Dino Thunder

Power Rangers: Dino Thunder (often abbreviated as "PRDT") was the tenth incarnation and twelfth season of Power Rangers, based on the 27th season of Super Sentai - Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (Burstasaur Squadron Outburst Ranger).

Synopsis
A soccer player, computer expert, a musician, and a science 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 the 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 Brachio Zord, the carrier for all the other Zords.

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 (S.P.D.) 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 involvement. 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 so he would not face them in the future. Both teams of rangers teamed up and defeated Grumm - again. However with the first team-up only the SPD team remembered it but with the second team up only Grumm and a few others remembers.

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 Ziktor: Manager of the Cyberspace Cafe, and technical advisor of the Rangers.
 * Anton Mercer: Trent's adoptive father and Mesogog's alter ego.
 * Mr. Cormier: Cassidy's boss and employer.
 * Ninja Storm
 * Sensei Kanoi Watanabe
 * S.P.D.

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)
 * Stegozord (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)

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.
 * Dino Thunder is the second season since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers where a mentor had to teach the rangers the right morphing call (in the second episode, Ethan asked if they needed a password, to which Dr. O responded "All you have to do is say 'Dino Thunder, Power Up.") (Ninja Storm being the first). In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Zordon told the rangers that all they had to do in order to morph, is "raise them (the morpher(s)) to the sky, calling the name of your dinosaur, and you will morph into a formidable fighting force known to one and all, as the Power Rangers".
 * It is the first season where a ranger wanted to give up being a ranger for no other reason than it interfered with his personal life; the second was S.P.D., where Jack Landors really did give up being a ranger.
 * 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 Blinded 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.
 * It is the first season where the team's mentor becomes a ranger himself.
 * It is the second season to have a formerly-retired ranger return full-time, as opposed to a mere guest appearance. The first was Zeo.
 * 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 as both characters cross paths in a very short scene near the end of the crossover.
 * 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 battle 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.
 * Dino Thunder is extremely similar to Mighty Morphin in ways that the main carrier zord is a brachiosaurus, the extra ranger had a dragon based zord and was evil at the start, the main dinozords are the same as the red, blue, and pink zords in Mighty Morphin, and finally, Tommy is in it (and happens to join the team after the original members do).
 * This was the first season where the word 'Go' is not sung in the opening theme song. The second is Power Rangers RPM.
 * This is the third season to have a power up for all rangers with Super Dino Mode. The first being Mighty Morphin with Metallic Armour and the second being Lost Galaxy with the Lights of Orion. This trend would continue in S.P.D. with S.W.A.T. Mode and Mystic Force with Legend Warrior Mode (though it can be argued the Jungle Fury's Jungle Master Mode counts).
 * Dino Thunder has the most crossovers with other rangers, with four different ones. (If you include the Operation Overdrive episode "Once A Ranger" as one of the crossovers.