| Series | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Power Rangers Zeo |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Day of the Dumpster" (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) |
| Last appearance | "Countdown to Destruction, Part 2" (Power Rangers in Space) |
| Status | Deceased |
| Homeworld | Eltar |
| Portrayed by | David Fielding (voice) Robert L. Manahan (voice) Nicholas Bell (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie) Jun Tatara (Japanese footage, "Power Ranger Punks", (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)) |
Zordon is a powerful wizard and mentor to the Power Rangers franchise, appearing in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series and many of its subsequent incarnations.
Although the Power Rangers had, in the continuity, predated Zordon, Zordon is generally credited with creating the first group of modern Power Rangers, as well as coining many of the phrases that are still used today. Among the most notable of these terms is the "Zord", a term for the various building-sized mechanical or biomechanical robot machines used in the series, and the "Megazord", a term for any arbitrary merger of Zords into a bigger, usually humanoid Zord.
The Power Rangers saga begins with the story of a battle of gigantic proportions between him and his nemesis, Rita Repulsa, over 10,000 years ago. Zordon and his assistant robot, Alpha 5, eventually found the box containing the original five Power Coins, as well as a map to the Temple of Power, home of the coins' creator, Ninjor. Zordon also prepared for the eventual arrival of evil by placing key weapons across the solar system (such as the Mega Voyager which he left on a moon of Jupiter). His experience over the ages gave him knowledge of various peoples and objects all across the known universe, many of which became key to aiding his Rangers.
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In the course of the intergalactic struggle between Zordon's good and Rita Repulsa's evil, the witch managed to trap Zordon in an interdimensional time warp before she and her minions were sealed away in a Space Dumpster by five warriors assembled by the good sorcerer. With Zordon gone, the day-to-day upkeep fell to the duties of his loyal robot, Alpha 5.
After the battles ceased, Zordon decided to use Earth as his new base of operations, setting up in the deserts of California. This was a great choice as Rita's dumpster eventually crash-landed on the Moon of Earth, proceeding to launch her attacks in the vicinity of Zordon and Alpha's Command Center.
At some point in the year 1880, Kimberly Hart accidentally traveled back in time from the mid-1990s. She soon wasn't alone, as Goldar and a Cactus Monster were threatening the past. Kimberly teleported to the Command Center to seek Zordon's help. He presented her with the other four power coins to defeat the monsters.
Zordon's true form was seen in the episode Power Ranger Punks. As Kimberly Hart and Billy Cranston were both under the influence of an evil spell, Zordon recalled how he had to fight off the Putty Patrol for the singing squash. The viewing globe showed a flashback of Zordon attempting to get the squash and using it to fight off the putty patrol. The squash was the only hope of curing the two, and Alpha eventually retrieved it after also fighting the putty patrol. Zordon was dressed in all white with sky blue hair. This flashback was actually footage of Barza, his counterpart in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.
When Rita was released in 1993, Zordon, with the help of his trusted assistant, Alpha 5, sought out "five teenagers with attitude." He recruited Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Kimberly Hart, Trini Kwan and Billy Cranston to be the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Zordon acted as a mentor and advisor for the team, revealing Zords, equipment and useful information whenever the time was right. The "Green With Evil" five-parter demonstrates just how important Zordon was to the team. Rita used her Power Coin and brainwashed Tommy Oliver into being the evil Green Ranger, with his first task being sabotaging Zordon's connection to our dimension. The Rangers and Alpha were unable to contact him for some time, which made matters more difficult for them. It was only when Alpha re-established contact with Zordon that the tide began to turn in the Rangers' favor and Tommy was freed from Rita's influence.
As shown in this era and continued throughout his tenure, despite being trapped in another dimension, Zordon frequently demonstrated great power and awareness. (For example, he immediately knew that Tommy was the Green Ranger, while it took the Rangers some time to figure out.) He was able to keep Tommy's Green Ranger powers from fading sooner by regularly infusing his coin. After the loss of the Green Ranger Powers he selects Tommy to be the new White Ranger. He also knew a great deal about things as they were occurring. Zordon also demonstrated sincere concern for each Ranger, offering advice and encouragement for their personal lives as well as for battle.
During this era, Zordon mentored the Rangers through the transition from the Dinozords to the Thunderzords; the threat of Lord Zedd; the arrivals of new Rangers Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, Aisha Campbell and Katherine Hillard; and the acquisition of the Ninja powers and related zords. However, he and the Rangers were unable to prevent Master Vile from reversing time with the Orb of Doom.
Though the movie takes place outside of regular continuity, Zordon was present in this movie. He belonged to the Order of Meledan and Dulcea of the planet Phaedos knew of him. Zordon is responsible for imprisoning Ivan Ooze. Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa freed Ivan, who destroyed the Command Center and his capsule tube. With Zordon dying (a result of being out of his capsule in this continuity), the now powerless Rangers had to obtain the power of the Ninjetti to restore him. Though they appeared to be too late, they did in fact succeed.
With time reversed, the Power Rangers were reverted to children and no longer had their powers. Zordon was opposed to giving them powers at such a young age, so he contacted the Alien Rangers of Aquitar for his assistance. The five Aquitian Rangers answered the call despite Earth being a hostile environment to them and were mentored by Zordon similarly like the human Rangers.
After Billy returned to his normal age and the Rangers' Ninja Power Coins were destroyed, there was the question of how to restore everyone to normal. Zordon realized that the only way was to use the Zeo Crystal, which the Rangers had earlier separated into five pieces and scattered throughout time. Zordon enabled the child Rangers to embark to different time periods to retrieve the sub-Crystals. After Earth was restored by the Zeo Crystal and the Alien Rangers left the Earth, Goldar and Rito Revolto stole the reformed crystal. Almost immediately afterwards, a bomb that they had planted exploded. As the Command Center was being destroyed, Zordon ordered the Rangers to teleport to safety, but he and Alpha appeared to be destroyed.
As the Rangers – including newcomer Tanya Sloan – scoured the remains of the Command Center, they discovered the Zeo Crystal (apparently dropped by Goldar and Rito) and then the new Power Chamber. Zordon and Alpha were still alive, but celebrations had to wait. Zordon explained that the Machine Empire now threatened Earth, so he introduced the Rangers to their new Zeo powers. Over time with Alpha and Billy's help, Zordon unveiled new Zords and weapons for the Rangers to use to defend Earth.
When the space pirate Divatox landed on Earth chasing the wizard Lerigot, Zordon realized that the Zeo powers were not enough, so he and the Rangers created the Turbo powers. He also helped the Rangers create their own Turbozords. He replaced Rocky (who had been injured in an accident) with the young Justin Stewart, who had learned the truth about the Rangers' identities.
In the three-part premiere, "Shift into Turbo," Zordon announces that he and Alpha are leaving. Lerigot was freeing Zordon from his imprisonment, and he and Alpha were to take a wormhole back to his homeworld of Eltar. The Rangers were sad to see both of them go, but were happy for them. In his stead, Zordon left the Rangers in the care of Dimitria.
Zordon and Alpha returned to watch Adam, Tommy, Tanya and Katherine pass their powers to a new generation: Carlos Vallerte, T. J. Johnson, Ashley Hammond and Cassie Chan. Zordon and Alpha were later involved in the construction of robot duplicates of the Turbo Rangers.
Months later, Zordon alerted the Turbo Rangers to Eltar being under attack. He urged them to stay to defend the Earth, though, and apparently attempted to warn them of Goldgoyle's threat. Later, after the Power Chamber was destroyed by her, a messenger from the Cimmerian planet informed Divatox that the grand monarch of evil, Dark Specter, had captured Zordon. Divatox's forces then left with the messenger per Dark Specter's orders. The Turbo Rangers, who suspended usage of the Turbo powers (save Justin) and Alpha 6 intended to go into space and follow them to rescue Zordon.
In a gathering of every major Ranger villain yet seen, Dark Specter revealed that he was draining the power of the captured Zordon. Once finished, Dark Specter said "the power" would be gone forever. Andros, the Red Space Ranger, had infiltrated the gathering, but he was unable to free Zordon. Andros later encountered the former Turbo Rangers and Alpha 6. After some difficulties, he unveiled the Astro Morphers. The new Space Ranger team set about to find Zordon before Dark Specter could succeed. They came close several times in locating Zordon (who was constantly moved by Divatox's forces), but the forces of Astronema foiled them at every turn. In one case, the Rangers' search for Zordon nearly saw them fall into a trap by Dark Specter.
In the final episode, "Countdown to Destruction", Zordon is brought to Astronema's Dark Fortress to witness the unfolding of Dark Specter's plan to conquer the universe. Even as his powers are being drained away, Zordon attempts to reach Astronema's true self (Karone, Andros' sister), but is unsuccessful. After Dark Specter is destroyed by Darkonda, Zordon is no longer in danger of being destroyed. He again attempts to reach Karone, but is unsuccessful. Later, Andros sneaks aboard the Dark Fortress and finds Zordon. Zordon explains the situation and that there is only one way to save the universe: shatter his energy tube, allowing his good energy to destroy the forces of evil. Andros was hesitant because that meant destroying Zordon, too, but he ultimately followed through. The released energies purified Lord Zedd, Rita and Divatox, while turning the remainder of the villains to sand.
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