Drew Hale

Andrew "Drew" Hale is a fictional character in the Power Rangers francise. He is the Blue Ranger in the series Power Rangers: Thunderstorm, portrayed by Eric Lively. Drew is the only original Power Ranger to remain for the entire PRTS series, and is the second longest-serving Ranger overall behind Susie Gold, his teammate (whom has a crush on him). Until his departure, he was considered the brains of the Power Rangers team, creating many gadgets with which to solve problems that not even Telexa foresaw, and even invented the first team's wrist-worn communication devices (it is believed, though not proven, that he created every other communicator up until his departure from the show). He was supposed to be the love interest of Susie Gold, but the two remained friends due to their age difference. He is the Mentor of the new rangers in the upcoming Power Rangers Megaforce. He can only contact the rangers through the robotic ally Tensou, from guardian Gosei. Gosei chose Drew to be the mentor of the Megaforce Power Rangers because of his experience of being a ranger.

Character History
Power Rangers: Thunderstorm

Drew was one of the five "teenagers with attitude" selected by Telexa to become the original Power Rangers, along with Nicole Holden, Max Collins, Rico Lopez and Carmen Rodriguez. Drew became the Blue Thunderstorm Power Ranger, and was given both the Triceratops Power Coin and the Triceratops Dinozord.

Drew began the series as the stereotypical "nerd." His closest friends throughout the series were Rico and Susie, to whom he could communicate most comfortably and effectively, Susie, on the other hand, had a crush on him despite the age-difference. He was initially very insecure about himself, making him an easy target for people like twins Marine and Bryana, who attended Winwood Junior High with Susie, and who used tormented him often in the beginning. The other Rangers, especially Rico, defended him loyally, but Drew later evolved to become a stronger individual. He was one of the top members of Riverside High's science club and often helped its younger members with their experiments. One such example was with Willy, a young boy he helped to create a virtual reality simulator for a Science Fair. In the episode "High Five", Drew not only created the communicators, but also the interface that allowed the devices a remote access to the Command Center's teleportation unit.

It was revealed that, due to an experience in his youth when he was bitten by a fish during an experiment involving whirlpools, Drew developed icthyophobia: fear of fish. This fear would affect him well into his teens and Vita would use a spell to exacerbate this fear. When he was the last Ranger left able to contend with the Goo Fish monster, Drew overcame the spell and then, after helping to free his friends and defeat the monster, completely overcame the fear itself on a fishing trip with Lacie, the owner of the Youth Center.

Each of Drew's teammates had a unique skill to offer the team and, in Drew's case, it was his vast intelligence. He sought out to improve himself physically, and the audience would see him transition over time from the suspenders-wearing "brain" to a confident, hyper-intelligent athlete with appreciable fighting skills, thanks in great part to Rico's Uncle Pedro. Nicole, and later Susie, helped graduate Drew to the red belt level in karate.

Drew's intelligence would help the Rangers save the world on many occasions. When the Command Center was damaged, Telexa lost and Gamma incapacitated, it was his invention, the RADBUG that allowed the Rangers to travel to the Command Center. He performed a wide array of tasks, ranging from creating the method for which the Ranger's would use initially to infiltrate Vita's Dark Dimension, to disarming the lock-out mechanism for Gamma's activated self-destruct, and many other achievements. Though Drew did manage to attract girls earlier in his "nerd-like" persona, including Susie, it was after he began his journey toward self-improvement that he would garner more attention from romantic interests, even more so than the other members of the team.

Drew was accepted into the Young Scientists of America program. He befriended Max's cousin Curtis when he became the newest student at Riverside High. Curtis' musical interests, particularly in playing the trumpet, sparked Drew's intrigue into the rhythmic patterns of jazz music. Susie, Marine, and Bryana were also new students to Riverside High, but as newcoming freshmen.

New Teammates
One day, while roller blading in the park with Susie and Carmen, Drew bumps into new Riverside High student, Jasmine Harris, and meets her old friends, Jake Stewart, who would later becomes Carmen's love interest and Trey Wilkes, and helped them stop a runaway stroller carrying a teacher's baby boy. When Morticia kidnapped the new teens to change them into his own Dark Warriors, Drew, Susie, and Carmen set out to rescue them. Drew entered the cave where the teens were being held and grabbed the evil snake that would turn them evil. However, the snake wrapped itself around Drew's neck, and he was forced to remove his helmet to breathe, thus revealing his identity. Jasmine, Jake, and Trey swore to keeping the Rangers' secret and became friends with everyone. When Nicole, Rico, and Max were chosen to attend a peace conference in Switzerland, Drew and the Rangers had to retrieve the Sword of Light to allow the Rangers to transfer their powers. Though Drew and Susie was sad to see his teammates leave, they was happily surprised that his new friends would take their place as the new Rangers.

When Carmen fell through a time wrap to the days of the Wild West, she would recruit Drew's ancestor Andrew in the 1880s to become the first Blue Ranger when she assembles and takes command of the Wild West Ranger team in a battle against Goldar and several other time traveling foes. In season 3, Drew gained new powers from Ninjor, who gave him the Wolf Power Coin, and became the Blue Ninja Thunder Ranger.

==Ninja Thunder Alien Rangers==

The Rangers are de-aged by a time reversal spell performed by Vita and Vito's father, Master Vile. Drew devised a plan to restore the rangers' ages using a machine that runs off of the power coins. Drew restored himself, but Goldona steals the machine and Vito, Lady Morticia, and Vita destroy all six Ninja Power Coins. With his Wolf Ninja Thunder Coin destroyed and his Triceratops Power Coin damaged beyond use, Drew's role changed. He no longer fought as a Power Ranger, but rather acted solely in an advisory and supporting role. In fact, Drew was the only Ranger in this period to be portrayed by his regular actor - the others had been replaced temporarily by child actors after Master Vile had used the Orb of Doom to revert time by approximately ten years. Drew acted in this period as a liaison between the Aquitian Rangers and Earth. It was the cure for Drew's reverse-aging that eventually served as the plot device by which he was removed from the show.

Time Force
At 17, Drew officially retired from active Ranger service, allowing Hunter Dean (who was sent back in Jake Stewart's place) to take his place while he continued his support role by creating and maintaining most of the weaponry, gadgets and Zords the Zeo Rangers would use. He traveled briefly to Aquitar to assist the Aquitian Rangers in battling with a race of aliens called the Hydro Contaminators. To do so, he completed a prototype device that Cestro started to defeat them. Upon his return, his ship was diverted by King Mondo to fly straight into the sun. From the Power Chamber, Telexa, Gamma 5, and the Rangers were able to rescue him.

Drew graduated from Riverside High early due to receiving extra credits, with no idea on what to due with his life, Drew decided to go to Aquitar. His departure crushed Susie, where she was seen crying and the other rangers hugging her.

Before the Gold Ranger's identity was revealed as Trey of Triforia, several red herrings mislead the viewers into believing that the Gold Ranger was Drew, but when Jasmine confronted him with this theory he assured the team that he'd never have kept such a thing secret from them, and had simply been busy working on a never-specified project (most likely the Turbo powers). When Trey returned to Triforia on sabbatical to try to unify his three selves, Drew was selected to assume Gold Ranger's powers. However, the "negative proton energy" that his body had absorbed in the Command Center's explosion prevented him from taking the powers. Instead Nicole, the former Pink Ranger (who, being nowhere near the Command Center at the time of its explosion, was a safe choice), received the powers.

Drew was last seen to be suffering from accelerated aging because the regenerator he used to restore his proper age had a side effect. To counter this, he traveled to Aquitar for a cure from their Eternal Falls (analogous to the Fountain of Youth), and opted to remain there with Cestria, a female Aquitian with whom he had fallen in love, unknown to Susie, who she planned on telling Drew her true feelings for him. Drew was restored back to his true age, but he told his friends that he planned to stay on Aquitar to be with Cestria. Once again, Susie was saddened.

C-Squad Power Rangers: SPD
Drew is mentioned in C-Squad Power Rangers SPD, when he sends Susie a dear John letter while she was stuck in 2020 with her friends, helping SPD battle Vexica, the letter was sent to Susie just one day before her graduation day. Drew's letter stated that Susie was his best friend and like a little sister to him, but that he revealed that he and Cestria (an ailen from Aquatiar) are engaged to be married, effectively ending Susie's dream of being Drew's girlfriend. Due to this, Susie was seen in tears, but finally realizes there are other guys and went on with her life. Eric Lively is credited in one episode for archive footage that represents Susie's memories of Drew.

Megaforce
Years after retiring from Power Ranger duties, Drew, now a teacher at Seaside High is 30 years old. He has a teenage niece, Kelly. Drew becomes the mentor to the Megaforce Power Rangers who are students at a high school. Kelly, his niece, is among the rangers. He is urged by Gosei to recurit teengers to become Megaforce Power Rangers and become their mentor. Drew was hesiant to let Kelly become a ranger, he promised her mother, his sister, that he take care of her and protect her. But when she heard about evil conquering Earth, she wanted to join, despite her uncle's protests. Since Power Ranger duties, Drew had become an caring uncle towards Kelly.

Trivia

 * Drew was the first ranger with a first name Andrew, the second was Andy Holden.
 * He is the second ranger of the Thunderstorm Era to become a ranger mentor, the first was Susie Gold.
 * Drew is the second ranger of the Thunderstorm Era to be a teacher.