Axem Rangers

"This Star Piece gives people hope! It needs to be destroyed!"
Axem Rangers
Species	Machines
Relatives	Smithy (Creator)
Debut	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

The Axem Rangers are a team of axe-wielding machines who appear as a group of bosses in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. In the game, they are battled by Barrel Volcano for the sixth Star Piece. Collectively, they are the fourth entity of the Smithy Gang to be faced in the game and are the last enemies faced before returning to Bowser's Keep.

Background

The Axem Rangers were created within Smithy's factory in Weapon World. They were an energetic fighting force who were all armed with axes and carried out their missions with a strong sense of showmanship, which often included posing and spouting catchphrases. The rangers even had a mantra in which they declared that they fought for evil, lived for disorder, liked what they did and struggled for chaos. They were shown riding around on the Blade, an airship used by the Smithy Gang which was also axe-themed.

Within Super Mario RPG, they were dispatched to retrieve Star Pieces for Smithy. They were first alluded to by Speardovich, who was waiting for the Blade to pick him up after he had stolen a Star Piece from Mario, but Mario defeated him and retrieved the Star Piece before the ship could arrive. They ultimately appeared at Barrel Volcano in the aftermath of Czar Dragon/Zombone's defeat, and they snatched the sixth Star Piece away before Mario could claim it. They moved through the volcano with incredible swiftness and managed to elude Mario while escaping the volcano. However, Mario was able to follow them onto the Blade, so the two groups took part in a battle.

At first, the Axem Rangers bragged and taunted Mario's group. As each of them lost their HP, they made up excuses not to battle. After all were defeated, they pulled back and manned the Blade's Breaker Beam in a last-ditch attempt to destroy Mario and his friends. Mario's group still prevailed, resulting in the destruction of the Axem Rangers and the Blade.

Despite the destruction of the original Axem Rangers, weaker Machine-Made versions of them were mass-produced at Smithy's Factory until it was shut down.

Members

There are five members, each with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses.

• Axem Black
  • HP: 550, Attack: 140, Defense: 120, Magic Attack: 4, Magic Defense: 40
  • Thought Peek: "You're timing stinks!" / "Red's pose was off, wasn't it? Are we good?"
  • Black wore shades to complete his "cool guy" image which he apparently acquired from a dollar store. His Thought Peek description called him cool and composed, "but like all the Axem Rangers, something about him is a bit pathetic". When beaten in battle, he would claim that he broke his shades. His Machine Made copies were made with mass-produced sunglasses, saving him from having to buy his own, and in their Thought Peek quotes, they would note that the members of the team have not been decided yet. Axem Black's special attack was the Spritz Bomb. Physically, he was the third-powerful. He was also weakest in terms of magic abilities. Black had special defense against Fear attacks but was weak against Thunder attacks.
• Axem Green
  • HP: 450, Attack: 110, Defense: 60, Magic Attack: 90, Magic Defense: 120
  • Thought Peek: "Are we done here?
  • Green was a thin and spindly member of the team who considered himself to be the looker of the team. When beaten in battle, he would claim that he had a headache, and Axem Red accused him of being out of shape. Green's Monster List description in the remake clarified that he actually tired easily because of too much hot yoga. His Machine Made copies would wonder why they were born dizzy. He was the most powerful magic-user in the group. Green's special techniques were Elegy, Solidify, Static E! and Meteor Blast. Green had special defense against silencing moves, but he was weak against Ice attacks.
• Axem Pink
  • HP: 400, Attack: 120, Defense: 80, Magic Attack: 80, Magic Defense: 100
  • Thought Peek: "Red, WRONG POSITION!" / "Red really missed his mark there."
  • Pink was the feminine member of the group who considered herself to be the princess of the group even after meeting an actual princess. When withdrawing from battle, she would claim that her makeup was running. Her Machine Made copies were annoyed that they had not yet been painted, and each copy considered herself to be a princess while seeing all other Axem Pink copies as "duchesses at best". Her specialty was healing magic such as Recover and Mega Recover. Her only other special ability is Petal Blast. She was the second most powerful magic user of the team, behind Green. Pink had special defenses against Ice and Silence, but was weak against Fire attacks.
• Axem Red
  • HP: 800, Attack: 150, Defense: 100, Magic Attack: 24, Magic Defense: 80
  • Thought Peek: "I'm all thumbs today." / "Ugh! I got the pose wrong."
  • Red was the leader of the Axem Rangers, and he constantly struggling to keep his followers in line. At the same time, he was also known for flubbing his poses (which was pointed out by Black and Pink in their Thought Peek quotes, though Yellow believed otherwise), intro speeches and group formations. Whenever any of the other Rangers backed out of the battle, Axem Red would respond to their excuse with a snappy comment. If defeated before any of the other Axem Rangers, he would claim his head was spinning when withdrawing. Axem Red had the highest HP and was the second strongest physically of the team. Red's only special move was Vigor Up. His weakness was Ice attacks, but he had special defenses against Fire and Fear attacks.
• Axem Yellow
  • Thought Peek: HP: 600, Attack: 170, Defense: 130, Magic Attack: 6, Magic Defense: 60
  • "We're lookin' GOOD!" / "The group pose went off without a hitch."
  • Yellow was a stout member of the team who was said to be always calm and never sweated the small stuff. This caused him to be seen as aloof, something he never bothered to notice, but apparently his Machine Made copies did not have this issue. He also seemed to have a big appetite, as his Machine Made copies claimed his opponents would make a great meal, and the real Axem Yellow would excuse himself from battle when defeated simply by claiming that he was hungry. Physically, he was the team's most powerful member although his Magic stats were low. His only special move was Body Slam. Yellow was weak against Jump attacks, but he has special defenses against Thunder and Poison attacks.

Trivia

• Known as the Axe Force in Japanese. They are a villainous parody of tokusatsu teams such as Super Sentai. Their English localized name specifically references the Power Rangers, the Western localized version of Super Sentai.
• When fighting against the Blade in the original Super NES version, the English localization mistakenly referred to the enemy as 'the Axem Rangers' instead of 'the Blade'. This oversight was corrected in the Switch remake.
• They were followed by another comical parody of a color-coded superhero team as villains in the form of the Koopa Bros. in Paper Mario. It is unknown if the Axem Rangers directly inspired those characters.