Thursday, April 17, 2008

Power Rangers/Super Sentai Villain Comparison: Ninja Storm/Hurricanger

Lothor /Tao Zanto
Lothor replaced Tao Zanto in Ninja Storm. Tao Zanto's final form was changed into Lothor's 'Zord' in the finale. Tao Zanto was the domineering boss of the all the bad guys (Jakanja). When they failed, he would shock them with electricity. Lothor was the Ranger's mentor's twin brother who betrayed the good and became evil. He had a sense of humor but a bit of a pain to fans, they didn't really like him. Tao Zanto was destroyed, while Lothor was dumped into the Abyss of Evil, escaped in Dino Thunder and then encased in a jar by Messagog, the main villain of that series.

Zurgane / Sargain
Besides the similar names, Sargain was actually a small robotic ant that pilots the giant robot warrior. he even changed suits for one episode. Sargain was strong, serious, and would get real angry. Zurgane is constantly frustrated by the lack of seriousness on the part of those who work around him. Sargain took forever to defeat, he was in charge of the machine corp. Sandaru/Vexacus killed Sargain/Zurgane.

Choobo/Chuuzubo
Also had similar names but that is where the similarities end. Chuuzubo was stern, stuffy and sneaky. He had a gruff voice. Choobo on the other hand was silly, goofy and a scaredy-cat. Chuuzubo was number 1 dealing with the Goraijer and sought revenge on them when they defected to the Hurricanger, risky enough to use a dangerous scroll to become huge. Choobo was pushed to fight the Thunder Rangers, fought them, became little--a pet for the two girls. He was last seen on the space fortress shortly before it self-destructed.

Kapri / Wendinu
Wendinu was sexy, flirtly and dangerous. She was cute sexy, a girly girl. But Kapri, anything but. Gruff, dumb, and out of it and whiny. She and Marah were sisters and hated by fans. Wendinu was in charge of growing the monsters. She and Furabijou returned in Abaranger vs. Hurricanger, they were supposedly sent to the Dino Earth and came back to our dimension. Kapri turned good, joined the Ninja Academy with her cousin Cam and pretended to be evil again with her Uncle Lothor to save some captives.

Marah / Furabijou
Furabijou was cute and fun, child-like. She is a fan favorite. Marah, not so much. Dumb, bumbling and a crybaby. You just couldn't take her serious. Furabijou, when she became serious, you could take it seriously and be afraid of her, she meant business. She stamped on a clipboard when her team lost. Furabijou pretended to defect, befriended Nanami (Blue), and then betrayed her trust. Marah instead tricked the Yellow one Dustin. She and Wendinu returned in Abaranger vs. Hurricanger, they were supposedly sent to the Dino Earth and came back to our dimension. Marah turned good, joined the Ninja Academy with her cousin Cam and pretended to be evil again with her Uncle Lothor to save some captives.

Motodrone/Manmuraba
Manmuraba had been in the series since the beginning, Motodrone was introduced later in the series. Manmuraba started as a small creature (Above far right) that floated around and was picky. He would be hard on his teammates. He later went into a cacoon and went into the form in the center, with a robe. He was basically the same physically except for the robe in Ninja Storm. Motodrone ws created from a project went ary and when the person that housed him was removed, he became his own entity. Manmuraba was much darker and sinister, he picked on Ikkou (Kabutoraijer) and planted a killer bug inside him.

His final form was a giant round fat monster. This creature was seen in the series, but separate from Motodrone, called Eyezac. Eyezac was seen in a human-size form, which didn't happen in the original. Manmuraba's infant form was also made into a nameless toy in America that accompanied Kelzak Fury (a foot solider repaint). Manmuraba was destroyed by the Rangers, while Motodone was done in by Vexacus.

Shimazu / Satorakura
Satorakura was a jokester, big into playing games and was as funny as evil, wicked and not above killing. Probably because he seemed to garish that Disney didn't bring him into the series until later on, realizing he was in too much of the footage. Satorakura originally came in when Shurikenger was introduced, but Shimazu came in after Vexacus. His goofy attacks and fun graphics were watered down in Ninja Storm. Satorakura was an alien, while Shimazu was an ancient being that was awoken. Shimazu was destroyed by Marah and Kapri after their plan against the Rangers failed. Satorakura took off his mask and was a crazy looking ghost dude and was killed by the Hurricanger.

Vexaus / Saandaru
Saandaru was the deadly last of the seven. He killed Sargain and Shurikenger. He had plans of his own. Vexaus was an alien, not affiliated with Lothor and later joined them. He mostly spent time in the background, after his introduction. Saandaru had little time, since he was introduced late in the series. Vexaus was destroyed by the Rangers, so was Saandaru.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I think the reason they made Choobo goofy in Ninja Storm was because of his very appearance. Too weird looking to be taken seriously. But despite that, I'd say that Choobo was still the better of the former gruff turned goofy villains. He did after all get his 20 minutes of fame in the last ever 4-part Power Rangers adventure.(Return of Thunder)

I guess they omitted the Zurgane being a small robotic ant part because they thought that it was annoying. Because of how he's smaller than Kapri & Marah in US footage, I think of him as an Anti-Alpha-5.

And Manmaruba's infant form looks like Scorpius' cousin to me.