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Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue
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Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue (often abbreviated as PRLR and often simply called Lightspeed Rescue) is the 2000 incarnation of the Power Rangers TV franchise, based on the Super Sentai series Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V.
It was the first incarnation of Power Rangers to have the Rangers' identities to be known to the public from the onset, as opposed to previous incarnations where a Ranger's identity was to be kept secret, revealed only in extreme circumstances.
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Encyclopedia
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue (often abbreviated as PRLR and often simply called Lightspeed Rescue) is the 2000 incarnation of the Power Rangers TV franchise, based on the Super Sentai series Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V.
It was the first incarnation of Power Rangers to have the Rangers' identities to be known to the public from the onset, as opposed to previous incarnations where a Ranger's identity was to be kept secret, revealed only in extreme circumstances. The series is unique as it was the first where the Ranger's powers, Zords and weapons were man-made and had no mystical or extraterrestrial origin whatsoever.
Lightspeed Rescue also had, for the first time, a Power Ranger with no Super Sentai counterpart in the Titanium Ranger, as there was no regular sixth Ranger in GoGo V. It is the last Saban-produced Power Rangers series to feature the main villain in its Super Sentai counterpart.
Synopsis
Lightspeed Rescue takes place in the fictitious city of Mariner Bay, California, which was built on an ancient demon burial ground. When the demons threaten to rise again, a government organization called Lightspeed Rescue, headed by Captain William Mitchell recruits four civilians and his own daughter to defend the city. Each of the four civilians chosen had a special area of expertise: Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Ranger, was a fire fighter in the local fire department; Chad Lee, the Blue Lightspeed Ranger, worked as a lifeguard and marine animal trainer at a local marine amusement park; Joel Rawlings, the Green Lightspeed Ranger, was a stunt pilot; Kelsey Winslow, the Yellow Lightspeed Ranger, was an extreme sports athlete; Dana Mitchell, the Captain's daughter, who agreed to become the Pink Lightspeed Ranger, was a nurse and practiced medical arts. The five Power Rangers were aided by a team of scientists and engineers led by Miss Angela Fairweather, and operated out of the Lightspeed Aquabase, an underwater military compound that also deters the hydrophobic demons from directly attacking the base.
The five Rangers would be joined by Captain Mitchell's (long thought to be dead) son, Ryan Mitchell, who would become the Titanium Ranger. Together, the six Rangers would prevail against the demon forces time after time, culminating in a final showdown where, in the Power Rangers tradition, much of the weapons and other equipment that was used by the Power Rangers over the series was destroyed.
In addition, Lightspeed Rescue featured a reunion reappearance of characters from Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, when the villainess Trakeena comes to Earth to destroy it and the Lightspeed Rangers team up with the Galaxy Rangers.
Relation to other series
Lightspeed Rescue introduced many Power Rangers firsts. All of the members are over the age of 18 and had previous professions before becoming Power Rangers. For the first time, all villains and menaces originated from Earth, and the Power Rangers suits and Zords were of man-made origin. The Titanium Ranger is also the first original Power Ranger, as GoGo-V did not have a sixth ranger. His design is based on the Turboranger suit designs.
This series also broke ties from all other seasons, starting completely from scratch, and had no references to any of the previous series, though it, like all of its successors, is still canonical with the rest of the Power Rangers universe, and features a team-up with the previous Ranger team (it also featured several monsters from past seasons that were seen in the Season Finale). Although previous series began to move away from the original Angel Grove setting, they still featured characters like Bulk, Skull, and the Alpha bot; this season did not feature any previous characters. For the first time, the Power Rangers' identities were known to the public, though this would happen again in Power Rangers: S.P.D. and in Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, and the first to portray the Rangers wearing the same set of civilian clothes in their unmorphed forms in each episode.
Lightspeed Rescue contains many references from GoGo-V, the Sentai it was based on. To date, this series is the second to use Super Sentai team-up footage for the Power Rangers team-up; the footage from the team-up special Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V VS Gingaman was used in the two-part episode Trakeena's Revenge; most of the footage in most team-ups are completely made from scratch . Power Rangers often change the terms; in this series, the term "V-Lancer" was kept intact from its GoGo-V name. Finally, in the second episode, when the Lightspeed Megazord is about to be formed, the view briefly changes to a computer screen where the audience can see a computer checking each of the Rescue Zords. The names written are Red Ladder, Blue Thrower, Green Hover, Yellow Armor and Pink Aider. These are the original Japanese names for the Zords' GoGo-V equivalents, the Kyuu Kyuu (9-9) Machines.
Characters
The Lightspeed Rangers
Carter Grayson : The main character and the leader of the team. He was a firefighter when he was recruited to become the Red Lightspeed Ranger. Grayson is very serious about his work and often does not engage in fun. He holds himself up to high standards. He was portrayed by Sean Cw Johnson.
Chad Lee : The aquatic specialist. His main interest is with the sea, and was a dolphin trainer before he was recruited to become the Blue Lightspeed Ranger. His interests includes scuba diving. He was portrayed by Michael Chaturantabut.
Joel Rawlings : Known as the "Sky Cowboy" for his acrobatic stunts in the air, he was the most reluctant to join, wanting to leave immediately after he was taken to the Lightspeed Rescue base. However, after seeing people getting hurt, he joined the team, becoming the Green Lightspeed Ranger. He also has a massive crush on Ms. Fairweather, the scientist who developed the Lightspeed weapons. He also provides most of the comic relief during the series. He was portrayed by Keith Robinson.
Kelsey Winslow : Known as the adventurous person on the team, her main interest is with the outdoors, especially with roller-blading and rock climbing. She became the Yellow Lightspeed Ranger. Portrayed by Sasha Williams.
Dana Mitchell : Captain Mitchell's daughter, she was the first person to inform Mitchell that the demons had escaped. She worked as a paramedic in the Lightspeed base before becoming the Pink Lightspeed Ranger. Portrayed by Alison MacInnis.
Ryan Mitchell : Captain Mitchell's son. When he and Dana were little, they were in a car accident; Captain Mitchell swerved to avoid a truck and went off a cliff. Ryan held onto Mitchell's shoe, and slipped. Diabolico came and told Captain Mitchell he'd save Ryan, but wouldn't see Ryan until his 20th birthday. At first Captain Mitchell refused, but then agreed and Diabolico saved Ryan and took him away, telling Ryan that his father let him fall. Ryan makes his entrance as the Titanium Ranger, having stolen the test morpher. However, Ryan remembers the past, has a change of heart, and joins the Lightspeed team. Portrayed by Rhett Fisher.
Allies
- Captain William Mitchell: The commander of Lightspeed (and father to Dana and Ryan). He is the first Power Rangers mentor to be a parent of at least one of the Power Rangers under him. Others are Kanoi Watanabe (father of Cameron Watanabe), Udonna (mother of Nick Russell, whose real name is Bowen) and Andrew Hartford (father of Mack Hartford). He is portrayed by Ron Rogge.
- Angela Fairweather: The weapons designer of Lightspeed. (later marries Joel Rawlings, unknown if she changed her last name) Portrayed by Monica Louwerens.
- Galaxy Power Rangers: Teamed up with the Lightspeed Rangers to save the earth from the newly returned Trakeena and her demon servant, Triskull.
- Leo Corbett:
- Damon Henderson:
- Kai Chen':
- Maya:
- Kendrix Morgan:
- Time Force Power Rangers: A year later, the Lightspeed Rangers assisted the Time Force Rangers in facing an undead Vypra, her demon soldiers, and the super demon Quarganon.
Villains
- Queen Bansheera: Evil matriarch of the Demons and mother of Impus/Olympius. Gave orders in a spiritual form at the beginning of the series and returned in a mangled bodily form after an attempt by Spellbinder to bring her into human world. Gained a ghastly final form by absorbing Vypra's life energy. Had no regard for her minions (even her own son) and used them for her own gain. Attempted to open gateway to the Shadow World to unleash all of its fallen monsters but ended up becoming a resident herself after Carter kicked her into the gate and fell through because of Diabolico's doing. (voiced by Diane Salinger)
- Prince Olympius: The son of Queen Bansheera. At the beginning of the series, he was an infant called Impus. But he gained Diabolico's star power and used it to mature into his current form. This sparked a rivalry between them after Diabolico returned. Later in order to escape the Shadow World, was forced to absorb fallen monsters to gain another mutated form, was reverted back to adult form when defeated by Rangers. Gained a super-powerful draconic final form near the finale and was successful, along with Diabolico in destroying nearly all of Rangers' zords, was destroyed for good by Lifeforce Megazord. Was armed with double-bladed spear in adult form. (voiced by Michael Forest)
- Diabolico: Original antagonist of the 1st half of Lightspeed; he is a demon equipped with the Star Power. First appeared to save Ryan from death and took him into custody. Was destroyed twice in the series, first time was when he fought the Rangers in the Lightspeed Solarzord,episode16, and again when facing Olympius. Was revived in advanced form along with Olympius and was destroyed by Lifeforce Megazord. Fiercely loyal, he tries to assist his friends Vypra and Loki and turns on Bansheera when he is forced to destroy Loki against his will. Assists the Rangers in spiritual form in sealing Bansheera up in the Shadow World in the finale. Armed with skull-headed staff in normal form and a sword in super-demon form. (voiced by Neil Kaplan)
- Vypra: Female demon who attacks with her dune buggy vehicle, the Vyprari. Died near the end of the series when she was absorbed by Bansheera for failing her too many times. Later returned to life in Power Rangers: Time Force to revive the super demon, Quarganon to fight against both Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force Power Rangers. Was destroyed again along with Quarganon by Wes, Carter, Eric, Chad, and Joel. Armed with a sword. (portrayed by Jennifer L. Yen)
- Loki: Warrior demon who is a friend of Diabolico's. Was forcibly destroyed by Diabolico when Bansheera took control of his body. Was armed with a two-pronged staff. (voiced by David Lodge)
- Jinxer: Monster-maker demon, creates monsters using magical cards and incantations. His fate was unknown as he was last seen piloting the Omega Megazord in placing the six stones for Bansheera's ceremony. The Omega Megazord was destroyed, but it is unknown if Jinxer survived or not. (voiced by Kim Strauss)
- Triskull: Exclusive to the Lost Galaxy/Lightspeed Rescue team-up, he attempted to drain life energy from humans for Trakeena and tricked Bansheera's demons into assisting him. Was defeated, but it is unknown if he was destroyed since he did not explode. (voiced by Michael Sorich)
- Trakeena: Former villainess from Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, returned to Earth to exact revenge by draining life energy from humans to gain her 'green' form. Was poisoned by Olympius and was turned into a giant monster form and was finally beaten for good by the Omega Megazord wielding the Lights of Orion. (played by Jennifer Burns)
Arsenal
- Rescue Morphers: Developed by the Lightspeed organization and given to five hand-picked individuals who would become the Lightspeed Rangers. After crying out "Lightspeed, Rescue!", the Rangers open their morphers and utilize a four-digit keypad to morph.
- Titanium Morpher: A specially designed morpher brandishing a solar-panel pattern that proved too much for Carter to handle once he tested it. It is currently in the possession of Ryan Mitchell, who initially used his Ranger powers to aid Diabolico before seeing the error of his ways and joining the other Rangers. Ryan calls out "Titanium Power!" and opens the panel on his morpher to morph.
- Battle Booster: These gadgets materialize from the Rescue Morphers and are activated by a numeric keypad which serves to power up weapons and Zords, and summon the Mega Battle Armor.
- Rescue Blaster: Each of these standard Ranger sidearms features a Baton Mode and a Blaster Mode. In addition, the handle can be detached and combined with either a V-Lancer or a Rescuebird component.
- Thermo Blaster: Intense heat blasters color-coded for each Ranger. Their firepower can be boosted once a Battle Booster is attached.
- Rescuebird: This weapon, which can be rebuilt to become the Unilaser, is launched from the Rail Rescue Bay whenever the Rangers call for it. When in Unilaser Mode, it fires the team's combined power at opponents. The Rescuebird can be split into a Drill, a Cutter, a Laser, an Injector and a Claw, each used for either combat or rescue purposes as the situation dictates. When separate, each component must be attached to each of the Rescue Blasters.
- V-Lancer: The V-Lancers are staff-like weapons that materialize from a red V when summoned. Each V-Lancer acts as a blaster in addition to its default spear-like mode, by attaching a Rescue Blaster handle, and can launch the Spectra Blast, a blast which is even stronger than the Unilaser, to destroy enemies.
- Titanium Laser: Titanium Ranger's personal weapon is an interchangeable blaster and battle axe. The battle ax can absorb blasts and launch them back.
- Mega Battle Armor: Designed by Miss Fairweather and her brother Clark, and activated by entering "861" into the Battle Booster, the Mega Battle Armor equips the Green Ranger with a buzzsaw and the Blue Ranger with an ice cannon.
- Rescue Rover: This jeep serves as standard Ranger transport to carry them to the scene of an emergency.
- Lightspeed Cycles: Motorcycles used for high speed transportation. The Red Lightspeed Cycle has a detachable Rescue Speeder, which can be launched for high powered attacks.
- Trans Armor Cycle: A motorcycle that can transform into Battlizer armor for the Red Ranger.
- Mobile Armor Vehicle: A one-man aircraft controlled by the Red Ranger. On its first day out, the MAV malfunctioned, causing Carter's day to repeat in a time loop. The MAV was ultimately sacrificed to destroy the rogue Omega Megazord.
Zords
The first Zords in Lightspeed Rescue were all based on rescue vehicles. The Rail Rescues carried these Zords out of the holding bay, and could also form their own Megazord. The Max Solarzord was a space shuttle-zord that was piloted by the Titanium Ranger. The Omegazords were space vehicles that were also created by Lightspeed Rescue. The Lifeforce Megazord was similar to the Lightspeed Solarzord, but required the energy of the Lightspeed Rangers as power.
- Lightspeed Solarzord
- Max Solarzord, piloted by Ryan as the Titanium Ranger
- Lightspeed Megazord
- Pyro Rescue 1, driven by Carter as the Red Lightspeed Ranger
- Aqua Rescue 2, driven by Chad as the Blue Lightspeed Ranger
- Aero Rescue 3, piloted by Joel as the Green Lightspeed Ranger
- Haz Rescue 4, driven by Kelsey as the Yellow Lightspeed Ranger
- Med Rescue 5, driven by Dana as the Pink Lightspeed Ranger
- Supertrain Megazord
- Rail Rescue 1, driven by Carter
- Rail Rescue 2, driven by Chad
- Rail Rescue 3, driven by Joel
- Rail Rescue 4, driven by Kelsey
- Rail Rescue 5, driven by Dana
- Omega Megazord
- Omegazord 1, piloted by Carter
- Omegazord 2, piloted by Chad
- Omegazord 3, piloted by Joel
- Omegazord 4, piloted by Kelsey
- Omegazord 5, piloted by Dana
- Lifeforce Megazord, one of the few Megazords that wasn't a gestalt of several vehicles/robots, but a standalone robot
- The Aqua Rescue 2, Haz Rescue 4, and Med Rescue 5 could combine to form a Hydromode for the Lightspeed Megazord, for when fires are needed to be put out.
Video game
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue had a video game based on it. It was available for Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Playstation, and PC
Episodes
| # | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|
| 1 | "Operation Lightspeed" | February 12, 2000 | | 2 | "Lightspeed Teamwork" | February 19, 2000 | | 3 | "Trial By Fire" | February 26, 2000 | | 4 | "Riding the Edge" | March 4, 2000 | | 5 | "A Matter of Trust" | March 11, 2000 | | 6 | "Wheels of Destruction" | March 18, 2000 | | 7 | "Cyborg Rangers" | March 25, 2000 | | 8 | "Up to the Challenge" | April 1, 2000 | | 9 | "Go Volcanic" | April 8, 2000 | | 10 | "Rising from Ashes" | April 15, 2000 | | 11 | "From Deep in the Shadows" | April 22, 2000 | | 12 | "Truth Discovered" | April 29, 2000 | | 13 | "Ryan's Destiny" | May 6, 2000 | | 14 | "Curse of the Cobra" | May 13, 2000 | | 15 | "Strength of the Sun" | May 20, 2000 | | 16 | "The Cobra Strikes" | May 27, 2000 | | 17 | "Olympius Ascends" | August 19, 2000 | | 18 | "A Face from the Past" | August 26, 2000 | | 19 | "The Queen's Return" | September 2, 2000 | | 20 | "The Omega Project" | September 9, 2000 | | 21 | "The Fifth Crystal" | September 17, 2000 | | 22 | "The Chosen Path" | September 23, 2000 | | 23 | "Yesterday Again" | September 30, 2000 | | 24 | "As Time Runs Out" | October 7, 2000 | | 25 | "In the Freeze Zone" | October 21, 2000 | | 26 | "The Mighty Mega Battles" | October 28, 2000 | | 27 | "The Great Egg Caper" | November 3, 2000 | | 28 | "Ocean Blue" | November 4, 2000 | | 29 | "Trakeena's Revenge, Part I" | November 6, 2000 | | 30 | "Trakeena's Revenge, Part II" | November 7, 2000 | | 31 | "The Last Ranger" | November 8, 2000 | | 32 | "Sorcerer of the Sands" | November 9, 2000 | | 33 | "Olympius Unbound" | November 10, 2000 | | 34 | "Neptune's Daughter" | November 11, 2000 | | 35 | "Web War" | November 13, 2000 | | 36 | "In the Limelight" | November 14, 2000 | | 37 | "Wrath of the Queen" | November 15, 2000 | | 38 | "Rise of the Super Demons" | November 16, 2000 | | 39 | "The Fate of Lightspeed, Part I" | November 17, 2000 | | 40 | "The Fate of Lightspeed, Part II" | November 18, 2000 | |
See also
External links
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