Lord Zedd is a major villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series and recurring through Power Rangers Zeo andPower Rangers in Space. He was played by Ed Neil, with Robert Axelrod supplying the voice. In Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie, Mark Ginther wore the suit, and Steven Blum voiced him in the video game Power Rangers: Super Legends. The character was the first American-made villain for the Power Rangers series of shows with no origin in the Japanese Sentai shows. Originally depicted as a frighteningly more evil character than Rita, complaints from parents resulted in Zedd being toned down immensely, such as his marriage to Rita. He and Rita both have a son, Thrax, who appears in Operation Overdrive, during the 15th Anniversary 2 part special, Once A Ranger.
Since his appearance, Zedd is often considered the greatest Power Rangers villain of all time.
History[]
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers[]
Zedd is the self proclaimed "Emperor of Evil". Thousands of years before the start of the series, he had left Rita Repulsa to takeover Earth while he pursued the conquest of other systems.
In the show's second season premiere, he arrived on Earth, to punish Rita, disgusted with her failure in defeating the Power Rangers. Stripping Rita of her powers, he shrunk her and imprisoned her within a "Space Dumpster," hurling her into the depth of space. He then mutated a piranha into the monstrous Pirantishead, who assumed command of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and Dragonzord. The Rangers barely survived the attack, but managed to regain control of their Zords. Furious, Lord Zedd attempted to destroy the five dinozords, only for the rangers to turn the tables and transform the remains into the more powerful Thunderzords.
Despite the Rangers' acquisition of the Thunderzords, Lord Zedd attacked again and again, each assault deadlier than the last. His monsters were created from objects on Earth with the power of his scepter, and he made them grow using spherical grenades - Zedd would throw the grenade down to the monster who would then catch it, pull out the pin and throw it to the ground to make itself grow. After his marriage to Rita they would instead grow their monsters by crossing their staffs. He once desired Kimberly to be his queen based on her good looks and tenacity, and sent Goldar to capture, brainwash and train her into being so, but his plan failed when it was discovered that the magic dust that was used to entrance her didn't work and that she was really doing a Rita impression to fool Goldar and buy the Rangers enough time to rescue her. Zedd has hated Kimberly ever since.
Zedd once attempted to create a team of evil Power Rangers, but Tommy managed to free his enslaved group of humans before the plan took place. He swore to erase the Green Ranger forever, finding him the most offensive of Rita's mistakes, concentrating his attacks on him. He finally succeeded with the TurbanShell monster, wiping out Tommy's power forever. He later planned to make Tommy his successor by brainwashing him, but Zordon managed to get to Tommy first, making him the new White Ranger.
Over time, Lord Zedd discovered that the Rangers were no pushovers, and each of his monsters failed to defeat them. With the Thunderzords and new White Ranger at their side, the Power Rangers seemed indestructible. He soon unearthed the gigantic war machine known as Serpentera that was so large that it could crush the Ranger's Zords with ease, however its flaw was that it used up its energy so fast that it could only be used for short periods of time.
Soon it was time for Zedd's Centennial Recharge, which he must undergo to fully restore his evil energies. It was during this slumber that Rita Repulsa returned to the Palace, plotting revenge. She poured a love potion created byFinster into the Centennial Recharge machine, and when Zedd awoke, he instantly fell in love with Rita, proposing. With Zedd and Rita side by side, the Rangers battles were more difficult. Zedd and Rita's schemes together included creating a clone of the evil Tommy and sending the Rangers back into the past. When Rito Revolto arrived, Lord Zedd was disgusted by the skeleton's stupidity, and would bellow with rage every time Rito called him "Ed." Rita's love potion was eventually removed from Zedd thanks to Goldar, but to everyone's surprise, Zedd loved Rita anyway. During the Pink Ranger fiasco when Zedd had her held hostage to force the Rangers to use the Shogun Zords in his service, Lord Zedd battled Tommy personally to keep him from saving Kimberly from an alternate dimension. This marked the only time that Zedd had battled a Ranger personally. Though Zedd easily gained the upperhand against the White Ranger, Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat.
When Master Vile arrived on the moon, Lord Zedd was pushed to the side as Vile took over in his search for the Zeo Crystal. He expressed disdain for his father-in-law, who constantly put him down. Once Vile left after his army was defeated by the Aquitian Rangers, Zedd was ecstatic, and he resumed his attacks on Earth. The Rangers had been turned to children due to Vile's Orb of Doom and all that stood in Zedd's way were the Aquitian Rangers. Zedd managed to find a map of the Ranger's Command Center pointing out a weak point. He sent Goldar and Rito in to plant a bomb and steal the Zeo Crystal. They succeeded, but before they could take advantage of it, the Machine Empire arrived.
Zeo and Beyond[]
When the Machine Empire arrived and attacked, Zedd and Rita were forced to retreat, taking Serpentera to the M51 Galaxy. They soon returned, however, in a motorhome, plotting to overthrow King Mondo and destroy the Empire. The two forces clashed on several occasions, neither gaining much ground. At one point, Prince Gasket had Tommy brainwashed and about to kill the other Rangers, but Zedd had Finster help free them to prevent a Machine victory. After a series of failed attempts, they finally managed to destroy the Royal House of Gadgetry with a bomb in the shape of a gift.
Zedd and Rita were mysteriously absent during the Power Rangers: Turbo Season, and fans have speculated that a "gap" between Power Rangers Zeo and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie reveals what occured after Rita and Zedd had regained control of the moon from The Machine Empire. Events in Forever Red suggest that Zedd at some point launched an attack on Earth with a significantly more powerful Serpentera, only to be defeated again by The Zeo Rangers. Disillusioned and convinced he would never defeat them, Zedd and Rita retreated for good.
Lord Zedd, along with Rita, makes a cameo apperance in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, when Divatox calls Rita for advice on how to deal with the Power Rangers, she is subjected to Zedd's snoring and Rita instructing her to flee, rather than fight.
A year later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on theCimmerian Planet, Zedd toasting to Dark Specter's capture of Zordon and takeover of the universe. Months later, they invaded the Vica Galaxy and quickly conquered it, defeating and capturing the Gold Ranger in the process. When Zordon's energy wave washed over them and their army, Zedd was spared, transformed into a human being. His love for Rita seemed to remain and the two danced together in the remnants of their army, much to the confusion of the Gold Ranger.
Years later, Thrax mentions that he seeks to rebuild his parent's legacy, disgusted by the fact that they were "lost to goodness".
Return[]
Years after the events of Countdown to Destruction, Zedd's human form is an accomplished archaeolgist on Earth. Despite being given a second chance at life, his human form wonders about his former life. Upon unearthing a set of time crystals, the human Zedd looks into the past and is instantly corrupted. With the time crystals at his disposal, Zedd plays havoc with the timeline. It takes a combined effort of various Rangers from the past, present, and future to defeat him. Zedd attempts to escape, but accidently drops one of the time crystals when fleeing to a void outside of time. The Omega Ranger admits to his fellow Rangers that it may take Zedd eons to escape. The canonicity of the game is unknown.
Trivia[]
- Lord Zedd's appearance is usually explained as a result of his attempt to capture the Zeo Crystal millenia ago. The people of the M51 Galaxy placed a forcefield around the crystal that would destroy anyone evil who tried to take it from its tomb on the moon, Zedd's skin and scalp may have been completely torn off, resulting in his somewhat grotesque appearance. Though this was stated by Rita, who said it mockingly and thus may have been kidding when she stated this.
- It is often assumed by fans that Thrax was conceived during Zedd and Rita's time away during Power Rangers Turbo.
- Zedd is one of first Power Ranger villians to not have a Sentai counterpart.