Tommy Oliver

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Tommy Oliver
First Appearance:	Green with Evil, Part 1 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Last Appearance:	Wormhole ()
Status:	High School Science Teacher, Currently Retired as a Ranger
Affiliation:	Anton Mercer Industries
Homeworld:	Earth
Weapon(s)/ Gear:	Power Morpher Dragon Dagger Blade Blaster Saba Metallic Armor Zeonizers Zeo Blade Zeo Laser Pistol Zeo Power Sword Defender Wheel Zeo Jet Cycle Turbo Morpher Turbo Lightning Sword Red Turbo Cart Brachio Morpher Brachio Staff Super Dino Mode Black Thunder ATV
Zord(s):	Dragonzord White Tigerzord Falconzord White Shogunzord (shared with Kat Hillard) Zeozord V Red Battlezord Super Zeozord V Red Lightning Turbozord Brachiozord Cephalazord Dimetrozord Stegozord Parasaurzord Ankylozord
Vehicles:	White Shark Cycle Red Zeo Jet Cycle Red Turbo Cart
Powers:	Green Power Ranger White Power Ranger White Ninja Ranger Zeo Ranger V Red Turbo Ranger Black Dino Ranger * Invisibility
Portrayed by:	Jason David Frank (teenager and adult) Michael R. Gotto (child) Jeffrey Parazzo (voice only for the episode Wormhole)
Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a fictional character from the universe of the American children's television franchise Power Rangers. He has been portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in virtually all of his appearances. Considered a legend among his fellow 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, ', ', and . He is called "Tommy" by his friends and "Dr. O" by his students. He is widely considered as one of the most, if not the most, popular Power Ranger of all time. He also appeared in the ' episode, Forever Red and the ' episode, Wormhole. In the episode Wormhole, he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. Tommy is the longest-serving Power Ranger, as well as the Power Ranger with the largest arsenal available to him. His level of popularity as a Ranger is quite high for all age groups. Throughout his run as the Green Ranger, he gained a high level of appreciation from fans, being one of the most popular Power Rangers of all time. In that sense, his character is very similar to Fonzie of Happy Days and Urkel of Family Matters in that both started out as supporting characters and soon evolved into the central characters of their respective shows. (This effect is known as the Fonzie syndrome) Tommy has an extensive run as a character. The Green Power Ranger was most likely one of the most, if not the most, influential and popular character in all Power Ranger history, regarded even today as the best of the 'Evil' Rangers. His fanbase is extensively large and incorporates people from numerous ages. As shown in dialogue in Forever Red and Legacy of Power, several of the show's characters also consider Tommy the greatest Ranger who ever lived. Tommy is strong and loyal, and very good in martial arts as he is both a teacher and student. A common theme of the four incarnations he plays a major role of is his loyalty, often being a victim to turn him against his fellow Rangers, resulting in performances from him as a villain and a hero. He is often a leader, instilling his leadership skills in both the Power Rangers he works with and the students that he teaches. He also used to be somewhat absent-minded in his earlier teen years, often forgetting things like his 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 late). It can be assumed that Tommy never wanted to be a Ranger; the reason he became one in the first place was to make up for what he did as the Evil Green Ranger. At the beginning and end of Dino Thunder, Tommy said that he was settling down and living a quiet life, probably since he missed out on his youth due to his duties as a Ranger getting in the way. Contents 1 Character history 1.1 In 1.2 In 1.3 In 1.4 College and Career 1.5 In 2 Controversy 3 Trivia 4 Quotes Character history In Tommy as the Green Power Ranger Tommy was first introduced in the Mighty Morphin' incarnation as the Green Power Ranger in the mini-saga Green with Evil. Tommy battled it out with Jason in a Martial Arts Tournament, catching Rita's attention. Rita decided to give him a strength upgrade by bestowing him with the Green Ranger powers. Rita Repulsa had cast an evil spell, making Tommy obey her, granting him evil Ranger powers and weaponry, and the Dragon Power Coin and ordered him to try to destroy the other Rangers. He followed Rita's orders accordingly and without question and defeated her Putty Patrol as an initiation into Rita's squad of goons. Rita put the Green Ranger to good use, ordering him to decimate all connections that the Power Rangers had with Zordon. He destroyed half of the Command Center, made the Rangers lose touch with Zordon, and their Megazord and lose all communicational abilities as well. He also gave Alpha 5 a temporary virus. Green Ranger took all the Power Rangers head on in battle, although he wasn't able to defend himself from their Megazord's attack and temporarily retreated. After the devious Scorpina had been let loose, she and Goldar began wreaking havoc together. When the Green Ranger joined them, they were able to use their wicked tactics and take down the Megazord with ease in a battle which drained the Megazord's power by eclipsing the sun's energy light waves. Green Ranger and Goldar joined their attack to form a dual barrage blast and instantaneously defeat the Megazord. Afterwards, Tommy used the Dragon Dagger to summon his own Zord, the mighty Dragonzord. With Zordon's help, once he had returned, the Rangers battled the Dragonzord with their Megazord. Tommy lost the quarrel and fell out of the zord, resuming his battle with the Red Ranger in a legendary showdown. Jason deflected Tommy's laser blasts and overpowered him. The Red Power Ranger freed Tommy from Rita's control when he destroyed the Green Ranger's weapon, the Sword of Darkness. With the sword gone, so were his evil Ranger powers. From this point on, Tommy lent his power and zord to aid the Rangers against Rita Repulsa and her diabolical forces. He then befriended Kimberly Hart, the Pink Power Ranger, in a loving relationship, and started dating her. When she left the team to pursue her career in gymnastics, they kept in touch, but she later broke up with him in a Dear John letter when she confessed to meeting someone else while on her tours. This was a sad moment for Tommy. As time went on, Rita cast a spell, in the form of a green candle (using her contact with the Dragon Coin as a base), to drain Tommy's Green Ranger powers and retrieve them, but Zordon was able to save them by having Tommy transfer the powers to Jason. Goldar pinned Tommy in a compromising situation, telling him that his betrayal of Rita was not forgotten. Tommy was now powerless and wasn't able to battle Goldar without his Green Ranger powers. The Red Power Ranger possessed his Dragon Dagger and Shield and control of the Dragonzord when Tommy's Ranger powers faded. Tommy had returned to claim his powers when the Rangers' parents were in danger and continued his role as the Green Ranger. However, his powers were very unstable now and had to be recharged several times by Zordon. His powers were completely destroyed when Lord Zedd forced Tommy into battle with a monster called Turbanshell. For quite some time, Tommy was absent from helping the other Rangers defeat Rita's henchmen. However, when Lord Zedd unleashed his maniacal Nimrod monster, whom in turn spawned AC and DC, Alpha 5 and Zordon decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. Tommy as the White Power Ranger Luckily for the Rangers, Zordon and Alpha 5 were able to create new powers for Tommy and replenish him, making him the White Power Ranger, and sharing the leadership of the Power Rangers with Jason. He uses his enchanted talking sabre, Saba, to summon the White Tigerzord. After their Thunderzords and Ranger powers were destroyed by Rito Revolto, Tommy and the other Rangers went on a quest to find the legendary Ninjor and receive their Ninja Coins. In addition to his re-charged Morphin powers, he gained new powers as the White Ninja Ranger with the power of the Falcon and the Falcon Ninjazord. Tommy met Katherine Hillard (whom he would wind up marrying in a possible future) at a time when she was also under Rita's spell. Kat used Kimberly Hart's Pink Ninja Power Coin, to steal the Falconzord and did not retrieve it until the rangers gained the power of Metallic Armor. When she stole the Falconzord and Ninjor, Tommy gained the White Shogunzord (after battling Zedd himself to rescue a kidnapped Kimberly (also Kat's work). He lost those powers when Rita and Zedd destroyed the Rangers' Power Coins. When Master Vile, Rita's & Rito's conniving and evil father, turned back time using the Orb of Doom, a young Tommy had to reclaim the Red Zeo Crystal in some Native American land. In Tommy as Zeo Ranger V — Red Tommy gained the powers of the Red Zeo Crystal, becoming Zeo Ranger V in . It was during this time that he & Kimberly separated, and by the end of the season he'd been paired off with Kat. Tommy faced a great challenge when the Zeo Zords were severely damaged and he then had to rely solely on the Red Battlezord, a machine that was telepathically controlled. Tommy had a tough time with it because it would lose control anytime he got emotional. He had to go on a spiritual quest to settle his inner demons and gain peace with himself. It was during this time that he met his brother David Trueheart, played by his real life brother, the late Eric Frank. Tommy, at one time, was captured by Prince Gasket of the evil Machine Empire and brainwashed into attempting to destroy his friends, believing them to be the threat to the world. Luckily, they were able to save him. In Tommy as the Red Turbo Ranger With a new villain in Divatox at the onset of , Tommy and his fellow Rangers abandoned their Zeo powers for the newly created Turbo powers, becoming the first Red Turbo Ranger. Presumably due to the new Turbo powers, Tommy started getting interested in motor racing. His tenure as the Red Turbo Ranger was a short one, as he was allowed to move on with his life after graduating from high school. Before he left the series, he had hand-picked his successor, T.J. Johnson. College and Career For a long time, it was not explained what happened to him after he left the series, although his reappearance in ' helps to fill in some of the gaps (some fans consider such a fill-in to be a retcon). Tommy went on to college and graduate school, graduating with a doctorate in paleontology. During this time, he had met Hayley, and with her help he created the Dino Ranger powers based on parts of older Rangers' powers. He was also partners with Terrence "Smitty" Smith and Anton Mercer on a project on dinosaurs that would lead to the creation of the Tyrannodrones, Raptor Riders and the new Dinozords. It also went horribly wrong, transforming Mercer into the evil Mesogog. (Another lab explosion left Smitty injured, and Mesogog turned him into Zeltrax, who would prove obsessed with killing Tommy in revenge). At the same time, he kept notes about the various teams of Power Rangers, leading to his next formal appearance in Power Rangers, in the ' episode "Forever Red." When word of a planned invasion of Earth by resurgent Machine Empire came to Tommy from Andros, the Red Space Ranger, he recruited eight of the other Red Rangers (Rocky DeSantos being absent) and the Quantum Time Force Ranger into helping him stop the threat. In Tommy as the Black Dino Ranger After the events of "Forever Red," Tommy became a teacher, teaching science at a school in the fictional city of Reefside, California at the onset of . It was here that his past, including his tenure as a Power Ranger, is unravelled to a trio of detention students, by the names of Conner McKnight, Ethan James, and Kira Ford, whom Tommy recruits to become the Dino Rangers. Eventually forced back into action by the discovery Mesogog was still active, he became 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. Even as the most skilled leader, Tommy seemed to be grooming Conner into a leader, in the event that Tommy might die. When the White Dino Ranger appeared, Tommy seemed to show no mercy to him, even after he found out the his identity was Trent Mercer, so that he could save lives. For a while, he was encased in amber by the White Dino Ranger, and once freed, he was unable to demorph. He remained in his morphed form for a while. He was later demorphed by a special ooze, only to become permanently invisible due to losing control of his Dino Gem Power. Although he eventually restored to normalcy, his gem shattered and he was left in a coma. During this time, he fought against several of his past Ranger egos: the Green and White Power Rangers and Zeo Ranger V in a test of survival. After proving that he would not give up the fight for his life, he awoke from the coma, his gem was repaired, and he gained Super Dino Mode. When he learned that Trent was hiding the secret that Mercer was Mesogog, Tommy considered asking Trent to surrender his morpher. When Tommy understood Trent's loyalty, he wanted to make sure the other Rangers did, so he put the decision in their hands. They decided to keep Trent on the team after he saved Conner from a monster. In a battle against Zeltrax, Conner and Ethan didn't want to sacrifice their zords, but Tommy told them "You have to." At the end of the series, the Dino Rangers sacrificed their Dino Gems in order to destroy Mesogog (who was in the form of the mighty Mesomonster), who by that point had been separated completely from Anton Mercer, burning out their powers in the process. In the aftermath, Anton asked Tommy what was next for the "man who's done it all." Tommy said that he would try to live a normal life as a simple high school science teacher. Controversy Many speculate that, during the episode Fighting Spirit, Tommy never fought the Red Turbo Ranger because, having passed those powers on to T.J., Tommy does not bear the 'burden' of them anymore. Though this cannot be true because Tommy had passed on the Green Ranger powers to his clone. This may lead to the conclusion that either Tommy was a Power Ranger again during the span of events between ' and ', or that he was involved in the creation of these powers. However these plotholes haven't been resolved yet. (Technically, Tommy was a Ranger between Turbo and Dino Thunder: he wielded the Zeo Powers in the episode Forever Red; this episode is considered by some to be of dubious canonicity, however.) In an episode of , a possible future is shown in which Tommy has wed Katherine Hillard, and the couple has children and eventually grandchildren, one of whom is a Ranger himself. However, this view of the future is seen as increasingly unlikely as Tommy had been seen after the series in question apparently single. No reason has ever been given or hinted at as why he and Kat would be ever separate. Either this future is only one single possible future, though one increasingly unlikely, or Tommy and Kat will get back together some time after the events in Dino Thunder. Several fans have pointed out it is highly unrealistic that Tommy could gain a doctorate in Paleontology, be involved in high-level genetic experimentation and become a qualified teacher in the relatively short space of time between Turbo and Dino Thunder. Some degree of suspension of belief is required. It should be noted that there exists a clone of Tommy (existing in the year 1776 to be more accurate). During the three-part series, Ep 104-106, "Return of the Green Ranger", Lord Zedd created a clone of Tommy using a lock of hair, and endowed him with the Green Ranger's powers. White against Green, Tigerzord against Dragonzord, the two were pitted against each other until the spell was able to be broken. The clone and Tommy ventured to the past to repair the damage done during Zedd's attempt to separate the rest of the team from Tommy. The clone decided to remain in the past. This issue has created some debate with older fans of the series, as what happened with the subsequent Green Ranger Power Coin was never resolved. Having been rejuvenated, it could possibly exist in full strength, or it could be privy to the same effects of the Mastodon Power Coin (as evident in Ep. 275 "Always A Chance"). However, it could be argued that the coin was never a part of the original Morphing Grid, as would be logically derived from the events of Ep. 34-35, "The Green Candle", in which his powers could not be maintained until transferred to someone holding a Power Coin of said grid. This is further evident with the events of Ep. 49-50, "Return of an Old Friend", where the original Green Ranger's powers are returned to Tommy temporarily, and then lost in Ep. 73-74, "Green No More". However, in either case, the Green Power could still exist. It is, however, not clear how much power is necessary to maintain the Dragonzord since the conclusion of the "Return of the Green Ranger" episodes, nor whether the clone used the powers after his last appearance. If said powers were unused, passed down through the generations, and the Dragonzord's dependence on the coin is held to a bare minimum, the Green Ranger's powers remain the only fully functional (for a limited span, as seen in the episodes after "Return of an Old Friend" to and concluding in "Green No More", providing that it is running on its own. If part of another grid, the power would theoretically be indefinite. Five of the other six powers to be generated from coins, that weren't the Ninja Coins destroyed by Rita, should still have one morph left in them) of the original Coins. This is proven in Power Rangers In Space, when Adam Park morphed into the Black Power Ranger with the Mastodon Power Coin, as the Ninja Frog Power Coin was destroyed by Rita. Further evidence, albeit a mistake in an attempt to sell toys, for the Green Ranger's power still in existence after the Return of the Green Ranger episodes is that the Titanus implements the crest when forming the Ninja and Shogun Ultrazords. Trivia As of the early series (specifically the episode "Island of Illusions: Part I"), Tommy is a third dan black belt in karate, as seen by the three stripes on his black belt. During the time that Tommy was trapped in morph, in the episode The Missing Bone, he asked Kira to help him clean out some files. These files had many Ranger insignias in them, including the Lightspeed Rescue symbol, leading to the possible conclusion that Tommy helped create these powers, or was involved with them. In his incarnations as the Green, White, and Black Rangers, Tommy's costume has some sort of shield. The Green Ranger's Dragon Shield covered his upper chest, the White Ranger's shield protected his entire torso, and the Black Brachio Ranger costume had armored shoulder plates. The Red Zeo and Red Turbo Ranger costumes he wore were the only ones not to feature a shield. Tommy was the first Ranger to have his own theme song ("Go Green Ranger") and the only Ranger to have two ("White Ranger" later in the series). The only other Rangers to have a song was Power Rangers Zeo 's Gold Ranger (Go Gold Ranger) and Power Rangers In Space 's Silver Ranger (Silver Ranger). Tommy was the first mentor who was also a Ranger in the same season. Tommy Oliver is the only character to have worn four different colors as a Ranger. His colors were Green and later White in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Red in Power Rangers: Zeo and Power Rangers: Turbo, and Black in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. In addition, at eight, Tommy has been in more seasons than any other character, including Zordon. These were MMPR Seasons 1-3, ', the first half of ', the episode "Forever Red" of ', and '. Although Jason David Frank was not in the episode, the morphed Black Dino Ranger was also present in the episode "Wormhole". Only the comic duo of Bulk and Skull tie with him in this instance, being present from Mighty Morphin' to Lost Galaxy (Skull made a cameo in the first episode of LG, in a scene where he's asleep and misses his chance to board Terra Venture), and both also return for Forever Red. Up until the end of Power Rangers S.P.D., Tommy had met every single Red Ranger shown on the show until that point. He knew Jason, Rocky, Aurico, T.J., and most likely Andros before Forever Red and he met Leo, Carter, Wes, Eric and Cole during Forever Red. He was the mentor of Conner of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, and had met Shane in the episode Thunder Storm, and Jack in the S.P.D. episode Wormhole. Quotes Conner: "Our teacher is the oldest living Power Ranger." Hayley: "Not the oldest. Just the best." Elsa: "Aren't you a little old for this, Tommy?" Tommy: "I may be old, but I can still pull it off" Tommy: "Well, I've got to go and do some shopping." Hayley: "Why?" Tommy: "I looked in my closet this morning, and there was a serious shortage of Black in there!" (Note: This references the fact every Ranger's civilian wardrobe's color matches their Ranger color.) |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" |- style="text-align: center;" Power Rangers Characters by Era and Generation General: List of characters | Minor characters Ranger Designations: Red Ranger > Yellow Ranger | Blue Ranger | Black/Green Ranger | Pink/White Ranger | Other Rangers and Ranger-like Allies Zordon I Jason Lee Scott > Trini Kwan | Zack Taylor | Kimberly Hart | Billy Cranston | Tommy Oliver II Rocky DeSantos > Adam Park | Aisha Campbell III-IV Katherine Hillard > Ninjor | Aquitian Rangers | Tanya Sloan | Trey of Triforia V-VI Justin Stewart > Blue Senturion | Carlos Vallertes | Ashley Hammond | Cassie Chan | T.J. Johnson | Phantom Ranger | Andros | Zhane Post-Zordon/ Independent VII-X Lost Galaxy Power Rangers | Magna Defender | Mike Corbett | Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers | Time Force Power Rangers | Quantum Ranger | Wild Force Power Rangers Disney/ New Zealand XI- present Ninja Storm Power Rangers > Dino Thunder Power Rangers | S.P.D. Power Rangers | Mystic Force Power Rangers | Clare | Koragg   From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details. Search Titles 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ? E-mail this article to: Personal Message: