Tommy Oliver

Tommy Oliver

Series	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Title(s)	Green Power Ranger White Power Ranger White Ninja Ranger Red Zeo Ranger Red Turbo Ranger Black Dino Ranger
Color(s)	Green (MMPR S1-2)      White (MMPR S2-3)      Red (Zeo/Turbo)      Black (Dino Thunder)
First appearance	Green with Evil, Part 1 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Last appearance	Wormhole (Power Rangers S.P.D.)
Status	Paleontologist[1] High School Science Teacher Currently Retired as a Ranger
Homeworld	Earth
Zords	Dragonzord Tigerzord Falconzord White Shogunzord Zeozord V Red Battlezord Super Zeozord V Red Lightning Turbozord Brachiozord
Portrayed by	Jason David Frank[2] Michael R. Gotto (Young Tommy) Jeffrey Parazzo (Voice of Tommy in Wormhole, uncredited)

Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a fictional character from the universe of the American children's television franchise Power Rangers.^[3][4] He is a main character 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 (where he returns as a legendary Power Ranger veteran).^[1] He also appeared in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red" and the Power Rangers S.P.D. episode "Wormhole." He has been portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in virtually all of his appearances, but in the episode "Wormhole", he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. He was also infrequently portrayed by actor Michael R. Gotto in instances where the story required depicting the character during childhood, such as Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.

Fictional character history

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

As the Green Ranger

Tommy as the Green Power Ranger.

Tommy is first introduced in the MMPR mini-saga "Green with Evil." As a new student at Angel Grove High School, Tommy faces the Red Ranger and leader of the Power Rangers, Jason Lee Scott, in a martial arts tournament, catching the attention of both the Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart and the evil witch Rita Repulsa. Tommy's fighting talent equaled that of Jason, prompting Rita to turn him into the Green Power Ranger. Rita casts an evil spell to make Tommy loyal to her. Following a battle with the Putties to test his skills, Tommy's given mission is to destroy Zordon, the Command Center, and the Power Rangers, leaving the world defenseless against Rita's conquest.^[5]

Tommy succeeds with the majority of his mission, discarding Zordon, demolishing the Command Center, and infecting Alpha with a virus while ejecting the Power Rangers from their own Megazord. His Green Ranger powers give him an added tool not possessed by the other Rangers, the Dragon Shield. Controlled by the Dragon Dagger, the Dragon Shield promotes advanced healing and can deflect energy attacks. Added to this is the ability to generate powerful energy projections, and the Green Ranger is able to contend with all of the other Power Rangers at once, to be warded off only by the Megazord.

After the nefarious Scorpina is released from her isolated internment, she and her newly reunited mate Goldar begin wreaking havoc together. In a then never-before-seen act of malice, Rita makes the Green Ranger grow alongside her henchmen. Together, the trio easily dispatch the Megazord and send its powerless body plummeting into the Earth's lava-filled core.

Tommy's Dragon Dagger is capable of summoning and controlling his own Zord, the Dragonzord. Once the Rangers' Zords are gone, he summons his to raze the defenseless city of Angel Grove. Eventually, a newly resurrected Zordon returns the Rangers to their Dinozords after explaining that the Earth's lava naturally healed them. As the Megazord overcomes the Dragonzord, Jason fights Tommy alone in a final battle that sees Jason narrowly outmatch Tommy, destroying his Sword of Darkness, a weapon given to him by Rita that maintains the spell over Tommy. In order to atone for his evil deeds, Tommy agrees to Zordon's rules as for being a Power Ranger, accepts a communicator from the Blue Ranger Billy Cranston, and dedicates himself and his powers to battling down the wicked Rita, becoming more or less the second-in-command of the team behind Jason.

Tommy's fierce fighting abilities are contrasted by his nervousness around Kimberly whom he had alienated when he was evil. Kimberly forgives him for his transgressions, but it is not until he loses his powers to Rita after she uses the Green Candle, made of special wax once touched by Tommy, to sever his link to the Morphing Grid, does Kimberly return his affections.

In the adventure involving the Green Candle, Goldar keeps the lit item in the Dark Dimension and holds Tommy captive there, knowing that his proximity would cause the candle's melting process to accelerate. Jason makes the attempt to get through Goldar to retrieve the candle, but Rita's succession of attacks perpetrated by a monster capable of mimicking every Zord and Zord combination, prevents him from getting to it in time. As Tommy's powers fade, he is left with one last opportunity to keep the powers from returning to Rita: he has to give the powers over to another individual who possesses a stable link to the Morphing Grid for the Green Ranger powers to function on. He chooses Jason.

When Rita kidnaps the parents of all the students at Angel Grove High School, the Rangers are forced to acquiesce to Goldar's ransom of their parents for their five Power Coins. After making the personal decision to make the trade, Goldar's deception is revealed when he refuses to return the parents, or the Dragon Dagger Rita has brainwashed Billy into stealing for her. As Goldar commands the Dragonzord to demolish the defenseless Angel Grove, Jason reveals his own deception: his gambit of defecting his Power Coin to Goldar leads to the oversight that he still possesses the Dragon Coin.

The Rangers recruit Tommy to reclaim his powers and he is assisted by an energy boost from Zordon that temporarily energizes him in replacement of his missing direct link to the Morphing Grid. However, his powers are very unstable now and have to be recharged several times by Zordon. In using the depleting powers to retrieve the missing items, Tommy reaches into a force-field and appears to have been lethally affected. Eventually, it is learned that the electrocution he underwent by the force-field, while wearing the Green Ranger powers, revitalizes its power source substantially. Tommy could once again reclaim his powers, provided that he periodically seek regeneration by a donation of Zordon's own energies. Even with this knowledge, Tommy still chooses to be a Ranger.

In Season 2, Lord Zedd arrives and banishes Rita for her continuing failures to exterminate the Power Rangers. In order for the Rangers to compete with Zedd's powerful monsters, the Dinozords are upgraded into the Thunderzords. However, Tommy's powers are too weak to support a new Zord, though he is able to continue morphing and call upon the Dragonzord. Lord Zedd eventually begins to create monsters for the sole purpose of depleting Tommy of his Green Ranger powers. After unleashing energy stealing monsters such as the Octophantom and the Stag Beetle, Tommy's powers drain further and Zordon himself could not energize them any longer. The next battle becomes the last for Green Ranger.

Upon learning this, Zedd sends down Turbanshell to attack the city to lure Tommy out, as part of his master plan to siphon off the remaining Green Ranger energies into an evil crystal to power his evil "Dark Rangers". Zedd is successful, and with the Green Ranger in such a weak state, Turbanshell is able to send all of the Power Rangers to the "Otherworld", a dark dimension ruled by Zedd. In this dimension, Tommy becomes separated from the others and his remaining powers are drained. Zedd sends Goldar to crush Tommy's spirits by telling Tommy that now he is nothing. Tommy disagrees, stating that his confidence and fighting spirit are what made him a Power Ranger, and he uses his remaining powers to destroy the Dark Rangers' crystal and help the other Power Rangers to destroy Turbanshell.

As the White Ranger

Tommy as the White Power Ranger.

For a short time, Tommy is absent from helping the other Rangers defeat Zedd's henchmen. Distraught by the loss of the powers he did not originally seek out, Tommy retreats into isolation at a distant lake, residing in a cabin his uncle owns. However, when Lord Zedd unleashes his maniacal Nimrod monster, which in turn spawns other monsters AC and DC, Alpha and Zordon decide it is time to take matters into their own hands.

Luckily for the Rangers, Zordon and Alpha are able to create new powers for Tommy, making him the White Power Ranger - a Ranger with powers that cannot be made evil. Upon becoming the White Ranger, Tommy also becomes the new leader of the Power Rangers. His new powers come with the enchanted talking saber Saba with which he summons the Tigerzord. He is at first overconfident with his new powers so much so that he loses control of the Tigerzord the first time he summons it. After that, he is much more careful.

After Jason, Zack and Trini are chosen to attend a peace conference in Switzerland, replacement Rangers had to be found. These Rangers are Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Aisha Campbell. The Sword of Light is the power source used to transfer the powers. Tommy is the one who activated the power transfer using the sword.

A clone of Tommy is created by the Wizard of Deception, using a lock of Tommy's hair. The clone is given the power of the Green Ranger, which had previously been believed to be destroyed forever. In truth, Zedd managed to regain the powers and used them to recharge the Dragon Power Coin to its full and complete power. Tommy destroys the Wizard of Deception, breaking the spell on the Green Ranger. The White Ranger helps his clone realize that even though he is a clone, he is still human and has the power to choose between right and wrong. The clone Tommy (referred to as "Tom") remains in the colonial times of Angel Grove after the two of them had traveled back in time to save the other Rangers. He keeps the Dragon Coin with him, as well as the powers it holds.

In Season 3, after the Thunderzords and Tigerzord are destroyed by Rito Revolto, Tommy and the other Rangers go on a quest to find the legendary Ninjor and receive their Ninja Coins. He gains new powers as the White Ninja Ranger with the power of the Falcon Coin and the Falconzord. Tommy meets Katherine Hillard at a time when she is also under Rita's spell. Kat uses Kimberly's Crane Ninja Coin, to steal the Falconzord and does not retrieve it until the other Rangers gain the power of Metallic Armor.

After Kat steals the Falconzord and Ninjor, she and Goldar kidnap Kimberly. Zedd revives the Shogunzords and orders the Power Rangers to either use them to destroy Earth or have Kimberly's life force drained away. Billy manages to reprogram the Zords to the Rangers' control. Tommy himself goes to retrieve Kimberly from Zedd's Dark Dimension. He fights with Zedd, but Zedd proves to be too powerful for him. However, Tommy manages to destroy Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat, and Tommy escapes with Kimberly. And then he gains control of the White Shogunzord. Afterwards, Kimberly retires from active Ranger service so that she can compete in gymnastics, passing her powers onto Kat who was free from Rita's evil spell. Kimberly and Tommy maintain a long-distance relationship.

When Tommy is sent to retrieve the Zeo Crystal, which is hidden under Rita and Zedd's Palace, Zordon tells him that only a being who was pure of heart can enter the force field around the crystal and survive. Tommy has to go through the Caves of Deception to get to the crystal, and when he gets to it, he is not sure if he could survive. He thinks that there might still be some evil in him from when he was the Evil Green Ranger. He bravely passes through the force field and retrieves the crystal. Soon after though, Master Vile steals it from him. The Rangers manage to get it back, but want to make sure that Master Vile could not get it again, so the Rangers split it into five sub-crystals and send them to different points in history.

Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers

Master Vile turns back time using the Orb of Doom, turning the Rangers back into children. Billy devises a plan to restore the Rangers' true ages using a machine that runs on the Power Coins. Billy restores himself, but Goldar steals the machine and Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa destroy all six Ninja Power Coins. With his Falcon Ninja Coin destroyed and his Tiger Power Coin damaged beyond use, a young Tommy journeys to reclaim the Red Zeo Sub-Crystal in a Native American land. For his test, he is given three crystals (two were fakes) and he has to decide which one is the real one. He retrieves the true Red Sub-Crystal from Sam Trueheart, who also gives him half of an arrowhead.

Power Rangers Zeo

Tommy as Zeo Ranger V.

Tommy gains the powers of the Red Zeo Crystal, becoming Zeo Ranger V in Power Rangers Zeo. It is during this time that he and Kimberly separate after she breaks up with him in a Dear John Letter. Kat tries to set him up with another girl, but it fails due to Tommy's intervening Ranger duties. Kat and Tommy eventually begin dating, with their first date taking place at a luau that a returning Ernie throws, which is then ruined by attacking Cogs. They later go on a "boring" (Tommy sarcastically remarked) movie date.

After the Zeo Megazord is severely damaged, Tommy alone is left with the Red Battlezord, a Zord that is telepathically controlled. He has difficulty learning to operate the mind link and loses control when becoming emotional. A spirit quest eventually provides Tommy with the peace of mind needed to control the lone Zord; however, during this journey, Tommy meets his brother David Trueheart (portrayed by Jason David Frank's real life brother, the late Eric Frank). King Mondo captures David in order to trap Tommy. After freeing him, Tommy reveals his identity as a Ranger to David, who refuses to let a helpless Tommy remain behind. To convince David to flee to safety, Tommy reveals his identity to him. It is then revealed that David has the other half of the arrowhead. Should the two arrowheads be joined, the holder of the arrowhead could control both the spirits trapped within them and a darkness powerful enough to destroy the world.

Tommy reunites with his best friend and former-teammate Jason, when the Gold Zeo Ranger Trey of Triforia becomes injured. Tommy chooses Jason, who has returned from the Peace Conference, to temporarily hold the Gold Ranger powers.

Tommy is later captured by Prince Gasket of the evil Machine Empire and brainwashed into fighting his friends, believing them to be the threat to the world. The other Rangers, especially Jason and Kat, are able to save him by de-morphing and surrendering to prove they were not against him.

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

When the evil Space Pirate Divatox threatens to raise a powerful monster named Maligore to marry her, Tommy, along with the other Rangers, accept new Turbo powers and becomes the Red Turbo Ranger, gaining the Red Lightning Turbozord.

When Tommy finds out that Divatox is holding Jason and Kimberly captive, it shows that he still has feelings for Kimberly and causes him to make poor choices and irrational decisions. When Jason and Kimberly are possessed by Maligore, Tommy vainly attempts to snap Kimberly out of the spell by removing his Ranger helmet. He calms down later when Kimberly is safe and sound.

Power Rangers Turbo

Tommy becomes interested in stock car racing following graduation, a hobby he sometimes shares with the Blue Turbo Ranger Justin Stewart. His tenure as the Red Turbo Ranger is a short one, with Dimitria declaring his duties as a defender of Earth fulfilled. In the episode "Passing the Torch", Divatox captures Tommy after her mother convinces her that removing the leader is the key to the Power Rangers' defeat. However, T. J. Johnson and Cassie Chan manage to find and rescue him after Kat fails to fend off a group of Pirahnatrons. Before Tommy leaves, he asks T.J. to become the new Red Ranger, stating, "I wouldn't be standing here today, T.J., if it weren't for your courage and strength. I choose you to lead the team, as the new Red Ranger."

Power Rangers Wild Force

Tommy makes his next appearance in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red". By this time, he is shown to have gotten rid of his signature long hair which he displayed in his previous appearances. He is first seen in the episode at a bar and/or hotel called Bulkmier's managed by Bulk and Skull while resting and reading a newspaper before accepting the phone given to him by Bulk. Andros, the Red Space Ranger, recruits Tommy after learning of the resurgent Machine Empire and their plan to unearth Lord Zedd's defunct Zord Serpenterra and use it to invade Earth. Tommy recruits nine previous Red Rangers (which to his delight included Jason) to intervene. To achieve victory, Tommy morphs into Zeo Ranger V in this episode and fights Gerrok alongside Wes Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger. Tommy destroys Gerrok with the "Zeo Flying Power Kick."

Before Dino Thunder

Sometime between the events of Turbo and Dino Thunder, Tommy attends college and graduate school, earning a PhD in paleontology. He also meets Hayley (who would help him in the creation of the Dino Ranger powers based on parts of older Rangers' powers). He also becomes a business partner with Terrence "Smitty" Smith and Dr. Anton Mercer on a dinosaur-related project that leads to the creation of the Tyrannodrones, Raptor Riders and the new Dinozords. A horrible lab accident leads to the transformation of Dr. Mercer into the evil Mesogog, and also leaves Smitty for dead until Mesogog revives him as the evil cyborg Zeltrax. These events also include Tommy finding the Dino Gems and hiding them in the lab under his basement while learning the location of the Shield of Triumph.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Tommy as the Black Dino Ranger.

After the events of "Forever Red", Tommy becomes a science teacher at a school in the (fictional) city of Reefside, California at the onset of Power Rangers Dino Thunder.^[6] A trio of students in detention — Conner McKnight, Ethan James, and Kira Ford — unravel Tommy's past as a Power Ranger after uncovering three artifacts from his lab that turn them into the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. Tommy recruits these students to become the Dino Rangers, doing so while seeming mysterious and somewhat obnoxious, as noted by Conner. When he discovers that Mesogog is still active, he joins the other Dino Rangers and becomes the Black Dino Ranger, aided by the power of invisibility from the Black Dino Gem. His Dinozord is the Brachiozord carrier, he wields the Brachio Staff, and he drives the Black Thunder ATV (originally devised as a trap by the then-evil Trent Mercer, but it was soon reprogrammed).^[7]

When the White Dino Ranger appears, Tommy's dedication to saving the lives of innocents seems to give Tommy cause to show no mercy to him, even after he discovers that the White Dino Ranger is Trent Mercer. For a while, he is encased in amber by the White Dino Ranger, and once freed, finds himself unable to de-morph, due to his Dino Gem and his morpher re-molecularizing. He remains in his morphed form for a while. Despite this resolve, he could not help but feel sympathy for Trent when his students did not, reminding the others of his tenure as the evil Green Power Ranger.

After seeing the power of the White Ranger Clone and the Terrorsaurus, Tommy decides that the Rangers need an upgrade. He takes Trent to the location of the Shield of Triumph, as the shield can only be freed from its resting place by the power of Trent's Dino Gem. He also has a hunch that Conner is the one destined to control the shield. His assumptions are proven right, as Conner shows up just in time to save the shield from being lost forever. Tommy informs the other Rangers they have to contribute their energies to the shield, and Conner becomes the Triassic Ranger.

He is later de-morphed by a special substance, but is rendered invisible as a result. An experiment sees the return of Tommy to his natural state, but the process shatters his Dino Gem and leaves Tommy in a coma. During this time, Tommy endures several internal battles, facing off against several of his past Ranger egos: Zeo Ranger V, the White Power Ranger, and then the Green Power Ranger. After proving that he would not give up the fight for his life, his opponents each offer him a shattered piece of his Dino Gem. Tommy regains consciousness holding the newly repaired Gem in his hand. As a result, he also gains access to his Super Dino Mode.

While he mentors the four Dino Thunder Rangers, he shows a particular interest in the current Red Ranger and leader Conner McKnight. Tommy often brings up the striking similarities between Conner and himself when he was a Ranger. Because of this, he puts a lot of faith and trust in Conner and is more than willing to offer him advice. He especially brings this up when Conner is doubting himself and talking to him about passion and the endless limitations of that passion. With that help, Conner is able to unleash his Battlizer mode through his own willpower.

When he learns that Trent has been hiding his father's secret identity, Tommy considers asking Trent to surrender his Morpher. Though Tommy comes to understand Trent's loyalty, he leaves the decision of letting Trent stay with the team to the other Rangers. They decide to let Trent stay after he saves Conner's life. In a final battle against Zeltrax, Tommy advises the Rangers that the only means to succeed is to sacrifice their Zords. At the end of the series, Tommy, alongside Kira, destroys Zeltrax. The Dino Rangers sacrifice their Dino Gems in order to destroy Mesogog's ultimate form(s). By that point, Mesogog has already managed to separate himself from Dr. Anton Mercer. In the end, Tommy answers Anton's question of what he would do now by insisting he would pursue the simple life of a high school science teacher, finally retiring his life as a Power Ranger for good.

Power Rangers S.P.D.

Emperor Gruumm travels back in time through a temporal wormhole in an attempt to change his present time by forcing Zeltrax to join forces with him. Tommy and the other Dino Rangers then team up with the S.P.D. Power Rangers, in which he pairs up with Doggie Cruger, to battle the united force.^[8] Tommy's Ranger service is apparently well known in the future, as Jack Landors says that he has read all about him. In a subsequent team up with the S.P.D. Rangers, Tommy is very briefly mentioned at the end of the episode upon the Dino Rangers being returned from the year 2025. Conner, Ethan, and Kira are seen attending their High School reunion in 2005, about a year after the events of Dino Thunder's season finale, curious to see if Tommy would also be there.^[9]

Jason David Frank does not appear in these episodes as Tommy. In his place, Jeffrey Parazzo voices Tommy who never appears outside of his transformation.

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive

Tommy Oliver is mentioned, though not seen, in the Operation Overdrive episode "Once a Ranger, Part 1" When talking about the Ranger's Command Center, character Kira Ford mentions "Dr. O would've loved to see this!" Adam Park then makes the comment, "Yeah, you know, I still can't believe he's a doctor..."

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Sisario, Ben (2004-02-29). "FOR YOUNG VIEWERS; Those Mighty Power Rangers Just Keep On Morphing". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/tv/for-young-viewers-those-mighty-power-rangers-just-keep-on-morphing.html?scp=9&sq=Mighty%20Morphin%20Power%20Rangers&st=cse. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
2. ^ "Tommy the Green Ranger's local MMA debut". Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/05/tommy_the_green_rangers_local.html. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
3. ^ McCormick, Patricia S. (1995-02-12). "TELEVISION; . . . And a Parents' Guide to the Politics of Angel Grove". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/arts/television-and-a-parents-guide-to-the-politics-of-angel-grove.html?scp=8&sq=Mighty%20Morphin%20Power%20Rangers&st=cse. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
4. ^ Gidari, Cameron. Jason David Frank: Morphing From Karate Master To Mixed Martial Artist, Bleacher Report, January 15, 2010. Accessed August 20, 2010.
5. ^ "From Power Bow to Hip-Hop-Kido". The Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-12-29/features/1993363109_1_zord-power-rangers-popular-power. Retrieved 2010-08-30. 
6. ^ "Power Rangers Dino Thunder - Day of the Dino". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/11007/power-rangers-dino-thunder-day-of-the-dino/. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
7. ^ "Power Rangers Dino Thunder - Legacy of Power". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/12284/power-rangers-dino-thunder-legacy-of-power/. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
8. ^ Power Rangers episode "Wormhole"
9. ^ Power Rangers episode "History"

Further reading

• "He's Got The Power". Sun Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1995-07-25/lifestyle/9507270176_1_white-ranger-power-rangers-green-ranger. Retrieved 2010-08-30. 

External links

• disney.go.com/powerrangers' character guide

Preceded by None	Green Ranger 1993 - 1994	Succeeded by Adam Park
Preceded by None	White Ranger 1994 - 1995	Succeeded by Delphine
Preceded by Aurico	Red Ranger 1996 - 1997	Succeeded by T. J. Johnson
Preceded by Danny Delgado	Black Ranger 2004	Succeeded by Will Aston