Alpha 5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Alpha 5 |
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| First Appearance: | Day of the Dumpster (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) |
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| Last Appearance: | Passing the Torch, Part 2 (Power Rangers: Turbo) |
| Status: | Unknown Presumed destroyed |
| Affiliation: | Zordon |
| Homeworld: | Edenoi |
| Weapon(s): | None |
| Zord(s): | None |
| Powers: |
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| Portrayed by: |
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Alpha 5 was a fictional robot on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series. On Alpha's chest is a yellow stylized lightning bolt similar to the Power Rangers' lightning bolt symbol, but inverted. His head is in the shape of an inflated hockey puck, and he has lights in his visor that flash when he is speaking. He is most known for his cry of "Aye-yi-yi!" which he used in many situations (most often in alarm/panic).
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[edit] Character history
In the early days of the series, he often acted like the Rangers' little brother, always wanting to hang out with them and learn stuff from them (such as learning "hip-hop-kido" from Zack). He matured a little as the series went on, but always remained a naive, child-like assistant to the Rangers. Residing in the Command Center with Zordon, he served as the Rangers' technician, constructing weapons for them to use against the forces of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa.
When Rita sent the Green Ranger to sabotage the Command Center, the evil Ranger slipped a CD into Alpha's inner workings, unleashing a virus onto the unwitting droid which caused him to convulse violently (as well as make his voice falter and warp). Though the removal of the disc seemed to provide Alpha some temporary relief, Billy had to repair Alpha's circuitry in order to permanently remove the virus. Alpha later captured the Green Ranger in a forcefield, but Rita rescued him before Alpha could reveal his identity (though the computer locked-on to his bio-signals, running them through the system and thus allowing everyone to know Green Ranger's identity later).
In the second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Alpha had three encounters with Lord Zedd's forces. In The Wannabe Ranger, he attempted to assist a little boy lost in Angel Grove Park, but was attacked by the Primator, a shapeshifting gorilla monster who disguised himself as Billy and tried to trick Alpha into taking him to the Command Center. Alpha activated his self-destruct sequence to protect the Command Center, but seemed unable to deactivate it once the Primator left, and it was necessary for the Rangers do so. Later in the season, he would leave the Command Center to rescue the Rangers, who had been trapped within a photograph by the Photomare monster. In his attempt to capture the photo, Alpha was confronted by both Photomare and Goldar, but he was able to freeze both villains with a device of his and escape.
Near the end of the season, in The Wedding, he was ambushed by Finster and the Putties as he took a hike outside the Command Center. Just as the Green Ranger had, Finster inserted a disc into Alpha's circuits, but instead of delivering a virus, this CD warped Alpha's personality into an evil, obnoxious brat, who assisted Zedd and Rita by tricking the Rangers into an abandoned theater (which Finster proceeded to fill with monsters). Alpha also cut the Rangers off from Zordon and the Thunderzords. When Zordon's pleas for him to stop annoyed him, Alpha comically altered Zordon's image (giving him hair and glasses) before shutting Zordon off completely. The Rangers eventually removed the disc from Alpha, instantly returning him to normal.
In the third season, it was revealed that Alpha was constructed on the planet Edenoi by King Lexian, the grandfather of the Masked Rider. It was because of this connection that the Rangers were able to team up with the Rider against the forces of his foe, Count Dregon. Alpha later saved the Command Center from destruction by defusing an implosion generator planted there by Rito and Goldar. Unfortunately, the duo's second attempt was successful, and the Center was blown to pieces, an event which the Rangers feared Alpha didn't survive. Alpha was later shown to be alive and well within the secondary base, the Power Chamber. Now assisted by Billy, Alpha continued to serve the Rangers (now the Power Rangers: Zeo) as they battled the Machine Empire. A brief encounter with the Cogs resulted badly for Alpha, being short-circuited by an electric shock from one of their spears.
By the time of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Alpha had gained a new, streamlined body. His plating was much more reflective than before, and his lightning bolt was now an arrow pointing straight down (this body would be more commonly associated with Alpha 6). When Zordon left for his home planet of Eltar (in Shift Into Turbo), Alpha went with him, saddened that he was leaving the Rangers behind. The two later briefly returned in The Passing of the Torch, in which Tommy, Adam, Kat, and Tanya retired from their Ranger duties. In this episode Alpha 5 reverted back to his original body
This was the last time Alpha 5 was seen or mentioned. The next time Eltar was mentioned, it was under attack by Dark Specter's forces. It was presumed he was destroyed in Dark Specter's assault on Eltar, but there is no definitive proof either way.
[edit] Alpha's Magical Christmas
Set at some point during Mighty Morphin Power Rangers second season, Alpha's Magical Christmas is a direct-to-video musical Christmas special revolving around Alpha moping about inside the Command Center. The Rangers are currently at the North Pole helping Santa Claus get ready for the holiday, and Alpha feels all alone for Christmas (he almost talks as if Zordon isn't even there). Zordon offers to cheer Alpha up by giving him a Christmas tree, then follows that up by teleporting a group of children to the Command Center to sing Christmas carols with Alpha. Together they sing such carols as Good King Wenceslas, Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells and Silent Night. After the children left, Tommy, Kimberly and Billy teleported to the Command Center in ranger outfits. Then some snowflakes came down and they along with Alpha sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas near the end.
Alpha's Magical Christmas is continually panned by fans for not only being overly sappy and cutesy, but also for being completely illogical, as the events portrayed in the episode make it impossible to fit anywhere within Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' continuity. Excusing the fact that Zordon allows children into the Command Center merely to sing with Alpha (how would he have arranged this with their parents?), when the Rangers show up at the end of the episode, Tommy is clad in his Green Ranger outfit. This may make one think that Alpha's Magical Christmas is set in the beginning of season two, but then Rocky, Adam, and Aisha - already Power Rangers - talk to Alpha through the Viewing Globe. Not only that, but flashbacks show Tommy as the White Ranger and Jason, Zack, Trini are shown in the Viewing Globe at the end of a song and mentioned by Zordon as still being at the World Peace Conference.
Because of these jarring continuity errors, as well as the overall tone of the episode, fans often try to forget Alpha's Magical Christmas.
[edit] Trivia
- In the Spanish language versions of the series, at the end of some episodes ending in a cliffhanger in which Alpha 5 appears, he is the one who translates for viewers the end message, saying in Spanish: "Aye-yi-yi! To be continued!" Making Aye-yi-yi and "Recorcholis" its catchphrases in Spanish dubbing. Other episodes that end in a cliffhanger will have Zordon saying either "Alpha, to be continued" or "Alpha, we will continue with this story."
- In an episode of Power Rangers: S.P.D., Kat mentions that a trio of robots have attacked the planet Alpha 5. Fans initially believed this to be a subliminal fan reference to the Alpha 5 character, but it was later revealed by current producer Bruce Kalish at Comic-Con to be nothing more than a coincidental oversight on their part.
