Power Rangers RPM

Because nothing says 'covert' like bright red, yellow, and blue spand-THAT IS NOT SPANDEX!

RPM, Get In Gear!

Suppose your first ever exposure to the Batman franchise was the 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.

Yeah, that's kind of like how Power Rangers RPM compares to its Super Sentai source material and the Power Rangers franchise as a whole.

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...

RPM was, quite simply, a make-or-break season for the franchise. Disney was prepared to cancel it after Bruce Kalish left the show, but Bandai stepped in to give their Cash Cow Franchise at least one more season. Still, Disney shunted the show - including reruns of past seasons - off their cable channels (particularly their new Disney XD rebranding) and onto ABC, where it was subject to preempting for sports. Adding to the conflict, the first Executive Producer Eddie Guzelian was fired midway through the season over "creative differences" with Disney. Former Rangers writer and producer Judd Lynn, who was a big part of the series' improving during the Saban days, came in to replace him.

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 fast track to becoming a fan-favorite.

RPM originally looked like the end of the series, with no plans to make more episodes. Disney eventually announced they would continue airing the show, but a terribly Recut version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as opposed to new material. It was only a while later that Saban announced that they had reacquired the franchise and had begun work on Power Rangers Samurai.

Tropes used in Power Rangers RPM include:

Recurring Power Rangers tropes include

Tenaya: Red is the perfect one, Black is the brooding bad boy, Green is the clown, and Yellow, well, she's the girl. So, who are you supposed to be?
Flynn: Ah'm Scottish!

  • Great Offscreen War: Averted for once; the premiere and flashbacks showed off quite a bit of Venjix's carnage.
  • Home Base: The Garage
  • Humongous Mecha: The RPM Ultrazord, which is twice as large as any grown attackbot. What do you expect when a third of the pieces are a whale-jet, and a Mammoth-train with T-rex and Triceratops cars?
    • Combining Mecha: The are 12 Zords in this show. It takes three to form a single Megazord, they have 4 Megazords that do this, and they can all turn into a single unit called the RPM Ultrazord. So we have Rule of Three multiplied by Four Is Death taken to its logical conclusion.
    • Transforming Mecha: the Road Attack Zord
  • 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.

Ziggy: "Mentor"? Sorry, can someone please explain to her that she's younger than us?

Penny: Are we going to die?
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(!):

Flynn: It's a good day to die, eh boys?

This subseries contains examples of:
  • 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 Self-Parody - Part of why this series is so awesome!
  • After the End
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot
  • 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.
  • Alternate Continuity: Original Executive Producer Eddie Guzelian and the season's Senior Story Editor for both production regimes, John Tellegen, have repeatedly stated that RPM is emphatically not set in the same universe as the preceding sixteen seasons.
    • Armed with Canon: Also comes word from one of the producers of Power Rangers Samurai, stating that should Saban need a character from RPM for Samurai or any season after, then the season would be pulled into continuity. However, the RPM/Samurai teamup has confirmed that RPM is indeed set in an Alternate Universe.
  • Ambiguous Disorder: Dr. K, Gem, and Gemma are not well-adjusted people. We blame Alphabet Soup.
  • Animated Actors: Despite going behind the scenes in "And... Action!", everyone stays in character.
  • Apocalypse How: Class 4
    • Apocalypse Wow: Shown in the Ranger flashback episodes, especially "Ranger Yellow" and "Doctor K"
  • Apocalyptic Log: seen in "If Venjix Won". Justified because apparently Dr. K made a log of the events of the series, complete with detailed analysis of the ranger tech they had used, just in case they lost and some humans came across the wreckage of Corinth, so the fight could continue with new people taking up the mantle. This doesn't happen, of course, Dr. K is just Crazy Prepared enough to have an Apocalyptic Log on hand in case it does.
  • Arranged Marriage: Summer. Thankfully, it's subverted.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Invoked by Tenaya 7 in "Ranger Yellow, Part 2".

Tenaya 7: So I get to get my hands on a big, sparkly diamond; destroy the city of Corinth; and ruin Ranger Yellow's wedding all at once? [Draws hand blaster.] Oh, I'm so totally there!

  • 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!" (And shouldn't that be "Defense Sequence Mustang" anyway?)
    • "Blitz" finally made an attempt to avert this by having "Wishbone Alpha" be a little more complicated than the previous patterns. It's still simple: Flynn uses his time powers to distract the enemy long enough for the Rangers to shoot their BFG at it, but it did have some element of actual strategy to it.
    • Gem and Gemma (who aren't really known for strategy to begin with) are guilty of this in "Prisoners". We never see what their "Beta Formation" actually is, since the action cuts directly to Zenith Megazord doing the finisher next (one can assume that it was intended to provide an opening for that).
    • A rousing cry of "Activate weapons!" in episode 26 resulted in a single punch. Meanwhile, episode 28 had "Delta Formation" result in all Megazords doing a simultaneous dropkick.
  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Gem and Gemma. "We like to blow stuff up!"
  • Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Ziggy and Dr. K's relationship. Most notably in "If Venjix Won", in which we learn that Dr. K has Ziggy's name for her password.
  • Baby Carriage: used as a weapon in "Ranger Red". With the baby.
  • Back From the Brink: The Power Rangers are involved in a war against an enemy that has taken over nearly all of the world already. This Big Bad seems to favor quantity over quality. Witnessed by despite having legions of Mecha-Mooks which he uses in greater numbers and seemingly with more impunity then any Power Ranger Big Bad ever...They are at the same time the MOST EASILY beaten of any Mooks any Power Ranger team has ever fought, one is even sliced in half BY A CLOSING DOOR ON A SCHOOL BUS.
  • Badass Boast: Tenaya has a couple of these speeches rehearsed in her first major appearance. Stopping to deliver them comes back to bite her.
  • Badass Labcoat: Dr. K
  • Bald Black Leader Guy: Colonel Mason Truman.
  • Barehanded Blade Block: "Belly of the Beast" has Gem doing this to stop a chainsaw.
  • Battle Discretion Shot: The first fight of the season (between Dillon and some Mooks) happens almost entirely off-screen, with the camera focusing on a lone flower Dillon had watered just beforehand.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Ziggy and Dr. K. Oh so much.
  • Berserk Button: Don't call the suits "spandex" in front of Dr. K. Not even schoolchildren are safe from her wrath. ("Tights" seems to be OK.) Also, never put a scratch on Scott's car, don't call Fresno Bob "Bobarino," and don't call Tenaya 7 either human or cute.
  • The Berserker: Gem and Gemma, with smiles on their faces the entire time.
  • Betty and Veronica: Scott as Betty and Dillon as Veronica to Summer's Archie.
  • Big Damn Heroes with Big Damn Zords: Gem and Gemma, almost all the time. Especially blatant in "Prisoners", where they disappear on a "super-secret mission" - which, to all appearances, is "save Scott and Flynn's asses at the last minute".
  • Big No: Venjix does this on occasion when something goes wrong, especially when a giant building falls on him. Dr. K also does this during her spotlight episode.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Venjix's insignia (蛮) roughly translates to "barbaric" or "unreasonable."
    • Which is also the first character of the collective name of the Monsters of the Week in the source material (蛮機獣).
  • Book Ends: The season begins and ends with Dillon wandering the wastes, stopping to water a flower.
    • And "The Road to Corinth" begins with Dr. K's introduction about Venjix. The end of "Danger and Destiny, Part 2" has her closing the briefcase containing the Ranger Series morphers.
  • Bottle Episode: "And... Action!"
    • Big Lipped Alligator Episode: In a relatively serious series overall, this is a relatively-ligthearted "Making Of" special that shows how the show is made (well, the parts that aren't just lifted from Sentai footage at least), with the show's characters all staying in character throughout.
  • Brave Scot: Flynn. "What are you supposed to be?" "I'm Scottish!"
  • Bride and Switch: Pulled by the good guys after the bride realises that not only does she really not want to go through with her Arranged Marriage but that she needs a diversion because the enemy has attacked the wedding.
  • Brick Joke: Ziggy's shadow puppets, mentioned briefly at the beginning of the series, it doesn't pay off until episode 17, 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
  • Call Back:
    • In "If Venjix Won", Ziggy asks Dr. K why she, of all people, wanted to spend time with him that day. She answers, "It's my birthday, and I wanted to go outside"—echoing the requests she made to her handlers growing up in Alphabet Soup each year on her birthday. (Cue flashbacks.)
    • A flashback in the episode "Doctor K" has her saying word-for-word part of her introduction to "The Road to Corinth" as she prepares to leave Alphabet Soup—now under attack by Venjix.
  • 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.
  • Can't Catch Up: Ziggy's fighting skills barely even improve till the finale; Gem and Gemma, despite being Super Prototypes, lack the suit powers and civilian vehicles of the core five, then get sidelined for part of the finale before making up for it with a Big Damn Heroes moment.
    • Then again, while Ziggy's fighting prowess isn't up to par with the other Rangers it is rather effective in its own Jackie-Chan bungling kind of way.
  • Captain Ersatz: Venjix = Skynet + HAL + the voice of MCP
  • Cardboard Prison: A variation in "Ranger Green", where some criminals break into the prison to kidnap Ziggy.
  • Carrying a Cake: "Ranger Yellow Part 2"
  • Catchphrase Interruptus: Does Tenaya 7 ever actually get to say her very verbose title?
  • Chained Heat: Scott and Dillon in "Brother's Keeper".
  • Character Development: Perhaps one of the highlights of the season. Almost everyone, including some of the minor characters, get some development. The characters who get the most development however, are Scott, Summer, Ziggy, Dillon, and Dr. K.
  • Chekhov's Armoury: both single-episode and arc-wide versions:
    • Chekhov MIA: The mysterious girl in Dillon's dreams.
    • Chekhov's Boomerang: Ziggy's shadow puppets and Tenaya's whistling "The Farmer In The Dell".
    • Chekhov's Gun: The experimental blaster in "Ranger Green" (it also returns in later episodes as a regular if not plot-important part of K's arsenal).
    • Chekhov's Gag: The cannon in the fridge, initially used for a joke in "Handshake", pops back up later that episode as a legitimate (if comedic) weapon. Same thing with the Transformation Sequence explosions in "Ranger Blue".
    • Chekhov's Gunman: Gem and Gemma
    • Infallible Babble: A guard remarks that a Venjix hardware detector has been giving him false positives all day when it goes off on Tenaya 7. It turns out they weren't.
  • 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.
  • Colonel Badass: Colonel Mason Truman.

Cpl. Hicks: We lost contact with air support over an hour ago, sir... what should I do, sir?
Col. Truman: Go shoot at something.

Ziggy: Don't worry. You can count on me, Dr. K.
Dr. K: Yeah, last time I did that, I ended up in a cave.
Ziggy: Good times, huh?

Flynn: Dude! As if you wouldn't learn to open a bag of-
(Venjix appears)

    • Flynn again in 'Heroes Among Us':

"Your drive train - is your best friend - and you've got dirt as thick as a-" (dirt gets into his mouth)

Ziggy: Voila!
Dr. K: Merci beaucoup.

  • Groin Attack: Evil!Dillon to Flynn in "Brother's Keeper". Just as hilarious in that fight: Ziggy gets rapid-fire bitchslapped.
  • Gundamjack: Dr. K's answer to Venjix's doomsday machine? Reprogram it with whale DNA - however that works - into a zord on Corinth's side.
  • Hannibal Lecture: Tenaya 7 delivers a short one to Dr. K during her namesake episode which really sets her off.
  • Hard Work Montage: Flynn and Gemma in "Not So Simple", complete with falling asleep. Aww.
  • Heel Face Turn: Tenaya 7 after The Reveal. Venjix reprograms her back to his side, but the Rangers eventually break his hold.
  • He Didn't Make It: Scott in the premiere, about his brother. He stays dead.
  • Helping Hands: Tenaya 7
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Gem and Gemma in the Grand Finale.
    • Outside the Rangerverse, Eddie Guzelian worked his tail off to get the fandom the best show he possibly could, and got canned for it.
  • Hero Insurance: Almost averted in "Ancient History", 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.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Dillon and Ziggy in the early episodes.
  • 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).
  • Hope Sprouts Eternal: Seen in the premiere. By the finale more flowers have begun to sprout.
  • I Ate What?: (Arguably) family-friendly version - Ziggy tries some of the pink stuff Gem and Gemma are cooking, which turns out to be plastic explosives.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All flashback episodes are named after the character they feature.
  • Idiot Ball: Great job disabling Ranger Black and letting the monster tap into the weather grid, Dr. K.
    • Tenaya's plan to gas the city in "The Dome Dolls"; one, for being only knockout gasses and two, for having a separate gas for each gender.
  • If It Swims, It Flies: Eagle Racer notwithstanding, a zord's flight ability is based on its vehicle half, not its animal. So the Tail Spinner zord (half-motorcycle) averts this trope, while the Whale Zord justifies it by being half-plane. Of course, the flying whale wears a lampshade.
  • "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 Tenaya, continually yelling that she's his sister and refusing to attack. This could be considered 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, Tenaya stops attacking and walks away without explanation, but the overall loyalty to Venjix appears unchanged.
  • I Like Those Odds: Faced with a small army of Mecha Mooks, all Dillon has to say is "Venjix should've sent more."
  • 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!
  • Improvised Weapon: See above, and...
    • Scott uses a baby stroller (with baby) during a fight at a playground.
    • Flynn would have something to say as using his henshin explosion to blow a hole in a wave of Mooks.
    • 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.
    • Don't forget the building, the headquarters for city security, used in the finale.
  • Instant Expert: Subverted by Ziggy, who's possibly the only Ranger in history to not automatically learn martial arts upon morphing.
  • Insufferable Genius: Dr. K.
  • Invincible Incompetent: Ziggy
  • Ironic Nursery Tune: Tenaya stalks her prey whistling "The Farmer In The Dell"
  • ISO Standard Urban Groceries: At the end of "Ranger Blue" when Flynn comes home to his father, complete with a baguette.
  • It's A Pajama Party, I Swear: Pulled - perhaps inadvertently - on Dr. K in "And... Action!"
  • Karmic Death: Think about it. What, throughout the series, usually gets destroyed when the Monster of the Week grows to giant size? Buildings. Now, what do the rangers use to defeat the final Big Bad of the season?
  • Lampshade Hanging: Everything that is Power Rangers. Because "nothing says 'covert' like bright red, yellow, and blue spandex."
    • THAT IS NOT! SPANDEX!!!
    • 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)
      • The episode "Ranger Blue" begins with a five-minute conversation where the Rangers ask Dr. K why the zords have eyes,[1] why there's an epic explosion behind them when they morph[2] and why they scream "RPM! GET IN GEAR!"[3] And later Tenaya asks Flynn what his role in the Five-Man Band is. "I'm SCOTTISH!"
  • 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. He is never seen to get his old memories back, though as he said in that episode, he's got something better: new ones.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Cmdr. Murdock from "Heroes Among Us." And of course, the "Boom Time" twins.
  • Literal-Minded: Dr. K.

Col. Truman: I sure hope you know what you're doing.
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!
  • Littlest Cancer Patient: A whole orphanage of them, in fact. Ziggy pisses off Corinth's entire criminal underworld for their sake.
  • Lego Genetics: Introduced into the Whale Zord through computer download.
  • Let's Mock the Monsters: Even the Quirky Miniboss Squad can't always take the attackbots seriously (see "Handshake").
  • Lonely Rich Kid: Summer
  • Lovely Angels: Summer and Gemma in the Girls' Night Out Episode - said episode is even titled "The Dome Dolls".
  • 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.
  • Man in a Kilt: Flynn, for a wedding and when he was attending school. Note that kilts in these situations are Truth in Television.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Kilobyte, complete with the appropriately posh accent. His Villain Decay over the last few episodes has lessened this somewhat.
  • Meta Guy: Ziggy
  • The Men in Black: The Alphabet Soup handlers. Crosses with The Faceless.
  • Mineral MacGuffin: the Landsdown Diamond in "Ranger Yellow"
  • Mix and Match: "Power Rangers" + Terminator
  • Mood Whiplash: The "Terminator meets Mad Max" theme of the show clashes rather badly with both the Power Ranger camp-factor in general (especially in the first episode) and with Go-Onger's ridiculous looking zords and generally silly monster designs. Then again, some find the campiness endearing, apocalyptic background or not. See Pragmatic Adaptation below.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Tenaya 7. You can actually identify her stuntwoman by her less shapely rear.
  • Musical Assassin: Dr. K and her Violin of Doom.
  • My Greatest Failure: Dr. K and . . . do we even need to spell it out for you?
  • Mysterious Protector: The Gold and Silver Rangers in "Embodied" and "Ghosts"
  • Mythology Gag: There's a Jungle Karma Pizzeria in Corinth, the wedding episode had the local idiot faceplant into a cake, and Flynn wanted to change the morph call to "Rangers to the Rescue" or "Ranger Justice Unleashed". Also, the Red Overdrive Ranger's helmet was seen in "Ancient History".
    • And there's some rare Sentai nods as well. Most blatant, obviously, is the GO-ONGER, and when discussing it Summer asks if it was built in 1975. Flynn also describes the Falcon Copter as a flying chicken, which it actually was in Go-Onger.
    • Scott's backstory is similar to that of 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.
    • And, mentioned in Forever Red, there was a General Venjix in the Machine Empire. Fanficsplosion in 10... 9... 8...
    • Dillon's not the first Ranger 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 Tenaya is kinda hot when she's not out to kick their asses.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: In typical Power Rangers fashion, various rangers, zords and monsters get these on occasion, but one of the most striking examples is when Tenaya 7 uses her arm as a lightning rod to absorb several bolts being blasted at her via Corinth's weather control system, and fires them back at the rangers. For that matter, the fact that the weather system can even do this is pretty surprising.
  • 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.
    • Even earlier, they needed another energy-thingie, but there was only one ever built, and they can't build another one. Then, an attack bot that can make a duplicate of any object comes along, so Dr. K manages to manipulate events to get one in the base and get the enemy to accidentally make a copy of said energy-thingie. The villain even questions if she actually planned it all this way. * Cue violin attack*
    • Kilobyte wanted to do something useful so he activated a hybrid to attack the Colonel, not only did it fail but it tipped the Rangers off to what Venjix was planning.
  • The Nicknamer: Dr. K refuses to call the Rangers by their names, though she tries to change (except for Ziggy) after Gem and Gemma turn up alive and call her out on being impersonal.
  • Non-Action Guy: Ziggy
  • Non-Indicative Name: Gem and Gemma's Cloud Hatchets are really more like daggers than actual hatchets.
  • No Social Skills: Dr. K
  • Not Himself: Dillon under the influence of Venjix.
  • Not in the Face: Ziggy in the first episode.
  • Not Wearing Pants: Ziggy relates a story of one such incident in the premiere... then we actually see it happen to him in "Ranger Green" (at least he doesn't have a rash this time).
  • The Nudifier: Dr. K's sonic cannon, when still in the experimental stage in "Ranger Green". Of course, since this is a kids' show, it leads to I See London.
  • Obfuscated Interface: Venjix's computers display data too fast for humans to process (Dillon, being a cyborg, manages just fine).
  • Oh Crap: Tenaya in "Ranger Yellow, Part 2" and "Doctor K." She knows the violin, she fears the violin.
    • Venjix ultimately meets his doom with a building dropped on him in the finale. He doesn't take it very well.
  • 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.
  • Opening Narration:

Doctor K: A computer virus has built armies of robotic soldiers and taken control of our world. But there is still one place we can be safe: the domed city of Corinth. And the only hope we have left is...
Theme Music: Power Rangers RPM! Get in gear!

  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: Dillon's music-box locket
  • Out-of-Genre Experience: The first half of "The Road to Corinth" feels more like a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller than a typical Power Rangers episode.
  • Override Command: Dr. K tries to turn off Dillon's ranger suit in "Blitz". He somehow overpowers it.
  • Pass the Popcorn: During Ziggy's "interrogation". Ziggy himself and Gemma also pull buckets out on occasion.
  • The Password Is Always Swordfish: Partially subverted in "If Venjix Won". The Rangers guess several ranger-related words and phrases as Dr. K's possible computer password, each one failing. It turns out she chose Ziggy's name as her password, presumably thinking no-one would guess because no-one knew that she had feelings for him.
  • Percussive Maintenance: Handwaved as Flynn intentionally building the Road Attack Zord to shut down from a good whack in the center.
  • Phlebotinum Rebel: Dillon
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: This, of course, is a Power Rangers staple, but a notable exception goes to Dr. K's first encounter with Tenaya 7 in "Ranger Yellow, Part 2"—complete with a violin.

Tenaya 7 [holding up blaster]: Dr. K, I presume? If you're as smart as they say you are, I'm expecting some pretty profound last words here.
Dr. K [picking up violin plugged into the amp]: Then I'll speak the universal language of music.
Tenaya 7 [looks at speaker array]: You are smart! [Dr. K then plays a loud chord, sending Tenaya 7 flying.]

  • Pyrrhic Victory: Congratulations, Rangers, you have defeated Venjix![4] All it cost was 99% of life on earth, and the ecosystem will take millennia to recover, leaving life outside Corinth a living cancer-laden hell for generations. Have fun!
    • 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 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.
    • This has led to some extremely short zord battles; some Go-Onger battles have over half the fight being the monster dancing, delivering monologues or comically running around. Edit that out and it's not much more than "form the megazord and do the finisher."
      • 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.
  • Product Placement: In addition to the usual, there were licensed Toyota toys. (It didn't come up in the show, though.)
  • Prop Recycling: Dr. K's sonic blaster, which originated in Big Bad Beetleborgs and was last seen in "Forever Red". And while borrowing from Super Sentai normally goes without saying, special mention must be made of the van with "GO-ONGER" plastered on the side.
  • 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.
  • The Reveal: Dr. K programmed the Venjix Virus, and admits it to the Rangers.
    • Internal Reveal: But not to Corinth security, as we eventually find out...
    • Another Reveal in "Endgame", half the city of Corinth is made of robotic hybrids.
  • Reverse Polarity: A slight inversion; Flynn's abilities went haywire in "Ranger Blue" due to a build up of time dilation reversing the polarity of his powers. Played straight, however, in that he fixes the problem by putting his Engine Cell in upside down like a backwards battery, re-reversing the polarity.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: Summer's family.
  • Right Behind Me: Ziggy about Dr. K in "Three's A Crowd"
  • Robbing the Mob Bank: Ziggy's backstory.
  • Robot Girl: Tenaya 7
  • Robotic Reveal: "End Game" reveals that appoximately half the population of Corinth City is infected with the dormant Venjix Virus.
    • Unrobotic Reveal: Tenaya 7. She's convinced she is a robot until she bleeds. The way the cut is revealed is almost mimicking the cliche of revealing sparking wires when Robotic Reveal is used straight.
  • Robot War
  • Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Dr. K thanks to Alphabet Soup.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Attempted with Dr. K, but it didn't really work: the voice distortion didn't really hide her gender that well, and a leaked trailer spoiled it anyway. It was also spoiled by the title sequence as the opening intro is voiced by Dr K, and the voice distortion isn't used on it, not even in the episodes before the reveal. At least the voice distortion made her sound older, if not really a guy.
  • Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Gem and Gemma, again. * Cracks knuckles* "KA-plishiawhooharoommmmmmm!"
  • Screwed by the Network: Half of America couldn't see it because of opt-outs, pre-emptions for college football, and in some areas, an unsociable timeslot (who's awake at 5am?). It was also not shown on Disney XD, as mentioned in the trope intro. UK viewers had to wait six months for the second half of the season, due to Jetix stopping the new episodes when it became Disney XD.
  • Series Fauxnale: RPM was going to be the end for the entire franchise, and it would have been: a truly outstanding and very unconventional season, with the final episode making 700 even. If PR had to end, there couldn't possibly be a more awesome and fitting way for it to go out. As for the series itself, the final arc begins with a Wham! Episode even by the standards of a Wham Season like this: you know how Dillon's a hybrid with all this evil Venjix tech in him that may take over him someday? Well, half the city is the same way, with their reprogramming complete, and Venjix just hadn't flipped the switch yet. And now he does. Oh Crap. All Your Base Are Belong to Us is practically a tradition, and happened repeatedly this year, but... it's never been done like that before.
  • Shaping Your Attacks: Finishing moves take the form of the zords.
  • Ship Tease: Dillon and Summer (which Dr. K lampshades mercilessly), Summer/Scott, Flynn/Gemma and Ziggy/Dr. K.
  • Shipper on Deck: Dr. K in "Brother's Keeper".
  • Shout-Out: Lots and lots. 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".
  • Small Girl, Big Gun: Dr. K and her Beetleborg Blaster.
  • Sophisticated As Hell: in "Prisoners"

Gem: Looks like it's-
Gemma: -Boom time, Dr. K!
Dr. K: Roger that, Gem and Gemma. You are go for Boom Time.

  • The Smurfette Principle: On the one hand, Gemma is the franchise's first full-fledged female Sixth Ranger. On the other hand, she's only half of the "Gemngemma" character (but she got a little better).
  • 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 Ziggy Ranger Green.
    • "It's Ziggy! ZIG-Y! Z! I! G! G! Y! ZIGGY!!!"
  • Something Completely Different: "And... Action!" starts out normally, then Ziggy breaks the fourth wall and turns it into a behind-the-scenes episode.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: Dr. K plays an excerpt from Paganini's Caprice No.24 in A Minor. This excerpt plays out during a Megazord battle in the very next scene. It Makes Sense in Context. This also falls under Crowning Music of Awesome.
  • The Speechless: Many of the Attack Bots are unable to speak - a first in the series.
  • The Spock: Dr. K
  • Spoiler Opening: Both played straight and averted in the first 4 episodes; while Dillon is shown to be Ranger Black from the first episode, Ziggy as Ranger Green and Dr. K's real appearance are hidden until after they've both appeared in the series. Done straight again when a later opening shows Gem as Ranger Gold and Gemma as Ranger Silver in the episode they join the team. Happens again when the Paleozords appear in the opening a full week before their appearance, and RPM Ultrazord three weeks before its appearance. Tenaya 15 appears in the opening of the episode her upgrade is revealed.
  • The Starscream: Tenaya 7
  • Stay in the Kitchen: Kilobyte's attitude towards Tenaya.
  • Steampunk: The outside of Venjix's base invokes this trope. The interior, on the other hand, is decisively more futuristic.
  • Stepford Smiler: Two of them, in Gem and Gemma. Probably Type Cs, as it's unlikely that even the most upbeat invidivuals would talk about something like being held captive as test subjects or enslaved for hard labor in a factory of horror without even the smallest crack in their mask. Of course, since they're like that when they first meet K, it's entirely possible that there were even worse events that warped them even earlier on.
  • Stepford Snarker: Dr. K
  • Stock Footage: Dr. K's narration in "The Road to Corinth" uses footage from the 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 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'.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: Dr. K. She got better.
  • 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 half-machine package. First demonstrated when he instantly catches Colonel Truman's falling mug while being interrogated.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: Done to humorous effect in "Ranger Yellow, Part 2", where the boys discuss their thoughts on Summer's arranged marriage while kicking the crap out of several mooks at once.
  • The Syndicate: Even in one of the last cities on Earth there will still be a crime syndicate.
  • Teen Genius: Dr. K
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The RPM Ultrazord. Also, Venjix gets Corinth Command dropped on him when the zords were unavailable.
  • This Is Reality: Dr. K loves this one.

Dr. K: Justice is an abstract ideological concept. We deal with tangible realities, not justice. You want justice? Read a comic book.

  • This Is Sparta: Once again... THAT IS NOT SPANDEX!!
    • And on the other side of the dome: "I AM VENJIX!"
  • This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: Ziggy can do shadow puppets.
  • Title Theme Tune
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Tenaya 7 inverts this. She is convinced she is a robot, until she bleeds like a human.
  • Too Dumb to Live: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.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Ziggy forms an interesting gradual version of this. At the start of the series, he's clearly not a fighter. Pretty much every battle involves him making a mistake or doing something humourous. However, these moments were very subtly phased out. While he continued to be a comic character, by the midway point of the season, he was able to tear through Grinders just as well as any of the others.
  • 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.
  • Troubled Production
  • Twin Tropes: Gem and Gemma, evident from their very first appearance:
  • Twenty Minutes Into the Future
  • 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.

Flynn: "Bordering on coldness," you say?
Summer: That's ridiculous, Doctor.
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.
  • Unrobotic Reveal: Tenaya7.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The security guards who stop Dr. K from installing the firewall intended to keep Venjix from spreading. The destruction of civilization follows.
  • Uptight Loves Wild: Dr, K towards Ziggy, as of "If Venjix Won".
  • Voice with an Internet Connection: Dr. K, in the first few episodes
  • Wedding Smashers: in "Ranger Yellow pt. 2"
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Scott and Flynn. Cue awww moments at their backstory episodes.
  • 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 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.
  • Wham! Episode: Granted, this is more like a Wham Season in the context of Power Rangers, but "Doctor K" and "End Game" certainly count.
  • What Could Have Been: If Eddie ran the Zoo for the finale, the following was rumored to have been planned: Dillon would have been a sleeper body for Venjix, making "Dillon" non-existent since he was hybridized, causing the first Shoot The RANGER ending in PR history. Fanbase reactions were divided and the validity of the entire rumor has since been questioned by many and denied by cast members Dan Ewing and Mike Ginn.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Dr. K controlling the base venting systems with her violin. It's cool, but bwuh?
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: When Dr. K asks Ziggy what he offers to the team (because it sure isn't ability), he says that he has heart. Dr. K isn't impressed.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: After Scott runs off to prove himself to his dad, Gem tracks him down and asks "Isn't this exactly what you're always telling me and Gemma not to do?"
  • Where The Heck Is Corinth?: Fans have deduced from provided info that Corinth is on the site of Boston, though they had to toy with the coordinates given incorrectly in the show. (Either it's Boston, Greenland, or somewhere in the Indian Ocean.)
    • Creator Provincialism: Boston is the hometown of the season's first executive producer, Eddie Guzelian.
      • Corinth seems to be located in Cancun, Mexico. In "Rain", Dillon turns on the radio and the woman gives the exact coordinates of Cancun as Corinth's location. Reinforced because the shape of the coastline around Cancun is identical to the wire map location of Corinth in the show's intro.
    • Please Select New City Name
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Flynn, see Honor Before Reason above. Ziggy as well, as he is convinced that despite the rapid evolution of Venjix technology that he and his teammates will always win because "we're the good guys."
  • Xanatos Gambit: Venjix's master plan, revealed in "End Game". Remember all those attacks on Corinth foiled by the rangers? All a decoy to distract attention from the real threat: the population of Corinth, most of which have been infected with the Venjix virus and have been slowly turning into hybrids over the course of the entire season so that Venjix can control them and conquer the city. Of course if any of the monsters actually suceeded...
    • 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"
  • You Have Failed Me...: Lampshaded; Tenaya uses the line in "Handshake" to mock Venjix's impending use of the trope.
    • Used interestingly in "Three's a Crowd":

Venjix: This body has failed me for the last time!

  1. ↑ (they're high-powered cameras)
  2. ↑ (residual energy runoff that's necessary to "clear the suit's bio-channels during the morph")
  3. ↑ (voice recognition safety feature)
  4. ↑ for now
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