Trini Kwan

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Template:Infobox Power Rangers

Trini Kwan is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, portrayed by late Vietnamese actress Thuy Trang.[1]

Trini originally was portrayed by Hispanic-American actress Audri Dubois in the unaired pilot episode, but when the show was picked up for television, for which two new pilots were filmed, she was played by Thuy Trang, around whom the character was rewritten.[2]

Character Biography

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Season One

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Trini makes her first appearance performing a Kata on the first episode. When Rita Repulsa escapes and begins wreaking havoc on earth, Trini, along with her close friends Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston and Kimberly Hart, is one of the five teens chosen by Zordon to receive a great power, drawn from the spirits of the prehistoric animals. These powers give them the ability to transform into a fighting force known as the Power Rangers. Trini is chosen for her compassion, quick wits and martial arts talent, and becomes the Yellow Power Ranger, given the Saber-Toothed Tiger Power Coin and the Saber-Toothed Tiger Dinozord.[3]

Trini is well-versed in kung fu. She would later become proficient in the art of Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Trini's signature fighting style included lightning fast maneuvers, and powerful high kicks.[4] She attempts to neutralize foes with the least amount of force. Trini is one of the intellectuals of the team, often having to translate Billy's techno talk for the other Rangers.

Generally soft-spoken and polite, Trini is a calm and warm person. She is an environmentalist. She is prepared to both push herself and put herself in danger for those she loves.

Season Two

In Season 2, Trini is courted by a new student in school named Richie. Initially, they both are too nervous to speak to each other, but eventually Richie gathers the courage to ask Trini on a study date.

Power Rangers Super Megaforce

During the final minutes of the episode "Legendary Battle", the Yellow Mighty Morphin Power Ranger appears and takes part in the battle against the Armada's final assault. It is unknown whether this was Trini or her replacement, Aisha.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink

Kimberly is the main character in this comic book mini series published by Boom! Studios. The series is a modern remake but also serves as a continuation from Kimberly's exit in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.[5] Kimberly needs to rescue a French town under siege from Goldar. She seeks help from Zordon who uses the Sword of Light to activate the latent pink energy within her. Kimberly then teleports to Zack and Trini in South America for their help. Zordon uses the Sword of Light to share Kimberly's power with them. Trini once again becomes the yellow ranger.[6] It is also revealed that Trini and Zack are in a relationship.[7]

2017 film

Becky G as Trini in 2017 film Power Rangers.

In the 2017 film, which is a modern reboot of the original Power Rangers series, Trini is portrayed by Latina American singer Becky G.[8] Her portrayal has gained fame for being the first LGBTQ superhero in film.[9] Trini reveals that Angel Grove is her third school in three years as her family often moved around, but she tends to avoid interaction with others, to the extent that she has been in Kimberly's biology class for a year and Kimberly never noticed her. Trini's issues are made worse by her family's relative normality, as her parents are essentially incapable of acknowledging or accepting her sexuality. However, as she trains with the team, having met them while practicing martial arts in the mine where Billy found the Power Coins, despite them meeting Zordon and Alpha before Zack even asks for her name, she comes to form a closer bond with the team. When Rita attacks Trini on her own and 'offers' to spare her if Trini will tell her the location of the Zeo Crystal, Trini warns the rest of the team. After they manage to morph into their ranger suits, Trini joins the other Rangers in attacking Goldar in their zords before they form the Megazord for the first time.

Development

Early in Season 2, actress Thuy Trang injured her leg while performing a stunt on the show (the cast normally performed their own stunts). In particular, in the episode "The Beetle Invasion" she is notably seen sitting on a bench wearing a knee brace while the other Rangers played the game. Hence the character was unable to participate in most fight scenes and was often absent from other scenes that did not have something to sit on, for the rest of the actress's time on the series.

When Thuy Trang, Austin St. John (Jason), and Walter Jones (Zack) left the show (over contract disputes), their characters stopped making new on-screen or face-to-camera shots- simply being shown in their Ranger uniforms, using old footage, or with doubles who were never directly facing the cameras- before they were written off in the two-part "Power Transfer" episode in which their characters were chosen to attend the World Peace Conference. Trini urged Zordon that they could not leave during such a crisis, but Zordon advised the transfer the best decision to make. The Sword of Light transferred Trini's powers to Aisha Campbell. Though Jason later returned in Power Rangers Zeo, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, and the tenth anniversary special "Forever Red," it was never stated what became of Zack or Trini after the peace conference.

Unlike Kimberly, Trini does not have a skirt with her Ranger suit and appears with male anatomical contours in most morphed sequences. This is because the action scenes from the first season of Mighty Morphin used footage from the 1992 Super Sentai television series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Her counterpart on Zyuranger, Boi the Tiger Ranger, was male. However, a female version of the Tiger Ranger costume was made with a skirt for the 2011 Super Sentai series Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, which first appears on the show in Episode 11 due to Luka Millfy/Gokai Yellow being female.

Reception

The choice of color for the Black Ranger (Zack Taylor) and Yellow Ranger (Trini Kwan) has been a source of criticism, due to the belief these colors are representations of their racial backgrounds; the people who made these claims, however, were unaware that the character of Trini had first been played in the show's test reel by Audri DubBois Marchionno, who is not of Asian descent.[10][11] There are many parodies illustrating the perceived inherent racism of the show. According to the producers, this was not noticed until the tenth episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.[12][13][14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ex-student Is Now Majoring In Stardom". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
  2. ^ "The 10 Things You Forgot About Power Rangers' First Episode - IGN - Page 2". Uk.ign.com. 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  3. ^ "From Power Bow to Hip-Hop-Kido". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  4. ^ Kent A. Ono. "Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past". Books.google.co.uk. p. 145. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  5. ^ Lake, Jeff (1 June 2016). "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #1 Review". ign.com. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Comic Book Reviews for July 27, 2016 - IGN - Page 3". Uk.ign.com. 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  7. ^ "Comic Book Reviews for December 14, 2016 - IGN - Page 2". Uk.ign.com. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  8. ^ Galuppo, Mia (October 31, 2015). "Becky G Cast as Yellow Ranger in 'Power Rangers' Movie". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Couch, Aaron (March 20, 2017). "'Power Rangers' Breaks Ground With First Queer Big-Screen Superhero". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Marsha Kinder. "Kids' Media Culture". Books.google.co.uk. p. 193. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  11. ^ Kent A. Ono. "Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past". Books.google.co.uk. p. 85. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  12. ^ "Interview With Original Black Power Ranger, Walter Emanuel Jones - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  13. ^ "Black Power Ranger Walter Jones - The Show Wasn't ALWAYS Racist". TMZ.com. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  14. ^ "'Key & Peele' Takes on the Racism of the Power Rangers". BroBible.com. 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2013-08-12.

Further reading

  • The Official Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Guidebook ISBN 1-57082-235-2, ISBN 978-1-57082-235-3

External links

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