Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger



Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Dinosaur Squadron Zyuranger ) is the sixteenth entry in the Super Sentai franchise, which aired from 1992 to 1993.

170 million years ago, humans lived in peace with dinosaurs, until the evil witch Bandora appeared, killed the dinosaurs, and began to attack humanity. The Guardian Beasts, great gods in the form of prehistoric-animal-shaped Humongous Mecha, sealed her away on the stray planet Nemesis. In modern times, astronauts exploring Nemesis accidentally release Bandora and her followers from captivity, and she again starts to attempt to kill humanity, starting with the children. The ancient wizard Barza, in disguise as a landlord, releases five warriors from the five prehistoric human tribes to fight Bandora's forces alongside the Guardian Beasts.

This series is very important for two reasons:
 * 1) It was the first series that was adapted for American audiences as part of the Power Rangers franchise, serving as the basis for the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and having the costumes of its heroes and villains continued to be used for the next two.
 * 2) It started the Sixth Ranger tradition with the addition of Burai, the Dragon Ranger, whose story and fate was the focus of much of the show after his appearance.

The Zyurangers are:

 * Geki, Prince of the Yamato Tribe/Tyranno Ranger: The "Warrior of Justice" who takes charge in the fight against Bandora and her minions.
 * Goushi, Knight of the Sharma Tribe/Mammoth Ranger: The "Warrior of Wisdom" who aids Geki in leading the fight against Bandora. He has a grudge against Bandora for causing the death of his sister.
 * Dan, Knight of the Etof Tribe/Tricera Ranger: The "Warrior of Courage" who rushes off to battle using great power.
 * Boi, Knight of the Daim Tribe/Tiger Ranger: The "Warrior of Hope", and the youngest, who uses his speed as an asset.
 * Mei, Princess of the Rishiya Tribe/Ptera Ranger: The "Warrior of Love" who holds her own against evil with her bow-and-arrow and disguise power!
 * Burai/Dragon Ranger: The "Warrior of Power" who joins the team after an arc where he antagonizes the Zyurangers, specifically his brother Geki.

The villains are:

 * Bandora: The "source of evil" in the Zyuranger world. An Evil Overlord who likes to target kids in particular.
 * Grifforzer: An armored winged warrior who leads Bandora's minions into combat.
 * Pleprechuan: Affably Evil, Evil Genius, Mad Artist. Source of almost every Monster of the Week.
 * Totpat and Bukbak: Those Two Bad Guys, The Tagalong Kids.
 * Lamie: A female warrior loyal to Bandora who is married to Grifforzer.

And then there's:

 * Dai Satan: The true villain of the story; a floating head who wishes to cause nothing but destruction.

Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

 * All Your Powers Combined: The Howling Cannon and the Ranger Stick's Babel attack!
 * By the Power of Greyskull: Dino Buckler!
 * Calling Your Attacks
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Subverted. The Zyurangers don't use color-based codenames like most other Sentai teams, instead being named after a respective totem beast. Dragon Ranger, being the sixth ranger, is named after a mythical creature instead of an actual prehistoric beast like the rest. The American version plays this straight.
 * Combination Attack
 * Cool Bike: The Zaurer Machines, much like the Goranger Machines, consisted of an individual bike for the red ranger (Geki's Road Zaurer 1) and a pair of sidecar-equipped bikes for the rest of the main team (Goushi's Side Zaurer 2 and Dan's Side Zaurer 3, which were shared with Boi and Mei repectively).
 * Since the Zyurangers never drove their bikes in their transformed states (other than in the opening intro and commercial bumpers), the only time the bikes were ever shown in Power Rangers was in the background of one fight scene. However, the bikes were still carried over by the merchandising and the toy versions were sold as the "Battle Bikes"
 * Eyecatch: The eyecatch before the break features the main 5 Zyurangers in their vehicles and stopping in front of the camera. The title card can be seen on the bottom right of the screen. After the break, the eyecatch features the main 5 mecha.
 * Finishing Move:
 * Five-Bad Band
 * Big Bad: Bandora
 * The Brutish Dragon: Grifforzer
 * Evil Genius: Pleplechuan
 * Tagalong Kids: Totpat and Pukpak
 * Sixth Ranger/Dark Chick: Lamie
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero: Geki
 * The Smart Lancer: Goushi
 * The Big Guy: Dan
 * Kid Appeal Character: Boi
 * The Chick: Mei
 * Sixth Ranger: Burai
 * Full Potential Upgrade: A quest for legendary weapons is undertaken when the Rangers weapons are broken and all the available replacements are too old to be usable.
 * Home Base: A temple to the gods underneath a humble apartment building. Who knew?
 * Humongous Mecha: The very first Super Sentai where the mechas were Mechanical Lifeforms. Each one had its own conscience and could communicate with the Zyurangers.
 * A Mech by Any Other Name: The individual mechas of the six Zyurangers were known as the Shugozyu, while King Brachion gets the unique classification of Zyukishin.
 * Animal Mecha: The second type, and Stock Dinosaurs to boot.
 * Combining Mecha: Like the Five Machines and the Jet Machines, the five original Guardian Beasts could combine in one of two forms, although one of the first combination is just a transitional form of the other.
 * Tyrannosaurus + Pteranodon + Zyu Mammoth + Triceratops + Saber Tiger = Beast Tank Dino Tanker, which then transforms into Daizyuzin.
 * Transforming Mecha: Daizyuzin is technically a transformed version of Dino Tanker, although later episodes skip the Dino Tanker formation when the five main Guardian Beasts combine. The form King Brachion takes when it pulls out its twin tail cannons is also considered a transformed mode called Super Beast Tank King Tanker, although it is never referred by that name on the show.
 * Mecha Expansion Pack: Dragon Caesar functioned not only as a partner to Daizyuzin, it could also replace the Tyrannosaurus and Pteranodon in combining with the other Guardian Beasts, forming a completely different giant robot. Later Daizyuzin gets the ability to combine with Dragon Caesar itself, along with King Brachion, a brachiosaurus-based mecha that served as steed for the other giant robots.
 * Dragon Caesar + Zyu Mammoth + Triceratops + Saber Tiger = Gouryuzin
 * Daizyuzin + Dragon Caesar = Zyutei Daizyuzin
 * Zyutei Daizyuzin + King Brachion = Kyukyoku Daizyuzin
 * In the Name of the Moon: "(Ranger name)! (Civilian name)!" followed by "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger!"
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority: The Tyrannosaurus is the only one of the five main Guardian Beasts that is bipedal and can stand toe-to-toe with some of the early Dora Monsters. After Burai's death, Geki also inherits the Dragon Armor, as well as the Zyusouken, allowing him to become the Armed Tyrannoranger and summon Dragon Caesar. How's that for an advantage?!
 * Make My Monster Grow: Bandora uses her "Dora Sceptor" to call upon evil spirits to make her minions grow. Of course, its bears mentioning that its US adaptation named this trope!
 * Mooks: The Golem soldiers.
 * Elite Mooks: Introduced this trope to Super Sentai with the Dokita Golems.
 * Monster of the Week: The Dora Monsters
 * The Narrator: After a nine year absence, Toru Ohira returns to bring more exposition.
 * "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase
 * Prop Recycling: The Daizyujin cockpit set is in fact the Jet Icarus cockpit set from last season, redressed only a little. Also, the glowing blue atom model orb thing appears again.
 * Psycho Rangers: Episode 46 has Dora Mirage, a monster who could alter the appearances of himself and four Golems to resemble that of the Zyurangers'.
 * Regular Caller:
 * The Smurfette Principle: Ptera Ranger, who even has the title of "Princess." The American remake ended up gender flipping the Tiger Ranger to provide its team with a second heroine.
 * Supervillain Lair: Bandra Palace, which was practically created from a few errant buildings.
 * Theme Music Power-Up
 * Transformation Name Announcement
 * Transformation Trinket: The Dino Buckler, the first belt-worn trinket. Burai wears a golden-colored version called the Dragon Buckler.
 * Weapon of Choice
 * Swiss Army Weapon: The Ranger Sticks / Guns / Swords.
 * The Gunslinger: The Thunder Slingers.
 * Bifurcated Weapon: Ranger Gun + Thunder Slinger = Ranger Slinger.
 * Geki: Ryugekiken
 * Goushi: Mammoth Breaker
 * Dan: Tricelance
 * Boi: Sabre Daggers
 * Mei: Ptera Arrow
 * Burai: Zyusouken and Dragon Armor.

Tropes specific to Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger:
"Mei: Love! Boi: Hope! Goushi: Wisdom! Dan: Courage! Burai: Power! Geki: Justice! Daizyuzin: By your powers combined, I have been resurrected!"
 * All Your Powers Combined: How they resurrect Daizyuzin and Dragon Caesar from Satan Franke's crippling bubbles. Seriously, it gets like Captain Planet...

"Kai: Uwah! Mamaaaa!"
 * Anachronism Stew: With the exception of King Brachion, none of the creatures represented by the Guardian Beasts even existed in the Jurassic Period 170 million years ago. Tyranosaurus, Triceratops and Pteranodon are all from the late Cretaceous. Then there's the Wooly Mammoth and Sabretooth Tiger, which are not actual dinosaurs.
 * Anyone Can Die: A point emphasized in this series is that anyone, even heroes, can be Killed Off for Real. Which is why This doesn't apply to the American equivalent, though.
 * Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence:
 * Big Eater: Dora Circe
 * Blade Below the Shoulder: The Golem soldiers sometimes use these as weapons.
 * Brought to You by The Letter "S": Some of the Zyuranger's gear, like the back of their Dyno Bucklers or the soles of Dragon Caesar's feet have a "Z" printed on them.
 * By the Eyes of the Blind: Dora Goblin can only be seen by children unless its shoes are on the wrong feet.
 * Cain and Abel:
 * Card-Carrying Villain: According to Dora Sphinx, the only constant thing in the world is evil.
 * Changeling Fantasy: Played in reverse with.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Gnome, the forest elf who helps the Zyurangers defeat Dora Circe and reveals the existence of Burai, is never seen again after Episode 18.
 * The Dark Side Will Make You Forget:
 * Dead Older Sister: Goushi's motivation.
 * Deal with the Devil: Literally with Bandora and Dai Satan.
 * Death's Hourglass:
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Ultimate Daizyujin blows up Dai Satan in the finale.
 * Dynamic Entry: Dragon Ranger appearing in Daizyuzin's cockpit.
 * Egg McGuffin: Both sides spend a good portion of the show trying to claim the last pair of living dinosaur eggs in the world, although their full significance isn't revealed until near the end.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While he had been emotionless up to that point, when Dora Talos blows up with Kai inside he screams for his mom.


 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: That's what Kyoryu means.
 * Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying: None of the prehistoric animals involved in this show existed 170 million years ago, let alone humans.
 * Evil Laugh: All of Dai-Satan's words are this
 * Expy: Hideki Fujiwara (Dan) had a role in Choujin Sentai Jetman... as a blue birdman named Dan.
 * Family-Unfriendly Death:  What the heck, Toei?!
 * First Church of Mecha: The six Shugozyu, as well as the Zyukishin, were worshiped as avatars of one God.
 * Fish Out of Temporal Water: Averted; the Zyurangers adjust incredibly well to modern civilization in-spite of being away for millions of years.
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum: A Super Sentai guidebook reveals that the Zyurangers can combine the three Saurer Machines into one deadly battle machine known as the Saurer Buster (source). However, this combination is not even mentioned on the show itself.
 * Zyutei Daizyuzin at one point had Dragon Caesar's chest plate and drill tail on each Z-pad. They were removed from the suit used on the actual show since it was too uncomfortable for the suit wearer to bear.
 * The back of the Dragon Ranger's Hikaru Chogokin action figure reveals that he can perform the Babel Attack with the other five Zyurangers by standing atop Boi's and Mei's shoulders, forming the "Super Babel Attack".
 * Furo Scene: There's one episode where Mei participates in this. With an old lady.
 * Gag Boobs: Dan once jokingly tried to put apples on his chest, as in 'Apple Boobs'. Mei was not amused.
 * Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Used by Daizyujin to save a young girl in episode 9.
 * Gratuitous English: The honorary titles of each of the five main Zyurangers. Geki is referred as the purinsu (Prince) of the Yamato Tribe instead of ouji, Mei is the purinsesu (Princess) of the Rishiya Tribe instead of the hime, and the other three are naito (knights) of their respective tribes instead of kishi.
 * Heel Face Turn: Burai starts off as a villain out of a desire for revenge against Geki. The two of them bury the hatchet at the end of Burai's intro arc, thus Burai's Heel Face Turn.
 * Homage: According to a Japanese column written by Tsuyoshi Nonaka (chief director of Plex, the company that did the set and costume designs for Super Sentai), the design of the Daizyuzin is based on GoLion (better known to Westerners as Voltron), while the transformation sequence from Dyno Tanker to Daizyuzin was inspired by Daitetsujin 17.
 * Hope Spot: When Burai reveals himself as Dragon Ranger, the heroes initially think they're gaining a new ally. Instead he starts kicking their butts... hard.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: The theme of episode 35 ("Boi the Ninja Warrior"). Tokusatsu fans take this as a shout-out to Takumi Hashimoto's role of the ninja boy Manabu Yamaji in Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya.
 * Jerkass Gods: Daizyuzin is a decent God, but he can be rather heartless about certain matters especially concerning Burai. He is however open to debate on certain issues if the Zyuranger can make a decent case.
 * Kids Are Cruel, Start of Darkness:
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Mei (while she CAN count as the Tomboy, it was only on one occassion and she usually spends her time doing light feminine things) and Lamie (really sensual with her relationship with Grifforzer)
 * Living on Borrowed Time:
 * Limited Wardrobe: Justified in that they were ancient warriors in modern day, so they were not accustomed to how people in that age change clothes from day to day. The use here would evolve into Custom Uniforms in later seasons.
 * Long-Lost Relative:
 * Love At First Sight: Dora Pixie induces this. It includes loving inanimate objects.
 * Meaningful Name: "Burai" means "villain". He starts off as one.
 * Misplaced Wildlife: See above.
 * Mood Whiplash: Kinda similar to Kamen Rider Black to Kamen Rider Black RX. After the Darker and Edgier Jetman, comes this very Lighter and Softer Sentai show.
 * This can also happen when an episode ends with the Zyurangers seemingly unable to defeat a monster, then transitions into the cheery end credits song accompanied by the Zyurangers engaging in such activities as practicing baseball and retrieving a girl's balloon.
 * Only One Name: Justified in the fact that the team are warriors from the past and therefore have no surnames (the closest thing they have to surnames are their honorary titles).
 * Pet the Dog: Bandora loves her monsters and.
 * Portmantitle: The title was meant to be a portmanteau of "Jurassic" and "ranger", which also serves as a Pun-Based Title, since jū is Japanese for "beast". However, the producers ended up transliterating the Jū portion of the title as "Zyu" on the show itself.
 * Product Promotion Parade: In the Grand Finale, they go through each mecha combination in order to save the day.
 * Protected by a Child: Bandora kidnaps a little boy and forces him to make an invincible swords for Dora Knight. Because he made the sword, it can't hurt him, as the villains find out when he tries to take a hit for the Rangers.
 * Riddle of the Sphinx: A victim of Dora Sphinx is asked this question; as with everybody not named Oedipus, the victim fails to answer it right.
 * Rule of Symbolism: The Zyurangers are survivors of a tribe of dinosaur-evolved humans. When the Guardian Beast Tyrannosaurus combines with the other four Guardian Beasts to form the Dyno Tanker, which then transform into Daizyuzin, it is essentially a dinosaur evolving into a man.
 * Shout-Out: Dragon Caesar not only looks like Godzilla, but its very name is a reference to the King of Monsters.
 * The Speechless: Grifforzer.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Bandōra's name is spelled "Bandra" on her palace, despite the fact that the "ō" in her name is a long vowel and definitely not silent. The title itself also qualifies, since the word for beast in Japan is normally transliterated as Jū and the title is pronounced "Juranger". Oddly enough, most fans transliterated the mecha's name as "Daizyujin" instead of the more consistent "Daizyūzin" (Kunrei style) or "Daijūjin" (Hepburn style).
 * Stock Dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Pteranadon, Brachiosaurus.
 * Suspiciously Similar Song: The first segment of thefull opening theme (which isn't played on the TV version, curiously enough) rips off various notes from the Total Recall theme.
 * Swiss Army Tears: In episode 4, a child in the Continent of Despair who fears his mother to be dead begins to lose hope, and, due to the nature of this realm, turns into stone. His mother's tears, when they are reunited, return him to normal.
 * Tyrannosaurus Rex: Geki's Guardian Beast. Well, duh, you can't have a dinosaur-themed show without this one dino.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife:
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite the strange prehistoric attire wore by the Zyurangers when unmorphed, very few civilians seems to realize who they are until they literally transform in front of them.
 * Villain Song: "Dolla! The Theme of Bandora the Witch".
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Or, what happened to Gnome and Ryota?
 * Yeah! Shot: Occurs at the end of the end credits.
 * You Can't Fight Fate:  couldn't be saved, despite having half the series to look for a way.