Wesley Collins
Wesley Collins is a
fictional character from the
Power Rangers universe, appearing in the
television series Power Rangers: Time Force. 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 chronomorpher 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 Red Ranger,
Aurico.
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 in general.
When
Ransik and the Time Force Rangers arrived from the future, Wes saved
Jen (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. Jen gave Wes the Red Chronomorpher so that he could activate it and, at the same time, allow her and the other three Time Force officers to morph into 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 acclimatize 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 Chronomorpher and became the Red Ranger again.
When Ransik was finally apprehended, Jen returned to her own time, leaving Wes in the year
2001. Wes still possessed the Red Chronomorpher, 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 to destroy the Mut-Orgs. He also appeared in the episode
Forever Red, which featured a team-up of all previous Red Rangers against the remanants 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 Eric, the Quantum Ranger.
