Jason Lee Scott

Infobox Power Rangers
Color = red
Color text = white
Series = Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Series2 =
Name = Jason Lee Scott


First appearance = Day of the Dumpster ("Mighty Morphin Power Rangers")
Last appearance = Forever Red ("")
Status = Presumably active
Affiliation = Jeremy (cousin) Mr. Lee Scott (dad) Mrs. Lee Scott (mom)
Homeworld = Earth
Weapons = Power Morpher
*Tyrannosaurus Power CoinWrist Communicator Blade Blaster Power Sword
*Dragon Power CoinDragon Dagger Dragon Shield
*Golden Power Staff
Vehicles =
Zords = Tyrannosaurus Dinozord Megazord Dragonzord Mega Dragonzord Ultrazord Red Dragon Thunderzord Thunder Megazord Pyramidas Warrior Wheel
Title = Red Power Ranger Gold Zeo Ranger
Portrayed by = Austin St. John

Jason Lee Scott is the main character in the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" TV series, played by Austin St. John. Jason is best remembered as the original Red Ranger, and the first leader of the Power Rangers. He later becomes the second Gold Ranger in "".

The character was also played by St. John in the pre-television pilot as "Jason" (the surname didn't come until the series). Jason also appears in the video game "".

According to a contest held by ABC Family in 2004, Jason was voted the #1 Red Ranger of all time. As of 2007, as stated at the Power Morphicon, Jason still holds this title.

Fictional character history

"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers"

Jason is a martial artist from the fictional town of Angel Grove, California. He is selected by Zordon and Alpha 5, along with his best friends Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Kimberly Hart, as the five "teenagers with attitude" to become the original Power Rangers and defend Earth from the forces of Rita Repulsa. When Zordon first confronts the teens to give them their powers, only Jason initially believes him. Jason becomes the Red Power Ranger, is given the Power Coin of the Tyrannosaurus, obtains the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and is made the team leader. He leads the team into many successful battles against Rita's monsters, establishing a rivalry with Rita's number one henchman Goldar.

At first glance, Jason appears to be the stereotypical jock type, primarily interested in sports—particularly martial arts. Beneath the surface, however, he is big-hearted, outgoing, friendly, and always willing to help someone out when it is needed—such as when he takes Billy under his wing and teaches him martial arts to boost his confidence and teach him self-defense. Aside from martial arts, Jason is an accomplished athlete, weight trainer and certified scuba diving instructor.

When Tommy Oliver is introduced, he becomes competitive rivals with Jason, matching him in a martial arts competition. After Rita manipulates Tommy and turns him into the evil Green Ranger, he captures Jason, steals his Power Morpher and imprisons him in Rita's Dark Dimension where he would have to fight Goldar to retrieve his Morpher. Billy, Trini and Alpha manage to repair the damage Tommy did to the Command Center, in time to find Jason and retrieve him seconds before he is killed by the Green Ranger who arrives on the scene with orders to destroy Jason. Later, Jason and the Tyrannosaurus square off with Tommy and the Dragonzord and after the Megazord defeats the Dragonzord, Jason faces Tommy in person and he destroys the Sword of Darkness Rita had given to Tommy due to the sword's ability to maintain her evil spell on him. Jason then convinces Tommy to join the team and use his powers against Rita.

Later, Rita crafts a Green Candle out of special wax that had been enchanted with Tommy's touch when he was evil. Once lit, the candle continues to burn until it was gone, and when it is, so too would Tommy's powers. Because Tommy's proximity to the candle accelerats the candle's melting process, Tommy is captured and placed in its proximity by Goldar. However, he eventually escapes and Jason is left to retrieve the candle. Jason has the upper hand in his fight with Goldar, but is recalled into the battle with Rita's Cyclops monster in order to save Tommy's life. Following the failure, Tommy entrusts Jason with his Power Coin to prevent them falling into Rita's hands again, allowing him access to the Green Ranger's powers. This includes the Dragon Shield and the Dragon Dagger, which also allows him to call the Dragonzord to aid the Rangers, even while Jason controls the Megazord.

One of Jason's most cunning moments is the gambit he plays against Goldar, who kidnaps the parents of Angel Grove High's students, then ransoms them for the Ranger's five Power Coins. Jason would later reveal that though he gave up his Tyrannosaurus Power Coin to Goldar, he kept the Dragon Power Coin. With it, Tommy eventually regains his Green Ranger powers, retrieves the other Ranger's Power Coins and helps the team save their captive parents.

When Lord Zedd arrives and overruns Rita, he sends his new brand of Putty Patrollers to Earth. The Putties possess superior strength to Rita's Putties, but it is Jason who discovers their weak spot. In order to compete with their new enemy's more powerful monsters, the Dinozords are upgraded into the mythical Thunderzords, Jason's being the Red Dragon Thunderzord, which can turn into a humanoid form. Like the Tyrannosaurus, the Red Dragon is capable of destroying a monster separate from the Thunder Megazord formation.

Eventually, Tommy loses his Green Ranger powers for good, and Jason suffers from immense guilt because of it. Choosing to capitalize on Jason's vulnerability, Zedd creates candles for Zack, Billy, Trini and Kimberly that would remove their links to the Morphing Grid, just as Rita did to Tommy. Jason, with the help of Zordon's confidence in him, manages to save his friends and prevent them from losing their powers. Following the victory, Jason wins a Martial Arts trophy and dedicates it to Tommy, who has long since been indisposed. Tommy would later gain the White Ranger powers and be chosen by Zordon to switch in for Jason as leader of the team.

Shortly later, Jason, Trini and Zack (after the actors playing the characters left the show over contract disputes) are chosen to act as ambassadors at a Peace Conference in Switzerland and Jason's role as Red Ranger is passed on to Rocky DeSantos.

""

Jason returned in ', temporarily taking over the powers of the Gold Zeo Ranger"' from Trey of Triforia when Trey is injured in a fight with Varox bounty hunters. Upon his return to the team he is also made second-in-command. His return is greatly welcomed by his old friends Tommy and Billy, and he quickly makes new friends out of Adam Park, Katherine Hillard and Tanya Sloan. However, Rocky becomes disturbed by his teammates' love for Jason, as he feels he is being replaced by the Ranger he had replaced. After risking his life to prove himself to be worthy despite Jason's popularity, Rocky eventually accepts Jason as a friend and adopts the same jovial relationship with Jason that Rocky has with everyone else. When Tommy is kidnapped by Prince Gasket, Jason would step up as leader of the team until they were able to save Tommy and bring him back. Jason is also chosen by Tanya to become the guardian of Auric the Conqueror for a time.

Jason returns the Gold Ranger powers to Trey in the final episode of "Zeo" when it is discovered that he cannot handle the powers much longer, as they are draining away - along with his own life force - due to the Gold Ranger powers not being intended for human physiology. However, there are no apparent long-term effects, and Jason appears perfectly healthy after the powers are transferred back to Trey.

""

Jason appears in this movie. He and Kimberly are first seen scuba diving, but they are then kidnapped by the villainess Divatox and are briefly brainwashed to fight against the Turbo Rangers. It appears that the evil influence enhanced his own negative aspects, as at one point he taunts Tommy with "Now I'm the one with the muscles and the power!" After being restored to normal by Lerigot, he once again fades into the background, with Jason's last appearance in the film being replacing the injured Rocky in a martial arts tournament.

""

Jason's final appearance is in "", in the special episode "Forever Red", which celebrated the tenth anniversary of "Power Rangers". In this episode, he utilizes his original Red Ranger powers and joins nine other Red Rangers (including Tommy) to defeat the remnants of the Machine Empire, a force of villains that Jason had previously battled as the Gold Ranger. Jason and , the Red Wild Force Ranger, fight together against the leader of the Machine Empire, General Venjix. As a veteran Red Ranger, Jason refers to Cole, the newest Red Ranger, as "Rookie," initially seeming to display an air of arrogance. However, Jason's good nature remains appreciable as he overwhelms General Venjix, but then allows Cole to be the one to defeat him. Jason's activities, both as a Ranger and in his personal life, remain unknown.

ee also