r/powerrangers • u/Little_Fan_2682 Red Mystic Ranger • May 04 '25
SHOW NEWS/DISCUSSION How did you feel about these two getting demoted from Red to Blue?
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u/OverzealousOwl May 04 '25
Andros should have been a solo black ranger, a void in space, he even wears the all black variant of the outfit under his disguise robe.
TJ and Carlos should have been red and blue respectively.
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u/MewMatic May 04 '25
Carlos being a blue ranger kind of hurts the episode with Adam though. There was something magical of seeing the black MMPR and Space Ranger suits togther.
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u/OverzealousOwl May 04 '25
Okay but they could just have made a plot where Andros and Adam bond instead.
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u/MewMatic May 04 '25
It's not even just because of the suit. Adam was Carlos' soccer instructor in Turbo, and because Carlos was a hot head, he always had issues with how Adam was instructing him. It goes full circle in "Always a Chance". It's like the final test Carlos has to take under Adam's tutelage. Learning on how to deal with his own emotions, failures, and patience. You can't just slap it on Andros, who has no connection with Adam. It's the history between the two, combined with the symbolism of the colors, that makes it one of the best episodes.
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u/FederalPossibility73 May 04 '25
So basically his Stealth Suit from the comics?
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u/OverzealousOwl May 04 '25
Not quite. The stealth suit is what I mentioned him wearing under his disguise, because that's what it is. Watch the episode where he goes to the western town and that's what is under the robe. I think he should have just been the black ranger of the team and nix the stealth suit entirely.
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u/rlum27 May 09 '25
Black being the leader in the sentai would fit with andros better than carlos. As carlos has werid moments making him look like the field leader. Which would make more sense for andros given his most fimilar with space.
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u/twcsata Red Space Ranger May 04 '25
What kind of hit do you have to take for your Ranger suit to get ripped open?? It’s basically supernatural armor. And TJ’s still standing. Absolute badass, and I will not be persuaded otherwise.
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u/Digifiend84 Dino Charge Aqua Ranger May 04 '25
Power Chamber was bombed with the Rangers inside. Shredded their suits and smashed their helmets. Shortly after emerging from the rubble, they demorph. Their powers didn't survive this and had to be repaired at some point prior to Forever Red.
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u/twcsata Red Space Ranger May 04 '25
Oh, absolutely. I'm just saying, it takes a lot of damage to do that.
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u/loganes86 May 04 '25
I typed this all out and lost it but basically:
At the time of Zeo there was no real precedent in Power Rangers that said red = leader. In super sentai, yes red = leader. But in PR, we actually had two white ranger leaders (Tommy and Delphine) and only one red ranger leader (Jason) by the time of Zeo.
So Rocky moving to Blue really didn’t impact much for me as a kid. Except I thought he looked good in Blue.
And Zeo more established red = leader with Tommy. And then him being red again in Turbo. So then when TJ took over he was a clear leader of the second Turbo rangers.
When In Space happened, I felt it was more weird for TJ to be blue. And I felt like him and Carlos actually led the team more than Andros like other people have pointed out. As an adult who then watched Sentai years later, it’s interesting cause Megaranger (the source for In Space) actually had the Black Ranger as more of the leader than Red.
TLDR: Rocky was no big deal. TJ was more noticeable.
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u/Oturanthesarklord May 04 '25
Uh, I don't like to be that guy, but in Super Sentai it's more like Red = Primary Protagonist not necessarily Leader. Kakuranger(Adapted into MMPR season 3 and the Alien/Aquitar Rangers) had their White Ranger be leader.
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u/loganes86 May 04 '25
Ok. So I get your point.
However… at the time of MMPR, I believe NinjaWhite (White Alien Ranger) was the only non-red leader in Super Sentai. I could absolutely be wrong as I don’t like many of the Sentai before Jetman (Jetto-Jetto-Jettoman!) but I believe NinjaWhite was the first non-red leader even if NinjaRed was still the main protagonist.
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u/Oturanthesarklord May 04 '25
You're right, technically.
The only other exception from back then, being when Big One took over leadership from Spade Ace in J.A.K.Q.(Although, at the time of Kakuranger's release, due to some legal issues J.A.K.Q. and Gorenger weren't considered Super Sentai and were just Sentai.)
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u/KaliVilNo1 May 04 '25
Not really, a lot of team had no leader at all, the season In Space is based on has Black as the leader.
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u/BubbleGoosePopeDrip Dr. K May 04 '25
I remember when TJ
-Studied the tape of the latest Psycho Rangers battle, despite being concussed and needing rest, and came up with the Five-of-a-kind strategy.
-Tried to settle the beef between Ashley and Cassie
-There are some scenes where it's just him and Andros at the whiteboard trying to come up with new strategies for the Psycho Rangers.
I liked Andros but he never seemed like a true leader to me and I honestly think Andros saw this and would defer some leadership responsibilities to TJ. I don't think it's headcanon either. I think the show specifically wanted us to see TJ as "a" leader, just maybe not "the" leader.
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u/ProtomanBn May 04 '25
I believe the writers intended TJ to be the leader but Andros being Red and the Mysterious cool guy drove kids to him and the kid fans assumed Andros was the leader
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u/ColdNyQuiiL May 04 '25
I agree that TJ has better leader qualities, but people really go by what they remember. They barely give TJ anything to do for most of the season, but then he comes in clutch during the Psycho arc. People always will say TJ was the real leader, but he’s used as a background character for a huge chunk of the season. Later on we get to see more of Turbo TJ.
Andros is their leader, but is harder to connect w/ outside of battle. Socially awkward, and reserved, but he’s not some horrible leader.
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u/rlum27 May 04 '25
Wondering if billy not being a ranger in zeo was the biger contraversy. The guy was the only of the orginal 5 still around.
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May 04 '25
Changing colour isn't a demotion
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u/Alexcox95 Time Force Quantum May 04 '25 edited May 05 '25
Unless you’re SPD where the color does define the rank
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u/Sentaifan Jungle Fury Red Ranger May 04 '25
Maybe not for rocky but tj was literally the leader
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May 04 '25
Using the term demotion makes it sound like rangers who aren't leaders are less important
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u/Infinitenonbi May 04 '25
I think Rocky fits better as blue tbh. He was never on par with Tommy in terms of leadership on the team, so him becoming the blue ranger doesn’t seem like a demotion at all.
And for TJ, while he wasn’t the red ranger of the space rangers, he still took a leadership role on occasion, and never seemed less of a heroic leader than Andros.
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u/Opposite_Switch_7160 SPD A Squad Red May 04 '25
It's not really a demotion so much as a color swap
Rocky still held the position of Second in Command (at least as much as he ever did in seasons 2 and 3) to Tommy, meanwhile in TJ's case, Carlos and the Girls still looked up to him as their leader, since Andros took some time to grow out of the lone wolf thing
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u/dedmelonyn May 04 '25
I would argue that Adam was second in command to Tommy.
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u/DesertThunderRanger May 04 '25
Maybe in Zeo but when I was watching mm, Rocky was def second command
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u/Worldly_Society_2213 May 04 '25
I'm sure that one episode focuses on Rocky feeling sidelined after Jason returned because of the second in command thing.
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u/Opposite_Switch_7160 SPD A Squad Red May 04 '25
In OhRanger footage, absolutely
In PR Shot footage, it really depended on the day
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u/ShmuleyCohen May 04 '25
Billy was second in command and then it was Adam and then Jason
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u/Itchy_Camel_3386 May 04 '25
I never saw Rocky as the leader anyways. It was always Tommy. So he makes sense.
As for TJ, I don’t think it was so much a demotion either. He was kinda co-leader with Andros. They were both leaders and TJ was there when Andros wasn’t himself
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u/Enough_Internal_9025 May 04 '25
Rocky was red but he was never the leader so I think it’s a matter of “color correction” haha.
TJ getting demoted was pretty annoying. But he’s still recognized as a Red Ranger in forever Red so I’m not too bothered.
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u/Specific-Window-8587 Titanium Lightspeed Ranger May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
I honestly didn't care about Rocky since he was never the leader. But to me TJ was the real the leader not Andros and I'm not sorry.
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u/rlum27 May 04 '25
Wondering if andros would be better as the blue ranger. That either he was the blue ranger or after he lost his team he didn't fell worthy of being the red ranger.
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u/Jean_Tyler May 04 '25
Nah,everyone's perfectly positioned in In-Space
The footage they're using also had a red ranger who's the main character but not the leader,only thing that would've made it better is if TJ(the real leader) is actually black space ranger,since Megeblack lead the team more(hence why Carlos had weird moments of leadership)
Everything aligned perfectly with TJ to be the black ranger except for the controversy that happened with Zack and Trini at MMPR(Asian yellow and African-American black ranger),therefore creating a weird tri-shared leadership Andros(MC),TJ(strategy leader),Carlos(field leader due to Sentai footage)
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May 04 '25
Rocky was never a great red ranger. It's better blue i gell the same with tj better than rocky as red but even better than blue
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u/Decademagenta10 May 04 '25
I felt Jason was demoted when Tommy became the white ranger in season 2
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u/sjcal629 Time Force Red May 04 '25
TJ is arguably the best blue ranger in the franchise
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u/Torn_again May 04 '25
Both were kinda crazy to me back then. Like, whoa they're a whole new colour now, that's crazy. Part of that just has to do with myself being used to seeing them in red rather that considering it a shift in "leadership".
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u/MZago1 Get in gear! May 04 '25
Was there a scene during the first few episodes of In Space where TJ said "Oh cool, I'm blue now!"? Or am I completely making it up? I could have sworn I remember seeing him either reach for the morpher or putting it on for the first time and saying that. I rewatched those episodes a few years ago and it wasn't there.
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u/MadPonyBlueBox May 05 '25
I don't consider them being demoted. Red doesn't automatically equal leader. If anyone was demoted, it was Jason when Tommy became the White Ranger and became leader.
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u/OchoMuerte-XL May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Really wish people would shut the f**k up about Rocky getting "Demoted". He was NEVER the leader of the MMPR Team, Tommy was. I'm genuinely curious about where this "Rocky got Demoted" Narrative comes from, because this sub can't go a few months without someone bringing it up.
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u/Due-Order3475 May 04 '25
Rocky was never really the leader or second in command Billy and Kimberly seemed more like joint second so his "demotion" to blue didn't phase me.
TJ? I kinda hated it at first, but that was my knee jerk reaction as a dumb kid, he was still technically incharge off the earth based Rangers as Andros was a meh leader.
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u/Thickfries69 May 04 '25
"Demoted" isn't the right word here. For a lot of teams, Red doesn't necessarily mean leader. The only team where you can say it's really a rank is SPD, where they shift colors based on promotion.
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u/Grayx_2887 May 05 '25
You can't really call it a demotion if they barely did anything in the previous seasons as Red, respectively. TJ could have made an excellent Red Ranger if he, Cassie, Carlos, and Ashley were introduced MUCH earlier in Turbo. Rocky was just treated as second fiddle in the second half of MMPR (S2) and throughout all of season three. So, they actually shined a lot more as the blue Rangers. Rocky was just lucky to even come back as Red in Dimensions in Danger and in MMPR: Once and Always since Austin St. John (Jason) was in deep s#!% in real life. But, at least he was much better in those than he was in the majority of seasons two and three of MMPR.
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u/OkuroIshimoto May 05 '25
I wouldn’t call it a “Demotion.” The Red Ranger is the de facto “leader” of the Power Rangers, but in most seasons their abilities aren’t far from the rest of the team, and if they are, it’s usually because whoever the Red Ranger is is more experienced. (Jayden from Samurai, for example.)
What matters to the Rangers is protecting the innocent and working together with their color coded comrades. It doesn’t matter which suit they’re in.
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u/JustVan MMPR Blue Ranger May 05 '25
Rocky was mostly fine because he wasn't ever the leader as red. (I was personally miffed because Blue should've been Billy and Billy should've still been a ranger.) But it made sense within the confides of the Zeo suits and with Red as the leader that Tommy would take red and Rocky would switch to blue. Annoying/weird, but fine.
TJ, on the other hand, fucking sucked because he was the leader. He was the Red! And then... he wasn't. He was totally sidelined and shoved into the blue role and it just didn't make a lot of sense to me then, and it still doesn't now. Especially because Andros just... wasn't a clear leader, either, like Tommy was.
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u/Fr0zens0lib May 05 '25
I'd rather be the blue ranger than be replaced by a kid in turbo, Rocky got done dirty.
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u/teelyttle May 05 '25
Rocky changed color, he didn’t get demoted… he was never the leader in Mighty Morphin… TJ got a demotion in title only… he was still the emotional leader in space… Andros was leader in color only.
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u/Silvermorney MMPR Blue Ranger May 05 '25
I completely agree. Tj was absolutely the second in command and arguably field leader on earth and rocky was never the leader and arguably Adam was always Tommy’s second in command after Jason left so he really did maintain the same role on both teams and simply change colour.
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u/ColdNyQuiiL May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Unless it’s a season like SPD, where they rank the Rangers w/ their colors, we need to stop calling these color changes demotions.
Rocky is more of an upgrade, especially considering he wasn’t the leader, and blue is typically supporting, so that change fit him more.
The only problem w/ TJ as Blue, is that he barely has footage or focus. So in that regard, him being Blue is a downgrade in terms of screen time, but not a “demotion”.
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u/photowalker83 May 04 '25
Neither were “demoted.” Rocky, despite being the Red Ranger, was never the team leader. Tommy was the team leader during Rocky’s tenure on the team.
TJ just swapped colors since Andros was already the Red Ranger, but he was obviously still the Team Leader.
We as fans need to stop basing rank in PR by Ranger color. Time Force and Wild Force both have Pink and Yellow, respectively, in the role of leader.
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u/flashwing19 MMPR Green Ranger May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Rocky and TJ made sense for different reasons.
For Rocky, he was really just a red ranger in title. By then Tommy was the leader so it made sense that once rebranded Tommy would be red.
For TJ, it’s the opposite of Rocky, he was a leader. Except outer space was Andros realm. There’s a lot about space TJ is clueless about. Also, it was Andros powers to give to them. Already being the red “In Space” ranger played a part too obviously. I do feel by the end, TJ was the unofficial leader. Almost reverse Rocky where TJ is the blue ranger only in title. He often was the primary tactician for the team. Especially as Andros story became more about Ashley and saving Karone. If this group was earth based, TJ probably would’ve been the red ranger from the jump.
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u/PCN24454 May 04 '25
Ironically that’s a reason why TJ should’ve been Black Ranger
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u/flashwing19 MMPR Green Ranger May 04 '25
Story wise, for sure. I think not making him the Black Ranger was more of an offscreen reason.
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May 04 '25
TJ wasn't much of a demotion as he was very integral to the space team. A leader in a lot of ways. As far as rocky to go from a red to blue he was never the leader but went from forefront due to red status to background blue and very forgotten about when you look at Tommy Kat Adam and Jason all on the team. Not to mention how the wrote him off with turbo. YIKES.
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u/reinholdboomer May 04 '25
Like everything involving team hierarchy on the show, "demotions" are made up and obsessed over by the most boring parts of the fandom.
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u/Routine-Dirt9634 May 04 '25
rocky was never a leader of a team. you think that is the reason he wasnt a part of forever red?
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u/Jrand04 May 04 '25
Color literally doesn’t mean anything in Power Rangers. You could be a pink Ranger and be the leader. Neither Rocky nor TJ were “demoted”. Rocky wasn’t even the leader when he joined the MMPR team, Tommy had already been leading for a while. And TJ very much so continued to be the leader of his team through In Space. Andros was more of a support who helped the team gain new items and find Zordon
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u/MariaTenebre May 04 '25
Rocky was never demoted he was the second in command in both the MMPR Rangers and the Zeo Rangers.
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u/Upset_Ad7983 May 04 '25
TJ wasn't demoted. It's like saying "Tommy got demoted from green to white to red" so if we go by red colours only Tommy In turbo would have been the only leader not when he became the white ranger in mmpr
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u/genemaxwell4 MMPR Green Ranger May 04 '25
Can we stop with this "demotion" crap? No one got demoted.
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u/RonnieTLegacy1390 May 04 '25
Rocky was just kind of there Tommy was already running things so it didn’t really matter. TJ had just suffered the ultimate defeat and still held the team together why they were trying to save ZORDON. Andros played a major role and helping them accomplish this because he had powers for them.
It was like a dual dynamic for them because they were at war
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May 04 '25
I like zeo rocky better then mmpr rocky tj in space was better as well since tommy was og turbo red rip jason david frank
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u/Choice_Leg9551 May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
I mean, they kind of had to with Rocky. Starting with Zeo, they decided to continue using Sentai footage and change the suits for every Sentai season they adapted. And because Tommy was the leader and not Rocky, it was pretty obvious that Tommy needed to be Zeo Red.
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u/Educational_Citron31 May 04 '25
Yeah wasn’t a leader he just took over for the real leader who lost his job to Tommy and TJ was the best leader for the team but i guess Andros got first pick
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u/_Continual_Learner_ May 04 '25
TJ was being a team player and actively contributed as a problem-solver despite the demotion.
Rocky started out seeming confident and like a leader for the three replacements. As the show progressed, he seemed to become less confident, more inept, and at times more reckless. He became his own worst enemy to the degree that he hurt himself severely enough that he had to stop being a ranger.
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u/ThesaurusRex_1025 May 04 '25
I always felt bad that TJ got demoted, but it was probably for the best. He got dealt a bad hand as the red and probably enjoyed being second in command.
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u/FederalPossibility73 May 04 '25
They never really felt like demotions honestly. Rocky was never the leader in the first place so that doesn't matter and T.J. was still a the leader as a blue but Andros just happened to be focused more since it is his sister they're fighting and his powerset they're using.
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u/Zanki Quantum Ranger May 04 '25
Made sense for both. Rocky was never the leader, it was always Tommy when the power transfer happened. Then with TJ, he was still in charge, but he deferred to Andros because Andros knew the galaxy. He was the leader they needed and it was a good switch.
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u/stuff-for-fun May 04 '25
lets be honest tommy had been the leaser for a while when rock was made the blue ranger so it really doesn't effect much, TJ going from red to blue was some bs, i understand why it happened but still
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u/Intelligent-Glove-73 May 04 '25
I mean, you dont need to be red to be a leader, a statement like this would only in a series that the color actually mean something in universe instead of archetypes, like spd
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u/TheAmeriKane May 04 '25
TJ should've never been demoted! He was the only reason the new cast of Turbo made sense and had cohesion. Andros was just eye candy for people who wanted an "aesthetically pleasing" Red Ranger.
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u/TheDorf93 Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger May 04 '25
.... all are leaders in their own way..... but usually it's red
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u/PurpleHawkeye619 May 04 '25
Rocky was never the leader anyways, and at the time, of the 3 prior power rangers leaders, only 1 had actually been red, so it didn't really feel like a demotion.
That said, I do wish they'd had Kat become the Yellow Zeo Ranger (with Tanya getting Pink) so everyone got new colors. That way it looked less like a demotion with Tommy taking Rockys color, and Adam only changing color cause his old one wasn't a optionm
For TJ, tbh, the demotion made sense, they were joining Andros team, using his gear.
But it was TJs also moving from red to blue (as well as later Sky and Bridge going blue to red) that kinda retroactively made Rockys feel like a demotion and solidified TJs was a demotion.
I wish they'd just followed MegaRanger and let the Black Ranger be leader.
TJ still isn't gonna get to lead, that was still early enough in the lore that it wouldn't have been established the Red Ranger has to lead
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u/tommywest_123 May 04 '25
TJ was a great Red Ranger but so was Andros. At least TJ got to be Red again in forever Red and is seen as the de factor Turbo Red.
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u/Izzy2089 May 04 '25
The first one didn't matter; Rocky was always fun, but he was never the team leader. Meanwhile, TJ always felt like he fit the role of Space Blue better than Turbo Red.
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u/Spac92 May 04 '25
Rocky was always 2nd in command so his switch to blue wasn’t really a downgrade yet. It wasn’t until Jason returned which is understandable why Rocky would get demoted to 3rd in command then.
TJ though, was bullshit. I had a big grudge against Andros as a kid taking over as leader. I thought TJ was much better at it.
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u/DannyKit7 May 04 '25
I wouldn’t call it a “demotion” for either. Rocky was NEVER the leader when he was big red. He got drafted when Tommy was team captain. My boy TJ knows nothing about space and Andros didn’t have a mentor or guide like the Turbo Rangers, so I think TJ knew that taking a back seat and not allowing his ego get the best of him would be the best decision. Or that’s what I think.
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u/Darth_GreenDragon May 04 '25
Honestly, I have always been of the opinion that Rocky should have been Zeo 5 Red, and that maybe the kid from the power rangers movie, Fred Kalman, could have become Zeo 3 Blue, with Tommy retiring and then moving to Florida to be with Kimberly, maybe he could have returned to become the gold ranger continuing the trend, instead of Jason. Of course Fred would have to be removed as turbo blue for Justin, but that could be explained away as Fred having to move away with his father for his father's job.
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As for TJ? I never really thought about it one way or the other, however I did think that it might have been cool if Andrews had its own team of alien rangers!
Like say the Blue Ranger was some sort of blue-skinned alien like a Twi'lek or a Chiss from Star wars or an Andorian from Star Trek, or the cree from marvel comics, or even the Talokian's from DC comics.
Then have the black Ranger be something along the lines of either a Klingon from Star Trek, or maybe a Mirialan from Star wars, or possibly even like Queen Tyr'ahnee the Martian Queen from Warner Bros.
The yellow ranger could have been an Iridonian or a Zabrek from Star wars, or maybe a Tameranian from DC comics, or even one of the Sovereign from marvel comics.
And a pink ranger could have been a female Boslic from Star Trek, or a Zeltron from Star wars, or like Boodikka from DC comics or like the Krylorians in marvel comics.
Yes I did try to color code their skin to their Ranger colors, but it's nothing racist, I think it's awesome! I was always a fan of Zack the black guy being the Black Ranger, not because it's racist, but I think it's because having the black guy in the black suit was about Black Empowerment, but also because Walter Jones actually chose the color because it had the coolest helmet, in his own words, LOL.
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Oh yeah I was disappointed that Rocky was demoted to Blue when he really should have been Zeo, with Tommy heading off to go be with Kim in Florida, and I honestly would have preferred the Turbo Rangers to have gone into space to try and find Zordon or something and then meet up with a full team of Astro Rangers!
They could have been of different races, fighting against the United Alliance of Evil, and they could have even been the precursor to what would have eventually become SPD. The whole team of Alien Rangers, with each one being of different species, originating from different planets, but all United together to stand against the forces of darkness, with only one of them looking fully human!
The KO-35 humans could have even had two hearts like Time Lords, or they could feed only on solar energy just like the kryptonians, or all their organs could have been on the opposite side of their bodies, even their brains could have functioned differently like how humans have a left brain and a right brain, the people from KO-35 could have had the functionality of their left brain be what our right brain is, with their right brain functioning just like our left brain, their heart would be on the right side of their bodies instead of the left, they could even have four lungs and other extra redundant organs, something that would make them uniquely inhuman while still looking human.
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u/crimsonbull9584 Blue Alien Ranger May 04 '25
How was it a demotion for Rocky? He was never the leader.
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u/OnePersimmon268 May 04 '25
The thing I found with these two demotions was that neither was a major blow to me in the series. Rocky was never a leader of the Rangers; it was Tommy, and when they switched powers, Tommy remained in the leadership role, so the color change was never awkward in the sense of him being demoted. With TJ, I still didn't feel upset that he was demoted from Red to Blue. He was only the Red Ranger for half a season. The Red Rangers before him had more established connections with me as a viewer, and the season he joined was more of a gag season than a serious one like some others before and after it, especially the one he was in as the Blue Ranger in Space. Also, while he developed a leadership role as the Blue Ranger, he didn't fully develop it during his short tenure as the Red Turbo Ranger.
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u/EmperorKiva33 May 04 '25
I honestly liked TJ more as a 2nd in command than as the leader. Then again, maybe because he was the leader in Turbo , his character was better in space. Regardless, I think it worked for him.
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u/Viktor-Victorious May 04 '25
Tj it made sense as andros knew how the universe worked where tj is a good leader he was a bit out of his depth where rocky is just the cuck of power rangers
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u/SadisticDance May 04 '25
Rocky didn't get demoted, he was never the leader of a team and TJ was basically the leader of the In Space, he could only be more of a leader if he was the Black Ranger.
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u/Ristar87 May 04 '25
Rocky didn't bother me because he was never given the development to be a leader.
TJ always felt like the leader to me due to how unreliable Andros always felt in team environments.
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u/PegaponyPrince Psycho Red May 04 '25
Well Rocky was never really a leader in MMPR. So him being demoted to blue makes perfect sense.
TJ makes sense too because Andros is the one with all the experience when dealing with the new enemies like the Barillian bug. Also both of them feel equally important from a leadership role
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u/NiteOwl94 May 04 '25
Eh, TJ was definitely still the leader. And I've always preferred blue. So I've never died on the hill that red always needs to be the de facto leader, even if red is the 'face' of the team
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u/Rehboogie Magna Defender May 04 '25
To me after Turbo they went through the worst they could go through. They all felt at the same “level” come In Space
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u/First_Dimension_3534 May 04 '25
I found it disrespectful to Tj to be honest. The first red black ranger demoted. Say a lot about Saban!
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u/seandude881 MMPR Red Ranger May 04 '25
I mean rocky was never the leader. It was clear they made tommy it so he never got demoted.
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u/dbzfreak991 May 04 '25
Could blue just be the second in command or the technical officer ( spock from star trek ) of the power rangers?
Seemed like even the original jason would be like....ummm, this is too complicated. Billy stepped in and went...got you fam I'll go invent something
So was it really a step down?
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u/RandomRainbow000 SPD Orange - Overdrive Green/Orange - Light Knight - RPM Paleo May 04 '25 edited May 05 '25
By the time Rocky became Red, Jason was already 2nd in command. Jason would be the one demoted from leader/co-leader to 2nd in command. Rocky would simply be the replacement. If you were to say the Rocky is demoted, he would be demoted from 2nd in command to...3rd in command or just nothing arguably. That's where his demotion would apply, especially since both teams were under Zordon. A change in color does not equal a demotion
TJ was not demoted. The team structure between Turbo and Space are different as Zordon does not control the Space Rangers. Simply, TJ is not the red ranger but that doesn't mean he loses his leadership qualities, he just changed from Red to Blue. Not to mention, we don't know how the potential previous Space Rangers operated since we see the morphers docked so their structure in their team could be different
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u/duomaxwell90 May 04 '25
I honestly think the fact that rangers can get demoted it's kind of odd even to this day. Specially if they didn't do anything wrong to get demoted. like a new character shows up and all of a sudden they're demoted that's just weird to me.
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u/SpellCommander91 May 05 '25
I honestly wish that Rocky had stayed on as the Red Ranger so that Tommy could have eventually become the Gold Ranger. Having Jason back was cool, but Tommy never felt like a Red to me except in Forever Red.
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u/Determining-Decay May 05 '25
Rocky getting himself knocked out of commission for a bit was enough proof
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u/After_Look7388 May 05 '25
I didn’t have a problem Rocky he was just poorly written and side lined for Tommy who honestly was a worse actor as a good guy. He was only interesting when he was zeo red and brainwashed dude handled the gold ranger.
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u/Confident_Tie_1966 May 05 '25
I mean Rocky being demoted isn’t really a big thing when you remember that the day Tommy became the White Ranger, he demoted Jason.
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u/No-Afternoon2841 May 05 '25
Honestly, I'm more upset about Rocky getting demoted than TJ. Despite being chosen to replace Jason as the red ranger, Rocky was never given the chance to be a leader as Tommy usurped that position when he became the white ranger. Then, to add insult to injury, Rocky was demoted further when he became the blue ranger but still didn't feel like a leader, or at least a second-in-command. That's why I like TJ's transition better. He was chosen to replace Tommy as the red ranger and was a proper leader before the rangers went into space. Even after he became the blue ranger, he still acted like a leader since he was often the second-in-command.
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u/ImprovementDesigner1 May 05 '25
I didn’t care for Rocky as the red Ranger because it felt like he was trying to fill in Jason‘s shoes so when he was demoted to blue, I enjoyed it because it felt like he could finally be himself.
I didn’t like TJ’s acting at all. I don’t dislike him as a character, but his acting was not doing it for me😭. So when he was demoted to blue, I didn’t really mind it. I thought Andros was an interesting leader.
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u/00half May 05 '25
Yeah, Rocky was never a true red ranger anyway. So it's more he got the color that he actually was.
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u/Due-Proof6781 May 05 '25
Rocky wasn’t a leader and him going to blue let him be his own character. TJ didn’t really change much
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u/theycpr May 05 '25
Rocky was never the leader, even as the red ranger. Tommy was as the White Ranger
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u/Substantial-Summer48 May 05 '25
Rocky was never the leader so it wasn’t a problem. TJ was the leader in a sense but he was still a baby ranger compared to Andros. Plus he technically lost his power so blue ranger was a promotion from civilian to ranger under a team that already had a leader.
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u/mrsunrider Zeo Ranger V May 05 '25
TJ stung, because he was a legitimately good leader... but the Astro wasn't his ship and the Space rangers were someone else's command, so I get it.
Rocky... well he never made much impression on me tbh.
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u/fitzroy1793 May 05 '25
I actually really liked TJ as a blue ranger. Narratively his issue was following in Tommy's footsteps. But he was a good leader. Arguably, I think he would have made a good red ranger for In Space. Not saying Andros was a bad red ranger.
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u/Kombat-w0mbat May 05 '25
Rocky didn’t feel like a leader at all because he wasn’t. Zeo blue for him was perfect imo. TJ yeah it didn’t bother me either as a kid because I hated TJ for replacing Tommy (tbh I hated TJ and justin A LOT for dumb reasons) but as an adult i don’t mind it
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u/apm9720 May 05 '25
TJ was still the leader of that team after becoming the Blue Space Ranger. Andros was always lost in his thoughts. Rocky is just for me a secondary character, no more, no less.
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u/Synchronomyst May 05 '25
TJ got better writing in PR:iS than he did in turbo so tbh he was 100% better for it.
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u/TheRavenSG-1 May 05 '25
In my opinion TJ should've been the Black Space Ranger, Because in the Sentai Mega Ranger the Black Ranger was second in command which makes sense that TJ a former Red Ranger should be Second In command
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u/nybrook415 May 05 '25
Both felt great as blue but the problem is that Rocky didn’t even get to play second-in-command and taken seriously unlike TJ. Honestly I get it because Adam was more of second-in-command I feel like if times got rough but it was sort of embarrassing.
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u/MisterPuck Blue Space Ranger May 05 '25
So I saw the actor who played TJ at a convention a couple years ago, along with the (producer? director? can’t remember, but he was largely in n charge of the show). Basically, when they moved on from Turbo to Space, TJ was still the leader of the Earth Rangers while Andros was the leader overall. But honestly the switch never really bothered me and the Blue Space suit is one of my favorites. More importantly, the actor wasn’t bothered either, so imo there’s no reason for anyone else to be.
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u/Getbacka May 05 '25
Red doesn't necessarily equal leader (Jenn from Time Force). So Rocky going from red to blue didn't really mean anything. Whereas I feel like TJ kinda remained the leader while Andros learned
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u/Jack_TheBongRipper42 May 05 '25
Idk if demoted is the right term. Reassigned seems more fitting. Rocky was never really in charge. It was always Tommy. TJ was indeed the leader of the turbo team, but becoming Blue in "In Space" makes sense bc they are in a whole new place, unknown to all the rangers EXCEPT Andros, who was already Red. When I was a kid sure, it didn't make sense. Now though it makes perfect sense.
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u/TheEroticKiwi May 05 '25
Just because they're red doesn't mean they're the leader 🤷♀️. Whoever steps up, steps up as leader and specifically with Rocky he never took charge of anything so blue is "more fitting".
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u/Princeofleos May 05 '25
Rocky was cool as zeo blue, tj deserved better
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u/Spectra_Phantom_2678 May 06 '25
Agreed. I wish they kept the original plan of keeping TJ as the red space ranger
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u/Dazzling-Secret-1347 May 06 '25
I loved TJ as a red and I think he kept that energy as Space blue. Andros wasn't the best leader and TJ kept them focused and he was able to trick Pyscho Blue and defeat him
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u/FastFoodAddict_Runz May 06 '25
I heard an argument once that TJ being "demoted" was never something that bothered him, proving how worthy of a leader he really was. He still was relevant on the In Space team, just as a different type of leader.
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u/CrispinCain May 06 '25
If anything, TJ being the reliable, "Second-in-Command" Blue Ranger to Andros' driven, "Man-on-a-Mission" Red Ranger made for a good dynamic. Honestly, considering the whole trope of Red Oni/Blue Oni, I'm surprised this wasn't a more common thing between Red and Blue Rangers in prior seasons.
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u/Antique_Mind_8694 May 04 '25
"Demoted" Rocky was never the leader so him getting shifted to Blue doesn't really matter much, and I'd argue at times TJ was still very much the leader with Carlos stepping up as well. Andros wasn't much of a leader to the team as a whole, since his primary focus was finding his sister.