Axem Rangers

Axem Rangers
First appearance	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
Latest appearance	Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023)
Leader	Axem Red
Members Axem Black Axem Green Axem Pink Axem Yellow

“AXEM RED: We fight for evil!
AXEM BLACK: We live for disorder!
AXEM GREEN: We like what we do!
AXEM PINK: We struggle for chaos!
AXEM YELLOW: We are...
...the AXEM RANGERS!!”

—Axem Rangers, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

The Axem Rangers are a team of teenage warriors within the Smithy Gang and appear in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Nintendo Switch remake. There are five members, each with their own distinct traits and abilities. Each member has a similar trait to any one member of Mario's group: Black has high speed and fights mainly with non-elemental special attacks like Geno, Green specializes in elemental magic but lacks physical strength like Mallow, Pink is female and uses both healing and status-affecting magic while having the lowest attack and HP like Peach, Yellow is the bulkiest member while boasting the highest physical attack and defense like Bowser, and Red is the leader while being a balanced fighter like Mario. However, all five of them wield a small axe in combat. Additionally, the Axem Rangers have their own battleship, aptly named the Blade. Axem Red is the leader of the group. The Axem Rangers are a parody of the Super Sentai series in Japan, which is the basis for the Power Rangers series in the United States.

History

The Axem Rangers prepare for battle

During the events of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Axem Rangers appear as the last weapon-themed boss encountered outside of Bowser’s Keep. Their presence is mentioned once by Speardovich, but they do not debut until the very end of the sixth Star Piece arc. After Mario and company journey through Barrel Volcano and defeat the Czar Dragon, they discover the Star Piece seemingly unguarded. Mario attempts to collect it in the usual fashion but is thwarted by Axem Red, who steals the star at the very last second before Mario can touch it. The Axem Rangers then each appear, introducing themselves with catchphrases and action poses, satirizing the classical depiction of superheroes and supervillains in mainstream media. Followed closely by Mario & co., the Axem Rangers escape to their battleship, the Blade, and are officially encountered outside the volcano once Mario jumps onto the deck of the airship.

As a boss fight, the Axem Rangers present multiple targets for the player to consider attacking. Once defeated, each Ranger has a brief dialogue with Axem Red and then stops taking their turn despite remaining present on the battlefield. Once all five HPs have reached 0, the Axem Rangers then combine their HPs into a single 999-point health bar representing the Blade's core power source, which only attacks with the devastating Breaker Beam and marks the last enemy to be defeated as part of the game’s story before Mario & company finally make it back to Bowser’s Keep for the end of the game. Monochromatic versions of the Axem Rangers called Machine Mades are encountered in the Weapon World, each resembling one of the original Axem Rangers in appearance, stats, and moveset.

Profiles and statistics

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Axem Pink
	HP	400	FP	200	Speed	25
	Location(s)	Barrel Volcano	Attack	120	Magic attack	80
	Role	Boss	Defense	80	Magic defense	100
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	25%	Magic evade	10%	Spells	Petal Blast, Recover, Mega Recover
	Weak	Fire	Strong	Ice, Sleep, Mute, Critical	Sp. attacks	Mini Light Beam (CS)
	Coins	0	Exp. points	10	Items	None
Psychopath	"Red, WRONG POSITION!"

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Axem Black
	HP	550	FP	100	Speed	35
	Location(s)	Barrel Volcano	Attack	140	Magic attack	4
	Role	Boss	Defense	120	Magic defense	40
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	30%	Magic evade	0%	Spells	None
	Weak	Thunder	Strong	Fear, Sleep, Critical	Sp. attacks	Bomb Toss, Spritz Bomb (CS)
	Coins	0	Exp. points	40	Items	None
Psychopath	"You're[sic] timing stinks!"

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Axem Red
	HP	800	FP	100	Speed	30
	Location(s)	Barrel Volcano	Attack	150	Magic attack	24
	Role	Boss	Defense	100	Magic defense	80
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	10%	Magic evade	0%	Spells	None
	Weak	Ice	Strong	Fire, Fear, Sleep, Critical	Sp. attacks	Vigor up!, "Glowing Shot"
	Coins	0	Exp. points	40	Items	None
Psychopath	"I'm all thumbs today!"

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Axem Yellow
	HP	600	FP	100	Speed	3
	Location(s)	Barrel Volcano	Attack	170	Magic attack	6
	Role	Boss	Defense	130	Magic defense	60
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	0%	Magic evade	0%	Spells	None
	Weak	Jump	Strong	Thunder, Poison, Sleep, Critical	Sp. attacks	Bubble Shot, Body Slam (CP)
	Coins	0	Exp. points	40	Items	None
Psychopath	"We're lookin' GOOD!"

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy
Axem Green
	HP	450	FP	200	Speed	20
	Location(s)	Barrel Volcano	Attack	110	Magic attack	90
	Role	Boss	Defense	60	Magic defense	120
	Bonus Flower	None	Yoshi Cookie	None	Morph rate	0%
	Evade	0%	Magic evade	20%	Spells	Meteor Blast, Solidify, Static E!
	Weak	Ice	Strong	Sleep, Mute, Critical	Sp. attacks	Elegy
	Coins	0	Exp. points	20	Items	None
Psychopath	"Are we done here?"

Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)

Super Mario RPG enemy
Axem Pink
	HP	400	Weak Elements		Drops	N/A
	Exp.	0	Weak Statuses		Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Barrel Volcano
	Monster List profile	She considers herself the princess of the group. Meeting an actual princess has done nothing to change her mind on this point.
	Thought Peek	"Red really missed his mark there."
	Animations

Super Mario RPG enemy
Axem Black
	HP	550	Weak Elements		Drops	N/A
	Exp.	0	Weak Statuses		Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Barrel Volcano
	Monster List profile	He's cool and composed...but like all the Axem Rangers, something about him is a bit pathetic. He got his beloved sunglasses at a dollar store.
	Thought Peek	"Red's pose was off, wasn't it? Are we good?"
	Animations

Super Mario RPG enemy
Axem Red
	HP	800	Weak Elements		Drops	N/A
	Exp.	0	Weak Statuses		Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Barrel Volcano
	Monster List profile	Though he is the de facto leader of the Axem Rangers, he's so careless that he often flubs his poses, intro speeches, and group formations.
	Thought Peek	"Ugh! I got the pose wrong."
	Animations

Super Mario RPG enemy
Axem Yellow
	HP	600	Weak Elements		Drops	N/A
	Exp.	0	Weak Statuses		Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Barrel Volcano
	Monster List profile	Always calm and doesn't sweat the small stuff. The other Axem Rangers think he's aloof, but he hasn't bothered to notice.
	Thought Peek	"That group pose went off without a hitch."
	Animations

Super Mario RPG enemy
Axem Green
	HP	450	Weak Elements		Drops	N/A
	Exp.	0	Weak Statuses		Rare Drops	N/A
	Found in	Barrel Volcano
	Monster List profile	Considers himself the looker of the team. He tires easily, not from being out of shape, but from too much hot yoga.
	Thought Peek	"Are we done here?"
	Animations

Gallery

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  The Axem Rangers prebare a battle in her original Super Mario RPG:The Legend of the Seven Stars

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  Appearance in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

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  Sprite

• SMRPG Axem Black idle.gif

  Sprite

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  Sprite

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Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	オノレンジャー[?] Ono Renjā	Axe Rangers
	５人[?] Go-ri	5 People	before battle introduction
Chinese (simplified)	斧头连者[?] Fǔtóu Liánzhě	Axe Rangers
Chinese (traditional)	斧頭連者[?] Fǔtóu Liánzhě	Axe Rangers
Dutch	Bijlbende[?]	Axe Gang
French	Bande des Klashs[?]	Klash Gang; a portmanteau of "clash" and hache ("axe")
German	Beilbande[?]	Hatchet Gang
Italian	Banda degli Axem[?]	Axem Gang
Korean	액스레인저[?] Aekseu Reinjeo	Axe Rangers
Spanish	Comando Hachazo[?]	Axe Blow Commando

Trivia

• In the English SNES version, the Blade is mistakenly referred to as "Axem Rangers". The player actually fights the ship, not their combined forces. This is given the appropriate label in the remake.
• Not counting the Blade, the Axem Rangers are the only main Smithy Gang members (aside from Exor) who do not appear in the ending parade.
• In the SNES version, individual color palettes for the teleportation animations used by the Axem Rangers exist in the game's code, who inexplicably all use Red's color teleportation palette in the final game. The Switch remake rectifies this and gives the Rangers their own teleportation colors.
• The scene where the Axem Rangers attempt to flee Mario upon noticing his pursuing them was rewritten from the Japanese version. Originally, they realized they had not actually announced themselves and considered going back to Mario to redo their introduction before Green points out that he had already caught up with them. The English localization has them instead express disgust at Mario's mustache with Green then berating Yellow for not realizing he is in fact Mario.
• When defeated individually, the Axem Rangers will say the following quotes:
  • AXEM RED: Ooh, my head is spinning!
  • AXEM GREEN: I've got a headache!
  • AXEM RED: You're totally out of shape!
  • AXEM YELLOW: I'm... hungry!!
  • AXEM RED: Chew on your tongue!
  • AXEM BLACK: I broke my shades!
  • AXEM RED: Serves ya right!
  • AXEM PINK: My make-up's running!
  • AXEM RED: Then change brands!