Greetings fellow Power Rangers fans! Today, is our inaugural edition of Ranger Theory, a series of editorials looking at some of the weird things in the franchise. Mostly the series will take in-depth looks at unaddressed plots, or character backgrounds which can normally be explained away as lazy writing. However, we will try to tackle these topics and ideas as it is meant to be within the series canon/ lore.
Now, for our first Ranger Theory, we will discussing the Vile family and how every member has a different name. For those who may be unaware of who the Vile family, it consists of Rita Repusla, Rito Revolto, and their father, Master Vile. Majority of Power Rangers fans normally remember Rita Repusla since she is the first villain in the franchise. Yet, there are some fans who at times do forget that Rita had a family outside of her marriage to Lord Zedd. Both Rita’s brother, Rito Revolto, and father, Master Vile, were introduced in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers season 3, when Saban Brands began adapting footage from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. In Kakuranger, the pair are actual family members, being father and son, as well as severed as main antagonists. Luckily enough, fans can purchase and view Ninja Sentai Kakuranger on DVD through Shout! Factory to learn more about their roots since that is not our focus for today!
Like we mentioned earlier, today we just want to discuss and question why does each member have a different surname name! With Rita being the first member of the family onscreen fans would assume her family surname name is Repsula, but in actuality it changes between each member. Rita’s brother, Rito is next family member introduced and the dialog/ context is the only thing that explains that they are siblings. However, while they are not established as twins they fit the trope of Theme Twin Naming like Rugrats’ Phil and Lil, as well as their names consist of alliterations: Rita Repsula & Rito Revolto. In addition, their last names are synonyms and puns on the word, disgust. Several fans assume that the naming process for siblings is a cultural thing for these characters, and that surnames do not naturally exist. This theory is highly believable once their father, Master Vile debut in the series.
Master Vile, himself is depicted as a widow/ single-father, as the family does mention having a mother. Yet, the character of Master Vile’s wife and Rita/ Rito’s mother is never explored past a few throw away lines. If viewers never caught that dialog one could maybe assume Master Vile had his kids asexually since he created the Blue Globber in similar style as to how Dragon Ball’s Namekians breed. It also raises the argument on if Blue Globber is consider Rita and Rito’s sibling, but that is another theory. Since the character of Vile’s wife is never explored or introduced, the audience does not know her name/ identity. Some fans may refer to her as either Mrs. Vile, or Mistress Vile, but with no real identification it easily debunks a theory we thought to impose. Our theory was that Rita took her mother’s maiden name, and Rito got his surname from Vile somehow. Hopefully one day the BOOM! Studios comics will address the who was Rita Repulsa’s mother!
Continuing on with Master Vile, he furthers the belief that names or titles are simple fabrications within his society’s culture. He does not seemingly go by any other name, or title than what already is present. This raises another question as to whether his name is simply Vile, and if he bears the title of Master; or if his given name is in fact Master with his surname being Vile? This has been the case with other characters in fiction such as FullMetal Alchemist’s Fuhrer King Bradley. In the Fullmetal Alchemist series, King Bradley’s given first name is King, and it is not his title. In actuality, Bradley’s title is that of Fuhrer, a reference to Nazi Germany and subtext within the series. If Master Vile’s name is a similar case, as seen with King Bradley it could lead to interesting jokes and dialog if the character is reintroduced within the BOOM! Studios comics.
For all we know, Master Vile could even be the name he gave himself upon becoming the monarch of the M51 Galaxy. Then with leading by example, Master Vile’s offspring could have been permitted to select their own villainous names when they came of age. However, there is no definitive explanation as to how their names exist within the canon. We are all just made to assume that the writers chose these names to make the characters sound very villainous. This a typical trope found in programs made for children, but people would think the staff would try to make Rita, Rito, and Vile have a family name. Then again we would also need to question what is Lord Zedd’s full name, and if Rita opted out of taking Zedd’s name when they got married? …
Yet, at the end of day, the Vile family is one interesting subject to discuss in general, whether it be the individual members or their specific names. There are also other theories to be addressed pertaining to the Vile family, but those are ones to be discussed on another day. Never the less, this wraps up our first-ever Ranger Theory, and we hope everyone enjoyed our first topic. We have more Ranger Theories the way, and we hope readers will want to suggest new theories to us via our comment section, or to us on social media. In addition, tell us your opinions on the topics and tell us your theories/ answers to what we have to offer! To stay up to date with Hero Club please like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!
