VR Troopers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids VR Troopers
Genre	Science fiction Superhero Action/Adventure
Created by	Haim Saban Shuki Levy Toei Company
Based on	Space Sheriff Shaider, Jikuu Senshi Spielban, & Choujinki Metalder by Toei Company
Starring	Brad Hawkins Sarah Brown Michael Bacon David Carr Gardner Baldwin Richard Rabago Julian Combs Michael Sorich Aaron Pruner Zeb
Voices of	Gardner Baldwin Kerrigan Mahan Michael Sorich Mike Reynolds Richard Epcar Dave Mallow
Composer(s)	Shuki Levy Kussa Mahchi Jeremy Sweet Ron Wasserman
Country of origin	United States Japan
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	92 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Haim Saban Shuki Levy
Producer(s)	Robert Hughes
Production location(s)	California (Santa Clarita & Los Angeles) Japan (Kyoto, Yokohama and Tokyo)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Saban Entertainment Toei Company, Ltd. Cyberprod, Inc.
Distributor	Saban Entertainment
Release
Original network	Broadcast Syndication
Original release	September 3, 1994 (1994-09-03) – February 21, 1996 (1996-02-21)

VR Troopers (which stands for Virtual Reality Troopers) was a cool live-action superhero TV show. It was made by Saban Entertainment from 1994 to 1996. The show came out when virtual reality was a big deal, and it was also a "sister series" to the popular Power Rangers.

Just like Power Rangers, VR Troopers took fight scenes and special effects from Japanese superhero shows called tokusatsu. It used footage from three different Japanese series: Choujinki Metalder, Jikuu Senshi Spielban, and Space Sheriff Shaider.

Even though VR Troopers was almost as popular as Power Rangers, it only lasted two seasons. This was mainly because they quickly ran out of Japanese footage to use. Sometimes, they even had to reuse the same scenes many times! The show also had its own toy line and a video game for the Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear.

Meet the VR Troopers

This section introduces the main characters and their exciting mission.

Heroes of Cross World City

The show is about three teenagers: Ryan Steele, Kaitlin Star, and J.B. Reese. They live in a fictional place called Cross World City, California. They all train at "Tao's Dojo," a karate studio.

• Ryan is the best at martial arts.
• J.B. is a super smart computer whiz.
• Kaitlin is a photographer and wants to be a reporter for the local newspaper, the Underground Voice Daily.

Discovering Virtual Reality

One day, Ryan was looking for his dad, who had been missing for a long time. This search led him and his friends to a strange laboratory. There, they found the digitized head of Professor Horatio Hart. He was a friend of Ryan's dad.

Professor Hart explained that he had created amazing virtual reality technology in secrecy. He told them that "VR" is a special dimension that exists right next to our own world. This VR world is full of evil mutants who want to take over both dimensions!

Fighting Grimlord

The main villain is a creature named Grimlord. No one on Earth knows that Grimlord also has a human identity: he's a rich businessman named Karl Ziktor! Karl Ziktor tries to break down the barriers between the virtual world and our reality. This would let his armies easily cross over and conquer Earth.

It's up to Ryan, Kaitlin, and J.B. to stop Grimlord and protect the planet. They fight in both the real world and the virtual world. They get special armored suits that give them incredible powers and weapons.

Awesome Gear and Allies

As the show went on, the Troopers got even more cool gear. This included a Turbo Cycle, a Techno Bazooka, the VR Troopertron, a VR Shoulder Cannon, a VR Battlecruiser/Interceptop, and a flying, laser-blasting Skybase.

They also had some helpful friends:

• Jeb: Ryan's dog, who could talk like a human after an accident in Professor Hart's lab!
• Woody Stocker: Kaitlin's funny boss at the newspaper, who loved wearing crazy hats.
• Percy Rooney: The mayor's nephew and Kaitlin's clumsy rival reporter.
• Tao: The wise martial arts teacher who owned the dojo and was a family friend to Ryan.

Villains and Season Two Changes

The Troopers faced many villains, including General Ivar, Colonel Icebot, Decimator, and the Skugs.

In the second season, some things changed. Ryan's father, Tyler, was finally found and returned to normal. He then left to help the government research more virtual reality technology. Ryan also got a new VR armor and upgraded powers. Grimlord's main base moved from a virtual dungeon to a huge spacecraft. He also got new generals like Oraclon, Despera, and Doom Master with his Vixens. The Skugs could even become stronger as Ultra Skugs!

How the Show Was Made

This section explains how VR Troopers was put together.

Early Ideas

Before it became VR Troopers, the show had different names like Psycon and Cybertron. These early ideas focused on just one hero with a technology theme, instead of a team of heroes with a virtual reality theme.

In one early script called Psycon, the main character was Adam Steele. He would merge with a cyborg named Psycon. The villain was Grimlord, whose human name was Cyrus Ritker. Cyrus led an army of robots called Cyberdrones.

Using Japanese Footage

Just like Power Rangers, VR Troopers combined new scenes filmed in America with exciting fight scenes from Japanese shows. The Japanese shows used were Space Sheriff Shaider, Dimensional Warrior Spielban, and Choujinki Metalder. All of these came from Toei Company's Metal Hero Series.

• Choujinki Metalder gave footage for Ryan Steele's first season robot suit, Grimlord, the Virtual Dungeon, Grimlord's main helpers, and military robots.
• Dimensional Warrior Spielban provided footage for J.B.'s and Kaitlin's robot suits, Ivar, Icebot, Skugs, and battles with the Skybase, shark cruisers, tanks, and fighter jets.
• Space Sheriff Shaider provided new footage for season two, including Ryan Steele's second season robot suit and the Ultra Skugs.

VR Troopers used some of the oldest Japanese footage for a Saban show. For example, Shaider aired in Japan 10 years before it was used in VR Troopers!

Fighting Separately

Because the show used footage from different Japanese series, Ryan's armored form was never in the same action scene as J.B. or Kaitlin's. This meant that in almost every episode, the story had to find a way to separate Ryan from the other two, so they would fight bad guys on their own.

The only time the whole group fought "together" was in new American-filmed scenes. In these scenes, their Battle Grid suits looked a bit simpler, and their helmets were just recolored versions of the Red Ranger's helmet from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Why the Show Ended

VR Troopers lasted two seasons (1994-1995 and 1995-1996) and had almost 100 episodes. Even though it was very popular, the show was canceled because all the usable Japanese fight footage ran out by 1996. The Japanese shows had many "human vs. human" battles, but these couldn't be used because they showed close-ups of the Japanese actors. The footage of monsters fighting was also limited. Because they used footage from several Japanese episodes in just one VR Troopers episode, the supply ran out very quickly.

The show ended without a full ending to its story. After VR Troopers, Saban made another show called Big Bad Beetleborgs, which also used footage from the Metal Hero Series.

Home Videos

You could watch VR Troopers at home! In the U.S., five VHS tapes were released, each with a bonus music video. Later, all episodes of VR Troopers were available on Netflix for a while.

In 2012, it was announced that VR Troopers would be released on DVD by Shout! Factory. They released Season 1, Part 1, Season 1, Part 2, and Season 2, Part 1. However, the release of Season 2, Part 2 was canceled because the first three volumes didn't sell very well.

Other Cool Stuff

Games

VR Troopers also had some games:

• Jeb's Rescue, Ryan's Challenge, and JB's Battle: Three games for MGA's Game Wizard.
• VR Troopers – When Worlds Collide: A handheld game by Tiger.
• VR Troopers: A video game for the Sega Genesis.
• Saban's VR Troopers: A board game by Milton Bradley.

Comics

In 1995, Marvel Comics published a special five-issue comic book series. It was called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Ninja Rangers/VR Troopers. It was a flipbook, so you could read about the Power Rangers on one side and the VR Troopers on the other!

Images for kids

• 

  A robot image.

See also

In Spanish: VR Troopers para niños