Dino Thunder

Power Rangers: Dino Thunder (often abbreviated as "PRDT") was the twelfth incarnation of Power Rangers, based on the 27th season of Super Sentai - Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (Blast Dragon Task Force Abaranger).

Synopsis
A soccer player, computer expert, a singer, and a teacher join forces to become Power Rangers and help save the Earth from mutant dinosauric beings that wish to eradicate all human life and return Earth to the age of dinosaurs.

In this season, Tommy Oliver, of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Power Rangers: Turbo fame, returns as a paleontology professor in Reefside, California. When he is assigned three detention students, Conner, Ethan, and Kira, they end up finding the Dino Gems, paving the way for them to become the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. Conner gains the power of the Tyrannozord, as well as superspeed; Ethan gains the power of the Tricerazord, as well as the ability to make his skin super-strong; Kira gains the power of the Pterazord, as well as a sonic scream. Tommy (known often as Dr. O) himself joins the team as the Black Dino Thunder Ranger, and they are also later joined by Trent Mercer as the White Dino Thunder Ranger. During the course of the series, the team adds to its arsenal Zords based on the Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Ankylosaurus, Dimetrodon, and Stegosaurus, the last of which combines with Trent's Zord, a Tupuxaura to form the Dino Stegozord. Tommy pilots the Brachiosaurus Zord, the carrier for all the other Zords.

In addition to the episodes, a short 'secret episode' was created. It features Kira and Ethan looking into the future, and was designed as an advertisement for the Power Rangers series following Dino Thunder, Power Rangers: SPD.

In general, this series has not been afraid to admit its campiness and poke fun at itself, owing partly to the fact that Jason David Frank is somewhat of an homage to days gone by in the series. In one episode, after Tommy receives his powers (again), he mentions he needs to go shopping. When asked why, he says that he doesn't have enough black clothes in his closet; this is the first outright reference to the fact that since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, all Rangers have dressed in casual clothes with some degree of their Ranger color on it. Also, the Red and Blue Rangers have similar helmet and Zord designs to the tyrannosaurus and triceratops Zords of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The only major difference is the Yellow Ranger's costume and Zord.

At the end of the series, Conner, Kira, Ethan, Tommy, and Trent finished off Mesogog but burned out their Dino Gems in the process.

A year after stopping Mesogog, the three main teens arrive at Reefside High for a reunion. Conner is working on starting a soccer club for kids. Ethan is attending Reefside Tech. Kira has moved to New York City in an attempt to start a recording career. So far; Conner is having trouble raising money for the club, Ethan's schedule is hectic, though Kira has been spotted on the radio-- doing a cat litter jingle.

Kidnapped into the future, they aid the S.P.D. Rangers in defeating Gruumm. They learn that Conner will set up a series of soccer camps for kids, Ethan will eventually develop computer systems and software (and the like) which continue to be used for several years into the future. Some of the software is used by Space Patrol Delta (SPD) and Kira will become a major singing star. After assisting SPD, the trio is sent back to the very moment they were kidnapped without any memories of their involvment. Their Dino gems and morphers remained locked away in an unknown location by SPD.

This was the first time the two teams of Rangers would meet. In a later episode of SPD ("Wormhole"), the SPD Rangers would travel back in time to 2004. Grumm has returned to defeat the rangers athen so he would not face them in the future. Both teams of rangers teamed up and defeated Grumm - again.

Villains

 * Mesogog
 * Elsa/Principal Randall
 * Zeltrax
 * White Ranger Clone
 * Lothor

Other Characters/Allies

 * Cassidy Cornell: The local High School reporter.
 * Devin Del Valle: Cassidy's stupid sidekick and cameraman; he has a slight crush on Cassidy.
 * Hayley: Manager of the Cyberspace Cafe, and technical advisor of the Rangers.
 * Anton Mercer: Trent's adoptive father and Mesogog's alter ego.
 * Mr. Cormier
 * Sensei
 * SPD

Morphers

 * Dino Morpher (Red/Conner, Blue/Ethan and Yellow/Kira)
 * Brachio Morpher (Black/Tommy)
 * Drago Morpher (White/Trent)
 * Triassic Morpher (Triassic Ranger - used for Battlizer)

Weapons

 * Tyranno Staff (Red Ranger/Conner)
 * Tricera Shield (Blue Ranger/Ethan)
 * Ptera Grips (Yellow Ranger/Kira)
 * Brachio Staff (Black Ranger/Tommy)
 * Drago Sword (White Ranger/Trent)
 * Shield of Triumph (Triassic Ranger)
 * Thundermax Blaster/Saber (Red/Conner, Blue/Ethan and Yellow/Kira)
 * Z-Rex Blaster

Vehicles

 * Raptor Riders (Red/Conner, Blue/Ethan, Yellow/Kira and Black/Tommy)
 * Raptor Cycles (Red/Conner, Blue/Ethan and Yellow/Kira)
 * Dino ATVs (Black/Tommy and White/Trent)
 * Hovercraft Cycle (Blue Ranger/Ethan)
 * Triceramax Command Center Truck

Suit Upgrades
When the Triassic morpher is given enough dino energy, it unlocks the Battlizer Armor.
 * Super Dino Mode (All 5 rangers)
 * Triassic Ranger (Red Ranger upgrade)
 * Battlized Triassic Ranger (Triassic Ranger upgrade)


 * Triceramax Command Center was shown on screen but not named. The name "Triceramax Command Center" comes from the toy line released by Bandai in the US.

Zords

 * Dinozords
 * Tyrannozord (Red/Conner)
 * Tricerazord (Blue/Ethan)
 * Pterazord (Yellow/Kira)
 * Brachiozord (Black/Tommy)
 * Dragozord (White/Trent)
 * Mezodon Rover/Mezodon Megazord (Triassic)
 * Auxiliaryzords
 * Cephalozord (Tommy/Triassic)
 * Dimetrozord (Tommy/Triassic)
 * Stegazord (Tommy/Trent)
 * Parasaurzord (Tommy/Triassic)
 * Ankylozord (Tommy/Triassic)
 * Thundersaurus Megazord (combination of Tyranno, Tricera & Pterazords)
 * Dino Stegazord (combination of Drago & Stegazords)
 * Triceramax Megazord (combination of Mezodon Megazord, Cephalo, Dimetro, Parasaur & Ankylozords)
 * Valkasaurus Megazord (combination of Thundersaurus Megazord, Mezodon Megazord & Dino Stegazord)
 * Valkasaurus Megazord (combination of Thundersaurus Megazord, Mezodon Megazord & Dino Stegazord)

The Comic Strip
A new monthly comic strip based on the series appears every issue of "Jetix Magazine" in the UK. Jetix Magazine is the official magazine of JETIX, the channel that shows Dino Thunder in the UK.

The Video Games
There were two games produced for the Dino Thunder series. On the Game Boy Advance, there was a sidescrolling version which was a simple platformer involving fighting several foes from the series. The other game was produced for the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Gamecube. This was the first Power Rangers game produced on a next generation console. Unexpectedly all the action takes place inside the zords. This game also had a few inconsistencies with the series to allow the action to take place in the zords while battling the regular badguys who were human size. (The series always displayed a monster needing to be destroyed before it could be a giant, a side affect of the Hydro Re-Generator)

Trivia

 * Power Rangers Dino Thunder is the first series since Power Rangers: In Space to actually have the rangers attend high school.
 * Power Rangers Dino Thunder is also notable for being the second series not to feature a separate sixth Ranger at all (the first was Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy). It is also the first one to only have five fighters of any kind (Lost Galaxy does not count, since even if one does not count the Magna Defender as a ranger, he is still a sixth fighter).
 * One episode featured the Dino Thunder Rangers watching a dubbed version of an Abaranger episode (Episode 10: "Abare Leaguer Binded by Greed!") on TV. The episode had a great deal's worth of footage cut and replaced with the Dino Thunder rangers making comments, though. Most of the orignal dialouge had also been completely changed. All of the orignal terms for weapons and attacks , as well as the main characters names , had been changed. The Abarangers were also called "Dino Rangers" in this dub. Many Sentai fans have criticized Disney for this dub , stating that it was a mockery of the Sentai franchise and made it seem that Sentai was based off of Power Rangers (in truth, its the exact opposite) . On the other hand some Sentai fans actually compliment the episode, seeing it as an amusing nod toward PR's source material.
 * It is the first team to wear short gloves instead of long ones.
 * According to the episode "Back In Black", Conner is hydrophobic, that is, due to the fact he cannot swim. This makes him the first and only Ranger with such a condition.
 * Katrina Devine who portrayed Marah in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm appears in Dino Thunder as Cassidy Cornell, making her the first Power Rangers actor to play two different characters full-time.
 * During Dino Thunder, the Dino Rangers team up with the Rangers of Power Rangers: Ninja Storm to battle the combined forces of Lothor and Mesogog. The three Wind Rangers are temporarily considered enemies, but turn to the side of good. This marks the first time that two Power Ranger teams have ever come to blows with each other (if you do not consider the Wind and Thunder Rangers as separate teams at the time), this would be repeated next season on Power Rangers: SPD when the B-Squad Rangers battles the A-Squad Rangers.
 * This was the second season to feature rangers who became rangers unintentionally or by accident and were not chosen by an individual(s),(excluding Leo from Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy and Cole from Power Rangers: Wild Force whose destiny it was to become the Red Rangers of their respective teams). Unlike seasons past, the Dino Gems sought out who they wanted to have their powers; an individual could not control whether or not they were chosen to become a ranger, hence why the teens (and Dr. Oliver) became rangers, the Dino Gems bonded to their genes.
 * The first episodes, "Day of the Dino" make an obvious reference to the first MMPR episode "Day of the Dumpster".
 * This series hosted the biggest milestone episode: "Legacy of Power", being the 500th episode. It was a clip show featuring clips of every PR incarnation (excluding Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers). MMAR, Blue Senturion, Phantom Ranger and Magna Defender didn't appear, nor did Joel Rawlings and Cole Evans unmorphed. The beginning of the episode had the caption "Commemorating 500 Episodes. May the Power live on forever".
 * This is currently the final season in the which the additional ranger(s) is referred to by their color instead of a unique title.
 * If you count Hunter from Ninja Storm as a Red Ranger, then this is the first series to feature a non-Red Ranger receiving the additional vehicle since Zhane in Power Rangers in Space.