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Along the same vein as Why do consoles explode in Star Trek?


Why is it that whenever anything hits something in the Power Rangers, sparks fly?

There seems to be no explanation for it other than a cool special effect.

Power rangers sparks!

Naftali
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    Star Trek is easy to explain. Being a communist society, they find it exceedingly difficult to manufacture high technology goods, and must buy them from the 24th century United States (a capitalist nation). Therefor redshirts are much more expendable than say, a ten cent fuse. With the Power Rangers it is most likely the result of pent-up teenage hormones manifesting through their Power Ranger superpowers. – John O Sep 27 '12 at 18:56
  • @JohnO lol, but it not always the PR that get all sparky. it is sometimes the baddies, and sometimes random scenery – Naftali Sep 27 '12 at 19:02
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    The idea is that the suits are "power weapons" themselves. When they get hit the power that keeps them somewhat safe will spark. It's the same idea when you see the glow of shielding being hit by other weapons in Star Trek. – Gorchestopher H Sep 27 '12 at 19:51
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    Because sparks are really cool and flashy... ooohhh shiny – Chad Sep 27 '12 at 20:23

2 Answers2

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The idea is that the suits are "power weapons" themselves, they materialize with their offensive "power weapons". When they get hit the power that keeps them somewhat safe will spark. It's the same idea when you see the glow of shielding being hit by other weapons in Star Trek.

In response to the comments I'd like to add that all weapons on the show used post-transformation are intended to be "power weapons". If it looks like a sword or staff, it is a power sword/staff. The sparks don't typically fly when they are not "transformed" into their power-forms. In the rare event that sparks fly when something non-power hits something else that is non-power (and can't explode on its own) the reason is special effect consistency.

SQB
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Gorchestopher H
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    But this happens when weapons hit almost anything. Not just their suits... That was my question. I sorta understand that sparky suits... – Naftali Sep 28 '12 at 13:19
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    All of their weapons and the weapons of their enemies are "power weapons". If it looks like a sword, it's not just a sword, but a "power sword". This is universal in the Super Sentai series. – Gorchestopher H Sep 28 '12 at 13:58
  • Best question/ answer ever. –  Jan 16 '17 at 20:02
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Actually there is a canonical explanation for the sparks flying off of the Rangers whenever they get hit. The reason it's sparks and not their suits getting ripped or burned is because of a thing called the "Morphin Grid" that the Rangers channel their powers from. Comparable to something like the "Speed Force" in DC comics, it's an extra-dimensional force from which all Power Rangers draw their abilities and, whenever they're morphed, it shields them from potential damage. It's not infinite though, which is why when Rangers take enough abuse they've been shown in some stressful battle scenes to have ripped suits, singe marks, and broken helmets on occasion. Usually when they hit that point though the Rangers are just knocked out of their powered up forms as a sign that "Hey, maybe you shouldn't keep fighting this guy."

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. This covers much of the same information as the existing answer, but if you could find a reference to quote on this "Morphin Grid" you could improve your answer to be better. – DavidW May 08 '20 at 01:04