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Tommy Oliver
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Dr. Thomas Oliver (better known as Tommy) is a fictional character from the universe of the American children's television franchise Power Rangers. 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). 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.
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Dr. Thomas Oliver (better known as Tommy) is a fictional character from the universe of the American children's television franchise Power Rangers. 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). 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. His name is a play on Tony Oliver, the producer of MMPR and co-producer of Zeo, as well as the voice of Tommy's talking saber Saba.
Tommy is the longest-serving Power Ranger in the show's history and is believed by some to be the best Power Ranger ever within the show's continuity (in episodes such as "Forever Red"). He is strong and loyal, and is an incredible martial artist, being able to stand against some monsters without having to morph into a Power Ranger, as he did against Goldar in the episode "Green No More; part 2". He was somewhat absent-minded in his teen years, often forgetting things like his Power Morpher, homework, or karate belt (this was sometimes used as a plot device to keep him out of the way and provide a reason for the Green Ranger to come in later, in order to accommodate the Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger footage).
Fictional character history
As the Green Ranger
Tommy was first introduced in the MMPR incarnation in the mini-saga "Green with Evil". As a new student at Angel Grove High School, Tommy faced the Red Power Ranger Jason Lee Scott, in a Martial Arts Tournament, catching the attention of both the Pink Power Ranger Kimberly Hart and the evil witch Rita Repulsa. Tommy's fighting talent equated that of Jason, prompting Rita to turn him into the Green Power Ranger. Rita cast an evil spell to make Tommy loyal to her, granting him limited magic-based powers on top of the Dragon Power Coin. The reason for this was because his Ranger powers were fueled by Rita's dark magic rather than the Morphing Grid, like the other Rangers. Following a battle with the Putties to test his skills, Tommy's given mission was to destroy Zordon, the Command Center, and the Power Rangers, leaving the world defenseless against Rita's conquest.
Tommy succeeded 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 gave 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 was the ability to generate powerful energy projections, and the Green Ranger was able to contend with all the other Power Rangers at once, only to be warded off by the Megazord.
After the nefarious Scorpina was released from her isolated internment, she and her newly reunited mate Goldar began wreaking havoc together. In a then never-before-seen act of malice, Rita made the Green Ranger grow alongside her henchmen. Together, the trio would decimate the Megazord and send its powerless body plummeting into the Earth's lava-filled core.
Tommy's Dragon Dagger was capable of summoning and controlling his own Zord, the Dragonzord. Once the Rangers' Zords were gone, he summoned his to raze the defenseless city of Angel Grove. Eventually, a newly resurrected Zordon would return the Rangers to their Dinozords after explaining that the Earth's lava naturally healed them. As the Megazord overcame the Dragonzord, Jason would fight Tommy alone in a final battle that saw Jason narrowly outmatch Tommy, destroying his Sword of Darkness, a weapon given to him by Rita that would maintain the spell over Tommy. In order to make amends for his evil deeds, Tommy agreed to Zordon's rules as for Rangerdom, accepted a communicator from the Blue Power Ranger Billy Cranston, and dedicated himself and his powers to battling down the wicked Rita.
Tommy's fierce fighting abilities were contrasted by his nervousness around Kimberly who he had alienated when he was evil. Kimberly would forgive him for his transgressions, but it wasn't until he lost his powers to Rita after she used a Green Candle, made of special wax once touched by Tommy, to sever his link to the Morphing Grid, did the Pink Ranger return his affections.
In the adventure involving the Green Candle, Goldar kept the lit item in the Dark Dimension and held Tommy captive there, knowing that his proximity would cause the candle's melting process to accelerate. Jason would make 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, would prevent him from getting to it in time. As Tommy's powers faded, he was left with one last opportunity to keep the powers from returning to Rita: he would have to give the powers over to another individual who possessed a stable link to the Morphing Grid for the Green Ranger powers to function on. He chose Jason.
When Rita kidnapped the parents of all the students at Angel Grove High School, the Rangers were 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 was revealed when he refused to return the parents, or the Dragon Dagger Rita had brainwashed Billy into stealing for her. As Goldar commanded the Dragonzord to demolish the defenseless Angel Grove, Jason revealed his own deception: his gambit of defecting his Power Coin to Goldar lead to the oversight that he still possessed the Dragon Coin.
The Rangers recruited Tommy to reclaim his powers and he was assisted by an energy boost from Zordon that would temporarily energize him in replacement of his missing direct link to the Morphing Grid. However, his powers were very unstable now and had to be recharged several times by Zordon. In using the depleting powers to retrieve the missing items, Tommy reached into a force-field and appeared to have been lethally affected. Eventually, it would be learned that the electrocution he underwent by the force-field, while wearing the Green Ranger powers, revitalized 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 knowedge, Tommy still chose to be a Ranger.
In Season 2, Lord Zedd arrived and replaced Rita. In order for the Rangers to compete with Zedd's powerful monsters, the Dinozord were upgraded into the Thunderzords. However, Tommy's Green Ranger powers were too weak to support a new Zord, though he was able to continue using the Dragonzord. Eventually, Tommy lost his Green Ranger powers for good when Zedd strapped Tommy in another dimension, called the Otherworld, as his monster, the Turbanshell attacked the city (the other Rangers were trapped in a force-field without access to the Morphing Grid as the Command Center was also trapped in a force-field, which was shrinking and threatening to crush it). Zedd used a special crystal to drain the Green Ranger powers and use them to fuel another band of evil Rangers. As a last ditch effort, it was by Tommy's hands that the powers were destroyed when he shattered the crystal, rather than let the powers it held, his powers, be used for evil like they had been before. He was able to morph into the Green Ranger one last time after that and assisted the Rangers in destroying Turbanshell. In doing so, he spent the last of his powers fulfilling the promise he made to about how to use them after he was free of Rita's influence.
As the White Ranger
For a short time, Tommy was 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 unleashed his maniacal Nimrod monster, which in turn spawned AC and DC, Alpha 5 and Zordon decided it was time to take matters into their own hands.
Luckily for the Rangers, Zordon and Alpha 5 were 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 became the new leader of the Power Rangers. He used his enchanted talking saber, Saba, to summon the Tigerzord. He was at first overconfident with his powers that he even lost control of the Tigerzord the first time he controlled it. After that, he was much more careful.
After Jason and the Yellow and Black Power Rangers Trini Kwan and Zack Taylor were chosen to attend a peace conference in Switzerland, replacement Rangers had to be found. These Rangers were Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell and Adam Park. The Sword of Light was the power source used to transfer the powers. Tommy was the one who activated the power transfer using the sword.
A clone of Tommy was created by the Wizard of Deception, using a lock of Tommy's hair. The clone was then 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 use them to recharge the Dragon Power Coin to its full and complete power. How he did this remains speculative; but what is certain is that Rita, who had returned and charmed Zedd into marrying her, encouraged him to summon the Wizard and recreate her Evil Green Ranger. This was an interesting story because it made Tommy face the evil that he once was and deal with it (until now, Tommy had not wanted to talk about his Green Ranger past, as was seen in the episode "Lights, Camera, Action"). Tommy destroyed the Wizard of Deception, breaking the spell on the Green Ranger. The White Ranger helped his clone realize that even though he was a clone, he was still human and had the power to choose between right and wrong. The clone Tommy (referred to as "Tom") remained in the colonial times of Angel Grove after the two of them traveled back there to save the other Rangers. He kept the Dragon Coin with him, as well as the powers it held. What happened to him and the coin however was never explained, though it is assumed that the Dragon Coin might have survived and could be active as it was not directly connected to the main Morphing Grid like the others.
In Season 3, after the Thunderzords were destroyed by Rito Revolto, Tommy and the other Rangers went on a quest to find the legendary Ninjor and receive their Ninja Coins. He gained new powers as the White Ninja Ranger with the power of the Falcon Coin and the Falconzord. Tommy met Katherine Hillard at a time when she was also under Rita's spell. Katherine used Kimberly's Crane Ninja Coin, to steal the Falconzord and did not retrieve it until the Rangers gained the power of Metallic Armor.
After Katherine stole the Falconzord and Ninjor, she kidnapped Kimberly. Zedd revived the Shogunzords and ordered the Power Rangers to either use them to destroy Earth or have Kimberly's life force drained away. Billy managed to reprogram the Zords to the Rangers' control. Tommy himself went to retrieve Kimberly from Zedd's Dark Dimension. He fought with Zedd, but Zedd proved to be too powerful for him. Tommy managed to destroy Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat, and Tommy escaped with Kimberly. Tommy gained control of the White Shogunzord. Afterwards, Kimberly retired from active Ranger service so that she could compete in gymnastics, passing her powers onto Katherine. Kimberly and Tommy maintained a long-distance relationship.
Tommy had to retrieve the Zeo Crystal, which was hidden under Rita and Zedd's Palace. Zordon had told him that only a being who was pure of heart could enter the force field around the crystal and survive. Tommy had to go through the Caves of Deception to get to the crystal, and when he got to it, he wasn't sure if he would survive. He thought that there might still be some evil in him from when he was the Evil Green Ranger. He bravely passed through the force field and retrieved the crystal. Soon after though, Master Vile stole it from him. The Rangers managed to get it back, but wanted to make sure that Master Vile couldn't get it again, so the Rangers split it into five sub-crystals and sent them to different points in history.
Tommy appeared in this movie. Because this movie takes place in an alternate timeline from the series, it is unclear if Tommy commanded the Tigerzord or if he ever was the Green Ranger, although he still had the Tiger Power Coin. Tommy was depowered by Ivan Ooze and had to travel to Phaedos. There he gained the power of the Ninjetti and the Falconzord. His morphing call in this movie was changed to "White Tiger!" In the movie the White Ranger suit, along with the other five, was modified with metal and PVC plating and a new helmet and shield design.
Vile turned 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 journeyed to reclaim the Red Zeo Sub-Crystal in a Native American land. For his test, he was given three crystals (two were fakes) and he had to decide which one was real. He retrieved the true Red Sub-Crystal from Sam Trueheart, who also gave him half of an arrowhead.
Tommy gained the powers of the Red Zeo Crystal, becoming the Red Zeo Ranger in Power Rangers: Zeo. It was during this time that he and Kimberly separated after she broke up with him in a Dear John Letter. Katherine tried to set him up with another girl, but it failed due to Tommy's intervening Ranger duties. Katherine and Tommy would eventually begin courting, their first date taking place at a luau that a returning Ernie threw, which was then ruined by attacking Cogs. They later went on a "boring" (Tommy sarcastically remarked) movie date. In the Zeo season finale, "A Season to Remember", which takes place in the future, with Tommy telling his young grandson about the Christmas that took place during the Zeo era, he is shown to be married to Katherine. Their older grandson appears as well, and is presumed to be a Power Ranger, with a communicator similar to the ones used by Zordon's Rangers. Due to Zordon's death and the fact that the episode was a Christmas special, this is not always considered canon by fans.
After the Zeo Megazord was severely damaged, Tommy alone was left the Red Battlezord, a Zord that was telepathically controlled. He had difficulty learning to operate the mind link and would lose control when becoming emotional. A spirit quest would eventually provide Tommy with the peace of mind needed to control the lone Zord; however, during this journey, Tommy would meet his brother David Trueheart (portrayed by Jason David Frank's real life brother, the late Eric Frank). King Mondo captured David in order to trap Tommy. After freeing him, Tommy would reveal his identity as a Ranger to David, who refused to let a helpless Tommy remain behind. To convince David to flee to safety, Tommy revealed his identity to him. It would then be learned that David had the other half of the arrowhead. Should the two arrowheads be joined, the holder of the arrowhead would control both the spirits trapped within them and a darkness powerful enough to destroy the world.
Tommy would be reunited with his best friend and former-teammate Jason, when the Gold Zeo Ranger Trey of Triforia was injured. Tommy would choose Jason, who had returned from the Peace Conference, to temporarily hold the Gold Ranger powers.
Tommy was 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 Katherine, were able to save him by de-morphing and surrendering to prove they weren't against him.
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 became the Red Turbo Ranger, gaining the Red Lightning Turbozord.
When Tommy finds out that Divatox is holding Jason and Kimberly captive, it is implied that his former feelings for Kimberly causes him to make poor choices and irrational decisions. When Jason and Kimberly were possessed by Maligore, Tommy vainly attempted to snap Kimberly out of the spell by removing his Ranger helmet. He calms down later when Jason and Kimberly are safe and sound, and the romanticisim is left out of further plotlines.
Tommy became 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 was a short one, with Dimitria declaring his duties as a defender of Earth fulfilled. In the episode "Passing the Torch," Divatox captured Tommy after her mother convinced her that removing the leader would be the key to the Power Rangers' defeat. However, T.J. Johnson and Cassie Chan managed to find and rescue him after Katherine failed to fend off a group of Pirahnatrons. Before Tommy left, he asked 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."
For some time, the preceding years of Tommy's life remained undefined, although his reappearance in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder fills in some of the gaps. Tommy went on to college and graduate school, earning a doctorate in paleontology. During this time, he met Hayley (who would help him in the creation of the Dino Ranger powers based on parts of older Rangers' powers). He was also partners with Terrence "Smitty" Smith and Dr. Anton Mercer on a dinosaur-related project that would lead 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. It would also have Tommy finding the Dino Gems and hiding them in the lab under his basement while learning the location of the Shield of Triumph.
Tommy made his next appearance in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode "Forever Red". By this time, he was shown to have finally gotten rid of his signature long hair cut which he displayed in his previous appearances. He was first seen in the episode resting in a bar 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, recruited 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 recruited nine previous Red Rangers (which to his delight included Jason) to intervene. To achieve victory, Tommy morphed into the Red Zeo Ranger in this episode and fought Gerrok alongside Wes Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger. Tommy destroyed Gerrok with the "Zeo Flying Power Kick."
After the events of "Forever Red," Tommy became a science teacher at a school in the fictional city of Reefside, California at the onset of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. A trio of detention students — 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 Power Rangers. Tommy recruits these students to become the Dino Rangers, doing so while seeming mysterious and somewhat obnoxious, as noted by Conner McKnight. 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 was the Brachiozord carrier, he wielded the Brachio Staff, and he drove the Black Thunder ATV (originally devised as a trap by the then-evil Trent Mercer, but it was soon reprogrammed).
When the White Dino Ranger appeared, Tommy's dedication to saving the lives of innocents seemed to give Tommy cause to show no mercy to him, even after he found out his identity was Trent Mercer. For a while, he was encased in amber by the White Dino Ranger, and once freed, was unable to de-morph, due to his Dino Gem and his morpher re-molecularizing. He remained in his morphed form for a while. Despite this resolve, he could not help but feel sympathy for Trent when his students wouldn't, reminding them that he was infamously in the same predicament years ago as the evil Green Ranger, his very first stint as a Power Ranger, and that out of all the Evil Rangers that had existed, he was the one that had come closest to ending them once and for all.
After seeing the power of the White Ranger Clone and the Terrorsaurus, Tommy decided that the Rangers needed an upgrade. He took Trent to the location of the Shield of Triumph, as the shield could only be freed from its resting place by the power of Trent's Dino Gem. He also had a hunch that Conner was the one destined to control the shield. He was right, as Conner showed up just in time to save the shield from being lost forever. Tommy informed the other Rangers they had to contribute their energies to the shield, and Conner became the Triassic Ranger.
He was later de-morphed by a special substance, but was rendered invisible as a result. An experiment sees the return of Tommy to his natural state, but the process shatters his Dino Gem and renders Tommy in a coma. During this time, Tommy would endure several internal battles, facing off against several of his past Ranger egos: the Green and White Power Rangers and Zeo Ranger V – Red (during each of his fights with those Rangers, the screen was tinted the color that matched the Ranger). After proving that he would not give up the fight for his life, his opponents each offered him a shattered piece of his Dino Gem. Tommy would awake holding the newly repaired Gem in his hand. As a result, he also gained Super Dino Mode.
When he learned that Trent was hiding his father's secret identity, Tommy considered asking Trent to surrender his Morpher. Though Tommy came to understand Trent's loyalty, he left the decision of letting Trent stay with the team to the other Rangers. They decided to let Trent stay after he saved Conner's life. In a final battle against Zeltrax, Tommy advises the Rangers that the only means to succeed would be to sacrifice their Zords (this may have been a reference to his own Zord sacrifice in Season 3's Ninja Quest, Part 1). At the end of the series, Tommy destroyed Zeltrax, alongside Kira. The Dino Rangers sacrificed their Dino Gems in order to destroy Mesogog's ultimate form(s). By that point, Mesogog had already managed to separate himself from Dr. Anton Mercer. In the end, Tommy would answer 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.
Tommy and the other Dino Rangers team up with the S.P.D. Rangers to battle the united forces of Zeltrax and Emperor Gruumm, In which he teamed up with Doggie Cruger, though Tommy never appears unmorphed (Jason David Frank was not present at the time) and is voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. Tommy was very briefly mentioned at the end. Conner, Ethan & Kira were attending their High School reunion and were curious to see if he was there.
See also
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