Eugene Skullovitch

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This article is about a/an supporting character in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Turbo, and In Space.

Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
Orange Ranger
Gender:	Male
Seasons:	Mighty Morphin Zeo Turbo In Space Super Samurai
Colors:	Orange
Homeworld:	Earth
First Appearance:	Day of the Dumpster
Last Appearance:	Samurai Forever
Number of Episode Appearances:	148 (Mighty Morphin) 49 (Zeo) 39 (Turbo) 13 (In Space) 1 (Lost Galaxy) 1 (Wild Force) 1 (Super Samurai) 1 (Movie) Full list of appearances
Actor:	Jason Narvy Ross J. Samya (child)
Orange Ranger

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"Dogasaurus!"

―Skull’s morph call in his nightmare.

"I’m the Black Ranger!"

―Skull standing up to Astronema.

Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. He appeared as a permanent cast member from the original series of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers until Power Rangers in Space, and has also appeared few times after this. This makes him one of the longest-serving permanent cast members in Power Rangers.

Bulk and Skull, from the very beginning, provided much of the comic relief in the series, usually through over-the-top slapstick (often accompanied by a suitable soundtrack). This was no doubt highlighted by their physical appearances: Bulk was obese and Skull lean. Not particularly bright, Skull often ruined Bulk's plans and had to be reminded of why they were doing them.

History

This article contains content in reference to the main TV series, as well as supplemental material, such as the comics. A sliding/floating timeline applies. Story instances for TV and other media will be clearly marked.

Early life

Bulk and Skull may well have been destined to be friends as evidenced by the Power Rangers' encounter with doppelganger duos in two past eras of Angel Grove.

• In the colonial Angel Grove of the late 18th century, the Power Rangers observed Uncle Ben and the town regiment's commander to be identical to Bulk and Skull. The two would become friends after the Power Rangers saved the town from the Wizard of Deception and his Rat Monsters. TV STORY-Return of the Green Ranger
• A One-Eyed Bulk and Doc Skullovitch lived in the Wild West Angel Grove of the year 1880. TV STORY-Wild West Rangers (episode)

It is revealed that seven years ago, Eugene was a friend of Billy Cranston but eventually because of peer pressure and his home life, he became a bully by his teens and the two were no longer friends. He does show hidden signs of regret when Billy mentions something from their childhood about "Lava Sand", something from the pretend games they used to play as children. Sadly, he cannot seem to muster up the courage to apologize for his actions or try to rekindle their friendship as he is pressured by Bulk to be one of the "cool kids". COMIC STORY- Go Go Power Rangers Issue 3

Pre-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Bulk and Skull first met in the maternity ward at the hospital where they were born. Every time Bulk cried, Skull cried too - and because of the noise they were isolated for all the other babies. The two have been constate companions ever since.

Bulk and Skull probably attended the same elementary school as the kids that would later become Power Rangers. Before the events that happened in the first season, it was revealed that they became best friends after the incident where Bulk decided to not beat up Skull for shoving a Popsicle down his shirt.

The UK tie-in magazines of the early 90s claimed that the two met as infants; whenever Bulk cried, Skull cried too.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Skull in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Bulk and Skull at the Juice Bar.

Bulk and Skull started out as bullies at Angel Grove High School and often hung out at the Youth Center and Juice Bar. Their actions are motivated by greed and ego in the first seasons. Wacky schemes abound, always ending with their failure and humiliation.

In the episode Green With Evil Part IV: "Eclipsing Megazord", Bulk and Skull are trying to escape in an abandoned bus when they are captured by a giant-sized Goldar. However, just as the Putty Patrollers are about to push the bus with Bulk and Skull in it off a cliff, the Power Rangers form the Megazord and help Bulk and Skull to safety before engaging in a fierce battle against Goldar, Scorpina, and a giant-sized Green Ranger.

Unlockly Heroes

When Rita Repulsa successfully has her monster trap the Power Rangers into its body, Zordon temporarily recruited Bulk and Skull to be Power Rangers using 'extremely rare' Power Coins. After they successfully defeat the monster, Alpha 5 removes their memories as no one must ever know they were ever Power Rangers. COMIC STORY- [[|]]

Ranger fans

During the second season they attempted to discover the secret identities of the Power Rangers and repeatedly failed. Ironically enough, they did discover the Rangers' identities twice: once they witnessed the Rangers teleporting down in front of them and when their memories were erased by the Scatterbrain Monster; Bulk and Skull tricked Scatterbrain into firing his amnesia beam through two prisms, distorting the beam and restoring the Rangers' memories. Unfortunately, Bulk and Skull lost their short-term memories in the process due to being flung back by the amnesia beam and landing on their heads. The second time a psychic pointed the Ranger teens out to Bulk, but he didn't believe her as they were holding a picture of the morphed Ranger team at the time just given to them by Ernie .

Skull had a crush on Kimberly. Whenever Kimberly was with the five other Rangers, however, he and Bulk referred to her, as well as Trini, as "geeks".

A popular change of direction for the duo occurred in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, when they joined the Angel Grove Junior Police Force (in an attempt to impress women, due to their belief that women love men in uniforms) and first met Lieutenant Stone. Lt. Stone became a permanent character himself, frequently giving Bulk and Skull orders that they failed to perform, leading eventually to his anger (rather than their humiliation). Despite this, Bulk and Skull took their new job seriously and were close to Lt. Stone.

Power Rangers Zeo

Bulk and Skull on the police force.

During Power Rangers: Zeo, Bulk and Skull remained members of the Junior Police Force. Also, Bulk learned Skull's deepest secret during the School's music recital - Skull was a skilled pianist. Rather than make fun of his friend, Bulk admitted he was moved by the music and congratulated Skull. At one point, Bulk fell for the police chief's daughter, and sought Tanya's advice on romance since he had no experience himself. Bulk's attempts aggravated the chief to the point of getting Lt Stone fired from the force. Bulk and Skull quit the Police Department as a show of loyalty to Stone. Now working as private detectives, Bulk and Skull did what they could to assist Stone in solving cases, no matter how small. When it came to passing their detective test, both failed miserably, but were given passing grades for "braving a monster attack" to continue the test. They eventually walked out on the agency to take an undercover mission in Paris, the details of which have never been disclosed.

During this time, Bulk and Skull secretly hosted Rito and Goldar, characters who lost their memories, after the attack at the end of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Power Rangers Turbo

Bulk and Skull when they were chimps.

At the start of Power Rangers: Turbo, the gap between Good as Gold and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie revealed that Bulk and Skull had returned from France and reconciled with Stone. All three eventually got a chance to rejoin the Police Force (which, like many of the holes in the season, was never fully explained) before Lt. Stone went to replace Ernie as owner of the Gym and Juice Bar. Unfortunately before they could get back to work, they were transformed into chimpanzees by Elgar.

Bulk and Skull remain chimpanzees for several episodes. They are voiced by the actors who played Bulk and Skull; however, only the audience can understand them. Lt. Stone takes the chimpanzees into his care (claiming that they seem 'familiar'), and they make several attempts to inform him of their true identities.

They are eventually transformed back into humans, but a temporary side-affect renders them invisible. This state only lasted for a few episodes before they finally returned to normal and attempted to take on proper jobs (Jerome Stone arranged for them to get a new one most episodes).

Power Rangers in Space

Bulk and Skull while working with the Professor.

During Power Rangers: In Space, Jerome Stone and Mr. Caplan left the series without explanation, and Bulk and Skull spent their time helping the rather loony Professor Phenomenus locate and capture extraterrestrial life.

The best transformation and growth of Bulk and Skull's characters is shown in the climax finale, Countdown to Destruction. Towards the end of that episode, Astronema's forces have conquered Earth. She asks rounded-up citizens of Angel Grove where the Rangers are - getting no response, she prepares to attack the citizens. Before she is able to do so, Bulk, Skull and Professor Phenomenous pretend to be Rangers (Skull specifically referring to himself as the Black Ranger) to buy the real team some time. A minute or so later, when Astronema doesn't buy the ruse, the real Rangers teens show up, and breaking with tradition, morph in front of everyone, showing their identities to the world. They begin to fight the hundreds of Quantrons and Piranhatrons in the area.

Bulk and Skull leading the charge against Astronema's forces

At this point, Bulk and Skull can't stand to see the Rangers they adore against these odds, and so they shake hands and lead the citizens of Angel Grove in a fight for their city, and everyone fighting the monsters alongside the Rangers. Their cry for everyone to "get in there" to fight alongside the Rangers is widely seen as the finest hour for Bulk and Skull's characters.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

Bulk boards Terra Venture with the Professor.

While not appearing throughout the season, Skull did appear in Quasar Quest, Part 1. He was supposed to travel with Bulk and Professor Phenomenus aboard the space station bio-dome Terra Venture, but he did not wake up in time and was left behind. After Bulk and Phenomenus realized they left Skull behind, his alarm clock went off waking him up slightly but he simply fell back asleep. Following this, Skull is not seen for the rest of the season.

Power Rangers Wild Force

During the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode Forever Red, Bulk and Skull made a special cameo appearance. It is not explained how Bulk returned from Mirinoi.

Bulk and Skull were shown as servers and managers of a tropical-themed bar called "Bulkmeier's". Tommy Oliver, a former Power Ranger, is also present. In this episode, Bulk and Skull were shown playing Psycho Ranger chess while having a conversation about the early days of Power Rangers - in particular, Bulk is bragging to Skull about how he once saw Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, despite the fact that Skull saw them also.

Power Rangers Samurai/Super Samurai

Skull reunites with Bulk

In Power Rangers Samurai, it is revealed he has a 15-year old son named Spike Skullovitch, whom he leaves in the care of Bulk prior to "Origins". Skull is mentioned throughout both seasons, but does not appear until the final episode "Samurai Forever", when Skull appears in person to pick up his son, in turn reuniting him with Bulk before heading back home.

Family

• Mr. Skullovitch - Father
• Mrs. Skullovitch - Mother
• Spike Skullovitch - Son
• Farkas Bulkmeier - Honorary brother
• Femur - Cousin (mentioned) TV STORY-A Chimp in Charge ​​​​​ TV STORY-A Zeo Beginning
• Millie - Aunt (mentioned) TV STORY-A Season to Remember
• Shirley - Aunt (mentioned) ​​​​ TV STORY-A Mystery to Me
• English Soldier - Ancestor in 1790
• Doc Skullovitch - Ancestor in 1880

Personality

In the comics, far more than the irreverent rebel without a cause that he presents himself as, Skull is actually quite observant, sensitive, and kind at his core. Having dealt with his issues of abandonment as a result of his father walking out when he was young, Skull's mask of being a crude bully with a fondness for biker and death metal fashion is often subverted by moments that reveal his emotional intelligence and compassion. One such instance was how he backed out of an advance made by Kimberly Hart when she attempted to kiss him on the Ferris wheel at a carnival, citing that he knew she wasn't over her ex-boyfriend Matt Cook, and could not go through with kissing her while she was still emotionally compromised and vulnerable. He offered to talk things out with her instead. Along with this, his honesty with his old friend Billy Cranston regarding Skull's insecurity his own abilities due to Billy's own constant presentation of his prodigious intellect displays his more sensitive and morally conflicted side, showing that Skull is not so much a bully, but simply has a hard time living up to his own moral and principled nature.

Orange Mighty Morphin Ranger

Mighty Morphin reserve costume

Arsenal

• Power Morpher
  • Terror-bird Power Coin

Zords

• Featherdactyl

Notes

• Despite his outward appearance, Skull is in fact an adept classical pianist, and has been seen in an episode of Zeo playing Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. Jason Narvy is also a classically trained Shakespearean actor, and received his MFA in Shakespearean Literature and Acting from Mary Baldwin College in central VA.
• During the filming of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, the actors (Schrier and Narvy) felt underused. To make up for this, they were given the position of assistant director for the series' episodes that were being filmed at the time.
• Jason Narvy's character was written out of the series for Lost Galaxy, because he was finishing college and had to leave the series. He was only in one scene during the season premiere, "Quasar Quest", after Bulk asks Phenomenous if they're forgetting something, it cuts to Skull lying asleep and wearing earmuffs on, with his alarm clock going off.
• Around the time of Zeo, Saban planned to make a Bulk and Skull comedy spinoff show, where they would run a hotel (Jason Narvy has said that he thinks it was "their grandmothers' hotel"). A Mexican Elvis impersonator was going to be a supporting character. Narvy claims that the video release The Good, the Bad, and the Stupid was put out as a "test market" and when "no one out there bought it", Saban cancelled the plans
• In "Samurai Forever", Skull's manner of dress and ownership of a limousine seems to imply a certain level of affluence not shared by Bulk. It is not known how he came into money.
• In the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers pilot, the gang leader played by Bob F. Vavla was retooled into Skull while the wild-haired punk became Bulk. According to Jason Narvy, Vavla was brought back to play Skull when the second pilot was shot. However, Vavla's performance was deemed to be too intimidating for a comedic character and Narvy was cast instead.
• Skull is the first official Orange Ranger in any Power Rangers series or story.
• Skull is frequently shown dressed in historical military uniforms. I tis unclear how he obtained these uniforms.

See also

• Bulk - Skull's best friend, whom he spent much time with throughout the show.
• Spike - Skull's son.
• Jirou Iwamoto, a character from Megaranger that played a similar role to Skull.
• Rebecca - Skull's female equivalent in the 2017's movie