Power Rangers GPX: Author's notes

Okay, so how is everyone? I hope you enjoyed that part! I know I certainly did! However, the story of the GPX Rangers is far from over. There's still Power Rangers GPX SIU, which is set on the campus of my college alma mater (the university I graduated from) Southern Illinois University Carbondale. There, the scale is much smaller than the implicitly epic size of these past two parts of GPX, but the stakes are the same (except the enemies are alchemists instead).

So this whole thing was pretty much inspired by watching Power Rangers RPM and deciding to give this a try. I tried to make it different from most fanfiction (to be honest, most fanfiction falls into the crappy territory. This one tries to avert that).

The alternate universe thing came about on a whim, but I think it's a better idea. I see so many bad fanfics saying things like "the next generation of Power Rangers" all that crap. I want to make mine different! So the alternate universe thing is a great way to really separate my story from the rest, as well as free it from the normal Power Rangers universe.

Basically, the original title was Power Rangers Sonic Force. It was sort of jet-inspired, but I never really thought of any way I could make it any better, so I changed it from Sonic Force to Grand Prix Force and once that got silly, to GPX (because Grand Prix didn't work).

There were a few other differences, too. Sean and Kevin were at one point cousins, Sean and Seamus (Shea) O'Callahan, but I changed it because I didn't really like the idea of having two groups of relatives in the same team, so I made them simply friends. Also, Hitomi and Sean were originally supposed to get together, but that eventually changed and Maria became Sean's love interest after a while. Hitomi eventually changed from a 20-year-old to a naïve girl still in high school because I thought it fit her character.

The reason for the (imagined) appearances of the Zordonians was because, well, I thought they'd work better for Power Rangers than Sailor Moon, and because that series does a real fine job with humanoid enemies. I just like human and humanoid enemies better, really. Monsters have been overdone in Power Rangers, so I decided to shake things up.

There were also a few characters who I conceptualized, but never really made it to the paper. Originally, there were supposed to be actual named trainers who would help the Rangers, but they never really went anywhere. I also wanted to introduce Daisuke and Hitomi's grandmother, who was supposed to be xenophobic and bitter about Japan's loss in World War II (and where Daisuke got his borderline racist views from). I'm glad she never made it to paper.

There were also villains who never made it! One such villain was a character who would look like Sean and cause a little friction amongst the Rangers, who would think Sean was an alien. He, of course, never made it to paper.

As for the main characters, there are other differences. Most of them were simply little known tidbits I hadn't thought up while I was writing, but inserted them a little later. Sean was originally a veteran, but after some talking from my uncle (who is a veteran), I realized it was unfeasible and made Sean a civvy hockey player. The hockey thing was only added in early 2010 while I was watching Olympic hockey and decided that Sean as a hockey player would be a good idea, that eventually turned into his main obsession and goal in life. The veteran aspect has since been transferred over to Kevin and Rob, respectively.

Kevin was also around the same age as Sean, but I've changed Kevin to being, well, a couple years older than Sean, which is most evident in SIU.

Heck, Aaron was supposed to be Egyptian! He and Sean would have butted heads over America's role in the Middle East, but I decided he would have made the team a little, well, bland. There's so many things I could have done, but in the end, this is the final product, and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

As for a third part, I had a few ideas. One idea was inspired by the Google Paris commercial, where they would have gone to Paris, Sean would have met some French girl and well, l'amour. Another idea had them going to Dubai. I also conceptualized them going around the world to find other kids trained by Project Ranger, but it looks like that's not going to happen, sadly.

As for the story itself, it falls between a deconstruction and a reconstruction. It's a deconstruction because it shows just how tough being a Power Ranger is. I mean, the Rangers really got lucky Rashon accepted Sean's duel challenge in episode 33, otherwise they'd have kept on going. Hell, the invasion itself deconstructs Power Ranger tropes, because the Zordonians showed they could annihilate us in an instant and the Power Rangers couldn't have done a thing!

But it's also a reconstruction for these reasons: The Rangers themselves are well-trained (albeit subtly) and mentally healthy individuals. Why, you ask? Well, here's why:

Neon Genesis Evangelion.

That show influenced me in so many ways and not positively. I HAY-YAY-YAY-YAY-YAY-YAY-YAY-YAY-TED that show! Shinji Ikari pissed me off so much, that I set out to create the anti-Shinji: Someone who embraced his role as a hero, was mentally stable and not a whining little emo piece of shit. The result?

Sean.

Sean actually started off in a different fandom (Star Wars) but here is where he really belongs.

The idea to train the Rangers, make them mentally stable and a whole set of support was to avert the failures of Evangelion. Did anyone try to help Shinji? No! Did anyone ever try to train Shinji? No, they just threw him in the fucking cockpit and expected him to perform! While the therapists are off-screen in GPX, they're still important, and they'll probably help them recover from PTSD should they suffer from it.

The other bits of reconstruction are a little more subtle, but they're still pretty important, like the cables that keep the monsters in place as the megazord combines. A monster will try to attack them when they're at their weakest, so a few smart and savvy engineers would put those in so the megazord can transform.

And, of course, the big fucking epic ending battles, because that's what everyone comes to Power Rangers to see.

As for the lampshade hanging, it's still here, but I kind of forgot about it. I think the reason why is as it got more serious as the story went on, it went into different territory (although there were still some lampshade moments) and it really set its own course. I kind of like to think that GPX is one of the more unique Power Ranger fanfictions out there because of the characters, story, plot, themes and general feel. I mean, it's pretty dark, once you dig a little deeper, especially SIU.

The Zordonians indeed could have wiped out Earth on the spot, but their obsession with the Rangers blinded them to it. In fact, I was originally gonna have them nuke Moscow! I toned it down (since I kinda forgot about it) but you can see how this was gonna be different. I mean sure, In Space and Time Force were pretty bleak and RPM was post-apocalyptic, but I think GPX is dark on the part of its more adult-leaning themes.

So, those are the notes and other little tidbits about the story. Oh, wait, you said I had an announcement? Oh, right! A-hem!

Ladies and gentlemen, here now, is a preview of what's coming next. Enjoy.

:-:-:-: Power Rangers GPX :-:-:-:

Sean: "I came to UW-Madison for a reason."

Maria: "So how are you going to make time for us?"

Sean: "That I'm still trying to figure out."

Maelstrom: "I think we're in trouble."

Unknown voice: "You're fools. Just because you beat the Zordonians doesn't mean you've proven yourselves in combat. You have no idea what you are in for."

TITLE CARD: RE-START YOUR ENGINES

Unknown voice: "Our time… has come."

TITLE CARD: POWER RANGERS GPX SUPERCHARGED

Aaron: "So are you—"

Sean: "Busy with a whole buncha shit? Oh, yeah."

:-:-:-: PRGPX :-:-:-:

So there, you have it! Announcing Power Rangers GPX Supercharged. Also announcing Power Rangers GPX Madison Days. Basically the timeline is going to split. The Supercharged timeline is a sequel involving the Rangers that will be on a bit of a smaller scale and set in Madison, Wisconsin, while Madison Days is basically just a slice-of-life piece where they won't have to deal with any new enemies, just to give them the peaceful ending they deserved.

So, are you excited yet? Let me know!