At Random

Faces of Evil
The Many Villains of Power Rangers Part 3

Power Rangers is a series that should be familiar with just about everyone growing up during the nineties. Many kids fell in love with the colorful costumes and the slick karate moves. Each child had a favorite Ranger that they wanted to be for halloween. Well I never quite liked the Rangers. In fact, the only time I was a fan of a ranger, was when he/she was under the villains spell fighting against his comrades. The truth is I always gravitated toward the villains of the show, which Power Rangers had plenty of. There have been a fair amount of silly, demented, and even downright terrifying baddies whose presence only made the series that much more enjoyable. After all, what is a hero without a villain? Considering I have seen a fair share of the Power Ranger seasons (more than a sane person should anyway), I thought I would share my personal thoughts on these wicked menaces. Everything I say here should be taken with a grain of salt as I in no way suggest that you begin taking this show (even its villains) seriously. This is simply me giving my appreciation to a show that bestowed upon me many fond memories.


Power Rangers SPD

Emperor Grumm – For most of the season, this intergalactic tyrant ran the show, supposedly taking down the A-Squad Rangers and unleashing enough criminals to send the Rangers into a panic. He was often seen talking to what the audience assumed to be himself but was later revealed to be the true mastermind behind everything. In fact, Grumm turned out to be nothing more than a puppet. Surprisingly, he also was one of the few Power Ranger villains to keep their life by season’s end.

A-Squad – Are these Rangers or Terminators? Look at those guns! Anyway, this group of Rangers was supposedly captured early on in the season, thus resulting in B-Squad being chosen to defend the Earth in their place. Of course it was all a ruse and these Rangers were revealed to have been in cahoots with Grumm the whole time. Honestly, I don’t know why they were ever promoted to A-Squad considering their fighting skills were lack luster at best. All they did was rely on their guns.


Omni – This was the true master villain behind Grumm; a giant brain. Ill repeat it; a giant brain. Well at least it had a cool Zord that towered over all others. Aside from that, I think sadly even Scorpius could take this thing. What a lousy way to end an otherwise decent season.







Power Rangers Mystic Force

The Ten Terrors – Wait….more demons? I thought the Rangers defeated the demons like five seasons ago. Well turns out these guys are stronger than the previous species. The fact that their normal size is that of a giant should say something; and yes, that was not their only power (like a certain Maligore). These are the ten strongest demons and they only serve under Octomus the master. I guess it begs the question: just what was Banshira queen of of anyway?




Octomus the Master – Only in Power Rangers can a creature with a skull for a head that has octopus tentacles protruding outward be considered frightining. Here is the true lord of the demon race. What separated him from other villains was that it took way more than just the Rangers to defeat him. In fact it was his own powerful magic turned against him that lead to his demise. Master indeed.





Power Rangers Operation Overdrive

Flurius
Moltor
Kamdor – Admittedly, I don’t know much about these guys, having seen only one episode of the season. All I know is that these three were rival villains that were competing with each other to see who could conquer the Earth, which is a unique idea, but look at them; Who can take these guys seriously? Its pretty obvious who is who, judging by names and looks.

Thrax – This was the reason I watched that single episode. This is the son of Rita and Zedd and twice as tough. As you can guess, he inherited all of Zedd’s strength along with his staff. It took several past rangers along with the current crop to put him down, finally putting an end to Rita and Zedd’s legacy of evil.







Power Rangers Jungle Fury

The Overlords – Jungle Fury followed the same pattern as Wildforce. A group of villains acted as place holders until the true villain showed up to take his rightful place; and just like the others these losers were destroyed rather easily. What were they lords of anyway?


Daishi – Also like Wildforce, this master of something or other had a human form that was discarded in favor of a more powerful one. Now to be fair, Daishi was powerful and did have a commanding presence but he lacked any real motivation. It seemed like he just wanted his throne back from the Overlords, which is OK but why persist in sending monsters the Rangers way? He also had a somewhat cool costume.


Power Rangers RPM

Venjix – No, this is not a rebuilt General Venjix; this one is superior in every way. To begin, he started out the series by actually conquering the Earth and even killing a few people. Wow, I guess the writers went all out for the final season of the show. This Venjix is everything the Machine Empire should have been. Every time he is destroyed, he just rebuilds himself stronger than before. At 80%, he nearly destroyed the Rangers for good. A nice way to cap of the series with an above average villain (by Power Ranger standards).