TokuNation Users Vote Jason David Frank the Best Power Ranger of All Time

In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Power Rangers, we asked the users at TokuNation to rank who they thought the 10 Best Power Rangers were (with #1 being, of course, their top choice). We then took the nominations, what rank they were, and assigned each rank a certain numerical value that would allow them to be added and averaged in a fair way. In overwhelming fashion (literally more than twice the number that the #2 entrant received), the fans at TokuNation.com selected Jason David Frank – who played Tommy Oliver the Green Ranger and White Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Red Ranger for both Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo, and finally the Black Ranger from Power Rangers Dino Thunder – as the Greatest Power Ranger of All Time.

The character Tommy Oliver first appeared in the episode “Green With Evil Part 1” on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Tommy was the new kid in school and showcased an incredible, aggressive style of martial arts. He befriends Kimberly immediately, but as he’s supposed to meet her, Rita Repulsa appears and sends the Putty Patrol after him. Tommy is victorious, and Rita Repulsa decides that Tommy will be the one to wield the Dragon Coin and become her evil Green Ranger.

Given the Sword of Darkness, Tommy overpowers the other Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He separates the Red Ranger, Jason, away from the others and systematically picks them apart piece by piece, removing Zordon and Alpha 5 from the equation. Good always triumphs over evil however, and the Power Rangers restore Zordon, who shares Tommy’s secret identity with the team. Together, they destroy the Sword of Darkness, thus freeing Tommy from evil, and he, along with his mighty Dragonzord, join the team. At this point, Tommy is nothing more than reinforcements – while he will fight with the others in civilian form, his only scenes in the Green Ranger costume are to call forth the mighty Dragonzord to aid the others. However, Rita Repulsa uses the Green Candle to absorb Tommy’s powers. The others are unable to destroy the candle, and Tommy has to give his power coin to Jason, thus leaving the team.

But when you’re the Best Power Ranger of All Time, you never get to leave for good. When the other Power Rangers had their parents kidnapped and they were duped in to giving up their Power Coins, as well as losing the Dragon Dagger to Goldar, they brought Tommy back as their only hope for salvation. Zordon infused his own energy with the Green Power Coin, and Tommy’s Green Ranger powers were restored, at least for small bursts of time. As soon as he grabbed the box containing the Power Coins, his body absorbed the energy from the force field and restored his powers. Tommy, and the Green Ranger, were back!

Sadly, the Green Ranger powers were limited and destined to run out, this time for good. When Lord Zedd ousted Rita Repulsa and took over, he made it his primary goal to eliminate the Green Ranger once and for all. He would succeed, draining all of the Green Ranger energies, but not before Tommy saved the day one last time. With Lord Zedd stronger than ever, the Power Rangers knew they needed another 6th Ranger. Unbeknownst to the team, Zordon and Alpha 5 create the White Ranger, and in one of the most watched children’s television shows of all time, White Light Part 2, the White Ranger is revealed to be Tommy, his powers created completely from good powers and bestowed as the new team leader. With Tommy as the White Ranger and leader of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, they would defeat Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa time and time again.

When Goldar and Rito Revolto manage to destroy the Command Center, along with the arrival of the evil Machine Empire, Zordon uses the powerful Zeo Crystal to create the Power Rangers Zeo, with Tommy becoming the Red Ranger. When the evil space pirate Divatox arrives on Earth, Zordon creates the Turbo Powers to combat this new threat, giving creation to the Power Rangers Turbo. Tommy would continue to lead as the Red Ranger until he, and the others, decide that it’s time to pass on the power so they can continue on with the next phase of their lives. Tommy, as a race car driver, would leave the Power Rangers for many years (and miss out on some of the biggest battles!).

When General Venjix, a leftover from the evil Machine Empire, surfaces and attempts to restore Lord Zedd‘s personal zord, Serpentera, Tommy gathers a team of veteran Red Rangers to come together and destroy the Machine Empire once and for all in the episode “Forever Red”, which acted as the franchise’s 10th Anniversary special.

During all this down time, Tommy went to college and become a doctor of paleontology. He discovered the Dino Gems, mysterious jewels taken from the asteroid that crashed on Earth and killed the dinosaurs. When an evil creature known as Mesogag appears, Tommy knows he has to harness the energies of the gems to create a new team of Power Rangers. Three of his high school students stumble in to his secret lab and bond with the gems. With Tommy’s help, they morph in to the Power Rangers Dino Thunder, and Tommy is thrown in to the role of a mentor to his new team. But when he detects the presence of a fourth gem, Tommy goes to inform his students when he is kidnapped by Mesogag, who wants Tommy to show him how to free the Dino Gem from it’s prison. Through a twist of fate, Tommy ends up bonding with the gem and morphing in to the Dino Thunder Black Ranger, stating that he “might be old, but can still pull it off”. In one of the most beloved episodes of the entire franchise, Tommy winds up in a coma, fighting for his life, and ends up fighting his former incarnations – the Mighty Morphin Green & White Rangers, as well as the Zeo Red Ranger. Victory means life, defeat means death. When all is said and done, Tommy implies that he will stay in Reefside and continue teaching.

But you can’t keep the Best Power Ranger of All Time down. When The Armada overpowers the Power Rangers Super Megaforce, Tommy will once again take up the power to help save the world. Tommy will return as the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger in the series finale of Power Rangers Super Megaforce, airing in late 2014.

Jason David Frank is the actor who played Tommy Oliver for more episodes in the franchise than any other actor or character. Jason David Frank is a 7th degree black belt, an inductee in to the World Karate Union Hall of Fame, a Guinness Book of World Records record holder, an undefeated MMA Fighter, owner of the Rising Sun Karatae schools, creator of the clothing brand Jesus Didn’t Tap, an accomplished sky diver, an actor, a husband, a father, a reoccurring guest of the Wizard World convention circuit, and according to our users, The Best Power Ranger of All Time. Congratulations Jason David Frank.

Thank you to all the TokuNation.com users who participated in this event. We had over 75 different Power Rangers nominated, and we calculated all the nominations to create our Top 20 list. Please take a moment to review our Top 20, listed below:

20 – Danny Slavin (Leo, Lost Galaxy Red Ranger)
19 – Amy Jo Johnson (Kim, Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
18 – Chris Violette (Sky, SPD Blue Ranger)
17 – Valerie Vernon (Kendrix, Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger)
16 – Doggie Cruger (SPD Shadow Ranger)
15 – Brandon Jay McLaren (Jack, SPD Red Ranger)
14 – Erin Cahill (Jen, Time Force Pink Ranger)
13 – Matt Austin (Bridge, SPD Green Ranger)
12 – Ciara Hanna (Gia, Megaforce & Super Megaforce Yellow Ranger)
11 – Dan Ewing (RPM Black Ranger)
10 – Sean CW Johnson (Carter, Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
9 – David de Lautour (RJ, Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger)
8 – Christopher Khayman Lee (Andros, In Space Red Ranger)
7 – Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy, RPM Green Ranger)
6 – David Yost (Billy, Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
5 – Dan Southworth (Eric, Quantum Ranger)
4 – Austin St. John/Jason Geiger (Jason, Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, Zeo Gold Ranger)
3 – Jason Faunt (Wes, Time Force Red Ranger)
2 – Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam, Mighty Morphin Black Ranger, Zeo Green Ranger, Turbo Green Ranger)
1 – Jason David Frank (Tommy, Mighty Morphin Green Ranger, Mighty Morphin White Ranger, Zeo Red Ranger, Turbo Red Ranger 1, Dino Thunder Black Ranger)

That was the list that YOU, our users, voted for! Thank you again so much for your participation in our celebration of the Top 20 Best Power Rangers of All Time in honor of the Power Rangers 20th Anniversary. Maybe we’ll revisit this for the 25th. Maybe. Thanks again, and congratulations to our Top 20!