History Main / SixthRanger

* French amateur ''SuperSentai'' parody ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jushi_Sentai_France_Five France Five]]'' starts out with the ''introduction'' of the Sixth Ranger ("Silver Mousquetaire") to the FiveManBand, but still faithfully follows the trope since the episode is supposed to be in the middle of a hypothetical TV series.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', Gus became the sixth ranger to the other main five characters, and a rare example by joining in the second episode.

* Do Mike and Penny's Popples on {{Popples}} count? They came in halfway through the series, and seemed to hang out with them most of the time.
* In Season 2 of ''ShirtTales'', Kip Kangaroo is introduced as the sixth member.

** KamenRiderV3 and Riderman
** KamenRiderStronger and Tackle
** KamenRiderAgito and Gills

** KamenRiderDecade and Diend (who's technically a Third Rider, what with an AlternateUniverse incarnation of KamenRiderKuuga playing sidekick to Decade)
** KamenRiderDouble and Accel
** KamenRiderOOO and Birth.

** ''HeartcatchPrettyCure'' added a third ranger of its own, Cure Sunshine, as well as a later ''fourth'' ranger, Cure Moonlight.
** ''SuitePrettyCure'' introduced [[MysteriousProtector Cure Muse]] early on, although she doesn't join the team, let alone reveal her identity [[spoiler:until much later in the series, where she does both]]. Later, it followed Fresh's example and added a reformed DarkMagicalGirl of its own: Cure Beat.

* The trope sometimes gets played with when a character has all the trappings of a Sixth Ranger, but doesn't join the team. The Gold Ranger from ''[[Series/PowerRangersZeo Zeo]]'' and the aforementioned Phantom Ranger were {{Mysterious Protector}}s that only dropped in to give aid on occasion, while the [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Magna Defender]] and [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Quantum Ranger]] were each an AloofAlly to their resident teams, actively clashing with the Rangers over their goals. Even these were open to a DoubleSubversion; both the Gold Ranger and Magna Defender passed on their powers to people who ''did'' join the respective teams.

** ''MMPR'' is also a key example of just how much PopularityPower a SixthRanger can have. The trope-naming character, Tommy Oliver, is a [[LongRunners mainstay]] in the Power Rangers setting, and he (and his actor, Jason David Frank) has been a regular for ''five'' seasons (two and a half of ''Mighty Morphin'', ''Zeo'', half of ''Turbo'', and ''Dino Thunder'') where the cast is usually refreshed yearly. The only ones who even come close to such a record are ThoseTwoGuys Bulk and Skull (all three seasons of ''Mighty Morphin'', ''Zeo'', ''Turbo'', and ''in Space''; plus Bulk's semiregular appearances in ''Lost Galaxy'' and ''Samurai'').

* Bakura in ''Anime/YuGiOh'', moreso in [[Manga/YuGiOh the manga]] than the anime, who joins the core four of Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu. He notably has this role for most of the manga, while in the anime it only really lasts for the Duelist Kingdom arc. If anything, for the majority of the anime, Kaiba actually somewhat fills the role moreso than anyone else. Otogi and Mai arguably fit as additional "rangers" as well.

* Starting in ''HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Neville, Luna, and Ginny (all of whom but Luna had been recurring characters before) began to function as a sort of auxiliary trio to the main characters.

* Pumyra in ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}''

* Pumyra in ''{{WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011}}''

* Victor Mancha of ''{{Runaways}}''.

* ''BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' had not only two additions (Abare Black and Abare Killer), but [=AbaRed=] also got a SuperMode called Abare Max. The writers of ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', which was under production while ''Abaranger'' was starting to air in Japan, planned to turn Abare Max into an actual sixth ranger known as the the Triassic Ranger until Abare Max's debut episode revealed that it was just a different form of the Red Ranger.

** There are also Ranger Keys for ten so-called "extra heroes," representing warriors beyond sixths, such as [[TokusouSentaiDekaranger Deka Master, Deka Swan]] and [[SamuraiSentaiShinkenger Lady Shinken Red]], or unusual allies, such as [[GekisouSentaiCarranger Signalman]], [[SeijuuSentaiGingaman Black Knight Hyuga]] and [[GogoSentaiBoukenger Zubaan]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperSentaiBattleDiceO'' makes turned this into a playing feature. Players assemble a team of five Rangers, one robot, and an EX Card that can either be a one-round addition to the team or a team-wide special move. On the other hand, sixth / extra characters can still be part of the main five.

* Penn State became an Eleventh Ranger to [[CollegeFootball the Big Ten]]; they redesigned their logo to hide an "11" in there without having to change their name. When Nebraska joined, the logo changed (no more hidden numbers) but the name didn't.

* The concept really took hold when ''NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' and ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' reintroduced the ThreePlusTwo format last seen in ''Liveman'', allowing for the addition of more new members than in previous shows. The Gouraigers/Thunder Rangers were added first to fill out a five-man team before the introduction of an actual sixth member in the form of Shurikenger/the Samurai Ranger. Many subsequent seasons followed suit with more than one addition - ''TokusouSentaiDekaranger''/''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' and ''{{Engine Sentai Go-onger}}''/''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' even went up to seven full-time members each; ''Dekaranger''/''SPD'' and ''Go-onger''/''RPM'' starting off with three heroes and then adding two sets of two.
** ''Dekaranger'', in fact, went even further. "Deka" is Japanese slang for 'detective,' but since the 'deca-' prefix means ten of something, they went ahead and had ten Rangers total with the aforementioned seven full-time teammates and three {{One Shot Character}}s: [=DekaSwan=] (MissionControl getting to suit up for once), [=DekaBright=] (a DistaffCounterpart to [=DekaBreak=], one of the regulars), and [=DekaGold=] (a movie-exclusive character who barely gets to do an AssKickingPose before being blasted). ''SPD'' carried over the first two as the Cat Ranger and Nova Ranger, respectively. Other series that drove their counts up past six with One-Shots, {{Eleventh Hour Ranger}}s and the like include ''Magiranger''/''Mystic Force'' (six regulars plus two at the Eleventh Hour), ''Jungle Fury'' (five regulars plus three occasionally recurring, see below), ''Shinkenger''/''Samurai'' (six plus one at the Eleventh Hour), and ''Kyoryuger'' (six plus more recurring - at least three with two more suspected to come).

** Other candidates for the role of "Fifth Beatle" include ex-drummer [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]], ex-bassist Stuart Sutcliffe (who quit the band to get married before they made it big, then died of an undiagnosed aneurysm a year later), and EricClapton (he played on several of their tracks and was seriously considered for membership in the band at one point).

* The ''{{Rambo}}'' cartoon also added two new heroes (Chief and T.D. Jackson) and two new villains (Dr. Hyde and X-Ray) in later episodes.

* The ComicBook/FantasticFour have had a few extras over the years—Johnny's ex-wife Lyja, Ben's girlfriend Sharon Ventura, the time displaced teenage version of Valeria Richards, and others; not counting substitute members who have filled in temporary vacancies in the team like Crystal, Luke Cage, She-Hulk, and the Black Panther.
** Recent promo images seem to be implying that Spider-Man will be this with [[spoiler: the Human Torch being revived.]]

* Perhaps the most famous example of a Sixth Ranger in comics has to be CaptainAmerica, who joined The Avengers in the fourth issue of the series, and ended up becoming TheHero of the team.

* There's a whole slew of Sixth Rangers in ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''. BlackPanther and {{Hawkeye}} don't join until several episodes into the first season, and then MsMarvel and the Vision join the group in the second season.

* Most team members of ThatGuyWithTheGlasses qualify, if you consider the main "team" to be the Nostalgia Critic, Linkara, the Nostalgia Chick, Suede and Marzgurl. Spoony could even be said to follow this Trope full circle- he became immensely popular and then left (Due to business deals in 2012- Spoony still appears in some videos on TGWTG).

* There's a whole slew of Sixth Rangers in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''. BlackPanther and {{Hawkeye}} don't join until several episodes into the first season, and then MsMarvel and the Vision join the group in the second season.

* ''TheMelancholyOfHaruhiSuzumiya'' - Tsuruya, for the FiveManBand ''SOS-Brigade'' is very involved in their activities, but for some reason isn't recruited. That is, ''despite'' being a natural co-conspirator of Haruhi, since they are so similar. [[spoiler: She also appears to know that the SOS-Brigade isn't "normal", telling them to work on their {{masquerade}} more.]]
** She actually states that she prefers looking from outside.
*** [[spoiler: On the other hand, the 9th light novel very strongly focuses on one girl during a set of tests to get into the Brigade, and so it seems likely that she will become the real Sixth Ranger.]]

* ''StationeryVoyagers'' has Neone, a subversion in that she was always meant to be part of the original team, but got delayed by reason of being on another planet.
** [[MagneticHero Then]] there was Liquidon, who didn't fight the team but instead needed their help to [[ClearMyName get his name cleared]] as he was mistaken for a terrorist.
** Viola also pulls it off.
** Perhaps the most egregious example is Cybomec, subverted in that it was only ''a'' Cybomec [[spoiler: the one possessed by Richard Ribando]] that joins, not ''the'' Clandish "Cybomec" Consto that nearly killed everyone. [[spoiler: [[ItWasHisSled He becomes Preamble]] instead.]]
** [[ButtMonkey Erasaxo]], while technically number six, was part of the original team. His reclusive nature and small size tend to make him [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg an afterthought]] to others though. Made worse in that he's ordered by the Xylien Society not to leave the ship very often.

** ''MMPR'' is also a key example of just how much PopularityPower a SixthRanger can have. The trope-naming character, Tommy Oliver, is a [[LongRunners mainstay]] in the Power Rangers setting, and he (and his actor, Jason David Frank) has appeared in more seasons (6), costumes (5), costume ''colors'' (4) and episodes (234) than any other Ranger, by a ''large'' margin. (ThoseTwoGuys, Paul "Bulk" Schrier and Jason "Skull" Narvy, equal or exceed his appearances, but [[ExactWords they are not Rangers]].)
*** He's appeared in ''eight'' seasons if you count ''Forever Red'' and his appearance in a team-up episode of Series/PowerRangersSPD[[hottip:*:Although in that episode [[FakeShemp he only appeared morphed and was voiced by a different actor]] Counting either or both of those means he's appeared in more seasons than Zordon.

** ''Dekaranger'', in fact, went even further. "Deka" is Japanese slang for 'detective,' but since the 'deca-' prefix means ten of something, they went ahead and had ten Rangers total with the aforementioned seven full-time teammates and three {{One Shot Character}}s: [=DekaSwan=] (MissionControl getting to suit up for once), [=DekaBright=] (a DistaffCounterpart to [=DekaBreak=], one of the regulars), and [=DekaGold=] (a movie-exclusive character who barely gets to do an AssKickingPose before being blasted). ''SPD'' carried over the first two as the Cat Ranger and Nova Ranger, respectively. Other series that drove their counts up past six with One-Shots, {{Eleventh Hour Ranger}}s and the like include ''Magiranger''/''Mystic Force'' (six regulars plus two at the Eleventh Hour), ''Jungle Fury'' (five regulars plus three occasionally recurring, see below), and ''Shinkenger''/''Samurai'' (six plus one at the Eleventh Hour).

* ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' is already playing out this way with one-off Kyoryu Cyan showing up, Kyoryu Gold following suit as a regular cast member and actual SixthRanger, and at least 3 more ancient Kyoryugers of varying colors for the first tier MechaExpansionPack.