Lord Zedd is a major villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series and recurring through Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers in Space. He was played by Edwin Neal, with Robert Axelrod supplying the voice. Steven Blum voiced him in the video game Power Rangers: Super Legends, Tony Oliver voiced him in the Power Rangers Super Megaforce video game, and Malika Lim portrayed him in Power Rangers HyperForce.
The character was the first American-made villain for the Power Rangers series of shows with no origin in the Japanese Sentai shows. Originally depicted as a frighteningly more evil character than Rita, with a dark, gothic atmosphere during his scenes in the Lunar Palace and the dark tone of his theme, complaints from parents resulted in Zedd being toned down immensely, such as his marriage to Rita and [[Rangers Back in Time|reversing the Earth's rotation in an attempt to make the Rangers forget their duties and powers]]. After this, most of his plans seemed rather hare-brained and wackier than previously, such as creating a monster to induce cravings for junk food or creating a monster that causes friends and romantic couples to hate each other.
He and Rita both have a son, Thrax, who appears in Operation Overdrive, during the 15th Anniversary 2-part special, "Once A Ranger", where he is mentioned to have succumbed to good. He later regains his lost powers thanks to interference in the timeline by his past self.
Since his appearance, Zedd is often considered the greatest Power Rangers villain of all time.
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History
Before Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Thousands of years ago, Zedd presumably managed to forge his own empire, as he proclaimed to be "Emperor of Evil" in the series proper. He enslaved multiple other evil beings, such as Goldar and Rita Repulsa. Because he did not think Earth was important enough to warrant his attention, he had left Rita Repulsa to conquer it while he pursued the conquest of other systems. The Mutiny
It is mentioned by Rita Repulsa that Zedd also tried to take the Zeo Crystal for himself in the ancient past. But because the Crystal was protected by a forcefield which damages the forces of evil, the attempt caused his skin to burn off, which gave him the flayed and grotesque appearance he is known for. Due to the mocking tone Rita told this, it is not known if she was joking or if this fact is real. Master Vile and the Metallic Armor This theory gets confirmed by Goldar and his brother Silverback in the comic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual #1 (2016). Lord Zedd had taken the Zeo Crystal some time before, but after it had damaged his skin, Zedd would disappear from battlefields and wear a cloak to shield his appearance.
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
In the show's second season premiere, he arrived on Earth, to punish Rita, disgusted with her failure in taking over Earth and 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 from the lake into the monstrous Pirantishead, who assumed command of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and Dragonzord. The Rangers barely survived the attack, but managed to regain control of their Zords. Furious, Lord Zedd attempted to destroy the five dinozords, only for the rangers to turn the tables and transform the remains into the more powerful Thunderzords.
Despite the Rangers' acquisition of the Thunderzords, Lord Zedd attacked again and again, each assault deadlier than the last. His monsters were created from objects on Earth with the power of his scepter, and he made them grow using spherical grenades - Zedd would throw the grenade down to the monster who would then catch it, pull out the pin and throw it to the ground to make itself grow. He once desired Kimberly to be his queen based on her good looks and tenacity, and sent Goldar to capture, brainwash and train her into being so, but his plan failed when it was discovered that the magic dust that was used to entrance her didn't work and that she was really doing a Rita impression to fool Goldar and buy the Rangers enough time to rescue her. Zedd has hated Kimberly ever since.
Zedd once attempted to create a team of evil Power Rangers, but Tommy managed to free his enslaved group of humans before the plan took place. He swore to erase the Green Ranger forever, finding him the most offensive of Rita's mistakes, concentrating his attacks on him. He finally succeeded with the TurbanShell monster, wiping out Tommy's power forever. 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. Unfortunately for Zedd, these aforementioned events left Zedd without a queen or heir, making him grow angrier with the Rangers because of their constant interference.
Over time, Lord Zedd discovered that the Rangers were no pushovers, and each of his monsters failed to defeat them. With the Thunderzords and new White Ranger at their side, the Power Rangers seemed indestructible. He soon unearthed the gigantic war machine known as Serpentera that was so large that it could crush the Ranger's Zords with ease, however its flaw was that it used up its energy so fast that it could only be used for short periods of time.
Unholy Matrimony
Soon it was time for Zedd's Centennial Recharge, which he must undergo 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, proposing. However, the love potion did not work as Rita hoped; she planned on manipulating him, but Zedd was strong enough to resist, but not completely. He became less serious on defeating the Rangers and more focused on his life with Rita.
With Zedd and Rita working side by side, the Rangers' battles became more difficult than ever. Zedd and Rita's schemes together included creating a clone of the evil Tommy and sending the Rangers back into the past.
ZeddAndRita
Wedded Unpurity
When his wife's brother, Rito Revolto, arrived on the moon (even with Tengas and a Vampirus as gifts) Lord Zedd was disgusted by the skeleton's stupidity, and would bellow with rage every time Rito called him "Ed." Rita's love potion was eventually removed from Zedd thanks to Goldar, but to everyone's surprise, Zedd truly loved Rita on his own. 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, proving himself quite capable of holding his own, a trait passed down to his son in later years. Though Zedd easily gained the upperhand against the White Ranger, Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat.
When Master Vile arrived on the moon, Lord Zedd was pushed to the side as Vile took over in his search for the Zeo Crystal. He expressed disdain for his father-in-law, who constantly put him down. 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 were the Aquitian Rangers. Zedd managed to find a map of the Ranger's Command Center, pointing out a weak point. He sent Goldar and Rito in to plant a bomb and steal the Zeo Crystal before the Orb of Doom's magic was undone. Though unable to stop the rangers in undoing the damage Master Vile did, Zedd was able to destroy the Command Center. But before they could take advantage of it, the Machine Empire arrived.
Zeo and Beyond
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 destroy the Empire. The two forces clashed on several occasions, neither gaining much ground. At one point, Prince Gasket had Tommy brainwashed and closed a dimensional portal to his arena to prevent the Rangers (Minus Jason, who was at the arena) to save him, but Zedd had Finster help get the rangers to the arena to prevent a Machine victory. After a series of failed attempts, they finally managed to destroy the Royal House of Gadgetry with a bomb in the shape of a gift.
Zedd and Rita were mysteriously absent during the Power Rangers: Turbo Season, and fans have speculated that a "gap" between Power Rangers Zeo and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie reveals what occurred after Rita and Zedd had regained control of the moon from The Machine Empire. Events in Forever Red suggest that Zedd at some point launched an attack on Earth with a significantly more powerful Serpentera, only to be defeated again by The Zeo Rangers. Disillusioned and convinced he would never defeat them, Zedd and Rita retreated for good.
Lord Zedd, along with Rita, makes a cameo appearance in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, when Divatox calls Rita for advice on how to deal with the Power Rangers, she is subjected to Zedd's snoring and Rita instructing her to flee, rather than fight. After many successive failures, this was the best advice the villainess could get.
Human lord zedd
Lord Zedd in human form
A year later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on the Cimmerian Planet, Zedd toasting to Dark Specter's capture of Zordon and takeover of the universe, and unsucssesfully tried to attack Andros when he was caught spying. 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. His love for Rita seemed to remain and the two danced together in the remnants of their army, much to the confusion of the Gold Ranger.
Legacy of Power
Lord Zedd was featured in a chronicle of Power Ranger history compiled by Tommy Oliver shortly after he formed the Dino Rangers, which was found by the nascent Ranger team in the Dino Lab. Legacy of Power
Years later, Thrax mentions that he seeks to rebuild his parents' legacy, disgusted by the fact that they were "lost to goodness". Once A Ranger
Video game appearances
Power Rangers Super Legends
"...you! But you're no longer evil!"
―Future Omega Ranger
"Not in every timeline, Ranger!"
―Lord Zedd
Zedd-super-legends
Lord Zedd as he appears in Super Legends.
Lord Zedd appears as the main villain in the video game Power Rangers Super Legends. Years after the events of "Countdown to Destruction", Zedd's human form is an accomplished archaeologist on Earth, with no mention of his wife Rita anywhere. Despite being given a second chance at life, his human form wonders about his former life. Upon unearthing a set of time crystals, the human Zedd looks into the past and is instantly corrupted by the powers of his past self, who hated what he would become. Now evil again, with his powers restored, Zedd decided to enjoy making use of the time crystals to create chaos with the timeline, not caring of the consequences his actions may have on reality. He is voiced by Steven Jay Blum in the game, rather than Robert Axelrod. Blum would later go on to voice Reptile in Mortal Kombat X, using a similar voice.
He visits various points in the future and past, forming alliances with generals and leaders of villain factions and giving them minions from the other time zones to help accomplish their goals. He even makes it a point to pay Goldar a visit while he was serving Rita in his place and had a plan to use a potion on the Angel Grove water supply to turn citizens into new Putties for his plans. However, this plan is thwarted by the original Pink and Red Rangers. At the end of the game, it takes the combined effort of various Rangers from the past, present, and future to defeat him. Zedd attempts to escape, but accidentally drops his time crystal when fleeing to a void outside of time. The Omega Ranger admits to his fellow Rangers that it may take Zedd eons to escape, bringing peace to the universe on at least one front. Power Rangers: Super Legends
Power Rangers Legacy Wars
Legacy Wars Lord Zedd
Lord Zedd as seen in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.
Lord Zedd is among the villains who feature in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.
Titles Zedd refers to himself
While Lord Zedd referred to himself as the "Emperor of Evil", there are other titles he called himself.
In the non-canon Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live, Lord Zedd refers to himself as the "Prince of Darkness", a copyright reference to Ozzy Osbourne and Bram Stoker's Count Dracula character.
In the game Power Rangers: Super Legends, he refers to himself as "Galactic Overlord Zedd".
Family Tree
Daimaou & Master VilleMaster Vile ♂ ∞ ♀
MMPR RitoRito ♂ Rita RepulsaRita ♀ ∞ Lord zedd
Zedd ♂
OO ThraxThrax ♂
Personality
In his debut appearance and 40 episodes after, Zedd starts off as a very menacing and frightening character. He abuses his lackeys, silencing Goldar and others frequently and blaming them for most failures rather than taking responsibility for those failures himself. During and after The Wedding however, thanks to Rita's Love Potion, his personality changes to a mostly-loving and caring person around Rita, but he still abuses her and others when he doesn't get his way; for example, during their first marital argument, he silenced Rita and demanded her respect from him when she blamed him for their recent failure, then refused to comply to her listening to him from then on. Zedd harbored a lot of disrespect for Master Vile, especially when he got pushed to the side and also expressed disdain for him having stopped them from destroying Angel Grove.
When he was turned good by Zordon's Energy Wave, his evil personality traits were mostly purged; his love for Rita was enough for Zordon's energy to turn him into a human being.
However Zedd's hunger for power remained, as shown in Super Legends he missed his former power and travelled back in time to witness his former self, which led to him becoming evil again. Whether this is canon can be debated, since the events of the game aren't shown during the TV series.
Powers and abilities
Right from his first appearance, Lord Zedd established himself to be much more capable in the fields of magic compared to Rita Repulsa. While Rita has to rely in Finster and his Monster-Matic to create her monsters and foot soldiers, Zedd can effortlessly create his own Putties and Monsters on his own, using nothing but his magic staff. In the case of Putties, Zedd simply conjures them out of thin air. However, when creating a monster, he usually needs an item or animal to turn into a monster, instead of creating them from nothing.
Zedd also possesses other magical feats, which include:
Conjuration: Zedd is able to conjure objects out of thin air, such as his staff or growth bombs.
Telescopic vision: Zedds vision is so accurate, he can see whats happening on earth by just looking at the planet. He also seems to be able to see what happens in an entirely different solar system, as seen when the Rangers traveled to Edenoi.
Curses: On multiple occasions, Zedd managed to curse objects, giving them different effects. An example is cursing two pairs of sunglasses to make the wearer see everyone else as a Putty, in hopes of turning the rangers against each other.
Weather manipulation: In his first appearance, he caused a thunderstorm on the moon.
Projection: He also created a giant projection of himself in the clouds of said storm.
Outside of his magical abilities, Zedd has proven himself to be an excellent hand-to-hand fighter, as he easily defeated Tommy in battle, and an expert designer of weapons, seeing as he single handedly designed his own Zord Serpentera, which is, to date, still the largest Zord in the entire universe of Power Rangers and probably the most powerful if it weren't for its small energy supply. Zedd also seems to have a more tactical mind, compared to his subordinate and later wife Rita. Many of his plans involve trying to cause confusion or division among the rangers, seeing as he realized their teamwork was their greatest asset, whereas Rita, during her solo tenure, was much more straight forward. He also does not limit himself to the standard plans of just sending out monsters, as he tried to create his own evil team of human rangers on two separate occasions and changed the rangers into children at another.
In terms of overall power, Zedd's powers, while formidable, are much weaker than Master Vile, King Mondo, Louie Kaboom, Prince Gasket, and Dark Specter, as he was quite intimidated by them.
In other media
Zedd Live
Lord Zedd as seen in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live.
Lord Zedd has appeared in some comics of MMPR. His role was much the same as it was during the second and third seasons of the show (though at times he is written with more of Rita's characteristics, such as using his staff to grow monsters like Rita would).
Zedd also appears as a hidden mini-boss in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie game for Sega Genesis. During the game's Ninja Encounter stage, the player can enter a cave where they face a giant Zedd. It is necessary to avoid his attacks and land enough blows on Zedd's fingers to escape.
Zedd also appears in Super Gameboy/Gameboy's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. He appears as both boss of a stage, and one of the 5 guards that are in Ivan's stage. He teleports, swings his staff, and can shoot a spark shot. If you stand in his shadow he will teleport somewhere else instead.
He is also the penultimate opponent in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition, as well as being a playable character in versus mode.
Lord Zedd is the primary antagonist of the console version of Power Rangers: Super Legends.
In a comic crossover with DC Comics, Zedd and the Power Rangers end up in the DC Universe due to a teleportation accident. Zedd allies with the supercomputer Brainiac, promising a city from his universe in exchange for eliminating the Rangers; he keeps the Justice League busy with an army of monsters.
Notes
Zedd loves Halloween, but despises Christmas.
It is often assumed by fans that Thrax was conceived during Zedd and Rita's time away during Power Rangers Turbo.
Some parents complained about Zedd being too frightening to younger children. As a result, Zedd was toned down after marrying Rita (although this also disappointed some fans, as they preferred the darker and more serious villain).
Zedd's design included tubing running throughout his skeletal metal frame, the purpose of which is unknown. The tubing was typically omitted from all appearances outside the show, such as action figures, video games and the live show.
Zedd was the first Power Ranger villain to be a Power Rangers Exclusive.
He is the only non-humanoid villain shown to become good in "Countdown to Destruction". If one treats Power Rangers: Super Legends as canon, Zedd is also the only villain purified by the Z Wave to return to being evil.
It is also shown that Zedd has a rivalry with Count Dregon, however the two never are seen face-to-face (he later seems oblivious to the fact Dregon follow the Rangers back to Earth).
In the game Super Legends, it is revealed that Zedd became an archaeologist after being purified with Zordon's wave.
Lord Zedd in Japanese dub is voiced by the late Daisuke Gōri.
His name is the same as the British pronunciation of the letter "Z".
He is a playable character in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.