Billy Cranston

Billy Cranston is the former Blue Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger and a hero from the Power Rangers television series.

Mighty Morphin’ 1
When the evil sorceress, Rita Repulsa, and her minions escaped their dumpster prison, Billy was one of the five teenagers selected by Zordon to become the very first team of Power Rangers along with his friends, Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan, and Kimberly Ann Hart. Billy became the Blue Ranger with the power of the Triceratops. Throughout their battles with Rita, each ranger had something to bring to the table, in Billy’s case, his enormous intelligence. He would invent devices for threats that not even Zordon foresaw and created the team’s set of wrist communicators, as well as an interface that allowed them a remote access to the Command Center’s teleportation unit. Other times when Billy’s intelligence helped the rangers included when they used his invention, the RADBUG, a flying Volkswagen Beetle, to reach the Command Center when its teleportation system was disabled, when he developed the method that the rangers would use to access Rita’s Dark Dimension, and when he disarmed the lock-out method of Alpha’s activated self-destruct device.. Billy was also a leading member of the high school’s science club and often helped the younger members with their experiments. However he was very insecure about himself and his closet friend, Trini, was the only he could really communicate with. Billy’s insecurities made him an easy target for Bulk and Skull’s bullying. Trini and his other friends defended him loyally, but eventually he became a much stronger individual. Billy later started worked on improving his physical abilities and fighting skills and as times went on, he went from a brainy nerd to a confident, highly intelligent athlete with a red belt in karate with help from Trini’s uncle, Howard, and later, Tommy. Earlier in his life, Billy’s had developed icthyophobia after a whirlpool experiment resulted in him being bitten by a fish. Rita exploited this at one point by using a spell on him to increase this fear and sent in her Goo Fish monster. Billy was left the only ranger able to take on the monster and overcame the spell, emerging victorious. He eventually overcame this fear after going on a fishing trip with Ernie, the owner of the Youth Center. Billy also received a great deal of romantic interests even in his early nerd persona, but even more so after his self-improvement. The blue ranger was eventually accepted into the Young Scientists of America program and befriended Zack’s cousin, Curtis, who helped him develop an interest in jazz music.

Mighty Morphin’ 2
When Lord Zedd came to take over the Earth after Rita’s constant failures, Billy and the others found themselves facing an even greater threat. Their Dinozords were almost destroyed by Zedd, but they managed to salvage enough of them to were create the more powerful Thunderzords, with Billy gaining the Unicorn Thunderzord. After the rangers were defeated by a monster called Nimrod, they returned to the Command Center to find Zordon and Alpha 5 gone. However Billy found a secret door behind which he found Alpha and Zordon creating a new White Ranger. While the other rangers were disappointed that they had to have some new member joining them, Billy knew that Zedd was a more capable foe than Rita and that they needed this White Ranger’s help, no matter who he was. However he and the others were pleased to find out that the new Ranger was their former teammate, Tommy Oliver. Some time later, Billy was out roller skating with Tommy and Kimberly and in the process of helping to save the baby of one of their teachers when his stroller went out of control down a hill, met three other teenagers, Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Aisha Campbell. After the three won a ninja tournament, Zedd kidnapped the three to turn them into his own dark warriors. Billy, Tommy, and Kimberly went to their rescue and the blue ranger managed to enter the cave where they were being held. He grabbed the snake whose bite would turn them evil, but it wrapped around his neck, cutting of his breathing. Billy was forced to remove his helmet, revealing his identity to the three. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha were sworn to secrecy about the rangers’ identities and became friends with the other rangers. Soon after this, Jason, Zack, and Trini were chosen to attend a peace conference in Switzerland, thus calling them away from their ranger duties. In order to transfer their powers to Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, Billy and the others went to retrieve the Sword of Light, which was required for the power transfer. The blue ranger was sad to see his old friends leave, he was glad to have his new friends join him as Power Rangers.

Mighty Morphin’ 3
After Rita Repulsa’s brother, Rito Revolto, arrived, he destroyed the rangers’ Thunderzords and heavily damaged their Power Coins. So as to obtain new ones, Billy and the others sought out Ninjor, who gave them new Power Coins with the powers of the ninja. Billy became the Blue Ninja Ranger with the powers of the wolf. Later, when Lord Zedd attempted to force the rangers to become the pilots of the new Shogunzords he had discovered, Billy used his technological experitse to let the rangers take control of them. Rita Repulsa’s father, Master Vile, later came to the moon in search of the powerful Zeo Crystal, but the rangers succeeded in getting it first. They then shattered it into pieces and scattered them throughout time. However things went downhill for the rangers after they were de-aged into children by Master Vile. Billy managed to build a device that could restore them to their normal ages, using their Power Coins as its power source. He tested it on himself and it worked, but Goldar and Rito stole the machine, allowing Zedd and Rita to destroy the coins. Now powerless, Billy and the others contacted the Aquitian Rangers for help and while the other rangers went on a quest to obtain the lost parts of the Zeo Crystal, Billy stayed behind to use his technological skills to help the Aquitian Rangers.

Zeo
After the rangers returned, Billy stepped down, allowing Tanya Sloan (who had been sent back in place of Aisha) to become one of the Zeo Rangers. He continued to use his technological skills to provide the rangers with weapons, gadgets, and Zords. At one point, he traveled to Aquitar briefly in order to help battle the Hydro Contaminators, creating a device that Cestro used to defeat them. But as he was returning, King Mondo diverted his ship so that it would fly into the sun, though Zordon, Alpha 5, and the other rangers saved him. After the appearance of the Gold Zeo Ranger, Billy began disappearing whenever the Gold Ranger appeared, which led to the other rangers suspecting him of being the Gold Ranger. They confronted him about this, but Billy told them that if he was the Gold Ranger, he would have told them. Eventually the Gold Ranger was revealed to be Trey of Triforia, however he split into his three separate selves, which left him unable to morph. Billy was selected to take on the Gold Ranger powers, but as it turned out, during the Command Center’s destruction, he had absorbed a dose of negative proton energy, leaving him unable to gain the powers. Instead Jason, who had come back from the peace conference, was chosen to become the new Gold Ranger. Later Billy began to suffer from accelerated aging, a side effect of the device he used to restore his proper age. He went to Aquitar after he found that waters of the Eternal Falls there (a version of the Fountain of Youth) was capable of restoring him. Billy decided to stay because he had fallen in love with Cestria, one of the Aquitians.

Powers
Billy’s most notable trait was his enormous intellect, which allowed him to invent numerous weapons and devices for the team. He later developed great skill in martial arts, which gave him a combination of brains and brawn. Billy was able to use his Triceratops Power Coin to morph into the Blue Triceratops Ranger and his Wolf Power Coin to morph into the Blue Ninja Ranger, increasing his fighting skills and natural abilities. As the Blue Triceratops ranger, Billy wielded a Blade Blaster a sidearm that could function as both a laser pistol and a short sword and the Power Lance, which could split into two maces and generate electricity and his zord was the Triceratops Dinozord and later the Unicorn Thunderzord. After becoming the Blue Ninja Ranger, Billy had a ninja form that he could enter aside from his ranger form, where he had various ninja tricks available, such as disappearing and burrowing underground and super speed. Billy’s zords as the Blue Ninja Ranger was the Wolf Ninjazord and the Blue Shogunzord.

Trivia

 * Billy is the first Power Ranger to have a wolf-based zord, followed by Maya, Merrick Baliton, Leanbow, Robert James, and Dillon.


 * Billy is the only ranger to have a single power for all the seasons of Mighty Morphin’ and the only member of the original team to not be replaced, instead stepping down. Technically, he did change powers after season 2 (when he got a new Power Coin), but he had the same suit and color.


 * Billy is the only Power Ranger to retire, but not to leave immediately afterwards.


 * He was supposed to appear in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, where he came back from Aquitar and created the Turbo Ranger powers, but this was scrapped.


 * Because David Yost (Billy’s actor) left before the episodes that features his character’s departure, stock footage of Billy was used for the episodes and he was voiced by a different actor when he appeared young again.


 * He was the last of the original Power Rangers team to leave the show.


 * Billy was the first ranger to wear glasses.


 * He was the longest running Blue Ranger having this position for 3 seasons.


 * In Power Rangers: Zeo, Billy’s teleportation color was white, the same one used for civilians and white rangers. In the episodes featuring his character’s departure, it was a black molecule to match that of the Aquitian Rangers


 * Walter Jones, who played Zack Taylor, was originally cast as Billy, but he thought he’d be more recognizable as the Black Ranger, so he was re-cast.

Sentai Counterparts
These are Billy’s counterparts in the Super Sentai.


 * Etof Tribe Knight Dan – his counterpart as the Blue Mighty Morphin’ Ranger.


 * Shouji Tenjuusei – The Dairanger who piloted his Unicorn Thunderzord.


 * Saizou – The Kakuranger who piloted his zords in Season 3.