Power Rangers RPM: Difference between revisions

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[[File:PowerRangersRPM.png|frame|Because nothing says 'covert' like bright red, yellow, and blue spand-[[Berserk Button|THAT IS]] '''''[[Berserk Button|NOT]]''''' [[Berserk Button|SPANDEX!]]]]

 

Suppose your first ever exposure to the ''[[Batman]]'' franchise was the [[Batman (TV series)|campy 1960s television show]]. Then someone mentions to you, "Hey, did you know that they made a film version of this?" and hands you a DVD of ''[[The Dark Knight]]''.

 

 

The 17th season of the ''[[Power Rangers]]'' franchise, ''RPM'' used footage from ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger]]''. In an alternate present to the main Rangerverse, the Venjix computer virus has taken over nearly all of the Earth's technological systems and built robotic forces to subjugate mankind. Humanity's last stronghold is the city of Corinth, which is protected by a force field dome, as well as its own elite team of Power Rangers that take down whatever raids make it through the shield. But Venjix technology is continually advancing, and without more forces even the Rangers may not be able to hold on for much longer...

The season made several clever references to series tropes and past Ranger seasons, particularly in finally defining the [[Meta Origin]] that's been present since day one. It also scaled back the excessive [[Calling Your Attacks]] and [[Stuff Blowing Up]] that had gotten out of hand in the last few seasons, as well as throwing in a healthy dose of [[Lampshade Hanging]] (particularly, hanging 'shades ''on'' the attack-calling and explosions). ''RPM'' quickly got on the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|fast track]] to becoming a fan-favorite.

 

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* [[Action Girl]]: Summer and Gemma.

* [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]]: While a proud ''Rangers'' [[Grand Finale]] tradition, it's <s> almost</s> a [[Running Gag]] in the first half of ''RPM'' as Tenaya had gotten in three times before the halfway point. And yes, it happens in the finale too.

* [[City of Adventure]]: Corinth

* [[The Dragon]]: Tenaya; sometimes [[Co-Dragons]] with Generals Crunch and Shifter

* [[Family-Friendly Firearms]]: As usual, but beautifully averted in the episode "Doctor K", where the two unidentified guards threatened Dr. K with real-looking handguns, not those silly laser shooters.

* [[Five-Man Band]]

** [[The Face]]: '''{{color|green|Ziggy}}'''.

** [[The Lancer]]: '''{{color|black|Dillon}}'''.

*** Like everything else, this also gets lampshaded:

'''Flynn:''' [[Brave Scot|Ah'm Scottish!]] }}

* [[Great Offscreen War]]: Averted for once; the premiere and flashbacks showed off quite a bit of Venjix's carnage.

* [[Make My Monster Grow]]: "Begin The Download", used by Venjix most of the time. The generals can call it in the field if need be.

* [[The Mentor]]: Dr. K.

* [[Mooks]]: Grinders ([[Mecha Mook]] variant)

* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Averted in "Ranger Blue". Shockingly...

'''Flynn:''' Not today. }}

** And in an earlier [[Braveheart]]-inspired flashback, in which Flynn leads a village of aboriginals into battle against genocidal raiders in a third-world country(!):

** But played straight wherever Fresno Bob and the mob is concerned - "ghosted" is the euphemism of choice.

*** And played even straighter {{spoiler|in the finale when Gem and Gemma are [[Disney Death|"lost"]]...which is further explained as them being "gone." Similarly, Scott's brother "didn't make it." Apparently you can only say die when the people in question don't actually die.}}

** The bloopers from the episode "And . . . Action!" feature one with Olivia Tennet as Dr. K repeatedly flubbing her lines filled with [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]. After another flub, she mutters, "So close!"--''in her Kiwi accent''.

** [[Not Even Bothering with the Accent]]: Penny's mom in "Ranger Blue"

* [[Recycled in Space]]!: Power Rangers {{smallcaps|[[After the End]]! And with [[Cool Car|COOL CARS]]... [[Power Rangers Turbo|Again]]!}}

* [[Unflinching Walk]]: A notable instance of ''Rangers''' usual "Unflinching Pose" variant: Scott holds his [[Victory Pose|post-"sliding sword attack" pose]] for a good 20 seconds without turning around (or putting his helmet back on) as {{spoiler|General Shifter}} [[Delayed Explosion|short circuits, falls over and explodes massively]] behind him in "Control Alt Delete".

** [[By the Power of Greyskull]]: "RPM, Get In Gear!"

 

* [[Adult Child]]: Gem and Gemma. Dr. K, also, to a lesser extent, as evidenced by the goofy Zord designs, diabetic sweet tooth, and the alphabet soup pajamas and slippers she wears from time to time.

* [[Affectionate Parody|Affectionate]] [[Self-Parody]] - Part of why this series is so awesome!

* [[After the End]]

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Summer and Dillon, but she does mock Dillon for his lone wolf persona. ("Does brooding just come naturally, or do you have to practice every morning?")

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Blurbs on Bandai's website explained that RPM stands for "Racing Performance Machines"; it wasn't brought up at all in the show.

* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Summer. Thankfully, it's subverted.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Invoked by Tenaya 7 in "Ranger Yellow, Part 2".

* [[Attack Pattern Alpha]]: Episode 2's "Attack Formation Delta" seems to just be "everyone dodge enemy fire, split up, and blow stuff up".

** Then there is "Attack Sequence Mustang", which is basically just the megazord holding up its shield. Even stranger is that in later episodes, they just say "raise front deflectors!" ([[Fridge Logic|And shouldn't that be "Defense Sequence Mustang" anyway?]])

** And "The Road to Corinth" begins with Dr. K's introduction about Venjix. The end of "Danger and Destiny, Part 2" has her {{spoiler|closing the briefcase containing the Ranger Series morphers.}}

* [[Bottle Episode]]: "And... Action!"

* [[Brave Scot]]: Flynn. "What are you supposed to be?" "I'm Scottish!"

* [[Brick Joke]]: Ziggy's shadow puppets, mentioned briefly at the beginning of the series, it doesn't pay off until episode 17, {{spoiler|when it help distract the guards while they try to scape the [[Mook]] factory }}

* [[Broken Bird]]: Dr. K, [[Little Miss Snarker]] [[Mentor]] variety.

* [[Broken Record]]: Subverted in 'Ancient History' - Doctor K pretends to do this while communicating via hologram. 'After what I've seen...after what I've seen...good, I thought he would never leave!'

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Ziggy

* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: Dr. K and Ziggy in "In or Out".

* [[Canon Foreigner]]: Three Paleozord-based Rangers in the toyline. Unlike in ''Jungle Fury'', they never made it on the show.

* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Ziggy. Besides wanting to use his Ranger status to impress chicks, he A) wanted to take advantage of the lack of competition when all the other men in the city were knocked out, and B) saw the [[Power Perversion Potential]] in [[Mind Control]] keys.

* [[Clothes Make the Superman]]: Besides the standard Ranger powers, each suit has a special ability built in.

'''Col. Truman:''' Go shoot at something. }}

* [[The Comically Serious]]: Dr. K. [[No Social Skills]] + Socially Awkward Situations = [[Hilarity Ensues]]

* [[Continuity Nod]]: From "Danger and Destiny, Part 2", after Scott leaves Ziggy to protect Dr. K:

'''Ziggy''': Good times, huh? }}

* [[Cool Train]]: the Paleozords

* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: bordering on [[Crapsack World]] at times, if you [[Fridge Logic|think about it too much]].

* [[Curse Cut Short]]: Many are filling in the blanks with glee after Ziggy ticks off Flynn when he rips open a bag of chips all over Flynn. While he's driving.

''(Venjix appears)'' }}

** Flynn again in 'Heroes Among Us':

* [[Cyber Cyclops]]: Venjix, but only when he's in his computer cylinder.

* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]: The Venjix technology within Dillon {{spoiler|and a bunch of other people}} is taking over, and there's no way to stop it.

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: And ''how''. ''Especially'' for Dr. K and, to a lesser extent, Scott, Dillon, and Tenaya.

* [[The End - or Is It?]]: The series finale. {{spoiler|The battle is won. Venjix is defeated. The Rangers turn in their morphers and move on with their lives. The world is starting to heal from Venjix's apocalypse. And then we see one of the Rangers' Morphers blinking with a red light, just like Venjix's all-seeing eye, as Dr. K closes the holding case...}}

* [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: Nearly all of Earth's population is dead, and the Earth is an apocalyptic wasteland, save for one (possibly more) city.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Averted. [[The Family for the Whole Family|Fresno Bob]] is perfectly willing to work with machines that have every intention of destroying all of humanity. Even if Bob was guessing that Tenaya 15 was a woman with a grudge and a thing for head pieces, she showed up with [[Mooks|Grinders]] as her bodyguards. That should raise flags that this woman will kill you.

* [[Expecting Someone Taller]]: Dr. K asks the Rangers if they were when she first revealed herself.

** Ziggy actually expected her to be a guy!

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]:

** Summer and Dillon are about to have their [[Last Kiss]] being trapped in a burning factory. They move in on each other, grip each other tight, and... the Whale Zord blows water all over the factory, leaving the two soaking wet.

** Don't forget Ziggy teleporting into Dr K's chair with the [[Teen Genius]] getting a very... exhilarated face after she finds herself in his lap.

** Also, Scott using a [[Improvised Weapon|baby stroller]] to fight some [[Mooks]] ''with the baby still in it.''

** In "Brother's Keeper", Summer casually asks, "How's the happy couple?" That "happy couple" being Dillon and Scott chained together.

* [[Giggling Villain]]: General Crunch. (After he [[Vocal Evolution|found his voice,]] that is.)

* [[Giving the Sword to A Noob]]: Ziggy

* [[God Help Us All]]: Colonel Truman in the premiere.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: Flynn and his "sweet mother o' molasses" and "Odin's Beard" comments. Also see [[Curse Cut Short]] above.

* [[Gratuitous French]]: This exchange between Ziggy and Dr. K in "Danger and Destiny, Part 1" when he frees them from their restraints:

'''Dr. K''': Merci beaucoup. }}

* [[Groin Attack]]: Evil!Dillon to Flynn in "Brother's Keeper". Just as hilarious in that fight: Ziggy gets [[The Three Stooges|rapid-fire bitchslapped]].

** Outside the Rangerverse, Eddie Guzelian worked his tail off to get the fandom the best show he possibly could, [[Executive Meddling|and got canned for it.]]

* [[Hero Insurance]]: Almost averted in "Ancient History", {{spoiler|but Dr. K takes out a policy just in time to avoid being arrested on treason for releasing the Venjix virus}}. Also seen when Gem and Gemma bust down a door to stop some crooks, and have to repair it later.

* [[Hilarious Outtakes]]: Shown in "... And Action!"

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Flynn's flashback montage shows that he puts helping others and saving lives before the following things: his job security (policeman flashback), common sense and resource management (firefighter flashback), and potentially his own life and limb (aid worker flashback).

* [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]]: Subverted. Ziggy, Mr. [[Genre Savvy]], approaches Dillon under control of the virus, and says that his friendship power is so strong, Dillon wouldn't dare hit him. Turns out he would.

** And previously in "Control Alt Delete" when Dillon defends himself from a re-[[Brainwashed]] {{spoiler|Tenaya}}, continually yelling that {{spoiler|she's his sister}} and refusing to attack. This could be considered [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] or played straight depending on your reading of the scene - after Dillon's shield is broken and his power levels are scanned and found low, {{spoiler|Tenaya}} stops attacking and walks away without explanation, ''but'' the overall loyalty to Venjix appears unchanged.

* [[Improbable Age]]: Dr. K: she created the Ranger powers, and is no older than 19. She was also dealing with advanced mathematical equations by age 5.

* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: The cast has weaponized chairs, bubble wraps, shopping carts, veggies, a wedding veil, a violin amp, an umbrella, a giant pole, ''a building'', and a stroller with a baby in it!

** Scott uses a baby stroller (with baby) during a fight at a playground.

*** Heck, [[Double Entendre|Ziggy uses the]] ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|mother]]''!

** The concept is lampshaded in "If Venjix Won", in which Ziggy and Dr. K are attacked by Grinders. The two argue over who gets to use a broken pole as a weapon when K points out that Ziggy has ''actual'' weapons.

* [[Instant Expert]]: Subverted by Ziggy, who's possibly the only Ranger in history to ''not'' automatically learn martial arts upon morphing.

** See also "Three's a Crowd", where the Rangers try to learn how to [[Combining Mecha|combine]] their three already giant combo-mecha into one ridiculously [[Humongous Mecha]], with [[Epic Fail|violent results]].

** [[Better Than a Bare Bulb]]: Two episodes head into this territory:

*** "Handshake" has Venjix's generals snark at the spray nozzle robot and wonder why they never do a [[Zerg Rush]] while Corinth's shields are down, as well as asking "Are you going to make it grow now, or wait until the rangers defeat it? Oh, wait, I, uh -" (gets blasted)

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Dillon. And its not going to get any better, considering that they've blown up the 'bot that was storing his lost memories. {{spoiler|He is ''never'' seen to get his old memories back, though as he said in that episode, he's got something better: new ones.}}

** ...Someone REALLY needs to make a video of that.

*** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h1r3q6v0UY&feature=channel_video_title Someone already has.]

'''Dr. K:''' Why does everyone keep saying that? Of course I am ''aware'' of what I am doing! I just have absolutely no idea of whether or not it will work. }}

** And even more painfully straight in "Ranger Green": Ziggy rhetorically asks Dr. K what could possibly go wrong in attempting teleportation, and ''she actually gives him a list of worst-case scenarios''. She even tells him that she was just answering his (rhetorical) question!

* [[Let's Mock the Monsters]]: Even the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] can't always take the attackbots seriously (see "Handshake").

* [[Lonely Rich Kid]]: Summer

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Dr.K and Venjix, although they both knew about it. It was ''everyone else'' who was surprised when it was announced.

* [[Made of Plasticine]]: Robot example: the Grinders. In "Ranger Blue" one is disabled by throwing a bag of vegetables at him, and another is cut in half by a ''bus door.''

** Scott's backstory is similar to that of [[Himitsu Sentai Goranger|Kaijou Tsuyoshi, the first-ever Sentai Red]]. Both are the younger brothers of military leaders who were killed in the villains' attack. Furthermore, the Trumans were both members of Eagle Squad, while Tsuyoshi and his brother were both members of the EAGLE organization.

** The PaleoMax Megazord is pretty much an [[Expy]] of the original Megazord. Part of it is a mammoth with freezing powers. It's got a very familiar head design. The left foot is even a Triceratops, another distinguishing feature because of the prominent horns. Though Go-Onger and Zyuranger aren't related at all, the sentai creators ''are'' aware of Power Rangers, and it seems that they put in a sweet [[Homage]] by making what was to have been the last-ever Megazord look just like the first-ever Megazord.

** Dillon's not the first Ranger [[Power Rangers SPD|to join the team as a condition of being released from prison.]]

* [[My Sister Is Off-Limits]]: Gem, on Gemma and Flynn. Also Dillon, when Ziggy comments that {{spoiler|Tenaya is kinda hot when she's not out to kick their asses}}.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Dr. K "just wanted... to go outside...", and in attempting to do so, she ''caused the apocalypse''.

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: Shifter's takeover of the Paleozords led to Dr. K figuring out how to merge all the mecha into the Ultrazord.

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Dr. K refuses to call the Rangers by their names, though she tries to change ([[Snub By Omission|except for Ziggy]]) after Gem and Gemma turn up alive and call her out on being impersonal.

* [[Non-Action Guy]]: Ziggy

* [[One-Letter Name]]: Dr. K

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Tenaya seems to be the only one that notices the inherent absurdity of the villains' usual tactics. She spends most of "Blitz" asking if the absurd plan-o'-the-week has failed sufficiently for her to go take a nap without missing anything important.

'''Theme Music:''' ''Power Rangers RPM! Get in gear!'' }}

* [[Orphan's Plot Trinket]]: Dillon's music-box locket

* [[Percussive Maintenance]]: Handwaved as Flynn intentionally building the Road Attack Zord to shut down from a good whack in the center.

* [[Phlebotinum Rebel]]: Dillon

'''Tenaya 7''' ''[looks at speaker array]'': [[Oh Crap|You are smart!]] ''[Dr. K then plays a loud chord, sending Tenaya 7 flying.]'' }}

** [[No Endor Holocaust]] is implied, as Dillon, Summer, and Tenaya begin [[Walking the Earth]] in the finale unprotected and they find a place where the environment is already beginning to return to normal.

* [[Plug N Play Technology]]: For all of Venjix's advanced and [[Obfuscated Interface|obfuscated]] tech, its servers still accept flash drives. And the Whale Zord is a megazord-ready [[Transforming Mecha]] immediately after conversion even though Dr. K seems to come up with the idea on the spot.

* [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: While the show likely didn't have the budget to digitally recolor ''Go-Onger'''s silly looking zords, they do attempt to distract from the silly looking appliance-based monsters by having them not talk, but instead just be snarling beasts. Only a handful of MOTWs have had any lines, the rest either growled or made electronic noises. This required quite a bit of editing, as the ''Go-Onger'' monsters were extremely talkative and would often do a short monologue (or even a song!) before they exploded; in ''RPM'', they simply cut straight from the finisher to the fall n' kaboom. As for the zords, whenever they have to talk, they just have the rangers inside talking instead.

*** While this isn't very dramatic, it ''does'' make sense given the show's setting - this is THE last holdout of human civilization on Earth. The Rangers can't risk a prolonged Megazord battle in Corinth City, with all the collateral damage that implies, so they immediately go for the one-hit-kill weapon.

* [[The Precious Precious Car]]: According to Scott, the GO-ONGER is this to Colonel Truman. Obviously, when the Rangers take it out on a mission [[Watch the Paint Job]] soon follows. Scott and Dillon also have moments where they're protective of their cars.

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]]: Gem and Gemma, who plotted to blow up one of Venjix's factories ''with human slaves still inside''. And clearly have a mental age around five at the most, despite being technological geniuses.

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Scott delivers a brief one to Shifter before ripping him apart.

** [[Internal Reveal]]: But not to Corinth security, as we eventually find out...

** Another Reveal in "Endgame", {{spoiler|half the city of Corinth is made of [[Half-Human Hybrid|robotic hybrids]].}}

* [[Shout-Out]]: [[The Eighties|Lots and lots.]] [[Power Rangers RPM/Shout Out|There is a page dedicated to this.]]

* [[Sleep Cute]]: Flynn and Gemma in "Not So Simple", and Ziggy and Dr. K in "If Venjix Won".

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: in "Prisoners"

'''Dr. K:''' Roger that, Gem and Gemma. You are go for Boom Time. }}

* [[Snub By Omission]]: In an attempt to be more social, Dr. K lists what she appreciates about each Ranger, each speech culminating in her using their name for the first time. She skips <s> Ziggy</s> Ranger Green.

** "It's Ziggy! ZIG-Y! Z! I! G! G! Y! ZIGGY!!!"

* [[Stock Footage]]: Dr. K's narration in "The Road to Corinth" uses footage from the ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'' episode "Snip It, Snip It Good" when the Blue Bay Harbor council have their debate.

* [[Strong as They Need to Be]]: Tenaya 7 has been shown to be able to take on all the Rangers at once with regularity, and come out relatively unscathed. Despite this, she fares only ''just'' as well against any one Ranger at a time, even if they aren't morphed. Witness her fight with pre-ranger Ziggy, in which he is able to outmuscle her long enough to {{spoiler|strap the morpher to his wrist and activate the morph}}. This can perhaps be justified by Ziggy's hint that she 'enjoys this' and is deliberately not acting on her full ability in order to prolong the 'fun'.

* [[Super Prototype]]: The Paleozords. Potentially Rangers Gold and Silver, too, though they seem equal in power to the others instead of superior.

* [[Super Reflexes]]: Dillon has enhanced reflexes as part of the entire [[Cyborg|half-machine package]]. First demonstrated when he instantly catches Colonel Truman's falling mug while being interrogated.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: The RPM Ultrazord. {{spoiler|Also, Venjix gets Corinth Command dropped on him when the zords were unavailable.}}

* [[This Is Reality]]: Dr. K loves this one.

** And on the other side of the dome: '''"I AM VENJIX!"'''

* [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman]]: Ziggy can do shadow puppets.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]:{{spoiler|Venjix, After Gem and Gemma destroy the Control Tower's supports it takes about 45 seconds for it to fall from the roof of the dome to the ground, he just stands directly under the tower preparing for his demise when all he needed to do was survive it was to simply move out of the way, It's rather unbelievable that this was the being that destroyed the Earth yet he can't even see danger coming from a mile away. Of course, it ends up being subverted when a familiar red glow emits from Scott's morpher, with the Venjix [[Leitmotif]] playing in the background.}}

** It should be pointed out that the sequence in question ''was'' shown in slow motion.

* [[Trash the Set]]: Both the Garage and Corinth Security HQ in the finale.

* [[Trojan Prisoner]]: Dillon is one in "Beyond a Doubt". He just doesn't know it yet.

* [[Two Lines, No Waiting]]: Inverted versus normal Power Rangers series: the Rangers' development as a team and the survival of Corinth form the A-plot, while the monster fights form the B-plot.

* [[Understatement]]: Dr. K, in attempting to apologize for being so cold to her team, says that she "might have treated some of [them] with a degree of forced emotional detachment, perhaps even bordering on coldness." The Rangers' reaction? Dripping with sarcasm.

'''Dillon''': You must be imagining it. }}

** What makes it even funnier is that Dr. K doesn't get the sarcasm coming from the Rangers. She says, "No, no, I'm afraid it's true." All part of a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

* [[Voice with an Internet Connection]]: Dr. K, in the first few episodes

* [[Wedding Smashers]]: in "Ranger Yellow pt. 2"

* [[We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future]]: Venjix had a factory where human slaves created Grinders and what became the Whale Zord. Gem and Gemma were there along with Dillon's mystery girl, and [[Dissonant Serenity|gleefully]] note the horrible conditions.

** Can be argued that it is justified for the Whale Zord, since automation wouldn't be as efficient for what was supposed to be a one time project. No excuse for the Grinders though.

** {{spoiler|The end of the season leaves Venjix with direct access to the morphers, only one step away from ''the morphing grid''... Sweet Dreams, Earth.}}

* [[You Got Spunk]]: Kilobyte to Tenaya in "The Dome Dolls"

** Used interestingly in "Three's a Crowd":

** Rewatch ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'', specifically Cam's trip to the past. Apparently, Colonel Truman (or a near-identical relative) used to run the Wind Ninja Academy.

** And they all meet ''[[Terminator]]'' on the way.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Series]]

[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:Power Rangers RPM]]

[[Category:TV Series]]

[[Category:Power Rangers]]