When Human-Looking Super Sentai Villains Get Severely Outnumbered By Suit Villains

 

One of the best things I liked about the older Super Sentai series (mostly from 1980s to 1990s) was the abudance of human-looking villains. The 1980s did have a budget for mostly human-looking villains. However, there are cases when humanoid villains get outnumbered by suit villains. The first obvious instance was Himitsu Sentai Goranger where the Black Cross Fuehrer later had a HUMAN ACTOR (and had a total of three different actors) and most of the Black Cross Army generals (who replaced each other) were played by suit actors and given different voices. With Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' 30th anniversary this year - I still feel like writing this one. 

Here are those other obvious instances where suit villains severely outnumbered humanoid villains...

For the first half of Kosoku Sentai Turboranger - the lame personifications of wickedness were mostly suit actors. Ragorn, Zulten, and Zimba are all suit villains. If I'm not wrong, Naoki Ofuji was Zimba's suit actor and he was voiced by Hisashi Sarai. We only had Jarmin (Kanako Kishi) and Rehda (the late Masashi Ishibashi) as the only human-faced actors. This changed however when both Yamimaru and Kirika arrived after the three Bouma generals were written off ASAP. Only Ragorn and Zulten remained as suit villains after the second half.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger was taking things in a new direction. Most of the villains were obviously mascots. Only the late Soga Machiko and Ami Kawaii were the ones who did performances out-of-suit. That's why it felt awkward when Machiko and Kawaii were dubbed over in Mighty Morphin'. Fortunately, any subsequent Rita footage after the first season was done by Carla Perez. An actress was secured to supposedly play Scorpina for the second season but left soon after. What's also interesting is that during the first season - both Rita and Scorpina were purely derived from Sentai footage. That explains why Kimberly never fought Scorpina while unmorphed while Mei did. Meanwhile, Jason facing Goldar unmorphed early on was that easy to do with an American suit. It was easier to create a Goldar suit than it was to find an actress to double in as Scorpina during the first season. 

Gekisou Sentai Carranger often gets overpraised by some people. Was the rumor that Carranger saved Super Sentai even from certain people from Rangerboard? Maybe yes, maybe no but I assume it was. I even think that the chances of Turboranger getting more love may not be that much thanks to this show. Zonette herself was the only human-looking member of the Bowzock. She should be considered ugly by alien standards and Gynamo should be considered handsome by alien standards. Rika Nanase's outfit was too provocative that just couldn't pass the American standards. Power Rangers Turbo fixed the problem by creating the American villain Divatox. I guess Rita Repulsa's footage based on Bandora just aged badly. 

Denji Sentai Megaranger had Dr. Hinelar (Tetsuo Morishita) and Shibolena (Asami Jo) as the only human-looking villains. Most of the villains such as Gurail (who didn't last long) followed up by the Nezirangers were suit villains. The Nezirangers barely used their human disguises. This caused Power Rangers in Space to use less footage as much as possible. 

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman did also present us Steerwoman Shelinda. I remember how Sentai Bandicoot compared Shelinda to Ahames from Dengeki Sentai Changeman. Heck, I even compared Trakeena from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy to the same villain too. Shelinda ends up standing out as the only human-looking villain here. Trakeena was pretty much an American original villain who was pretty much Ahames in some way. It's a good thing Lost Galaxy decided to create as much original footage since Shelinda can't get past the censors.

Kyukyu Sentai SentaiGoGoFive gave us the Saima Clan. This is one weird family when the only daughter is human-looking and their mother is a rubber suit. It's known that I've compared Kaya Hirasawa's acting to be as lackluster as the American counterpart Jennifer Yen. Both actresses tend to be overshadowed by the suit villains with the voiceovers. I do find Denus to be a weak spot in an otherwise good series. Some Power Rangers fans also point to Vypra as a weak spot for Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. I love GoGoFive but I still think Hirasawa herself wasn't doing any better TBH. I guess that's why Hirasawa, like Yen, retired from acting. I wouldn't be surprised if Hirasawa's now a businesswoman or a family woman in Japan. 

Mirai Sentai Timeranger battled the Londarz Family. Like Denus, Lila (Asami Kuru) was the only human-looking villain in the whole cast. Apparently, Lila was actually an alien and no, NOT A MUTANT. Sure, Gien did have a human form but it was only in the flashback. I'd say Power Rangers Time Force did its fans a favor by introducing the humanoid Ransik. I think Lila was just So Good It's Average compared to Hirasawa or Yen. 

Hyajaku Sentai Gaoranger went out with too many suits. Tsuetsue (Rei Sato) was the only human-looking villain there. As much as Gaoranger tends to get praise for supposedly better acting than Power Rangers Wild Force - I think the lack of human-looking villains can be a weakness. Sure, Yabaiba did don a human form but that human form was hardly used. Tsuetsue was the only one with a human face from start to end. In the case of Wild Force - Sin Wong was Toxica (she's fine) for the American footage and we had Ilia Volok as the Second Master Org. I think having another humanoid villain was somewhat of a welcome exclusive for me. 

The Space Ninja Group Jakanja of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger only used two human villains. These are namely Wendinu and Furaibijou. The American version did manage to create Mara and Kapri (who I still find annoying due ot the script, not the actresses) out of them. The two of them were the only humanoid members of the evil ninjas looking for the Evil Will. I still find Power Rangers Ninja Storm's creation of the humanoid Lothor somewhat creative though he was purposely made less evil than Tao Zanto who was really a Complete Monster. That's even if I'd still watch Hurricanger over Ninja Storm for the most blatant reasons.

Both Nai and Mere (who can combine into the singular form Vancuria) were human-looking villains in Mahou Sentai Magiranger. The rest of the Infershia were simply suit villains. 

Gougou Sentai Boukenger featured multiple villain groups bidding for supremacy. I do find it weird how Shizuka (Mami Yamasaki) and Gaja (Hiro Ootaka) were the only human-looking ones. Sure, Ryuon did show up in his human form played by Junpei Morita. However, Morita only showed up for a few flashbacks. I wish more budget was allocated for human-looking villains since I wished Yaiba was human-looking instead of the classic case of "We never got to see his face." villain. I kinda of wish that Yaiba and Ryuon were both human-faced villains instead of suit villains. Even more, the Questers were also suit villains too. 

I guess suit villains have become more popular up to this point. The Banki Clan Gaiark in Engine Sentai Go-Onger only had Kegaleisha (Nao Oikiwa) as its only human-looking member. The rest are obviously mechanical. I really wonder would Kegaleisha be better off as a non-human-looking member to balance things out? 

Both Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and Tensou Sentai Goseiger used purely suit villains. Dayu's flashback played by Romi Park is JUST A FLASHBACK. It was a breath of fresh air when Kei Hosogai appeared as a humanoid villain. Basco did have a monster form but it wasn't used so often. It was refreshing to see Basco revert back to human form after he was defeated. Hosogai gets to become a Breakout Villain that he did return in Kyuranger vs. Space Squad. I just love how this guy creates fear for both the Gokaigers AND the Zangyack. 

Emperor Zetto (or I prefer to call him Zed and pretend he's the true son of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, not Thrax) in Ressha Sentai ToQGer showed up more with his human actor Kengo Ohkuchi than his super form, or was that his true form? Zetto only used his monster form whenever he was in a desperate situation. Otherwise, it was a nice breath of fresh air to see Zetto in his human form in the midst of suited subordinates. It's not like most villains who had the occasional human disguise that was hardly used. Zetto is one hammy villain and the villain does a good job playing the Big Bad whose agenda deviates from his subordinates. 

The Ganglers in Kaito Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger were suit villains. However, Zamigo had a human form played by Jini Irie. The other Ganglers never donned any human forms for some reason. 

Yodonna in Mashin Sentai Kiramager is the only human-looking villain in the show. It's revealed that she was born out of Emperor Yodon's desire for company. She got so popular as a Breakout Villain (even more popular than Emperor Yodon) that she had her own mini-series. Nashiko Momotsuki happens to have extensive experience in acting - making the villain all the more intimidating.

Okay, this is going to be very hard for me to talk without otherwise looking down at Kikou Sentai Zenkaiger. I had high hopes for the series but it's the implementation that I'm having problems with. Stacey is another human-looking villain while the rest are either suit or prop villains. It was a disappointment IMHO that Joji Nakata got to voice Bokowaus but never showed in any human form. I think Stacey as a human-faced villain wasn't all too well-done either.

The most recent one is Grodie (Kousei Amano). Grodie is the only one of the five jesters with a human form. Sure, we had Kamejim imitating Boshimar but that doesn't count. Boshimar was pretty much his own character before Kamejin murdered him and took the former's place. Right now, it seems that he will be the odd one because he's the only one with a human form among the Galactainsects. Or will Grodie reveal his true form? I can't be certain yet. And yes, he's the reason why I even wrote this post. 

_____

Missed any? Let me know!