Zordon
| File:Zordon.jpg Zordon | |
| First Appearance: | Day of the Dumpster (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) |
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| Last Appearance: | Countdown to Destruction, Part 2 (Power Rangers in Space) |
| Status: | Incapacitated |
| Affiliation: | Order of Meledon (in theory) |
| Homeworld: | Eltar |
| Weapon(s)/ Gear: | |
| Zord(s): |
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| Powers: |
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| Portrayed by: |
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Zordon is a wizard in the Power Rangers universe, 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 a 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.
Character History
In the course of the intergalactic struggle between Zordon's good and Rita's evil, Rita 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 Zordon. 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 worked out ironically well 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
When Rita was released in the early 1990s, Zordon, with the help of his trusted assistant, Alpha 5, sought out five "teenagers with attitude," thus creating the first generation of Power Rangers. Each Power Ranger received a Power Coin - one of the five coins discovered by Zordon and Alpha long ago. Zordon acted as a mentor and advisor for the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and remained in this role until early along in the adventures of the Turbo Rangers.
Early on during Power Rangers: Turbo, Zordon returned to his home planet to provide aid to the war-torn world of Eltar, to be replaced by Dimitria. Months after his departure, Eltar was attacked and Zordon was captured by the forces of evil. The evil monarch, Dark Specter, imprisoned Zordon and began draining his powers for his own gain which, in turn, nullified the Turbo Ranger powers.
In the next series, Power Rangers in Space, the Rangers would spend time throughout the season trying to locate and rescue Zordon. Their attempts would typically end with the Ranger's coming close to locating either Zordon himself or key pieces of information that might help them to find him, but fail regularly.
However, in the Power Rangers in Space finale, Zordon's ultimate fate would be decided. By this time, the Space rangers had failed to secure the Universe from the invading forces. Andros, the Red Space Ranger, complicated matters by allowing the Commander of the United Alliance of Evil, Astronema (his long lost sister, real name Karone) to continue her evil efforts, rather than be forced to harm her. Though Andros would refuse any course of action that could harm Astronema, he would accidentally kill her when she ambushes him in her Dark Fortress. Discovering the abducted Zordon to be on the Dark Fortress, Androsis attacked by Astronema's caregiver, Ecliptor. Knowing that only one option was left to protect the Universe, the same way all the Ranger's under his charge had before that time, Zordon instructed Andros to kill him by shattering his tube, resulting in the release of his omnipotent good energies, a phenomenon unofficially known as the Z-Wave. The following is a small excerpt of Zordon's last words: "I will be gone, but my spirit will forever live in all that is good....Andros, listen to me. It is your duty as a Power Ranger to save the Universe. Now is the time." Andros then shattered the energy tube and Zordon was gone, releasing a massive shockwave of energy that swept over the Universe, reducing all evil being into sand, de-morphing all Morphed Ranger's, and reverting all transformed evils to their natural state, namely, transforming Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, and Divatox to humans once more, now purified.
Notes
- Since the end of Power Rangers in Space, the new generations of Rangers have had to battle evil that was not destroyed by Zordon's energy wave. These beings exist because they either did not exist until after the wave or because they existed, at the time of the wave, in Universes or dimensions separate of our own. In the case of machines, it is understood that those that were not activated during the time of the Z-Wave were not effected by its power, which is how Lord Zedd's personal War Zord, Serpenterra, survived.
- Although Zordon was incapacitated, many other characters in later incarnations served in much of the same role as Zordon - in some cases, the role of Zordon is divided into two characters, one being the philosophical mentor and the other being the technical genius of the Power Rangers team (examples include Captain Mitchell and Miss Fairweather in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, Princess Shayla in Power Rangers: Wild Force, and Sensei Kanoi Watanabe and his son Cam in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, ironically, Tommy Oliver (The original Green/White Ranger) in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, Doggie Cruger in "Power Rangers: S.P.D.", and Udonna in "Power Rangers: Mystic Force").
- Due to Zordon's influence on much of the first part of Power Rangers, there remains persistent rumors of Zordon's return in a future incarnation. So far, such rumors remain unsubstantiated, but since Zordon was trapped in a Subspace Rift, the destruction of his tube would hypothetically cut him off from this world rather than kill him outright.
Trivia
- Coined the expression "It's Morphin' Time!"
- His original form looks like Barza of Zyuranger (Barza footage was used in the viewing globe at the Command Center).
- In the pilot episode of "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," Zordon's original name was "Zoltar."
- In an earlier version of the movie script, Zordon was a member of the "Order of Meledon." He was regarded as the finest commander in the galaxy, a true legend. It was also stated by Dulcea that if not for him, the universe would be a very different place. She also said that he was always an inspiration and if he died, a piece of all of them would die and the forces of good within the universe would be dealt with an irreparable blow.