Lord Zedd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Lord Zedd |
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| First Appearance: | The Mutiny, Part 1 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) |
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| Last Appearance: | Countdown to Destruction, Part 2 (Power Rangers in Space) |
| Status: | Purified into Human |
| Affiliation: | United Alliance of Evil, Rita Repulsa |
| Homeworld: | Unknown |
| Weapon(s): |
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| Zord(s): | Serpentera |
| Powers: |
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| Portrayed by: |
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Lord Zedd is a villain from the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The character was the first American-made villain for the Power Rangers series that had no origins in the Japanese Sentai. He was such a frightening character when first introduced that parents actually complained that he was "too evil" for the show, resulting in Zedd being toned down immensely, such as his marriage to Rita.[citation needed]
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[edit] Character History
[edit] In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Zedd is the self proclaimed "Emperor of Evil" and "sworn enemy of all that is good and decent". He arrived on Earth, leaving his conquest of other systems, to punish Rita Repulsa, 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 and Dragonzord after freezing the other four Zords. The Rangers barely survived the attack, but managed to regain control of their Zords. Furious, Lord Zedd opened a crevasse in the ground which swallowed all the Zords except for Dragonzord, which retreated into the sea.
Despite the Rangers' acquisition of the Thunder Zords, Lord Zedd attacked Earth again and again, each assault deadlier than the last. His monsters were created from objects on Earth with the power of his Z-Staff. A number of these monsters happened to be cyclopses, which could hint to Zedd very well being one himself. Rather than using his staff to enlarge monsters (as Rita had done), he would make a grenade appear in his hand, that he would throw down at Earth. The monster (or monsters) would then catch the grenade, remove its pin, and smash it to the ground. When it exploded, a vent of steam would make the monster grow.
Zedd focused multiple attacks on the Green Ranger, viewing him as the weak link in the chain due to his failing powers and the most offensive of Rita's mistakes. Eventually he used the Green Crystal to drain all of the Green Ranger powers and attempted to use them to create a team of evil Power Rangers, but Tommy managed to free the enslaved group of humans before they could be used. While Tommy had enough power left to help destroy the Turbanshell monster, Zedd had still succeeded in removing the Green Ranger. 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 not the "mere infants" he'd initially thought, and that just like Rita he couldn't defeat them. Zedd eventually brought up the big guns - his personal Zord Serpentera. This serpentine Zord was so massive that it could literally crush the Ranger's Zords underfoot and had the power to destroy whole planets. However, Serpentera's distinctive flaw was that it used up energy so quickly that it could only be used for short periods of time, and Zedd used most of its power destroying the Deserted Planet (in a failed attempt to kill the Rangers) before it could be used on Earth. Zedd's continual attempts to find an infinite power source failed.
Soon it came time for Zedd's Centennial Recharge, which he had to undergo every hundred years 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 by Finster into the Centennial Recharge machine, and when Zedd awoke, he instantly fell in love with Rita and proposed. While Zedd and Rita became far less serious and more lighter figures after their marriage, they were still formidable opponents and the Rangers were now struggling to defeat both their foes combined. Zedd and Rita used multiple attempts involving clones of the Rangers and time-travel, and though they each failed, the Rangers did not claim victory so easily. Also, following this, monsters were now made to grow by Rita and Zedd crossing their staffs and combining energies.
When Rito Revolto arrived, Lord Zedd was disgusted by the skeleton's stupidity, and would bellow with rage every time Rito called him "Ed". To his annoyance, Rito refused to ever leave, but at least he helped destroy the Thunderzords. Rita's love potion was eventually removed thanks to Goldar, but to everyone's surprise, Zedd loved Rita. 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. Zedd beat the White Ranger around like a ragdoll until Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat.
When Master Vile arrived on the moon, Lord Zedd was pretty much pushed to the side as Vile took over in his search for the Zeo Crystal. 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 was a group of aliens from a water planet who weakened easily on land, and managed to destroy the Power Coins early on. Zedd managed to find a map of a series of underground tunnels underneath the 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 Zedd & Rita could take advantage of it, the Machine Empire arrived.
[edit] In Power Rangers: Zeo
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 Queen Machina and destroy the Empire. The two forces clashed on several occasions, neither gaining much ground. At one point, Prince Gasket had Tommy brainwashed and was poised to destroy the Rangers, but Zedd had Finster help free them to prevent a victory for the Machines. They attempted to take control of the Machine Empire via a puppet ruler, Louie Kaboom, but this backfired when Rito lost Louie's control mechanism. After a series of failed attempts, Zedd finally had a confrontation with King Mondo (in which the Cogs and Tengas battled to a tie). After Mondo lost a battle to the Rangers, Zedd and Rita met up with the Royal Family on the moon. Zedd and Rita proceeded to make a faux truce with them, symbolized with a present. The present was as bomb which destroyed the Machine Empire's Royal Family. Zedd and company took this as an opportunity to go on a vacation after finally getting a triumph of sorts.
They also briefly appeared to tell Carlos that he had to collect five items to defeat King Mondo, who took over while he was asleep. However, that was revealed to be only a dream brought on by a horror movie he was watching.
[edit] In Power Rangers in Space
Later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on the Cimmerian Planet. Although they were distraught when they heard that Divatox had supposedly destroyed the Rangers, Zedd toasted to Dark Specter's takeover of the universe. He attacked Andros with his staff, but the attempt was easily deflected by the Spiral Saber. 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. Since the only other villains to survive the wave--Rita Repulsa and Divatox--were apparently human before becoming villains, only former humans were healed.
[edit] Trivia
- It has been speculated that Lord Zedd is Jewish based on his wedding to Rita. During the ceremony, "Hava Nagila" is played in the background, Zedd was wearing a yarmulke during the ceremony, and he crushes a bottle with his foot after the ceremony. However, the series does not confirm or deny this (executive producers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy were both of Jewish descent.) Zedd and Rita are likely not from Earth, so any resemblance in marriage practices is (in terms of in-show logic) likely a coincidence.
- In Master Vile and the Metallic Armor, Rita makes a remark that Zedd got his monstrous, skinless form from the forcefield around the Zeo Crystal. While she was clearly joking (Zedd even says so), some fans have come to believe it to indeed be how he achieved his evil form, and why in the end of The Countdown to Destruction he is transformed into a more human looking form.
- According to episodes in Season 3, we learn that Lord Zedd is ticklish.
- Lord Zedd is the first villain leader to battle one or more Power Rangers in direct combat. He personally fought the White Ranger to prevent him from rescuing Kimberly, but had to retreat when his Z-staff was shattered. Later villains including King Mondo, Astronema, Scorpius, Diabolico, Ransik, Master Org, Lothor, Mesogog, Emperor Gruumm, Morticon and Imperious would also take to the field personally against Rangers.
- The human Lord Zedd seen at the end of "Countdown To Destruction" was played by Ed Neil, who was also the man inside the costume from the beginning.
- Despite Rita appearing in Power Rangers: Mystic Force as Mystic Mother, Zedd is not referred to or mentioned.
| Preceded by Rita |
Power Rangers Main Villain 1994-1996 |
Succeeded by King Mondo |
