Eric Myers
Eric Myers is a
fictional character in the
Power Rangers universe, appearing in the
television series Power Rangers: Time Force played by
Daniel Southworth.
Eric is first seen as a ground unit in the newly-formed "Silver Guardians", a law-enforcement organisation for private citizens, owned by Mr Collins, a millionaire industrialist. He is portrayed as a stern individual with a no-nonsense attitude, which Mr Collins may well have been pleased about, considering that it was the sort of attitude he had wanted for his own son,
Wesley Collins. His personality warms somewhat near the end of the series.
It is soon revealed that Eric is an old acquaintance of Wesley's, and they attended private school together. Whereas Wesley came from a wealthy background, however, Eric was forced to work diligently to maintain his hard-earned position. Being ignored by his coleagues for his poor background, Eric grew bitter and had few friends, although Wesley Collins ignored his background and repeatedly tried to befriend him, but Eric never returned the favor. It was revealed by the Green Time Force Ranger, Trip, who looked inside of Eric's mind using his telepathy, that Eric was lonely and only acted hostile and belligerent to hide this.
|
Eric Myers morphed into the Quantum Ranger. |
When it is revealed that Wesley Collins has become the new Red Ranger, Eric believes it is yet another circumstance in which fortune has played into Wes' hands. He seizes the opportunity to get Ranger powers of his own, despite all protests by the current Rangers that they are dangerous, and becomes the
Quantum Ranger. Eric is open about possessing these powers with his employer, and is soon promoted to the head of the Silver Guardians.
In a trip to prehistoric times, Eric also recovers the long-lost
Quantasaurus Rex zord, which he uses in the fight against
Ransik. Unlike most other zords, the Q-Rex is controlled by voice rather than piloted directly. On at least one occasion, a mutant was able to imitate Eric's voice and take control of the powerful machine.
Though Eric is fighting on the side of good, he remains separate from the other Rangers. He is one of the first
antihero characters to appear in a Power Rangers series (later ones include
Merrick Baliton of
Power Rangers: Wild Force). Eventually, Eric warms up to the idea of working with others and while wounded gives up his powers to Wesley, having finally made peace with the fact that Wesley does not consider himself superior because of his background.
At the end of
Power Rangers: Time Force, Eric and Wesley become joint commanders of the Silver Guardians, which will protect all citizens and not just those that can afford it. They both continue to use their powers for good and eventually become best friends in the process.
Eric makes later appearances alongside Wes and the other Time Force Rangers in
Power Rangers: Wild Force, first in an attempt to track down three renegade Mut-Orgs from the future (during which he had a sort of love/hate relationship with the current Yellow Ranger,
Taylor Earhardt), and then in the episode
Forever Red, in which ten generations of Red Rangers teamed up against the
Machine Empire. Curiously, despite being the sixth Ranger in
Time Force, he is considered a Red Ranger here - perhaps due to
Super Sentai influences, or, more likely, as a statement to Wes and Eric having equal roles in their leadership of the Silver Guardians. As a result, this has led some to believe that the Crimson Ranger in
Ninja Storm should also be acknowledged as a Red Ranger.
Eric is in the belief that his Ranger powers and arsenal are superior to all others before or since. This may be due to his Q-Rex being a solo unit that is unable to combine with other zords, and perhaps due to the fact that it is one of the larger zords in the
Power Rangers series (with only the Pegasus Megazord in
Wild Force and the carrier Zords being larger). In
Forever Red, he specifically mentions his belief in the Q-Rex being able to defeat
Tommy's Dragonzord (while failing to mention that, as the Red Zeo Ranger, he would have the more powerful Super Zeozord V). It should be noted that Eric was saying this with an undertone of humor as he was in the presence of the other Red Rangers at the time, but it's very likely he meant it then as well.
* In the finale of the series, Eric survived the final battle, unlike his Japanese counterpart, Naoto.
**Though a scene was filmed with him dying.
* The only
6th Ranger to join the Red Rangers in "Forever Red."
* Actor, Daniel Southworth, did a lot of his own stunts. In fact, he was "discovered" for the role after serving as a stuntman during
Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue.
