ground and cause small earthquakes. He can also split himself into two separate fighters. Dustin and his fellow Ranger Shane have been best friends since childhood. By the end of the series, Dustin graduates from the Wind Academy and stays on as a teacher.

He is the "comic book geek" of the Wind Rangers, and was a fan of previous Rangers, who were considered urban legend, visible when they are first given morphers and he is the first to morph and (in turn) show Shane and Tori how to morph. He is somewhat naive and gullible. This is clearly exhibited in his meeting with Hunter and Blake. Dustin is the first to encounter the Thunder Rangers, Hunter and Blake Bradley, and quickly befriends them due to their mutual interest in motocross. Being the friendly guy he is, he introduces Blake and Hunter to Tori and Shane, not knowing that the Bradleys were the Thunder Rangers who were attacking them at the time.

Dustin is an expert motocross rider, which he claims his father Jake "Taught him everything [he] knows", and works at the bike store Storm Chargers. He also uses copious amounts of dudespeak and has some degree of proficiency in the saxophone (he was shown playing a tenor in "Shimazu Returns, Part 2"). Marah once conned him into believing she had reformed and would help the Rangers defeat Lothor, but it was a ruse. Despite Marah's trickery, Dustin and Marah did seem to harbor interest in each other, but nothing was ever expanded on.

When Lothor comes back in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Dustin temporarily becomes evil alongside his teammates. They battle the Dino Rangers, but are set free by their comrades. The Ninja and Dino Rangers then team up to do battle with Lothor and Mesogog's combined forces, with him teaming up with Blue Dino Ranger Ethan. Afterwards, the Wind Ranger loses his Ranger powers but continues on as a teacher in the Wind Ninja Academy.

Preceded by Taylor Earhardt

Yellow Ranger 2003

Succeeded by Kira Ford

Thunder Rangers

The Thunder Rangers

The known Rangers of the Thunder Ninja Academy are the Crimson and Navy Thunder Rangers. The two, who are adoptive brothers, were chosen by Sensei Omino when their academy was attacked by Lothor and have the power of thunder. They were originally enemies of the Wind Rangers, having been lied to by Lothor into believing that the Wind Rangers' sensei was responsible for the death of their parents. They returned to the side of good when they were visited by the spirits of their parents and told the truth.

Their weapons are Thunder Staffs, which can also transform into the Tornado Star (a boomerang weapon), Thunder Shield (a hoop weapon), or can extend into long staffs, to attack their enemies. Each Ranger also carries an individual weapon, the Crimson Blaster and Navy Antler. Their Zords are in the form of beetles (see Zords in Power Rangers Ninja Storm).

Their powers were absorbed by Lothor into Cam's Samurai Amulet.

Hunter Bradley

Hunter Bradley (Adam Tuominen) is the Crimson Thunder Ranger.

He is the older brother of Blake Bradley, the Crimson Thunder Ranger. The two were raised at the Thunder Ninja Academy by Sensei Omino after the death of their adoptive parents. Initially brooding and standoffish, Hunter eventually learns the value of friendship and teamwork outside of himself and Blake through his time as a Ranger and later warms up to the Wind Rangers; he even gets a job at Storm Chargers, thanks to Dustin.

When we first meet Hunter and Blake, they are revealed as the two Thunder Rangers that are out for revenge on the Wind Rangers' sensei, Kanoi Watanabe. This was actually a lie told by Lothor, the real killer of the Bradleys' parents as well as the main antagonist of the story. Because the Thunder Rangers were misled, they became the enemies of the Wind Rangers. This was quickly fixed when their parents' ghosts came to Blake and Hunter and told him that they were after the wrong person.

Hunter and Blake leave for a while even though they assure the Wind Rangers that they've turned to the right side, but this changes when an infiltration aboard Lothor's ship goes wrong. While they are on the ship, Choobo captures and brainwashes them so that they become a threat to the Wind Ninja once more. Choobo traps the Wind and Thunder Rangers on an island so that they can kill each other, but the Thunder Rangers regain their memories. As a last resort, Lothor uses a ray that causes Hunter to fly into a rage and attack everyone. Hunter accidentally takes a breath of mist that makes him even more confused and angry, but the Wind Ninja and Blake later help him come back to his senses. The Bradleys come to fight alongside the Wind Rangers, this time permanently. Hunter became the team's unofficial second-in-command.

Hunter later became the head instructor at the Thunder Academy, after Lothor stole his Ranger powers. He maintains a friendly rivalry with Shane. When Lothor returned from the Abyss of Evil during Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Hunter teamed up with Blake and Cam to recover the Thunder and Samurai Powers from the Abyss. They freed the mind-controlled Wind Rangers, and teamed up with the Dino Rangers to face Lothor and Mesogog's combined forces, in which he and Blake fought alongside Black Dino Ranger Tommy Oliver and with Blue Quasar Saber Space Ranger Marissa Butts . After the battle, Hunter discovered that his rangers powers had been depleted, thus ending his time as a Power Ranger. He continued on as the head teacher at the Thunder Ninja Academy.

The Crimson Ranger's arsenal included his Thunder Staff, the Crimson Blaster, the Crimson Tsunami Cycle, and the Ninja Glider Cycle, a special motorbike adapted to transform into a motor-propelled glider. His personal Zord was the Crimson Insectizord. His Power Spheres included the Spin Blade and pieces of the MiniZord and the Ninja Firebird and the Sting Blaster.

Blake Bradley

Blake Bradley (Jorgito Vargas, Jr.) is the Navy Thunder Ranger.

He is the brother of Hunter Bradley, the Navy Thunder Ranger. After Blake and Hunter's parents died, their sensei took them in and they began their martial arts training at the Thunder Ninja Academy. Much better and charming than his brother, Blake is a skilled motorbike racer and is the best of all the Rangers at stick fighting; being able to take on both Tori and Dustin with ease. Blake also bears more than a passing attraction to Tori, which was everlasting. He confessed his feelings to her in "The Wild Wipeout" during a private surfing lesson between him and Tori.

In the beginning, Blake, like his brother, is fighting against the Wind Ninja when Lothor feeds the Bradley brothers the lie that the Wind Ninja's sensei was the one who killed their parents when in reality, Lothor was the one to kill them. Blake goes so far as to play on Tori's concerns for him to find the location of Ninja Ops so that he and Hunter can get to Sensei. When Blake and Hunter find that Lothor is the real one responsible for their parents' deaths, they decide to leave Blue Bay Harbor without a word to the others, unsure of themselves and their destiny as Rangers.

Blake and Hunter return soon after, now with the resolve to kill Lothor. Blake decides to let Tori in on their plan to infiltrate Lothor's ship, assuring her that they'd call if there was trouble. When Blake and Hunter make the mistake of trusting Choobo to get on the ship, they are both brainwashed again into believing the Wind Rangers were evil. All five Rangers are transported onto an island and they fight each other several times. Blake is the first Thunder Ranger who shakes the brainwashing effects and joins the Wind Rangers in an effort to free Hunter, who is driven mad by the combination of Lothor's memory ray and the toxic mist on the island.

After this turn of events, the Thunder Brothers decide to fight alongside the Wind Rangers, deciding that teamwork was the best way to destroy their common enemy Lothor.

His Ranger powers are drained by Lothor using Cam's amulet and are seemingly lost when Lothor is sealed within the Abyss. However in Dino Thunder, the Rangers temporarily regain their powers and fight alongside the Dino Thunder Rangers to fight the combined threat of Lothor and Mesogog. After the battle it is revealed that Blake's morpher is depleted, resulting in the permanent loss of his Ranger powers.

Blake's weapons include a Navy Antler, Thunder Staff, and a Thunder Blade. His gear includes a Thunder Morpher and a Tsunami Cycle. He pilots the Navy Beetlezord. He shared the Serpent Sword Power Sphere with Hunter for their Thunder Megazord.

Cameron Watanabe

Cameron Watanabe (Jason Chan) is the son of Sensei Kanoi Watanabe and Miko, nephew of Lothor, and cousin to Marah and Kapri. Kanoi made a promise to Cam's mother that Cam would never be trained in the ways of the ninja. As such, Cam was not a student at the Wind Ninja Academy, but he was a constant presence and usually at his father's side. Unable to train, he began putting his talents to use in the technological arena.

After the academy was destroyed by Lothor and his minions, Cam took the three remaining students (Shane, Dustin and Tori) into a high-tech underground dojo. Under instruction from Sensei Watanabe, who had been turned into a guinea pig, he (reluctantly) presented the three with Wind Morphers, allowing them to become the Wind Rangers.

Throughout the series, Cam used his brilliant intellect to construct/maintain power spheres, Zords, and weapons for the Rangers. For example, when Sensei was captured by the Thunder Rangers, Cam created a powerful forcefield to protect his father. After Hunter and Blake joined the team, Cam discovered the mystery piece in their Megazord that would allow the Storm Megazord to combine with the Thunder Megazord.

Early on, Cam often displayed a sarcastic personality and low opinion towards Shane, Tori and Dustin. Besides their faulty track record in training, Cam was also jealous that they got to be Rangers and not him. When this became known, Tori suggested Cam talk to his father, while Shane, Dustin, Hunter and Blake argued to Sensei Watanabe that Cam would make the perfect Ranger. Soon afterwards, the Rangers' powers were stolen and Lothor was poised for final victory. When Sensei mentioned a great power source lost to time, Cam used the Scroll of Time to travel into the past. He arrived at the Wind Ninja Academy when Kanoi was a student. Surprisingly, he also met an unmentioned twin brother, Kiya, as well as a mystery samurai revealed to be Miko, his mother.

Miko possessed the Samurai Amulet, which Cam recognized as the great power source he came back for. However, Kiya also wanted it and framed Cam for the theft. Kanoi exposed Kiya's plot – leading to a brutal fight between Cam and his future uncle, who had knowledge of the dark ninja arts. Cam won and had successfully claimed the amulet. Kiya was stripped of name and rank, and banished from Earth. Before he was off-world, Cam witnessed Kiya take the name "Lothor" and vow revenge. Cam was unable to do anything to change history, as he had to return home. Miko let him keep the amulet, allowing Cam to become the Green Samurai Ranger and use the Samurai Star Megazord to save the present.

As the Samurai Ranger, he helped the others fight Lothor's evil, still shocked by the discovery that the evil ninja master was his uncle. Because of the demands that being a Ranger put on him, he created a holographic virtual duplicate of himself he dubbed "Cyber-Cam" to take over day-to-day running of the dojo and maintenance of the equipment. Cyber-Cam was given a "thug" persona, with wardrobe and vocabulary to match, and was highly skilled in extreme sports; in short, everything that Cam was not. Cyber-Cam briefly locked Cam up, so he could enjoy life. Cam later reprogrammed him to be focused on work in Ninja Ops, though the "thug" persona and wardrobe remained.

It is noted that after the events of "Samurai's Journey," Lothor began to pick on Cam more than the other Rangers. This could be because Cam is his nephew and because Cam was indirectly responsible for Lothor's banishment. Lothor did know it was Cam, as he later recalled their "meeting in the past".

Notably, Cam is the only Ninja Storm Ranger not to be turned evil, like the Thunder Rangers ("Return of Thunder") and later the Wind Rangers ("Thunder Storm").

When Lothor was finally defeated, Cam once again became an advisor at the Wind Ninja Academy, helping the other Rangers in their instructor duties, and keeping a special watch over Lothor's nieces (and his cousins) Marah and Kapri, who had reformed and enrolled at the academy. Cam later briefly regained his samurai powers and re-teamed with his fellow Ninja Rangers, as well as teaming up with the Dino Rangers, to battle the combined forces of Lothor and Mesogog, in which he teamed up with White Dino Ranger Trent. After the battle it was revealed that Cam's morpher was fully depleted resulting in the permanent loss of his Ranger powers.

References

1. ^ "Power Rangers Ninja Storm - Samurai's Journey". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/8709/power-rangers-ninja-storm-samurais-journey/. Retrieved 2010-08-22.