Lost Galaxy

Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, often abbreviated as PRLG or simply Lost Galaxy, is the seventh season of the Power Rangers series. It is based on the Japanese Super Sentai television series Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (translated as Star Beasts Squadron Galaxy Man). Lost Galaxy is the first series to not be a continuation of the previous series, with its own new cast and story. With the annual suit change that began with Power Rangers Zeo and the annual cast and story change starting with this series, this is the first series to follow the practice set by the Super Sentai series.

Production
In late 1998, after Power Rangers in Space ended with the historic two-part finale Countdown to Destruction (which ended the 6-year MMPR-Zordon era), Saban began to produce and restart the Power Rangers franchise with standalone seasons. According to some trademark documents, the original title for this season was Power Rangers: Space Jungle. Saban observed and bought footage, costumes, props, and story elements from 1998 Super Sentai series Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, which featured a nature theme. The title by the name of Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy was brought up due to the fact that the word "Ginga" is a Japanese term for "Galaxy". Whereas all of the previous series featured interconnections in their casts and characters, Lost Galaxy used an entirely new cast of characters play the Power Rangers. It also began the trend of the "team up" crossover episode where the current team meets with the previous team to fight a common enemy (the Psycho Rangers).

Despite the stand-alone story, there were several ties to previous seasons. There were allusions to Zordon being the source of the Galaxy Power Rangers' powers. Paul Schrier and Jack Banning reprised their roles as Bulk and Professor Phenomenus, respectively. Alpha 6 and the Astro Megaship were used again and Melody Perkins reprised her role as Karone midway through the series. This is also the first season to have sentient Zords and feature the demise of a Power Ranger in battle, though Kendrix would be revived in the finale. The Space Power Rangers and Psycho Rangers returned in the series for the first full blown teamup episodes in series history. This traditon came from the Sentai and would become a part of Power Rangers in many future seasons.

Furio's costume came from In Space's Sentai counterpart, Denji Sentai Megaranger, and not Gingaman. This is one of only two times suits from one Sentai season were used in another's Power Rangers adaption. It would be repeated, perhaps more famously, in Power Rangers Wild Force.

The Lost Galaxy season serves as something of a transitional series and also a unique one in Power Rangers history. It is neither completely self-contained nor a direct continuation, but a bit of both. The seasons would not begin to have completely independent stories until the following series, Lightspeed Rescue

Synopsis
In the fictional universe of Lost Galaxy, five teens from the space colony, Terra Venture, are seeking for a new world like Earth. They later find five mystical swords (the Quasar Sabers) on a jungle planet called Mirinoi that transform them into Galaxy Power Rangers, and use them to battle space villains from two different parts of the galaxy. These villains include Scorpius, Trakeena, Deviot, and Captain Mutiny. Along the way, they discover several Zords known as Galactabeasts, and make an ally in the form of the mysterious Magna Defender, a galactic warrior who later dies and passes his powers on to a sixth teen who is the Red Galaxy Ranger's older brother named Mike Corbett. One of the five teens named Kendrix Morgan also dies during the series, and is replaced by Karone, sister of the Red Space Ranger.

This series also features a team-up between the Lost Galaxy Rangers and the Rangers of Power Rangers In Space, in which they face the common menace of the Psycho Rangers.

Allies

 * Professor Phenomenus
 * Commander Stanton
 * Councilor Brody
 * High Councilor Renier
 * Space Rangers
 * Lightspeed Rangers

Villains

 * List of Lost Galaxy Monsters

Arsenal

 * Quasar Sabers-Five swords recovered by the Power Rangers, giving them Ranger powers.
 * Transmorpher-Morpher of the Galaxy Rangers, activated by the morphing call "Go, Galactic!"
 * Magna Defender Morpher-Morpher used by Mike Corbett to become Magna Defender, using the morphing call "Magna Power!"
 * Red Armor Ranger-Special armor given to the Red Ranger, with built in weaponry.
 * Quasar Launchers-Weapons that can act either as bazookas or staffs.
 * Transdaggers-Five weapons that can each transform into 5 different modes, each preferred by a different Ranger.
 * Magna Blaster-Weapon of the Magna Defender, functions both as a rifle and as a sword.
 * Jet Jammer-One man vehicles used for interstellar travel.
 * Astro Cycles-Motorcycles used by the Red, Blue, and Green Rangers.
 * Capsular Cycle-Enhanced version of the Red Astro Cycle, capable of completely covering the Red Ranger.
 * Lights of Orion-Mystic lights used to aid the forces of good and to give the Rangers battle enhanced armor as well as power up the Galaxy Megazord.

Zords

 * Galactabeasts/Galactazords
 * Lion Galactabeast/Zord (Red/Leo)
 * Condor Galactabeast/Zord (Green/Damon)
 * Gorilla Galactabeast/Zord (Blue/Kai)
 * Wolf Galactabeast/Zord (Yellow/Maya)
 * Wildcat Galactabeast/Zord (Pink)(Kendrix/Karone)
 * Galaxy Megazord (combination of Galactazords)
 * Torozord (Magna Defender)
 * Defender Torozord (combination of Magna Defender in giant mode & Torozord)
 * C Zords
 * C1 Zord (Small red race car)
 * C2 Zord (red tank like car with single barrel on top)
 * C3 Zord (black car with metallic arms)
 * C4 Zord (red car with double barrels on top)
 * C5 Zord (long red vehicle)
 * Centaurus Megazord (combination of C zords)
 * S Zords
 * S1 Zord (blue jet with huge engenes on left and right sides)
 * S2 Zord (wide blue jet with single fin on top)
 * S3 Zord (blue tank like jet)
 * S4 Zord (blue jet with low wings)
 * S5 Zord (blue jet with high wings)
 * Stratoforce Megazord (combination of S zords)
 * Zenith Carrierzord

Ships

 * Terra Venture
 * Astro Megaship

Trivia

 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is known for the highest death toll of main characters thus far seen in Power Rangers: Magna Defender, Scorpius, Furio, Treacheron, Villamax, The Guardian, Loyax, Trakeena, Deviot, Captain Mutiny, Barbarax, Stratoforce Megazord, Centaurus Megazord, DECA, and Kendrix
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was the first series not to take place in the fictional city of Angel Grove, California, nor Earth.
 * This series features the first known African-American Green Ranger (Damon Henderson). this would be repeated in Lightspeed Rescue with Joel Rawlings (and later the A-Squad Green Ranger from S.P.D.).
 * This series features the first known Asian-American Blue Ranger (Kai Chen). This would be repeated in Lightspeed Rescue (Chad), Time Force (Lucas), Ninja Storm (Blake), Operation Overdrive (Dax) and Jungle Fury (Theo).
 * This series is also notable for not having a permanent base, or "command center" from which the Rangers could operate, nor having a mentor or technical advisor for whom the Rangers could turn to for assistance.
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was the first series to abandon the teleportation ability that had been seen in all previous seasons.
 * This is the first season where the monsters are able to grow without the help of any of the central villains.
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is the first season to have had a three-part series finale, this would be repeated in Power Rangers Time Force.
 * It is the first season to have sentient zords.
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is also notable for being the second series not to feature a sixth ranger if one does not count the Phantom Ranger from Turbo as a sixth ranger (the Phantom Ranger's Sentai Counterpart was not a ranger, this would be repeated in Dino Thunder), although with the addition of the Magna Defender, the 6th warrior position was filled.)
 * The position of Magna Defender as a Ranger is really controversial among fans. Many state that he was able to morph and controlled a Zord, although others argue that his suit is not spandex and his name doesn't include the word "Ranger". However, he was called the "Magna Defender Power Ranger" in toy commercials, but whether this term is official or not is debatable.
 * This was the second series were the entire team (instead of only the Red Ranger) received a power-up with the addition of the Lights of Orion, although the Red Ranger did later receive an Armored Ranger power up unique to himself. The first was in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, with the addition of the Metallic Armor.
 * This would be repeated in Dino Thunder with Super Dino Mode, S.P.D. with S.W.A.T. Mode, Mystic Force with Mystic Legend Armor and Jungle Fury with Jungle Master Mode.
 * Lost Galaxy was the last series that replaced a Ranger mid-season.
 * Lost Galaxy is notable for featuring the first Megazord that did not require all five Rangers to sit/stand in the same cockpit to pilot the Zord followed by Ninja Storm, SPD, and RPM.
 * The Galaxy Megazord, Centaurus, Stratoforce and Torozord were the first (and so far only) Megazords unable to combine with each other. The Galaxy Megazord was also the first Megazord that the rangers had to stand in order to pilot it, via no controls but only their right hand.
 * Despite being 5-pieced Megazords, the Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords are often considered to be standalone Zords. Even in the series continuity, they were treated like individual Zords, since in their origins they were Galactabeasts.
 * Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was the last series to feature an Alpha robot of any kind. (Not including cameos by Alpha 6 and Alpha 7 in future series reunion episodes), though in Operation Overdrive, an Alpha robot returned after 7 years of absence from this season's popularity.
 * It stands as the only series to feature a villain from a previous series becoming a Power Ranger.
 * It is the first series that featured living zords and was featured again in Power Rangers Wild Force.
 * The Magna Defender Morpher was actually a repainted version of the previously unused Gosei Sentai Dairanger's changer device, the Aura Changer, and was never in Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (the show that "Lost Galaxy" was based on.)
 * Lost Galaxy is the second Power Rangers series to replace the original Sentai series' mode of transportation with color-coded motorcycles. In this case, the Lost Galaxy ranger's motorcycles (and also the Jet Jammers) replaced the Gingamen's "Ginga Horses" (Which were live horses), it should be noted though, that in one episode Gingaman footage of Ginga Red riding his Gingahorse WAS kept- in the episode "Silent Sleep" only.
 * For the first time, the ending credits were accompanied by a display of one of the season's Megazord assembling. This trend would repeat until the middle of Wild Force.
 * Lost Galaxy is the only season to have a ranger die. Quantum Ranger Eric Myers was supposed to die like his Timeranger Counterpart Naoto/TimeFire in the finale, although his fate was rewritten, so he survived and later appeared to team with the Wild Force rangers and in Forever Red alongside Cole, Wes, Carter and 6 other Red Rangers.
 * Lost Galaxy is the first series to feature siblings serving on the same team. This would repeat in Lightspeed Rescue (Dana and Ryan Mitchell), Ninja Storm (Hunter and Blake Bradley), Mystic Force (Madison and Vida Rocca), and RPM (Gem and Gemma).
 * Lost Galaxy is the first season to feature a two-part teamup episode ("The Power of Pink" was the sequel to "To the Tenth Power"). Other two-part teamup episodes were "Trakeena's Revenge" in Lightspeed Rescue, "Reinforcements from the Future" in Wild Force, and "Thunder Storm" in Dino Thunder.
 * Lost Galaxy is the first series to have a completely new cast of Rangers, with no connection to the Rangers of the last series outside of the teamup episodes.
 * Lost Galaxy is also the series where the original Zords and Megazord were introduced the latest. The Galactabeasts are first seen in episode 3, but their Zord form and the Galaxy Megazord are not seen until episode 5.
 * This is the first season to feature a Megazord from a previous season in the team-up episodes.
 * This is the first season where a morpher was different from the one used in the counterpart Sentai series. Mike's morpher is not the same as his Sentai counterpart, Bull Riot from Gingaman. Mike uses a wrist-mounted morpher like the other Rangers, whereas Bull Riot used his sword to morph. This is followed by the Solar Morphers from Power Rangers: Jungle Fury.
 * This is the first season to featured The Rangers wearing the same clothes while de-morphed. This trend was continued by Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force and Wild Force.
 * Danny Slavin is five years older than his TV brother Russell Lawrence.
 * Some would say that this season is a part of the Zordon period, as it features Alpha 6, who was in Power Rangers Turbo and In Space, and Karone, who was Astronema in Power Rangers In Space.
 * The series' team-up episodes did not feature any Sentai footage, expectally not using any footage from Seijuu Sentai Gingaman vs. Denji Sentai Megaranger the episodes "To the Tenth Power" and "The Power of Pink". However, Time Force, Wild Force , Dino Thunder , S.P.D., and Operation Overdrive repeated this in the future.
 * "The Rescue Mission" is one of the most resent episodes in this series to not feature any Sentai footage or Ranger action.
 * This is the first series to be part of the post-Zordon era.
 * Lost Galaxy remained the only Power Rangers season of the 4-year Post-MMPR/Zordon era to run for 45 episodes ( Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force , and Wild Force had over 40 episodes respectively ).
 * Mike remained the only Ranger to lose his powers near by the end of the season.
 * Furio 's costume is from Denji Sentai Megaranger . His costume was never used in In Space.
 * The Centaurus and Stratoforce Megazords and the Defender Torozord remain the only zords to be destroyed near the finale.
 * The following rangers, villain, and megazord from this season to appear in the Power Rangers: Super Legends (2007) video game are: Leo Corbett /Red Galaxy Ranger, Damon Henderson /Green Galaxy Ranger, Kai Chen /Blue Galaxy Ranger (as an unlockable character when you complete both Lost Galaxy levels by collecting the letters R-A-N-G-E-R in the first level of this storyline), Trakeena, Galaxy Megazord , Magna Defender , and the Stingwingers.
 * Lost Galaxy is also the first series to feature independent stories for each episode, while using certain action footages from its Sentai counterpart ( Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force , and Wild Force did the same thing until when MMPR productions ended its era of Power Rangers by the end of 2002 ).
 * Magna Defender's role showed a lot of controversy among most Power Ranger fans. For example: In Bandai's toyline, his name was dubbed as "Magna Defender Power Ranger". Like in Gingaman, BullBlack is not part of the main Sentai group.
 * Episode 7: Double Duty reaches the 300th Episode Mark.

Reception and Ratings
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy's first half had much higher ratings ever in the show. But when the series entered its second half, ratings for Lost Galaxy season 2 were shunned and went downhill a little bit (before the wake of the season following- Lightspeed Rescue ). The reason, Saban stopped promoting Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and decided to promote the japanese anime adapt of ''Digimon: Digital Monsters. ''

However, Action figure sales for this series was still successful.

Fans gave the series mostly positive feelings (like they did for Power Rangers In Space ).

Trakeena is also ranked the #1 Greatest Female Villain of All Time according to GreatestFemaleVillainsblogspot.com and is ranked #12 for this category.