Power Rangers features some of the great villains of the 90s. Rita Repulsa's epic goals, crossed with her petty cruelty, made her endlessly compelling. Paul Freeman's Ivan Ooze remains one of the best scenery-chewing performances to grace the big screen. Most seasons introduce new all-powerful antagonists, but they often share tactics. One of their favorite methods involves constructing Evil Power Rangers to combat the good ones.
Most antagonists share traits with the heroes they fight. Various children's entertainment uses the concept of evil doppelgängers or villains briefly stealing superpowers. It's a fun way to demonstrate the hero's virtues beyond their physical abilities or promote creativity in a team used to relying on their strengths. Though the Evil Knockoff trope is routine in the genre, Super Sentai and Power Rangers are poster children for its use.
Who is the Purple Power Ranger?
Purple is among the rarest Power Ranger colors, but there are still a few teens with attitude rocking the color of royalty.
What are Evil Rangers?
Evil Rangers are a broad group of malevolent equivalents to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Villains like Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa recruit and arm them in various ways to fight Zordon's teens with attitude. Their favorite method is creating imitations through cloning. They're typically the series' traditional henchmen in disguise, somehow wielding similar powers to fight on the same level as their foes. Though this was routine, it was far from the only way to get Evil Rangers. Several other examples involved finding a group of ne'er do well teens to empower. Those bullies and delinquents would fight for the villain just as the Power Rangers fought for Zordon. Antagonists have used everything from robots to magic spells to create their Evil Rangers.
The most famous Evil Ranger is likely Tommy Oliver. Tommy was a transfer student to Angel Grove who demonstrated martial arts mastery rivaling the local pros. When Rita Repulsa spotted him, she resolved to use him as a tool. She brainwashed him before arming him with a secret sixth Power Coin. Tommy became the Green Ranger, one of the Power Rangers' deadliest foes. In their first encounter, Tommy nearly killed Jason, the original Red Ranger. Jason helped Tommy escape Rita's spell. After some time on his own, Tommy became the White Ranger, the first Sixth Ranger. He would go on to become the longest-serving Ranger in franchise history.
Notable Evil Ranger Teams
The lion's share of Evil Ranger teams are one-off antagonists created to play out a near-identical plot. Most earn no name beyond attaching the word "Evil" to their nemesis' title. The first Evil Ranger team was called the "Evil Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." They were disguised putty patrollers led by a shapeshifting alien called Twin Man. Rita Repulsa deployed them into Angel Grove to ruin the Power Rangers' reputation. Their reign was short-lived, as the original Rangers defeated them in combat. That's the fate of most examples. They're created for a similar purpose and summarily slain. Some are, however, more engaging. Here's a short list of fun iterations:
- Psycho Rangers: Introduced in Power Rangers in Space, the Psycho Rangers are the longest-running team of Evil Rangers. They appeared in eight episodes of their original series and four outside it, with several engaging comics. Astronema, the main antagonist of PRIS, created the five Psycho Rangers to channel her overlord's power. Each modeled themselves off their target, creating a fighting style to target their weaknesses and become unbeatable. The heroes divide and conquer the Psychos, eventually digitizing them onto data cards.
- A-Squad Rangers: Perhaps one of the most unique Evil Rangers teams, this group appears in Power Rangers S.P.D. Instead of being constructed by villains, the A-Squad is the first group of S.P.D. Rangers who turned traitors after deciding the evil Emperor Gruum will likely win the battle. The new B-Squad defeated and imprisoned them for treason.
- Cyborg Rangers: A group of robots designed to replace the Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers. Though originally designed to protect the city, a villain's lightning caused them to malfunction and attack.
- Jungle Fury Spirit Rangers: Three martial arts masters possessed by animal spirits who quickly become allies after the heroes free them from their fate.
Countless teams appear for an episode or two, but every Evil Ranger team is a little different.
What Happens to Evil Rangers?
The first two examples tell most of the stories. Evil Rangers routinely turn good. Those that don't tend to be destroyed in combat with their morally righteous counterparts. Brainwashed Rangers almost always escape their capture and become allies. Most Evil Ranger teams only exist for an episode or two. The Psycho Rangers only earned their extended tenure through their excellent design. Most are weekly villains alongside any other minor creation.
Evil Rangers are often fascinating antagonists in any given Power Rangers series. Most of the villains appear as weekly one-off enemies to make use of Super Sentai material. It's easy to retrofit Ranger gear into a new evil form, allowing almost every series to borrow the idea. Evil Rangers might feel similar, but there's more to them than a change of costumes.
Best Power Rangers Series, Ranked
From the Mighty Morphin to Ninjas and Samurai, the best Power Rangers seasons offer great mecha action and awesome characters,