Phantom Ranger

Phantom Ranger

Series	Power Rangers Turbo
Color(s)	Black/Silver
First appearance	The Phantom Phenomenon (Power Rangers Turbo)
Last appearance	Countdown to Destruction, Part 2 (Power Rangers in Space)
Status	Possibly active or retired
Homeworld	Eltar
Zords	Artillatron
Portrayed by	Alex Dodd (voice) Jason Young (suit actor)

The Phantom Ranger is a fictional character from the Power Rangers universe. He appeared in several episodes of the television series Power Rangers Turbo, and three later episodes in Power Rangers in Space.

Character history

Power Rangers Turbo

When the Phantom Ranger first appeared on Earth, neither side knew who he was – only that he was a force for good. Upon meeting him, Cassie Chan became rather infatuated with him. Though the Phantom Ranger didn't outright reciprocate these feelings, he did display a certain affection for her (such as falling into a trap when he believed she was in danger).

Though an enigmatic ally, the Phantom Ranger proved immensely valuable to the Turbo Rangers. When their Turbozords were captured by General Havoc, the Phantom Ranger provided them with the more powerful Rescue Zords. This act particularly enraged Divatox, making him number one on her "long, long list." She later captured him and stole his life-giving power ruby. Though he soon escaped, it took the Turbo Rangers some time and difficulty to retrieve his power ruby to save his life.

After his power ruby was returned to him, the Phantom Ranger left Earth, believing it to be safe with the Turbo Rangers as its protectors.

Power Rangers in Space

The next year, Zordon had been captured by Dark Specter. Like the Space Rangers, the Phantom Ranger was searching for him, though he was doing so alone. He eventually tracked Zordon to planet Hercuon, where Divatox's forces were in the process of moving out. The Phantom Ranger attempted to alert the Space Rangers before they were gone. Though he succeeded, the combined might of Divatox and Astronema's forces also severely beat him. By the time the Space Rangers arrived, Zordon was gone and Earth was under attack. The Phantom Ranger provided Andros, the Red Space Ranger, with a special CD which would unlock control of the Delta Megazord. After the crisis on Earth had passed, the Space Rangers returned to Hercuon and found a message from the Phantom Ranger. He was continuing the search for Zordon and encouraged the Rangers to never give up. Also, he assured Cassie that he would be okay and see her soon.

In the finale of Power Rangers in Space, Countdown to Destruction, the Phantom Ranger's home planet was under attack by forces once led by King Mondo of the Machine Empire. Both the Phantom Ranger and the Blue Senturion fought to defend the planet, but they were easily overwhelmed. Zordon's energy wave later completely destroyed the evil forces, saving the two heroes and the rest of the universe.

Powers and gear

The Phantom Ranger has the ability to become invisible. He also has his own Zord: Artillatron, a massive vehicle that appears to be a combination of a tank and an 18-wheeler. (When he left Earth, Artillatron was left with the Turbo Rangers.) His weapon is the Phantom Laser, a black bat-shaped laser weapon which fires black energy beams.

Unknown origin

To this day, the Phantom Ranger stands as the only Power Ranger whose true name, race, species and identity are a mystery. Little is revealed about the Phantom Ranger throughout his appearances. In fact, he never identifies himself as "Phantom Ranger" when he first appears. This name is given to him by the Turbo Power Rangers, due to his ability to become invisible like a phantom, and his armor, which loosely resembles the armor worn by the other Rangers (it's worth noting that Phantom Ranger's Super Sentai counterpart VRV Master was not a Ranger himself, but an ally). Though his life is dependent on his power ruby, it is not made clear where his powers came from.

Other possible storyline identities for The Phantom Ranger range from him being Justin's father to him being a part of a line of robotic phantom rangers. The executive producer of Turbo and Space, Judd Lynn, revealed in a July 2011 interview that the Phantom Ranger had no planned identity: "we ran out of time before we were able to fully develop a story for the Phantom Ranger with everything going on". He said if he had to give the character an origin now, he'd have made him a past Ranger and fixed on Billy as a potential, but stressed that this was only a brainstorm after the fact.^[1]

References