By Through its 24 seasons or so of existence, Power Rangers has become a show with its own set of traditions. Each season of the show may change, but a lot of the core elements stay the same: a rocking theme, colored spandex, and there’s always a special ranger who comes in partway through the season and is a veritable badass.
Beginning with Tommy Oliver’s Green Ranger changing kids’ lives in the 90s and going until the less well-known sixth Rangers of today, not all of these Rangers have been great.
For this ranking, I’ve factored in how well each sixth Ranger fit into their team, how they were introduced to the story and overall coolness factor. A lot of nerd science went into this very important list.
19. Blue Senturion/Phantom Ranger — Power Rangers Turbo
Look at these goobs. Though never officially designated as sixth Rangers, both the Phantom Ranger and Blue Senturion fulfilled the role normally designated for the sixth. While Blue Senturion was introduced with a new set of powers and a zord, the Phantom Ranger was a mysterious guy that never got developed. There was apparently a planned plot to make him Zordon’s son, but it fell through. It was probably because no one cared. Turbo was such a bad season overall, and it definitely suffered more with its terrible sixth Rangers.
18. Solaris Knight — Power Rangers Mystic Force
Look at this goob. One of Mystic Force‘s core issues were the numerous introductions to new characters without much follow-through. One victim of this was the sixth addition, Solaris Knight. Debuting alongside some weird cat genie (which got its own special episode, one more than Solaris Knight had gotten), this was a Ranger that could’ve gone somewhere. Revealed to be the Red Ranger’s long lost father, this guy used a lamp blaster gun and was just kind of an overall lamewad. He didn’t have any of the majesty a legendary warlock Ranger required and just fell by the wayside after his introduction.
17. Mercury Ranger — Power Rangers Operation Overdrive
Look at this goob. Operation Overdrive had an entire team of goobs, but the one who stood out the most was the sixth addition Tyzonn. His story seemed interesting at first since he was a guy from another planet suffering from survivor’s guilt after a team of rescue explorers he commanded had died on a mission. This was after he had been wandering around in a monster form for a few episodes too. But much like everything else that season, Tyzonn was an idea that went nowhere. He was later shunted in favor of making him a weird dad always disciplining the rest of the team.
16. Gold Ranger — Power Rangers Samurai
What do you do when you cast a Thai actor for a Latinx character? Samurai seemed to think that meant turning him into a fisherman speaking in Tex-Mex. After being introduced by a flashback featuring the worst child acting in the entire series (which is saying a lot), Antonio came onto the scene spouting “fantastico” and using a fish blade. Admittedly he had a cool fighting style and was a shinier version of gold than seen in the past, but I’m sure this is one of those Rangers that made more sense in the Japanese version of the show. His dialogue was always annoying, but it is neat that he created his own zords…uh a squid and a lobster.
15. Gold Ranger — Power Rangers Dino Charge
As you’ll notice with a lot of these sixth Rangers, they all seem to be from another time or place. In Dino Charge, the Gold Ranger was Sir Ivan, a knight from some made-up country of Zandar. He was trapped in the body of one of the season’s villains, Fury, until being freed during a big battle. But once his unique reveal was out of the way (he’s the only sixth Ranger literally stuck inside of a monster instead of being one, being evil etc.) he was super boring. With his only quirk being occasional formal speech, his personality was bland. This wasn’t helped at all by the eventual addition of four other Rangers to the team.
14. Robo Knight — Power Rangers Megaforce
Like much of Megaforce, Robo Knight didn’t make any sense. Just as Turbo‘s Phantom Ranger and Blue Senturion weren’t technically sixth Rangers, Robo Knight was this robot who apparently rested in the Earth for centuries until there was a threat to the environment. I mean, even if monsters had already attacked this guy didn’t deem it necessary to intervene until some pollution mutants attacked. Once he was introduced, his whole schtick was being a robot who wanted to learn about human things but what’s gotten him here over the others is that he eventually sacrifices himself to save the Rangers. But what knocks him back down is a revival a season later for no reason or explanation.
13. Ranger Operator Series Gold/Ranger Operator Series Silver — Power Rangers RPM
RPM was one of my favorite seasons of the series overall, but it also has some of the worst sixth Rangers ever. Twins Gem and Gemma were kids stuck in a laboratory developing young geniuses until the robot apocalypse destroys the place. Thought lost forever, the twins show up years later as the Gold and Silver Rangers. The had better suits and weapons than the rest of the team, but they finished each other’s sentences when they spoke. It was this constant, annoying character trait that never ceased even as the series rolled on. The two didn’t have time for character development either as they were introduced so close to RPM‘s endgame. Because of this, it’s yet another idea that didn’t quite fit the serious vibe of the season.
12. Lunar Wolf Ranger — Power Rangers Wild Force
Look at this goob. Like Dino Charge‘s Gold Ranger, Wild Force‘s sixth Ranger shared a body with a Wolf monster guy without knowing it. Also like most of the sixth additions, he was a warrior from another time who had silver streaks in his hair and really loved to play pool (loved it so much that his big super attack was pool related). On paper, he sounds too goofy to work, and in practice, this definitely rings true. But there’s something about his goofiness that was just right for the series. Wild Force‘s season, overall, was this goofy message about environmental protection and the Red Ranger eventually went on to commit an actual crime so it’s a wash.
11. Super Megaforce Silver Ranger — Power Rangers Super Megaforce
In Super Megaforce, the team from Megaforce gained access to the powers of every past Ranger season and the sixth Ranger had all of the sixth powers. As a refugee from a war-torn planet, Orion had all the makings of a good sixth Ranger. He had the most character growth out of anyone in the two seasons, but like a common complaint seen here, he was just kind of boring after his introduction. Suffering from Super Megaforce‘s rapid pacing (and random episodes celebrating the anniversary), he rarely had any lines. Honestly, he made it this far up the list because his super mode included a goofily awesome shield.
10. Green Samurai Ranger — Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Ninja Storm had a few problems, including how goofy their sixth Ranger eventually became, but this season absolutely nailed their sixth Ranger. Cam, son of the Ninjas’ sensei and basically the Billy of the season (serving as the guy who provides tech and info) became the sixth Ranger after being sent back in time, learning a bit more about the Ninja code, and having a discussion with his deceased mother in order to gain confidence. It was a two-parter that was a highlight of the season overall. It felt like an earned, natural evolution of a character we’d seen since the first episode. The only thing knocking him back is his stupid baseball motif and electric guitar weapon.
9. Silver Ranger — Power Rangers In Space
Oh, guess what? It’s another guy from another world and time! After sustaining a severe injury, Andros (the Red Ranger of this season) seals Zhane a tube and waits two years for him to heal. Other than taking the boss ass suit from In Space and making it even cooler, this guy had a laser sword. There hadn’t been enough laser swords in Power Rangers, oddly enough so this was a delight. Although his actor was bland, they actually gave Zhane a lot of personality. He was in a faux love triangle with Ashley and Andros, he had an on-again, off-again thing with the season’s villain Astronema, he tricked the rest of the team into thinking he was dying, and he even dressed up as one of the Psycho Rangers in a creative way to beat one of them. After Turbo‘s lackluster sixth additions, it really helped to get a guy who actually did things.
8. White Dino Ranger — Power Rangers Dino Thunder
The first Ranger on this list to not come from another world or time. Trent was the son of the season’s villain, Anton Mercer (who himself was a split personality of the actual villain of the season, Mesogog…long story), and gains Ranger powers when he stumbles on the White Dino Gem. Since Mesogog had given the gem evil influence or something, Trent’s Ranger form is actually an evil Power Ranger that he can’t control. After throwing around the team for a few episodes, he joins them in full (sound familiar?). But what’s different about his introduction is the eventual cloning of his power, leading to a White Ranger vs. White Ranger fight (…sound familiar?). Trent was a bit of a lamewad that wanted to pursue art (…terrible art), and his evil self didn’t really accomplish much when you boil it down. But at least he’s a lot cooler than others on this list!
7. Shadow Ranger — Power Rangers S.P.D.
Doggie was the Chief of Space Patrol Delta who’s wife was presumably killed by the season’s villain. When he finally confronted the main villain, he was attacked by 100 monsters (eventually reflected by the cool “100” on his suit) and became the Shadow Ranger. He probably had the coolest suit of S.P.D. overall, and Doggie eventually landed the final critical blow during the season finale, but as we reach the higher ranks on the list he’s been bumped down by some personal faves of mine.
6. Magna Defender — Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
Magna Defender might not be considered a sixth Ranger by fans, but I’ve always considered him one. With two versions of the character (both badass), there was plenty to work with. The first Defender was a father avenging the death of his son (who was straight up killed on-screen), and the second was Leo (the Red Ranger)’s thought dead brother from the first episode, Mike. Using a sword (that also was a gun) to transform into a Knight looking guy, Defender was even able to grow and become his actual Megazord. He even sacrificed his powers to save the entire space colony toward season end, which was just another example of how selfless Mike was (as he both sacrificed himself to save his brother in the pilot, and refused to take the Red Ranger powers even if he was the rightful owner of them). He was also the first Ranger to have a cape in the series. Capes are cool.
5. Titanium Ranger — Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
The Titanium Ranger may not be the coolest Ranger on this list (though try arguing an ax-gun isn’t cool), but he cracks the top five by being unique. See, the rest of the Rangers on this list were a by-product of their parent Japanese versions. Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive, the series Lightspeed Rescue took its footage from, didn’t have a sixth Ranger so the showrunners decided to make one for themselves. It’s why his suit’s so bulky in comparison to the others, and the only thing that kept him relevant to the story was a snake curse that threatened to kill him every day in his dreams or something, but I’ll give credit where it’s due. Being an entirely American invention was a risk, but it’s one that paid off. If he didn’t show up, fans would have definitely questioned why there wasn’t a traditional sixth member.
4. Gold Ranger — Power Rangers Zeo
Zeo kind of fudged the Gold Ranger’s first introduction by laying out this mystery before revealing his identity as a goob who turned into three goobs (who no one knew, so it was a wash). But it definitely made up for it the second time around. After introducing several candidates who could’ve been a great Gold Ranger (Tommy’s brother, Billy), and after keeping his identity hidden, his eventual reveal as Jason (the former Mighty Morphin Red Ranger) was one of the biggest surprises (and bits of fan service) the series had since Tommy’s reveal as the White Ranger. Jason fit the series like a glove, and the character’s history with Tommy eventually led to the great “King for a Day” two-parter which had the two fighting for the first time since their season one days and had a cooler look than the rest of the team overall.
What keeps him out of the top three, however, is the fact that the goob triplets have to come back and take the powers away because story reasons or something, I don’t know.
3. White Ranger — Mighty Morphin Power Rangers S2-S3
Well, at least one version of Tommy was going to get the top spot and it’s definitely not the White Ranger. While he’s cool and all (much cooler than a lot of the list by nature of his very existence), and he’s the one thing taken from the Japanese series Gosei Sentai Dairanger from where MMPR season two got most of its footage from, Tommy doesn’t really do much after his great introduction. His surprise reveal (coming down from a beam of white light in, uh, “White Light”) after the loss of his Green Ranger power was a great moment, but he just became the de-facto leader of the team after the original Red Ranger was written out of the series.
Despite his cool new theme and talking sword making him seem different, and fighting Lord Zedd to a standstill once, this was just Tommy all over again. To me, it always felt like a downgrade from the Green Ranger power rather than the intended upgrade. I mean, just ask folks who remember the show. Do they say they want to be the White Ranger or the Green Ranger? It’s always Green before White.
2. Quantum Ranger — Power Rangers Time Force
What? Tommy isn’t both of the top spots? Well, no. Time Force was one of the best seasons of the series for its great villain, great Pink Ranger, great Red Ranger character arc, and notably, its sixth Ranger. In fact, the Quantum Ranger was so effective he was even brought back to a Red Ranger exclusive anniversary team-up years later. As a rival to the richly born Wes (the Red Time Force Ranger), Eric was a poor kid who worked hard all of his life in order to prove he was just as good as the rich kids. Eventually growing to resent rich boys like Wes, he forced his way into Ranger powers by finding the Quantum Power first. Taking most things by force, he led a military team to attack the mutants (the baddies in Time Force), eventually gained control of the Q-Rex Megazord, and was more of an anti-hero through the season. Eventually, he grew to be friendly with the others, even lending his Quantum Power to Wes toward the end of the season.
On top of having a fantastic actor, Daniel Southworth, the Quantum Ranger was the first sixth member to have a full character arc since Tommy’s in MMPR. With the added layer of not being mind-controlled, or under some evil spell, Eric was just a guy who was so used to fighting for what he wanted he hated when others just seemed to get things handed to them.
1. Green Ranger — Mighty Morphin Power Rangers S1
As it could be any other Ranger. The Green Ranger is important for a number of reasons. It started the sixth Ranger tradition (even for the Japanese Super Sentai, as he was the first over there too), the “Green With Evil” storyline is one of the most fondly remembered by fans (both hardcore and nostalgic), Jason David Frank’s see-ayaaaahs became a hallmark of the series (with JDF starring in five seasons over the course of the series) as he eventually became the face of it, and it was the first time I remember being engrossed by a TV series as a kid. Here was this evil guy with all of the powers of the good guys, only much cooler with a friggin’ Dragon and better fighting skills, who went from bad guy to good guy over the course of a week.
I remember school feeling so long that week as I waited to see the next part of the epic story. No other Ranger (sixth or otherwise) has left that big of an impression. So big, in fact, folks are clamoring for his addition to the new movies. While I’m sure the Green Ranger will be added to the films, the new version will never be as cool as the original.