Ryan Steele



Ryan Steele (played by Brad Hawkins) is the son of Tyler Steele. Ryan learns the nature of his father's mysterious disappearance when he, Kaitlin Star and J.B. Reese are all recruited by Professor Hart to become V.R. Troopers. Ryan's responsibilities sometimes take a backseat to an obsession with finding his father. Ryan is the principal character of the series, directly linked through blood to the unfolding agenda of Grimlord...who uses Tyler in areas to increase his evil hold on virtual reality, and to continue his war against the Troopers to conquer their (read: our) universe. Every episode begins and ends with Ryan reflecting on his father's teachings at a Buddhist Temple where Tyler trained young Ryan in martial arts and in other lessons in life. Ryan's obsessive quest to locate his dad is mellowed by a desire not to see his friends, or their world, suffer. Ryan remains hopeful of ultimately reuniting with Tyler.Such indeed occurred in the series' first season, but only briefly. Ryan discovered that Dark Heart, one of Grimlord's deadliest cyborg-warriors, was actually Tyler, whose mind had been wiped. Ryan freed his father (who became human again), but Tyler was recaptured by Grimlord.Ryan's virtual reality powers in the first season include the Laser Fist Command, Lightning Hand Command (his patented finisher), and Internal Gyro Command. His VR vehicles-arsenal includes a "Turbo Cycle." Whenever a "Battle Grid" emergency arises, Ryan and his fellow Troopers employ alternate costumes to fight invading Skugs. His signature color is blue.Despite being a team player, Ryan typically fights his VR battles alone; due to the differing Japanese series used to create V.R. Troopers, Ryan's Japanese counterpart was only one warrior against a mutant army. In the "linking" U.S. footage, Ryan's joint battles (alongside his fellow Troopers) are limited to the Battle Grid and the Skybase cockpit. As footage of one loner Metal Hero series, Choujinki Metalder ran out, Saban replaced it with another: Uchuu Keiji Shaider. In the five-part story "Quest For Power", Ryan's powers are depleted after rescuing his father and the other two Troopers from Grimlord's cavernous dungeon in reality. Ryan is then given new armor, powers, vehicles (including the Drill Tank, Blue Hawk, and Nitro Cycle) and weapons (including a laser pistol and his new finisher, the Laser Saber; which, like JB's Laser Lance, only functioned as a regular sword in combat). He would also use a Shoulder Cannon similar to JB's Technobazooka (always used on Grimlord's air forces, never on any monsters). His reunion with Tyler would be brief, as Tyler branched out globally to find a way of destroying Grimlord. Ryan was charged with "holding the fort" until his father returned, which happened in the Christmas episode "Santa's Secret Trooper".As the leader of the VR Troopers, Ryan was the only character to have two different uniforms... since there was not enough stock footage of his Red/Blue uniform for the second season.Ryan's mother was never seen throughout the series' run; since neither Ryan nor his father even mentioned her, it can be presumed that either Ryan's mother and Tyler are divorced, or she died sometime during his early childhood.