The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has been a staple in children's popular culture since the 90s. Its callbacks to characters from older seasons has continued to give life to the franchise and has helped reinvigorate older fans of the series. Of these characters, none were more villainous and intriguing than the legendary Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd.
Lord Zedd came into the world of the rangers in the second season, and proceeded to destroy Megazords, turn a piranha into a doomsday monster and change the putties into stronger enemies albeit with the easiest weakness. Despite these clear facts, here are 10 things you need to know about the Lord of Darkness.
10 First American Designed Character
Unlike almost all of the characters ripped off from Japanese shows by Haim Saban, Lord Zedd was the first to be made without repurposing old footage. While Goldar and even Rita were Japanese copies, Lord Zedd was 100% made in the US of A.
Every shot of Lord Zedd is an American produced one, and his character was also completely created for American audiences.
9 Too Intense For Parents
Initially Lord Zedd's Character was exactly as advertised: the Lord of Evil. He was terrifying and cruel, and in his first few episodes did a spectacular job of making life exceedingly difficult for the rangers.
However, his character was considered by parents to be too scary for kids and Saban encountered quite a few complaints. As a result, the writers started to make him a bit goofier and it led to the lighter more goofy Zedd we know and love.
8 Was Hit By Love
It's strange to think that the master of evil that is Lord Zedd would become a lovestruck buffoon, but that's exactly what happened in a three-part wedding story arc where Rita slips Zedd a love potion after escaping banishment by Zedd.
While her plan is to make Zedd fall in love with her and then chuck him like garbage, he resists just enough to force them to work together. After this, they go on to become arguably the most loved villain-duo in the series.
7 Has A Kid
For those who may not be a fan of Power Rangers Hyperforce, Thrax may he an unrecognizable name, but he is the child of Rita and Zedd. Thrax enters the ranger world in Power Rangers Overdrive as a special guest villain complete with Zedd's legendary Staff.
While he only lasts for a two-part series, he unites the villain factions and essentially faces an army of Power Rangers in the most ambitious story arc yet.
6 Has History With The Zeo Crystals
In an episode prior to the start of Power Rangers Zeo, Rita makes a comment regarding Zedd's grotesque appearance. "Look what it did to Zeddy's face!" Rita remarks. But it doesn't become clearer until Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual #1 (2016).
Apparently prior to the events of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Zedd has skin, but it burned off when he tried to take the force-field powered Zeo Crystals.
5 Has A Centennial Recharge
Even evil has to charge up from time to time, and Lord Zedd is no exception. Apparently even century the great one must slumber for a bit to regain energy for the next 100 years. He had a machine where he would plug in and charge up, ensuring his dominance.
This machine worked wonders, but was also where Finster snuck the love potion in to start the power couple of Rita+Zedd.
4 Has The Most Unstoppable Zord
Throughout the entire series there was no zord more dominant than the great Serpentera. Despite its need to charge due to its gigantic size, it was nonetheless the most devastating weapon in his arsenal.
It was so strong that it often led to many fans decrying why its use was so limited in the actual show. While the show's explanation was its limited power core, true fans know that the Super Sentai character Daijinryuu (Great God Dragon) only appeared in a handful of episodes, limiting the choices for producers to add it to the show.
3 Rivals With Count Dregon
The Masked Rider villain Count Dregon was known to be Lord Zedd's greatest rival. There's no real reason why they're rivals, all that is known is that in their time in space they met and grew to hate one another.
Zedd would often be angry that Dregon would try to outdo him as a villain, and this would come up in conversation with Rita from time to time.
2 Was Meant To Be Killed Off
Originally at the end of Power Rangers in Space, Lord Zedd and Rita were to be killed off like Ecliptor and Darkonda.
When Zordon would explode in the Z-Wave he would cause all evil life forms to disappear entirely. This was meant to be the case, only in the last moment producers at FOX decided to let them turn into people as they were too humanoid in appearance already.
1 Becomes An Archaeologist
Strangely enough the decision to turn Zedd human would be continued in offshoots of the Power Rangers games and in Power Ranger Super Legends, Zedd would become an archaeologist and a good guy.
However, upon finding evidence of his past life as an evil villain he would be seduced by the power and become a bad guy once more, proving that the Lord of Evil just couldn't be anything but.