Wesley Collins
 |
Template:Infobox Power Rangers
Wes Collins is the protagonist in the television series Power Rangers Time Force of the Power Rangers universe. Wes served as Red Ranger and second in command of the team. His character is played by Jason Faunt.
Though technically Jen is the leader of the team, as Red Ranger, Wes is considered an informal field leader, ever since regaining the Red Chrono Morpher from Alex. A similar situation was used in the earlier series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers in which the character Delphine, the White Ranger, is the leader, but stories revolved around the Blue Ranger, Cestro.
Background
Wes was the child of Mr. Collins, a local industry overlord of the fictional town of Silver Hills. Mr. Collins is presumably a widower, as Wes' mother was never seen or referenced during the series. Mr. Collins wanted Wes to grow up to inherit the family business from him, but his grooming served only to alienate Wes. Despite being sent to highly prestigious schools and universities (where he first met Eric Myers), Wes was never very disciplined and maintained an easygoing attitude to life. Although he was generally spoiled, he was also a friendly and good-natured person.
Character history
When Ransik and the Time Force Rangers arrived from the future, Wes saved Jen Scotts (the Pink Time Force Ranger and team leader) from an attack by Cyclobots, revealing to her that he was genetically identical to the Red Ranger in the future, Alex (Prompting fan speculation that Alex is Wes's future descendant). Jen gave Wes the Red Chrono Morpher so that he could activate it and, at the same time, allow her and the other three Time Force officers to morph into Power Rangers. He refused to do so without an explanation, at which point Jen angrily left. He followed and activated the morpher, becoming the Red Time Force Ranger. Jen did not want Wes to keep the morpher, but when he revealed his commitment (and along with urging from the other Rangers), she reluctantly accepted.
Wes also allowed the Rangers to acclimate to the 21st century, by providing them with a place to stay (an abandoned clock tower), and present-day clothes. He eventually moved in with them after a disagreement with his father in which his father refused to pay a ransom demand to free a busload of children (despite being wealthy enough to easily do so).
With the Rangers, Wes developed a certain discipline that his father could never give him. He also developed romantic feelings for Jen - he more than likely had them initially, but it took a long while for her to reciprocate. She finally confirmed how she felt for him when Alex, the Red Ranger from the future and Jen's fiance, arrived in the present and attempted to take the Red Ranger powers back. At the same time, Wes' father was critically injured and Wes, without Ranger responsibilities, went to take over the business. He changed his mind when one of Mr. Collins' associates revealed that Mr. Collins had been proud of Wes for making his own destiny. Wes (with the backing of Jen and the other Rangers) retrieved his Chrono Morpher and became the Red Ranger again. Returning in time to destroy the robot Dragontron with an incredible move, the Rangers by this point seemed to have accepted him as their leader as they followed his plan without question (and it was something no one had ever seen before but they trusted he knew what he was doing) unlike how they always questioned Alex.
When Ransik was finally apprehended, Jen returned to her own time, leaving Wes in the year 2001. They admitted their feelings for each other but Jen still had to leave. Wes still possessed the Red Chrono Morpher, and along with Eric Myers, the Quantum Ranger, became the leader of his father's police organization, the Silver Guardians. Wes and Eric later became best friends in the interim between then and the teamup with Wild Force.
In Power Rangers Wild Force, Wes was shortly reunited with Jen, as well as the other Time Force Rangers, to destroy the Mut-Orgs. He and Eric also appeared in the episode Forever Red, which featured a team-up of all previous Red Rangers against the remnants of the Machine Empire, during which he jokingly bemoaned the fact that he, unlike Tommy Oliver, lacked his own 'fan club' even though he had changed the course of history. Currently, Wes is an active Red Ranger and commands the Silver Guardians, along with his best friend Eric, the Quantum Ranger.