Lord Zedd was one of the most powerful and dangerous enemies of Zordon and the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, if not the most powerful and dangerous. He was an ancient space sorcerer hell-bent on conquering the universe, and for centuries Lord Zedd had proclaimed himself ruler over all he could see. Initially, Zedd claimed that the Earth was of no interest to him, so he sent the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa to conquer the Earth in his stead. When he learned that every one of Rita's attempts had been thwarted by Zordon and the Power Rangers, Lord Zedd arrived on Earth to carry out the job himself, imprisoning Rita and banishing her into space.

Despite being one of Zordon and the Power Rangers' most prominent villains, not much is known about the evil overlord. Occasionally the show would drop hints about Lord Zedd's secret past, and fans of the series have attempted to fill in the blanks with fan theories of their own, some of which suggest he has a far deeper connection to Zordon and the Power Rangers than we ever imagined. CBR explores 8 secrets and 7 fan theories on Lord Zedd that you never saw coming!

15 HE WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE KILLED OFF

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The season finale of Power Rangers in Space, the sixth season of the Power Rangers franchise, was originally intended to be the definitive end of the Power Rangers series before Saban revived it with Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy. Zordon's energy tube is destroyed, releasing the "Z-Wave," which destroys all of the evil alien creatures in the universe, except for Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, who are turned into humans instead.

This seemed like a confusing outcome for a lot of fans, but the initial plan was to kill off Zedd and Rita just like all the other villains. However, the network heads at Fox thought it would be too intense to kill off two characters that were basically humanoid in appearance, even one as grotesque and terrifying as Lord Zedd.

14 ZEDD'S SHIP, SERPENTERA, APPEARS IN THE 2017 MOVIE

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Should 2017's big budget Power Rangers movie get a sequel, there's been a lot of talk about Lord Zedd taking Rita Repulsa's place as the main villain much like he did in the TV series. In fact, eagle-eyed viewers believe the set-up for the coming of Lord Zedd appeared in the first few seconds of the movie.

As the Red Ranger Zordon crawls his way across the battlefield of an ancient Earth, a long ship flies over him. Fans of the original show know that Lord Zedd's ship, Serpentera, was a long, flowing mechanoid dragon, and the resemblance between the two is too much to ignore. The producers on the film have been understandably coy about the revelation, saving the big reveal for the possibility of a sequel.

13 ZEDD DIDN'T EXIST IN THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE SHOW

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Most of the footage from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and many of the subsequent series is lifted straight from the Japanese show Super Sentai. To save on the budget, the parts of the American teenagers were recast, but nearly all of the battle sequences were simply cut-and-pasted into the American show.

Lord Zedd was one of the few additions to the American version that never appeared in the original Super Sentai, and ironically, he was the character that caused a lot of concerned parents to contact the network about how frightening Power Rangers was getting. In response, Lord Zedd's character was dialed back quite a bit. His personality became a lot less threatening and scary than his initial appearances and his evil schemes became a lot goofier and more hare-brained.

12 HIS SHIP WAS A LIVING PROTECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE

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Although Lord Zedd didn't exist in the Japanese version of the show, his giant personal Zord, Serpentara was a recurring villain on Gosei Sentai Dairanger known as Daijinryuu. Although it was just a mechanical battle Zord in the American version, in the Japanese show, Daijinryuu was a sentient giant god dragon created to keep the natural balance of the universe in check. Due to his chaotic neutrality, Daijinryuu would destroy anyone, innocent or guilty, that he deemed a threat to that balance.

The reason he became a villain to the Dairangers was that the human race was constantly at war with itself, so he sought to end the human race's foolish conflict by destroying the Earth entirely. Daijinryuu ultimately realized that another alien species was to blame for the Earth's conflict, so it left Earth under the protection of the Dairangers for good.

11 HE ONCE TRIED TO MAKE KIMBERLY HART HIS QUEEN

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In an episode that most fans would probably rather forget, Lord Zedd once sought to seduce Kimberly Ann Hart into being his queen saying, "She has always intrigued me. Such courage and tenacity." But every pre-teen with a crush on the pink ranger knew exactly what he saw in her.

Zedd sends Goldar to capture Kimberly and has him attempt to cast a spell that would erase her memory of being a ranger so he can teach her to be an evil sorceress. The spell fails, which leads Kimberly to do such a good impression of Rita Repulsa that Goldar and the other monsters cower in fear. The other rangers rescue Kimberly before Zedd even appears in a scene with her, proving once again that you should never get your friend to ask a girl out for you.

10 HE MARRIED RITA REPULSA

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What do you do when your magical seduction plot to dress Kimberly Ann Hart like Rita Repulsa and make her your queen doesn't work out? You start playing closer to your own league and marry Rita Repulsa. It began with Rita returning from her banishment and giving Lord Zedd a love potion to position herself as his queen of evil.

When the effects of the love potion were reversed, Rita (and everyone else) was surprised to find that Zedd still loved her and their marriage continued through the rest of the series. This marked the point in the series when Lord Zedd's personality became less threatening and scary because his focus shifted to his relationship with Rita. However, with Rita and Zedd working together, the Power Rangers were more in danger than ever.

9 ZEDD AND RITA HAVE A CHILD

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In case fans didn't totally buy into Lord Zedd's love for Rita, nine seasons after Zedd and Rita's final official appearance, we were introduced to a brand new, yet oddly familiar villain in a two-part episode of Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive titled Once a Ranger. He introduces himself to the Overdrive Rangers as Thrax, the son of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd.

Although sadly, neither Lord Zedd nor Rita Repulsa appears in the two-part episode to confirm Thrax's lineage, his personality and powers are almost identical to Lord Zedd's, and he bears a striking resemblance to them both, even wielding Lord Zedd's iconic silver Z-staff. Although Thrax comes very close to defeating the Overdrive Rangers, he was ultimately destroyed by the reborn Sentinel Knight and never appears in the franchise again.

8 THE ZEO CRYSTAL MADE HIM GROSS

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The Zeo Crystal is one of the most powerful artifacts in the Power Rangers franchise. Comprised of five sub-crystals which the Power Rangers use to access the Morphin grid, it has the capacity to be used for evil and destruction or for the good of the universe. The Zeo Crystal was so powerful that when Rita Repulsa's father, Master Vile, made it his goal to seek out the crystal and conquer the galaxy in the opening two-parter of Power Rangers: Zeo, even Rita and Lord Zedd warned him against its incredible power.

Rita specifically mentions that Lord Zedd attempted to wield the Zeo crystal in ancient times and claims that it caused Zedd's grotesque appearance when he failed to use it properly. Master Vile does briefly acquire the crystal, but the Rangers get it back before any serious damage is done.

7 MOVIE LORD ZEDD WAS AN ALTERNATE VERSION

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When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie came out in 1995, fans noticed a number of interesting changes from the TV show, thanks to a much bigger budget, which included more armored, high-tech Power Ranger suits, a complete redesign of Zordon's command center and an entirely new look for Lord Zedd. Even stranger, none of these changes crossed back over to the TV series after the movie.

Longtime fans also noticed that Lord Zedd seemed far less menacing, more laid back, and goofier than his TV counterpart, leading to widespread acceptance of the theory that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie takes place in an alternate timeline from the series and is not considered canon with the show. This theory was later officially confirmed by producer Haim Saban.

6 LORD ZEDD WAS THE FIRST WHITE RANGER

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This is one of the more out-there fan theories, but it has gained some steam since 2017's Power Rangers movie. Around the same time that it was revealed that Rita Repulsa was going to be the original green ranger turned evil, and Zordon was going to be the original red ranger in the movie, it was reported that Rita was being employed by Lord Zedd to find the Zeo Crystal on Earth.

Lord Zedd's part ended up being held off for the possible sequel, but many fans still think Lord Zedd was on the original team as the most powerful ranger. As if that weren't enough, the 2016 Power Rangers comic book introduced the white ranger as an evil character who sits upon a throne and basically takes all his character cues from Lord Zedd. Of course, we won't get official confirmation unless the 2017 film gets a sequel.

5 ZEDD'S FOREST OF DEAD VILLAINS

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In the season two episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers titled Zedd's Monster Mash, Tommy is captured and transported to Lord Zedd's Haunted Forest in which he's attacked by dozens of monsters until he can escape. In Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, we get another "evil zone" called "the Shadow World." Power Rangers: Samurai uses the same concept under the name "Nighlock Heaven." Finally, in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, the villain Lothar reveals that when the Rangers defeat a villain, they're sent to an "Abyss of Evil" that Lothar uses to absorb their power.

Thanks to this revelation, most fans came to the conclusion that all these "evil afterlife" dimensions we've seen throughout the series are the same place being referred to by different names, and the first time we ever got a glimpse of this place was with Lord Zedd's "Haunted Forest."

4 LORD ZEDD IS OCTOMUS THE MASTER

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Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa seem to meet their end as villains in the finale of Power Rangers In Space, when they are turned into humans and presumably never seen again. However, Power Rangers: Mystic Force added an epilogue to Rita Repulsa's story when it was revealed that the "Mystic Mother" who granted the Mystic Rangers their powers was Rita Repulsa who had regained her control of magic and now used it for good.

This led fans to conclude that if Rita could get her powers back, then Lord Zedd likely did as well. Except instead of using his powers for good, Lord Zedd became even worse than he was before and took the name Octomus the Master. It would make sense that the purified Rita, seeing her husband go back to the ways of evil, would form a team to stop him.

3 ZEDD AND ZORDON HAVE BEEN ENEMIES FOR MILLENIA

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Centuries ago, Lord Zedd sent Rita Repulsa to conquer Earth. She was imprisoned for 10,000 years on the moon and when she finally escapes, her attempts are thwarted over and over by the Power Rangers. Zedd didn't seem to care about Earth for 10,000 years, so why does he show up after a single season of Rita's failures?

One fan theory states that centuries ago, when the sorcerer Zedd set out to conquer the universe, the only one who stood against him was the warrior Zordon. Zedd ultimately defeated Zordon who escaped to Earth and managed to imprison Rita while he healed in his energy tube. It wasn't until Zedd learned that his old foe Zordon was behind Rita's constant failures that he decided to show up and finish off his ancient foe.

2 ZEDD'S Z-PUTTIES NEVER DIE

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When Lord Zedd takes over as the Power Rangers' main villain, the first suggestion he gets from Goldar is to send an army of putties after the rangers. Zedd claims that the old putties are useless and sends his own Z-Putties into battle, but oddly enough, they seem to be easily defeated by striking the "Z" emblem on their chests. So how are they stronger?

Unlike Rita's putties, Zedd doesn't create the Z-putties from clay each time he sends them out. Zedd simply summons them with the power from his staff. The reason they're more deadly despite their obvious weakness is that they never actually die. Zedd doesn't create new putties each time like Rita did; he resurrects the same Z-putties each time, so they're constantly reborn with the memories of their past battles with the Rangers and slowly build their battle tactics accordingly.

1 LORD ZEDD WAS BORN HUMAN

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The finale of Power Rangers In Space sees Rita and Zedd both turned into humans when Zordon's energy tube is destroyed, releasing the Z-Wave. However, the Z-Wave destroyed all the other evil alien villains in the galaxy, so why did the two most evil villains just become human instead? Even Rita's "father" and "brother" are destroyed, but it's notable that she's the only one of them who's clearly humanoid in appearance.

We learn in Power Rangers in Space that Earth isn't the only planet with human life, and according to one fan theory, it's from one of these planets that Zedd and Rita originate. Rita was presumably kidnapped and raised as a sorceress by Master Vile, and we know that Zedd was only so monstrous in appearance because of the Zeo Crystal. The Z-Wave just reverted them to their original human form, purified of the evil magic that mutated them.