Tommy Oliver


 * For the movie version of this character, see Tommy Oliver (movie).

"I got a message for your boss! Tell him, Tommy's Back! And no matter what color Ranger I am, he'll never beat me!"

- Tommy

Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a veteran Power Ranger and considered a legend among the Ranger community. He is often considered to be the greatest Power Ranger of all time, having been part of four Power Rangers teams through the years. Originally used for evil purposes by Rita Repulsa, Tommy quickly turned good and helped the Rangers in defeating the forces of darkness. In doing so, not only did Tommy prove himself to be a worthy ally, but he became exactly the kind of leader the Rangers needed and was therefore promoted, taking command from the original leader, Jason. Tommy had gone through a number of power variations through the years. Originally the first Green Ranger, those powers ran dry, and he became the White Ranger, the White Ninja Ranger, the Red Zeo Ranger, and the first Red Turbo Ranger.

After Tommy's adventure as a Ranger was completed, he went to college where he received a Doctorate in Paleontology in a mere six years (in "Shift into Turbo", it mentioned he was the in the class of 1997, whereas in "Thunder Struck Part 2", it mentioned the other were in the class of 2004, showing that Dino Thunder started in 2003.) He later traveled to Reefside and, in an effort to stop some of his mutations, became the mentor of a new set of Power Rangers. He later took up the mantle of a Ranger once more and became the Black Dino Ranger. After Tommy's adversary, Mesogog, was defeated, he retired and is currently a normal high school teacher at Reefside.

Early life
Little is known about Tommy's early years, other than the fact that he was adopted by the Oliver family at a young age. His brother, David, was adopted by Sam Trueheart, although the two would not meet until their teens. At some point in his life, Tommy took an interest in martial arts, mainly karate, he later became a master at it.

Green with Evil
"To the beginning of the end for the Power Rangers!"

- Tommy Oliver

While he was a freshman in high school, Tommy and his family moved to Angel Grove. He entered a martial arts tournament and fought Jason to a tie by 4-4, despite Jason being labeled "Angel Grove's finest [martial artist]" by the announcer, but the fight had earned him Jason's respect.

Tommy later scared Bulk and Skull away when they were harassing Kimberly, who had become enamored by Tommy at first sight and invited him to hang out with her and her friends. Rita Repulsa had noticed Tommy's fight with Jason and realized that there was potential in the young man. Therefore, she placed Tommy under a spell, and using the secret sixth Power Coin - the Dragon Coin - she transformed him into the evil Green Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger. Tommy then traveled to the Command Center and put Zordon out of commission and downloaded a virus into Alpha 5's programming. He then fought the Power Rangers and defeated them.

Being under Rita's influence, Tommy became very sullen, and was even rude to Kimberly when she questioned where he had been. With the Rangers at the weakest, Rita decided that the time to attack was now.

After Tommy had defeated a squad of Putties without his powers, Rita gave him the Sword of Darkness, which acted as a catalyst for keeping him under her evil spell. She then had Tommy transport Jason into the Dark Dimension, where he faced Goldar. Tommy eventually took the honor from the Goldar and faced Jason himself. Jason managed to narrowly escaped his grasp when the other Rangers teleported him out.



While the Rangers were defending Angel Grove from Goldar, Tommy entered the Command Center, and attempted to sabotage it again. Alpha placed him in a stasis lock, but he was freed by Rita, who then made him grow.

He then joined Goldar and Scorpina in fighting the Megazord, as Rita cast a spell to create an eclipse to remove the Megazord's power. The Megazord separated and the Dinozords fell under the earth. When the Rangers retreated into the Command Center, Alpha revealed that the stasis lock the Green Ranger was kept in allowed his true identity to be revealed — that of Tommy Oliver.

Realizing that Rita's spell was the reason for Tommy's strange behavior, Kimberly confronted him in the Youth Center, but he simply informed her that (along with knowing the other Rangers' identities) she and the other Power Rangers would soon be destroyed. Utilizing his Dragon Dagger that he received from Rita, the Green Ranger summoned his own Zord, the Dragonzord, to destroy Angel Grove. In the meantime, Alpha reestablished Zordon's link with the dimension and the Megazord was recovered. Jason and the others managed to take down the Dragonzord and, when facing the Green Ranger, Jason destroyed the Sword of Darkness and freed Tommy from Rita's spell. When he came to, Tommy realized all the damage he had done and felt terrible, but Jason assured him it was only because of Rita's spell. Tommy accepted the Rangers' offer to join them. With the Dragonzord on their side, the Rangers now had access to Dragonzord in Battle Mode, and eventually the powerful Ultrazord. At the Command Center, Tommy accepted Zordon's rules of being a Ranger, and even received a communicator from Billy. The team of five had turned into six, also making him the first ever 6th Ranger.

Redemption
Initially, Tommy stayed a loner. He would join the other Rangers in some activities, but often left to go to karate practice and other martial arts. As the battles increased, Tommy became closer to the team and formed friendships with them. He admired Zack's sense of fun, Trini's dedication, and Billy's intelligence. He also had a crush on Kimberly and the two eventually started dating.

Tommy's friendship with Jason took a little longer to develop. In the beginning, Tommy felt a sense of rivalry between him and Jason, as both were equally skilled at martial arts. He constantly tried to show up Jason in one manner or the other. Zordon was aware of the problem and sent the two on a mission to recover special blasters protected by the Zord called Titanus (who later becomes a powerhouse of the team) to defeat Rita's Super Putties. It was there that Tommy and Jason learned to work together. The two formed a deep bond and began teaching martial arts together as well as competing together. Tommy absorbed a lot of Jason's leadership skills which would help him down the long road ahead...



The Green Candle
When he was captured by Rita, the material that had encased Tommy was actually some magic wax, which was linked to his Morphing powers. By turning the wax into a Green Candle, Rita was able to ensure that as the candle burned, his powers would slowly fade away, and when the candle burnt out, she would reclaim his powers for good. As the candle would burn faster if Tommy was in its vicinity, Rita commanded Goldar to kidnap Tommy and take him to the Dark Dimension where the candle would be kept.

Goldar kidnapped Tommy and brought him to the Dimension. However, Tommy was able to grab Goldar's sword during their fight and sent himself back to Earth. Rita responded by sending a shape-shifting Cyclops monster after the Rangers. While the other Rangers went to retrieve the candle, Tommy decided that he would fight the monster alone. Jason went into Rita's Dark Dimension to stop the candle from burning but was unable to do so due to Goldar's intervention. With Tommy using all his strength to fight the Cyclops monster, Jason and the Rangers had to return to help him, but the Green Candle quickly burned out. Before all was lost, Zordon told Tommy to give his coin to another Ranger with a strong link to the Morphing Grid to prevent Rita from getting its powers. Tommy chose to pass his Dragon Coin onto Jason. The Red Ranger could now draw upon the remnants of the Green Ranger powers to use the Dragon Shield in battle and the Dragon Dagger to summon the Dragonzord.

Tommy said his goodbyes to the teammates, but they assured Tommy that he'd always be a Power Ranger in spirit. Tommy assured Jason that it wasn't his fault for not retrieving the Green Candle, as he tried his best to. Even though Tommy was no longer the Green Ranger, he still managed to stay friends with the rest of the Rangers and maintained his relationship with Kimberly.

In actuality, the real reason that Tommy lost his powers was because in "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger," the Japanese series from which "Power Rangers" used its footage, the Green Ranger dies—thus, there was eventually no more Japanese footage of the Green Ranger for Saban to use. It is assumed that Saban did not wish to kill off the character in the interest of keeping "Power Rangers" kid-friendly, and so a storyline was created in which he would simply lose his powers instead. However, Tommy had become incredibly popular with viewers, and so Saban later created new story lines (and paid Toei to produce more footage) in order to bring Tommy back on the show.

Return of an Old Friend
During Parent's Day at the Youth Center, Rita decided to trap all the Rangers' parents in her Dark Dimension. She then put a spell on Billy to have him give her the Dragon Dagger. Rita and her minions told the Rangers that they would trade their parents for their Power Coins. Reluctantly, the Rangers agreed, but Rita and Goldar double-crossed them, and sent the Dragonzord on a violent rampage in the city. When it seemed like there was no hope left, Jason revealed his own deception: though he gave up his Tyrannosaurus coin, he secretly kept the Dragon Coin.

When Tommy came to the Youth Center and found the place deserted, he was immediately teleported to the Command Center and was debriefed about the situation. He agreed to help, but with his powers completely gone, Tommy had to accept an enormous power boost from Zordon, and he became the Green Ranger once again. He was teleported to where Goldar guarded the coins and proceeded to fight him and the Putties. The Dagger and Coins were protected by a strange energy, but Tommy retrieved the Dagger to stop the rampaging Dragonzord and the Coins before he was teleported away. It turned out that by reaching into the force field energy while wearing the Green Ranger powers, it gave Tommy a major energy boost. He learned that the powers were only temporary and that they would run out eventually, but Tommy still chose to be an active Ranger.

Returning to the team, Tommy helped the Rangers in fighting various monsters. Though Zordon cautioned him about his limited power supply, Tommy was always battle ready if called upon. He no longer kept a low profile and became more dependent on the Rangers, helping to unify the team. Tommy also began to do more activities with the Rangers, such as martial arts teaching with Jason, basketball, and football.

However, all his happiness would change when a new villain, Lord Zedd, emerged. Determined to succeed where Rita failed, Zedd swore that he would put an end to the Power Rangers once and for all. When Zedd succeeded in destroying the Dinozords, Zordon charged them to become Thunderzords. With Tommy not having enough energy for his own Thunderzord, Zedd decided it would be best to destroy him first.

The End of the Green Ranger
""You know there was a moment back there when I almost gave up. But then I realized, it's not just the costume and powers that give me strength. It's who and what I am inside that really empowers me.""

- Tommy Oliver

Tommy continued on as best he could, but he soon began to have bad dreams about losing his powers. Lord Zedd was behind the bad dreams. In one instance, he captured Tommy and placed him under an evil spell, and had him lure the Rangers into calling on the Sword of Power for Zedd's monster, Robogoat. Tommy, with the other Rangers, called upon the sword and then snatched it from them. Taunting the other Rangers, he left and gave the sword to Goldar. Once he gave up the sword, the spell was broken. Tommy could not believe what he had done. He tried to retrieve the sword himself, but Robogoat weakened his powers by a lot. The Rangers managed to defeat Goldar and Robogoat and regain control of the sword.

In his heart, Tommy knew that each day could be his last day as a Ranger. Despite the continuous draining of his powers, Tommy always chose to fight alongside the other Rangers. He would rather help his friends and lose his powers than keep them and do nothing. Although he showed tremendous courage, he always felt that the end of the Green Ranger was near. Unfortunately, he was right.

One day, Tommy confronted an image of himself that warned him of Zedd's future plans. Initially he didn't know what to make of it. Sure enough, he was captured again and had to battle Goldar after Zedd's monster, Turbanshell, had drained his powers. As Goldar showed Tommy visions of him as the powerful Green Ranger, Tommy hung his head. With Goldar mocking him, Tommy knew he would never let Goldar get the best of him again and sprung a surprise attack on Goldar. Finding the object - which turned out to be his communicator - his image had told him about, Tommy was whisked back to the other Rangers. Zedd had kidnapped five teenagers and planned to use Tommy's powers to make them into Dark Rangers. As the area was guarded against the Rangers, Tommy was the only one to go and destroy the crystal that held his powers. He succeeded, and used his powers for one last morph to destroy Turbanshell. Tommy was crushed and disappointed, but he had known that this time would eventually come. To gain some perspective, he went to his uncle's cabin near the lake to spend the school break.

White Light
"Guess who's back?"

- Tommy Oliver

After a week at his uncle's cabin, Tommy sent a letter to the rest of the Rangers to announce that he was coming home. While swimming at the lake one afternoon, a beam of light surrounded Tommy and he was teleported to the Command Center. Zordon and Alpha revealed their plans to him of creating a new Ranger, and because this Ranger would be created from the White Light of Good, it would be impossible for the darkness to control him. Tommy was the perfect candidate to take on the powers for his bravery and determination from his old Ranger days. When the other Rangers were teleported to the Command Center, Tommy revealed himself to be the new White Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger. He would control the White Tigerzord with the help of his enchanted talking sabre Saba. Tommy overestimated his powers at first and even lost control of the Tigerzord, but was quick to get back on his feet and was more careful with his powers. Upon his introduction to the rest of the team, Zordon announced that Tommy would become the new leader of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

New Friends/The Power Transfer
During a day of roller blading in the park, Tommy, Kim, and Billy met and assisted three teens from Stone Canyon High - Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Aisha Campbell - in helping save their teacher's infant son as he and his stroller almost went down a hill. They quickly made friends with the new teens, and were later surprised when they won a ninja tournament. Zedd decided to kidnap these teens and make them into his dark warriors. Tommy, Kim, Billy, and Trini went to save them; an evil snake that would make them evil was set upon the teens. While Tommy and Kim freed teens and Trini teleported their teacher away, Billy took care of the snake. However, the snake squeezed Billy's neck, and Tommy had to assist him in removing his helmet to allow him to breathe, revealing his identity to the teens; Tommy and Kim did so too. They were brought before Zordon and made them swear to secrecy, and the teens became friends with all the Rangers, even assisting them from time to time.

When the Teen World Summit came to Angel Grove, Jason, Zack, and Trini were chosen as representatives for the peace conferences in Switzerland. Their replacements turned out to be none other than the Rangers' three new friends. For the power transfer, Tommy led the Rangers to a distant planet to retrieve the Sword of Light before Zedd tried to destroy the planet with Serpentera. They succeeded in time; Tommy used the sword while Jason, Zack, and Trini transferred their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha. Tommy was sad to see his old friends go but glad that the new Rangers were here to help him.

Plenty of adventures lay ahead. Tommy lost his memories, was turned back to a child , tossed into a storybook , turned into liquid , and turned into a brick , but throughout it all Tommy managed to keep his head cool.

Return of the Green Ranger
""Hello, Tommy. Allow me to introduce myself." "What's going on?! Who are you?!" "I'm the Green Ranger.""

- "Tom" and Tommy

New trouble, however, came when Rita returned and got married to Zedd. Even so, Tommy and the Rangers prevailed over their combined traps and monsters. Rita then called upon the Wizard of Deception when she wanted him to create another Tommy, one who would return to her side as the evil Green Ranger. The Wizard of Deception had putties attack Tommy. When they knocked him out, he cut off a lock of his hair and used it to create the evil Green Ranger. This evil Tommy worked with the Wizard of Deception to send the other Rangers back to colonial times.

Tommy woke up and, with his head pounding, he went looking for his friends. Learning that they had been sent back in time, Tommy confronted the evil Ranger. It was a fierce battle, but Tommy outwitted the Green Ranger and found out where the others had been sent. Quickly he went back to retrieve them and destroyed the Wizard. As with the original Tommy, once the Green Ranger's spell was broken, the other Tommy began to feel bad for what he had done. The one thing that Rita had forgotten was at the very core of Tommy is goodness. Tommy assures his double that he was under a spell and that he could not control his actions. The two Tommys returned to the colonial era to save the people there from giant rats. The double Tommy made the decision to stay where he was, realizing that two of Tommy in one time frame wouldn't work. He was then christened "Tom". Tom presumably returned the Green Ranger powers to Tommy, commenting, "I won't be needing this anymore." (although not stated, Tommy may have created his own family line with Tom, which would make Tom his ancestor when he chose to stay in colonial times).



When Kimberly was sent back to Western times, she would assist the Rangers' ancestors by creating them in a team of Wild West Power Rangers. Tommy would see his own ancestor who, while not a Ranger, was called the "White Stranger" and assisted Kim with cowboy-like martial arts. Though the Stranger was sad to see Kim off, he glanced a look at an arriving carriage carrying Kim's ancestor.

Ninja Quest

 * "I am the Falcon, just and able." —Tommy Oliver, from "Ninja Quest, Part III"

Once again, new threats arose for Tommy. Rita's brother, Rito Revolto destroyed the Thunderzords and the Ranger powers. Therefore, the Rangers searched the Desert of Despair for Ninjor, the maker of the original Power Coins. With Ninjor's help, Tommy and the others gained Ninja Ranger powers, which drew on the life force of its ranger, rather than an external source, and would help them in many battles to come. Tommy began his quest as the White Ninja Ranger, controlling the Falconzord and eventually the White Shogunzord. Having new Ninja powers wasn't going to let Rita, Zedd, and Rito stop from planning to destroy the Rangers. Rita placed a spell over Katherine Hillard, a new student from Australia. They told her to become friends with the Rangers and help Rita in her evil schemes.

One day at the beach, Tommy caught Kimberly as she began to feel weak. Quickly he got her to the Command Center where it was discovered that Kimberly lost her Ninja Coin and was being drained of her energy. Having once been in a similar position, Tommy found himself worrying about Kimberly's well-being and safety. Then Lord Zedd placed a trap for Kimberly and took her to his Dark Dimension. Tommy used Billy's teleporting machine to help get Kimberly out of there.

Tommy's worries over Kimberly were not over yet. When Kimberly had been hurt during gymnastics practice, Tommy was immediately at the hospital. Luckily, Kat broke through Rita's evil spell and confessed to Kimberly what had happened. Tommy and the others heard her. Knowing what it was like being under one of Rita's evil spells having been the Green Ranger, Tommy held no grudges against Kat and the damage she had inflicted.

His hardest day was yet to come. The coach who had been training Kimberly wanted her to come to Florida with him. Although Tommy did not want her to go, he also did not want to stand in the way of her dreams. He knew how hard she had worked for this, and he was afraid if he asked her to stay, she would eventually come to resent him for holding her back. They vowed to stay in contact with each other. Because of Katherine's dedication and courage, Kimberly chose to pass the Pink Ninja Coin onto her.

A Zeo Beginning
"Now that the Zords are gone and Ninjor's back in his temple, we're going to need some serious help."

- Tommy Oliver

When Rito and Rita's father, Master Vile, showed up, he turned all the Rangers into little kids. In order to return to the correct time, Tommy was sent on a quest to retrieve part of the fractured Zeo crystal. Tommy's adventure took him to a Native American village, where he was assisted by a wise sage named "True of Heart". With a bird as his guide, Tommy made his way up to the mountain where the crystal was. With three wrapped crystals in front him, the false ones which would guarantee Tommy being stuck, True of Heart helped Tommy look into his heart and find the correct crystal. He also gave Tommy half of an arrowhead, saying it would play an important role in his life.

All the Rangers had gained their crystal with the exception of Aisha, who chose to stay in Africa and instead send a young girl by the name of Tanya with her crystal. The Rangers returned to their normal ages, but Rito and Goldar planted a bomb underneath the Command Center. Tommy and the others escaped before it blew, and Tommy found the repaired Zeo Crystal under the wreckage. They also stumbled upon the Power Chamber, built in the case of the Center's destruction, with Zordon and Alpha alive.

However, trouble brewed yet again when King Mondo and his Machine Empire sent Rita and Zedd away and started his own plans for taking over Earth. Harnessing the power from the Zeo Crystal, Tommy and the others would take the next step in protecting Earth by becoming the Zeo Rangers. Tommy once again assumed command of the team; with the power of the Star Zeo Crystal, he became the Red Zeo Ranger, controlling Zeozord 5 and his own special zord, the Red Battlezord.

Found and Lost
During his time as a Zeo Ranger, Tommy endured many tough hardships. One of his biggest was when Kimberly sent him a "Dear John" letter saying she had found love during her training and decided to break off her relationship with Tommy. Katherine tried to help Tommy through his heartbreak by trying to hook him up with a friend of hers; while the relationship seemed promising, Tommy's duty as the leader of the Zeo Ranger kept him from the various dates. Eventually, Tommy ended up going out on a date with Katherine, though it is unknown if they continued any form of a relationship.

Tommy also had a recurring dream about True of Heart. One day he bumped into a man named Sam who looked exactly like him. Tommy offered to drop Sam home, where he found someone who looked remarkably similar to him. When Tommy went after him, the man seemed to vanish. Sam, revealing his name to be Sam Trueheart, told Tommy that once he completed his quest, the identity of the young man would be revealed.

Once Tommy completed the quest, he was surprised to find out that the young man, David Trueheart, was his brother. David revealed to have the other half of the arrowhead; when put together, the bearer would have control of the power of spirits trapped within a hidden stone. Tommy was thrilled to have a brother and quickly took him to meet his friends. Originally everything was fine, but after Tommy defeated David in a karate match, David felt embarrassed and ran off. Feeling bad, Tommy went after him only to find that he had been captured by King Mondo for the arrowhead. Tommy gave it to him, but Mondo double-crossed him. Transforming into the Red Ranger, Tommy located his brother and led him to safety. David insisted on going back to find Tommy, as Mondo had threatened to hurt him. Although Tommy tried to convince David that he's okay, David would not give up. Reluctantly Tommy took off his helmet and revealed his identity to a flabbergasted David. Tommy succeeded in getting the arrowhead back, and both brothers decided to keep their respected halves.

The Power of Gold
When the Rangers were fighting Wolfbane, a monster sent by King Mondo, a Gold Zeo Ranger appeared to help them out. The identity of the Gold Ranger remained a mystery for some time; Tommy thought it was Billy, who had stepped down as a Ranger and was their technical adviser. The new Ranger was then forced to reveal himself as Trey, an alien of the planet Triforia. Unfortunately, due to his molecular makeup, he was split into three with no way of being joined together until he went back to his home planet to heal. Trey needed a successor to carry on the powers and, with Billy not being able to handle the energy (due to unintentionally absorbing negative proton energy from the Command Center's destruction), Tommy needed to find someone else.

Luckily, Jason had returned from the peace conferences recently, so Tommy asked him if he would step in as the Gold Ranger. Knowing that King Mondo was also interested in the Gold Power, Jason agreed, and hurried back to the Command Center where the three Treys gave Jason the Golden Staff and the Gold Ranger powers. Before leaving, the Treys gave the Rangers the Super Zeozords, and Tommy would control Super Zeozord 5

King for a Day
Always being the target for the forces of evil, Tommy was abducted by the Machine Empire and brainwashed into working for them. Prince Gasket introduced himself and told Tommy that he was the King of the Machine Empire and that the Power Rangers were evil and needed to be destroyed. Tommy was reluctant to believe him, but after viewing images of the Rangers' destruction, Tommy knew that the Rangers had to be destroyed.

Jason and Kat found out that Tommy was being brainwashed and transported themselves to the arena where Tommy was. The Zeo Rangers fought Tommy, but realized that the only way to remove him from Prince Gasket's grasp was to show him who his friends were. They all De-Morphed in front of him. Seeing the familiar faces, Tommy began having old memories and knew that the Rangers were good.

Shift Into Turbo
After Billy left to live on Aquitar, and Jason returned the Gold Ranger powers to Trey, the Rangers defeated King Mondo while unbeknownst to the Rangers, Rita & Zedd finished off the remaining House of Gadgetry. But trouble found the Rangers again when Divatox, a ruthless space pirate had decided to become a threat. Thus, a new source of power had to be found to stop her, and thus, the Turbo Rangers were born.

Tommy stepped up and took his new position as the Red Turbo Power Ranger. With new villains came new allies. After Rocky chose to leave because of a karate accident, young Justin Stewart joined everyone as the Blue Turbo Ranger. The Rangers quickly went into action and approached the cave where Divatox was holding Kimberly and Jason. They found out that they were being sacrificed so that Divatox could marry Maligore, a hideous lava monster. Tommy was able to save his friends, and with the new Turbo Megazord, defeated the evil Maligore.

Because of the new Turbo powers, Tommy gained an interest in cars and began to spend a lot of time at the race track. As a result, he didn't attend his graduation ceremony, preferring to pick up his diploma earlier. This caused him to spend less time with the other Turbo Rangers, even though he was present whenever they needed him, similar to his days as the Green Ranger.

Passing the Torch
""I wouldn't be standing here today, T.J., if it weren't for your courage and strength. I choose you to lead the team, as the new Red Ranger.""

- Tommy Oliver

When Zordon and Alpha 5 chose to leave, Dimitria and Alpha 6 were assigned to watch over the Rangers. The new mentors didn't stop Divatox, who was determined to destroy the Rangers. Divatox had tried everything but nothing was met with success. On one occasion Divatox's mother told her that the best way to destroy the Rangers was to destroy their leader, Tommy, but of course he came out of the situation unscathed.

Near the end of Tommy's tenure as a ranger, Divatox sent Piranhatrons to attack Tommy and Kat, who were riding out to meet Tanya, Adam and Justin for a camping trip. The Piranhatrons abducted Tommy and brought him to a cave where Divatox was prepared to drop him into the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow.

Tommy was saved by Theodore Jay "T.J." Jarvis Johnson, a teenage boy who was passing trough Angel Grove. Tommy was impressed by T.J.'s dedication and bravery, and owed his life to him. When Tommy and the other Rangers had to leave for college, Tommy chose T.J. as his successor.

In College
After his tenure as a Ranger was over, Tommy went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he decided to take a Doctorate in Paleontology, a fascination brought on by his days with the dinosaur inspired Mighty Morphin' team of his youth. While researching fossils, Tommy found the Red, Blue, and Yellow Dino Gems, remnants of the asteroid which killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. After learning of the power the gems contained, Tommy knew that they would be misused if in the wrong hands, so he hid them.

While he was in college, Tommy met Hayley Ziktor, who helped him create the Dino Morphers, which could harness the gems' power to create the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. He was also partners with Terrence "Smitty" Smith and Dr. Anton Mercer on a dinosaur-related project that would lead to the creation of the Tyrannodrones, Raptor Riders and the Biozords.

A horrible lab accident turned Mercer into Mesogog, who seized the project's creations, attempted to capture/kill Tommy, and destroyed the island they'd been working on. Tommy, who was unaware that Mesosog was Mercer, started to work on the Dino Thunder powers with Hayley, in case Mesogog resurfaced.

Tommy lost contact with Smitty - unaware that he, too, had had a lab accident, becoming Zeltrax.

Forever Red
"Wow. So, that was Tommy. He really is the greatest Ranger!"

- Cole Evans



Tommy was in contact with Andros, the Red Space Ranger, and aware of his mission trailing General Venjix and the remaining survivors of the Machine Empire. Andros contacted him when he was staying at Bulkmeier's, a club owned by Bulk - who was intimidated by Tommy, nervously calling him "sir".

After learning that the Machine Empire was reviving Lord Zedd's deadly Zord Serpentera, Tommy contacted the Veteran Red Rangers of Earth for a pre-emptive strike on Venjix. He apparently hadn't seen Jason in a while, as the two acted like it had been a while and Tommy was initially unclear if he was going to turn up.

With ten Red Rangers and the help of Cole's Wild Force Rider, Serpentera and the rest of the Machine Empire was destroyed - Tommy personally destroying General Gerrok.. Cole remarked that Tommy was the "greatest Ranger ever," which got mocked by the other Red Rangers.

During this mission, Tommy wielded the Zeo powers; they were never seen again...

Deleted scenes for the episode show that Tommy owned Bulkmeier's and that Bulk & Skull were nervous because he was their boss; he was also unaware, until Andros called, of Venjix, and casually said he was "retired". Dino Thunder would show Tommy as he was in the aired episode: someone who is clearly active and planning things. There are rumours that Rocky DeSantos was going to have a cameo as Tommy's butler and that Kat was going to cameo as well, though neither of these appear in the "Forever Red" draft outlines.



Dino Thunder Era
"I may be old, but I can still pull it off."

- Tommy Oliver



Tommy resurfaced as a science teacher at a school in the fictional city of Reefside, California. A trio of detention students — Conner McKnight, Ethan James, and Kira Ford — unraveled Tommy's past as a Power Ranger after uncovering three artifacts from his lab that turned them into Power Rangers. Tommy recruited these students to become the Dino Thunder Power Rangers, doing so while seeming mysterious and somewhat obnoxious, as noted by Conner. When he discovered that Mesogog was still active, he stole another Dino Gem from Mesogog and joined the other Rangers as the Black Dino Thunder Ranger, aided by the power of invisibility from the Black Dino Gem. His Dinozord was the Brachiozord carrier, he wielded the Brachio Staff, and he drove the Black Thunder ATV (originally devised as a trap by the then-evil Trent Mercer, but it was soon reprogrammed).





When the White Dino Ranger appeared, Tommy's dedication to saving the lives of innocents seemed to give Tommy cause to show no mercy to him, even after he found out his identity was Trent Mercer. For a while, he was encased in amber by the White Dino Ranger, and once freed, was unable to De-Morph, due to his Dino Gem and his Morpher re-molecularizing. He remained in his Morphed form for a while. Despite this resolve, he could not help but feel sympathy for Trent when his students wouldn't, reminding them that he was infamously in the same predicament years ago as the evil Green Ranger, his very first stint as a Power Ranger, and that out of all the Evil Rangers that had existed, he was the one that had come closest to ending them once and for all.

After seeing the power of the White Ranger Clone and the Terrorsaurus, Tommy decided that the Rangers needed an upgrade. He took Trent to the location of the Shield of Triumph, as the shield could only be freed from its resting place by the power of Trent's Dino Gem. He also had a hunch that Conner was the one destined to control the shield. He was right, as Conner showed up just in time to save the shield from being lost forever. Tommy informed the other Rangers they had to contribute their energies to the shield, and Conner became the Triassic Ranger. He was later De-Morphed by a special substance, but was rendered invisible as a result.

An experiment sees the return of Tommy to his natural state, but the process shatters his Dino Gem and renders Tommy in a coma. During this time, Tommy would endure three internal battles, facing off against three of his past Ranger egos: the Green and White Power Rangers and the Red Zeo Ranger (during each of his fights with those Rangers, the screen was tinted the color that matched the Ranger). After proving that he would not give up the fight for his life, his opponents each offered him a shattered piece of his Dino Gem. Tommy would awake holding the newly repaired Dino Gem in his hand. As a result, he also gained Super Dino Mode.

When he learned that Trent was hiding his father's secret identity, Tommy considered asking Trent to surrender his Morpher. Though Tommy came to understand Trent's loyalty, he left the decision of letting Trent stay with the team to the other Rangers. They decided to let Trent stay after he saved Conner's life. In the final battle against Zeltrax, Tommy advised the Rangers that the only means to succeed would be to sacrifice their Zords (this may have been a reference to his own Zord sacrifice in Season 3's Ninja Quest, Part 1). At the end of the series, Tommy destroyed Zeltrax, alongside Kira. The Dino Rangers sacrificed their Dino Gems in order to destroy Mesogog's ultimate form(s). By that point, Mesogog had already managed to separate himself from Dr. Anton Mercer. In the end, Tommy would answer Anton's question of what he would do now by insisting he would pursue the simple life of a high school science teacher finally retiring his life as a Power Ranger for good, however, no Power Ranger, even Tommy, can escape the power forever.

"Black Ranger, I've read all about you!"

- Jack Landors

In 20 years, S.P.D. cadets will have to read all about Tommy and his Ranger service at the Academy.

Interestingly, Tommy references the fact that when not morphed, the Rangers wore clothing the same color as their Ranger color in the Dino Thunder season; At the end of episode 5, after becoming the Black Ranger, Tommy stated that he needed to go shopping since he had a serious shortage of black in his closet.

Though Tommy didn't actually pilot the Brachiozord, he piloted the Stegozord twice, once to form the Dino Stegazord when Trent was busy with his evil clone and when the Rangers formed the Valkasaurus Megazord. He also briefly piloted the Mezodon Megazord against the Replicantzord.

Operation Overdrive
"I still can't believe Tommy's a doctor."

- Adam Park Though Tommy was not called on to team up with the other rangers, he was referenced by his former teammates, Adam Park and Kira Ford.

A Season to Remember
In a possible future, an elderly Tommy narrates a holiday event taking place during his Zeo years to his young grandson. He is married to Katherine, and the couple have another grandson, who is implied to be a Power Ranger as well. However, if this is canon or not has been debated.

MMPR fan club video

 * On the topic of his friends, Jason remarked that they were like family; he described sparring with Tommy at the Youth Center all the time, then said the girls were both really cool, both beautiful women, but that sometimes he'd have to play the big brother role and, for instance, tell an unwanted guy that Kim had a boyfriend, even though she didn't.
 * Being interviewed himself, Tommy was in the hallway of Angel Grove High; he wore his straight hair in a ponytail and had on a green shirt; whether he wore a communicator is unknown.
 * In regard to priorities, Tommy said that beyond fighting evil and going to school, he always found time to practice martial arts, but only after finishing his schoolwork.
 * Asked about friends, Tommy said he'd been a loner when he'd first come to Angel Grove but that the teens had taken him in; sometimes they would get in disagreements when under spells, but once the spell was broken, he said, you were cool with everyone.
 * Tommy commented that he loved to help people, and it was great to fight evil and win, adding that the good guys always won.
 * On his power loss, Tommy said he'd really had a bad time, and it had been tough, because he liked being a Power Ranger and that had been something Rita had taken away from him; now, however, he'd fought through it and had his powers back.
 * When asked about girlfriends, Tommy was unsure, but he noted that Kimberly was "kinda special" to him.
 * Tommy's plans for the future included going to college and perhaps opening a karate school for kids.
 * Asked whether he preferred being a good guy or a bad guy, Tommy replied, "I love being a good guy, because good guys always win. Bad does not pay."
 * Talking about her friends, Kim said Tommy was one of her best friends, and they got along so well and were really great friends; she then added that, yes, he was cute, then giggled and changed the subject.
 * Kim remarked that Jason was great, like a big brother, and she felt safe and secure with him, much like she did with Tommy.

Behind the Scenes

 * Many of Tommy's mannerisms and habits in MMPR were added to the character to accommodate the Super Sentai footage. As the Green Ranger, he was often preoccupied during a monster attack and only helped the other Rangers at the last minute. This was because Burai, his then-current Sentai counterpart, had to stay in a cave to live and rarely came out to help the Zyurangers. Also, the Green Candle story arc and transfer of Tommy's powers was used for when Burai died. When the Zyu2 footage was shot, it allowed the writers to bring him back; when the footage ran out, the Green Ranger was completely written out for Tommy to become the White Ranger. Tommy's occasional jumping up and down while morphed was due to Kou, his White Ranger Sentai counterpart, being a child and growing into adult-sized when morphed (simliar to Turbo's Blue Ranger, Justin Stewart).
 * Along with having the most episode appearances, Tommy also holds the record for having the longest continuous stint as leader of the team, being named leader in the early half of Season 2 when he received the White Ranger powers, and not leaving until half-way through Season 5, in the episode Passing the Torch. He also has the record for most color-changes as he has been green, white, red and black.
 * Due to Disney not wanting to pay for Jason David Frank's trip to New Zealand, he did not appear in person in the episodes in which the Dino Thunder and S.P.D. Power Rangers team up. In the S.P.D. episode Wormhole, aside from various recycled lines of dialogue, Jeffrey Parazzo (Trent's actor) voices Tommy and he does not appear out of costume.This is the first time since MMPR season 1's "Green With Evil (5)", with the quick drop-in line of "No way!" that Tommy has been played by anyone other than Jason David Frank.
 * Tommy wears long sleeves in every Dino Thunder episode he has appeared, because by this time, Jason David Frank had gained tattoo sleeves on his arms. Jason David Frank also has tattoos on his chest, which were also covered during his return to the show.

Trivia

 * In 1993, the profile card for Tommy on the box of the Dragonzord toy with Green Ranger toy revealed Tommy's birthday as October 20. This would give him the same birthday as his teammate, Jason Lee Scott, the original Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger.
 * Tommy's birthplace was listed as Los Angeles, even though Angel Grove is rumored to serve as a replacement for Los Angeles in the Power Rangers universe.
 * Also according to the profile card with the Dragonzord toy, Tommy's favorite subject was History. His favorite food was Corn Flakes and raisins. Tommy's hobby was playing the blues on a flute.
 * When Dr. Tommy Oliver arrives at Reefside High School he is wearing his last Ranger color from "Forever Red", which is Red. Despite this, in the flashback scene which airs right after the opening credits in Day of the Dino: Part I, Tommy wears a black T-Shirt under a grey shirt, which is almost the same with what he wears in Day of the Dino: Part II.
 * Tommy is the first Power Ranger to grow giant size, before the Mutant Rangers and followed by the Zeo Rangers.
 * Tommy is the first mentor to become a Power Ranger (Dino Thunder) followed by Doggie Cruger, Udonna, and RJ.
 * Tommy's hair has often been the subject of comic relief throughout the series. In "Forever Red", Carter Grayson said "Well at least his haircut's regulation now, right?". In the Power Rangers Dino Thunder episode "Bully for Ethan", Kira mocks Tommy's hair after seeing a photo of the original Mighty Morphin' team, to which Tommy replies, "Hey, it was in style back then". In the episode "Fighting Spirit", the White Mighty Morphin' Ranger quips "Well Tommy, I see you finally cut that hair".
 * In his fan club video interview, he says he plans to go to college, and as established in Dino Thunder, he does.
 * While he didn't appear in Once A Ranger, Asuka (his Abaranger counterpart) did appear in GoGo Sentai Boukenger vs. Super Sentai.
 * Tommy's name is a reference to Tony Oliver, one of the creators of the show.
 * Tommy is the only veteran Power Ranger to become a Power Ranger in a team with new Rangers.
 * Tommy is the first Ranger to be adopted, following by Cole, Hunter and Blake, Trent and Nick.
 * Tommy has the most Sentai counterparts out of every ranger ever, with 5.
 * He has met the most number of Power Rangers from MMPR to SPD, albeit only without unmorphing in SPD. This includes 16 different teammates. First, he teamed with the the original five from the first season, and a combined seven until Turbo: Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Kat, Tanya, Trey of Triforia and Justin Stewart. He later recruits three Dino Thunder Rangers, and also works with the fourth Dino Thunder Ranger. He also meets the Alien Rangers, his Turbo successors, all of the other Red Rangers he had not already known until Time Force, and then six Ninja Storm Rangers and seven SPD Rangers, making it a total of 28 rangers.
 * Tommy, along with Billy, Adam, Kimberly, Rocky and Jason are the only Rangers to appear in more than 100 episodes.
 * He and Billy are the only Rangers to subsequently appear in up to 200 episodes.
 * Tommy is the only ranger to subsequently appear in more than 200 episodes.
 * Additionally, Tommy has appeared in six different series of Power Rangers, the most of any Ranger.
 * Tommy is the first Mentor to become a Ranger, be it prior to becoming a Mentor or afterwards. He would be followed by Anubis Cruger, Udonna, and RJ.