Summary
The bestPower Rangersvillain was introduced 30 years ago in an episode that changed the show forever.Power Rangershelped establish the “monster of the week” trope, which is when a show follows a very strict formula and has one bad guy dealt with every episode. As a result, mostPower Rangersvillainswere forgettable and only lasted one episode. The only exceptions are the main antagonists of each season, a tradition that started with Rita Repulsa and her minions inMighty Morphin. As iconic as Rita is, she is hardly one of the best villains on the show.
Rita and her minions were often used as a comic relief. It would take a while before morematurePower Rangersseasonsstarted to include serious, well-developed villains whose intentions went beyond“destroying the Power Rangers.”Perhaps the first truly nuancedPower Rangersvillain was Astronema fromIn Space. However, way before characters like Astronema or Trakeena,Power Rangershad already tried something different with one of its main villains – Lord Zedd. Three decades later, it’s clear thatZedd changedPower Rangersfor the better, even though the original show ended up wasting the character’s potential.
Lord Zedd Was Introduced In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2’s “The Mutiny”
Zedd was revealed to be Rita Repulsa’s boss.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangersseason 2, episode 1, “The Mutiny, Part I” aired 30 years ago on July 18, 2025. It was the first entry of a three-episode arc that replaced Rita Repulsa with a new big bad, Lord Zedd. Between the repetitiveness of the first season and the lack ofZyurangerfootage now that the American adaptation was past the 50-episode mark,Power Rangerssoon realized it needed a new main villain.Enter Lord Zedd, a character who did not have aSuper Sentaicounterpart and was created for the show.
The introduction of Zedd inMMPRseason 2 suggested the show was going to be slightly more serious and have higher stakes.
Although there have been dozens ofPower Rangersvillains sinceMighty Morphin, the idea of replacing Rita with a new threat was massive for the time. Rita Repulsa had become a symbol ofPower Rangers, for better and worse. As charming as the“make my monsters grow”routine was,Power Rangershad become extremely predictable and formulaic.Apart from a couple of arcs, especially the Green With Evil one,every episode ofPower Rangerswas the same. This changed a bit with the arrival of Lord Zedd, who was a very different villain from Rita.
Tommy
Green Ranger
Whereas Rita was tied to the campiness ofPower Rangers– which was not a bad thing but became repetitive very quickly –Lord Zedd felt like an actual threat.Rita had lost every single battle against thePower Rangers, and not even her Green Ranger plan had worked in the long term. Zedd was revealed to be Rita Repulsa’s boss and the mastermind behind the villains, yet he was not happy with the results. The introduction of Zedd inMMPRseason 2 suggested the show was going to be slightly more serious and have higher stakes.
What Made Lord Zedd Such A Great Villain In Power Rangers
Lord Zedd was scary and effective.
AlthoughMMPRwould later fail its best villain, Zedd’s first few episodes on the show delivered on the promise from “The Mutiny.” Zedd was indeed a far more menacing villain than Rita, and the show improved quite a lot. The fact thatLord Zedd had the Power Rangers’ Dino Zords destroyedperfectly set the tone for what the character and the rest of the season were going to be like. Of course, this was just an in-universe explanation to bring in footage from Dairanger, but it worked. The Dino Zords’ destruction was bigger than anything Rita had ever done.
FromMMPRtoIn Space, Ed Neil was inside the Lord Zedd suit, with Robert Axelrod voicing the character.
Lord Zedd’s design and voice can also not be taken for granted. TheSuper Sentaifranchiseis known for its creative, fun designs, which is whyit is always difficult forPower Rangersto come up with original charactersthat look as good as the ones from the Japanese series. Fortunately, Lord Zedd’s design lived up to the franchise’s legacy. A bulky creature with skin wearing a silver exoskeleton looked incredibly cool – Zedd looked scarier than any of the previous monsters ever did.
Power Rangers Quickly Ruined Lord Zedd After His Introduction
Zedd’s arrival inMMPRwas very promising and teased a bright future for the show.It seemed likePower Rangerswas going to grow with its audienceby introducing a slightly more serious and effective villain than Rita. Zedd’s impact was even more impressive during the Green No More arc, after which Tommy lost his Green Ranger powers. Rita had failed to control her Ranger, whose creation was technically orchestrated by Zedd. One of the new villain’s first acts was to go after Tommy and make him lose his powers.
Power Rangers In Order: How To Watch Every Series Chronologically & By Release Date
From Mighty Morphin to Cosmic Fury, here is how to watch every Power Rangers TV show in order, both chronologically and by release date.
Unfortunately,Lord Zedd’s run as a great villain did not last long.By the end ofMighty Morphin Power Rangersseason 2, Zedd had become a joke very much like Rita.Power Rangersdecided that Zedd’s design and voice were too much for the show and tried to tone down the character by bringing Rita back and making him more comedic. Shortly after this, Rita and Zedd would get married after the former used a love potion. Zedd and Rita continued to be a comic relief duo in their appearances onZeoandIn Space.
Almost 30 Years Later, Power Rangers Finally Did Lord Zedd Justice
Lord Zedd returned in Dino Fury & Cosmic Fury.
Power Rangersin Spaceended with Lord Zedd being redeemedalongside many other villains, including Rita Repulsa, as a result of Zordon’s sacrifice. The Z-wave caused by the destruction of Zordon’s tube purified all evil in the galaxy and gave some villains human forms. This was the end of Lord Zedd’s story for more than 20 years until the villain returned inPower Rangers Dino Fury. Thanks to time travel and magic shenanigans, the “pre-redemption” Zedd was brought back.Dino Fury’s version of Zedd was closer to the character’s original tone.
Cosmic Furywas very nostalgic and even delivered a Zedd vs. Billy rematch.
Zedd would then be the main villain inPower Rangers Cosmic Fury, a fitting decision for the season that celebrated the show’s 30th anniversary.Cosmic Furywas very nostalgic and even delivered a Zedd vs. Billy rematch. Almost 30 years afterPower Rangersseason 2 turned the show’s best villain into a joke,Cosmic Furymade Zedd into a major threat again. The series even gave Lord Zedd a new form, Master Zedd. Funnily enough, at theend ofCosmic Fury, Lord Zedd was trapped in a mental loop where he would have to listen to Rita Repulsa forever.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Cast
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers marks the beginning of the Power Rangers franchise, centering on a group of teenagers with attitude who transform into superheroes. They are tasked with defending Angel Grove from the evil witch Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, Emperor of evil, along with their monstrous minions.
