While the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers era is the most popular, few Rangers are more beloved than Jason Scott.
Scott was the human identity of the Red Ranger, the de facto leader of the team. The part of Jason was played by Austin St. John in the original series, and even though he would leave prematurely, the character resonated with fans so much that he would return in various forms over the years.
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As to why the character became so popular, Austin St. John told ComicBook.com “I could tell you that I modeled Jason after my parents. My parents were always family first, so I treated my team like my family, my team was first,” said St. John. “Nothing I wouldn’t do for them, and sometimes I had to make hard calls when it came to other members of the team, I had to make choices to maybe lose one in order to save others, and those are choices that we are all faced with.”
He was a natural leader, even when the Green Ranger came into the picture. That made an impression on the Rangers and fans of the show.
“Jason was humble, walked softly, and carry a big stick. He didn’t want to fight but when the fight came on he was, well, he is the only undefeated Ranger in the history of the show, so he did his job, put his team first, and at the end of the day he tried to bring everybody home in one piece.”
Jason would experience several iconic moments, and many of them would also include Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger. The two would become friends and meet several times in future episodes.
Still, Jason has plenty of achievements of his own, so sit back, relax, and take a trip down memory lane in this Jason Scott 101.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Red Ranger
Alongside Kimberly Hart (Pink Ranger), Zack Taylor (Black Ranger), Trini Kwan (Yellow Ranger), and Billy Cranston (Blue Ranger), Jason would be recruited by Zordon to save the world from the machinations of Rita Repulsa.
While most were originally resistant, it was Jason who would give the surreal situation a second look and helped to get the other Rangers on board.
He would wield the Power Sword in battle, but his greatest strength was his loyalty and determination. Rita would even try and use this against him occasionally, especially when she gave the Green Ranger powers to Tommy Oliver. She would plant seeds of doubt in his mind, but he would ultimately emerge victorious against the Green Ranger, destroying the sword of darkness and helping to recruit him to the team.
Jason was also instrumental in training Billy in combat. Billy couldn’t fight outside of his Ranger armor until he took Jason’s training class, which also gave him a confidence boost.
He would prove his leadership multiple times in battle, though he would give up the reigns to Tommy when he became the White Ranger. Eventually, he would leave the team along with Zack and Trini in the “Power Transfer” episode. Jason recovered a special sword that allowed him to transfer his powers to Rocky DeSantos and left for a peace conference with Zack and Trini.
Power Rangers Zeo: Gold Ranger
Jason would spend the next while living a relatively normal life, but he would be called into action once more by his friend Tommy. After Trey of Triforia was hurt, he would need to transfer his powers to someone else until he could recuperate and retain them once more.
Tommy’s answer was to seek out Jason, who accepted Tommy’s offer to take on the powers and become the Gold Zeo Ranger. At this point, Rocky was also on the team, but Jason assured him he wasn’t replacing him.
Jason would help his other Rangers face down the Machine Empire, but after awhile his powers started to deteriorate his life force. The powers were meant for Trey, who was Triforian, and they were starting to wear down his human body. The Rangers were able to direct the powers back to Trey using his staff, and Jason was returned to normal. He would then leave with Emily to head back to Angel Grove.
Power Rangers Turbo (The Movie)
Unfortunately for Jason peace was not in the cards, at least for the moment.
Jason returned to teaching martial arts in Angel Grove after Zeo and was soon joined by Kimberly Hart. A scuba diving trip took a wrong turn though when Divatox kidnapped the two former Rangers.
She would chain them up and lower them into a pit of lava, though this wasn’t your ordinary lava. While the Turbo Rangers were able to find them, the two Rangers were submerged before they could free them. That resulted in both being possessed, with Jason taking his frustration of losing his powers out on Tommy.
With the help of Lerigot, both were returned to normal and helped turn the tide against Divatox and Maligore.
Forever Red: Red Ranger
Years later it would be Tommy Oliver once again that called Jason out of retirement.
The Machine Empire was attempting to dig up Lord Zedd’s incredibly powerful Zord Serpentera, which is capable of destroying planets. Tommy assembled an army of Red Rangers (10 in total) to seek out and destroy what remained of the Machine Empire, including his former friend Jason Scott, the original Red Ranger.
While Jason was late, he did show up before the group set off. While it had been awhile since Jason suited up, he showed off his combat skills throughout their battle against the Generals and Vinjix. With the help of the newest Red Ranger Cole, the team would destroy Serpentera before it could take out the Earth.
The group included:
Jason: Mighty Morphin
Aurico: Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers
Tommy: Zeo
T.J. Johnson: Turbo
Andros: In Space
Leo: Lost Galaxy
Carter: Lightspeed Rescue
Wesley: Time Force
Eric: Time Force
Cole: Wild Force
Legendary Battle: Red Ranger
Jason would return with his original team alongside generations of other Rangers in the 20th anniversary special Legendary Battle.
The Super Megaforce Rangers fought their hardest against Emperor Mavro, but were on their last legs and without Zords as he made his final assault. A Legendary assembly of Rangers would arrive to help them fight off the final invasion, including Jason and Tommy in his Green Ranger gear.
They ultimately pushed back the XBorg and Bruiser army and would return to the past as quickly as they appeared.
Power Rangers Reboot: Red Ranger
In Saban’s recent reboot, the character of Jason is played by Dacre Montgomery. While the armor, Zords, and mythology of the Power Rangers changed around him, the character of Jason was left intact.
No, he isn’t a martial arts expert (he’s a rebellious football star here), but his confidence and natural knack for standing up for what’s right show themselves early on, forming the foundation of the leader that fans know Jason to be.
One especially poignant sequence occurs when he confronts Zordon about putting his selfish wants to be in the real world over helping train the new Rangers. It’s here that he truly becomes a leader.
Unofficial Short Film
In Adi Shankar and Joseph Kahn’s unofficial short film, the Power Rangers were given a much grittier makeover.
While the film focused on Tommy and Kimberly, the other Rangers all met unfortuante ends by an unknown assailant, including Jason Scott.
In this version of the events the Machine Empire successfully took over Earth, with former Red Ranger Rocky turning against the Rangers. During his interrogation of Kimberly it is revealed that her and Jason were married, for a total of 8 hours.
Thanks to being turned in by Bulk and Skull, the Empire found them and gunned down Jason before he could reach his sowrd, taking Kimberly into custody at the same time.
You can view more about the short film here.
