Over the course of nearly thirty years, the Power Rangers franchise has created some of pop culture's most iconic color-coded heroes, not to mention some truly unforgettable villains. Of course, the almost exclusively kid-friendly reputation the action-adventure series has come to be known for hasn't left much room for the Rangers to explore other genres. At least, they haven't been able to on the small screen, whereas the realm of comics has managed to offer readers something other than the franchise's usual fare. In fact, it was BOOM! Studios introduced a level of horror never before seen in the Rangers' universe, and it may have been too dark to ever be seen again.

"Perfect" (by Trey Moore, Frazer Irving, and Jim Campbell) from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2017 Annual, was an unexpected story in just about every way imaginable. Bringing readers back thousands of years to the peaceful and idyllic planet of Claydoious, the homeworld of none other than Finster. Although life on Claydoious was typically perfect in every way, a series of tragic fires had introduced fear to the people of Finster's town. Finster watched on as people died in the streets, all while his wife Plepra pleaded with him to let her in for any sense of comfort. Upon entering his workshop, however, Plepra discovered it was the love of her life who had set the fires in the hopes of finding a new kind of inspiration.

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Finster Was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' Most Tragic Villain

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In her disgust, Plepra tried to leave and warn the rest of her people about the monster their greatest artist had become. When Finster attempted to stop her, he inadvertently broke Plepra's neck, killing her instantly. The immediate grief washed over Finster as a wave of denial, anger, blame-shifting, and ultimately fear. If the truth was discovered by his fellow Claydoions it would have certainly been a death sentence, but someone was watching from the shadows. After making her presence known, Rita Repulsa tempted Finster with the magic clay he would use to craft her various monstrous minions and, from time to time, another Plepra.

Every scene from "Perfect" is already unsettling, yet the fact that Finster's Plepra copies all had the same reaction as the woman he killed pushed things into gut-wrenching territory. Just like the wife he killed, the clay Plepras that Finster created emerged begging him to put an end to his madness, only for him to cut them back down into raw materials for the next attempt. This cycle of rage, obsession, and murder added a gruesome new layer to the story of one of the original 1993 series' least threatening villains, as well as an uncharacteristically dark chapter to the franchise's mythos as a whole.

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Finster's Origin Matches the Tone of Modern Power Ranger Comics

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Unlike their small-screen counterparts, the Power Rangers of the comics have never shied away from difficult or mature subjects. This has included complex love triangles between Power Rangers to the death and destruction wrought by the likes of Lord Drakkon, readers haven't had to worry about the story at hand being watered down for a younger audience to more easily digest. On the other hand, this doesn't mean that BOOM! Studios has taken the Rangers so far from their usual territory that they are unrecognizable in any way.

This overt sense of horror compared to how much darker other aspects of the Power Rangers franchise have been reimagined is precisely what makes "Perfect" so surprising. Even the Death Ranger, an ancient villain who led an army of undead corpses into battle against the heroes, could not compare to the sheer brutality displayed by Finster's origin story. As hard as it ever was to imagine Finster becoming the Power Rangers' most terrifying villain, it is still hard to imagine anything ever surpassing him now that his secret is out.