Bulk and Skull

Infobox Power Rangers
Color = gray
Color text = white
Series = Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, ,
Series2 = Power Rangers In Space
Name = Bulk and Skull
First appearance = Day of the Dumpster (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Last appearance = Forever Red ()
Status = unknown
Affiliation = None
Homeworld = Earth
Portrayed by = Paul Schrier Jason Narvy

Bulk and Skull are fictional characters in the Power Rangers universe. They appeared as permanent cast members from the original series of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" until ', and Bulk by himself was a regular in ', making the pair the two longest-appearing characters in the program.

Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier (Paul Schrier) and Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch (Jason Narvy), from the very beginning, provided much of the comic relief in the series, usually through over-the-top slapstick (often accompanied by a suitable soundtrack, including background music). This was no doubt highlighted by their physical appearances: Bulk was heavyset and Skull lean. Similar comedy duos have appeared in other works to similar effect (see Laurel and Hardy). Bulk was the dominant member of the duo, and Skull would usually follow and attempt to emulate Bulk. Such is exemplified when Skull would repeat whatever Bulk had said, usually beginning with "yeah".

MMPR pilot

In the pilot for the TV show, Bulk (not mentioned by name, and played by the same actor) is a member of a gang of punks - the typical "bad boys" and "bad girls" of any teen high school. One of the gang members hits on Kimberly but she rejects his advances. This leads to the entire gang engaging in combat at a bowling alley with the five Rangers-to-be. Each one is disposed of in a typical gag manner, such as Bulk sliding into the Skittles when kicked in the back by Jason, and another gang member is unwittingly hit by Billy. Skull is not present in the pilot.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Bulk and Skull started out as bullies and punks at Angel Grove High School and often hung out at the Youth Center and Juice Bar. Their actions are motivated by greed and ego in the first season. Wacky schemes abound, such as creating an obviously-fake kung fu style called "Cockroach Kung Fu" to attempting to catch fish or claiming reward money for themselves, always ending with their failure and/or humiliation. It is notable that they are seen with a gang in the episode "Food Fight" and a never-before-seen original filmed scene from the first episode "Day of the Dumpster". They are also frequently put in detention by Angel Grove High's somewhat-antagonistic principal, Mr. Caplan, who is quick to punish anyone and everyone without a further investigation (even falsely sending the Ranger teens to detention for tampering with a school water fountain, when it was really their clones created by Rita Repulsa, effectively keeping the Power Rangers from performing their duties).

During the second season, they attempted to discover the secret identities of the Power Rangers and repeatedly failed, eventually giving up by the time of the episode "A Friend in Need". Ironically enough, they "did" discover the Rangers' identities twice. Once, they saved the Rangers when the Ranger team lost their memories and de-morphed in front of them - Bulk and Skull tricked the Scatterbain monster to fire his amnesia beam through a prism, distorting the beam and restoring the Rangers' memories. Unfortunately, Bulk and Skull lost their short-term memories in the process due to being flung back by the amnesia beam and landing on their heads. The second time, a psychic pointed the Ranger teens out to Bulk, but he didn't believe her as they were holding a picture of the morphed Ranger team at the time just given to them by Ernie. They would eventually learn the identities of one set of Rangers, along with everyone else, several years later in the "Power Rangers in Space" finale (with which they could eventually figure out every past Ranger, too).

Often, the duo got themselves mixed up with some of the villains' schemes. In "Green With Evil" Part IV, the two tried to flee the city in a bus, but were taken hostage by the giant Goldar. The Power Rangers had to summon the Megazord to save them from being thrown over a cliff. In "The Wedding", when they went to Australia with the Rangers for Spring Break, Alpha 5, who was under an evil spell, sent them to the outback, where they encountered Australian wildlife up close. After Alpha recovered from the spell and sent them back, they decided that if anyone asked, "nothing happened!" In the following episode, "Return Of The Green Ranger" Part I, the Wizard of Deception brainwashed them into going to get a lock of Tommy's hair, but failed miserably. The Wizard angrily put them to sleep.

Skull had a crush on Kimberly, and Bulk appeared to want to win Trini's heart, as well, in a few episodes. Whenever the girls were with the four other Rangers, however, they referred to the girls and the guys as "nerds" and "geeks" (despite the fact that Kimberly originally appeared to be ditzy and materialistic, not intellectual), and occasionally "dorks" and "losers", as well, among other insults. This group of demeaning insults and namecalling would eventually turn against them by the time of the episode "A Friend in Need", when two teenage girls call "them" as such throughout the episode. This was later explained by Paul Schrier himself as the two being angry at the world and jealous of the five teens, hence the namecalling, shoving, and bullying that they originally did.

A popular change of direction for the duo occurred in the third season of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", when they joined the Angel Grove Junior Police Force and first met Lieutenant Stone. Lt. Stone became a permanent character himself, frequently giving Bulk and Skull orders that they failed to perform, leading eventually to his anger (rather than their humiliation). Despite this, Bulk and Skull were close to Lt. Stone and became more likable characters, changing from stereotypical bullies to good natured goofs.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:The Movie

When the movie ends with a celebration in the Angel Grove harbor, thanking the Power Rangers for saving the world, although Bulk and Skull complain that it was themselves who saved the day.

Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers

Bulk and Skull are regressed against children due to Master Vile's Orb of Doom, and act like the bullies they were in the first season. Bulk is briefly turned into the "Brat Boy" monster by Rita and Zedd during the course of the mini-series and battles the Aquitian Rangers, but soon rebels against his masters as his human self surfaces from within, prompting Rita and Zedd to return him to normalacy in retaliation.

Paul Schrier directed a "Mighty Morphin Alien Ranger" episode "Attack of the 60' Bulk", which he also appeared in briefly, despite his character at the time being reduced to the age of a child. Schrier (under the name of Paul Schrier II) had also directed a few episodes of "Power Rangers: Turbo" during the first half of the season (while his character of Bulk was a chimp).

Power Rangers: Zeo

During "", Bulk and Skull remained members of the Junior Police Force until Bulk's attempts to woo the police chief's daughter accidentally caused Lt. Stone to be fired. They quit the force too and joined Stone when he opened his own detective agency. Also, during this time, Bulk and Skull secretly hosted Rito and Goldar, who lost their memories after setting up the bomb that destroyed the Command Center at the end of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, adopting them as their "pets" (though the two monsters really were more like Bulk and Skull's servants). However, when Rito and Goldar regained their memories, they turned on their masters and went back to Lord Zedd and Rita.

In one episode, Skull shows he is an adept classical pianist by playing Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. While Skull enjoyed classical music it was something of a hidden shame behind his tough guy facade. Fearing ridicule, he long kept his talent hidden even from Bulk.

Zeo concluded with Bulk and Skull accepting an offer to work for an agency in France on a top secret mission, and depart much to the dismay and frustration of Stone. This major plot point was dropped without explanation in between Zeo and filming of .

Power Rangers: Turbo

At the start of "", Bulk and Skull got a chance to rejoin the Police Force when Detective Stone went to replace Ernie as owner of the Gym and Juice Bar. Unfortunately before they can get back to work, they are transformed into chimpanzees by .

Bulk and Skull remain chimpanzees for several episodes. They are voiced by the actors who play Bulk and Skull, however only the audience can understand them. Jerome Stone takes the chimpanzees into his care (claiming that they seem 'familiar'), and they make several attempts to inform him of their true identities.

They are eventually transformed back into humans, but a temporary side-affect turns them invisible. This state only lasts for a few episodes until they finally return to normal and attempt to take on proper jobs (Jerome Stone arranges for them to get a new one in most episodes) ranging from pizza delivery to construction, which they always get fired from.

They were transformed into monkeys so Narvy and Schrier would have time to work on a proposed spin-off series for the characters which would have seen them operate a hotel and feature El Vez, the "Mexican Elvis", a local personality in Southern California. The attempts never made it to a final production and the actors returned full time to the series. [ [http://nopinkspandex.livejournal.com/9945.html Audio interview with Paul Schrier] ]

NOTE: in episode "The Darkest Day" wants talking Bulk says monsters are Pudgy Pig, Eye Guy, The Peckster.

Turbo:A Power Rangers Movie

Zordon summons the Rangers to protect Lerigot. Armed with Power Boxes, Tommy and Kat rescue Lerigot from the African wilderness, but they end up losing him to Divatox later on. Divatox takes the wizard to Muranthias along with other captives - Bulk, Skull, Jason, Kimberly, and Lerigot's wife Yara and child Bethel.

Power Rangers: In Space

During "", Jerome Stone left the series and Bulk and Skull spent their time helping the rather loony Professor Phenomenus locate and capture extraterrestrial life.

The best transformation and growth of Bulk and Skull's characters is shown in the climax finale, "Countdown to Destruction". Towards the end of that episode, Astronema's forces have conquered Earth. She asks rounded-up citizens of Angel Grove where the Rangers are - getting no response, she prepares to attack the citizens. Before she is able to do so, Bulk & Skull are the first of the civilians that claim to be Rangers to buy the real team some time. A minute or so later, when Astronema doesn't buy the ruse, the real Rangers teens show up, and breaking with tradition, morph in front of everyone, showing their identities to the world. They begin to fight the hundreds of Quantrons and Piranhatrons in the area.

At this point, Bulk can't stand to see the Rangers he adores against these odds, so leads the citizens of Angel Grove in a fight for their city, and everyone joins in fighting the monsters alongside the Rangers. The cry for everyone to "get in there" to fight alongside the Rangers is widely seen as the finest hour for Bulk and Skull's characters.

Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy

Bulk and Professor Phenomenus board the space station Terra Venture for its interstellar journey. Skull, however, did not wake up in time and was left behind. At the end of the series, Terra Venture arrived on Mirinoi along with Bulk and Phenomenus.

Power Rangers: Wild Force

During the "" episode "Forever Red", Bulk and Skull made a special cameo appearance. It is not explained how Bulk returned from Mirinoi, but his presence was not criticized by fans, most of whom were glad the duo were back together for such a special episode. Possibly, when the Galaxy Rangers visited Earth in "Lightspeed Rescue", the Rangers took Bulk (and possibly Professor Phenomenus) along (another possible explanation could be the portal connecting Earth and Mirinoi shown during "Lightspeed Rescue" may still be open, allowing easy travel between the two planets).

Bulk and Skull were shown as servers and managers of a tropical-themed bar called "Bulkmeiers". Tommy Oliver, the former Power Ranger, is also present. In this episode, Bulk and Skull were shown having a conversation about the early days of Power Rangers - in particular, Bulk is bragging to Skull about how he once saw Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, despite the fact that Skull saw them also.

Interestingly, they seemed afraid of disturbing the resting Tommy, to a degree indicating both respect and fear of something greater than martial arts, suggesting that they had learned of his identity as a Power Ranger by this time.

It was considered that Skull would have married Kimberly Hart, with whom Skull held a long time crush, by this time. However, this idea was shelved by production.

This was their (to date) final appearance on any incarnation of Power Rangers. Between the "Lost Galaxy" and "Wild Force", Schrier was still involved with the PR Crew, voicing Infinitor in ' and Severax in '.

References

ee also

*Laurel and Hardy
*Abbott and Costello
*Kenan & Kel