Oh man, you guys, I can't believe there's going to be a third series! It's been, what, 20 years since the first series came out?
OK, for those guys that don't know, White Wolf was this small animation studio that made this really badass cartoon called Darkness Rangers back in the 90s; it was on a bit early, which might explain why some of you haven't seen it. I think there might be some episodes on Youtube, I don't know (if not, I might post some, once I figure out how to get them from VHS onto my hard drive.) It was the best you guys; it was like an American Power Rangers, but with all kinds of monsters as the heroes. It was so cheesy, but it was so damn great -
Fine, I'll back up a bit; I've looked around a bit and there's no synopsis for the show! Not even on Wikipedia! So I think I'll give a little synopsis of the different series.
Series one was just called Darkness Rangers; it followed the adventures of 5 teenaged monsters as they fought off the evil forces of Pentax and the Technocracy, led by the sinister Mr. Wyrm. In retrospect, it was a little too Captain Planet, but it was so much fun! OK, I might as well tell you about the main characters (no spoilers though):
• Chris McWolfman was an ordinary (OK, not so ordinary) high school student and budding student activist who happens to be a Werewolf. Yeah, I know. But anyway, when he's on duty he's called Ranger Moon, and is the leader of the rangers. He's the hot-blooded one, but he could really pull the group together in a crunch.
• Steve von Mortimer was Chris' rival in pretty much everything, even the rangers; of course, his rivalry was hampered by the fact that he was a Vampire, and couldn't go out during the day. He brought some "family" politics into some episodes. He suited up as Ranger Night, and was the lone-wolf (heh) second in command. He and Chris actually had great chemistry; Steve's voice actor brought just enough "suave" to balance out Chris' brogue.
• Dave Pendragon was the brains of the group; he was the nerdy guy who helped everyone else with their homework so they could actually pass classes. It certainly helped that he was actually a Mage, and so he could use his magic powers to help both on and off duty! He went by Ranger Stars.
• Summer Jones was that one hippy chick that was basically there as moral support for the group; she was actually a fairy princess from another world, who came to Earth after Mr. Wyrm conquered it. My kid sister always liked her, so I guess that's what they were going for. She went by Ranger Dream, and was always getting kidnapped and stuff. I didn't really like her as much as the rest of the cast (she had this annoyingly spacy voice actor).
• Morticia Smith (someone was a fan of the Addams Family) was this creepy ghost girl that haunted the group; a big part of the first season was based around figuring out how she died and all that stuff. She went by Ranger Eclipse when when everyone was suited up (more to keep up appearances than anything; the first episode she shows up has a hilarious scene where she picked her "hero" name). Of course, she had a super-powerful evil side, all poltergeist-y and stuff; she went by Ranger Void, and was the cause of some of the tensest episodes.
So they travelled around the world, fighting the forces of Mr. Wyrm; looking back, the season they spent in Asia was cringe-worthy, and they never really did anything with Amon, the Mummy they picked up briefly when they swung through Egypt. The first series ended with a 5-parter where basically the Apocalypse happened; the scene where Bangladesh got nuked was a bit excessive, to tell you the truth.
After that, they rebooted the series in a bit more of a down-to-earth way as Darkness Rangers Neo; it was more Buffy-with-Mech-Suits than Power Rangers at that point. It was a little less goofy, and a bit more thoughtful. They cut down on the gonzo, and made everything a bit more local. They adjusted everyone's backstories (Chris and Steve lost a buncha extended family members, and they toned down Dave's magic a bit), but I think Summer's and Morticia's got the biggest overhaul; Summer had to flee her home in the Faerie World because of her wicked stepmother, and was much more of a survivor who had an optimistic outlook on life; I felt she had just become a better character all around (doesn't hurt that she got a much better voice actress).
On the other hand, Morticia became this punk zombie chick who was probably the happiest member of the team; Ranger Umbra became much more friendly (though still pretty wicked) and rode around in her head, bringing her back to life if she "died" (something they used a lot). I'm happy to say that Amon (now a foreign exchange student) got a much better backstory,and they used him a lot better (but that would be spoilers!).
They got rid of Mr. Wyrm and replaced Pentax and the Technocracy with a crapton of different Monsters-of-the-Week, including some monster hunters! And then there was Ranger Storm, who pulled their asses out of the fire every once in a while; he always left with some speech about having to seek his own path, or something cliche like that. Still, pretty good series; I'd suggest it if you can find the episodes.
But I mean, the third season... wow. I kinda like the leaked art-notes for Chris and Steve, there are some cool rumors, and there was something about a new Ranger whose name would be something like Isaac. His monster form sketches look badass, and that rough animation of his transformation was awesome. My only sticking point is the whole "God-Machine" thing; I know the original was inspired by Power Rangers, but do we really need the ability to go MegaZord?
I hope I got some of you guys interested! Darkness Rangers, Power Up!
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