Thanks to Amit Bhaumik and Nick Alvarado for the pictures. Special thanks go to Marc Miyake for allowing me to use his Dairanger summary, since I would have no idea what happened in Dairanger without it, and as such, am woefully unprepared to write any kind of summary on it. I've made some revisions to the translations to suit my own tastes, most notably on "Kiden Juu" from Marc's "Chi Transmitting Beast" to "Chi Legend Beast". Since I'm not including many parts of Marc's original file, I've had to incorporate them into the summary.
6050 years ago, the Daos civilization flourished in China. The Gorma Tribe tried to take it over. Thus began the war between the Gorma and the Dai Tribe. The battle continued for decades, led by the Gorma Triumvirate. The Kiden Juu (Chi Legend Beasts) appeared to oppose the Gorma, whose magical powers had increased to the point where they could turn themselves into monsters. Five Dai warriors' chi powers had increased to the point where they could conrol the Chi Legend Beasts. These were the predecessors of the Dairangers of today.
6006 years ago, Kujaku falls into the trap of the Mirror Make-Up Master, and never emerges until 1993. Gara, though then a Dai at that point, hates Kujaku and joins Gorma.
Six years later, Chou Ryou, one of the masters of the Chi Legend Beasts, defects to Gorma, causing the defeat of the proto-Dairanger team. The war ends with the disappearance of both the Dai and Gorma tribes. Cho Kiden Juu Daimugen (Super Chi Legend Beast Great Infinity) takes on the form of the human Kameo.
Chou Ryou lives on, residing in Japan from 1969 to 1974. During this period, he fathers Ryou, who will become Ryuurenjaa.
In 1989, Kou's mother, a member of the Dai Tribe, takes Kou, one of Shadam's twin sons, away from the Gorma and disappears. But after marking Kou with the sign of the tiger, she is captured by the Gorma.
In 1993, the Gorma Tribe, one of its two branches, revived to take over the world. To counter them, Master Kaku assembled a team of five youths with high levels of chi--the Dairangers, the warriors of the Dai Tribe! (Note that although they fight for the Dai Tribe, only Ryou and Lin are really of Dai heritage.) The five rangers are:
Ryuurenjaa! Tenkasei Ryou! (Dragon Ranger! Heaven Fire Star Ryou!)
Shishirenjaa! Tengensei Daigo! (Lion Ranger! Heaven Illusion Star Daigo!)
Tenmarenjaa! Tenjuusei Shouji! (Pegasus Ranger! Heaven Gravity Star Shouji!)
Kirinrenjaa! Tenjisei Kazu! (Kirin Ranger! Heaven Time Star Kazu!)
Houhourenjaa! Tenpuusei Rin! (Phoenix Ranger! Heaven Wind Star Lin!)
Ryuuseiou (Dragon Star King) is the first of the five Chi Legend Beasts to be revived. When the Dairangers obtain the Tenhourairai (Heavenly Treasure Lai Lai) jewels, the other four Chi Legend Beasts awaken. At this point, Chou Ryou, knowing Ryou is his son, saves him from Archbishop Liege. Wounded in the process, he sacrifices his chi in order to power the Tenhourairai jewels for the combination of the five Chi Legend Beasts into Dairen'ou (Great Unified King) and dies. Soon thereafter, Lion Ranger defeats the Mirror Make-Up Master and releases Kujaku from 6006 years of imprisonment.
Kaku's master, Guhon, returns to China, leaving behind the Byakko Shinken (White Tiger True Sword) in preparation for Kiba's return. Indeed, Kibarenjaa (Fang Ranger) does return. Kou, drawn to the WT True Sword by telepathy, draws it out from a rock. He becomes the sixth Dairanger, despite interference by his evil twin brother Akomaru. Gorma XV finally appears to order Shadam around (if this is what's really happening...it isn't). The One Tiger and the Kiba Daiou (Fang Great King), the combination of 4 Chi Legend Beasts and One Tiger, debut.
The Dairangers develop new chi techniques such as the Shooting Star Lightning Flash to counter ever stronger Gorma monsters. Matoba Jin, beaten by Ryou in a duel, returns as the Demon Boxer Jin, powered by Zydos' Black Crystal, for revenge. The team becomes increasingly powerful when Guhon completes the Super Chi Power Bazooka and Kameo remembers after 6000 years that he actually is Daimugen. Daimugen combines with the Chi Legend Beasts to form the Juukou Kiden (Heavy Armor Chi Palace) for the first time to defeat the Combined Four Deva Kings.
However, on the very day Daimugen goes into action, Gorma XV revives Kou's twin Akomaru from the depths of hell. Jin returns to duel Ryou. This time, he has mastered the Demon Way Wicked Fist Spider Dance style. Zydos and Sergeant Cannon try to defeat both of them, but Jin uses his own body as a shield to protect Ryou. Count Kaleidoscope goes after a weakened Kujaku, trying to lure her with fake 'Tears of the Holy Peacock' which would heal her, but the Rangers defend her.The gigantic Dai Shin Ryu (Great God Dragon) comes down from space to attack both the Rangers and Gorma in order to bring an end to the war. The Rangers cease to fight Gorma...for now.
Zydos turns Jin into the Garouki (Hungry Wolf Demon), but Jin's friendship with Ryou enables him to get the Hunger Demon out of him and revert to normal. Zydos then kills Jin.
Gara uses a wrathful spirit incarnation of herself to attack Kujaku. Kujaku finally finds the true 'Tears of the Holy Peacock', saves Gara, and rises to heaven as the Mahamayuri Vidyaraja (Kujaku Myouou).
Kou is about to become a Gorma on his birthday, 24 December. As the date grows close, Kibaranger lashes out at his fellow Rangers, who do not want to fight him. Kou's twin Akomaru appears, riding his loyal monster, the blue-armored, one-eyed insectoid Ikazuchi (Thunder) to challenge a Kibaranger-less Dairanger team. Finally the truth is revealed: Kou and Akomaru are the younger and older twin sons of Shadam himself! Kou's mother returns, adding her jade ring to the WT True Sword, enabling it to find its lost master. Kou's mother prays to heaven, performing a baptism to purify Kou. It works, and Kou rejoins the Rangers.
Unfortunately, Kaku leaves the Rangers to...rejoin Gorma!? Kaku wanted to bring an end to the war between the Rangers and Gorma. He dispatches Lieutenant Shiryuu to force the Rangers to break up. But the Rangers refuse, believing that war is the way to peace [!], even though Shadam promised Kaku that he would stop fighting in exchange for the dissolution of the Rangers. The Rangers defeat Shiryuu with Dairen'ou, forcing Kaku to take matters into his own hands. The Rangers are no match for their own master, now garbed in red armor. Kaku strips them of their Aurachangers and Heavenly Treasure Lailai jewels.
Kaku also takes on Shadam. The winner of the fight will become the new emperor Gorma XVI. If Kaku wins, he will insure that Gorma will be at peace. But having the sources of his power (the Towers of Wicked Power and Chi Power, staffs planted by Shiryuu which transmit energy) destroyed by Zydos and Gara, he is defeated by Shadam's sword and dies in the arms of the Rangers. Zydos grows to giant size and turns into an earthen figure--a fitting fate for such scum, but why?
Meanwhile, General Fields of Plenty (Tenpou Shougun) spots Shadam doing something funny to Gorma XV. Shadam kills him. What is Shadam hiding? Shadam ultimately becomes Gorma XVI when he steals of the Great Earthshaking Jewel from Gorma XV. It turns out that Gara and Gorma XV had died 6000 years ago and had been revived by Shadam's magic as mud figures. (I suppose Zydos too had also died long ago.) The Rangers pursue Gorma XVI into the Gorma Palace, where they struggle against the power of the Great Earthshaking Jewel. But merging the light of their Heavenly Treasure Lailai jewels, they stands up to Gorma XVI. The Great God Dragon returns to wreck the Gorma Palace. Ryou and Shadam duel in human form. Shadam loses and reverts to an earthen figure...was his life also magically prolonged? The war ends.
Or does it? Fifty years later, Gorma returns again, and a new Dairanger team debuts to replace the elderly original team. The new team, the grandchildren of the old, fight against a repainted Baron String aboard the Dairen'ou. The story goes on.
Rita is paid a "visit" by her master, Lord Zedd, who, as it turns out, is rather pissed off that his underlings couldn't dispose of a few teenagers. Rita is double-crossed by pretty much everybody, and Zedd sends her off in another dumpster. Zedd then creates Pirantis Head, made from a pirahna. When the rangers go up against it, it freezes their zords and turns Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord against them. Zordon reveals that he has been preparing Thunderzords for such an event, but Tommy, whose powers have been failing recently, cannot support one. Billy and Trini create a device that will block Pirantis Head's control over Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord, and Tommy sends Dragonzord back to the sea. The others take their new Thunderzords and promptly kick Pirantis Head's hide.
Zedd, wanting to destroy all of Rita's incompetence, targets her "creation", Green Ranger. His plots are centered around using up Tommy's last bit of energy. His powers finally give out during a fight with Turban Shell. Eventually, after realizing that he doesn't need powers to be a hero, he uses the last of his powers to defeat Turban Shell.
Now that Green Ranger has been destroyed, Zedd wants to bring Tommy back to the dark side. He plans to make Tommy an evil ranger again. He creates the Nimrod, the Scarlet Sentinal, and occupies the rangers. Rita's dumpster lands on Earth, and Bulk and Skull get their hands on it. They try to open it, without much success. The rangers, after realizing that there is a new monster, try to contact Zordon and Alpha, but they do not respond. Meanwhile, Tommy is shown being captured by an unknown force. After the rangers lose to Nimrod, Billy teleports to an empty Command Center, and he finds a secret access to a hidden lab, where Zordon and Alpha are hard at work creating a new ranger! Billy teleports back, and the others are mad that Zordon is giving somebody new powers and ignoring Tommy. Zordon contacts the rangers, saying that he wants to show them something, and the rangers tell each other to keep calm. When they arrive, they find that the White Ranger really is Tommy. With new enthusiasm, the rangers use Tommy's new Tigerzord to defeat Nimrod. Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull have freed Rita, but the Power Rangers show up in time to seal her again and launch her back into space.
Three teen ninjas, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, make their debuts and quickly become friends with Tommy, Kim, and Billy. The three new teens attract Zedd's attention, and he kidnaps them with the intention of making them evil (yet again), but this time with a snake whose bite will turn them evil. The rangers show up and save them, but Billy gets bitten and has to get his helmet off (and I mean now, not in the few seconds it takes to teleport to the Command Center and safety). Rocky, Adam, and Aisha learn the rangers' identities, but they prove trustworthy and swear not to reveal their secrets.
A new peace conference shows up, and selects Jason, Trini, and Zack to represent America in Switzerland, along with representatives from all over the world. The rangers travel to a lost world, where they try to obtain the lost Sword of Light. This sword will allow the power to be transferred. Zedd powers up his new Serpentara zord and attacks the rangers. Though they are beaten badly, all six manage to return to the Command Center, and Tommy has the sword. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha are chosen to be the new rangers. After the power transfer, Jason, Trini, and Zack leave for Switzerland, and the three new rangers get a quick training session with Silverhorns (and man, do I mean quick).
Rita's dumpster lands on the moon (Does she have a steering wheel in there or something? What are the odds of that? Especially since the rangers launched her away from Earth). Anyway, Finster discovers her and helps her with her new evil plan. Zedd is currently "hibernating", and Rita uses a potion to make him fall in love with her. The two get married, and as a wedding gift, past monsters are resurrected. Alpha is sabatoged and gets cranky with Zordon (if you have not seen this yet, trust me: you don't want to). Eventually, the rangers beat back all the monsters, but they now have the combined forces of Rita and Zedd to deal with.
The Wizard of Deception, called upon by Rita, hatches a plan to create a clone of Tommy. The clone is granted new Green Ranger powers, and White and Green Rangers have at it in a blatantly ratings-grabbing fight scene while the other rangers are teleported into the past. The forces of evil gain control of the Dragonzord, but eventually it is released when the clone breaks free of the Wizard's control. The two Tommys go into the past to rescue the other rangers and stop three big men in mice costumes from destroying the town. The Tommy clone decides to stay in the past.
Note: Thanks to Joe Brogan for responding to my plea for help about "Return of the Green Ranger"!
Dairanger --- Power Rangers
Kou, Kibaranger --- 
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Tommy Oliver, White Ranger
Kiden Juu --- Thunderzords
Ryuuseiou --- Red Dragon Thunderzord
Sei Shishi --- Lion Thunderzord
Sei Tenma --- Unicorn Thunderzord
Sei Kirin --- Griffin Thunderzord (Ever heard of a Griffin before?)
Sei Houhou --- Firebird Thunderzord
Dairenou --- 
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Thunder Megazord
One Tiger --- White Tigerzord
Kiba Daiou --- Mega Tigerzord
Daimugen --- Tor, the Shuttlezord
Juukou Kiden --- Thunder Ultrazord
Dai Shin Ryu --- Serpentera
Ikazuchi --- Silverhorns
Super Kiryoku Bazooka --- Power Cannon
Byakko Shinken --- Saba