Animen

The Animen are the inhabitants of the parallel dimension known as New Animalia, a diverse kingdom composed of various species of humanoid animals.

Society & culture
From what is seen of them, Animan civilization mirrors that of humanity. Just as humans do in their world, Animen also live alongside ordinary animals who lack their anthropomorphic humanoid qualities. The Animen are distinct in that all of their architecture & technology is made in the shape of cubes. Over generations, the Animen assigned guardians to protect the Link Cube, which serves as the gateway between New Animalia & the human Earth, entrusting them with the Guardian Cubes which maintained the Link Cube. Though initially armed with simple spears, their diligence would culminate in the emergence of the Beast Guardian Rangers, a team of Power Rangers composed of both Animan guardians & Animan Power-infused humans, in the face of the attack on Earth by the Galactavores.

According to Cory & Awk, Animen are very wary of outsiders like humans & do not trust them to keep New Animalia's existence a secret, as they would imprison the humans who discovered the existence of New Animalia forever, even if the humans are unarmed & want nothing but to go home to their world to forget everything they saw.

Technology
The Animen operated the Link Cube, which was maintained by a set of six cubes, known as the Guardian Cubes, whose purpose was to protect the Animen. To that end, the Guardian Cubes could, as discovered by the guardians during the Galactavore attack on Earth, transform into Cube Cell Morphers which can be used by Animen or humans with Animan Power to morph into Beast Guardian Rangers, granting them access to the sentient CubeZords. As well as that, Guardian Cubes could grant disguises to individual Animen, allowing them to safely interact with humans. Evidently, New Animalia is the source of all the Beast Guardian Rangers' arsenal & zords.

Watching the Link Cube
While the Animen controlled the gateway to the human world, they evidently chose not to interact with humanity en masse, leading to the vast majority of humans being unaware of New Animalia's existence. However, individual Animen did use the Link Cube to visit the human world, & were evidently responsible for the presence of dormant auxiliary CubeZords, which would be discovered & awakened by the Beast Guardian Rangers. At least some, such as Cory, were explorers who were sent from New Animalia to learn about the human world.

The connection to the human world would be cut off, however, when an eagle Animan named Awk who held a contempt for his people's racism towards humans, stole one of the six Guardian Cubes which maintained the Link Cube, rendering it disabled as he escaped to the human world & gave the Guardian Cube to a human boy whom he saved having used the Guardian Cube as a conduit to transfer his Animan Power. The identity of the thief a mystery to them, the Animen continued to watch over the now inactive Link Cube while Animen residing at the human world at the time were left stranded. Among the Animen who were left behind was Cory, who attempted to interact with humanity only to find himself attacked by fearful humans, causing him to live in seclusion.

The Cube "Thief"
Years later, the missing Guardian Cube would be discovered when the human boy, Brent, who had since grown up to become a zoologist, found himself transported to New Animalia, having came across the Link Cube with the Guardian Cube still on his person, where he was discovered by the current Animen guardians: a quartet consisting of Sasha, Lionel, Elliott, & Tyra. Introducing the human to their world, the guardians discovered the Guardian Cube on his person & initially believed him to be a thief only to be interrupted by a disturbance in the Link Cube. Forced to pursue Brent when he escaped through the Link Cube, the four Animen found the human world under attack by the spacefaring Galactavores whose team leader, Spike, subsequently crippled the Link Cube, leaving the Animen stranded in the human world while, unbeknownst to them, the remaining Guardian Cube required to restore the connection was claimed by the mysterious Bird Animan. Opposing the Galactavore onslaught, the four Animen were granted the power to morph into the Beast Guardian Rangers when their Guardian Cubes became the Cube Cell Morphers. Dispatching the Ameebo grunts, the Beast Guardian Rangers were outmatched by Spike until Brent was able to transform his Guardian Cube thanks to the Animan Power he was granted years ago, allowing him to become a Beast Guardian Ranger much to the surprise of the Animen, who did not realize that humans could use their power. When Spike was enlarged, the Beast Guardian Rangers were guided by the Cube Cell Morphers into accessing the CubeZords, allowing them each to fight their enlarged opponent & the Galactavores' Tri Fighter craft. Signaled by their Morphers to combine the CubeZords, the Beast Guardian Rangers formed their first three-piece combination, the Beast Guardian Megazord, allowing them to destroy the enlarged Galactavore.

The Human World
Following this first engagement, Brent moved to befriend his Animan company, who had been granted human forms by the Guardian Cubes for their protection, welcoming them to live with him at his his home, introducing them as fellow zoologists to his his uncle, a sculptor & animal enthusiast with a welcoming heart equalling that of his nephew. Supported by Brent, the Animen made it their objective to locate the missing Guardian Cube which would allow them to return home. In the meantime, they would fight against the Galactavores alongside Brent as the Beast Guardian Rangers in defense of the human world while they searched.

Discovering Cory
After a few weeks, the Animen would come across Cory, resulting in a heartened union which was soon soured when Cory reacted with fear to Brent due to his prior experience with humans, to the point of eventually refusing to associate with the Animen who befriended Brent. However, Brent was able to restore Cory's faith in humanity by demonstrating his affection for animals & acting in defense of his Animan teammates, leading Cory to save Brent's life when he was injured by a Galactavore Team Leader, bestowing his gorilla Animan Power to him, granting Brent a second Beast Guardian Ranger form in the process, at the cost of his own life force which shortened resulting in him aging rapidly. Seeing this dismayed Brent, but Cory reassured him that they both had each other to thank, restoring his spirits. With Brent returned to the fold, Cory bid the Beast Guardian Rangers farewell as he chose to take his leave to see the human world firsthand, promising that he would make sure to keep an eye out for the missing King's Credential along the way.