'' ("'''MMPR'''") is an ''.
The second and third seasons drew on footage and elements from the Japanese series ''
Gosei Sentai Dairanger '' and ''
Ninja Sentai Kakuranger '' respectively, though the ''Zyuranger'' costumes were still used extensively; the main 5 Dairanger suits were never used at all, only the KibaRanger (White Power Ranger) suit was used. The series was produced by MMPR Productions and distributed by
Saban Entertainment , and aired on
Fox Kids .
In 1996, the ''Mighty Morphin'' label was retired as the series would follow in the footsteps of its Sentai source material, changing its name, cast and plot every year; thus the
Power Rangers franchise was born. ''Power Rangers'' still runs in this format to this day, though currently the majority of post-MMPR series are not
Spin-offs in the traditional sense.
The series takes place in the fictional town of
Angel Grove ,
California . Two unwitting astronauts on a lunar exploration discover an extra-terrestrial container (referred to as a
Dumpster as a result of its stench), breach the unit inadvertently releasing the evil witch,
Rita Repulsa , from 10,000 years of confinement. Upon her release, she and her army of evil Space Aliens set their sights on conquering the Earth. When the wise sage
Zordon becomes aware of the release of the evil witch he was responsible for capturing so long ago, he orders his robotic assistant,
Alpha 5 , to find five "teenagers with attitude," to defend the Earth from Rita's attacks. The five socially diverse teens chosen are
Jason Lee Scott ,
Trini Kwan ,
Billy Cranston ,
Kimberly Hart , and
Zack Taylor .
The series begins with five teenagers combatting Rita Repulsa and her seemingly endless array of monsters, however, consecutive failures lead Rita to adopt a new method for conquering Earth and destroying the Power Rangers: by attacking them with one of their own. In possession of a special Green Ranger power, Rita kidnaps and brainwashes a local teen whose fighting skills prove to equal that of Jason Lee Scott's in a Martial Arts contest held in Angel Grove. The new teen, (
Tommy Oliver ), passes Rita's tests, earning the Green Ranger Power during the five-part story arc "
Green With Evil ." Eventually, the Green Ranger is overcome and the Sword of Darkness, the new source for the continuance of the evil spell he has fallen victim to, is destroyed by Jason. As a result, Tommy will use the Powers he's left with to defeat the evil that gave them to him in the first place. His Zord, the Dragonzord, retains the power to join with the other Ranger's Zords to form more powerful Zord combinations, including Dragonzord in Battle Mode, and the MegaDragonzord.
Along the way, Billy works on improving his self-confidence while Tommy begins to court Kimberly, both sharing a great amount of screentime. Trini works to raise environmental awareness, Zack continues to pursue love interest Angela, while Jason continues to improve his skills. The entire team regularly makes efforts to contribute to their community outside of being Power Rangers, spending much of their personal time dedicated to volunteerism and helping the community.
As time goes on, discontent with regularly being defeated with the aide of the Green Ranger powers she believes are hers , Rita focuses her plans on eliminating Tommy and regaining the Powers. Utilizing a special wax touched by Tommy when he was evil, Rita uses a green candle (in a story arc under the same title) to sever Tommy's link to the Morphin Grid and slowly remove his powers, returning them to her. Because Tommy's proximity to the candle accelerates its melting process, Jason enters the Dark Dimension where the candle is guarded by Goldar to retrieve it. Unfortunately, Rita unleashes a monster attack in Angel Grove that keeps Jason and his friends from retrieving the candle. In the end, Tommy loses his Powers, however, he is able to prevent Rita from reclaiming it by transferring the remains to another Ranger who can operate them based off their own link to the Morphin Grid. Tommy chooses Jason who, feeling guilt for failing to protect Tommy's Powers, accepts them.
The five Rangers continue to protect Earth from the ongoing threat of Rita Repulsa, with Jason wielding the Green Ranger powers in conjunction with his own Red Ranger Powers. In a story arc seeing the kidnap of the parents of all the students at Angel Grove High School, including that of the five Ranger teens, the Rangers are forced to give up their five
Power Coins in trade for their parents' safety. In an act of subterfuge, Goldar accepts the Coins and keeps the captive parents. To make matters worse, Rita brainwashes Billy into stealing the Dragon Dagger and giving it to Goldar who unleashes the mighty Zord upon a town that no longer has the protection of the Power Rangers. With no powers of their own to use, Jason reveals that he is still in possession of the Dragonzord Power Coin. Tommy returns, agreeing to take part in a dangerous process in which Zordon will transfer energy from himself and into the Power Coin, allowing it to temporarily enable Tommy to Morph into the Green Ranger once more. He steals back the coins and Dagger, seemingly at the cost of his own life, having been electrocuted by a force-field protecting both sets of items. The Rangers regain their Powers and fight for the safety of their parents, to no avail. In a turn of events, Tommy is resurrected; it is revealed that he'd been energized by the power of the force-field that electrocuted him. He once again uses his Powers to save the day, but they are only temporary and can be re-generated only for a short time by Zordon who will continue to use his own energy to supplement Tommy's failing ones, making no attempts to hide the fact that the Green Ranger's Powers will ultimately fail. With every battle that occurs from here on, Tommy is left to decide whether or not he will get involved and waste away the last of his Powers.
Following multiple defeats, Rita's fortress is invaded by her superior,
Lord Zedd . Disgusted with her failure, he takes over, discarding Rita back into space within another Space Dumpster, then launches his own campaign against the Power Rangers, this time focusing on turning living things into monsters in order to waver the Ranger's ability to destroy them. As Zedd focuses his attacks on the Green Ranger powers that continue to waste away with every battle he engages in, the other Rangers see an upgrade to their Powers as they adapt to take on the Power of Thunder, a power that also transforms their Dinozords into mythical beasts known as Thunderzords, also able to form brand new, more powerful Zord combinations. At last, Tommy loses his Green Ranger powers for good, and leaves the group for a time.
Things are complicated by the creation of the
White Power Ranger (inevitably given to Tommy Oliver), the Power Transfer (from
Jason Lee Scott ,
Zack Taylor and
Trini Kwan to
Rocky DeSantos ,
Adam Park and
Aisha Campbell respectively), and the return of Rita, who ingratiates herself by slipping Zedd a love potion. Unhappy with the return of the evil witch who had mistreated him and forced him into servitude, Goldar will make several attempts to turn Lord Zedd against Rita to get rid of her once and for all. However, after Goldar discovers that Rita gave Zedd a love potion, he is dismayed to find that even after he bullies Finster into administering an antidote, Zedd truly loves her anyway.
Rito Revolto , Rita's skeletal brother, later comes to Earth and manages to destroy the Rangers' Thunderzords and, consequently, the original Dino Powers along with them (with the help from a group of monsters). Undaunted, they seek the aid of
Ninjor , alleged creator of the
Power Coins , who gives them new Ninja powers.
Later, a blonde, Australian girl named
Katherine Hillard moves to Angel Grove. She befriends Kimberly, and displays an intense affection for Tommy. Later it is found that Rita had captured Kat and put her under a powerful spell. As a result, she steals Kim's Pink Crane Ninja Coin, vastly weakening the Pink Ranger whose life force, like that of the other Ninja Ranger's, is connected to their Ninja Power Coins. Kat eventually overcame the spell, and gave the coin back to Kimberly. Having already been disconnected from the Power Coin and Zordon's declaration that her time as a ranger has ended, Kim now has a chance to pursue her personal athletic dreams. She leaves to train for the Pan Globals, deciding to entrust the Crane Coin to Kat, making her the new Pink Ninja Ranger. Though her initial fear and hesitation keeps her from contributing fully to the fight against evil, Kat eventually becomes both more comfortable and capable of fulfilling her duty as a ranger.
After several more battles, Zedd and Rita are joined by Rita's father, ''.
;. He was portrayed by
Austin St. John .
;. She was portrayed by
Thuy Trang .
;.
;.
;. He was portrayed by
Walter Emanuel Jones .
;.
;.
;.
;.
;.
See Also: Villains in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
