Your guide to the characters featured in Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.
Zachary Foxx
The Hero and the team Leader, a family man whose by-the-book personality contrasts with his more freewheeling teammates. A space battle left Zach a Cyborg with an implant-triggered Arm Cannon. It also led to a tragic Fate Worse than Death for his beloved wife Eliza; she's trapped in a "psychic coma", with her mind in a "psychocrystal", a fiendish device the Queen uses to power Empire technology with Life Energy. Zach is obsessed with rescuing Eliza, which he never accomplishes during the series (although Fan Fic authors have Set Right What Once Went Wrong). Zach's teenage children, Zach Jr. and Jessica, are recurring characters who star in a few Day in the Limelight episodes.
Tropes associated with Zach:
- Arm Cannon: Zach's energy-blasting "Thunderbolt".
- By-the-Book Cop: Compared to the other Rangers. Usually.
- The Captain: He has the rank and the leadership position in the field.
- The Chains of Commanding: Though to a lesser extent than Walsh, he still has the heavy responsibilities of leading the team.
- Cyborg: The entire left side of Zach's body had to be replaced.
- Emergency Transformation/We Can Rebuild Him: How Zach became a Cyborg.
- A Father to His Men/Team Dad (in lighter moments)/Papa Wolf (if you're dumb enough to push your luck): If you harm his kids or his Rangers, you're target practice.
- Happily Married: To Eliza, in the Back Story—which makes her Fate Worse than Death even more tragic.
- Heartbroken Badass: He may or may not count as one of these - he is understandably upset about his wife getting her soul stuck in a psycho-crypt after all.
- Love Makes You Crazy: When it looked like Eliza would die in "Psychocrypt," he does some really irrational things like holding a technician at gunpoint and trying to resign his commission to make a suicidal attempt to get her crystal. The Queen's Mind Rape wasn't helping matters.
- Perpetual Frowner: And no wonder—he has the unenviable task of keeping his crew alive, raising his kids alone, and adjusting to experimental cyberware.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Zachary could be seen as this. He'll follow the rules to a point so long as it actually makes sense, but if a situation requires a little improvisation he's not going to waste time arguing over it.
- Rousing Speech: He provides an epic example in "Heartbeat":"Commander, there's a man on that planet by the name of Hartford, trying to save the Tarkonians, and you, and me, and everyone who doesn't want to be a slave, pilgrim."
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: During the Title Sequence, as shown in the pic above.
- Spell My Name with an S: Depending on the country and the source material used, his name's listed as "Zachary," "Zachery," or "Zacharias."
- The Stoic: Even during the ceremony putting his wife in stasis, he remained outwardly calm, holding his crying children. He rarely smiles or shows emotion, making those moments when he actually does smile all the more golden.
- Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Zach falls prey to this in "Psychocrypt," "Ariel," and "Stargate."
- To Be Lawful or Good: More of a conflict for him than the others (see By-the-Book Cop), but when the chips are truly down, he tells "lawful" to walk out the airlock.
Shane Gooseman, aka "Goose"
The Lancer, a Clint Eastwood look- and soundalike (in stark contrast to Zachary Foxx, described by the show's creators as "The John Wayne Character"), and a Cowboy Cop in every sense of the term, Shane may be the most popular Ranger. Shane is an Artificial Human who was "born" as one of the X-Men-like Supertroopers, an experimental, genetically engineered army of SuperSoldiers. He is the youngest of the Supertroopers engineered and considered the runt. Unfortunately, Jerkass politician Senator Whiner exposed most of them to "X Factor", a flawed DNA accelerator that killed several Supertroopers and caused all the survivors except (arguably) Darkstar to become evil; Goose was out of the barracks at the time, and thus, not exposed. Shane often acts as a Bounty Hunter to capture his former comrades. His implant allows him to adapt to any attack or hostile environment through defensive Involuntary Shapeshifting, which can cause him to transform into strange (but always humanoid) creatures. Goose is also a Chick Magnet; several of the show's female characters are attracted to him, including his teammate Niko.
Tropes associated with Shane:
- Adaptive Ability: The principle behind Shane's Involuntary Shapeshifting, which unpredictably mutates him into whatever form he needs to take to survive a given attack or hostile environment.
- Artificial Human: The youngest and most advanced model of "supertrooper," a black ops Earth government project to create ultimate (and disposeable) soldiers for fending off alien threats.
- Battle Couple: With Niko.
- Being Good Sucks: He was already questioning his purpose as a living weapon and unwilling to accept unnecessary casualties during training. Because he decided to stay loyal to his creators during the riot, he is considered a traitor by his brethren and was forced to accept a deal where he became a Hunter of His Own Kind.
- Bounty Hunter: Accused of this by the other renegade Troopers, as he agreed to hunt them down to stay out of cryonic suspension.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Shane lost his Love Interest Darkstar to his romantic rival Stingray because he couldn't tell Darkstar that he loved her.
- Captain Crash: He crashed least three interceptors and a Ranger cruiser...and the show only ran one season. His driving is just as bad.
- Chained Heat: With McCross in "Chained".
- Chick Magnet: Most of the female guest stars were Eating the Eye Candy when it came to Goose at some point.
- Cowboy Cop: All of them exhibit "cowboy" traits from time to time, but he would be the first to suggest methods like Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique on a mook, and more apt to suggest a solution that bent or broke the rules, which often contrasted him with Zachary's calmer and by the book methods.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Modelled after Clint Eastwood.
- Defense Mechanism Superpower: How his Involuntary Shapeshifting works.
- Drives Like Crazy: As seen in "Smuggler's Gauntlet."
- Empathic Shapeshifter: His shapeshifting abilities depend on what he needs to survive the conditions, and are not fully controllable as a result
- Expy: The character is a sci-fi Shout-Out to Clint Eastwood. In the
DVD Commentary, Robert Mandell not only admits that the resemblance is intentional, but lists three of Eastwood's Westerns from The '70s and The '80s (High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider) as among the show's primary influences. Mandell has also compared Goose to Dirty Harry. - The Gunslinger: Even by the standards of the Space Western, he stands out as this. In the Title Sequence, he's even seen Gun Twirling a pair of pistols.
- Hunter of His Own Kind: Goose was only allowed to join the Rangers On One Condition—that he hunt down the Supertroopers who weren't captured after the riot.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: "Renegade Rangers" takes this to a near-laughable extreme
- Insistent Terminology: He is not a metamorph. (Justified, as that term in-universe typically refers to Voluntary Shapeshifters).
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: His Series Five power. Played With in that the shapeshifting itself is sometimes voluntary, sometimes automatically triggered whenever Goose is injured; in either case, he never knows what he's going to turn into, except that it'll be humanoid.
- My Suit Is Also Super: Played with. Goose's uniform usually transforms with him, but sometimes he Hulks right out of it.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In Goose's case, new mutations. The most memorable being with the Po Mutant Sensation Doll in "One Million Emotions", which protected him from the overload of emotions.
- Or "Changeling" where he uses the last of his strength to send a telepathic shout to Niko?
- Power Incontinence: Due to a Phlebotinum Breakdown, Shane loses control of his bio-defenses in "Edge of Darkness".
- Shirtless Scene: In "Mindnet". The Queen stripped both him and Killbane down to form fitting pants for their duel.
- White Sheep: The rest of his Supertrooper "family" (with the sole exception of Darkstar) appear to be everything you'd expect a living weapon to be - amoral, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
- Younger Than He Looks: He was established in the second to last episode as 19 years old, making him 17 or 18 when the series began.
Niko
A redheaded(?) Action Girl whose implant enhances—and sometimes weaponizes—her inborn Psychic Powers. Born on an ill-fated colony planet, Niko was raised on the mystical world of Xanadu by a mysterious mentor named Ariel. Niko is also an Adventurer Archaeologist whose knowledge of alien cultures proves invaluable to the team.
Tropes associated with Niko:
- Action Girl: And how! Mandell explicitly designed her to be "one of the guys" as far as being able to fight, as he did not like the "token girl as Damsel in Distress" trope common to the era.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Her primary specialty is xenoarcheology, analyzing artifacts and structures from ancient alien civilizations. Her retrocognitive abilities were very useful on those digs.
- All There in the Manual: The series never mentions that she was from a destroyed colony. This detail is only present in supplementary material Mandell released later.
- Battle Couple: With Shane.
- BFG: Her weapon is a double-barreled shotgun.
- Doomed Hometown: The fate of the colony world where Niko was born.
- Fainting Seer: Mostly averted, but she sometimes can get a Poke in the Third Eye by someone more powerful like Scarecrow or the Queen.
- Fiery Redhead: Normally, a subversion as she is patient and slow to lose her cool. If she does get to the boiling point? Clear the sector.
- It's actually not clear if she's a red head or a brunette - depending on the animators and artists. At least once Shane Gooseman actually described her as a brunette.
- Loving a Shadow: A fairly mild and harmless example - it is implied that she may have had a crush on Zachary Foxx when they first started working together, but never acted on it since he was married with kids.
- Mage Marksman: If her shotgun or martial arts training doesn't do the job, her psionics will.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed - Her name and appearance were Mandell's homage to the the singer Nico from the Velvet Underground.
- Only One Name: In the series proper. Since she was from a planet of mystics, she never had to use one. A "surname" of sorts, "Dal'Ariel," sometimes shows up on fan sites and Fan Fic. It is pure
Fanon - Psychic Powers: She was born with them, but her implant amplifies them. Psychometry is her primary ability, followed by telekinesis and limited telepathy.
- Psychometry: One of her primary abilities. She can get vague impressions of where an object has been or what's happened at a site without her badge, but when she uses the implant, the impressions become very exact and detailed.
Walter "Doc" Hartford
A doctorate in computer psychiatry and graduate of Mrs. Abercrombie's Charm and Finishing School, Doc is a combination of The Smart Guy (although all the Rangers are pretty intelligent) and Plucky Comic Relief. This Billy Dee Williams lookalike is a wisecracking Techno Wizard whose implant gives him control over any computer by using the "Tweakers", a group of talking, sprite-like "programs" he created. Doc's sense of humor has made him a fan favorite.
Tropes associated with Doc:
- Badass Bookworm: The dude is a Ph.D., a skilled hacker even without the implant, attended charm school...and can still brawl his way through a pile of mooks with the best of them.
- Badass Normal: While Doc has a Series 5 implant, it is practically useless in a fight (And the biggest hint the series gave that the Crown Agents weren't robots). He makes do with his fists, a blaster, his copious wit, and a sword...and still manages to keep up with the other three.
- Catchphrase: "The doctor will operate."
- Chained to a Railway: In "Fire and Iron".
- The Charmer: Like Alec Hardison in Leverage, his skill in hacking is supplanted by his ability to schmooze and bluff his way into places he should not be entering.
- The Dandy: When the team are given disguises as Zanguil traders, Doc is the most enthusiastic about wearing something flashy, and even gets into an argument with one of the Queen's Mooks over his clothing getting ripped. Likewise, he (sarcastically) contemplates about what the proper attire would be to wear to his execution on Tarkon.
- Deadpan Snarker: Like many shows of The '80s, most characters could get a zinger in, but Doc was far and away the snarkiest. At least three-quarters of his dialogue is delivered in Sarcasm Mode.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Doc is an incredibly skilled fencer for someone who picked it up in charm school.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: He's normally the Plucky Comic Relief and grossly underpowered compared to his teammates. However, he proved in "Heartbeat" to be capable of taking down the Scarecrow single-handedly if pushed.
- Minored In Ass Kicking: "Miss Abercrombie's Charm School" apparently taught acrobatics, diplomacy, and how to sword-fight.
- Mysterious Past: Mandell and company explored the Backstory of the other three Rangers with "Phoenix," "Ariel," and the Supertrooper duology. By comparison, Doc's background went unexplored.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His resemblance to Billy Dee Williams.
- Playful Hacker: Zig-Zagged. A first rate smart-ass and computer hacker, he'll sometimes leave a prank behind in an enemy computer system. Sometimes, though, he's got too much sympathy for the AI to treat it badly, or just doesn't have the opportunity to set up the prank.
- Plucky Comic Relief: He's the Ranger most prone to Casual Danger Dialogue.
- The Smart Guy: With a doctorate, he's the team member with the most formal education. In practice, he and Niko toss the ball back and forth, as their specialties are very different.
- Technopath: His Series Five ability is summoning "tweaker" programs (who are just as sarcastic as he is) to infiltrate computer systems. Each "tweaker" has a different specialty; Lifeline retrieves data, Pathfinder sneaks past security systems, Firefly attacks the systems. He has other tweakers, but they don't get as much attention.
- Techno Wizard: His specialty is getting machines to do exactly what he wants them to do. His "tweakers" are handled like summoning magic. They just come out of his computer diagnostic unit and not a spell book.
- Token Minority: Doc seems to be the only non-white human in the galaxy (except for Jackhammer of the Supertroopers and one shot villain Dr. Ograbgo).
- Trading Bars for Stripes: Possibly. Word of God says he enlisted "reluctantly", he makes several comments indicating he's really looking forward to leaving military service, and he is a first rate Con Artist on top of being a hacker.
- Upper-Class Wit: Far and away the snarkiest member of the team, and what little we know of his background (as well as Word of God) indicates he came from wealth.
Commander Joseph Walsh
Head of BETA and the Rangers' commanding officer. Serves as Da Chief. Before the Galaxy Rangers were started, he headed up the Supertrooper project that created Goose with Commander Negata. He appears to have a personal rivalry with Senator Whiner dating back to the project.
Tropes associated with Commander Walsh:
- Benevolent Boss: Walsh is a Reasonable Authority Figure who does his best to protect the Rangers from political pressure, even if it means bending the rules once in a while. However, he'll still chew them a new one if they go too far off the reservation.
- The Chains of Commanding: He has to field the massive amount of political heat that's put on the Series 5 project, and was in charge of the ill-fated Supertrooper project.
- Da Chief: He is in charge of the Series Five project and the military operations of the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs, which means overseeing his team of Cowboy Cops and Surprisingly Elite Cannon Fodder.
- Four-Star Badass: "Supertroopers" proved he was more than capable of holding his own when outnumbered and outgunned by the renegade supersoldiers.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Played with in "Supertroopers." Whiner attempts to blackmail Walsh by revealing he knows Shane's parentage. Turns out Walsh is Shane's genetic father. Shane never finds this out.
- McCloud Speech: Given to the other three Rangers in "Psychocrypt" after they sneak Zachary out of BETA.
- Parental Substitute: Walsh considers Shane the son he never had. Of course, there are reasons for it.
Buzzwang
A bumbling android who helps the Rangers and their friends in a few episodes. He was created by Q-Ball as a helper around Longshot but wanted to become a Galaxy Ranger in full. At the end of "Tune Up," he earned the title (at least an honorary one).
Tropes associated with Buzzwang:
- Captain Ersatz: He's almost certainly based on C3PO of Star Wars fame.
- Heroic Sacrifice: At the climax of "Tune Up", Buzzwang self-destructs so that Lazarus Slade can't use him to steal BETA's secrets. It works out better than usual, though: Not only is Buzzwang totally rebuilt, but his heroism earns him a place among the Galaxy Rangers.
- Kid-Appeal Character: The reason he exists. And a substantial portion of the fanbase will never forgive him for it.
- Robot Buddy: To the Rangers.
- Sixth Ranger: He was designed as a "fifth Ranger" to assist the Series 5 team, and his debut episode showed that he wished to be considered a Ranger in his own right.
- Totally Radical: Buzzwang likes to breakdance. Really.
Q-Ball
A brilliant inventor who works out of the Longshot lab in the Grand Canyon, Q-Ball creates the Rangers' equipment. He also built Buzzwang.
Tropes associated with Q-Ball:
- Dr. Jerk: His people skills need work.
- Gadgeteer Genius: As noted, he supplies the Rangers with their high-tech weaponry.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He resembles Paul Schaffer, David Letterman's bandleader.
Dr. Owen Negata
Co-creator of the Supertroopers. Fatally injured when the Supertroopers revolted, his brain was able to be preserved and placed in a robotic shell. He serves as BETA's tactical commander and chief strategist.
Tropes associated with Dr. Negata:
- Brain in a Jar: All that's left of Dr. Negata when Gravestone attacks him after the Batch 22 incident.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Becoming involved with a Super Soldier program pretty much lands him here, especially when he casually talks about using Goose as a control for an experiment.
Icarus and Winter
Two talking dolphins who live in a tank of water at Longshot. Goose has a special affinity with them.
Tropes associated with Icarus and Winter:
- Evil-Detecting Dog: In "Mindnet", they're the first to Spot the Imposter when Ryker Kilbane impersonates Goose.
- Sapient Cetaceans: Intelligent ones outfitted with cyberware!
Eliza Foxx
Zachary's beloved wife, and mother to Zach Jr. and Jessica Foxx. In the pilot episode, the family was headed to Kirwin when they were ambushed by Kidd and his space pirates. She was able to get her children onto an escape pod, but sacrificed herself to let them get away. Things only became worse after Kidd sold her to the Queen of the Crown. The Queen was able to place her in the Psychocrypt, proving that humans were ideal specimens for the nightmarish device. Zachary was able to get her body away from the Queen, but the crystal containing her mind and spirit is being held by the Queen.
Tropes associated with Eliza:
- And I Must Scream: "Psychocrypt" demonstrates that she is aware of what is going on around her under the imprisonment of the Queen, including the Queen's delight in using her against her husband...but cannot stop any of it.
- Fate Worse than Death: Being forced to serve your husband's Archenemy against your entire species? Being said archenemy's eyes and ears with everything you know about your spouse turned into a weapon, including nightly Mind Rape of both of you? All the while completely aware and helpless to stop any of it?
- Fighting from the Inside: "Psychocrypt" ("Zachary! Can't you see it's a trap?!")
- Ghost in the Machine: Eliza's mind and body are stored separately.
- Happily Married: To Zach, in the Back Story.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In "Phoenix" she orders GV to launch the shuttle, saving her children, and condemning herself to the aforementioned Fate Worse than Death.
- Spell My Name with an S : She's sometimes listed in "Aliza," especially in European releases of the series.
- Team Mom: In "post rescue" Fanfic, she usually picks up the role, despite her husband adding three more "kids" to the roster.
- You Are Worth Hell: Why Zach makes his suicidal run in "Psychocrypt."
Zachary Foxx Jr.
Zachary's teenaged son. Outgoing and works as Q-Ball's lab assistant on occasion. He plans on following in his father's footsteps when he's old enough to enlist.
Tropes associated with Little Zach:
- A Day in the Limelight: Several episodes, including "Tune Up" and "Mothmoose"
- Like Father, Like Son: Zach Jr looks forward to enlisting in the Rangers himself when he's old enough.
Jessica Foxx
Zachary and Eliza's younger child. Unlike her brother, her inclination are more for the sciences and research.
Tropes associated with Jessica:
- Child Prodigy: She is a student at the exclusive Albert Einstein School for the Gifted.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Invasion"
- Gadgeteer Genius: Her science project in "Invasion" was so effective, it summoned a Q-like alien child to send his toys over and try to get the dish for himself.
- I Miss Mom: In "Invasion," she is the only child there whose parents are unable to come to the science fair, and visibly cringes when a classmate asks about her mom.
Waldo Zeptic
One of the "two peaceful aliens" who warn Earth about the Crown Empire and go on to befriend the Rangers. He is an Andorian, a species whose hat is scientific development, logic, and math. He designed Kirwin's defense shield and the super-fast hyperdrive traded to Earth in exchange for an alliance.
Tropes associated with Waldo:
- Ambadassador: While Waldo considered fighting to be "uncivilized," it did not prevent him from self-defense in the slightest.
- Deadpan Snarker: When told that the Mindnet device could theoretically control intelligent life, he quips "how fortunate Senator Whiner is safe."
- Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Waldo's attitude toward the "haunted" Kill Sat in "Ghost Station".
Zozo
The other "peaceful alien." His species, the Kiwi, are shorter than most humans, good-natured, and have the hat of growing Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables. However, Kiwi are much tougher than they look, and Zozo is the finest example of it. Despite being an Ambassador, Zozo frequently accompanies the Rangers on missions and is always up for a party, a good joke... or a fight.
Tropes associated with Zozo:
- Ambadassador: Even more so than his counterpart, Waldo, Zozo does not shy away from fighting. In several episodes, he is also addressed as Ranger Zozo, indicating he is at least an honorary, if not full, Galaxy Ranger in his own right.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a cheerful, fun-loving, laid-back guy... but don't piss him off.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Even in the middle of a fight, he's got a big smile on his face and cheerfully trolls opponents three times his size into making foolish mistakes.
- Hobbits: His race, the Kiwis, are Badass Hobbits.
- Only One Name: Appears to be a Kiwi thing; none of his species appear to have surnames.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: For being a meter high, non-powered, and looking harmless, he does a surprising amount of ass-kicking. Had a Moment of Awesome where he shoved the Scarecrow into a fire.
- Perpetual Smiler: Most of the time. The exception came at Eliza's Meaningful Funeral where he was weeping openly while Zachary was trying to keep a strong facade.
- Pointy Ears: Like all Kiwis, he has large, rabbit-like ears.
- Sixth Ranger: Fifth Ranger, technically. Zozo is in a fair amount of episodes, even more so than Waldo is. He's a bit over a meter high, and completely non-powered, but he's a tough and clever little guy.
- Those Two Guys: With Waldo. The two of them are frequently seen together.
The Kiwi Kids
Tropes associated with the Kiwi Kids:
- Hobbits: Kiwi are, generally speaking, cheerful Badass Hobbits.
- Tagalong Kids: They were usually accompanying their uncle on something that was supposed to be harmless, but end up in the middle of the crazy and loving every second.
Geezi the Pendulont
This elephant-like alien is the Rangers' primary informant on the outlaw planet of Tortuna. Most of the time, he is very content to stay away from wherever the shooting is. Unfortunately, whenever the Rangers are in his vicinity, he's usually caught in the crossfire.
- Humanity Is Insane: A frequent rant of his.
- Implausible Deniability: "I do not exist!"
- The Informant/Information Broker: His relationship with the Rangers.
- Lovable Coward: Most of the time. But a couple episodes like "Tortuna," "Sundancer" and "Shoot-Out" have him risking his over-sized trunk despite his better judgement.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mandell admits he was based on some of Peter Lorre's characters.
Princess Maya
Princess Maya hails from Tarkon, a planet of Human Aliens. An aggressive Action Girl, she was captured from her homeworld and forced into a sadistic Blood Sport. This showed her the wonders and dangers of the wider galaxy, and she became determined to protect her people by importing and learning to use technology, despite their ancient ban on such things. This has caused her to revolt against her father and be snubbed by most members of the nobility... until she helps the Rangers prevent Scarecrow from destroying the Heart of Tarkon.
Tropes associated with Princess Maya:
- Action Girl: We first see her (in "Games") as a captive in a sadistic tournament that The General forced captives to play to the death.
- Alien Princess: Despite resembling a human woman, she's the princess of an alien planet that forbids technology.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The Scarecrow briefly scrambled her mind in "Scarecrow's Revenge".
- Empathic Weapon: Her staff.
- Give Geeks a Chance: She initially seemed to think Doc was a useless goof...until he turned on the charm, took her for a spin on the dance floor, then single-handedly beat a Crown spy in a swordfight.
- Human Alien: Like all her people, she's physically identical to humans.
- Rebellious Princess: She defies her whole society, including her own father, to bring technology to Tarkon.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: After she and the Rangers fought their way free, she was determined to use the technology she saw to save her people from interstellar threats - even if it meant open rebellion against her father.
Annie O
A Determined Homesteader on the planet of Ozark. She was instrumental in helping her isolationist colony join with the League of Planets.
Tropes associated with Annie:
- Action Girl: She carries a shotgun, has excellent beast handling skills, and is perfectly willing to call What the Hell, Hero? on her own community to defend Shane.
- Beast and Beauty: In "Edge of Darkness".
- Ship Tease: She and Shane were definitely attracted to one another...
- Star-Crossed Lovers:...but her place was on Ozark and his was in space.
- Women Are Wiser: When McCross claimed Shane's horse was actually his, Annie's response: "Oh really? Ride him! Horses don't lie!"
Mistwalker
Tribal shaman on the Death World of Bistee-Fenokee.
Tropes associated with Mistwalker:
- Hulk Speak: Justified somewhat, as she hasn't been exposed to much of the language.
- Never Mess with Granny: Audra thinks of her as a "little old grandmother" and village shaman...until she uses her knowledge of the Death World she lives on to really make the Black Hole Gang sorry.
- You Never Asked: When she reveals that she's learned to speak Audra's language.
Audra Miles
A BETA scientist who studies sentient life on remote worlds. Unfortunately, her work with the natives sometimes causes her to face dangers from the "civilized" parts of the galaxy.
Tropes associated with Audra:
- Action Girl: "Mistwalker" had her in the thick of the fighting against the Black Hole Gang. Granted, Mistwalker and the Death World did the bulk of the heavy lifting. However, when the sentient wolf-like Lycans were threatened during "In Sheep's Clothing," she breaks into a heavily-guarded corporate facility looking for answers.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Technically, an adventure xeno-anthropologist.
Sheriff Bob Ladd
A widower who moved to the planet of Nebraska to police the town of Frontier and raise his little girl.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He politely tells Shane to hand over the pistols, and later gives them back before the Showdown at High Noon.
Amy Ladd
Bob Ladd's small daughter.
Tropes associated with Amy Ladd:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: She opens "Galaxy Stranger" lamenting that her little frontier town is boring...then two Supertroopers have a brawl in the main street.
Pinkwing
Amy Ladd's dragon-like pet.
Tropes associated with Pinkwing:
Aidan Subtract
A harmless Cloud Cuckoolander with a talent for inventing fantastic machines. He comes across as a Bungling Inventor because they sometimes need a bit more adjustment...but he's a Gadgeteer Genius on the second try. Unfortunately, his soft spot for Evil Twin Jackie gets him in trouble.
Tropes associated with Aidan Subtract:
- Bungling Inventor: He seems to be this...until he hammers out that last bug.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: His invention ideas are so strange one wonders if he's all there...
- Evil Twin: Aidan is a peaceful, law-abiding, and somewhat eccentric inventor. His brother Jackie is running an organized crime syndicate.
- Gadgeteer Genius: When his stuff works.
- Medicine Show: How he demonstrates his inventions, including his rainmaker.
- Mobile Kiosk: Aiden works out of one of these, hawking his inventions in "Rainmaker".
Ariel
Niko's mentor and mother figure. Because she was such a standout character, she's a common guest-star in Fan Fic.
Tropes associated with Ariel:
Roy McIntyre
A prospector aided by his faithful robot burro, he wanders planets looking for Green Rocks, and sometimes winds up with more than he bargained for.
Tropes Associated with Roy:
- Coincidence Magnet: He stumbles on a cache of starstones, only to have been followed by the Black Hole Gang. Another attempt uncovered an ancient citadel. A third attempt uncovered a planet loaded with starstones, and he ended up mayor of a boomtown.
- Robot Buddy: His companion is a robotic burro.
Cody "Wildfire" Carson
Technically a criminal, but more often an ally of the Rangers.
- Mysterious Past: The only thing we really know is that he's a smuggler, has a ridiculously long rap sheet (mostly customs and docking violations), and seems to know Zach a little too well.
- Noodle Incident: He seemed to be awfully familiar with Zachary and had obviously been keeping tabs on him. We never learn the specifics of why. We also do not know why he happened to have a frilly dance-hall girl outfit in the back of his ship, either.
The Queen of the Crown
Ruler of a vast and crumbling Empire, the sorceress-Queen fuses magic and technology in a nightmarish combination in order to stabilize and keep hold of her territory. The culmination of this is the Psychocrypt, which mashes sentient beings down for Life Energy and uses the resulting Soul Jar to power Slaverlord constructs through which she can see, hear, and speak. She carpet-bombed the planet Tortuna, rendering it uninhabitable aside from a few domed cities. After bringing the Girkin race to near-extinction in her thirst for Slaverlords, she has turned her eyes to humans, who have the unfortunate distinction of being the best known candidate for Slaverlord manufacture.
Tropes associated with The Queen of the Crown:
- Arch-Enemy: Is this to Zachary Foxx.
- Big Bad: The Queen is the most powerful member of the series' extensive Rogues Gallery, and many of the other major villains end up working for her at least once.
- Bring Him to Me: She wants the Rangers to come to her, or to be brought to her—alive and undamaged. After all, you can't make Slaverlords out of them dead.
- The Empire: She runs it.
- Everyone Calls Her "Barkeep": She's never given a name, only being addressed by her title.
- Expy: She bears a passing resemblance, in both appearance and behavior, to the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- I Have Your Wife:
- The Queen dangles Eliza's crystal rather casually in front of Zach, leading to horrific episodes like "Psychocrypt".
- Also, in "Queen's Lair" she holds Mayor Birba's family hostage to force him to betray La Résistance. We're never informed if they're rescued or not.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Her attitude toward Zach in "Psychocrypt".
- Mind Rape: One of her favorite tactics.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Is the magic-wielding ruler of an interstellar empire, so yeah.
Crown Agents
The foot soldiers of The Empire. They're everywhere the Crown has influence, and often commanded by a Slaverlord.
Tropes associated with Crown Agents:
- Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: They indulge in "routine torture," regularly accept bribes, and seem unable to tie their shoes without a Slaverlord giving orders.
- Mooks
Slaver Lords
Slaver Lords are psychic projections controlled by the Queen, powered by the life force trapped in a psycho crystal. A psycho crystal is a crystal full of life force stolen from a living being. The Slaver Lords act as the eyes, ears, and mouth for the Queen.
Tropes associated with Slaver Lords:
- And I Must Scream: Maybe it's unique to Eliza, but "Psychocrypt" made it clear that she was conscious and able to know what was going on.
- The Faceless: Except when the Queen is using one of them.
- Fate Worse than Death: They are either political enemies, or just the "right" species. They process involves getting their souls forcibly extracted. The process is hideously painful, and then while conscious and aware of what's been done, they are forced to be the eyes, ears, and enforcers of the tyrant that inflicted the fate.
- Life Energy: What the crystals are.
- Mook Lieutenant
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The crystals powering them are made from forcibly-extracted souls.
- Soul Jar: The crystals themselves.
Ryker Kilbane
A brutal, bloodthirsty product of the Supertrooper program, he and Goose were bitter rivals even before the riot. When Corrupt Bureaucrat Whiner pumped Psycho Serum into the barracks, Killbane accused Whiner, Walsh, and Negata of trying to kill them and started the revolt. After escaping, he became a notorious mercenary willing to take the nastiest jobs for a good price.
Tropes associated with Ryker Kilbane:
- Arch-Enemy: Is this to Shane Gooseman.
- Cain and Abel: Goose and Ryker were opposites in style and approach at Wolf Den, but they were nominally on the same side then. When the riot happened, Killbane led the Supertrooper revolt against their creators, while Shane was the only one to stay loyal.
- Evil Counterpart: Again, to Goose.
- Psycho for Hire: After Wolf Den, he becomes a mercenary and occasionally takes jobs for The Queen.
- Rival Turned Evil/It's Personal: Ryker is motivated by his resentment of former comrade Shane Gooseman.
- Shout-Out: His name likely comes from the criminal gang in the book Shane.
- Sociopathic Soldier: He is an unapologetic, trigger-happy killing machine.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Ryker has more control over his power than Shane does — not that it helps him much.
Darkstar
A quiet and supportive type, despite her brutal origin as a Supertrooper, Darkstar has the ability to temporarily blind people. Goose had fallen for Darkstar back at the academy and tried to convince her to stay, but his inability to admit those feelings led her to leaving with Stingray.
Tropes associated with Darkstar:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her devotion to Stingray.
- Love Martyr: She and Shane appear to be the only sane Supertroopers, but she chooses to stay with and try to help Stingray.
- No Accounting for Taste: Possibly justified, as it's implied the Supertroopers are pretty messed up psychologically, even before the Psycho Serum.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: Though she and Stingray strike out on their own instead of trying to get revenge against their creators.
- Temporary Blindness: Her Suptertrooper power induces this.
- White Sheep: To the rest of the Supertroopers, along with Shane.
Stingray
Not as aggressive as Killbane or actively looking for revenge against BETA, Stingray took his girlfriend, Darkstar, and headed off for parts unknown. He has the ability to shoot Eye Beams when he lifts his sunglasses.
Tropes associated with Stingray:
- Cool Shades: He's never seen without them.
- Eye Beams: His primary weapon, thanks to the Genetic Engineering that created all the Supertroopers.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: Although like Stingray, he's not actively fighting BETA.
Brainchild
Short and surly, Brainchild was designed as a tactician. A complete sociopath who sees everything and everyone as part of a strategy.
Tropes associated with Brainchild:
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He always wears one, complete with a flower in the lapel.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Usually seen with a cigar in his mouth.
- The Neidermeyer: In "Supertroopers," Goose points out a way to end the war-game scenario with no casualties. Brainchild tells him to shut up about "casualties," as it's throwing off his attack plan.
Gravestone
A very large Supertrooper, but none-too-bright. Has the ability to turn his body into rock temporarily.
Tropes associated with Gravestone:
- Dumb Muscle: He's clearly the strongest of the Supertroopers, but he's dumb as a brick.
- Taken for Granite: His genetically-engineered superpower.
Jackhammer
One of the renegade Supertroopers who joined with Killbane. His abilities are unknown.
Tropes associated with Jackhammer:
- Token Minority: Along with Doc, he's one of the few non-white humans in the series.
Chimera
A vicious sociopath, Chimera is Killbane's right hand woman when the renegades capture Senator Whiner and the Batch 22 Superweapon. Has the ability to Mind Trick others into doing her bidding.
Tropes associated with Chimera:
Captain Kidd
A Plitsky space pirate. Looks like an oversized chicken, and is really a coward when he isn't sitting on the bridge of his flagship, the Iron Falcon. He was the one who attacked Zachary and his family in the pilot episode, but cut a deal with BETA in "New Frontier" (the second episode) after being double-crossed. This begins both his Heel–Face Revolving Door and his Villain Decay.
Tropes associated with Captain Kidd:
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: At various points in the series, Kidd works with the Queen and the Rangers.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In "Phoenix," the Queen deprives him of his "booty," (the captured ship) and stiffs him on payment. The ticked-off captain decides he's had enough and starts firing on the Crown Destroyer.
- Space Pirates: He commands a ship full of them.
Lazarus Slade
The series' resident Mad Scientist, Slade is also notable for his habit of teaming up with other members of the Rogues Gallery and his crush on the Queen of the Crown.
Tropes associated with Lazarus Slade:
- Badass Longcoat: His usual attire.
- Evil Plan: In "Tune Up", The Reveal is that Slade engineered the "Buzzwang babies" incident as part of a plan to steal BETA technology.
- Eye Beams: He has an Electronic Eye that can shoot laser blasts.
- Mad Scientist: All his schemes revolve around either creating or stealing new inventions for evil purposes.
- Magitek: In "Badge of Power", he and Mogul combine their powers to create the titular badge.
- Power Copying: The Badge of Power lets Slade use the Rangers' abilities.
- Southern Gentleman: He tries to act like one sometimes.
- Too Dumb to Live: He's great at his mad science, but proposing marriage to the Queen would certainly hint at a broad lack of common sense.
- Villainous Crush: As noted, he has one on the Queen.
- Villain Team-Up: He's marginally competent on his own, but has a tendency to ally himself with other rogues. Cue the Rangers' Mass "Oh, Crap!" reaction when they trail him in "Aces and Apes", only to find he's teamed up with the Scarecrow.
Scarecrow
Tropes associated with Scarecrow:
- Eldritch Abomination: A remnant of a war fought millions of years in the past, he is more alien than most people can comprehend.
- Evil Laugh: Often. Particularly memorable example: he does one directly into the camera at the end of his first episode. Also see Man on Fire below.
- Forgotten Superweapon: Before he was accidentally revived.
- Man on Fire: Scarecrow briefly becomes one in his debut episode. It barely even slows him down; he runs from the scene doing one of his trademark evil laughs, then shows up (in disguise) as the episode ends.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: His origin. He was sealed under the planet Tarkon until the Kiwi accidentally woke him up.
- Skull for a Head: And it's blood red for extra scariness.
- Time Abyss: Observes that he is feeling talkative after a hundred million years in the ground.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: He's shown doing it several times, most notably at the end of his debut episode.
McCross
An alien member of Daisy O'Mega's Black Hole Gang.
Tropes associated with McCross:
- Goatee of Evil/Pointy Ears: They add to his vaguely satyr-like appearance.
Daisy O'Mega
The leader of the outlaw horde called the Black Hole Gang... and yet another member of Shane's harem.
Tropes associated with Daisy:
- Evil Redhead: She is leader of the nastiest criminal gang in the galaxy. However, she turns out to be one of the most sympathetic members of the Rogues Gallery.
- Femme Fatale: She is not at all subtle about hitting on Shane, much to Niko's discomfort.
- Mating Dance: Shane uses this to "distract" Daisy, and it's ambiguous about whether it stopped at dancing.
- We Can Rule Together: "Come with me, Shane. Together we could have endless worlds to explore."
Mogul
Mogul, a four-armed alien, is the last survivor of a race of evil sorcerers who once controlled the Sorcerer system. His crimes include enslaving the Ewok-like Basooti (because the starstones, which grow only on Basoot, enhance his powers) and kidnapping an Energy Being called the "Lady of Light" from her home universe (because she could, well, enhance his powers).
Tropes associated with Mogul:
- Barefoot Cartoon Alien/Magical Barefooter: He's an alien sorcerer who is fully clothed except for shoes.
- Last of His Kind: Once, his race controlled an entire solar system. Now he's the only one left.
- Pointy Ears: They add to his alien appearance.
Larry
Mogul's long-suffering henchcreature.
Tropes associated with Larry:
- Beleaguered Assistant: To Mogul, who continually mistreats and insults him.
The General
A one-eyed alien villain with a military motif.
Tropes associated with The General:
- Arm Cannon: Of the second type (laser gun mounted on his hand).
- Cyclops: He has only one eye.
- Insistent Appellation: He insists on calling Shane a "metamorph", which annoys the shapeshifting Ranger no end.
- Mecha-Mooks/Send in the Clones: His army of robot Replicants.
Nimrod
A flamboyant, felinoid alien who has the appearance and demeanor of a demented game show host. He's a powerful (if eccentric) villain in his first episode, "The Power Within", then becomes a more comic figure in later appearances.
Tropes associated with Nimrod:
- Beware the Silly Ones/Egomaniac Hunter: Nimrod may be a Cloud Cuckoolander, but he's still a threat—at least until the Rangers defeat him.
- Brought Down to Normal: He attempts this in "The Power Within" by confiscating the Rangers' badges, which trigger their powers. They beat him anyway.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The plot of "The Power Within". He pursues and captures the crews of various ships, then keeps them as Human Popsicle trophies. However, the Rangers put a stop to that.
- Meaningful Name: Named after a "mighty hunter before the Lord" from the Book of Genesis.
Brappo
A purple-skinned alien gangster who owns the planet Nebraska.
Tropes associated with Brappo:
- Death Course: The grounds of his estate are guarded by a very expensive, and rather lethal, art collection.
- Wicked Cultured: His ill-gotten gains are mostly re-invested in his expensive-but-lethal art collection.
- Yes-Man: His butler, Peters...though Peters indulges in as much sarcasm as he can manage doing so.
Mr. Rancid
Tropes associated with Mr. Rancid:
Jackie Subtract
Tropes associated with Jackie:
- Evil Twin: To Aidan, as noted above. Played with in that Jackie is introduced earlier, and appears much more often, than his kindly brother.
- The Fixer: He doesn't appear to steal much himself, but he arranges thefts for those willing to pay.
- Right-Hand Cat: Though, in his case, it's a right-hand giant roach.
- You Have Failed Me: In "One Million Emotions", he's pissed off that Miller attracted too much attention during the Sensation Doll's theft, so he forces the poor bastard to touch the doll. Instant Mind Rape.
Wild Bill Krebb
Tropes associated with Wild Bill:
- All Part of the Show: He tries this in "Showtime" only for the "talent" to riot.
Senator Whiner
An obnoxious politician who's a thorn in the side of Commander Walsh and his Rangers, whom he regards as "reckless crazies". He's also responsible for the Supertroopers' collective Face–Heel Turn.
Tropes associated with Senator Whiner:
- Meaningful Name: It's no accident that his name is "Whiner".
- Obstructive Bureaucrat at best, Corrupt Bureaucrat arguably, judging from his conduct in "Supertroopers," which included blackmailing Walsh by threatening to reveal that Walsh is Shane's genetic father.
- Spell My Name with an S: According to Word of God (in the form of the official site), Whiner is the actual spelling, but Weiner, Wheiner and Wyner have also been used by fans.
