Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Power Ranger-Exclusive Main Villains

The following are main villains and villainesses that were created by either Saban or Disney to either replace existing Super Sentai villains or add a villain with a human face. Perhaps to give more interaction between the American actors and not have what occurred in the first season, Rita in Japanese footage, dubbing that didn't match. Zeo, Lightspeed Rescue and Mystic Force were the only series to have no new villains not from Sentai. Jungle Fury and RPM had new villains but no new costumes.
Lord Zedd (MMPR-Space)
What can I say about this guy that hasn't already been said? Lord Zedd solved the mouth problem (dubbing with Rita) for Saban as he had no mouth, so they could reuse footage of Zedd, adding new dialogue and not having the problem of it not matching. Lord Zedd is still considered the best Power Ranger villain by fans. Unfortunately, mothers found him too scary for children, but as Linkara has said about in his history videos, Zedd was meant to be scary. Anyway, because of this complaint, he then married Rita and becae a more comedic character. Fans were not satisifed that in the end of 'In Space' he became human. Zedd was the first to have his own exclusive footsoliders (which are the only ones to had have action figures--the Z-Putties and Tengas), one of six of the ten PR-only main villains to do so. Also got to mention that the main villains of Dairanger weren't used as main villain in MMPR, probably because they were wearing essentially S&M outfits, and were human, so they would have to deal with dubbings like Rita. Shadam was used as Mondo the Magician in one episode.

Ivan Ooze (MMPR:TM)
As the first movie was completely original, Ivan Ooze was also an original creation played by Paul Freeman. He said in a Disney Adventures Interview on how he had extra finger nails on his knuckles which were not visible in the movie and he wish people could see it. I liked some of his lines in his movie like "All the things I missed... the Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition... the Brady Brunch Reunion" and "Where's My Autograph Book?" after Tommy announces they are "The Power Rangers." I wish they pushed him more and had more interaction with the Rangers.

Divatox (Turbo-Space)
In Season 3, Master Vile and Rito were from Kakuranger and the Machine Empire was from Ohranger. But for Turbo, all the villains of Carranger were used but where Rygog was the leader, like mentioned before, she is a replacement of Zonnette, whose costume had cleavage. She was played by two actresses Carol Hoyt and Hilary Shepard Turner. As I have mentioned, Ms. Turner got pregnant and Hoyt took her place for the first half of Turbo. Hoyt also played Dimitria and it was alluded to that they were twin sisters. In fact, when Divatox became good thanks to Zordon's wave, she resembled Dimitria. She had her own PR-only exclusive footsoliders (Pirnathrons), only six of the ten PR-only main villains had their own footsoliders. But, was she an effective villain? Her evil ploy in the movie was to get married and most of the time was bomb crazy in the series. Sure she destroyed the Power Chamber, but it was with the newbies, big whoop. She is one of only two main villainess that received an action figure, second being Camile of Jungle Fury.

Maligore/Dark Spectre (Turbo/Space)
As mentioned before once again, Maligore was an original creation for the Turbo movie. I guess to save money, they reused the costume for Power Rangers in Space as the main villain. We mostly saw him in space, I think it was like a bit like Exhaus in Carranger, how he was this giant thing in space. He was killed by Darkonda in a kamikaze move. He was also a replacement for King Javious the First in Megaranger, who rarely showed his face. There was to be a Maligore toy but it was never produced. He, along with Flurious, Scorpius and Grumm, are the only PR-only main villains not to have their own action figure.

Astronema (Space)
In Power Rangers in Space, Astronema was created as a replacement villainess for Shibolena of Megaranger. As I have mentioned before, Shibolena had a strange outfit and the producers probably wanted something different. Also, as many Astronema fans know that her first black skin-tight costume came from Jessica Priest of Spawn. She had her own PR-only exclusive footsoliders (Quantrons), only six of the ten PR-only main villains had their own footsoliders. She is the only PR villain to ever become a Power Ranger.

Trakeena (Lost Galaxy)
Trakeena, her ship and her father Scorpius was American inventions. Furio was a costume from Megaranger, his role was like Gingaman villain Sanbash (whose costume was used for Villamax). It is believed that the Sanbash costume wasn't available at the time. Until the Sanbash costume was obtained, they used it for Villamax. All other villains were form Gingaman, Captain Mutiny was the main villain of Lost Galaxy. Above is a form she use once. She was a replacement of the Shelinda of Gingaman, as her costume had too much cleavage. The actress Amy Miller went on to marry the actor who played Domon the Green Ranger. She was return in the teamup of Lightspeed but it is rumored she not pleased by the script, so was replaced by Jennifer Burns.

Scorpius (Lost Galaxy)
Main villain of the first half of Lost Galaxy, it is arguable that Trakeena was the main villain. Thanks to a poll done a while ago by me, I realized fans weren't that crazy about him. I personally like him, I liked when he fought the Rangers, the special effects were surprisingly good, with the extending tentacles. The biggest complaint by fans of that scene was that it was in an abandoned warehouse but that is like nitpicking. Funny enough Scorpius the name is used a lot in fiction: a robot in Sonic Spinball, the main villain in "Farscape," and the name of Draco Malfoy's future son in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Oops, spoilers! Ha Ha. Also, He, along with Dark Spectre, Flurious and Grumm, are the only PR-only main villains not to have their own action figure. He is part of the six of the ten main PR-only villains to have their own footsoliders--the Stingwingers.

Ransik (Time Force)
Don Dornero was the main villain of Timeranger, which we know as Gluto, which became a big dumby waste of space. Ransik was added, my personal opinion on why they probably did was to add a big masculine force and also add on to the plot. Played by Vernon Wells, he was in Mad Max 2 and he played homage to that in the Movie Madness two parter. I did enjoy the female protagonist/male antagonist tension between Jen and Ransik. Later, they tied up Ransik with the Orgs to explain how he took swords out of his bones. As mentioned before, an action figure of him was available with a playset but it wasn't fully possible. He is also one of four of he 10 main PR-only villains to not have their own exclusively footsoldiers, meaning his footsoliders the Cyclobots were from the original Sentai. By the way, Lightspeed used all the villains from GoGoV and none were new.

Master Org (Wild Force)
While the 'Master Org' was just a figurehead in Gaoranger, Wild Force's Master Org was an original creation but with the costume of the Emperor in Dairanger. I liked that they tied in Viktor to Cole's story. In the end, he became an Org monster and died. As mentioned before, an action figure of him was available with a set but it wasn't fully possible. He is also one of four of he 10 main PR-only villains to not have their own exclusively footsoldiers, meaning his footsoliders the Putrids were from the original Sentai.

Lothor (Ninja Storm-Dino Thunder)
The main villain of Hurricanger, Tao Zanto, was not seen in Ninja Storm but his final form did become Lothor's zord. Lothor was played by the same actor that played Sensei, as they were twins. I didn't like his outfit, I don't think it matched with the other villains and his mask looked like a Luchador (wrestler) costume mask. As mentioned before, an action figure of him was available with a playset but it wasn't fully possible. In the Dino Thunder teamup, he was trapped by Mesogog. He is also one of four of he 10 main PR-only villains to not have their own exclusively footsoldiers, meaning his footsoliders the Kelzaks were from the original Sentai.

Mesogog (Dino Thunder)
Mesogog was created exclusively for Dino Thunder and so was his final monster form. I personally liked Mesogog, he was deliciously dark and evil. His costume was much more elaborate than Lothor. As mentioned before, an action figure of him was available with a playset but it wasn't fully possible. He is part of the six of the ten main PR-only villains to have their own footsoliders--the Tyrannadrones.

Elsa (Dino Thunder)
I have mentioned before my distaste for Elsa's costume and that she was a replacement for Jannu and Lije, who did appear in "Lost and Found in Translation" episode. For those who didn't see the series, she doubled as Mesogog's assistant and Principal Randall of the high school the Dino Rangers went to and there was an alluded to romance between her and Tommy. At the end, it was discovered that Elsa was brainwashed.

Emperor Grumm (SPD)
Many fans liked Emperor Grumm, many compared him to Lord Zedd, I think it is because he sat on his duff, just kidding. The main villain in Dekaranger was Broodwing and there was like a main headquarters and a big group of villains as usual, so Disney created their own (Grumm and Mora), along with Broodwing of course. He, along with Dark Spectre, Scorpius and Flurious, are the only PR-only main villains not to have their own action figure. He is also one of four of he 10 main PR-only villains to not have their own exclusively footsoldiers, meaning his footsoliders the Krybots were from the original Sentai.

Mora/Morgana (SPD)
Like I've mention before, the concept of Mora and Morgana was inspired by Rije/Rijewel from Abaranger. Also, Morgana's fighting suit belonged to the 'monster of the day' Succubus and so did the lighting bolt tattoo on her face, which had nothing to do with Power Rangers.

Omni (SPD)
It was later revealed that the Omni was pulling the strings of Grumm. He and his bigger form were original creations. The entire fight between him and the SWAT Megazord was an original fight. As for Mystic Force, all the Magiranger villains were used and no new villains were added.

Flurious (PROO)
He was more of a replacement of Gaja (probably cause Disney didn't like his costume) in Boukenger. Gaja's Karths which became the Chillers weren't ice-inspired, they were rocks. Flurious' ice motif was probably done to counterbalance Moltor (but in Boukenger Moltor's counterpart Ryuuwon was not fire-involved). He is also one of four of he 10 main PR-only villains to not have their own exclusively footsoldiers, meaning his footsoliders the Chillers were from the original Sentai. He, along with Dark Spectre, Scorpius and Grumm, are the only PR-only main villains not to have their own action figure. Many didn't like Flurious, including me, I don't like his bubble wrap chest armor. It would have been cool if Flurious was modeled after a Megazord like the Boukenger villains, but Disney probably didn't realize that.

Miratrix (PROO)
She was a replacement for Shizuka of the Wind (probably Disney didn't like her outfit) as Kamdor's partner. As I have mentioned before, I don't like her outfit.

Thrax
Rita and Zedd's son, only appeared in two episodes of PROO. His armor was part of Zeltrax's, had a bit of Zedd's body and bone aspects that could be from his Uncle Rito. Do I have to even say he had no toy? It would be cool if there would be merchandise including him later on or if Saban would somehow incorporate him in an anniversary special or video game.

Dai Shi (Jungle Fury)
The concept of Dai Shi was exclusive to Power Rangers, he didn't exist in Gekiranger. But of course, he didn't have a costume until the end, the big dragon, but that was from Gekiranger. I personally believe the concept of Dai Shi was to give an excuse for Jarrod to be morally responsible for his evil actions like Rio was. 'Dai' means great in Japanese and 'Shi' means Lion, so his name could be 'Great Lion,' like I have said before--there is confusing about what Dai Shi and Jarrod did or who was in control, mostly to be blamed on the writers.

Venjix (RPM)
Venjix was an original concept that was not in Go-Onger, but there was no 'new' costume exclusively made.What was genius was that he 'downloaded' into bodies, taking the place of two Sentai villains (Hiramechimedes and Yogoshimacritein), hence giving Kireizky a bigger role as Kilobyte.

Tenaya (RPM)
She replaced Kegaleshia as the villainess, she was given a much more sexier and skin tight costume than Kegaleshia, who had more cleavage. I've already said a lot about Tenaya before, how fans quickly deduced that she was Dillon's sister and were already drawing comparisons to Astronema and Andros.

6 comments:

Marielle said...

Of course Ivan Ooze missed the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Unsigned said...

I liked Divatox. Mainly the Shephard-Turner Divatox, but I really thought she was bad ass.

Granted, the rangers that she outsmarted were new, but how many times were there other new rangers that the bad guys couldn't get the best of?

Anonymous said...

Well, I like the Trakeena in Power Rangers lost galaxy. Off course, I choise the Trakeena, for Mantis Woman in Kamen Rider Amazon (Kaleido Rider Amazon)´s villan!

Masanori.

Shinken Red said...

Victor Wells? Who is the heck is Victor Wells?

The actor who played Ransik is Vernon Wells.

Anonymous said...

For Scorpius, I like "Don Scorpius" better. Also for Flurious,I think he bears some resemblance to the Wild Force Megazord. Hence his "Hair".

For Miratrix, I think the closest Megazord she could be based off of is the Samurai Star Megazord. Might as well be due to the fact that Kamdor is based off of the Shogun Megazord. (The Shogun and the Samurai.)

And finally Thrax. Am I the only one who thinks that Thrax is Mega Voyager-ish? His Shoulder pads, Chest armor and Boots. They totally remind me of the Mega Voyager!

P.S. I like that Master Org is Doctorman-ish!

Adrenaline Rush said...

I dislike Miratrix's second costume. It was like Elsa meets Astronema. Her first costume looked fine.