Cole Evans

Cole Evans is the Red Wild Force Ranger and a main protagonist of Power Rangers Wild Force, portrayed by Rick Medina Jr. He is the leader of the Wild Force Rangers.

Personality
Cole has a great love for animals and nature, which is why he loved the Animarium from the first time he saw it. This connection with nature lets him speak with animals, including the Wildzords and he often tries to see good in people, when others don't. Cole is somewhat inexperienced in more modern methods as opposed to his earlier life, but he approaches every new challenge with zeal. He is also quite defiant, never giving up to the forces of evil, even if the odds are not at all in his favor and would do anything to protect the Earth.

Early Life
In 1982, 20 years before Wild Force when Cole was infant, his parents brought them along on an expedition to the Amazon to find proof of the existence of Animara. Accompanying them was Viktor Adler, their colleague who'd had romantic feelings for Cole's mother, Elizabeth, and been deeply angered by Cole's father, Richard, marrying her. They found the remnants of the original Master Org, a set of seeds in green slime, and Viktor saw this as his way of having revenge. He swallowed them, becoming the new Master Org and hunted down Richard and Elizabeth, who succeeded in hiding Cole in the jungle, before being killed by their former colleague. The infant was found by a tribe of natives, who took him in and raised him, teaching him how to live in the jungle. The skills Cole learned here would help him later as the Red Wild Force Ranger.

Becoming the Red Wild Force Ranger
When he was about 20 years of age, the tribe leader told Cole it was time for him to go out on his own, giving him a few items they'd found with him, the Lion Animal Crystal and a photo of him with his parents. He left the jungle, arriving in the city of Turtle Cove and shortly afterwards, Cole was found by the Wild Force Rangers, Max Cooper, the Blue Shark Ranger, Danny Delgado, the Black Bison Ranger, Alyssa Enrilé, the White Tiger Ranger, and Taylor Earhardt, the Yellow Eagle Ranger. They brought Cole to the Animarium, an island in the sky, where he met Princess Shayla, who explained to him about the return of the Orgs and that he'd been chosen to be the Red Lion Ranger. He helped the team take on a pair of Org monsters and helped destroy both of them, however after this, Cole expressed a dislike towards the idea of fighting the Orgs, thinking that they may just be like confused animals. The other rangers told him really didn't know what he was talking about but when the next Org Monster attacked, Cole tried to listen to its heart only to realize that it didn't have one, something that shocked him, but helped him realize fighting was the only way.

Fighting against the Orgs
Cole continued to lead the rangers against the Orgs, however after Taylor discovered the Black Bear and Polar Bear Wildzords, his Red Lion Wildzord couldn't handle the power. It couldn't keep the Megazord formation together and finally it fell apart, drastically injured, unable to form the Wild Force Megazord again. While Cole went out to find a way to help the Lion Zord, he was confronted by Master Org, calling him a coward for the destruction he caused. The Red Ranger later managed to find the Gorilla Wildzord, which was able to handle the Bear Zords power and allowed the Wild Force Rangers to form the Kongazord. Later Cole's Red Lion Zord was completely healed by the newly hatched Soul Bird. Some time after this, he and the other rangers faced their toughest opponent yet in the form of Zen-Aku a mysterious Wolf Duke Org, who had a grudge against them because he had been sealed away 3000 years ago by their predecessors, the Ancient Warriors. Cole and the others later managed to figure out, with help from the being, Animus, that Zen-Aku was actually Merrick Baliton, one of the Ancient Warriors. After Animus eclipsed the moon, Zen-Aku was turned back into Merrick, who explained that after the original Master Org had destroyed Animus in the war 3000 years ago, he'd taken on the power of a cursed wolf mask. Its power allowed him to destroy Master Org, but it transformed him into Zen-Aku and though he begged his fellow warriors to destroy him, they refused and sealed him away when he lost control of himself. Cole and the others succeeded in freeing him of the wolf mask's curse by defeating his Predazord and Merrick became the Lunar Wolf Ranger, though he refused to join them completely instead aiding them whenever they needed help. Some time after this, the four other rangers were trapped in a collective dream by Animus, leaving Cole the only one left to fight the Orgs. They could only escape by solving a puzzle, which they did, giving the Red Ranger use of his Battlizer, the Animarium Armor, and the Falcon Summoner, which allowed him to summon the Falconzord.

Reinforcements from the Future
Soon after this, Cole and the Wild Force rangers had to deal with monsters called Mut-Orgs, hybrids of Mutants and Orgs, and joined forces with Wesley Collins, the Red Time Force Ranger, and Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger. They attempted to fight the Mut-Orgs, but they couldn't match them until Jen Scotts, the Pink Time Force Ranger, arrived and managed to distract the monsters long enough for them all to retreat. Lucas Kendall, Trip, and Katie Walker, the other Time Force Rangers, returned to the past with Nadira and Ransik in tow. At first Jen didn't trust Ransik, but Cole listened to the mutants' heart and realized he truly wanted to help. Ransik explained that he'd created the Mut-Orgs, when he'd come across three Org Spirits in the future and let them copy his mutant DNA so as to create new bodies for themselves, in exchange for some powers of his own. The Wild Force Rangers and Time Force Rangers headed to an industrial plant where the Mut-Orgs were planning to generate mass pollution. Ransik succeeded in getting rid of the monsters' mutant halves and they finally destroyed the Mut-Orgs with a combined blast from the Time Force Rangers' Chrono Blasters, the Wild Force Rangers' Crystal Sabers, and Wes, Eric, and Cole's Battlizers.

The Master's Last Stand
New hope came to Cole for finding his parents when a news report came out that Viktor Adler, his parent's coworker, had been found. The Red Lion Ranger went with the others to see him only for Adler to reveal himself as Master Org and capture them all. He revealed to Cole what he'd done to his parents and Cole morphed, fighting him and finally defeating him. The Red Lion Ranger returned him to his powerless human form and when Master Org demanded that Cole finish him, he refused and left.

Taming of the Zords
Some time after this, Cole met a young boy named Kite, who lived on the streets and who he brought to the Animarium. Later, Kite demonstrated the ability to command the Wildzords after Lion Tamer Org controlled them, which greatly interested both the Rangers and the Org's new leader, Mandilok. After this, Kite expressed anger at what humans had done to the Earth through pollution and asked the rangers why they don't stop people from destroying the planet. Mandilok manipulated him into turning on the rangers and Kite revealed that he was the resurrected Animus, then proceeded to take his true form before taking Cole and the rangers' Wildzords away. But when Cole and the others proved their determination to protect the planet, Animus returned their Wildzords and gave Cole the Wild Force Rider, a powerful flying motorcycle.

Forever Red
Some time after this, Cole was called in by Tommy Oliver, the Red Zeo Ranger, along with all the other previous Red Rangers to help fight against the remnants of the Machine Empire, who wanted to dig up Lord Zedd's Zord, Serpentera, so as to attack the Earth with it. As well as Tommy, Cole fought alongside Jason Lee Scott, the Red Mighty Morphin Ranger, Aurico, the Red Alien Ranger, Theodore T.J. Johnson, the Red Turbo Ranger, Andros, the Red Space Ranger, Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger, Carter Grayson, the Red Lightspeed Ranger, Wes, and Eric against the Machine Empire Generals. They succeeded in defeating all but one, General Venjix, who took the helm of Serpentera, but Cole destroyed the zord with his Wild Force Rider.

Final Confrontation
After the Ninja Duke Org, Onikage, arrived, he managed to capture Princess Shayla and when Cole and the others went to rescue her, he used his powers to create shadow version of them. As they desperately struggled against their shadow counterparts, Master Org returned and destroyed Mandilok. After Onikage was destroyed by Merrick and the Shadow Rangers with him, Master Org brought the ninja back in giant form, leaving him to deal with the rangers while he left with Princess Shayla began preparing for the Org Heart ritual. Though Cole and the other rangers defeated Onikage, they had no idea how to save Shayla until Jindrax and Toxica approached them and offered to help save the princess, having decided to stop fighting for Master Org. The rangers went to take out a trio of pillars preventing access to Master Org's lair, the Nexus, but had to take on the three resurrected Org Generals with Cole and Taylor fighting Retinax, though they succeeded in destroying the pillars then the generals themselves. Jindrax and Toxica succeeded in rescuing Shayla and reported that Master Org had crumbled into dust as a result of the ritual. The two Duke Orgs went off on their own while Cole and the rangers celebrated their apparent victory over the Orgs. However Master Org was not finished yet and returned in an Org body, easily beating the rangers in combat, then went to the Animarium, destroying all their Wildzords and taking away the rangers' powers. He then sent the Animarium crashing to the Earth and used his powers to envelop Turtle Cove in vines and dark raining clouds as his foot soldiers, the Putrids, overran the city. Cole and the others fought the Putrids as best as they could and confronted Master Org, with Cole declaring that their powers and Wildzords may be gone, but they were still guardians of the Earth. As Master Org attempted to strike them down, the spirits of all their Wildzords, as well as the ones they hadn't discovered, returned, allowing Cole and the others to become Power Rangers again. They unleashed a final attack from their Crystal Sabers and all the Wildzords, destroying Master Org. Afterwards, Shayla took back their morphers and brought the Animarium back into the sky with the rangers going their separate ways. Cole made peace with Dr. Adler then went on to use his abilities to help animals wherever he went.

Abilities
Cole's life in the rainforest has put him in peak physical condition, possessing great agility and senses, and has given him a connection with animals and nature. He can use this to talk to animals, including the Wildzords, and can sense the heart of any creature that has one, allowing him to see their feelings and intentions. Cole can use his Growl Phone to morph into the Red Lion Ranger, which increases his natural abilities and fighting skills. As the Red Ranger, his weapons include a Crystal Saber, a short sword that he can use in combination with his Animal Crystals to summon his Wildzords, the Red Lion Fang, a gauntlet based weapon, the Lion Blaster, a blaster that can either be set to gatling mode for quick laser shots, or blaster mode to fire a more powerful concentrated blast, the Falconator, a claw like weapon, and the Falcon Summoner, a bow that could fire blasts and summon Cole's Falconzord. Cole can also call on his Animarium Armor to become the Red Savage Warrior, which makes him more powerful and grants him powerful armor that has a set of wings that let him fly and can also act as a shield. He could use his Lion Animal Crystal to form a Savage Cycle, but his cycle was destroyed and replaced with the powerful Wild Force Rider, which can fly.

Trivia

 * Originally, Cole was going to become a veterinarian like his counterpart from the Super Sentai series Wild Force was adapted from, Kakeru Shishi.


 * Cole was the first Power Ranger to have both of his parents be dead.


 * When he morphed, his role call was "Blazing Lion!", same as his sentai counterpart.


 * Cole is the second lion based Power Ranger, preceded by Leo Corbett and followed by Dustin Brooks and Flynn McAllistair.
 * Born 14 September 1982.