One of the coolest characters inPower Rangersbroke the show’s ultimate rule by becoming a Red Ranger in a season that already had one. It is an unwritten rule in thePower Rangersuniverse that each team can only have one Red Ranger. The same can generally be said about all other colors, although there have been a few more exceptions regarding those. However, when it comes to Red Rangers, mostPower Rangersteamsare associated with just one Ranger wearing the color Red. However, Eric Myers,the Quantum RangerfromTime Force, broke this trend.
Released in 2001,Time Forcewas a groundbreaking season that raised the bar for the seriesand showed thatPower Rangerscould experiment with different genres and storylines. The show leaned heavily on sci-fi and told the story of a team of time cops who traveled from the distant future to the early 2000s to hunt down a mutant crime lord.Time Forcewas a rathermaturePower Rangersseason and had some of the best characters in the franchise, including Eric. The Quantum Ranger played by his own rules and was a one-man team.
Time Force Was The First Power Rangers Team With Two Red Rangers
The Quantum Ranger’s Red Ranger Status Was Debatable
While the Quantum Ranger operated apart from the main team for the most part, it is fair to say thatTime Forcewas the firstPower Rangersshow to have two Red Rangers as part of its main lineup of heroes.Eric Myers is never referred to as a Red Ranger inTime Force, but it is difficult not to think of him as such when his costume is all-red. Although the Quantum Ranger’s costume is different enough from that of Wes, it is still very much a Red Ranger suit.
Eric Myers
Quantum Ranger
Not much is known about how the Quantum Ranger powers came to be, but the fact is that, once Eric found the morpher and claimed his own Zord, he became a Ranger who operated by himself. Teamwork was always an important theme inTime Force, especially with Jen’s squad having to learn how to work with Wes, which is why having a “lonely wolf” Ranger in the season was so interesting.The personal history between Wes and Eric made their dynamic even more compelling– they were two very different Red Rangers.
The Quantum Ranger Was Both A Red And A Sixth Ranger
Eric Myers Operated Outside Of The Main Team
InPower Rangers, the color of the costume is sometimes not enough to define what that Ranger represents to their team. For example, while Tommy was a sixth Ranger when he rejoined the team inMMPRseason 2 as the White Ranger, he later became the leader of the team while still using the same color. Likewise, even thoughRocky was the Red Rangerfor almost half ofMighty Morphin, he was never the team’s leader. This is whyit can be difficult to define all the boxes that a Ranger should check to be considered an actual Red Ranger.
There is a difference between wearing the color Red and being a Red Ranger. For example,Crimson Thunder Ranger Hunter technically wore red inNinja Storm– even Shane referred to it as a“primary color.”However, Hunter can hardly be considered a Red Ranger. When it comes toTime Force’s Eric, there aren’t many reasons to argue that he is not a Red Ranger. Interestingly, the Quantum Ranger can also be considered a sixth Ranger – the extra member of the team who is only introduced a few episodes into the show.
Power Rangers’ 10 Best Extra Rangers, Ranked
From Mighty Morphin’s Green Ranger to newer characters, Power Rangers’ sixth or additional Rangers are usually the coolest heroes on the show.
From a story perspective, the Quantum Ranger acts more as a sixth Ranger than as a Red one. Red Rangers are associated with the position of team leader, albeit with a few exceptions, yet the Quantum Ranger did not even have a team. While Eric was never an evil Ranger, he did clash with Wes and the others a few times, which is also a signature sixth Ranger trait. The fact thatthe Quantum Ranger had the looks of a Red Ranger and the story of a sixth Rangermade him incredibly cool.
“Forever Red” Confirmed Eric Myers’ Status As A Red Ranger
The Quantum Ranger Was One Of The 10 Veteran Red Rangers
Had “Forever Red” never happened,Power Rangersfans would probably still be arguing whether the Quantum Ranger was a Red Ranger. However, given that Eric Myers was one of the ten heroes assembled for the “Forever Red” crossover, there is no question that he is officially a Red Ranger inPower Rangerscanon. A crossover special aired in 2002, “Forever Red” celebratedPower Rangers’ 10th anniversary and saw Tommy and Andros assembling a team of 10 Red Rangers.All Red Rangers in the show up until that point returned, the only exception being the second MMPR Red Ranger.
Assuming thatNinja Storm’s Hunter cannot be considered a Red Ranger,Power Rangersnever had a situation quite like the one inTime Forceagain.
Although there were plans for Steve Cardenas’ Rocky to be included in “Forever Red,” the fact is that Jason was the soleMMPRRed Ranger in the crossover. In other words,had Eric not been included, the “Forever Red” lineup would have consisted of nine Rangers instead of 10.Given how a 10-Ranger team sounds much cooler than a team of nine heroes, it makes sense that the Quantum Ranger made the cut. Regardless of the lore aspects involved, seeing Eric and Wes working together with other Red Rangers was very exciting.
The Closest Thing To It Was Ninja Storm’s Crimson Thunder Ranger
Assuming thatNinja Storm’s Hunter cannot be considered a Red Ranger,Power Rangersnever had a situation quite like the one inTime Forceagain. InPower Rangers Samurai, Lauren Shiba briefly becomes the Red Ranger, yet she replaces her brother’s spot on the team while doing so. InPower Rangers Cosmic Fury, Amelia becomes the Red Ranger after the team gains new powers. Once Zayto returns, he switches from Dino Fury Red to Cosmic Fury Zenith, meaning there were never actually two Red Rangers on the team operating at the same time.
The fact that there was never a case of two Red Rangers operating at the same time like Wes and Eric onPower Rangersagain adds to the experience of rewatchingTime Force. Naturally,Time Forcehaving two Red Rangers only happened because its respectiveSuper Sentai,Mirai Sentai Timeranger, had two different heroes in Red. Wes was based on Time Red Tatsuya Asami, whereas Eric was based on Fire Red Naoto Takizawa.Time Forcealso had a third Red Ranger, Alex, although he seemingly died in the first episode, with his powers passing onto Wes.
Power Rangers Time Force
Cast
Power Rangers Time Force is a television series that aired in 2001, serving as the ninth season of the Power Rangers franchise. The show follows the adventures of four Time Force Rangers, led by Wesley “Wes” Collins, as they travel back in time to prevent the villainous Ransik from altering the course of history.
