Rimmer as 'The Mighty Light' (The Promised Land)
The Mighty Light was an alter-ego adopted by Arnold Rimmer when his hologram gained super-powered abilities as a Diamond-Light quantum-energy hologram, the most advanced type of hologram in existence.
The boys from the Dwarf discovered Diamond-Light technology from aboard an abandoned space station, Iron Star. Unfortunately for Rimmer, his Light Bee could not sustain this high-powered form for any length of time.
Description[]
As "The Mighty Light", Rimmer became muscular and donned a silver sparkly bodysuit, and has black hair with a wispy fringe that came down over the right side of his forehead like Superman. Instead of pale skin, Rimmer is tanned as "Mighty Light", and has a much deeper voice.
In his Diamond-Light form, Rimmer was impervious to damage the same as a hard-light hologram, but with the added abilities:
- to become solid or intangible at will (with aspects of both soft-light and hard-light holograms)
- to make anything he touches intangible or solid at will
- super strength
- to manipulate light
- travel at super-fast speeds
- to become a floating ball of energy like a Will-o'-the-wisp
History[]
Rimmer became a Diamond-Light hologram when the boys from the Dwarf explored the derelict Iron Star and found very advanced technology inside. Rimmer was very excited to be improved and demanded that Kryten give him the upgrade immediately. Kryten advised that they perform some safety checks in accordance with European Space Agency rules, but Rimmer was impatient and in his haste demanded that Kryten just hurry up with it.
During the upgrade, Rimmer transformed through all of his earlier forms - low-power, soft-light and hard-light - before becoming a diamond-light hologram. Rimmer was overjoyed to become so powerful, taking on the alter-ego of 'The Mighty Light'. Dave Lister mocked him saying that he was still Rimmer, and therefore should be called 'The Shitey Sprite'.
Unfortunately, since the proper checks had not been performed beforehand, Rimmer depleted the power on his Light Bee and he lost his powers fairly rapidly. From then on, Rimmer was forced to plug his Light Bee into a wall socket for power, and if he wanted to leave the room, he had to carry around an extension cable.
Rimmer would eventually not only recharge but even overcharge his Light Bee using the Anubis Stone, becoming the Mighty Light once again. He used his powers to take a bomb planted by the Feral Cats out into space where it exploded harmlessly, saving Red Dwarf. The Mighty Light then shone a laser beam into the bridge of the flagship of the Cat Fleet, and straight onto the dictator Rodon. This not only distracted Rodon's henchman, but also drove them into a frenzy, and they unwittingly tore Rodon apart. With nobody at the helm, the flagship crashed into an asteroid, killing the Ferals.
Rimmer then did an uncharacteristically selfless act - he used up the Anubis Stone to resurrect Kryten, sacrificing "The "Mighty Light", and Rimmer returned to his normal form.
Since The Mighty Light had saved the Felis sapiens species from oppression and had liberated them, they now worshiped him as their god instead of Lister/Cloister. Rimmer said that being a god would look great on his CV. (The Promised Land)
Galleries[]
Aboard Iron Star[]
Aboard Red Dwarf[]
In Starbug[]
Trivia[]
- According to actor Chris Barrie, The Mighty Light is a very different character from another one of Arnold Rimmer's heroic alter-egos, Ace Rimmer, a fan favourite. Ace Rimmer was a version of himself from another dimension who had his entire adult life to develop with confidence, wheras The Mighty Light is Rimmer as we know him "in all his weasel-ness" given confidence.[1]
Behind the Scenes[]
- The outfit was made by Howard Burden, who also included shoes which lit up. Actor Chris Barrie very much enjoyed playing the role of The Mighty Light.[2]
See Also[]
References[]