Ryan Steele

Ryan Steele 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. Most episodes 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, as in the case of Darth Vader in Star Wars. 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 Entertainment 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.

Young Ryan
Ryan's younger self is often seen at the beginning of every episode. Whenever Ryan recalls his past, his younger self is often seen with Tyler. Most of the time, Young Ryan is training or doing father-son activities. He does get the spotlight in two episodes. In one episode, he and the other Troopers are reduced to the ages of 10-year-old children by a molecular regression device, but fortunately retain their memories. As kids, the Troopers only have limited time to defeat Grimlord's army. After young J.B. defeated the incoming air fleet with his Technobazooka and Cranoid with his Laser Lance, they regrouped in the Skybase where they retroformed after their limited Trooper time was up. As kids, they had to fly the Skybase to defeat Grimlord's remaining air fleet. They had one final fling as kids before Professor Hart restored them to their proper ages. Young Ryan also played a role in another episode when Ziktor sent Strickland through time to capture him, but his older half came into the past to save him; the older Ryan then saw Tyler, but had to return to the present before having a chance to speak to either of them