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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Power Rangers RPM - Episode 11 - "Doctor K"


Episode Summary:
Dr. K is playing her violin and trying to configure the Zenith Megazord with no avail. She breaks the strings on her violin when Summer walks in. Meanwhile, Venjix presents the Reflex Bot and it opens up its mirror and the two dumb generals say how ugly they are, without realizing it is them. Venjix releases another one for Tenaya, saying she is his wisest and most trusted general. She says it is not saying much as the others continue being dumb. Back at the garage, Dr. K explains to the Rangers and Colonel that the Venjix hardware has gotten better and they can't match up. She needs a new flux overthruster for the Zenith Megazord, she doesn't have the answers and everyone is full of questions. Ziggy asks his question once again, "Are we or are we not the good guys?" Dr. K asks him what it is like. Ziggy is "like what?"


She asks what is it like being stupid your whole life, she wants to know if it is wonderful as it seems. Flashback to Dr. K as a child and playing with chalk making circles around one girl's pretty little house with equations. A mysterious man and woman, walk up to her, we do not see their faces. Dr. K offers them a chalk. Fade to black, no title as most origin episodes had titles. Dr. K blows the candles on her birthday cake and she wants to go outside but she is told her skin is sensitive to the sun and she is very sick. She has been taken in by this man and woman in the government corporation Alphabet Soup for her whole life. The man and woman tell her over and over again to do work, equations, and make a computer program. They ask her what is her wish on her birthday (she is probably a teenager by now), she says she wishes she could remember her name. Back to reality, the rangers go fight the monster.


The two megazords are formed and the bot can replicate a solid object and it does so with the Shark and Wolf and splits ValveMax apart. The bot replicates their saber and attacks the High Octane Megazord and the other three go down. Dr. K is distressed. The Rangers are at the mercy of the robot but it slows down and has a system failure. It shuts down and shrinks to adult size. Back at the lab, the soldiers bring in the robot, Colonel wants to destroy it but Dr. K wants to study it. She asked by Corporal Hicks how she created the Ranger Stuff. She says she had help. Flashback to her playing with her musical keyboard. The Man and Woman of Alphabet Soup bring her two test pilots for the Ranger hardware project... twins Gem and Gema who complete each other's sentences. They were raised in 'The Soup' as well.


They wish her happy birthday and give her a present... a big pencil of two colors (green and yellow). They say they are her friends. The present was wrapped with a gold ribbon and silver ribbon. She says she doesn't even like them. They say they still like her anyway. She worked that pencil to a nub working on the Ranger hardware on her computer. She spots a butterfly on her keyboard and follows it. The butterfly reaches a window and Dr. K is shocked to find out that the sunlight does not effect or harm her. Back to the present, the Rangers fight the drones and Tenaya surprises K again in her lab. K blasts her with her cannon and Tenaya blasts the lasers.


Tenaya makes it so Red can't control his zord. K puts a tub over Tenaya so she can't escape but of course her hand does. K tries to get things working again. Tenaya says she is getting out of there. K remembers when she wanted to escape 'The Soup' and take Gem and Gema with her. She explains they aren't allergic to the sun. It was all a lie. K planned to blind the security servers for a few minutes so the three could escape... with the Venjix virus they told her to create. She detonates it and then security comes to take Gem and Gema. So K tries to stop the virus but soldiers come and get her but she says she has to stop it or it will infect the entire world. She says all she wanted was to go outside. Present time, the Rangers gain control of the zords. The monster becomes big and K fight Tenaya. High Octane fights the suped-up robot with new additions. Tenaya whistles the 'Farmer in the Dell' again and mentions how K 'royally messed up.' K blasts at her angrily.


We see K do the message we heard in the first message and pack up the five Ranger morpher and cells. The Man and Woman want the computer back and don't want anyone to know Venjix started at the Soup. She tells them the world needs the Ranger technology. The two point guns at her. Gem and Gema beat them up for her. Gema says they are going back for the Gold and Silver series. K tells them they have no time. They run anyway and there are blasts and she thinks they are dead. K cries for her friends in a mini-freak out, Dr. K points the mirror of the fake bot at her and the flux thingy she needed is duplicated so they can make Zenith, which they do. They destroy the monster, Tenaya is kicked out by K's violin/sound blaster and she then looks sadly at the gold and silver ribbons of her only friends in the whole world.


REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
BEST EPISODE OF POWER RANGERS EVER!!!!
One of the best! With the classical music and a few twists and turns, some expected (K asking Ziggy how it is being stupid) and unexpected (the reveal on Venjix). And a mega big other surprise! Gem and Gema! Yes, Gem and Gema are the Gold and Silver Ranger, not Scott's dead brother and Tenaya how some have theorized. This episode has so much backstory that the monster being destroyed was reduced to the end. And now we can theorize on why the two generals of Venjix are so dumb, the virus was created by a super genius teenager! This explains a lot and I am glad it was not all reduced to the day the virus hit. OOOOhhh, and K is keeping a secret from the Rangers! I couldn't count the candles on her cake, it's hard because the cake is white, the candles are white and almost the whole room was white!!! So does the 'K' stand for Katherine or Kim? We may never know! K doesn't even know.

Friday, May 8, 2009

American Footsoldiers

UPDATED JULY 15, 2009 9:00 PM EST
For those who do not know, some of the footsoldiers for the Power Rangers were not from the direct Japanese source. I also refer to the footsoldiers as grunts. Also wonder why some of them didn't get toys?

Z-Putties / Cotpotros
In Season Two of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," Lord Zedd made his own putties. These were based on the Golem Hei from "Zyuranger" a.k.a. the Putties of Season One. They were referred to as 'Putties' but fans have dubbed them as 'Z-Putties.' The original Putties would teleport away once exhausted. But the Z-Putties went away when hit on the 'Z', which fans consider way too easier than the first ones. In Zyuranger, there was no getting rid of them, many grunts in Super Sentai don't disappear, they are just beaten or exhausted. Maybe the reason the Z-Putties were created was to go with familiarity. The Z-Putties are the only one of two American-made grunts to have their own toys.

Tengas / Dorodoros
Tengas first appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, but they were called Tengu, based on Japanese folklore. But because of 20th Century Fox copyright, they couldn't use the same name so they changed one letter. The Tengus were created by Ivan Ooze, but the Tengas hatched from eggs, brought by Rito. The Dorodoros were the grunts from Kakuranger, maybe because of their look they were not chosen for Power Rangers. I suppose they used the Tengu costumes because they still had them. The Tengas are one of the few footsoldiers in PR history that can talk. I think the Cogs and Pirnatrons did. The Dorodoros did slip into some footage and were referred to as fans as 'Blue Putties.' The Tengus are the second and last American-made grunts to have toys, probably because there was enough time to make time, while other series lasted a year and with the rush the show people couldn't get to the toy people the designs.

Piranhatrons / Wumpers
Wonder why Robot Warriors got a toy and Piranhatrons did not? Piranhatrons were first seen in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, but some had human faces and spoke, this disappeared in the show. Other American-created grunts were the Putra Pods. They were created to go along with the pirate theme of Divatox. The Wumpers were the grunts of the Bowsock in Carranger, they were called Robot Warriors, they were brought by General Havoc. They were probably brought on because they had no choice but to use the footage. The Robot Warriors were first seen as as Shadow Rangers. Robot Warriors got called Chromites in the toy lines.

Quantrons / Kunekunes
Wonder why the Craterites got toys and the Quantrons did not? Because the Kunekunes were from the footage and I suppose the American toy company thought the show would use it. Quantrons were Astronema's footsoldiers, looked more 'space,' so I guess it is why the Kunekunes were not used. Kunekunes were seen once in one episode called Craterites, because there was no choice to use the footage since the Megazord fought them. The Craterite toy also included the Megaranger villain Bibidibi, which I suppose the toy company thought they would use. Bandai America also did this again in Ninja Storm, by adding a small villain from the original series that was not used in the American series with a grunt.

Stingwingers / Yaatotto
Stingwingers were obviously created to go with the insect theme for the Lost Galaxy villains. Yaatottos of Gingaman were used for the Swabbies later on, just like the Craterites/Kunekune and Wumpers/Robot Warriors. Neither one got action figures, probably because the Yaatotto did not look appropriate for toy form. The Power Ranger-exclusive footsoldiers were not done again... until Dino Thunder.

Tyrannodrones / Barmia Hei
So five years later, in the 'Disney Era', the Tyrannodrones were created to match with the Mesogog theme. The Barmia Hei are Abaranger came in two colors, which was rare for Super Sentai at once. Some grunts have come in different colors but rarely at the same time for a whole footage. Once again like Craterites/Kunekune, Wumpers/Robot Warriors, and Swabbies/Yaatotto, the original grunts were used once again. The Barmia came in as the Triptoids. They came from a computer game and were used repeatedly again but came out for no reason, mainly because they had to use the footage.

Maggots / Chaps
Believe it or not, the Skugs and Ultra-Skugs from VR Troopers were from the original footage. The only other grunts from Saban's shows that were not from the original footage was the Maggots from Saban's Masked Rider. The Chaps from Kamen Rider RX were used occasionally but the Maggots were the main footsoldiers in that series.


Grunts to get action figures:

MMPR - Putties (8" figure), Z-Putties (5.5" figure), Tengu (5.5" figure), Putties (5" figure)
Zeo - Cogs
Turbo - 'Chromite'
Space - Craterite
Time Force - Cyclobot
Wild Force - Putrid
Ninja Storm - Kelzak (5.5" and 12" figure that came with Ninja Storm Warrior Pack), Kelzak Fury
Dino Thunder - Triptoid (green, white, black)
SPD - Krybots, Orangehead Troobian
Mystic Force - 'Evil Space Alien' (Hidac)

Operation Overdrive - 'Evil Space Alien' (Chiller: grey, green)

RPM - Grinder

Grunts not to get action figures:
Turbo - Piranhatron
Space - Quantron
Lost Galaxy - Stingwingers, Swabbies
Lightspeed Rescue - Batlings
Dino Thunder - Tyrannodrones
Mystic Force - Styxoids
Jungle Fury - Rinshi

Red-colored special class Grunts
I am not sure if this happened more in Sentai (even though the Zorors of Flashman were red already), but the Cotportos of Dairanger and the Orgettes of Gaoranger had special red suits but strangest thing (since Toei seems to name everything!), they had no special name. While the Maggareppa of Hurricanger had no red suits, Ninja Storm had the Kelzak Fury. I don't recall if the Kelzak Fury toys or Kelzak Fury soldiers in the series appeared first. My own personal opinion is that the Kelzak Fury are based on the Red Orgettes. But who knows the real reason?

Kamen Rider Decade, Cho Den-O, and Sentai 2010 rumors

UPDATED MAY 28, 2009
Okay, this has been an unique year for Kamen Rider because Kamen Rider Decade and the English adaption. Kamen Rider Decade has shown suits from all the shows of this past decade. Instead of having the actors from their respective shows, perhaps because it is hard to get the same actors, they re-casted the actors and/or gave the characters new names and origins. Two episodes of Kamen Rider Decade spends in one dimensional world.

1. Decade's World (Rider War)
2-3. Kuuga's World (Kuuga's World, Transcendence)
4-5. Kiva's World (Second Movement Prince Kiva, The Biting King's Qualifications)
6-7. Ryuki's World (Battle Judgement: Ryuki World, Super Trick of the Real Criminal)
8-9. Blade's World (Welcome to the Blade Restaurant, Blade Blade)
10-11. Faiz's World (Faiz High School's Phantom Thief, 555 Faces, 1 Treasure)
12-13. Agito's World (Reunion: Project Agito, Awakening: Tornado of Souls)
14-15. Den-O's World (Cho Den-O Beginning, Here Comes Cho Momotaros!)
16-17. Kabuto's World (Warning: Kabuto Running Amok, The Grandma Way of Taste)
18-19. Hibiki's World (Idle Hibiki, Journey's End)

Rumors are that Kamen Rider Decade will end in August and Cho Den-O will begin then. Now there is a new rumor on a new show coming in February Kamen Rider W (Zwei). Now, I am one of those who do believe Decade will end early (most likely 25 to 26 episodes). I believe Decade will enter eitherthe Rider War in June or July. It is rumored a famous actor will play Hibiki. Now, about Cho Den-O and W, it could be that Cho Den-O ends in February or it will continue with W also airing in February.

Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade NEO Generations The Movie: The Onigashima Battleship is now showing in theaters in Japan, having debuted May 1st and August 8, Decade The Movie: All Riders vs. Great Shocker will be released along with the Shinkenger Movie. This will feature Riders from the Heisei Era: Decade, Blade, Den-O, etc. and those from Show Era: Stronger, Black RX, ZX, and others. It is also rumored that the movie will have a new Movie-exclusive Rider, which I doubt but we will see.

The Super Sentai 2010 series is rumored to be called "Toukon Sentai Resurinjya" (Fighting Spirit Taskforce Resurinjya). Resurinjya means Wrestling Ranger, making everyone believe it will be wrestling fighting based but it might be more Sumo Wrestling and Masked Wrestling than American WWE. This is of course subjected to change. Dukemon22, who have supplied in rumors and spoilers since 2004, says this may have come because of Decade and Cho Den-O. But curiously, the Samurai theme rumor remained last year from August until the show aired. As for the Shinkenger movie, there will be special Origami, KuwagataOriGami, a remodel of the Kabuto. It is said to be a Kugawata but it looks like a hermit crab to me. Update: It turns out to EbiOrigami, Ebi means shrimp but it is suppose to be a lobster.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Gridman / Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad - Character Conversion - Heroes & Villains

Henshin Grid -- The Blog
Denkou Choujin Gridman aired in Japan from 1993 to 1994. Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad ran from 1994 to 1996. Both shows had a similar plot, except in SSSS, there were four good kids, while in Gridman there were 3. The hero's friends piloted the other mecha in SSSS but the friends in Gridman didn't pilot anything. I will not be doing Ryuki/Dragon Knight until the series is finished.

Sam Collins / Naoto Sho
Naoto and Sam were both the lead characters of their respective shows. Only difference was that Gridman was a separate identity from Naoto, Naoto simply merged with Gridman when he used his Henshin device, which Sam used as well. Sam became Servo, one and only. Sam was your normal teenager, a good kid and had a crush on a pretty girl. Sam had a rock band and accessed the computer with his guitar. Naoto had no rock band but a computer club of sorts with his two friends. Gridman was a police officer of the Hyper World. Of course, we all know Sam was played by Matthew Lawrence.

Tanker / Ippei Baba
Ippei is a cheerful and talented artist. When their super computer Junk was first brought online, he used the painting program to design a superhero that would eventually become Gridman's body. He later used his skills to create the Barrier Shield. Tanker was a jock who is also the band's drummer. He wasn't a dumb jock, but he wasn't artistically creative like Ippei. He piloted a mecha and once became Servo when Sam couldn't. The actor Kevin Castro appeared in DiC's other live-action series Teenage Tattoo Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills as Orion.

Sydney Forrester / Yuka Inoue
Syndey was the girl of the group and helped maintain the Junk computer she and the gang made together. Yuka provides the team spirit and constantly encourages her friends to do their best. Sydney encouraged her team as well, she pilot one of the mecha and was part of the team. She was able to unlock various helper programs to help Sam and was very smart. The actress who played Sydney went on to be in "Saved By the Bell: The New Class."

Amp and Lucky
Amp was the goofy 'Screech' or 'Kramer' of the team, he had no counterpart in Gridman, as the friends didn't pilot the helper programs. Amp did. He mysteriously disappeared mid-way through the series and in one episode, the gang got a letter that he was an Alien and went back to his home planet. He got a replacement soon named a Lucky, a surfer dude. I could not find a picture of Lucky.

Liz Collins / Daichi Sho
Liz was Sam's unseen little sister whose voice was provided by Kath Soucie. Naoto had a younger brother named Daichi.

Malcolm Fink / Takeshi Todo
Malcolm and Takeshi were both creative loners and computer hackers that got put under Kilokahn/Kahn Digifer's control to make monsters. Takeshi was also rich, he also developed an unhealthy crush on Yuka, having some of his creations targeted her specifically. While Malcolm had a crush on Sam's girl Jennifer. Takeshi was eventually freed from his control and helped Naoto and his friends find a way to defeat Kahn Digifer. He was to become Gridman Sigma in the sequel. As for Malcolm, Kilokhan turned on him when he became more powerful, Malcom befriended Sam and helped him defeat the evil program as well. Unfortunately for Malcolm, his memories were soon erased when he restored his computer, which restored Kilokhan.

Kilokahn / Dark Lord Kahn Digifer
Digifer was a legendary 'Devil' of the Computer World that wished to wreak havoc on the Human World. Kilokahm was a military artificial intelligence program called the Kilometric Knowledge-base Animate Human Nullity, whom unleashed computer viruses to attack major computer systems. Both put loner boys under their control to create monsters. Digifer later upgraded himself into Gigantic Kahn Digifer for his final battle with Gridman, destroying Gridman's Helper Vehicles and overwhelming him. Kahn Digifer was ultimately destroyed. Malcom ended up helping Sam to defeat Kilokhan, but both lose their memories of the battle. Kilokhan is restored when Malcolm loads his computer back up files.

~Lavender Ranger
[Sidenote: The reason I have been labeling my latest posts as saying 'I wrote this for Henshin Grid' and '~Lavender Ranger' is because I noticed another blog (Power Ranger Pics) copying my posts and not giving me credit. All I ask for is credit or to link to me.]

UPDATED MAY 8, 2009 11:30AM EST

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Kamen Rider Black RX / Saban's Masked Rider - Character Conversion - Hero & Villains

At the suggestion, I did these as well. Doing the Beetleborgs, VR Troopers, and Masked Rider was not my idea, it is just brilliant, I should have done it in the first place. I may even do Gridman/Syber Squad. ~Lavender Ranger

Dex / Kotaro Minami
Since Kamen Rider Black RX was a sequel, Kotaro was a character from an existing series (Kamen Rider Black) and RX occurred five years later. Kotaro was captured by the Crisis Empire and forced to serve them, he refused, his Kingstone was destroyed and he was thrown into space where the sun's radiation mutated his Kingstone and he mutated into the new rider. Later, he discovers two new cyborg forms, Robo Rider and Bio Rider. Dex was the Prince of Edenoi and was given his powers by his grandfather. He went to Earth to stop his uncle Count Dregon, he was unfamiliar with American customs and was adopted by a mixed-race family. Dex later gained two forms: Super Gold and Super Blue. As you can tell, they wore the same clothes! (Of course to match with the footage, which they couldn't even do sometimes)

The Stewart Family / The Sahara Family
The Stewart Family were the multi-racial family that Dex stayed with. Hal, Barbara, Molly and Albee were notrious, as Barbara was Asian and Albee was African-American. It was never mentioned if Molly was Hal and Barbara's child or adopted. Super Sentai has had three series where all the rangers were siblings, but Power Rangers never did, if they wanted to stay multi-cultural, they could just do this, but because of Masked Rider's failure, I guess they attributed this to it as well. Anyhoo, I digress, the Sahara Family contained Shunkichi, Utako, Shigeru, and Hitomi. They owned a helicopter business and Kotaro was given a job as a pilot. The parents were murdered by Jaaku Murder near the finale.

Combat Chopper / Acrobatter
Kotaro's Battle Hopper was destroyed by Shadow Moon in Kamen Rider Black's finale. Since Kotaro had evolved into RX, his mechanical partner Battle Hopper was also given a new look--light shot out from his stomach and hit the broken motorcycle to transform it. Acrobatter spoke in perfect Japanese language and Combat Chopper spoke English. It transformed into a creature form, which I believe was exclusively for the American version. Chopper and Acrobatter both changed into different versions.

Magno / Ridron
An episode before Ridron's first appearance, Kotaro got a floppy disk that contained a blueprint of Ridron and he built Ridron with the help of Acrobatter in his garage. Kotaro hid Ridron on a cave's seabed where he was brought to life by Gorgom's Whale monster. Magno was given to him by his grandfather and spoke in a female voice, while Ridron spoke in a male voice. Magno could also transform into a creature to fight.


Count Dregon / General Jak
Jak was unrelated to the hero, he was the lead general of the Crisis Empire fleet. Towards the end of the series, he was forcefully transformed by Crisis into a stronger warrior called Jaaku Murder to kill Black RX. Regressed to his normal form and near death, he stated that Crisis was too powerful even for Black RX. Count Dregon was Dax's uncle who wanted his powers. Dregon took advantage of Edenoi's peaceful manners and enslaved everyone. Dregon wears a mask to conceal scars he endured in a duel with King Lexian.

Nefaria / Colonel Maribaron
Nefaria didn't mind causing Dex harm, which was a line that Dregon is not willing to cross. She has sometimes flirted with Dregon, but is often ignored. Maribaron was the sorceress of the Spirit Clan and the supernatural-based monsters were under her control. She was killed by Crisis when she objected on his decision to have Black RX join them.

Double Face / Naval Commander Bosgan
Bosgan was in charge of the Man-Beast/Mutant unit. He once plotted to take over General Jak but his plans were foiled when one of his swords was destroyed by General Jak himself upon discovering his treachery when he lost to Black RX twice. He died fighting Black RX during the arrival of Granzarias. Doesn't seem Double Face got American footage appearances, he was the stategist of the group and had same function as his counterpart except he didn't betray Dregon but it seemed it would have progressed that way, but there was only 40 episodes.

Cyclopter / Captain Gatenzone
They were charge of Robot unit and both fought the hero occasionally. Cyclopter's head can detach from his body to float around on its own. Gatenzone died fighting Black RX while attempting a suicide bomb attack, with only his head remaining before it was shattered by his own laser beam reflected on by Black RX.

Gork / Captain Gedorian
They both were constantly jumping around and annoying everyone else and were cowardly. Gork who speaks in rhymes when making a point to Dregon. Gork's older brother Diskey was banished into a black hole. Gedorian was soon targeted by Dasmader, Gatenzone and Bosgan when Grand Lord Crisis was about to destroy them all. But he soon gave his life to ensure the others avoid Crisis' wrath when he transferred his life energy into Gedoll Ridoll before his monster died at Black RX's hands.

Fact / Service Droid Chakrum
Chakrum announces Jak's arrival before his subordinates and transmits messages from Crisis himself. Fact retrieves information for Count Dregon such as surveillance and intel on the Masked Rider's whereabouts. Chakrum was destroyed by Kamen Rider Black RX before the final battle with Dasmader who was already possessed by Grand Lord Crisis.

Maggots and Commandoids/ Chaps
The Crisis Empire's foot soldiers with hockey mask-like faces. They came in the colors grey, brown and black. They later ore capes. The last of them were finished by the original 10 Kamen Riders before Black RX battled Dasmader. Maggots were Count Dregon's stupid and bumbling grunts and could spew slime and shoot threads from their mouths. The Chaps appeared in Masked Rider occasionally as the Commandoids.

Robo Rider / Shadow Moon
Robo Rider is actually Donais, Dex's best friend from Edonoi. Once Dregon found out that Donais was heading to earth to give Dex the powers of Super Gold he kidnapped him and used the Super Gold Crystal to transform Donais into Robo Rider, a mindless soldier who attacked the school. Shadow Moon was Kotaro's stepbrother and rival from Kamen Rider Black. He wanted revenge against Kotaro and he turned good shortly before he died and finally reverted to Nobuhiko. He was finally defeated by RX when he thrust the Revolcane through his Kingstone.

Lavasect / Grand Lord Crisis
Lavasect was a powerful creature that lived underground and appeared as a giant head, and Dregon's rival. Lavasect had numerous red eyes and tentacles, which he could bind Dex with in battle. Destroyed by Dex's Electro Saber. Crisis was the true leader of the empire, he eventually offered Black RX to join him. When refused, he summons his host body Dasmader to finish Black RX. He was destroyed by RX's Revolcane. Upon his death, his dimension got destroyed.

Thanks to this site Dedicated to Black for some of the pictures, and the others were from my site TokuCentral.

UPDATED 5/6/09 8PM EST

Monday, May 4, 2009

B-Fighter / Big Bad Beetleborgs - Character Conversion - Heroes and Villains

I wrote these at the suggestion. This post was written for Henshin Grid -- The Blog.

Drew McCormick (Blue Stinger Borg) / Takuya Kai (Blue Beet)
Drew had telekinesis thanks to the genie Flabber, while Takuya was a insect researcher who stumbled upon Guru and became a B-Fighter. A blood sample from Kai was used by the evil sorcerer Jagui in the creation of his evil clone Shadow and the clone was played by the twin brother of the actor who played Takuya, who happened to play Kirinranger. Shadowborg was taken from him but he didn't not have a human form. Drew was initially intimidated by Josh.

Roland Williams (Green Hunter Borg) / Daisaku Katagiri (G-Stag)
Roland was Drew's best friend and had super speed, while Daisaku was a tree doctor. He was aquaphobic until he overcame his fear to save his father Daitesu Katagiri. The other biggest difference was that the Beetleborgs were kids who were granted their wish to become their comic book superheroes by a genie in a haunted house, while the B-Fighters were young adults given their powers by an ancient bug to fight beings from another dimension.

Jo McCormick (Shannon Chandler) (Red Striker Borg) / Rei Hayama (Reddle)
Rei was animal instructor at an Aquarium and eventually left the team for the South American branch of Earth Academia to do research and help with protecting the living organisms there. Jo was Drew's little sister who was a tomboy. Wolfgang accidentally changed her appearance by messing around with Flabber's spell book.

Jo McCormick (Brittany Konarzewski) (Red Striker Borg) / Mai Takatori (Reddle)
The Pulsabers chose Mai to be the next Reddle, she tried to see the good in everything and loved animals. Jo's appearance had changed by Wolfgang, accidentally, but her personality did not change. It was a coincidence that the Red warrior was played by two different actresses in both shows. Flabber did a counter spell for everyone else to see her as the original Jo, except for a few.

Josh Baldwin (White Blaster Borg) / Kabuto
While Josh was a human who became a Beetleborg, Kabuto was not even a B-Fighter, he was the son of their mentor Guru. He returned to Earth to visit his mother's grave, bringing the Beet Ingram with him. He was very childish and naive and often tried to be a hero, only to put himself in danger. As for Josh, the Beetleborg comic creator Art Fortunes drew a new borg when the trio lost their powers and Josh had the powers temporarily. Josh was a bad boy/cool guy and it was slightly hinted that Jo had a crush on him. The White Beetleborg was like the 'sixth' ranger, when technically he was the fourth. Kabuto returned at the end of the series to assist the other fighters in defeating Jaguhl. He returned in B-Fighter Kabuto to visit his father's grave.

Shadow Borg / Black Beet
Shadowborg was Vexor's evil Beetleborg created from ionic DNA and insectite material stolen from the Blue Stinger. Shadowborg mimicked the powers of the other Beetleborgs. In B-Fighter, Jagul drew a blood cell sample from Takuya to create Shadow. Because he was a clone, Shadow could not survive on his own and sought Saint Papilia's gift of eternal life as Emperor Gaohm did. He was killed in a duel with Blue Beet and disintegrated into a pile of black ash. Black Beet was later revived and absorbed by Jagul in the series finale. The actor played Kirinranger (yellow) in Dairanger. The White Beetleborg was called to stop the Shadow Borg and Blue destroyed him.


Vexor / Emperor Gaohm
Gaohm was the leader of the Jamahl, he was supposedly killed by the B-Fighters, only to reappear as Final Gaohm, a gigantic torso floating in space. Vexor was the leader of the Magnavores. Vexor took this form as well, but in his following appearance, he somehow switched back to his old appearance. He was sent back to the comic book world by the Crustaceans. Gaohm's both forms were decoys used by the real Gaohm, a small embryonic enity in a tank full of liquid. He needed the Saint Papilia, Gaohm was later revived and absorbed by the sorceress Jagul in the series finale.

Typhus / General Gigaro
Gigaro was originally a skeletal creature on a desert planet in the Garo dimension, Gaohm gave him a new powerful body and recruited him into the Jamahl. Gigaro imbued himself with life energy meant for the Jamahl to power-up into Final Gigaro. Gigaro was originally supposed to be revived and absorbed by Jagul, but Mai and Kabuto's interference it didn't come to be and left Jagul with a weakpoint on her new body. Typhus perfered brawn over brains.

Noxic / Schwartz
Schwartz was a mechanical body encasing a computer virus. After Gigaro died and Jera left the Jamahl, Schwartz fought the B-Fighters. His body was destroyed in the process, though his head survived. However, the damage left Schwartz critically insane as he took control of various objects on Earth. Schwartz even tried to kill Jera, but she was saved by Black Beet. His immortal head was blasted into outer space. Noxic was a android who prefers eating donuts, he took control of a bulldozer with his head and tried to destroy the Beetleborgs. He later used this same technique to take control of Ghoulum, when he went bad from the comic book's formula. He has an older brother named Super Noxic, though technically Noxic was created first.

Jara / Jera
Even though similar names, Jara spoke with a Russian accent and was once bitten by Wolfgang and became a werewolf and enamored with Wolfgang, but was returned to her normal form and didn't feel for him anymore. Jera turned against Gaohm when she learned of Gigaro's death, allying herself only with Shadow, who had also saved her from Schwartz. When she saw Gaohm in his true form, Jera was mortally wounded and cast back down to Earth. After being found by the B-Fighters, her mask disappeared, revealing her to be a blond Caucasian woman! Before dying, she revealed how the B-Fighters could infiltrate Gaohm's ship.

Insect Sorceress Jagul / Hypnomaniac and Borgslayer
Jagul was mysterious woman Gaohm commissioned to create an evil B-Fighter. She resurfaced long after Jahaml was destroyed and started kidnapping young women and resurrecting several defeated monsters. Jagul soon underwent a transformation into a composite-entity after reviving/absorbing them. She was soon mortally wounded by the Metal Heroes. Jagul's first form became Hypnomaniac, who was to hypnotize the Hillhurst monsters into becoming Vexor's new servants. Borgslayer was far too powerful. The only way to defeat Borgslayer was for the Beetleborgs to triangulate their fire power. The residual energy sucked all the Magnavores, and Vexor, back into the comic book world.

UPDATED MAY 5, 2009 4:40PM EST