Power Rangers RPM

Power Rangers RPM was the title for the 2009 season of Power Rangers. It is based on Engine Sentai Go-Onger. It was the last season of Power Rangers to be produced by Disney prior to Saban's reacquisition of the franchise.

Synopsis
In the not-so-distant future, the mysterious and sinister Venjix Computer Network is attempting to conquer and lay ruin to the entire planet. It had succeeded and nearly conquered the entire earth. Fortunately, mankind has retreated from the threat into a environmentally-shielded domed cities to protect against the pollution and machines unleashed by Venjix. In the shining city of Corinth, an elite force of Rangers must learn to drive and operate an arsenal of radically advanced biotech vehicles in order to battle the attacking machine army bent on world domination. Soon after, the 5 core Rangers discovered one of the Venjix hideouts. They discovered series Gold and Silver. These series were claimed by Gem and Gemma when Alphabet Soup didn't let the young Doctor K put a firewall on the Venjix virus. By the time the Alphabet Soup started to fall Gem and Gemma left to get the series.

Production History
Power Rangers RPM was the first Power Rangers season since 2005 to have a fresh lead producer, as Bruce Kalish departed in 2008 to work on Aaron Stone. Taking his place was Eddie Guzelian, former American Dragon: Jake Long executive producer and Kim Possible story editor. R.P.M. was his first live action series. With Guzelian came two writers he had been associated with on various Disney Channel projects, Matthew Negrete and Madellaine Paxson. The three of them, along with R.P.M story editor John Tellegen and producer Jackie Marchand made up the writing team for the 32-episode season.

A few months into production, Marchand left the show, seemingly fired given her message to the fans of "welcome from the peace conference", alluding to the situation in which Austin St. John, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones were written off the show. Not long after, Guzelian was fired mid-season by Disney executives, and replaced by returning writer and producer Judd Lynn in July. Reports have Paxson and Negrete leaving the show in solidarity with Guzelian. Lynn's return to the series that he has been involved with since day one was not an easy one, and there have been reports of difficulty with the transition between executive producers. Lynn left the series with Time Force, but a sudden rise in the quality of "Jungle Fury" writing caused rumors that he may have contributed a script under a pseudonym during the Writer's Strike.

Ranger Operators

 * Ranger numbers correspond with their Zords (the number 6 was used for the Croc Carrier, which did not have its own Ranger).

Toy Exclusive

 * These are Rangers created exclusively for the RPM toyline, based on the Paleozords. No Ranger, TV or toy-only, was created for Engine Cell 6, the Croc Carrier and Engine Cell 9, the Whale Zord.

Allies

 * Dr. K - mentor and creator of the Ranger Series technology (Olivia Tennet)
 * Colonel Mason Truman - Head of Corinth City defense (James Gaylyn )
 * Power Rangers Samurai

Supporting Cast

 * Benny (Murray Keane)
 * Mr. McAllistair (Jason Hoyte)
 * Hicks (Damien Avery)
 * Vasquez (Mia Koning)
 * Marcus Truman (Fellis McGuire)

Villains

 * The Venjix Computer Network
 * Venjix (Andrew Laing)
 * General Crunch (Charlie McDermott)
 * General Shifter (Mark Mitchison)
 * Tenaya 7/15 (Adelaide Kane)
 * Kilobyte (Leighton Cardno)
 * Grinders
 * Venjix Drones
 * Attack Bots

Arsenal



 * Engine Cells
 * Morphers
 * Cell Shift Morpher
 * Rev Morpher
 * Sky Morpher
 * Ranger Prototype Series Covert Infantry Bio-suit
 * Rail Blaster
 * Nitro Blaster/Nitro Sword (blaster/sword modes)
 * Rail Saber
 * RPM Enforcer
 * Road Blaster
 * Street Saber
 * Turbo Cannon
 * Zip Charger
 * Turbo Plasma Launcher
 * Turbo Axe
 * Rocket Blaster
 * Wheel Blaster
 * SkyShift Blazer
 * Cloud Hatchet
 * RPM Vehicles
 * Project GO-ONGER

Zord Attack Vehicles and Megazords

 * RPM Ultrazord - Engine Zords 1-12 Combined
 * SkyRev Megazord- Engine Zords 1-9 Combined
 * Zenith Megazord- Engine Zords 1-6 Combined
 * High Octane Megazord- Engine Zords 1-3 Combined
 * Eagle Racer (also known as Eagle Zord)
 * Lion Hauler
 * Bear Crawler
 * ValveMax Megazord- Engine Zords 4-6 Combined
 * Tail Spinner
 * Wolf Cruiser
 * Croc Carrier
 * Mach Megazord- Engine Zords 7-9 Combined
 * Falcon Zord
 * Tiger Jet
 * Whale Zord
 * PaleoMax Megazord- Engine Zords 10-12 Combined
 * Paleozord
 * Road Attack Zord

Trivia

 * Torque Megazord is a special Megazord created for the toyline. Its elements combine with the other zords. It did not make an appearance in the actual series.
 * Even if one does not count the Torque Megazord, RPM has the most Megazord formations of any season at 7 (High Octane Megazord, ValveMax Megazord, Zenith Megazord, Mach Megazord, SkyRev Megazord, PaleoMax Megazord and RPM Ultrazord).
 * It is the first season in which a good character is directly responsible for the villains' rise to power (Dino Thunder may count as the first, but it is debatable whether Dr. O's actions were directly responsible for Mesogog's rise)
 * This is the second season to not have the word "Go!" in the opening theme song. (the first was Dino Thunder and this does not include Dr. K's explanation about Venjix)
 * First series to have the end credits during the show, although ABC did this during their showings of Mystic Force and Operation Overdrive.
 * It is the third season where some Rangers are never shown receiving their powers (the first is Zeo with Trey of Triforia, and the second is In Space, with Andros and Zhane).
 * This is the second season to use the word 'Venjix', the first one being Power Rangers Wild Force, who had a General Venjix as part of a splinter of the Machine Empire.
 * This is the first season to have Zords that are a hybrid between animal & vehicle.
 * The Shark Zord is actually an Orca, as Orca's have flat tails while sharks have tails that are vertical. Likewise the Wolf Zord is actually a German Shepard, which is a wolf-like dog. The Falcon Zord is also actually a chicken/rooster.
 * This is the sixth series not to feature a Pink Ranger, the first was Alien Rangers, the second was Wild Force (though Alyssa Enrilé's white suit has pink accents), the third was Ninja Storm, the fourth was Dino Thunder, and the fifth was Jungle Fury.
 * This is the first Power Rangers team to include both Silver and Gold Rangers, and fourth to have more than six Rangers on a team. First season was SPD, second to be Mystic Force (if you count Solaris Knight and Wolf Warrior as Rangers), and third to be Jungle Fury (if you count the Spirit Rangers)
 * This the second season where a Ranger has robotic parts. The first one is Operation Overdrive where Mack is an android (though he later became human). In Dillon's case, he is a human-cyborg hybrid.
 * This is the second season to have the setting in an artificial living environment, the first is Lost Galaxy.
 * This is the only season to appear only on ABC rather than Jetix or Fox Kids. This is because the show was dropped when Jetix was replaced by Disney XD. It did air on Jetix/Disney XD in other countries such as the United Kingdom.
 * Olivia Tennet, who plays Dr. K, was 17 years old when production began on the series, and 18 by the time the series aired.. Assuming Dr. K is the same age, she is the youngest mentor in the entire Power Rangers series.
 * RPM is the fourth series to have featured deaths of characters that weren't villains on-screen. The first series, Power Rangers: In Space, had Zordon sacrificing himself to destroy the United Alliance of Evil; the second series, Lost Galaxy, had the original Magna Defender and Kendrix Morgan (though she was later revived and was the first ever Ranger to sacrifice themself); the third series, Wild Force, had Kite, Animus' human form; and in this series Scott's brother, Marcus Truman, and Summer's butler, Andrews both sacrificed themselves to save each of their respective loved one.
 * This is the first season where a member of the team is sent to jail while serving as a Ranger.
 * This is the third season to have a Gold Ranger. Jason, the Gold Zeo Ranger, was the first. Daggeron, the Solaris Knight was the second.
 * This is the sixth season to have a Silver Ranger. Zhane, the Silver Space Ranger, was the first. Ryan Mitchell, the Titanium Ranger, was the second. Merrick Baliton, the Lunar Wolf Ranger, was the third. Nova, the SPD Nova Ranger, was the fourth. And Tyzonn, the Mercury Ranger, was the fifth. This is also the second season to have a Silver Ranger actually referred to as a "Silver Ranger", and the second to have a female Silver Ranger.
 * So far this is the only season to directly mention their Sentai counterpart, in this case, Go-Onger. This is also the first season to use and state it as part of their arsenal. In an episode of Ninja Storm, footage of all 3 unmorphed Hurricangers can be seen on TV while in the episode 'Lost and Found in Translation' from Dino Thunder, the Rangers are watching a dubbed episode from Abaranger, it was heavily edited to not actually mentioning Abaranger at all.
 * Strangley enough, Go-Onger and RPM's themes are entirely distant to one another, while Go-Onger settles on a Beast Racing theme, RPM's theme was set in a post-apocalyptic future.
 * This is the second season to have the main villain seen in different bodies, rather than other main villains transforming into monstrous forms. The first was Wild Force.
 * A "Jungle Karma Pizza" joint, the same restaurant where the Jungle Fury Rangers worked in, was seen inside Corinth (though it was obviously not the same location). This was seen in "Ranger Green".
 * This is the first season in which there's an episode that tells about behind-the-scenes of Power Rangers, as opposed to a special such as the one Operation Overdrive had.
 * This is the second season that features a wheel based Zord; the Road Attack Zord. The first was Zeo with the Warrior Wheel.
 * At Alphabet Soup, Tenaya 7 found the Red Operation Overdrive Ranger's helmet worn by Mack Hartford in Ancient History.
 * This is the fourth season where a Ranger is directly blood related to a villain, the first being In Space where Andros is the brother of Astronema, Ninja Storm where Cam is the nephew of Lothor, third being Mystic Force with Koragg/Leanbow is the husband of Udonna and father of Nick, and finally Dillon being the brother of Tenaya 7.
 * This is the fifth season where the villains related to Rangers have truly redeemed themselves. The first being In Space where Astronema gave up her evil ways after discovering Andros was her brother and later became the successor of Kendrix as the Pink Galaxy Ranger. The second being Time Force, where Ransik surrendered to the Rangers after almost killing his daughter Nadira, went to prison for his crimes, and was later purged of his mutant half during the crossover with Wild Force. Also, Nadira decided to stop being evil after playing with human children and realizing that hatred was just a vicious cycle. The third being Ninja Storm's Marah and Kapri when they were betrayed by Lothor and later enrolled at the Wind Ninja Academy. The fourth being Mystic Force with Leanbow, who was Koragg, and later joined the Rangers as the Wolf Warrior. This being the fifth season as Tenaya 7 assisted the Rangers to find base codes
 * This is the second season to have the title name in acronyms. SPD was the first.
 * This is the first season to begin in any other month than February since Turbo and also the first season since Mighty Morphin to air new episodes in the month of December.
 * This is the first season where there is no role call when the Rangers morph.
 * This is the fifth season to have the characters wearing the same clothes every episode and the eighth to have some form of uniform directly linked to being Rangers (though it can be argued that SPD doesn't count as the uniform only gains a little color).
 * This is the second season to have a Green and Black Ranger on active duty at the same time, the first being MMPR Season 1 (though it can be argued that Adam and Xander from the fifteen year reunion episodes "Once a Ranger" in Operation Overdrive and the Elephant and Bat Spirit Rangers from Jungle Fury count).
 * RPM was originally going to be the last season for the Power Rangers Series; however, this was changed when Haim Saban decided to buy the the show back from Disney and decided to bring an 18th season called Power Rangers Samurai.
 * RPM is the third series of Power Rangers to be themed after high-tech automobiles. The first two were Turbo and Operation Overdrive.
 * The Finale episode marks the 700th Episode mark.
 * The Valvemax Megazord and the Predazord from Power Rangers Wild Force are composed of the same 3 animals as the base Zords, namely a Crocodile, Shark and Wolf (although in the Sentai series the Wolf and Shark were a German Shepard and Orca respectively).
 * This is the 4th season to have three Rangers at the start, 1st was Ninja Storm, then Dino Thunder and then Jungle Fury.
 * There was a teamup with the Red RPM ranger in Power Rangers Samurai, notably the series' 1-hour TV movie special, " Clash of the Red Rangers: The Movie ". The other RPM Rangers did not make an appearence in it.
 * RPM was the last Power Rangers series to air in the 2000s.