The best Power Rangers villain was introduced 30 years ago in an episode that changed the show forever. Power Rangers helped establish the “monster of the week” trope, which is when a show follows a very strict formula and has one bad guy dealt with every episode. As a result, most Power Rangers villains were forgettable and only lasted one episode. The only exceptions are the main antagonists of each season, a tradition that started with Rita Repulsa and her minions in Mighty Morphin. As iconic as Rita is, she is hardly one of the best villains on the show.

Rita and her minions were often used as a comic relief. It would take a while before more mature Power Rangers seasons started to include serious, well-developed villains whose intentions went beyond “destroying the Power Rangers.” Perhaps the first truly nuanced Power Rangers villain was Astronema from In Space. However, way before characters like Astronema or Trakeena, Power Rangers had already tried something different with one of its main villains – Lord Zedd. Three decades later, it’s clear that Zedd changed Power Rangers for the better, even though the original show ended up wasting the character’s potential.

Lord Zedd Was Introduced In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2’s “The Mutiny”

Zedd was revealed to be Rita Repulsa’s boss.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 2, episode 1, “The Mutiny, Part I” aired 30 years ago on July 21, 1994. It was the first entry of a three-episode arc that replaced Rita Repulsa with a new big bad, Lord Zedd. Between the repetitiveness of the first season and the lack of Zyuranger footage now that the American adaptation was past the 50-episode mark, Power Rangers soon realized it needed a new main villain. Enter Lord Zedd, a character who did not have a Super Sentai counterpart and was created for the show.

The introduction of Zedd in MMPR season 2 suggested the show was going to be slightly more serious and have higher stakes.

Although there have been dozens of Power Rangers villains since Mighty Morphin, the idea of replacing Rita with a new threat was massive for the time. Rita Repulsa had become a symbol of Power Rangers, for better and worse. As charming as the “make my monsters grow” routine was, Power Rangers had become extremely predictable and formulaic. Apart from a couple of arcs, especially the Green With Evil one, every episode of Power Rangers was the same. This changed a bit with the arrival of Lord Zedd, who was a very different villain from Rita.

Whereas Rita was tied to the campiness of Power Rangers – which was not a bad thing but became repetitive very quickly – Lord Zedd felt like an actual threat. Rita had lost every single battle against the Power Rangers, and not even her Green Ranger plan had worked in the long term. Zedd was revealed to be Rita Repulsa’s boss and the mastermind behind the villains, yet he was not happy with the results. The introduction of Zedd in MMPR season 2 suggested the show was going to be slightly more serious and have higher stakes.

What Made Lord Zedd Such A Great Villain In Power Rangers

Lord Zedd was scary and effective.

Although MMPR would later fail its best villain, Zedd’s first few episodes on the show delivered on the promise from “The Mutiny.” Zedd was indeed a far more menacing villain than Rita, and the show improved quite a lot. The fact that Lord Zedd had the Power Rangers’ Dino Zords destroyed perfectly set the tone for what the character and the rest of the season were going to be like. Of course, this was just an in-universe explanation to bring in footage from Dairanger, but it worked. The Dino Zords’ destruction was bigger than anything Rita had ever done.

From MMPR to In Space , Ed Neil was inside the Lord Zedd suit, with Robert Axelrod voicing the character.

Lord Zedd’s design and voice can also not be taken for granted. The Super Sentai franchise is known for its creative, fun designs, which is why it is always difficult for Power Rangers to come up with original characters that look as good as the ones from the Japanese series. Fortunately, Lord Zedd’s design lived up to the franchise’s legacy. A bulky creature with skin wearing a silver exoskeleton looked incredibly cool – Zedd looked scarier than any of the previous monsters ever did.

Power Rangers Quickly Ruined Lord Zedd After His Introduction

Lord Zedd had become a joke by the end of season 2.

Zedd’s arrival in MMPR was very promising and teased a bright future for the show. It seemed like Power Rangers was going to grow with its audience by introducing a slightly more serious and effective villain than Rita. Zedd’s impact was even more impressive during the Green No More arc, after which Tommy lost his Green Ranger powers. Rita had failed to control her Ranger, whose creation was technically orchestrated by Zedd. One of the new villain’s first acts was to go after Tommy and make him lose his powers.

Unfortunately, Lord Zedd’s run as a great villain did not last long. By the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season 2, Zedd had become a joke very much like Rita. Power Rangers decided that Zedd’s design and voice were too much for the show and tried to tone down the character by bringing Rita back and making him more comedic. Shortly after this, Rita and Zedd would get married after the former used a love potion. Zedd and Rita continued to be a comic relief duo in their appearances on Zeo and In Space.

Almost 30 Years Later, Power Rangers Finally Did Lord Zedd Justice

Lord Zedd returned in Dino Fury & Cosmic Fury.

Power Rangersin Space ended with Lord Zedd being redeemed alongside many other villains, including Rita Repulsa, as a result of Zordon’s sacrifice. The Z-wave caused by the destruction of Zordon’s tube purified all evil in the galaxy and gave some villains human forms. This was the end of Lord Zedd’s story for more than 20 years until the villain returned in Power Rangers Dino Fury. Thanks to time travel and magic shenanigans, the “pre-redemption” Zedd was brought back. Dino Fury’s version of Zedd was closer to the character’s original tone.

Cosmic Fury was very nostalgic and even delivered a Zedd vs. Billy rematch.

Zedd would then be the main villain in Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, a fitting decision for the season that celebrated the show’s 30th anniversary. Cosmic Fury was very nostalgic and even delivered a Zedd vs. Billy rematch. Almost 30 years after Power Rangers season 2 turned the show’s best villain into a joke, Cosmic Fury made Zedd into a major threat again. The series even gave Lord Zedd a new form, Master Zedd. Funnily enough, at the end of Cosmic Fury, Lord Zedd was trapped in a mental loop where he would have to listen to Rita Repulsa forever.