While watching Power Rangers Samurai, I started wondering where Antonio's Symbol Power came from. From there, I started thinking up an entire alternate universe centered on the idea below. I may continue the concept if I get interested enough in it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.
In the beginning, there were ten. Ten men, heads of their families, had been trusted out of all others to hold incredible power. As nobles, all had seen battle, and all would fight to their final breaths rather than admit defeat. The great mage, though only his bald head could be seen by the men, entrusted them with their abilities. Symbol Power, which could be called down to control the forces of nature through each design, was his gift. They were the ones, he hoped, who would use his gift to circumvent the incoming Nighlok invasion.
Fire. Earth. Water. Sky. Forest. Moon. Winter. Metal. Thunder. Light.
Of those ten, only six were entrusted with further ancient powers. Powers the likes of which could be used to defend the Earth from encroaching threats. Once a proud group of ten whittled down to six as the Moon Clan was allotted guardianship of sacred grounds, the Winter Clan was lost to time, the Thunder Clan killed by the enemy and the Metal Clan sworn into servitude...
The First Shiba Clan of warriors, the first to pose a true threat to the Nighlok onslaught, had been gifted one final weapon by the Great Mage. He had not been seen in some hundreds of years, but still they were bestowed with the first samuraizers: long thick wooden brushes that turned them into Samurai Power Rangers. With their incredible power, the rangers were able to beat back the flooding Sanzu River from the Tengen Gate and save Japan. Their actions began a legacy that would span time and cover continents.
The Second Shiba Clan, children of the first, faced the Nighlok some twenty years after their parents. It was them, first to not only beat a Nighlok back but to destroy one, that discovered the Nighlok second lives. Lives so huge they were impossible to fight by average rangers. These revived monsters, coined mega monsters, brought such fear and misery to the world that the rangers needed to develop a method to fight them. In the visage of their family animals, the Metal Clan was tasked with the creation of weapons that would fight such beasts. These were the first zords, and they surpassed all expectations. Not only were they weapons that fought, but the Symbol Power which created them granted them life and an intrinsic connection to the family which they were bonded. Able to grow to massive sizes, they proved powerful enough to destroy the mega monsters and beat back the Nighlok forces.
The Third Shiba Clan faced its great dilemma early. Tatsuhiro-Red Ranger of the Fire Clan, Shogun and leader of the second clan-had but one child. A daughter. Never before had a woman been sent to fight a Nighlok, but only she could command the Lion Folding Zord of her family and lead the rangers. Trained rigorously by her father, Megumi Shiba led the samurai rangers and founded the tradition that women could fight as skillfully as men. Through her skill in battle, others of the rangers began entrusting their eldest children, regardless of gender, with samuraizers.
The Fourth Shiba Clan came into contact with the greatest of adversaries yet. They discovered that their zords were not enough and, enlisting the Metal Clan once again, the first auxiliary zord was made. Though powerful, the bull zord refused to obey the commands of any ranger and was forced into captivity rather than allow it to trample the country. Instead, a second zord, the beetle zord, was used for battle. Capable of firing massive projectiles, the beetle zord proved too much for the great monsters and they were defeated.
The Fifth Shiba Clan faced created the swordfish zord. Additionally, it also marked the only team of rangers in samurai history, where all members were women. Their greatest accomplishment, however, was the creation of the rudimentary gap sensor. These early designs, powered entirely by Symbol Power, could alert the rangers to Nighlok immediately and made fighting them far more effective.
The Sixth Shiba Clan was the first to discover the Sealing Symbol. Though incapable of ending the war, the symbol enabled the red ranger to bind the Nighlok king, Master Xandred, to his Netherworld for a time. It was this discovery, the first true sign of peace, that began the tradition of ending each generation's battle with a seal on Xandred. Unfortunately, time has muddled the samurai's perception of the Sealing Symbol, and it has since become known as the only way to truly defeat the Nighlok.
The Seventh Shiba Clan had the tiger zord built. Another zord enabled the rangers to combat multiple Nighlok in varying locations without drastically diminishing their skill in combat. However, at the end of their war, the head of the Light Clan chose to set sail for the New World that had been discovered by the Europeans. There was a possibility of Nighlok attacks on the land, he felt, and it was best that a clan be there to combat them when they came. Taking precautions to ensure future unity, the Light Clan departed in what would someday be known as Mexico.
The Eighth Shiba Clan was the first to combat enemies outside of Japan. When the Nighlok were spotted in China, and word reached the samurai, the rangers set off after them. The gold ranger of the Light Clan having used incredible amounts of Symbol Power to join the others when the call came, commissioned the claw zord for use in battle. This proved useful against the army of Nighlok brought by Xandred for battle. Upon the sealing of Xandred, the Nighlok fled. The Nighlok were retreating across the lands, and the rangers were forced to separate in order to catch them. This brought about the greatest cultural shift in the rangers.
The Ninth Shiba Clan was notable for being the first to have multicultural rangers on its team. The gold ranger of the Light Clan had married a native woman of the New World who bore him children. The green ranger of the Forest Clan had married a young Chinese peasant girl whose family had its own combat styles for his daughter to learn. The blue ranger of the Water Clan had dived south into Africa. The pink Sky Clan ranger had returned to Japan. The yellow Earth Clan and red Fire Clan rangers were born in the outskirts of what is now eastern Europe. When the call came, the rangers joined together in Europe to best the creatures before most chose to return to their differing homelands and families.
The Tenth Shiba Clan was the first to join the zords to form the Samurai Megazord. This enormous human-esque creature became the focal point of ranger combat. From then on, it was not a matter of creating new zords but using old zords in new ways.
The Eleventh Shiba Clan was the first to fail at using the Black Box. Having been created by the Ancients, the talismen was said to bestow incredible powers to its user, but it proved impossible to use. Instead, the rangers sent it with the pink ranger when she returned to Japan to be placed in the Tengen Gate.
The Twelfth Shiba Clan began the tradition of secluding the rangers from their families to prevent a subversive attack on them by the Nighlok. This came after the yellow ranger's husband was killed by the Nighlok that discovered him. From then on, rangers in combat would live and train together until such a time that the Nighlok were pushed from the world.
The Thirteenth Shiba Clan marked the first battles to be fought in America. They came from all walks of life: the blue ranger was born a poor slave girl in the south, the yellow ranger a modest farmer from Maryland and the pink ranger just beginning his immigration to California during the era following the Civil War. Despite their backgrounds, they proved to be a powerful force whose ingenuity discovered that the auxiliary zords could also combine to form the Samurai Battlewing. Using this discovery, the rangers could combat flying Nighlok with efficiency never before seen by anyone.
The Fourteenth Shiba Clan created the shark zord. This zord was the first zord in centuries to be created and proved essential for the fight to seal Xandred.
The Fifteenth Shiba Clan was responsible for building the Shiba House in California. It was there that the Samurai rangers would live and train while combatting the Nighlok. The place was protected by the strongest protection symbols known to the samurai and became home the the Fire Clan following their tenure as rangers.
The Sixteenth Shiba Clan fought during a time when cameras and video recordings were becoming prevalent. To protect the rangers' identities, and also their normal lives, the rangers began connecting with people around their city in order to remove evidence before it could be used against them.
The Seventeenth Clan marked the creation of the octozord. The study of ancient texts cast doubt on the sealing symbol for the red ranger. Though uncertain, he suspected that the symbol itself could not permanently seal the Nighlok away. When the six rangers fought Xandred, Panorama City was left in near ruins. As the rangers were pushed back to the Shiba House, one by one the rangers were defeated. Finally, with only the red and gold rangers standing, the red ranger, John Shiba, cast the sealing symbol. Maria, the gold ranger, used an energy symbol to keep John alive long enough to acquire medical care and saved his live. The fight, however, resulted in heavy losses for the samurai. The claw zord was battle damaged and unusable. The tiger zord was trapped in the Netherworld with the Nighlok. The swordfish zord was lost at sea. This battle colored an entire generation of rangers. And from it, the Eighteenth Shiba Clan was born...
