There's not much about Power Rangers that is consistent, aside from its typically terrible acting (though sometimes that's not true either). The franchise got its start back in 1993 with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. While it can be cheesy now, it transformed into a monster hit that children loved across America.
Since then, the franchise has gone through twenty seasons. It's turned into a massive multimedia empire, with comics and video games, and even films. Even now, Hasbro has new plans for the series in the coming years that fans everywhere are unaware of. In the meantime, it's worth to look back and see exactly how much the franchise has changed compared to the original series.
10 Sixth Rangers Aren't Always Evil
When Tommy Oliver was introduced in the six part story “Green with Envy,” it was one of the most groundbreaking stories Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers could have asked for. It introduced an actual Power Ranger that worked for the bad guys, one who was powerful enough to take on the entire team of heroes and defeat them.
However, as much as people might think this was the common thing going forward—it wasn’t. Most of the heroes added in the aftermath were good guys, with adversarial sixth rangers the uncommon side of things.
9 More Mecha, More Power: The Power Rangers experienced massive increases in the number of zords
The first Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers series had exactly three different mecha: the Megazord, the Dragonzord, and Titanus. The Megazord had an alternate combination using the Dragonzord as the main monster, and all of them could combine to create one Ultrazord.
Since then though, they’ve experienced massive increases in the number of zords. Wild Force and Operation Overdrive had four different megazords with twenty different individual zords. The battle against evil (and for more toys) is never-ending.
8 Went To Disney: Power Rangers Ninja Storm was one of the most beloved series in the franchise
After a decade on the air with Fox Kids and under the control of Saban, the control of the property went to Disney for a time. Disney took over the show after ten years on the air, taking it from Fox to ABC Family.
To Disney’s credit, their first series is Power Rangers Ninja Storm, one of the most beloved series in the franchise. The Disney run of series is generally well-liked, as they developed their own style after moving the series’ filming to New Zealand.
7 Went Back To Saban: the series went to Nickelodeon with the premiere of 2012’s Power Rangers Samurai
After remaining with Disney for several seasons, eventually, the Power Rangers went back to the hands of Saban. Disney was getting ready to cancel the series after airing Power Rangers RPM, and that’s when Saban Brands picked the franchise back up.
With Saban, the series went to Nickelodeon with the premiere of 2012’s Power Rangers Samurai, claiming their goal was to bring back the “fun” of the series that was missing from the prior series.
6 Lost Its Continuity: with Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, the tie to the old series was completely gone
During the first several years of Power Rangers, the entire series took place in the exact same universe. There were all kinds of things that tied the series together, from having a consistent supporting cast to making sure the Rangers were written out of the show while replacing them with new ones.
But with Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, the tie to the old series was completely gone, with no mention of prior seasons of Rangers anymore.
5 More Than Six Rangers: Power Rangers SPD would have nearly ten members of the group
In the old days of Power Rangers, there was one sixth ranger added to the cast and that was pretty much it. But as early as Power Rangers Turbo, they began adding additional members that pushed the cast beyond just six members. Power Rangers Turbo had the Blue Senturion and the Phantom Ranger.
Almost a decade later, Power Rangers SPD would have nearly ten members of the group including the SPD Shadow Ranger, the SPD Omega Ranger, the SPD Kat Ranger, and the SPD Nova Ranger. And that’s not even counting the A-Squad Rangers introduced to the series at the start of the show.
4 They Added The Battlizers: it’s become an annual tradition to give the Red Ranger a power-up
Technically, the Battilzers have been around since the original Power Ranger series, when Tommy passed the Green Ranger’s Power Shield to Jason. But in actuality, the first Power Ranger to have their own Battilizer was Andros of the in Space Power Rangers.
During an episode where Andros had to essentially fight on his own, Andros used the Battilizer gauntlet’s third button to grant him a powerful battle suit. Since then, it’s become an annual tradition to give the Red Ranger a power-up to deal with threats without the help of the team.
3 The Rangers Gained Superpowers Outside Their Costumes
The Power Rangers have always had superpowers... when they're morphed. But during the Disney years, the team started gaining powers outside of their costumes as well.
Power Rangers Ninja Storm granted the team access to powerful ninja abilities, but 2004’s Power Rangers Dino Thunder took that a step further. With that team, each member had specific special abilities like super-strength, super speed, or the ability to do sonic screams.
2 The Crossovers Are Key
Though the Power Rangers haven’t all been part of the same organization since the end of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, that doesn’t mean they’ve tossed out continuity completely.
On the contrary, something else was added with the end of every season being directly connected to the last. These days, every year there’s at least one two-part episode that includes last year’s team of Rangers teaming up with the current year’s team, giving fans that extra bit of morphenomenal energy.
1 They Ended The World: a computer network obliterated most of the world
Easily the boldest decision ever made for a franchise that’s ostensibly supposed to be for children. When Disney revealed they were planning on bringing the franchise to a close with Power Rangers RPM, the series took some bold steps.
Disney was planning on canceling the series after Jungle Fury, but they had one more series to run and so they handed it off to new executive producers who created a much darker story. In this world, a computer network obliterated most of the world, leaving only a handful of human cities protected by domes from pollution and the machine empire.