Time Force
From Power Rangers Universe
 | |
| Time Force | |
| Number | 9 |
| Number of episodes: | 40 |
| First episode: | 379 |
| Intro: | Time Force Intro |
| Sentai Counterpart: | Time Rangers |
| Original airing: | {{{premiere}}} |
Power Rangers: Time Force (often abbreviated as "PRTF") was the ninth incarnation of the Power Rangers series, based on the Super Sentai series Mirai Sentai Timeranger (Future Task Force Timeranger), running for 40 half-hour episodes from February to November of 2001.
Time Force is most notable for an overall story that is considerably darker than many of the other incarnations in the series. Like Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue before it and Power Rangers: Wild Force after it, the Power Rangers are adults and not teenagers. Because of this, many fans felt that this incarnation of Power Rangers, in particular, would have made a successful primetime series for adults had it not been for the traditional elements that made up a Power Rangers series.
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[edit] Synopsis
In the year 3000 humankind has evolved into an utopia where a police organization called Time Force has tracked down every single criminal - except for Ransik, who hijacks a prison full of cryogenically frozen convicts and escapes to the year 2001 in the hopes of altering the course of history, but not before fatally striking down the Red Time Force Ranger, Alex. The four Time Force officers responsible for Ransik's escape, including Alex's fiance, Jen pursue him through time and end up in the fictional city of Silver Hills, where they are acquainted with the 21st century by Wesley Collins, the son of a rich industrialist and a dead ringer for Alex. Despite Jen's initial reluctance, Wes eventually joins the team as the 5th member and new Red Ranger. The Time Force Rangers both defend Silver Hills from the onslaught of Ransik's mutants and attempt to keep the original timeline from drastically altering.
Due to Wes' estrangement from his father, the Time Force officers instead move into an abandoned clock tower in the middle of the city and begin operating a business named A Nick of Time Odd Jobs in order to get by. Wes soon finds that his father's overbearing determination to have him follow his footsteps and take over his company has become too much for him to bear, and he abandons his father to go live with the other Rangers in the clock tower. Over time, Wes and Jen's relationship also blossoms and they begin to catch feelings for each other, although neither has the gall to admit it to the other.
Wes soon discovers that Ransik's deep-rooted hatred for humans is a manifestation of his origin as a horribly disfigured mutant shunned by the rest of the genetically perfect population. Ransik displays extremely impressive combat skills throughout the season, but his biggest weakness is his constant need to take a vial of special serum in order to prevent turning into a mutant permanently. Wes notes Ransik's potential capacity for kindness, such as his affable treatment of his daughter, Nadira, but the rest of the Time Force officers are fully committed to bringing in Ransik at all costs.
The Rangers' mission is complicated by the introduction of the Silver Guardians, a new business venture by Mr. Collins to protect customers who pay for the Guardians' services. At the same time, Mr. Collins discovers that Wes is a Time Force Ranger and tries to offer him the position as commander of the Guardians, which Wes refuses. One of the Guardians, Eric Myers, a former prep school classmate of Wes, discovers the Quantum controller box, becomes the Quantum Ranger, seizes control of the Q-Rex, and is put in command by Mr. Collins of the Silver Guardians. Long resentful of Wes' privileged position in life, he remains aloof and distant from the other Rangers and operates independently of them.
Ransik's robotic underling, Frax, grows deranged and breaks away from Ransik, destroying all of his vials of serum in the process. A desperate Ransik ransacks Mr. Collins' company, Bio-Lab, to acquire their supply of newly developed serum, and in the process severely injures Mr. Collins, leaving him in critical condition. This development causes the sudden arrival of Alex, who intends to "set history straight". He resumes command as the Red Time Force Ranger, informing Wes that his father will die the next day. Alex makes a series of questionable decisions battling Frax's powerful creation, Dragontron, while a resigned Wes briefly takes over command of his father's business. The Rangers, unable to stand Alex's leadership any longer, mutiny and force him to give Wes back the Red Time Force morpher. Wes leads the Rangers to a resounding victory over Dragontron, while Alex uses technology from the future to save Mr. Collins' life. Alex returns to the future, respectful of Wes' role as the leader of Time Force.
When Vypra of Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue lore revives a Super Demon named Quarganon, the Time Force Rangers briefly team up with their Lightspeed Rescue predecessors to take down the combined forces of Vypra, Ransik, and Quarganon.
Ransik eventually tracks down Frax and reprograms him to be his completely subservient robotic slave. Frax creates a new fighting machine, Doomtron, which reigns destruction on Silver Hills and sends most of the city's infrastructure spiraling into a time-space vortex. Upon hearing from Alex that their fate was doomed, Wes forcibly returns the other four Rangers back to the year 3000 for their own safety, leaving him and Eric to try to desperately defend Silver Hills from both Doomtron and Ransik. Eric is severely injured by a rogue Cyclobot, and hands the Quantum morpher over to Wes, who is the city's last hope. Alex tries to wipe the memories of the year 2001 from the four officers, but they rebel once again and choose to go back in time to help Wes - which culminates with Jen returning to Alex their wedding ring. The reunited Rangers destroy Doomtron, along with Frax, but find themselves overmatched against the awesome power of Ransik. Ransik attempts to deliver the finishing blow to Jen, but accidentally strikes Nadira, an act which horrifies him and causes him to repent. He turns himself in, and the four Time Force officers, their mission complete, return to their own time, but not before Jen and Wes finally confess their feelings to each other. Wes agrees to his father's revised proposal to become head of the Silver Guardians - who now provide their services freely - with the condition that he have Eric working alongside with him as co-commander.
A recurring theme in the series is that an individual controls his or her own destiny, as exemplified through Wes' character development - he continually refuses to adhere to the life his father has set for him as successor of the lucrative Collins business, remaining committed to traversing his own path, even when he is told by Alex that it is destiny for him to take over the company after his father's death. Other characters also fight against the currents of predetermined destiny, such as how Eric determinedly fights his way out of squalor and poverty to become head commander of the Silver Guardians, or when Jen and the other Time Force Rangers ignore the predetermined events of history and choose to return to the year 2001 and save Wes from dying. Even the penultimate clash of the season - Ransik with the Time Force Rangers - culminates with Ransik's choice to accept responsibility for his crimes and carve his own path in life anew.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Rangers
[edit] Allies
[edit] Villains
[edit] Zords
- Time Flyers
- Time Flyer 1 (Wes/Red)
- Time Flyer 2 (Lucas/Blue)
- Time Flyer 3 (Trip/Green)
- Time Flyer 4 (Katie/Yellow)
- Time Flyer 5 (Jen/Pink)
- Time Force Megazord (combination of Time Flyers, jet/blue/red mode)
- Shadow Winger/Time Shadow Megazord
- Shadow Force Megazord (combination of Time Force Megazord & Time Shadow Megazord blue/red mode)
- Quantasaurus Rex a.k.a. the Q-Rex (Eric/Quantum)
- Transwarp Megazord
[edit] Weaponry & Arsenal
- Time Force Badge: Identification of Time Force members and is utilized to seal defeated criminals away in cryo-containment units.
- Chrono Blaster: Standard sidearm of Time Force.
- V Weapons/Vortex Blaster: Five cannons used by the Rangers; can combine into the Vortex Blaster which delivers powerful energy blasts capable of "freezing" or knocking out a criminal.
- Chrono Morpher: Morpher of the Time Force Rangers; equipped with holographic communication array and can only be activated when the Red Chrono Morpher is activated; imprints with the user's DNA.
- Chrono Sabers: Standard weapons (two to each Ranger) that can combine into double-bladed lances; capable of shooting energy blasts and delivering "Time Strike" attacks
- Electro Booster: Special gun created by adding several attachments to a Chrono Saber.
- Quantum Morpher: Morpher of the Quantum Time Force Ranger, used to control the Quantasaurus Rex; vocal command accepted only from the Quantum Time Force Ranger (or someone who can sound like him).
- Quantum Defender: A sidearm used by the Quantum Time Force Ranger; also has a sword mode.
- Battle Warrior Armor: Battlizer Armor for the Red Time Force Ranger, granted to him by the mystic Battle Fire; gives him torso armor, armored helmet & boots, and a two-handed battle sword.
- Quantum Mega Battle Armor: Battlizer Armor for the Quantum Time Force Ranger, granted to him by Alex from the year 3000; gives him torso shielding, visor, rollerblades, and detachable wings that serve as blasters and blades; also grants him the ability to fly and a large energy blade that is capable of "freezing" giant criminals.
- Vector Cycles: Motorcycles used by the Rangers for ground pursuit.
- Strata Cycle: air/ground vehicle sent by Alex to aid Wes
- TF Eagle: Transport of the Quantum Time Force Ranger, capable of time-traveling.
- Time Jet: Aircraft used by Power Rangers; can transform into a blaster for the Time Force Megazord Mode Blue.
[edit] Episodes
- Force From The Future, Pt. 1
- Ransik, Nadira, Frax, Gluto, Circuit, Alex, Jen, Lucas, Trip, Katie, & Captain Logan introduced. Alex thought to be killed.
- Force From The Future, Pt. 2
- Wes & Mr. Collins are introduced. Time Force Rangers introduced.
- Something To Fight For
- Ransik Lives
- A Blue Streak
- A Parting Of Ways
- Short-Circuited
- Jen's Revenge
- The Legend Of The Clock Tower
- The Time Shadow
- Future Unknown
- Uniquely Trip
- Worlds Apart
- Silver Guardians & Eric are introduced.
- The Quantum Quest
- Quantum Ranger introduced.
- Clash For Control, Part 1
- Clash For Control, Part 2
- Bodyguard In Blue
- Trust And Triumph
- Trip Takes A Stand
- Quantum Secrets
- The Last Race
- Lovestruck Rangers
- Full Exposure
- Movie Madness, Pt. 1
- Movie Madness, Pt. 2
- Time Force Traitor
- Frax's Fury
- Dawn Of Destiny
- Alex revealed alive.
- Fight Against Fate
- Alex takes Red Ranger Powers.
- Destiny Defeated
- Wes takes back Red Ranger powers. Alex returns to future.
- Undercover Rangers
- Beware The Knight
- Time For Lightspeed
- Lightspeed teamup. Vypra returns.
- Reflections Of Evil
- Nadira's Dream Date
- Circuit Unsure
- A Calm Before The Storm
- The End Of Time, Pt. 1
- The End Of Time, Pt. 2
- The End Of Time, Pt. 3
- Frax destoryed. Gluto in containment. Ransik & Nadira surrender. 4 go back to future. Wes joins Silver Guardians.
[edit] Trivia
- An oddity with Time Force is that it is the first series since the trend started in Power Rangers: Turbo that did not have most of or all of the Rangers' arsenal end up being destroyed in the final battle.
- Power Rangers Time Force is the second Power Rangers season to feature a female Ranger as the leader of the team, and is also the first (and so far the only) Power Rangers season to feature a Pink Ranger as the leader.
- Power Rangers Time Force were the first team of rangers to not feature white boots or white gloves as part of their uniforms, they were the same color of their respective ranger color designation.
- Power Rangers Time Force is the only series thus far to feature a sixth ranger that wore the same color as another team member (Wes and Eric both wore red as their color scheme, it should be noted that in Power Rangers Ninja Storm technically Tori and Blake were "Blue Rangers" albeit different shades of blue (Aqua and Navy) and Shane and Hunter being both "Red Rangers" being a different shade of red (Red and Crimson).
- Power Rangers Time Force is also notable for being the first series not to "destroy" it's monsters, but rather "capture" them in containers. This method would be repeated in Power Rangers S.P.D., where monsters are "contained" rather than destroyed.
- It was the first series to employ Power Rangers from the future, this would be done again in Power Rangers S.P.D. with the addition of the Omega Ranger and Nova Ranger.
- It was the first series to feature a family member accidently finding out their relative was a Power Ranger (Mr.Collins found out Wes was the Red Ranger when his visor was damaged in a battle). This would be repeated in Power Rangers Wild Force when Alyssa's father mistakenly found she was the White Ranger and in Power Rangers Ninja Storm when Shane's older brother accidently found out he was the Red Ranger.
- It was the second series to feature villains who truly reformed (Ransik and Nadira) and turned to the side of good. Power Rangers in Space was the first as Astronema reformed at the end and became the 2nd Pink Ranger in the following season.
- One episode of Power Rangers: Time Force was dedicated in memory of Thuy Trang, a member of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers cast. Trang died in an automobile accident on September 3, 2001 on Interstate Highway 5 when the vechicle she was a passenger in went out of control. A second passenger in the vechicle was Angela Rockwood-Nguyen, a former actress/model and the wife of fellow Vietnamese-American actor Dustin Nguyen. Thuy Trang died in the accident and Rockwood-Nguyen became quadriplegic.
- In one episode of Time Force, you can -almost- completely see the face of Eric's Super Sentai counterpart, Naoto. This occurs in the episode which first introduced the Quantum Ranger. Due to the two actors looking highly similar, alot of Timeranger footage was kept showing Naoto from a distance, and in one scene, his face is covered brefily, but he begins to pull his hands away, giving a brief glimpse of Naoto's face.
[edit] Seasons
| MMPR1 | MMPR2 | MMPR3 | Zeo | Turbo | Space | Galaxy | Lightspeed | Time | Wild | Ninja | Dino | SPD | Mystic | Overdrive | Jungle |
