Villains in Power Rangers in Space
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The fictional villains of the Power Rangers universe that appeared in the television series Power Rangers in Space were aliens, and members of the United Alliance of Evil under the command of Dark Specter. This included many villains from previous seasons of Power Rangers, and some that had not appeared before.
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[edit] Dark Specter
Dark Specter (voiced by Christopher Cho) is known throughout the universe as the Grand Monarch of Evil. He had captured Zordon, the Power Rangers' former mentor, and began draining him of his powers. As the Grand Monarch, Dark Specter brought forth a union of villains known as the United Alliance of Evil, including Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, Master Vile, the Machine Empire, Divatox, General Havoc, and Astronema. Selecting Astronema to battle the Space Rangers, Dark Specter made sure they never rescued Zordon from his clutches. In Countdown to Destruction, Dark Specter finally initiated an invasion of the entire universe, assaulting Earth, Aquitar, Triforia, KO-35, and the homeworld of the Phantom Ranger, Eltar. Though the attack was going well, Dark Specter was assaulted by Darkonda, who tried to slay Dark Specter with a planet-destroying missile. Though the attack was enough to destroy Dark Specter, the Grand Monarch was able to hang on long enough to swallow Darkonda's fighter jet whole, destroying the bounty hunter with him. He soon fell to Earth as fragments.
Dark Specter is nearly identical in appearance to the lava demon Maligore (even Divatox acknowledged the resemblance), and is capable of spitting fireballs, however, his personality is based on Javious the first from Denji Sentai MegaRanger (despite the fact that the two look nothing alike). He is presumed to be involved in the destruction of Alpha 5.
[edit] Astronema
Astronema (played by Melody Perkins) is known throughout the universe as the Princess of Evil, Dark Princess of Space and the Princess of Darkness. She is also known for being 1 of 2 head female villains (the other Trakeena) in the Power Ranger series to go into hand-to-hand combat with the rangers theirselves. She carried a staff called a "Wrath Staff" that blasted electricity, and a boomerang in which she used to attack the rangers.
Once known as Karone, sister of Andros, the Red Space Ranger, she lived on the planet KO-35, a human space colony. She was kidnapped by Darkonda when she and Andros were playing in the park with a toy sphere and practicing telekinesis. She was transported to another planet, where she met Ecliptor and Dark Specter, the Grand Monarch of Evil.
She was left in the care of Ecliptor, who became a fatherly figure to her and trained her to be an evil warrior. The memories of being Karone faded away. Ecliptor had told her lies of the Power Rangers destroying her parents and her brother. After years of training and competing against other evil warriors, Astronema was later tutored in the dark arts of magic. She was awarded the Wrath Staff, which she uses to manipulate others and battle her opponents. With Dark Specter's help, she gained the space station, the Dark Fortress, and an army of robotic soldiers called Quantrons. Astronema is known to change her hairstyle and color at will. She wore her locket that had the same pictures of her and Andros as children; however, she refused to acknowledge that she and Andros were siblings until later.
As Astronema roamed the universe, conquering and destroying all those who would not serve her or Dark Specter, she would destroy them or turn them into his slaves. She met a warrior that carried the Armor Keys, magical talismans that would grant him great armor. To prevent the warrior from using the keys, she turned him into a stone figure.
Astronema shows a soft side during a plot when she becomes romantically involved with Zhane, the Silver Space Ranger. This "star-cross" occurred as a result of Zhane's deep conditioning of compassion, which influenced him to heal her when she had not died of a wound inflicted in battle. Grateful to him, Astronema engaged in a mutual courtship for several weeks. However, their relationship ended when Ecliptor sent a monster called Horribull to destroy the Power Rangers, distracting Zhane from his meeting with Astronema. Disappointed, Astronema shot Zhane with a transfer of electrons, destroying his gift of flowers, and turned her back on him.
When she found out who she truly was, she sided with her brother, Andros, and helped him find Zordon. However, she was captured by Ecliptor, who was brainwashed, and was condemned to the same fate as he. Her emotions were removed by with cybernetic implants that later controlled her. In the final battle in "Countdown to Destruction," she battled Andros and was killed when he deflected an energy at her. After Andros shattered the Zordon's energy tube and eradicated evil, Astronema turned back into Karone.
Karone later became the second Pink Galaxy Ranger in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy after the death of Kendrix.
Astronema's character in many ways resembled that of Darth Vader from Star Wars. Both are considered the most evil villains in their respective fictional universes even though both answer to an even higher form of satanic evil (in Vader's case Palpatine, in Astronema's case Dark Spectre), both are related to the hero and both are eventually redeemed (in Vader's case before dying, in Astronema's case after dying). Also like Palpatine she can fire energy from her fingertips.
[edit] Elgar
Elgar (voiced by Derek Stephen Prince) is a rather dim-witted goon who originates from Turbo. Astronema did not particularly like him. However, when Divatox was relegated to transporting Zordon from world to world, Dark Specter decided to transfer him under Astronema's command. He served mainly as assistant to Ecliptor and Darkonda. He was also destroyed by Zordon's energy wave along with many Quantrons and Piranhatrons in the crowd at Angel Grove.
[edit] Ecliptor
Ecliptor (voiced by Alexis Lang) is Astronema's second in command. He is a powerful general, capable of holding his own against even the Red Space Ranger, Andros. He wields a sword (which can fire electric blasts), fires beams from his eyes, and can even make a duplicate of himself, called a Cyber Shadow.
Ecliptor was built, not born, as a creature of evil. He was charged with raising the captured Karone into a life of evil, so that she would become Astronema, Dark Specter's most devoted acolyte. It is sometimes implied that Ecliptor is more devoted to keeping Astronema safe than to his evil cause, which would suggest some kind of love, or at least a protective instinct. Ecliptor treats Astronema as both his queen and his daughter, offering advice when needed. He is always quick to reaffirm that Astronema is, and always has been, evil - although this is not the case.
Ecliptor was rivals with Darkonda, a bounty hunter who worked for Dark Specter to capture Karone. Darkonda treats Ecliptor with disdain, always trying to one-up him. Darkonda can also merge with Ecliptor to form a powerful entity named Darkliptor. In this form, Darkonda is dominant, but Ecliptor can force them apart if he is strong enough. Ecliptor has even killed Darkonda on three occasions, during one of which, he saved Andros from a booby trap that was set for him(Andros) by Darkonda.
When Andros found out that his long-lost sister, Karone, was Astronema, Ecliptor attempted to keep them apart, in order to prevent Astronema from learning the truth. He failed, and Astronema returned to the side of good as Karone once again. Ecliptor remained devoted to his princess, defending her against the attacks of his own forces. He was branded a traitor and was captured by Darkonda. Later, Ecliptor was brainwashed by Darkonda to be fully evil, driving out any protective instinct he may have had towards Karone. It was this reprogrammed Ecliptor who captured Karone in order for her to be brainwashed into being Astronema again.
Towards the end of the Ranger's conflict with Astronema, Ecliptor gained an upgrade, turning red for a time. In this super-powered form, he destroyed the Delta Megazord and severely damaged the other zords before his new power expired, turning him back to normal.
In Countdown to Destruction, when Andros inadvertently killed Astronema, Ecliptor appeared. Breaking free of some of his programming, he demanded to know how Andros could have done this to his own sister. He vowed to avenge her death and they began dueling. Andros strikes him down and then turns to Zordon's energy tube, destroying it. The destruction sends a wave of energy that dissolves Ecliptor into a pile of sand. He is the first of many Zordon-era villains to be destroyed.
Ecliptor was also one of the few Power Rangers characters to exhibit the "honorable villain" personality, which was used again for Villamax, Diabolico, Zen-Aku, Koragg, and several others.
Interistingly, until she ascends the throne of Dark Spectre, becoming Queen of Darkness, Ecliptor always referred to Astronema as "my Princess." This at first appears to be a style of address due to her position as Dark Princess of Space. However after her demise when he approaches her body he once again refers to her as his princess, implying that it is a term of endearment as well as address.
[edit] Darkonda
A bounty hunter from an unknown world, Darkonda (voiced by Steve Kramer) was the first treacherous antagonist in the Power Rangers series. Darkonda, as well as later villains such as Deviot, Frax, Vexacus, Zeltrax, Broodwing, and Imperious claimed allegiance to the primary villain of the series - in this case Astronema and Dark Specter - while working for their own agenda and plotting behind their leader's back. In this way, Darkonda was portrayed as the rival of Ecliptor, a villain who was wholly loyal to his superiors. This rivalry was brought to a head when he forcibly merged with Ecliptor to create the being known as Darkliptor.
In Darkonda's first appearance, he infected Carlos Vallertes, the Black Space Ranger, with the venom of a Barillian Bug, however his role was soon revealed to be much larger than that. He became one of Dark Specter's commanders, and was even responsible for taking Karone from KO-35 and taking her to Ecliptor for brainwashing. He attempted to destroy the Rangers and Ecliptor as well as his superior, Astronema, several times during the series.
Darkonda died several times during the series, but was regenerated each time. After each 'death', he marked another life on a scroll of paper that he carried with him, and it turned out that he had only a limited number of lives to live. How he came to be in this state of life and rebirth is unknown - possible reasons include that it is the nature of his species (unseen before or since Darkonda's stint on the show) or having made a "Devil's deal" with a powerful entity, possibly Dark Specter.
In Countdown to Destruction, in a final act of betrayal, Darkonda commandeered a missile powerful enough to destroy Earth and used it to destroy Dark Specter in an attempt to take power in controlling the universe for himself. However, he was destroyed in turn by the evil monarch before he fell. This was Darkonda's last life.
[edit] Psycho Rangers
The Psycho Rangers were created as evil counterparts to the Space Rangers. Astronema created them to draw on the power of her master Dark Specter, and they were designed to hunt down the Power Rangers by tracking their energy, voices, and communicator noises. Each Psycho Ranger had a specific fighting style unbeatable by the Ranger that they were evil versions of. However, because they were closely linked to their specific Space Ranger, they were defeated when the Space Rangers simply mixed up their colors.
The Psycho Rangers consisted of Blue, Yellow, Pink, Black, and Red Psycho Rangers, with the Red Psycho Ranger as their leader. In this way, the Psycho Rangers were used by Astronema not only to defeat the Power Rangers, but also to severely weaken Dark Specter, whom Astronema wished to overthrow. Unfortunately for her, the Psycho Rangers were impatient and unwilling to follow her carefully laid schemes.
The Psycho Rangers have monster forms, known as Psycho-Monsters, which form whenever their Ranger form is destroyed or when it has been weakened.
- Psycho-Monster Red is a fire monster.
- Psycho-Monster Black is a rock monster.
- Psycho-Monster Blue is a crystalline ice monster.
- Psycho-Monster Yellow is a lizard/hornet monster (which was previously seen at the Onyx Tavern).
- Psycho-Monster Pink is a plant-like monster.
Psycho-Pink was the first to become monstrous, then Psycho-Blue is the second, and Psycho-Red, Psycho-Black, and Psycho-Yellow become Psycho-Monsters at the same time. They ended up being destroyed again.
The spectral forms of the Psycho Rangers were later restored to life again within Secret City, and attacked the Power Rangers. The Rangers managed to digitize them, preserving them in several key cards.
During Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, these cards found their way into the hands of Deviot, whom revived the Psycho Rangers. He sent them after the Galaxy Rangers, but the Space Rangers came back and the two of them teamed up to defeat the Psychos. Psycho Pink just barely survived the explosion. She read Kendrix's mind and learned about the Savage Sword and it's current location. Both Kendrix and Cassie tried to get to the Savage Sword but Psycho Pink got to it first used it to destroy the Pink Space morpher, which replenished her power. She took on her Psycho-Monster Pink form, but the Power Rangers destroyed her with the Astro Megazord and Galaxy Megazord.
The monster forms have made some further cameo appearnces. The monster forms of Psycho-Red, Psycho-Blue, and Psycho-Yellow were seen in Countdown to Destruction. Psycho-Monster Red was with the Machine Empire's army; Psycho-Monster Blue was with Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd's army; and Psycho-Monster Yellow was with Divatox's army. They were destroyed by Zordon's energy wave. In the episode The Fate of Lightspeed in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, Psycho-Monster Blue was seen in the Shadow World.
Five people voiced the Psycho Rangers: Patrick David (Psycho Red), Michael Maize (Psycho Black), Wally Wingert (Psycho Blue), Kamera Walton (Psycho Yellow), and Vicki Davis (Psycho Pink).
[edit] See also
| Power Rangers villains |
|---|
| Mighty Morphin - Zeo - Turbo - In Space - Lost Galaxy Lightspeed Rescue - Time Force - Wild Force - Ninja Storm Dino Thunder - S.P.D. - Mystic Force |
