Best Dads of Power Rangers

Many times I've seen the commentary of how, back in the day of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the Rangers' parents appear oblivious and possibly negligent of what their teenagers with attitude are up to. As the years and generations of Power Rangers went on, we got more diverse portrayal of Ranger families. For Father's Day, I chose to highlight a few of the dads that stood out among the years of Power Rangers.

Kanoi Watanabe - Ninja Storm

Not necessarily the father of the year, but he is the ninja guinea pig of the year. In many ways, he was a father figure to the Wind Rangers more than his son Cam. After what happened in his past, he wanted to protect his son. It wasn't until Cam went back in time and retrieved the samurai powers from his mother that Sensei loosened up and supported him as the Green Ranger. If Sensei had any major faults, it was that he was overprotective of his son. Is there a good parent who hasn't been overprotective at times? (PS: The CGI for guinea pig Sensei is almost comical by today's standards--hard to look back at it)

William Mitchell - Lightspeed Rescue

Haunted by his past and what happened to Ryan, Captain Mitchell dedicated his life to Lightspeed. Unlike Sensei, Captain Mitchell wasn't overprotective of his daughter and invited her to become the Pink Ranger. He knew her capabilities and supported her. His past came back to haunt him when Ryan returned, but conversely Ryan's return was certainly healing, despite the regrets he likely still felt.

Doug Stewart - Turbo

Starting out as a widower and an absentee father, Justin’s dad wasn’t exactly a model father. However, his redeeming factor is that he chose to change and become more involved with Justin. As a father who overthinks every parenting mistake, I’ve been told what matters most is the reconciliation, not the mistakes. Justin’s dad realized he wanted to be better as a parent and he did it.

Ed Jones - Dino Fury

The man adopted a lonely (alien) baby and chose to become her Pop Pop. He wasn’t exactly a man of means, so I can’t imagine he was able to give her everything he wanted. But he was a hard worker and he cared for her. Biological or adoptive, every father matters.

Tommy Oliver - Zeo

Though the most legendary of Power Rangers (see also Wild Force, Dino Thunder, Megaforce, and Ninja Steel), we only got to see Tommy as a father and grandfather in a flash forward during the Christmas episode of Zeo. Despite that limited screen time, we know one thing in particular about his legacy as a father: he passed on the Ranger heritage to his son. Though he and Kat might’ve had more children, their son JJ Oliver was known to be an SPD Ranger in the comics. In addition, Tommy’s grandson (presumably JJ’s son) was established as a Ranger in that Christmas special. All I can say is that I’m grateful they kept that flash forward canon and, despite the passing of Jason David Frank, the legacy of Tommy (and JDF) lives on.