List of VR Troopers characters

Ryan Steele / VR Ryan (portrayed by Brad Hawkins) is the son of Tyler Steele and leader of the VR Troopers . Ryan learns the nature of his father's mysterious disappearance when he, Kaitlin Star and J.B. Reese are all recruited by Professor Hart to become V.R. Troopers. Ryan's responsibilities sometimes take a backseat to an obsession with finding his father. Ryan is the principal character of the series, directly linked through blood to the unfolding agenda of Grimlord...who uses Tyler in areas to increase his evil hold on virtual reality, and to continue his war against the Troopers to conquer their (read: our) universe. Every episode begins and ends with Ryan reflecting on his father's teachings at a Buddhist Temple where Tyler trained young Ryan in martial arts and in other lessons in life. Ryan's obsessive quest to locate his dad is mellowed by a desire not to see his friends, or their world, suffer. Ryan remains hopeful of ultimately reuniting with Tyler.

Such indeed occurred in the series' first season, but only briefly. Ryan discovered that Dark Heart, one of Grimlord's deadliest cyborg-warriors, was actually Tyler, whose mind had been wiped. Ryan freed his father (who became human again), but Tyler was recaptured by Grimlord.

Ryan's virtual reality Lightning Hand Command (his patented finisher), and Internal Gyro Command. His VR vehicles-arsenal includes a "Turbo Cycle." Whenever a "Battle Grid" emergency arises, Ryan and his fellow Troopers employ alternate costumes to fight invading Skugs. His signature color is blue.

Despite being a team player, Ryan typically fights his VR battles alone; due to the differing Japanese series used to create V.R. Troopers, Ryan's Japanese counterpart was only one warrior against a mutant army. In the "linking" U.S. footage, Ryan's joint battles (alongside his fellow Troopers) are limited to the Battle Grid and the Skybase cockpit. As footage of one loner Metal Hero series, Choujinki Metalder ran out, Saban replaced it with another: Uchuu Keiji Shaider.

In the five-part story "Quest For Power", Ryan's powers are depleted after rescuing his father and the other two Troopers from Grimlord's cavernous dungeon in reality. Ryan is then given new armor, powers, vehicles (including the Drill Tank, Blue Hawk, and Nitro Cycle) and weapons (including a laser pistol and his new finisher, the Laser Saber; which, like J.B's Laser Lance, only functioned as a regular sword in combat). He would also use a Shoulder Cannon similar to J.B's Technobazooka (always used on Grimlord's air forces, never on any monsters). After Ryan’s father rebuilt the V.R. Skybase (it had been destroyed by Grimlords new fighter in, “Quest for Power: part 4), he gave Ryan a command phrase that could make the Skybase transform into the V.R. Troopertron. His reunion with Tyler would be brief, as Tyler branched out globally to find a way of destroying Grimlord. Ryan was charged with "holding the fort" until his father returned, which happened in the Christmas episode "Santa's Secret Trooper".

As the leader of the VR Troopers, Ryan was the only character to have two different uniforms since there was not enough stock footage of his Red/Blue uniform for the second season.

Ryan's mother was never seen throughout the series' run; since neither Ryan nor his father even mentioned her, it can be presumed that either Ryan's mother and Tyler are either not married, divorced, or she died sometime during his early childhood.

J.B. Reese / VR J.B. (portrayed by Michael Calvin Hollander credited as Michael Bacon) is a computer genius and a martial arts-black belt. J.B. is obsessed with technology and constantly relies on it for solutions. But his ongoing experience as a VR Trooper has taught him to appreciate life outside such conveniences. J.B. is quite capable of holding his own in battle, armed with a laser gun and a Laser Lance; he often uses the latter as a finishing maneuver against Grimlord's monsters and robots, but only uses it as a regular sword in combat known as the Super Saber. Once he forms the Laser Lance by extending a second blade on his Super Saber, he usually impales a mutant, who then (A) surrenders; (B) has "heartburn"; or (C) is unaffected (only Mechanoid, Photobot, Fanbot, and Electrobot are immune to the Laser Lance impalement and only Fanbot was immune to it altogether), typically the mutant surrenders.

If the mutant does surrender, J.B. destroys it anyway via rapid and repeated slashes; the mutant overheats, falls over and explodes. Also in J.B's arsenal is the VR Techno-Bazooka (basically a double-barrel cannon); J.B. projects a giant virtual image of himself to pull the trigger. The VR Techno-Bazooka is always used on Grimlord's air forces, never on any monsters. When the battle grows too dangerous for reality, J.B. activates a Vortex Command (via a button on his waist) to transport himself and the enemy into virtual reality. He also uses the VR Skybase (which can transform into Troopertron, a giant robot, despite the fact that the Metal Hero footage for J.B. had his counterpart giving the command, it was given to Ryan), and battle cruiser, when needed; his vehicles-arsenal also includes a VR Fighter bike (also known as the Sky cycle). His signature color is black.

Throughout the series' run, it was never explained what J.B's initials stood for. Also, while his father was seen in a few episodes, J.B's mother was never seen or mentioned at all.

Kaitlin Star / VR Kaitlin (portrayed by Sarah Brown) is a reporter and photographer for a newspaper called Underground Voice Daily. When she wasn't saving the world as a heroine, she was saving it through her journalism and photography. As a Trooper, Kaitlin didn't have as many personal weapons and attacks. She carried around a hand pistol, occasionally a hatchet weapon, and later gained the ability to split into two dubbed "VR Kaitlin Double Team." She mainly fought alongside J.B. and often served as backup for both male troopers via the VR Skybase and the VR Battle Cruiser. Kaitlin, on two events, demonstrated the ability to heal a fellow trooper by transferring some of her power to re-energize the other Trooper. Although Kaitlin never finished off a mutant herself, she and J.B. would often combine their laser pistol blasts in a "VR Double Team", usually stunning and weakening a mutant, with a few exceptions. This is not to be confused with the "VR Kaitlin Double Team", where she summons an exact duplicate of herself to assist her in battle (the reason for this is because her counterparts are actually two people from Spielban). She drives a Mazda Familia Hatchback, which was modified by Prof. Hart to fly and thus making travel and rescue operations faster. Also to note unlike Ryan and J.B., Kaitlin's parents were never mentioned or seen in the series. Her signature color is red. In the VR Troopers pilot, instead of Star, Kaitlin's last name was Hall.

Jeb (portrayed by Zeb, voiced by Kerrigan Mahan impersonating Jack Nicholson) is Ryan's pet Redbone Coonhound, whom he had since he was young. Jeb was accidentally subjected to a power surge in part two of "The Battle Begins" that gave him the ability to speak. Ryan had him promise that he would never speak when around other people, so Jeb is usually silent except while in the lab or when making a snide comment to Percy (who usually thinks it's Ryan who said it). Jeb is known for both his mischievous personality and his humorous demeanor. Often, Jeb serves as comic relief, and both Percy and Mrs. Rooney are frequent victims to his antics. Jeb was based on Metalder's talking cyborg Doberman, Springer. Jeb had to fight as a Trooper once when he and Ryan accidentally switched bodies. He also has a voracious appetite eating any food lying around, including food from Ryan and the other Troopers. However, Jeb does serve as a valuable assistant to the Troopers, even demonstrating some technological abilities and problem-solving skills, filling the role for the Troopers that Alpha 5 (and later 6) did for the Power Rangers.

Professor Hart

The entrance to Professor Hart's Lab

Professor Horatio Hart (portrayed by Julian Combs) is the mentor and serves a Zordon-like role. He was a computerized being who would provide and construct the necessary arsenal and equipment that the Troopers would use throughout the series. Hart was once a flesh and blood human who worked with Tyler Steele on the VR Trooper project. But one day, he was mortally injured by Grimlord; to keep Hart alive, Tyler virtualized his brain. In his most notable role in the episode "Good Trooper, Bad Trooper", he gave Ryan his own Virtualizer to allow Ryan to battle his evil clone after the clone stole the real Ryan's Virtualizer and took control of the Skybase. In early pilot footage for the show (as seen in a VR Troopers promo featured on the Power Rangers Official Fan Club video), Hart was originally portrayed by a Caucasian male slightly resembling Albert Einstein.