Series / Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

It's Morphin' Time!

Rita Repulsa: AAAH! After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!
Zordon: Alpha, Rita has escaped! Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!

— The opening dialogue of the iconic intro

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is the first incarnation of Power Rangers and the one non-fans will remember as being all over the place in the mid-1990s. Creator Haim Saban took the idea of taking the action footage from the Japanese Super Sentai series and cross-cutting it with American footage of American actors. The end result was a cultural phenomenon that long outlived the original one-season idea.

10,000 years ago, a great war raged across the cosmos, pitting a wizard named Zordon against a sorceress named Rita Repulsa. The war ended with a stalemate; Zordon's essence was trapped in a time warp, while Rita and her forces were entombed in a sarcophagus wandering the vastness of space. The sarcophagus landed on a passing asteroid, with astronauts unleashing Rita and her forces, who decided to renew the war from the moon of an Insignificant Little Blue Planet.

Zordon had long since set up a Command Center on Earth to be a sentry against her return, and with the help of his robot ward, Alpha 5, Zordon assembles his own team of warriors to combat Rita. Utilizing talismans called the "Power Coins", he selected five "teenagers with attitude": Jason Lee Scott (Austin St John), Zack Taylor (Walter Emanuel Jones), Kimberly Ann Hart (Amy Jo Johnson), Billy Cranston (David Yost) and Trini Kwan (Thuy Trang). Each teenager was given a coin and Transformation Trinket called a "Power Morpher" to become enhanced fighters in armored suits and access to an arsenal of weaponry, along with Humongous Mecha based on prehistoric animals called "Zords".

Rita's came with her own forces: top lieutenant Goldar, the resident Those Two Guys Squatt and Baboo, and her scientist Finster, who would turn his clay sculptures into Rita's foot soldiers, the Putty Patrol, and various Monsters of the Week.

The initial curiosity of the series paid off in the ratings. It wouldn't become the juggernaut it became until the five-part miniseries "Green With Evil", in which Rita brainwashes the New Transfer Student, Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank), and gives him a sixth power coin to serve as her own Green Ranger. The team manages to break the brainwashing and bring Tommy to their side. The response to this new Ranger was overwhelming, as the character not only became the Breakout Character of the series and the Trope Namer of the Sixth Ranger, but can be considered the face of the entire franchise.

MMPR was intended for forty episodes, ending with the two-part "Doomsday" where Rita would be entombed once again because the Sentai footage was running out. However, the show's surprising success led the production team to seek ways to extend its lifespan. "Doomsday" was rewritten to be more of a mid-season finale, and Saban commissioned new Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger footage from the Sentai production staff, extending the show's first season to sixty episodes. The Toei-filmed action footage is referred to as "Zyu2" footage in fan circles.

When the series was renewed for a second season, to escalate the story, a new Big Bad, Lord Zedd, displaced Rita and Zordon upgraded the Dino Zords into Thunder Zords, which was using the mecha footage from Zyuranger successor Dairanger instead of paying for more Zyu2 footage, with Ranger suit footage personally filmed in California. Midway through the season, there were contract disputes with Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang, which led to them walking out on the series. The crew then scrambled with stand-ins, soundalikes and stock footage/audio for a few episodes before introducing Adam (Johnny Yong Bosch), Aisha (Karan Ashley) and Rocky (Steve Cardenas) as replacements while the original characters were Put on a Bus.

During a break in the season, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie went into production and released in the summer of 1995. It had a big-budget treatment with radically different costumes, and deliberately doesn't fit into the continuity of the series. As production on the movie went long, multiple episodes were filmed in Australia using existing locations and taking place in new locations.

The third season had Rita's brother, Rito Revolto, successfully destroy the Rangers' powers and the Thunder Zords, and the Rangers find the legendary creator of the coins Ninjor, who forges them new Power Coins based on modern creatures and the art of ninjetti. Retaining Zyuranger costumes still, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger served as the basis for the new Ninja Zords, and they introduced a partial morph where they fought in brightly colored ninja-themed outfits. During this season, Amy Jo Johnson requested to leave and, unlike before, the production team had time to craft an exit story, with replacement character Katherine Hillard (Catherine Sutherland) brought in for a better Passing the Torch.

Later, in an escalation of villains, Rita and Rito's father Master Vile arrives and neutralizes the Rangers using Time Travel to reduce them back to preteens. Unable to use their own powers, Zordon sends out a request for help from aquatic humanoids from the planet Aquitar with their own Ranger team, leading to a ten-episode miniseries called Mighty Morphin' Alien Rangers. The first appearance of new Ranger teams and costumes, the Alien Rangers used the Kakuranger costumes and unused mecha battles to that point. The Alien Ranger miniseries is seen as an extension of MMPR rather than its own thing, as concurrently the young Rangers went on quests through time and space to find the pieces of the powerful Zeo Crystal (a MacGuffin introduced earlier in the season) to resolve the problem. Their return with the completed Zeo Crystal (along with the destruction of the Command Center) was the jumping-off point for Power Rangers Zeo.

While the following three seasons, Zeo, Turbo and In Space featured rotating Big Bads and Rangers themselves, Power Rangers in Space provides a finale for what people call "The Zordon Era" and afterwards Power Rangers followed the Super Sentai standalone season/standalone team format, but unlike Super Sentai (mostly), it's all in one continuity.

In the grand scheme of the franchise, MMPR is certainly the most iconic series, but it had some quirks that were ironed out or improved upon in later series.

A Continuity Reboot movie, produced by Lionsgate and written by Ashley Miller and Zach Stentz (Thor, X-Men: First Class), was released on March 24, 2017.

A comic book series from Boom! Studios also began in 2016, updating the setting to the present day.

A special, set 30 years after the conclusion of the original series known as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always will debut on Netflix on April 19, 2023 as part of a big Milestone Celebration for the franchise, which includes the next season in the franchise, Cosmic Fury.

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This incarnation of Power Rangers is the Trope Namer of:

• Make My Monster Grow: Rita Repulsa is the Trope Namer. Also notable in that it's one of the only Power Rangers series where the monster has to be alive for the growth to work; if the Rangers have already blown it up, it's too late.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Although the line was used in the opening credits and not the show itself. The actual dialogue from the first episode was:
  Zordon: "It's Rita. She's escaped and she's attacking the planet. Teleport to us five overbearing and overemotional humans."
  Alpha: "No, not that! Not teenagers!"
  • The line in the unaired pilot was: "the most dangerous group of ruthless, underhanded, self-absorbed, and over-emotional humans in the area".
• Sixth Ranger: When the Green Ranger joined the original five.

Recurring Franchise Tropes

• Action Girl: Trini and Kimberly definitely, both are established as perfectly capable of taking care of themselves from the very first episode, and they're even more competent than one of the males, Billy. Also, Aisha, who is introduced as a participant in a ninja tournament, and later, on the winning team. While they're not as fierce or quite as overtly badass as a number of future female Rangers, the trope still applies.
• Animal Mecha: The Zords. For all three seasons, save for the Shogun Zords and Battle Borgs and even then, the humanoid forms still had animal-like faces.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: The Rangers are based on dinosaurs.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: They're joined Rita's brother Rito Revolto and father Master Vile for an arc in the third season.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: This is how the Rangers put on their armor.
  "Dragonzord!" / "Tigerzord!" / "White Ranger Power!"
  "Mastodon!"/"Black Ranger Power!"
  "Pterodactyl!" / "Pink Ranger Power!"
  "Triceratops!" / "Blue Ranger Power!"
  "Sabertooth Tiger!" / "Yellow Ranger Power!"
  "Tyrannosaurus!" / "Red Ranger Power!"
• Chest Insignia: Personal dinosaur emblems on the belts (with the White Ranger having his on his chest instead). This trope is so strong that these emblems were added to the chest in both the merchandising and the movie.
• Chrome Champion: The Metallic Armor in Season 3 ("coincidentally" coinciding with the extra-shiny action figures made for the movie not too long before).
• City of Adventure: Angel Grove.
• Combining Mecha:
  • In Season 1, all the Rangers came together to form the Megazord ("Dino Megazord" in later merchandising). It could then join with the Dragonzord to form the Mega Dragonzord, or just the Mastodon, Sabertooth Tiger, and Triceratops would combine with it to form Dragonzord Fighting Mode. The Mega Dragonzord would then combine with Titanus to make the Ultrazord. The numerous combinations of the Dino Zords were weaponized in "Doomsday," as Cyclopsis couldn't keep up with the constant formation changes.
  • Season 2's formations were similar to Season 1, with the main team making the Thunder Megazord, then everyone but the Red Dragon combining with the Tigerzord to make the Mega Tigerzord, and finally all six Rangers combining with Tor to form the Thunder Ultrazord.
  • In Season 3, the main team got both the Ninja and Shogun Megazords, and Tommy's Falconzord could combine with either to form the [X] MegaFalconzord. Titanus was also brought out of retirement, joining with either MegaFalconzord for an Ultrazord combination.
• Compressed Adaptation
  • Averted for season 1, which was originally given 40 episodes to Zyuranger's 50. 20 additional episodes raised this total to 60.
  • Played straight for season 3, which was given 43 episodes to Kakuranger's 53. In addition, Kakuranger costume footage was reserved for the last 10 episodes.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: The Green Ranger's mecha was the Dragonzord, and in the second season the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord was turned into the Red Dragon Thunderzord.
• Evil Plan: Rita would declare hers in the opening narration: "IT'S TIME TO CONQUER EARTH!"
• Home Base: The Command Center.
• Humongous Mecha: The Zords, obviously. But there's also Lord Zedd's Zord, Serpentera, who was a Humongous Mecha even to the other Humongous Mechas - It is big enough to step on Tor, who is large enough to house a Megazord within his shell. The Zords from the second and third seasons were from different Sentai shows than the one MMPR was originally based on (Zyuranger). Unfortunately not quite all of the colors of the Zyuranger suits coordinated with the colors of the Kakuranger and Dairanger mecha. They were forced to "cheat" a bit by turning the (green) Shishiranger's mecha into the Black Ranger's Zord. Similar problem with the Kakuranger having no Pink Ranger, meaning no pink Shogun Zord either. ^note Dairanger had a standard green ranger instead of black, while Kakuranger only had five members (excluding Ninjaman/Ninjor) and a female white ranger instead of pink.
• Invocation: "It's Morphing Time!"
• Leader Forms the Head: Averted with the Ninja Megazord, whose head and torso are formed by the Pink and Yellow Ranger's Zords (although it should be noted in the source material the Crane was the leader's mecha). Played straight by all other Megazords, where the Red Ranger's Zord makes the core.
• Made of Explodium: Every single monster is this.
• Midseason Upgrade: Inverted in Season 3. Midway through the season, the Rangers gain the new Shogun Zords. However, prior to that, the Falconzord is stolen and the other Ninja Zords are rendered inoperable, so the Rangers still only have one set of Zords to work with. Only very briefly are the two sets of Zords ever shown alongside each other and by that time, other events render the Ninja Zords inoperable.
  • Also worth noting, is the Ninja Megazord's Japanese counterpart was the Midseason Upgrade and the Shogun Megazord's was their original mecha. Which is part of the reason for the above.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Part of the Pink Ranger's costume. Averted for the Yellow Ranger since She's a Man in Japan.
  • Also played straight for the White Alien Ranger.
• Mooks: The Putty Patrollers (Season 1), the Z-Putties (Season 2), and the Tenga Warriors (Season 3).
• Never Say "Die": Averted in "The Green Candle Part II."
  Jason: "If I don't get to the candle in time, he'll lose his powers."
  Zack: "If we don't get to him in time, he'll lose his life."
• Our Monsters Are Weird: Pudgy Pig, Eye Guy, Terror Toad, Mr. Ticklesneezer, Chunky Chicken, Pineoctopus, Shellshock, the Spit Flower, the Jellyfish, Two-Headed Parrot, Pumpkin Rapper, Octophantom, Lipsyncher, Terror Blossom, Photomare, Artist Mole, Face Stealer, See Monster, Crabby Cabbie, Ravenator, Brick Bully, Globbor... far too many examples to list.
• The Psycho Rangers: Happened one too many times throughout the series, all of which were precursors to the Trope Namers.
  • The Fake Power Rangers in "A Bad Reflection on You" were disguised Putties who attempted to tarnish the reputation of both the Rangers and their civilian counterparts. This included shooting civilians, humiliating their school's principal in front of the other students, and wearing sunglasses all the time.
  • The Mutant Rangers in "Mighty Morphin Mutants" used their own Morphers and wore slightly different costumes (black boots, gloves, and belts) and wielded different weapons (which were actually the same weapons used by the Zyurangers in their civilian forms, plus the Green Ranger's Sword of Darkness).
  • Lord Zedd's Dark Rangers in "Green No More," which were simply recolored Putty costumes to match the Rangers. They never actually fought their good counterparts, mostly because the suits were so fragile that any fight scenes would have ripped them.
    • Their civilian identities were even Evil Counterparts of the Rangers' civilian identities, including similar names.
• Recycled In Space: Averted, and not just because they were the originals. Production took the seasonal themes from Super Sentai such as dinosaurs or Eastern mythology and downplayed them so that things were kept as generic as possible - so stuff was recycled, but not IN SPACE! Mighty Morphin' Season 3, however, went a fair way towards being Power Rangers AS NINJAS!
• Robot Buddy: Alpha 5, Zordon's robotic assistant.
• She's a Man in Japan: Trini, whose Japanese counterpart was not only male but by funny coincidence named "Boi". The show used stock footage of Zyuranger with the male Tiger Ranger as the female Yellow Ranger. It was only after Saban started producing more locally filmed action scenes that the Yellow Ranger would be played by a stuntwoman.
• Stock Footage: The morphing sequences and especially Zord summoning were the major time-spenders (the Dragonzord snapping a smokestack in its teeth even became a meme for Gratuitous Stock Footage). Beyond that:
  • "A Pressing Engagement" and "No Clowning Around" used the same Mook fight footage.
  • The "Evil Green Ranger trashes the Command Center" sequence was used twice in the "Green With Evil" saga, then again in "Return of the Green Ranger."
  • Lord Zedd footage included a few scenes which could be used for anything. With his helmet, they used two scenes as "exposition of evil plan" and "rage after defeat" in one episode and exchanged them in the next one.
• 10,000 Years: Rita Repulsa was locked up for 10,000 years, as she helpfully reminds viewers at the start of every Season 1 episode.
• Thememobile: The Shark Cycles in Season 3. The Zyuranger and Dairanger motorcycles appeared in the toyline and merchandising (as "Battle Bikes" and "Thunder Bikes" respectively), but they never made it on the show (save for a brief shot in "Calamity Kimberly" where they couldn't edit the Battle Bikes out).
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: In the unaired pilot, Trini (played by a different actress) was originally supposed to be more tomboy-ish to Kimberly's Girly Girl. Played with because both Trini and Kimberly had short hair, but Trini's was short short, while Kimberly's was shoulder length short.
• Transforming Mecha: Only in Season 2; the Red Dragon Thunderzord, the White Tigerzord, and Tor could all change to humanoid warrior modes.
• Transformation Sequence: The iconic shout of "It's Morphing Time" with the Rangers thrusting their morphers outward and calling for their assigned dinosaur (later, ranger color power) to which the suits form over them and allow them to go into action.
• Villains Act, Heroes React: Establishing this trope as the norm for Power Rangers, we generally get a MOTW appearing with an Evil Plan Once an Episode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them. Justified in that the Rangers are bound by Zordon's code to only use their powers to defend, not to attack.

Mighty Morphin'-Specific Tropes A-M

• Abhorrent Admirer: The two girls, basically female versions of Bulk and Skull, who send them secret notes in an effort to get them to dance with them, in "Goldar's Vice Versa".
• Aborted Arc:
  • Season 2 starts out by introducing more recurring characters like Zack's cousin Curtis and Trini's love interest Richie. It seems like the show was going to move to a more Ensemble Cast format, but after the departure of Jason, Zack, and Trini, these characters disappeared and it was back to business as usual.
  • Season 3 seems to set Bulk and Skull up for an arc where they try anything to try and win over females in a duo. After they become cops, this thread gets dropped in favour of them bumbling their way through that job.
• The Abridged Series: Truncated Power Rangers.
• Actor Allusion: Rito had a tendency to call Zedd "Ed." The guy who wore the Zedd costume was named Ed Neil.
• Adaptation Distillation: Despite varying wildly from the source material and trimming potentially child scarring parts, the core essence of what makes the Super Sentai series so popular was effectively translated into the Americanized version. Later series would be either closer or further from the original, but this series is what got it started.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: The toy version of the White Shogunzord from Season 3 was repainted as a Pink Shogunzord. This made little sense as it was shared by both the White and Pink Rangers in the show, and created inconsistencies when the pink version was used for Off-the-Shelf FX for the American-filmed Ninja Ultrazord sequence. The toy versions of the Crane Ninjazord and Lion Thunderzord were also repainted as well; the Crane Ninjazord had its red parts repainted into pink; while the toy version of the Lion Thunderzord had all the green parts (except the dome) repainted black, but these changes are not as obvious.
• Adaptation Expansion: The "Zyu2" footage, which featured all-new monsters and fight sequences using the suits and mecha from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, were filmed specifically for Power Rangers and are not actually adapted footage from any Zyuranger sequel. This added 20 episodes to season 1, making a total of 60 to Zyuranger's 50.
  • A downplayed example for season 2, which has 52 episodes to Dairanger's 50.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the Super Stealth Beast Gods were the last mechs the Kakurangers gained and Ninjaman appeared at the midway point. Here, the Ninjazords and Ninjor appear early in season 3.
• Adaptational Late Appearance: Conversely, in Kakuranger, the Giant Beast General Gods were the first mechs for the team with the Beast General Fighters appearing shortly afterward, whereas the Shogunzords and the Battle Borgs were the last to appear in season 3.
• Adaptational Species Change:
  • In Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the villains originated from Earth (during the time of the dinosaurs), hence the monsters clearly based on Earthly animals and mythological creatures. The Season 2 monsters came from Gosei Sentai Dairanger, where they were humans from an ancient tribe that possessed the ability to turn into monsters. The Season 3 and Alien Rangers monsters originated from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, where they were demons and evil spirits from ancient Japanese folklore and mythology. In MMPR, they're all aliens. ^note There are a few exceptions; some were Earth animals or objects turned into monsters by Rita and/or Zedd's magic, and the Face Stealer remained a demon but from a fictional country.
  • Small details were made with regard to the Zord animal origins. The Black Ranger's Mastodon was originally a Mammoth. The Unicorn, Griffin, and Firebird Thunderzords were originally a Tenma, Kirin, and Houou, as Dairanger was heavily steeped in Chinese folklore, and changed to more recognizable Western equivalents.
• Adaptational Wimp: A minor example occurs with the Frankenstein Monster. Zyuranger's Dora Franke went One-Winged Angel after initially being destroyed by Dragonzord in Fighting Mode, becoming the monster that was adapted as Mutaytus. In the American version, Frankenstein is a separate monster that gets Killed Off for Real. The reason it's a minor example is that the Frankenstein Monster still beats the hell out of the Zords even during their Theme Music Power-Up.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole:
  • Given the Frankenslation, it's actually largely averted as so much was removed from the source material that it's hard to say what is a plot hole versus just a missing detail from the original. The nature of the Zords do bear some scrutiny. The Zyuranger mecha were actual spirit gods and would act of their own accord, Power Rangers changed them to non-sentient piloted Humongous Mecha with what can be assumed to be an auto-pilot, but that makes some instances of autonomy stand out. Likewise, the third season gave different origins for all three Kakuranger mecha (Ninja Zords were created by Ninjor, Shogun Zords were lost Zords, Battle Borgs used by the Aquitian Rangers), with no explanation given as to why all of them have the same animal motifs. Cestro tells Billy that their Borgs were given to them by Ninjor, so that does explain the Ninja Zords and the Battle Borgs, at least.
  • In the second season, Lord Zedd has his own Zord: Serpentera, a gigantic dragon-like Zord (the Rangers' Shuttlezord, Tor, who is big enough to fit a Megazord inside itself, fits under one of Serpentera's feet) capable of blowing up an entire planet. Its only drawback is it uses up way too much power, thus explaining why Zedd can't use it too often. But why doesn't he just blow up the Earth when the Rangers were away getting The Sword of Light? In Dairanger, Serpentera's counterpart Daijinryuu (literally "Great God Dragon") was a neutral entity more powerful than either the Rangers or villains and was concerned with maintaining the Balance Between Good and Evil.
• Adapted Out: The Rangers' Zyuranger counterparts have their own motorcycles known as the Saurer Machines, which don't appear at all in MMPR, thanks to the fact that the Zyuranger almost always rode the Machines while unmorphed, thereby making all their footage completely unusable. That didn't stop them from being sold as part of the MMPR toyline under the name "Battle Bikes," though.
• A Day in the Limelight: When Zordon temporarily deionizes due to the planets' alignment in "The Wanna-Be Ranger", Alpha 5 gets the spotlight in his place, teleporting out of the Command Center to help a lost boy find his mother; the Rangers being unable to contact him because he activates his self-destruction sequence to protect the Center is an important plot point. He gets a good deal more attention in this episode than most others.
• Added Alliterative Appeal: Rita Repulsa, Rito Revolto, not to mention Mighty Morphin.
  • Would also happen quite often with the names of the Monsters of the Week, specifically Gnarly Gnome, Pudgy Pig, Chunky Chicken, Knasty Knight, Terror Toad, Fighting Flea, Slippery Shark, Commander Crayfish, Needle Nose, Marvo the Meanie, Crabby Cabbie, Brick Bully, and Sinister Simian.
• The Adjectival Superhero: Originally. "Mighty Morphin" now serves as the team's official disambiguator, as heard in the toy versions of the Gosei Morpher and the Legendary Morpher.
• Adults Are Useless: Almost none of the adult characters are seen contributing anything useful to the Angel Grove community, while the teenagers are helping out whenever they can. A particularly glaring example is when a baby stroller starts rolling down a hill during the episode The Ninja Encounter. During this incident, only the teenagers (including Bulk) are seen trying to stop the stroller, while multiple adults jump away. One rare exception to this trope is Ernie, who runs the Angel Grove Youth Center and frequently helps the teens with whatever community projects they are involved in.
  • This goes back to the very first scene of the series where the two astronauts stupidly open the dumpster releasing Rita and her sect onto the world instead of, you know, doing something sensible like radioing their superiors for what action to take next.
  • The main cast of adults (Ernie, Mr. Caplan, Miss Applebee, and Lt. Stone) are a bit more competent and useful than the others, though Mr. Caplan did have a few useless moments in Season 1 whenever he'd blame the Rangers for whatever mischief Bulk and Skull had recently caused.
• Advertising-Only Continuity:
  • The early action figures, comics, and promo material showed the Rangers wearing costumes with their respective dinosaur emblems on their chests. This never happened at any point outside of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Also, the early toy commercials show the Rangers (in toy form anyway) on a misty, rocky alien planet.
  • Toy commercials for Season 3 featured Hydro Hog and the Barbaric Brothers (Erik and Merrick) as monsters the MMPR team would face in battle, but all three monsters didn't come along until well after the Alien Rangers had taken over (with Hydro Hog even becoming their equivalent of Lord Zedd instead of a mere Monster of the Week).
  • The commercial for the Alien Ranger and Battle Borg figures showed the Aliens facing off against the "Blue Putties," the Dorodoros from Kakuranger, which never actually appeared in Power Rangers.
• Affably Evil: Finster seems more concerned about his creations and pleasing Rita on a personal level than he is about actually accomplishing evil deeds. He even states late in Season 3 that being bad can be no fun at times. Now that Rita and Zedd are no longer evil thanks to the Power Rangers in Space finale, he has no reason to be this trope anymore. If he's even still alive.
  • The Soul of the Dragon comic released years later shows that Finster was indeed purified and is now friends with Tommy's family making his offscreen death all the more tragic.
• Alien Invasion: One rubber monster suit at a time.
• All Just a Dream: "For Whom the Bell Trolls" in Season 1.
• Alpha Strike: The Ultrazord, the most powerful Zord combination that is summoned only when situations are dire. Each fleet of Zords (Dino, Thunder, Ninja, Shogun) had its own Ultrazord.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Zedd, of all people. Just watch his wedding.
  • Also see "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger" where he tries to usurp Christmas with spinning tops.
• Amphibian at Large:
  • Season one had a Monster of the Week named Terror Toad, a man-sized toad who consumed four of the Rangers to increase his strength, requiring Kimberly to defeat him and save her friends.
  • The Frog Zord is Adam's new Ninja Zord in season three. Despite its memetic status as the lamest of the Zords, it has a surprisingly versatile weapons system that includes lightning whips and flame throwers.
• Amusing Alien: Alpha 5, an alien robot who acts like a little brother, worries about the Rangers like a concerned mother, and keeps letting loose with his worried expression of "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
• And Knowing Is Half the Battle:
  • Practically standard for a kids show in the '90s. A particularly popular one had David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson as themselves doing a "Reality Check," demonstrating that television is entirely fiction and what they do on the show is just for entertainment. They showed that it can be hard to tell the difference between fake guns and real guns, and also that while Billy was a gawky nerd, David Yost is a skilled gymnast.
  • There was a similar one where the actors playing Bulk and Skull showed that the characters they played were quite different from their real personalities. It ends with Paul Schrier (Bulk) scaring some kids off by saying he could turn into Bulk at any moment, then the two of them briefly addressing the audience together. Finally, Jason Narvy (Skull) has this to say:
    Jason Narvy: Of course, I am the better actor.
    Paul Schrier: [gives him a look and shakes his head] No, you're not.
    • Oddly enough, kids saw Bulk and Skull as more class clowns than bullies, so that may be part of why it was so effective.
  • One showed Jason practicing against a punching bag, while Trini was teaching a student some kata moves. A classmate comes in angry and tries picking a fight with Jason, who proceeds to passively subdue him instead of kicking him to the curb. Trini's student was confused why Jason was making it harder for himself, while Trini explains that a true martial artist responds to a threat with an appropriate amount of force. The segment ends with Jason helping the kid up and inviting him to go talk about his problem.
• Animal-Themed Fighting Style: Played for Laughs in "Plague of the Mantis". Inspired by Trini's Mantis Kung Fu, Bulk and Skull decide to charge people to learn their newly-invented "cockroach kung fu". Their "style" is basically a bunch of comical, uncoordinated moves, culminating in the two headbutting each other unconscious.
• Anti-Sneeze Finger: When they're hiding from the pillow-fighting male rangers in "Crystal of Nightmares", Skull places one under Bulk's nose as a reaction to the falling feathers.
• A Planet Named Zok: Some of the planets Rita and her goons mention while making monsters in the first season fit this convention.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: What is Alpha's reaction when Bulk, Skull, and Kimberly are trapped within the innards of a taxi cab monster? "Aye-yi-yi! Lord Zedd and Rita have created a Crabby Cabbie! And he's charging double the going fare!"
• Artistic License – History:
  • Er, guys? 18th century Britain colonized the east coast. Like New York, New Jersey and the Carolinas. Not the west coast, like California. ^note  Francis Drake tried to start a British settlement somewhere along the West Coast, but it wound up not lasting Real-life wrote this plot, though. They were stuck in Australia because of script and scheduling problems with the movie. But the TV episode schedule caught up to them. So the solution? Film a couple of episodes where the Rangers as students vacation in Australia. While the production crew was in Australia as well, they filmed a couple of episodes in a historical village just outside of Sydney, which gave us colonial Angel Grove. Power Rangers has never attempted to be accurate in anything, science, history, physics, etc.
  • Though there is a theory that Power Rangers exists in a universe where the British colonized California and not the Spanish, hence the name Angel Grove and not Los Angeles.
  • It's also suggested that Angel Grove started on the East coast and moved during the Gold Rush, as many small settlements did at the time.
• Art Initiates Life:
  • Finster's creations. He sculpts them as ordinary-looking clay models, then uses his machine to make them full-sized monsters.
  • Lord Zedd's monsters are made from everyday things like purses, saws, statues, and even animals.
• The Artifact:
  • The Rangers kept their prehistoric beast-themed costumes for two more seasons, despite no longer piloting the Dino Zords after Season 1. Season 2 tried to work around this by establishing that the Thunder Zords were really transformed versions of Dino Zords, but Season 3 didn't even bother with this pretension, having the Rangers draw their powers from new animals instead.
  • The name "Trini." While the character is ostensibly supposed to be Asian (either Vietnamese or Chinese depending on the viewer), and the last name "Kwan" is Asian, the first name "Trini," has Hispanic origins instead, which fits the original interpretation of the character in the unaired pilot, where she was played by Audrey DuBois, who is of Latina descent.
• Aside Comment: When Rita returns to the moon, she makes sure Zedd gets a love potion put in his system to make him want her. When he wakes up and starts saying he wants to marry her, she says, "it worked!" to the camera in "The Wedding Part 2".
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: Almost said word for word by Commander Crayfish and his Mutant Rangers, when faced with the Ultrazord.
  Commander Crayfish: "Let's finish them off, Mutants! Charge!"
  [The Ultrazord is formed.]
  Commander Crayfish: "Huh? Hold it! Pull back! Pull back!"
• Autobots, Rock Out!: The instant the opening electric guitar riff of "Go Go Power Rangers" begins to play, whatever monster or villain is facing the Rangers or Zords at the time is already dead.
• A Weighty Aesop: In an episode, Tommy lectures a student of his about healthy eating. This inspires Rita to shrink down the Monster of the Week and literally gets it inside Tommy's stomach - causing Tommy to constantly crave junk food to a ridiculous extreme, even stealing food off of other people's tables.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Serpentera in a nutshell. Big enough to stop on regular Megazords, powerful enough to destroy a planet...but so difficult to actually fuel that Zedd could barely use it.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Rita and Zedd, surprisingly enough, after the Love Potion wears off... Much to Goldar's displeasure.
  Rito: "Gee, Goldy. Maybe Ed really does love Rita."
  • Same applies to Bulk and Skull.
• Baby Carriage: In "The Ninja Encounter, Part 1", baby Jacob in his stroller goes for a very long downhill uncontrolled ride in the park.
• Badbutt: Tommy and Jason, mostly, though everyone got their chance to shine at some point (including Alpha, Bulk & Skull and the villains).
  Ninjor: "Oh yeah, we bad!"
• The Bad Guy Wins: After three seasons of "Good always triumphs and evil never wins," the series ends with Master Vile turning the Rangers into helpless children, Zedd and Rita destroying the Ninja Power Coins only after Billy returns to his normal age, and Goldar and Rito blowing up the Command Center after Earth and its people are returned to normal.
  • "Green With Evil" had Tommy wiping the floor with the good guys until Part V.
  • "The Green Candle" (temporarily due to Rita's Green Candle) and "The Green Dream" through "Green No More Part II" (permanently due to Lord Zedd's power stealing monster Turbanshell and his Green Crystal) saw the Green Ranger's Dragonzord powers destroyed.
  • "Ninja Quest Part I" saw the five original Dino Power Coins (plus the White Ranger's Power Coin) and all of the Thunder Zords destroyed due to Rito and four resurrected monsters.
  • Mid-way through Season 3, Zedd and company managed to steal the Pink Coin, capture the Falconzord (thus rendering the other Ninja Zords inoperable) and imprison Ninjor. A good chunk of the season passed before all of these changes were reversed. Two episodes after that though, Master Vile does the time-reversal as seen above.
• Balloon-Bursting Bird: The Monster of the Week, a giant woodpecker named the Peckster, is tricked by the Black Ranger into pecking a bunch of helium balloons, the last of which turns out to be a playground ball that traps the monster's beak long enough to take him down. Unusually for this trope, the balloons were normal-sized while the bird was human-sized.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Both female rangers sometimes wear tops that bare their midriffs, but it's not the girly Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart, but the Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan who does it more often.
• Battle Couple: Tommy and Kimberly.
• Toei Quarry: Given Toei made Zyuranger, many fight scenes take place in a quarry. Especially once the Zyu2 footage kicked in.
• Beach Episode: A Star is Born and A Reel Fish Story have this as their primary theme, with several others featuring some of the Rangers relaxing on the beach.
• Berserk Button: Whenever Rito Revolto would call Lord Zedd "Ed," it just wouldn't end well. At all. Actually, Rito was pretty much just a walking Berserk Button for all the other villains, though for Rita it at least seemed in a playful, teasing manner.
  • Zedd's dislike at being called "Ed" was apparently a well-known thing, as Alpha 5 pulls this out when Zedd invades the Command Center in "Changing of the Zords Part II":
    Lord Zedd: "Oh, Alpha, you can come out of hiding."
    Alpha 5 [trembling]: "I don't like you... Ed."
    Lord Zedd: "IT'S ZEDD, YOU BLINKING BUCKET OF BOLTS! LORD ZEDD!"
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Scorpina's giant monster form has a whip-like tail capable of wrapping around the Megazord and pumping it full of electricity.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Rita and Zedd.
  • As goofy as he was, Rito did manage to destroy the Thunder Zords.
• The B Grade: Billy gets upset about getting a B grade in "Grumble Bee". Of course, this inspires Rita to make a bee monster.
  Bulk: "See ya. Wouldn't wanna... B ya!"
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Spidertron, Scorpina's pet worm, Fighting Flea, the Mantis, Grumble Bee, Stag Beetle, Guitardo, and Arachnofiend.
  • Scorpina, too, in her giant form.
• Big Damn Heroes: Tommy did this a lot.
  • Titanus also pulls this in the "Doomsday Part I," charging onto the scene in attack mode with Zordon's command and blasting the Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord Fighting Mode free from Cyclopsis' shock cables.
• Big Eater: Pudgy Pig (created to eat all the food on Earth, but not as big of an eater as Rita had implied), Terror Toad (who ate the Rangers) and Bulk (well, he was the stereotypical comic relief fat guy...). Oddly, not done much with Squatt, who was only shown eating a couple of times.
  • Oddly enough, Skull as well, though not as much as Bulk.
• Big Good: Zordon is the central benevolent character of the series since he recruited the teenagers who became the Power Rangers and informs them of when they need to fight Rita and her monsters.
• Big "NO!": "Green With Evil Part I."
  Rita: Tommy, I have chosen you!
  Tommy: (caught under her spell) NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
• Big "WHAT?!": Kimberly in "A Bad Reflection on You," when Mr. Caplan sent the Rangers to detention (they were, of course, framed by Twinman and the Putties).
  • When Bulk and Skull announce their plan to enroll in the Junior Police Patrol, it literally stuns the Rangers, Ernie, and the roughly thirty other people at the Youth Center into dumbstruck silence.
• Bilingual Bonus: The wall behind Tommy inside the White Tigerzord's cockpit has spheres written with kanji on them.
• Bittersweet Ending: A relatively sweet example at the end of "The Green Candle: Part 2". The Green Candle burns out before the Rangers can get back to it, causing Tommy to lose his powers and leave the team. However, he is able to transfer them to Jason by giving him his power coin (preventing them from falling into Rita's hands) and successfully asks out Kimberly to the dance, sharing a Big Damn Kiss with her.
• Black Dude Dies First: Subverted obviously since it's a kid's show, but in the Season 1 two-parter "Island of Illusion," Rita tries to make each of the Rangers start to fade from existence one by one. Zack was targeted first.
• The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: The Dino Megazord's sword would descend from the sky and, unless caught in midair by the Megazord, would do this as well.
  • In "Green No More," Tommy kicks Goldar's sword out of his hand. It goes flying through the air before stabbing down into the sand.
• The Blank: Victims of the Face Stealer lose their faces.
• Blind Without 'Em: Billy. Well, at least until he switched to contacts. When he switched bodies with Kimberly, he still needed to use them while in her body.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Lord Zedd once managed to trap the Power Rangers in an inescapable barrier within an alternate dimension. Rather than keep them there, he decided to release them unharmed and send them to their native dimension (where they promptly sought out the equipment necessary to undermine Zedd's plan).
• Bowdlerise: As part of Malaysia's campaign against drugs, the show is called Mighty Power Rangers or just Power Rangers since "morphin" sounds dangerously close to "morphine" and the Moral Guardians were afraid that kids would get addicted to it if they so much as hear the word. It also extends to the show itself, where utterances or appearances of the word are censored.
• Breakout Character: Tommy/Green Ranger. The producers intended him as a temporary visitor who departed after the "Green Candle" saga. Following his withdrawal, however, the fans wrote torrents of heartfelt letters and pleaded for his return. These fans certainly got their wish, as Tommy eventually became the leader of the Power Rangers and practically the face of the franchise at the time.
• Break the Cutie: Kimberly suffers a lot in the first and third seasons due to Rita Repulsa demonstrating that Evil Is Petty; in fact, her final arc in Season 3 is an especially egregious example, as Rita keeps sending forth minions to drag the poor Pink Ranger into fights when Kimberly is trying to train for Pan Global gymnastics, and ultimately (due to the drain on her life force resulting from her Power Coin being in evil hands) Kimberly comes as close to death as the censors of the time were willing to allow.
• Brick Break: Once, when the Rangers made a TV appearance.
  • An unconventional one happened in "Another Brick in the Wall." When Billy's Shogunzord destroys Brick Bully, he doesn't explode like almost every other monster in the series, but instead literally breaks apart and falls to pieces.
• Broken Aesop: "Plague of the Mantis" has Trini (who is Asian of course) being talked to about honor. Most notably, how she should fight monsters all on her own because it's honorable. Besides all the other things wrong with this message, this episode was very closely placed to an episode about teamwork, which had literally the exact opposite lesson. And between the two, on a show where five superheroes usually beat up on one monster, the whole honor thing just doesn't make as much sense.
• The Bully: Bulk and Skull, at least at first. They're actually pretty low-level as far as bullying goes, and the Rangers don't take them seriously at all.
• But Not Too Evil: Zedd is a particularly infamous example.
• Butt-Monkey: For the half-dozen or so stories before their departure, Jason, Trini and Zack have a habit of repeatedly being immobilized or mind-controlled by whatever monster Lord Zedd has sent that week. This was likely due to Real Life Writes the Plot (and possibly an element of Take That!), as the actors who played those three Rangers had quit the series, making it impossible to show them unmorphed at all outside of Stock Footage, and forcing the producers to rely on sound-alikes for any dialogue they did have while morphed.
• Call-Back: In the very first episode, Billy describes Alpha as "a fully-sentient multi-functional automaton". When he, Kimberly and Tommy lose their memories in "When is a Ranger Not a Ranger", he says the exact same thing upon seeing Alpha. Likewise, in both situations Kimberly asks if "someone could bring me back to Earth because I'm totally confused".
• Catapult Nightmare: All of the rangers wake of from their Crystal-induced nightmares like this in the titular episode.
• Catchphrase: Alpha's "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
  • "It's Morphin' Time!" initially belonged to Jason. As the show progressed, the phrase became something of a trademark for the entire team.
  • Whenever it was time to head back into the field, Jason, or later Tommy, would typically declare "Back to action!" Like the above phrase, any of the Rangers could use it.
  • Rita's many variations of "I have a headache!"
• Characterization Marches On: Watching the Rangers interact with Bulk and Skull in the original unaired pilot is strange. The bullies' personalities were reversed, and Skull (played by an Other Marty) aggressively pursued Kimberly, while the Rangers were much more aggressive towards them. They even delivered a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to the two without provocation, something that would never happen in the actual series.
  • Also observe Billy; The Smart Guy at first, only good for spouting Techno Babble, his first actual fight (unmorphed) had him flee from a single Putty up onto a cliff, forcing Trini to overcome her fear of heights in order to save him from the footsoldier. Fast forward a good thirty episodes and you have in "A Fishy Situation" Kimberly calling for help, and not being able to reach the other three, and Billy figuring out a plan in order to beat a gang of Putty Patrollers with just the two of them.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: A negative example - In Season 2's "Two For One," Jason (piloting the Red Dragon Thunderzord) is getting his butt handed to him by the Lipsyncher monster. Billy and Alpha try to elevate the Zord's power, but can't without risking wiping out the Command Center's entire system due to overloading the computers. Fast forward to the true Season 3 premiere, "Ninja Quest," and this exact problem is what results in the destruction of the Thunder Zords and the original Power Coins during the fight with Rito Revolto.
• Chekhov's Gun: The Zeo Crystal was a MacGuffin for a handful of episodes, only to later become vital to the resolution of the "de-aging" arc and the basis of their new powers in the following season.
  • The Green Candle. Once Zedd fully absorbs Tommy's powers, he has a black candle, a pink candle, a yellow candle, and a blue candle.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Rocky, Adam, and Aisha.
• Chewing the Scenery: Everytime Rita Repulsa appear saying "I've got a headache". This.
• Chick Magnet: Despite being portrayed as a stereotypical nerd, Billy has the most episodes involving a romantic subplot.
• Christmas Episode: One in continuity (Season 3's "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger," in which Rito and the Tengas take over Santa's workshop and attempt to ruin Christmas by forcing the elves to mass-produce what are basically evil, mind-controlling dreidels of Lord Zedd's own design) and one out of continuity (Season 2's Alpha's Magical Christmas, in which Alpha and Zordon invite a bunch of kids from all over the world to the Command Center to celebrate Christmas with them, and Tommy is still the Green Ranger, even though Rocky, Adam, and Aisha are on the team (with Zordon mentioning that "the others" (Jason, Zack, and Trini) are still at the World Peace Conference).
• Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: Bulk is shown to have a skinny father and an overweight mother in the two-part episode "Return of an Old Friend".
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Scorpina disappeared from the series at the end of Season 1 after all the Zyuranger stock footage ran out. Although they did get another actress to play Scorpina in Season 2, they couldn't get a hold of her for more than a single episode.
  • Two other bullies Bulk and Skull frequently hang with only appeared in a couple of episodes. The female was going to be named Sharky and stay as a recurring character (at least up till episode 15) but was removed after finding out that the Sharkdog from another Fox Kids show already had that name.
  • Angela and Richie, Zack's and Trini's respective love interests. When the two of them were replaced by Adam and Aisha, Angela and Richie no longer had any reason to be on the show. The same applies to Zack's cousin Curtis. Richie and Curtis were mainly there to be White Ranger Red Herrings as well, so that was another reason they'd outlived their usefulness.
  • Subverted with Tommy after "The Green Candle." After he loses his powers he disappears completely without explanation until "Doomsday Part II," four episodes later before vanishing again until "Return of an Old Friend Part I" another eight episodes later, before remaining for good.
  • The Putty Patrol/Z-Putties. A mainstay of the show since its first episode, the Putties just... stop appearing once Rito brings the Tenga Warriors to the moon, without so much as a throw-away line like "Now we can get rid of those useless Putties!" from Zedd and Rita or "Man, those Tengas sure are a lot stronger than Putties!" from the Rangers. This is odd, considering how much early PR loves to point out how much stronger new things are than old things. A couple of Z-Putties made cameos at the premiere and finale of Power Rangers in Space alongside Rita and Zedd however, so the suits apparently still existed.
  • The Rangers' Ninja Ranger mode in Season 3. Once they acquire the Metallic Armor, the Ninja Rangers are never mentioned again.
• Circus of Fear: "No Clowning Around," complete with, obviously, a Monster Clown.
• Clark Kenting: The show doesn't spend much time on it but early on in the first season the Rangers plead ignorance on knowing what the Power Rangers are, and in one case start a rumor that they are space aliens.
• Classically-Trained Extra: Jason Narvy as Skull, who has Shakespeare training and even acquired a Ph.D. in Dramatic Arts years later. That's right, Doctor Jason Narvy.
• Cliffhanger: While the show had its share of multi-parters, the most notable cliffhanger came at the end of Season 3, in which Rito and Goldar absolutely level the Command Center, leaving the Rangers without powers and a base. Most notably, the words To Be Continued weren't used in the end title cards for the episode.
• Clip Show: The "Island of Illusion" two-parter and "Crystal of Nightmares" in Season 1, as well as the home video releases Lord Zedd's Monster Heads and The Good, the Bad and the Stupid: The Misadventures of Bulk & Skull, both released during Season 3.
• Combat Tentacles: Frequently for the Monsters of the Week. They'd usually have these instead of arms.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: Four. One from Hamilton Comics and one from Marvel Comics when the show was airing, another from Papercutz in 2014, and yet another from Boom! Studios in 2015.
  • Both original series were fun, but far from perfect. The Hamilton comics took place in Season 2 but were written like "Season 1, but with Zedd and the Thunder Zords" (Zedd would get headaches, etc), and the Marvel comics were a strange combination of Season 3 and the movie (Rito would be present in one issue, then Mordant the next, etc). Also, neither series got the order of the morph call right.
    • To be fair, the "Season 1, but with Zedd and the Thunder Zords" bit only happened in the first issue of the initial mini-series, a letter writer called them out on it and they had admitted they had done it prior to Zedd's real introduction.
  • At one point during the Season 3 comics, there was an interesting bit where they pilot the Ninja Zords as Ninja Rangers, but the Shogun Zords in their regular suits, albeit designed as the movie suits.
  • The Papercutz comics get details such as the morphing order right, and even recreate it faithfully to the TV show (the free comic book day issue even shows Zack morphing with his season 1 haircut, even though he has his season 2 style in the rest of the comic). However, it does contain errors, such as referring to Bulk and Spike instead of Bulk and Skull.
  • Papercutz lost the rights after only two volumes plus a Free Comic Book Day issue, resulting in the third volume being cancelled (they also did two volumes each of Super Samurai and Megaforce). Boom! Studios took over the rights in summer 2015 launching at San Diego Comic-Con with six exclusive art cards.
• Comically Missing the Point: In a scene from "Goldar's Vice-Versa," Bulk finds a note in his locker, the sender asking to meet as "I [the sender] have what you're looking for". Bulk gives the note to Skull, asking (rhetorically) "Do you know what this means?" Skull responds, "Yeah: Someone knows the combination to your locker." Bulk is not impressed. To be fair to Skull, though, he does have a point: Assuming a mundane explanation for how the note got into Bulk's locker. It's still the wrong point...
  • When Kimberly drops into the cockpit of the Pterodactyl Dinozord for the first time ever, the first thing she notices and comments on is the stereo. She does the same thing with the Ninja Cranezord in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.
• Comm Links: The Rangers' wristwatch-like communicators.
• Commuting on a Bus: Kimberly in Season 3.
• Compressed Vice: Tommy's forgetfulness. It's first brought up in Season 1's "Mighty Morphin Mutants" (after almost 60 episodes) and then is only mentioned again once or twice before he leaves in Power Rangers Turbo (which, considering how many episodes that spanned, is almost never again).
• Conflict Ball: Deliberately done by Rita in one episode, having a monster turn Jason and Tommy against one another. It doesn't take very long.
  • "Stop the Hate Master" sees this work on every Ranger except Aisha.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: More so than any Power Ranger series, starting in Season 2 and especially Season 3, the villains would use the "revive multiple monsters at a time" tactic. While the first time around each monster on its own was enough to give the Rangers trouble, multiple monsters were basically just glorified Putties.
  • Subverted in "Ninja Quest Part I," when Rito and four revived monsters destroy the Thunder Megazord and White Tigerzord.
• Continuity Creep: The early episodes, especially in the first season, are nearly all one-off battles with Rita's monsters, and extremely simple ones at that. After about fifty episodes of that, the show developed more of a continuing story.
  • The end of the third season, from Master Vile showing up to the end of Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, sets up the beginning of Power Rangers Zeo.
• Continuity Nod: In "On Fins and Needles," when Rita sends down Slippery Shark, Billy comments that he's thankful for having conquered his fear of fish, a phobia which was a major plot point in "Something Fishy."
  • Katherine and Lord Zedd in Season 3's "Master Vile and the Metallic Armor," when referring to Tommy's attempts to find the Zeo Crystal.
  Kat: "The forcefield will destroy anyone evil!"
  Lord Zedd: "Or anyone who was once evil! Like a former Green Ranger..."
• Continuity Snarl: Quite a few because of Stock Footage; expect things that have not been introduced yet to show up in glimpses here and there, and say hello to quite a few of the Japanese cast in the background shots!
• Converging-Stream Weapon: The Power Blaster.
  • To a lesser degree, the Rangers could point their Blade Blasters together and fire off a sphere of energy.
• Covered in Gunge: At least Once an Episode during the first season, usually to Bulk and/or Skull.
• Cowardly Lion: In "When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?" after the Scatterbrain monster erases all the Rangers' memories, inadvertently revealing their identities to Bulk and Skull, the two realize they're the only thing standing between the deaths of "those dweebs" and the destruction of Earth. Even though they're clearly terrified, the two stand up to Scatterbrain and challenge him to a showdown. It doesn't go completely to plan, as Bulk and Skull end up losing the memories of the Rangers' identities, but they still manage to restore the Rangers' memories and allow them to destroy Scatterbrain.
• Cowboy Episode: "Wild West Rangers" where Kimberly is sent back to 1880 during Angel Grove's Wild West era.
• Crash Course Landing: Kimberly in "Foul Play in the Sky."
• Crossover: With Masked Rider for Season 3. This was years before a Kamen Rider Decade/Samurai Sentai Shinkenger crossover!
• Creator Cameo:
  • Writer and producer Douglas Sloan plays Kimberly's uncle Steve in the episode "Foul Play in the Sky." He later played Kim's mom's new boyfriend in "Return of an Old Friend" (hopefully not intended to be the same character)
  • Stunt coordinator and action director Jeff Pruitt has one as the martial arts tournament referee "Green With Evil Part 1."
• Curb-Stomp Battle: There were quite a few of these over the three seasons, but two rather memorable ones took place in "Doomsday" and "Ninja Quest": In the former, the Dino Zords put up a pitiful fight against Cyclopsis, only for the evil Zord to hack off the Megazord's arm and the Dragonzord's tail. In the latter episode, the Rangers use their new Ninja Zords for the very first time and proceed to beat the living hell out of Rito Revolto, nailing him repeatedly with the Ninja MegaFalconzord's finishing attack and paying him back for his destroying the Thunder Zords earlier in the arc.
• Cute Kitten: "P.C." ("Park Cat") in Season 3, who was actually Kat under Rita's spell.
• Cutesy Name Town: Angel Grove.
• Dance Battler: Zack, who tried to combine the two into "hip-hop-kido."
• Darker and Edgier: Season 3. As it was a transitional period with Amy Jo Johnson leaving and the switchover to Zeo, the stakes had to be raised; among other things, Kimberly nearly dies when her power coin is stolen, Rita and Zedd succeed in a major conflict (to the point of commandeering the Youth Center for a victory party), the Ninja Coins destroyed and the Rangers (and the entire population of Earth) reduced to children, leading to them finding the Zeo Crystal to restore their powers, and finally ending with the Command Center destroyed.
• Darkest Hour: The "Green With Evil" saga has the Rangers in dire straits when Rita transforms the New Transfer Student Tommy into her personal Green Ranger. By Part 4, the Megazord has been destroyed, Zordon is potentially lost forever, and it seems that Rita will emerge finally victorious.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Squatt and Baboo in "The Trouble with Shellshock."
• The Day the Music Lied: When the Alien Rangers battle Hydro Hog in the Shogun Megazord, "Go Go Alien Rangers" kicks in as the Megazord powers up the Fire Saber for its finishing attack, an attack which no monster has ever survived. The Megazord brings its saber down on Hydro Hog's head... only for Hydro Hog to catch the saber in his hands and quip "You don't get to win like that this time," instantly ending the theme.
• Decomposite Character:
  • Dora Franke from Zyuranger split into two characters for the series. His first form becomes the Frankenstein Monster, and his second and third forms (Zombie Franke and Satan Franke) became Mutaytus.
  • The White Ranger from Kakuranger's role was split among the White and Pink Power Rangers in Season 3.
• Demoted to Extra: Squatt and Baboo had fairly sizable roles for henchmen in Season 1, each helping jumpstart some episodes' plots. However, with Lord Zedd's introduction in Season 2, their purpose appears to simply be observing his villainous actions or getting yelled at by him. This is somewhat reversed in Season 3, where they take a more active role in episodes again.
  • Same for Finster in Season 2. Justified in that Lord Zedd makes his own monsters, making Finster obsolete. Finster even Lampshades his status by saying, "I used to be somebody around here. 'Monster-maker extraordinaire.' Now, I'm just old and in the way." The trope is reversed when Rita returns, as he helps her marriage plot. By Season 3, he is making monsters again (even more so than Zedd).
  • This started happening to Kimberly in Season 3. Notably, she was the only one who didn't go to Edenoi during the season premiere (AKA the Poorly Disguised Pilot for Saban's Masked Rider) due to a cold (though she made use of reduced screentime awesomely, being the only Ranger left on Earth when Rita and Zedd sent a new Monster of the Week), and had her powers drained halfway through after being captured by Kat Hillard. Since Amy Jo Johnson actually told Saban she was going to quit beforehand, instead of clumsy camera tricks and an abrupt Fake Shemp, half the season was spent slowly easing her character out of the Pink Ranger position and setting up her successor.
  • Happened somewhat with Alpha 5. While his screen time never diminished, over the course of the show Billy became so intelligent and so involved with the tech side of the Rangers and Zords and weapons that Alpha's role as the tech guy was all but forgotten, only repairing and inventing things when Billy couldn't for some reason. Alpha never really regained his role until Billy finally left in Power Rangers Zeo.
  • Trini, Jason, and Zack gradually began having less and less screentime as soon as their eventual replacements Adam, Aisha, and Rocky joined the cast. The episodes leading up to the three of them leaving also focused more on Tommy, Kimberly and Billy, while Trini, Jason, and Zack rarely appeared out of costume, and even when they did, they had very few lines. Sadly, while Jason eventually returned to have a large role in Zeo, and Zack would eventually return in 2023's 30th anniversary special, Trini left the franchise for good in Season 2.
• De-Power Zone:
  • In "The Wedding," Alpha 5 (who has been reprogrammed by Finster) tricks the Rangers into teleporting to an abandoned theater on the edge of Angel Grove. According to Zordon, the theater is a "vortex" that prevents their powers from working. While they retain their morphed forms, the Rangers are unable to teleport back out, nor can they call upon their Power Weapons.
  • In "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger," Zedd and Rita launch a plan to have their minions infiltrate Santa's workshop in order to send brainwashing toys all over the world. Before the Rangers set out to stop them, Zordon warns the heroes that, due to a combination of Christmas magic and close proximity to the magnetic north pole, neither their powers, nor those of the villains, will work up there.
• Deus Exit Machina: Zordon drops out of contact right at the beginning of the "Green With Evil" miniseries, lest he solves things in one episode instead of the five that it took. To be fair, Rita and Evil!Tommy spent considerable effort keeping him that way.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The "Go Go Power Rangers" riff was used as the communicator signal. Also, while using grains of dirt (It Makes Sense in Context) to spread a Hate Plague, one Monster of the Week sings "Go, go, power particles!" to the tune of the theme.
• Discard and Draw: The Zords in Season 2, and practically everything but the Rangers' costumes in Season 3.
• Disguised in Drag: For some reason, Bulk and Skull dress up as maids to steal the rangers' test notes in "Crystal of Nightmares.
• Dismantled MacGuffin: The Zeo Crystal in Season 3.
• Distressed Dude: Tommy was victim to this several times, if he wasn't off lollygagging or who knows. This is of course because the Sentai Stock Footage didn't involve the Sixth Ranger unless they had no alternative.
• Dodgy Toupee: A Running Gag with Principal Caplan.
• Downer Ending: The entire series ends on one, wherein time reverses for the entire world and the bad guys' flat-out win. You won't see this predicament completely resolved until you finish the second episode of Zeo. Made worse by the fact that there is no "To Be Continued" message.
• Dub Name Change: When adapting Dairanger into Season 2, the Sei-Kirin (Star Qilin) was changed to its closest Western equivalent, the Griffin. Sei-Tenma (Star Pegasus) was also changed into the Unicorn Thunderzord.
• Dramatic Irony: The "Green With Evil" storyline runs with this. The viewer knows Tommy is the evil Green Ranger, but because Tommy takes out Zordon and damages the Command Center early on, the Rangers are left flailing helplessly, not realizing their new enemy is the new student in Angel Grove High
• Dynamic Entry: In his Green Ranger days, Tommy was known to leap towards enemies crotch-first (see here, thirty seconds in). Unsurprisingly, it's been the subject of Memetic Mutation.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Dischordia appears in "Master Vile and the Metallic Armor," even though her debut - "The Sound of Dischordia" - wasn't until the next episode.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • David Fielding was in the opening credits sequence for the first season of the show for his role as Zordon. This is the only time in the show's history when a voice actor is credited in the opening. Usually, if you play an on-camera human or humanoid main or major recurring character, you're in the opening credits. He also only voiced Zordon for a short time. Only a little more than half of Season 1 while Bob Manahan took over for the rest of his appearances.
  • Goldar's voice in several early episodes is quite high-pitched compared to his usual low guttural tone. Kerrigan Mahan (Goldar's voice actor) stated at a convention that the high-pitched voice hurt his vocal cords after a while so he switched to one that he could do comfortably for extended periods of time.
  • For a franchise wide example, when a new team of Rangers come in, this usually means that not only do new powers come in^note As in the team gets new suits and weapons, not just new Zords, but the story will be completely different. Season 2 has the Black, Yellow, and Red Rangers replaced, and by the end of the series, the Pink Ranger has been replaced, yet the team doesn't switch over to the Dairanger suits, and Lord Zedd is still one of the villains in Season 3^note while a variation of this did happen in Power Rangers Megaforce, the new powers were presented in the show as a Super Mode.
  • The early episodes tended to play up Kimberly's Valley Girl tendencies a lot more, to the point where she was practically The Ditz. This stopped at around the time that Tommy entered the series.
  • The first season characterised Bulk and Skull as a pair of idiotic school bullies, somewhat like the young Biff Tannen from Back to the Future. While this is the characterisation that most viewers likely remember, it actually only accounts for a sixth of their overall time on the show (or an eighth, if you count the seasons where Bulk appeared without Skull); starting with the middle of the second season they were portrayed as being bumbling and occasionally selfish (and still acted as a thorn in the Rangers' side through their attempts to discover their identities) but were shown to be good-natured deep down. Their status as friendly goofs was solidified in the third season when the two joined the Junior Police Patrol
  • A couple of early episodes had Bulk and Skull leading a punk gang (including a girl named in a script as 'Sharkie'), however, the gang quickly vanished with Bulk and Skull becoming a duo.
  • Early episodes with Tommy as the Green Ranger often show him doing something like practicing martial arts before getting a call from Zordon to join the rest of the Rangers in battle. Later seasons tend to cut to the chase and instead go straight to the Sixth Ranger arriving to the scene.
  • The earliest episodes of MMPR featured more slapstick and goofy plotlines, which would slowly be discarded as the series went on, eventually being phased-out with the second half of Power Rangers Turbo, and nearly completely discarded with Power Rangers in Space, instead being replaced with more-complex stories and character arcs.
  • The original Megazord's transformation is accompanied by a voice-over "Megazord sequence has been initiated" and "Megazord - Activated". No other zords in the franchise (even in MMPR itself) would do that, with the exceptions of Power Rangers Dino Charge "X Charger - ENGAGE", which in this case is used by zords and gadgets and Power Rangers Mystic Force which would sometime include a voice saying magical gobbledygook over the megazord combination sequence.
  • In early episodes Jason uses various calls to summon the zords. The classic "We need Dinozord power!" only begins in episode 7.
  • Early episode also seems to not yet have settled on the names of some things. The Megazord's power sword is called Mega Sword in a handful of episodes. The zords themselves are sometimes called "Megazords" when that's supposed to be the name of their transformation.
  • Again, in a franchise early installment, the term "Megazord" originally specifically refers to the combination with the 5 core zords. The other combinations have all different names: Mega Dragonzord, Dragonzord Battlemode (or Fighting Mode), Ultrazord. Even when the Megazord is remade into the Thunder Megazord, the term remains tied to that one specific robot - the Tigerzord's combined mode is the Mega Tigerzord. It's only come season 3 that "Megazord" ceases being a term for one specific combiner in the Rangers' arsenal and instead becomes the term for any robot made of smaller zords and from there on almost all such robots all have "Megazord" in their name.
  • Related to the above, in early season 2, the Thunder Megazord is sometimes called the "Mega Thunderzord" as "Megazord" hasn't yet become the catch-all term for the combined robots.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Serpentera, a colossus of a Zord (which is saying something) built by Lord Zedd and his subordinates which on its maiden voyage blew up an abandoned planet in an attempt to stop the Rangers from retrieving the Sword of Light. Unfortunately for Zedd, and fortunately for the universe at large, Serpentera was never able to build up anywhere near that kind of power again.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Though their marriage was initially due to a love spell from Rita, by the time Season 3 rolls around, the two have genuinely grown to care for one another, even after Goldar reverses the spell. Zedd even tries to shield Rita from the rapidly approaching genocide in the finale of Power Rangers in Space.
  • Despite their constant bickering and putting down of one another, Rita, Rito, and Master Vile are all one big happy dysfunctional alien family.
• Evil Is Bigger: Lord Zedd's Zord Serpentera is gigantic (Tor the Shuttlezord is big enough to fit a Megazord inside itself and Serpentera can crush Tor underfoot).
  • Master Vile is so tall even at human size that he dwarfs other villains like Zedd and Goldar.
• Evil Is Hammy: Oh, yeah. Rita and Zedd are some of the hammier Power Rangers villains (Rita especially), but that's part of the fun.
  • Good characters who became evil temporarily were noticeably hammier than when they were good. Kimberly took this to a whole new level when she pretended to be evil. Though she was probably just trying to mimic Rita. She also becomes this when momentarily turning evil in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
• Evil Is Petty: Aside from the evil plots to take over the world, the villains would sometimes devise plans to mess with the Rangers just to be jerks. Like the time they tried to wear Kimberly out just so she would be too exhausted for the gymnastics team tryouts (and Ranger duties).
• Evil Laugh: Tommy had a pretty good one as a villain.
  • Rita, Zedd and Goldar each had their own as well, diving headfirst into the deep end of the Evil Is Hammy pool.
  • Alpha, of all people, gets one in "The Wedding."
• Evil Weapon: The Sword of Darkness in "Green With Evil."
• Expospeak Gag: Billy. Toned down starting with the second season, since Trini was the only one who could translate it to Layman's Terms, but she left for the Peace Conference, so...
• Expy: The Dino Megazord was based on Golion/Voltron (mecha designer admitted his inspiration), while the Dragonzord was based on the King of Monsters himself, Godzilla.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: Eye Guy (all over his body) and See Monster (inside his trench coat).
• Face Palm: Rita would complain about having headaches. Zedd would groan in disgust.
• Fake Shemp: Jason, Zack and Trini prior to their formal departure. It went on for eight episodes (starting with "Zedd's Monster Mash" and all the way to the second part of "The Power Transfer") before their characters were finally written out, using a combination of reused lines, Stock Footage, voiceovers while in costume, and an impressive amount of tricky editing. It actually went on for 18 episodes going back to "Welcome to Venus Island" if you wanna count their fight scenes being dubbed over before footage ran out. This was due to the three of them having walked out of ADR sessions that were being recorded after they had filmed all of their footage a total of 10 episodes "Zedds Monster Mash" was the first to be filmed after they departed. This is especially noticeable during a stock footage scene with Trini immediately cutting to a shot with her body double from behind sounding nothing like Trang who has just spoken in the previous shot a second earlier.
  • For some reason one instance of Jason's stock footage role call replaces Austin St John's voice with that of his shemp despite not being necessary as the rest of them are pure stock footage including Austin's voice.
  • Then there was that very unconvincing "No way!" from Tommy in "Green With Evil Part V" with a voice that was quite clearly not Jason David Frank's.
• Fakin' MacGuffin: The Power Rangers deceive Lord Zedd and Goldar into getting the fake Lightning Diamond while keeping the real diamond nice and safe so that the Bookala can return to his home planet in "The Great Bookala Escape."
• Falling into the Cockpit: In the series premiere, Trini and Billy comment on how piloting their Zords is second-nature to them.
• Fat and Skinny: Bulk & Skull and Squatt & Baboo.
• Feathered Fiend: Chunky Chicken, the Two-Headed Parrot, the Peckster, Turkeyjerk, and the Tenga Warriors.
• Flaming Sword: The Shogun Megazord's finishing attack.
• Flat Character: While the original five have distinct albeit stereotypical personalities, and even actual development in Billy and Kimberly's case, later additions to the team don't really have a lot going on character-wise outside of martial arts. Even Tommy, who despite having the most going on story-wise, doesn't have much in the way of an actually defined personality aside from occasionally being forgetful.
• Flung Clothing: In Season 3, the Rangers powered down from their ninja forms by ripping them off and flinging them away, revealing their street clothes underneath.
• Flying Car: The Radbug, Billy's souped-up Beetle. It disappears after most of the first season.
• Food Fight: Bulk and Skull turn a food festival into an epic one in an episode called "Food Fight."
  • Bulk and Skull also start a food fight at the end of "Return Of A Old Friend Part 2".
• Foreshadowing: When Rocky, Adam, and Aisha first show up their clothing has highlights of red, black, and yellow, respectively.
  • Subverted with Kat, in a surprising touch of subtlety you wouldn't expect from this show, most of Kat's pre-Ranger clothes were an almost-white pastel shade of pink◊.
• For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Alpha and the Frankenstein monster in "Life's a Masquerade," as well as Bulk and Skull in the same episode, who dressed up as "punks" not realizing that's how they dress normally.
• For the Evulz: Rita Repulsa is hell bent on destroying the Power Rangers and taking over the world, though it's never explained why.
• Fountain of Youth: Applied to the whole of Earth during Alien Rangers.
• Frankenstein's Monster: Rita creates her own version of the Frankenstein Monster in Season 1's "Life's A Masquerade." As one might imagine, he is incredibly powerful and beats the tar out of the Rangers.
  • He also clobbers the Megazord, Dragonzord, and Dragonzord Battle Mode. Even though in MMPR he's defeated by the Power Staff, in Zyuranger it only causes him to change form to what we know as Mutaytus.
  • And, funnily enough, the Rangers wonder if it's Tommy in costume when in fact it is played by Jason David Frank in the U.S. footage.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Kimberly and Billy as well as Bulk and Skull in episode 16 "Switching Places."
• Fuel Meter of Power: The Green Ranger in late Season 1/early Season 2. Oddly enough, he's seen fighting MORE when his power was limited than before he had his power taken away from him.
• Funny Bruce Lee Noises: When the epic showdown between Lord Zedd and the White Ranger finally takes place, Zedd asks Tommy "Are those hi-yahs really necessary?" He proceeds to do some of his own.
• Gender Bender: Kimberly and Billy have their bodies swapped in episode 16 "Switching Places."
• The Generic Guy: Rocky, to a lesser extent Adam and, in an ironic sort of way, Tommy.
• Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: At least twice (in "Big Sisters" and "Green With Evil Part IV"), the latter including a bus between the falling and the hand.
• Giant Spider: Spidertron and Arachnofiend.
• Give Geeks a Chance: Billy got an incredible amount of romantic subplots.
• Glamour Failure: Monster of the Week Primator could assume the form of any of the Rangers. The one weakness in this power is that seeing his reflection renders Primitor unable to maintain the altered shape. It should be noted that it doesn't always force him back into his original form, as in one instance it caused the helmet of his altered form to change color.
• Glass Cannon: As the Ninja Rangers, the team had access to tons of magical ninjitsu abilities, but the mode was never used to fight actual monsters, which implied that while the Ninja Ranger powers were useful, the robes themselves wouldn't be able to handle a hit from a sword blade or an energy blast as well as the proper Ranger suits could. The biggest threat the Rangers would use their Ninja powers against were Goldar and Rito, and that was likely due to how familiar they were with the two villains.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Tommy and Katherine's eyes would occasionally glow while under their respective evil spells. Zedd's visor would glow whenever he'd get really pissed off.
• Go for the Eye: Eye Guy.
• Golem: The Putty Patrollers (which were originally called "Golem Warriors" in Zyuranger). Almost all the Season 1 monsters and most from Season 3 were clay figures run through Finster's Monster-Matic, as well.
• Good-Looking Privates: In "Ninja Quest," Bulk and Skull decide to become cops after overhearing a girl telling her friend she loves men in uniforms.
• Gotta Catch Them All: The team had to go collect the pieces of the Zeo Crystal... which they broke and scattered. They understandably didn't want the bad guys to get their hands on it, failing to realize they'd be needing the thing later on.
• Great Offscreen War: The battle between Zordon and Rita 10,000 years ago. All that is known is it ended with Zordon being trapped in a time warp, and Rita and her henchmen sealed in a space dumpster.
• Green Thumb: The Spit Flower and Octoplant.
• Halloween Episode: Three: "Life's A Masquerade," "Trick or Treat," and "Zedd's Monster Mash." Though the first two technically don't take place on Halloween, they still capture the spirit of the holiday since they're about costumes and creepiness and their respective monsters are iconic horror characters and a jack o'lantern. There's also the video release Lord Zedd's Monster Heads, in which Zedd throws his own Halloween party while reminiscing about his old monsters.
• Hammerspace: The five main Rangers often pull their Power Weapons out of thin air whenever they're needed.
  • In "A Bad Reflection on You," Bulk has a small lunchbox in which his mom somehow crammed a bunch of food into it (including a mustard bottle, ketchup bottle, ham, footlong, pineapple, cream pie, etc.). The Rangers are perplexed.
• Hands Go Down: In "When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?", after Adam's report on prisms.
  Mrs. Appleby: "Questions, anyone?"
  * Skull raises his hand*
  Mrs. Appleby: "Intelligent questions?"
  * Skull puts his hand back down*
• Hand Wave: As part of her plot to charm Zedd, Rita gets a beauty treatment (including a Cucumber Facial) to justify the switch from Zyuranger Stock Footage to a real-live actress.
• Hate Plague: A recurring plot used by the villains. Happens in "Of Fins and Needles" and "Best Man for the Job," which pits two of the Rangers against each other and to a greater extent "Stop the Hate Master," where the eponymous monster manages to pit the entire team, sans Aisha, against each other.
• Heel–Face Turn: Tommy, who started out as Rita's evil Green Ranger, but later switched his allegiance to the Power Rangers.
• He's Back!: Happens to Tommy. Twice. The first time happens in "Return of an Old Friend," in which Zordon temporarily recharges his Green Ranger powers. The second time is during "White Light" where he gains the stronger White Ranger powers after having permanently lost his Green Ranger powers.
• Heroic BSoD: After losing the Megazord in "Green With Evil Part IV," the Rangers go through this. Only Jason wants to keep fighting.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jason and Tommy, but even more so Bulk and Skull
• Hilarious Outtakes: In the third season (mixed in with extended and deleted scenes), and a tradition that would be carried on over to Zeo, Turbo, and In Space.
• Hollywood Darkness: The cave leading to Ninjor's temple in "Ninja Quest."
• Hong Kong Dub: Rita and Scorpina.
• Hopeless Suitor: Skull occasionally hit on Kimberly, to no success.
• Hospitality for Heroes: The Rangers are almost never charged by Ernie for their juices and smoothies. Word of God states that it's because he figured out they were the Power Rangers.
• Humiliation Conga: Master Vile puts Bulk and Skull in a literal humiliation conga line in "Master Vile and the Metallic Armor Part III" during his End of the World Party.
• Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball: Socadillo can roll himself up into one of these, doing a real number on the Rangers and the Zords whenever he hits them. Due to his shell, he's Nigh-Invulnerable while in this form.
• I Can't Dance: Billy.
• I Have to Wash My Hair: In "Calamity Kimberly," Kimberly breaks a mirror and, as part of the bad luck she believes that comes as a result of that, gets her hair wet from rain while going to school. Upon seeing her hair, Skull comments that she wasn't lying when she said she needed to wash it.
• I Knew There Was Something About You: In "Goldar's Vice-Versa", this is Aisha's reaction when Adam's date turns out to be Scorpina.
  Aisha: "I knew there was something I didn't like about you! I mean, besides your hair and your clothes."
  Scorpina: *scoffs* "I'm crushed."
• I Know Kung-Faux: Zack's Hip-Hop-Kido. To be fair, there do seem to be actual martial arts involved.
• I Know Madden Kombat: Kimberly, who used gymnastics in her fighting style.
• Impact Silhouette: In "Storybook Rangers, part 2", Zedd and Rita create the Turkey Jerk monster in Skull's garage. Bulk and Skull run away breaking through the metal wall like this, and then the monster follows them, crating a third hole.
• Implacable Man: Happened quite often with Megazords, especially in their debut fights.
  • The Mega Dragonzord against Mutaytus
  • The Mega Tigerzord against Nimrod, AC, and DC.
  • The Ninja Megazord against Rito Revolto.
  • Not a debut fight, but the Shogun Megazord against Garbage Mouth.
• Inconsistent Dub: The first season was pretty bad with this:
  • The Power Sword was either the Red Ranger's main weapon, the Dino Megazord's weapon (which was also occasionally called the Mega Sword or Mega Power Sword), or the evil Green Ranger's Sword of Darkness.
  • The Dragonzord Battle Mode was sometimes referred to as the Dragonzord Fighting Mode or the MegaDragonzord (which was also the name of the rarely used Dino Megazord/Dragonzord combination).
  • The Power Weapons had different names in the episode "Different Drum" - Mighty Mace, Dino Daggers, Battle Bow and Cosmic Cannon (though the Power Sword retained its usual name).
  • The Green Ranger's Dragon Dagger was called the Dragon Flute a few times.
  • The individual Dino Zords were referred to as "the Mega Zords" on occasion.
  • Due to using old ADR to make up for the absent Austin St. John, Jason calls out "We need Dino Zord power!" when summoning the Thunder Zords in one episode.
  • The Rangers' Megazord in the second season was either the Thunder Megazord or the Mega Thunderzord. Similarly, its weapon was either the Thunder Saber or the Thunder Sword. This lasted until about a third into the season, at which point they decided on Thunder Megazord and Thunder Saber (though the Saber did get called the Power Sword in "Best Man For The Job," which one can only imagine was an accident by that point).
• Informed Ability: Sometimes, when either the villains describe their newest monster or Zordon tells the Rangers about it, they describe it having abilities it never uses on-screen.
  • Happened with Bones - The franchise's very first Monster of the Week. Zordon tells the Rangers that Bones has the ability to leap incredible distances, fire energy bolts from his eyes, and even turn invisible. Bones displays exactly none of these abilities. Amusingly, Zordon said nothing of Bones' reassembling ability, nor his destroy-the-head weakness, which the Rangers had to figure out on their own.
  • The Jaws of Destruction monster was described to be Lord Zedd's strongest monster by Zordon. During its battle against the Power Rangers, this monster doesn't really do anything, leaving the actual fighting to the Putties. After growing to giant size, the Jaws of Destruction was very easily destroyed by the Thunder Megazord.
  • Lord Zedd declares that Cannontop's cannon (presumably referring to the large one sticking out of his head) has the power to send the Rangers to the Lost Dimension, where they'll be trapped forever. Either Zedd was mistaken and Cannontop does not possess this ability, or it's a conscious decision that Cannontop needs to make when firing (that he never makes for some reason) because Cannontop blasts the Rangers with his cannon several times and never sends them anywhere.
  • After the villains spent two whole episodes building up Vampirus to be this unbelievably powerful creature capable of annihilating the Power Rangers with little to no trouble, Vampirus turned out to be a complete joke, finding himself on the wrong end of a Curb-Stomp Battle by Ninjor and the newly acquired Ninja Megazord.
    • Justified, in that Vampirus would have been able to beat the Rangers had they not just received a new ally in Ninjor, new powers, and new Zords.
  • Hydro Hog was built up as the arch-nemesis of the Aquitian Rangers, akin to how Rita and Zedd are this to the Earth Rangers. While he was indeed a moderate threat to the Earth and the Aquitian Rangers due to his ability to evaporate the planet's water supplies, he more or less went down as a slightly stronger Monster of the Week.
• Instant Flight: Just Add Spinning!: The Thunder Ultrazord, which spins its lance above its head to fly
• Irony: The third season did not acknowledge that the monsters from Kakuranger were based on Yōkai...but guess what the Rangers-exclusive Tenga Warriors were based on?
• Jaded Washout: Subverted with post-marriage Zedd. While his character was much less menacing compared to his early appearances, he was much more effective in terms of results in his battle against the Rangers.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bulk and Skull. Their Heart of Gold tendencies surface more from the third season onwards, where they join the Angel Grove Junior Police and act as well-intentioned goofs rather than the bullies they previously were.
• Just Take the Poster: Bulk and Skull found an ad offering a reward to whoever returns a lost dog. They ripped it from the wall so nobody else would know about it.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Ninjor's finisher. A few monsters have seemingly surrendered after getting hit by it (before getting killed by the Megazord anyway), but with a few monsters, it was little more than a distraction (albeit a useful one).
  • Also, the Green Ranger, when he was evil.
  • The Stag Beetle monster, when he possessed the Green Ranger's powers.
• Kick Chick: Averted. The guys use plenty of kicks (particularly Tommy, for whom chained roundhouse kicks are essentially his signature move) and the girls have no trouble throwing punches.
• Kick the Dog: In "The Spit Flower," Rita sends a squad of Putties to trash Kimberly's design of a flower float for the big Angel Grove parade, and she starts crying.
  • The Dog Bites Back: Kimberly's Power Bow prevented the Spit Flower from further boosting its power by hitting its spit sac so that it couldn't make anymore biting bloomers (but the monster was far from helpless at this point, which is why they assembled the Power Blaster, it took three blasts from it to bring the monster down).
• Killed Off for Real: Averted. Not even the Monsters of the Week get hit with this trope, as they can be easily resurrected by the villains.
• Kirk's Rock: The Command Center/Power Chamber (aka. American Jewish University's "The House of the Book") sat on this rock.
• Kneel Before Zod: Goldar to Jason in "Green With Evil Part III."
  • Goldar (again) to Tommy in "Green No More Part II."
• Lab Pet: In one episode, Billy has a little white lab rat named Jack that he calls his "lab assistant."
• Lampshade Hanging: A couple of times in Season 3, such as Zedd asking Tommy if all the "hiyah"s were really necessary, or a Tenga Breaking the Fourth Wall and commenting that he's never seen THIS plot before. Alpha lampshades the Rangers' habit of scuba-diving at the wrong time in one episode. Rito, Bulk and Skull also frequently hung lampshades throughout the third season.
  • When Tommy brandishes Saba in his fight with Lord Zedd, which the viewer can easily tell is a prop, Zedd taunts him by saying "Come, Tommy. You can't be serious with that toy sword!"
  • In a couple of episodes, when one or two Rangers needed help from the others, they used the excuse that they were scuba-diving and thus could not hear their communicators' summoning them (yes, this very specific excuse was used more than once, in "Something Fishy", and "A Reel Fish Story"). In the Season 3 episode "Follow That Cab!" this was lampshaded when Kimberly was trapped inside a taxi cab monster. When Zordon tells Alpha to contact the other Rangers, Alpha quips "I hope they're not off scuba-diving!"
  • Also in the third season, Finster comes running up to Zedd and Rita, declaring he's done something wonderful, to which Zedd responds "What is it this time, Finster? A monster that blows itself up?"
  • Again in the third season, in the episode "Passing The Lantern", Bulk and Skull are patrolling through the park when they come across Rito, Squatt, and Baboo, seconds before they teleport away in their usual multicolored flashes. The two begin screaming in their usual fashion, then say the following:
    Bulk: "...Uh, why are we screaming?"
    Skull: "Because Evil Space Aliens are using their magical powers right in front of us."
    Bulk: "Oh."
    They continue screaming.
  • Lt. Stone finds it oddly convenient how often Bulk and Skull apparently run into monsters so often in "Changing Of The Zords Part 2".
    Lt. Stone: "How come you two, outside of the Power Rangers, are the only ones who seem to run into a new monster every week?!"
  • Back in the first season, in the episode "Grumble Bee," the Rangers (in the Megazord) summon the Power Sword to aid them in battle. Grumble Bee quips, "I bet that thing isn't even real!"
• Laser Blade: The Power Sword and the Dragon Dagger occasionally went into lightsaber mode to deliver a rather powerful blow to a monster, most notably when Jason used both to destroy Cardiatron.
• Leitmotif: Aside from Bulk and Skull, Rita's fortress usually starting with a small Recurring Riff and then a whistle motif.
• Lens Flare: The Command Center was sometimes more lens flare than set.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: A couple of episodes are centered around the monsters picking off the Rangers (or one of Billy's girlfriends) one by one until Billy was the last one left to save them. The perception of nerdy, bespectacled, overalls-wearing Billy being the weakest is aided by some of their taunts and/or Billy having to give himself a little courageous pep talk before saving the day. Because at the end of the day, he's still a freaking Power Ranger and all.
• Living Statue: Kind of. Lord Zedd turns the park's "Sentinel Statue" into a monster known as Nimrod, the Scarlet Sentinel.
• Living Structure Monster: In one episode, Rita accidentally brings a brick wall to life. Brick Bully is literally a brick wall with an upsidedown face, limbs, and various graffiti all over him. He can turn others into bricks and when he eats more bricks, he assumes a slightly more humanoid and mobile form.
• Logical Weakness: Tor the Shuttlezord, being a giant turtle, can be easily disabled simply by being knocked on its back, as shown in its first appearance.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Subverted/Inverted with Tommy, Trini, and Kimberly. Tommy, often considered The Ace, had long hair. Trini, the Cute Bruiser martial artist, had very long hair, and although feminine, was definitely not a Girly Girl. Meanwhile, Kimberly, who's not only The Heart, but the template for Power Rangers chicks, had short hair.
• Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: There were a lot, but take for example Billy's girlfriends. One episode was literally about an uncle when Dark Warrior threatened Trini's uncle.
• Love Potion: Used on Zedd by Rita. It later got undone, but it turns out he loved her anyways.
  • Zedd also tried one on Kimberly in "Beauty and the Beast." It didn't work, but she faked it and abused his minions.
  • Monster of the Week Miss Chief randomly zapped numerous people with a love spell and watched the chaos that unfolded.
• Lying Finger Cross: Bulk does it after the Rangers ask him to stop Crying Wolf in exchange for helping him get his bug helmet off in "T He Song of Guitardo".
• Magic Music:
  • The Green Ranger's Dragon Dagger (occasionally called the Dragon Flute). Its tunes could summon the Dragonzord and also seemed to be an activation for the golden "Dragonshield."
  • Several Monsters of the Week used music to invoke magical effects. Gnarly Gnome could make people dance uncontrollably, Guitardo manipulates gravity with his guitar, and Dischordia's singing makes people obey her every command.
• Magic Wand: Rita, Zedd, and Vile all use magic wands. Wands/staffs became a go-to accessory or weapon for many PR villains and monsters.
• Make Way for the New Villains: Zedd deposing Rita in Season 2.
• The Man Behind the Man: Lord Zedd, Rita's previously unmentioned boss, comes out of nowhere. This ruins pretty much everyone's day.
• Master of Delusion: Bulk and Skull, when trying to find the Rangers' identities.
• Medium Awareness: Beamcaster, who's characterized as a radio DJ, announces that he needs to take a commercial break in "Zedd Waves."
• Meet the New Boss: In the second season, Lord Zedd banished Rita and took over. In the third season, Master Vile was in charge for the duration of his short visit.
  • Happened with the Rangers, too, when Tommy replaced Jason as team leader after becoming the White Ranger (although the line was only dubbed in during post-production after Austin St. John was fired).
• Mind-Control Eyes: Tommy in "Green With Evil."
  • Kat pre-Pink Ranger. Hell, she would often do it in front of the Rangers, who wouldn't notice a thing.
• Mirror Monster: A literal one, Season 2's Mirror Maniac.
• Modesty Shorts: At the end of "Green Candle Part II" Tommy lifts Kimberly up high, whilst the latter is wearing a dress.
• Monster Clown: Pineapple the Clown, the human form of Rita's Pineoctopus monster.
• Monster Threat Expiration: Monsters such as Eye Guy, Snizard, and Pirantis Head would often wreck the entire team and come close to victory on their own. But whenever Zedd and Rita would decide to send down "an army of our best monsters," the monsters would more often than not lack all their special powers and engage the Rangers with mere hand-to-hand combat. Furthermore, whereas these monsters usually required the Zords or the Power Blaster to destroy them in their initial appearance, they could now be destroyed by a mere slash from their individual weapons, or even a strong enough punch or kick.
  • Justified in some cases by the Rangers facing old threats with new abilities, weaponry, and/or Zords.
• Mook Carryover: When Zedd usurped Rita as the new Big Bad, all of Rita's servants were kept on. Even Finster, who wasn't even needed anymore. Plus the Putties received some upgrades to become tougher... In theory, anyway. See Weaksauce Weakness below.
• Motion-Capture Mecha: The White Tigerzord Warrior Mode was capable of mimicking Tommy's physical movements inside the cockpit.
• Motive Decay: Over the course of the three seasons, Zedd and Rita's focus seems to be less on conquering the Earth and more on being Jerkasses to the Rangers. Their plans turn from "This plan will provide us with an unending power source or ultimate weapon that will allow us to take over the Earth" to "This plan will totally ruin Kimberly's chance at joining the Pan Global Games."
• Mr. Fanservice: All the male Rangers, even Billy eventually. They were actually put into this role more often than the females. Between Jason's endless assortment of sleeveless shirts and the later additions of Tommy, Rocky, and Adam (all of whom consistently wore workout clothes), it really does seem like the show was trying to keep strict moms who complain about the violence distracted.
  • Richie, Trini's love interest also deserves a mention.
• Ms. Fanservice: The female Rangers to varying degrees, with a special mention to the originals, Kimberly, with her gymnastics leotards and short shorts, and Trini, who surprisingly had quite the revealing wardrobe with several crop tops, even more so than Kim on occasion.
  • Even the villains had Scorpina.
• Mundane Utility: The Zords are giant robotic dinosaurs, plus a Sabertooth Tiger, a Mastodon, and a Pterodactyl, that can combine into a giant robot. What calls Kimberly's attention when she first boards it?
  Kimberly: "Hey, nice stereo!"
  • The same line gets a Call-Back in the movie when Kimberly first boards the Cranezord.

Mighty Morphin'-Specific Tropes N-Z

• Neck Lift: Goldar to Jason in "Green With Evil Part II" and Jason to Evil!Tommy in another episode.
• Nerds Are Sexy: Billy Cranston: Intelligent, charmingly geeky, built like a friggin' tank. No wonder he got so many girls. Ironically, in real life David Yost is openly gay and a Walking Techbane.
• Never Recycle Your Schemes:
  • Subverted because the one time one of Zedd's schemes was reused (the "turn the Rangers into children" plan, this time by Master Vile) it not only worked but resulted at the end of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and necessitated the creation of the Power Rangers Zeo.
  • Also subverted in the first season: The second team of evil Rangers Rita created (the Mutant Rangers, led by Commander Crayfish) were far more powerful than her first (the evil duplicate Rangers led by Twin Man).
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: It seems like every time the Rangers use their Ninja Ranger powers, they reveal new ways to kick Tenga backside, whether it's super speed, teleportation, or growing to the size of a frickin' building! Though, seeing as how they don't have much impact on the plot (only really used in the battles against the Tengas), it can be forgiven. The Ninja Rangers were never used against actual monsters, so it seems they weren't ''quite'' as powerful as one would initially believe.
• New Transfer Student: Every Ranger past the original five (though we first met Rocky, Adam, and Aisha before they transferred from the school across town).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As the Rangers fight off Rito and four other monsters, Zordon informs them that if they keep on fighting, "the flux of power could ultimately strip you of your Ranger powers." Tommy's response is a cocky "That's a risk we'll just have to take!" The end result: Dino Coins fried, Zords fall apart (literally), and Command Center trashed. Way to go, T.O.!
  • What makes it even worse is that it's not even as if they lost their powers defending the city. Rito's mission was specifically to fight the Rangers and nothing else. A retreat could have potentially ruined Zedd and Rita's plan.
  • In "Once & Always," Billy tries to reconstitute Zordon from particles spread by the Z-Wave and ends up bringing back Rita instead, whose essence hijacks Alpha 8's body.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Rita recruiting an evil Ranger on her side led to said Ranger defecting and joining her enemies. Zordon even comments in "Green With Evil Part V" that the Green Ranger's Heel–Face Turn was prophesied.
  • Don't forget taking the Green Ranger's powers...only to have to deal with the White Ranger.
  • The Shogun Zords were previously lost, but the villains were the ones to find and activate them. And rather than simply use them themselves, Lord Zedd preferred the irony of blackmailing the Rangers into piloting them. Of course, within minutes of entering the Blue Shogunzord, Billy effectively reprograms the Shogun Zords to be under the Rangers' control.
  • The destruction of the Ninja Coins was quite a victory for Zedd and company, but doing so just forced the Rangers to retrieve and restore the Zeo Crystal. This would make the Rangers even more powerful and able to resist the Machine Empire (which Zedd and company were afraid of). Also, as Power Rangers Zeo showed, Billy using the regenerator to restore his age ultimately led to him rapidly ageing. Had the villains not destroyed the Ninja Coins, Billy would've used the regenerator on the whole world, leaving everyone with the same fate.
  • Dischordia had used her powers to take control of the Rangers. She was about to force Tommy to hand over his Ninja Coin, but she swatted him aside briefly to mock him. It was only a matter of seconds, but it gave Tommy and the others enough time to summon the Metallic Armor, which blocked out her spell.
  • When Master Vile arrived, Rito tried to show off the captive Ninjor, only to drop the jar and free him. He wound up getting recaptured fairly quickly anyway, but not before he was able to warn the Rangers of Vile's plan for the Zeo Crystal. And no one put him back in a jar either, so when he was finally able to break free again, he joined the battle and finished off the Blue Globbor.
  • The Machine Empire showed up right when Rita and Zedd were about to take over the world, the time it took the Machine Empire to set up allowed the Rangers to gain their Zeo powers in time.
• The '90s: In the second episode, on receiving a new piece of crime-fighting technology, Kimberly excitedly exclaims "This is so nineties!" Future viewers know how right she is.
  • Although Season 1 had flashes of The '80s (or rather the early '90s), especially with Kimberly.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mainly used for the Monsters of the Week.
  • The Lizzinator was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • Fang and Vampirus were both Peter Lorre.
  • Dischordia was Ethel Merman.
  • Octophantom and Globbor kind of sounded like Bobcat Goldthwait but that may have been unintentional.
  • Ninjor's voice was based on Dudley Do-Right, despite most people thinking it's Marvin the Martian he's spoofing.
• No Fourth Wall: In "Food Fight," Pudgy Pig sniffs at the camera.
• No Indoor Voice:
  • After morphing, all of the Rangers, Jason in particular, start to raise their voice.
  • Rita's default voice is pretty much just a constant, shrill scream.
• No Name Given / All There in the Script: "Mighty Morphin" was apparently actually part of the team's name, as they were referred to as such, but only a few scant times. Jason would later announce the title in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red."
  • Zedd and Rita's crew were known as the "Evil Space Aliens" in almost every aspect of the franchise except for the show itself (though Skull did use the term once in Season 3).
  • The name of Rita's telescope (the RepulsaScope) was never uttered until Season 3, when Zedd gave her a new one.
  • Though Zedd's Putties were referred to as "Z-Putties" by fans for years, the name was never used in any official capacity until Power Rangers Super Legends on the PlayStation 2.
• NOT!: In "Day of the Dumpster," the very first episode, Kimberly decides to be coy with the rest of the team.
  Kimberly: "I don't know, you guys. I mean, the outfits are cool and everything, but my hair gets all tangled up inside the helmet. I don't think I can do it."
  The other Rangers and Alpha are clearly disappointed and upset.
  Kimberly: "...NOT!"
  • In the first part of the two-part episode "The Green Candle," Tommy and Zack mock Bulk and Skull by reciting a poem that ends this way.
    "Roses are red, violets are blue, we can learn a lot from you... not!"
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: While the series had a few Wham Episodes the main premise remained the same for about the first 130 episodes with most of them being stand alone with the Rangers fighting the Monster of the Week with the occasional two or three-episode stories where the Rangers faced a challenge, however by the end the Rangers always succeeded and left with more powers and weapons than they had before, which pretty much reduced the Big Bad to Harmless Villain status. However, that changed around the midway point of Season 3 with the three-parter "Changing of the Zords." While the Rangers did eventually win and get the Shogun Zords, Lord Zedd and Rita still had the Pink Ranger's Power Coin, the Falconzord, and Ninjor trapped in a bottle. Plus, they came as close to killing a Ranger as they ever would. After that, the show became more arc-driven with only occasional stand-alone episodes and the Rangers playing defense for the remaining twenty-five episodes of the series. These arcs would continue on a lesser scale in Zeo and Turbo, before truly taking over the series with In Space.
• Novelization: Twelve in total were released during the series' run, adapting episodes 6 ("Food Fight"), 7 ("Big Sisters"), 12 ("Power Ranger Punks"), 37 ("Clean-Up Club"), 43 ("Something Fishy"), 45 ("Crystal of Nightmares"), 51 ("Grumble Bee"), 57 ("Enter... The Lizzinator"), 61-63 ("The Mutiny", parts 1-3), 64 ("The Wanna-Be Ranger"), 66 ("Bloom of Doom", the only episode to share a title with its book) and 77-78 ("White Light", parts 1 and 2).
• Oculothorax: Eye Guy's core form is one.
• Official Couple: Tommy/Kimberly. Tommy/Kat wouldn't even be hinted at until Zeo.
• Offscreen Villainy: The Hydro Hog is the Alien Ranger's Big Bad back on Aquitar, but due to only appearing on Earth briefly, most of it's offscreen.
• Off-the-Shelf FX:
  • Rita's shrunken banishment at the start of Season 2, as well as the Ninja and Shogun Ultrazords in Season 3, were all done using toys... with predictable results.
  • The transformation of the Dino Zords into the Thunderzords was achieved using heavily modified versions of the toys, with some post-production tweaks to get them to move more like the original Sentai models of both teams.
• Oh, Crap!: Rito in "Ninja Quest Part IV," seconds before the Ninja MegaFalconzord slams its finishing attack fists into him.
  • In "The Mutiny Part I," just about everyone has this reaction to Lord Zedd's arrival.
  • Tommy in "The Green Dream" when he tries to summon Dragonzord to fight Robogoat and nothing happens.
  • A Running Gag was for Rita to pull away from her huge telescope when the Rangers had just summoned the Power Sword or the Ultrazord or something similar with an aversion to her normal Large Ham tendency and just utter an "...uh oh."
  • Rita gave a great look of horror after the Rangers successfully kill off Mutaytus.
  • Monsters of the week would usually respond to the Ultrazord like this right before being destroyed.
• Oh, My Gods!: Averted in "Alpha's Magical Christmas", with some songs that mention "God" and "Christ".
• One-Steve Limit: Meta-subversion. Jason Geiger used the stage name "Austin St. John" to alleviate confusion with his character, Jason Lee Scott, as well as fellow actors Jason Narvy and Jason David Frank.
• One, Two, Three, Four, Go!: Brick Bully has the word "go" spray-painted on his chest and turns four of the Rangers into bricks.
• One-Winged Angel: Scorpina. Unlike Goldar and most other monsters, she doesn't just get bigger when Rita makes her grow, she goes from "attractive Asian woman in armor" to "grotesque humanoid scorpion complete with a giant claw and whip-like tail."
• Only One Name: The Rangers generally did not have their last name spoken on screen, although it did exist in background material. It wasn't until the Peace Summit announcement that we learned of Jason Lee, Zack Taylor and Trini Kwan.
• On the Next: "Find out next time, on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!"
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping:
  • The character of Marissa in "Return of the Green Ranger", meant to be someone from 18th century America, has a rather noticeable Australian accent.
  • Young Kat in the Alien Rangers series is an American girl playing an Australian, and struggling with the accent.
• Orcus on His Throne: Lord Zedd. He would even do this with a Face Palm if his day was going badly enough.
• Ordered Apology: When Goldar finally learns that Rita used a love potion to make Lord Zedd marry her, he orders Finster to make an antidote. By the time Goldar uses the antidote on Zedd and denounces Rita to him, Zedd had already developed real feelings for Rita and doesn't believe Goldar, who is then ordered by Zedd to apologize. Goldar begrudgingly does as ordered and the issue is never brought up again.
• Out-Gambitted: Zedd makes the Ninja Zords useless and forces the Rangers to pilot his own evil Shogun Zords, or else Kimberly dies. Just as it seems like he's won, Tommy rescues Kimberly and Billy rewires the Shogun Zords so that they will only respond to the Power Coins, ripping them from Zedd's command.
  Zedd: "They broke my staff... They stole my Zords... This job used to be fun."
  • Hell, Rita did one in "The Green Candle." The Rangers can either get Tommy's powers back (and let Tommy die) or save Tommy (and he loses his powers). By the way, if Tommy tries to get his powers back himself, they just snuff out quicker. And you can't morph in the Dark Dimension... most of the time. Tommy still out-gambits her, by giving Jason the Dragon Coin. Rita is only able to steal the power from Tommy. Then Tommy gets better but only temporarily, and he runs out of power again facing Zedd. But that's okay because he gets the Tiger Coin, which is better.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Rocky has the notability of being a red ranger but never The Leader in any form, even though he has the MMPR Red Ranger powers. Rather than having any real impact on the story he at best would be Those Two Guys with Adam. This would be further developed in Zeo where he becomes a Blue Ranger and when Jason returns he feels overlooked.
• Palette Swap: The Dark Rangers were simply repainted Putty costumes. They were unimpressive at best.
• Pet the Dog: For Bulk and Skull in "A Ninja Encounter Part I," a baby carriage goes careening out of control and the two make a sincere and honest effort to save the baby inside. Later on they can be seen sitting with the baby and his father during a martial arts competition and even hold him.
  • In "A Potion Notion," Skull is heartbroken after a lovestruck Kimberly finally returns his affections (due to a love spell from Rito). Once the spell is broken, Kimberly feels awful for hurting Skull and asks him to dance with her at the school dance.
• Plant Aliens / Plant Person: Pineoctopus, Spit Flower, Octoplant, Pumpkin Rapper, Bloom of Doom, Invenusable Fly Trap, Terror Blossom, and Needle Nose.
• Politically Correct History: Subverted in "Wild West Rangers," where Kimberly goes back in time, wearing almost nothing (although THIS is lampshaded as men can be seen leering at her), with what would be considered a boy's haircut in the 1880s, and finds people who look exactly like her friends, who include a black woman, an Asian and a Hispanic. Naturally, nothing is ever said about all these people just walking around. The subversion comes from the fact this is more justified than you think, as the Old West had many fleeing slaves and Asian immigrants, and much of it used to be Mexico.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot:
  • Season 3's "A Friend in Need" three-parter, for Masked Rider.
  • Bulk and Skull's straight-to-video special, The Good, the Bad, and the Stupid, was made specifically to test viewer interest for a planned spin-off starring the duo. Due to the video's poor sales, the project was scrapped.
• Power Pincers: Scorpina gets one of these upon growing to giant size. Also, the hands of Spit Flower and Commander Crayfish, and Witchblade's takes up her entire right arm.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The original intention was for one 40 episode season featuring the Rangers defeating Rita at the end and being able to retire. The massive popularity of the show meant that the individual characters became associated as THE Power Rangers, and so they couldn't move on with a different Super Sentai and assume the same success. The first three seasons were a lot of scrambling to accommodate footage from different Super Sentai shows, and after enough Ranger and mecha changes they felt comfortable enough to introduce a Sequel Series in Power Rangers Zeo, and much later adopt the one season-one team format of Super Sentai.
• Precap: "Today on Power Rangers!"
• Previously on…: Obviously used during multi-part storylines. The opening title sequences of the later seasons would also serve to recap important recent events in the series, such as the cast changes and new powers.
  • "Last time, on Power Rangers!"
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Jason David Frank, Steve Cardenas, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Karan Ashley were added to the titles after becoming Rangers.
  • In the Japanese version of the opening, Machiko Soga is added, replacing Bulk and Skull. This was mostly due to Soga actually voicing Rita in the Japanese dub.
• Punny Name: Kat, who Rita used to spy on the Rangers as, well, a cat.
  • Also, having the Pink Ranger be named Kimberly Hart, the Green Ranger be named Tommy Oliver, and the Red Ranger be named (not color-related, but still punny for different reasons) Jason Lee Scott.
• Put on a Bus: Jason, Trini, and Zack were written off halfway through the second season by sending their characters to "Teen Peace Summit," followed by Kimberly during the third season to pursue her gymnastics career. An in-joke among the cast was that if one of them demanded a raise, their character would be "sent to a peace conference."
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • The actors playing Jason, Trini, and Zack all left partway through the second season due to contract disputes, and Amy Jo Johnson left in the third season to focus on expanding her career. As a result, storylines featuring their characters' Passing the Torch to their replacements were written.
  • Also Tommy was likely made the leader because of this as the producers thought that a veteran Ranger should be the leader. As Austin St. John had walked out during post-production of "White Light," dialogue was added to make Tommy the leader.
  • Rita's exile in Season 2 is a result of Machiko Soga being unable to be on-set, with her limited appearances being a mix of Stock Footage and remotely filmed original green-screened footage, the latter earning her name in the credits of The Power Transfer. Carla Perez being cast as Rita^note initially in blurry footage and/or with her in heavy make-up necessitated a scene in The Wedding where she gets a drastic age-reducing facial.
  • Another notable example happened in Season 2. The actors were stuck in Australia because of script and scheduling problems with the movie (which was being filmed in Australia at the time). But the TV episode schedule caught up to them. So the crew filmed several episodes where the Rangers, as students, holiday in Australia, using a historical village just outside of Sydney to portray colonial Angel Grove for a time-travelling adventure.
• Really 700 Years Old: Rita Repulsa. After her magical moon mud facial in Season 2, she's thrilled that she doesn't look a day over 11,000 years old... one can only guess how old she really is.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Zordon. And Principal Caplan, most of the time.
• Red Herring: Richie (Trini's potential love interest) and Curtis (Zack's cousin), two minor characters from Season 2, were both likely candidates to become the White Ranger.
• Refusal of the Call: When Zordon first summons the teenagers to his Command Center and dumps out the whole Rita problem, it proves a bit overwhelming. First Zack walks out, and then everyone else follows, unable to really understand what he's talking about, with only Jason believing they should have accepted the offer. Then Rita sends a squad of Putties to attack them. A brief struggle ensues and the teens realize the gravity of the situation and decide to use the Power Morphers.
• Removed from the Picture: Kat, while under Rita's spell, had a picture of Tommy with Kimberly cut out.
• Replacement Goldfish: Adam got one in "Return of the Green Ranger." And Kat wound up becoming one for Tommy - not right away, but still.
• Replacement Mooks: Putty Patrollers to Z-Putties to Tenga Warriors.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Most notably the Pumpkin Rapper, a jack o' lantern monster who attempted to "distract the Rangers with his clever raps and rhymes."
  Pumpkin Rapper: "Ooh, you Rangers make me mad! Wakin' me up with a rap that bad!"
  • And in a later episode, where old monsters have been resurrected for Halloween:
  Tommy: "I thought we turned you into squash, Pumpkin Rapper."
  Pumpkin Rapper: "Maybe ya did, but it's time to get sad! 'Cause of Lord Zedd's power, we're back and we're bad!"
  • We get a Lampshade Hanging in Season 3's "Stop the Hate Master": When Aisha isn't succumbing to the monster's Hate Plague, the titular Hate Master complains "Would you give in already?! Doing this is no snap! It really isn't easy talking all the time in rap!"
  • The Rangers also had an ally who did this: Quagmire from the "Island of Illusion" two-part episode, although not all his rhymes made complete sense. For example, he referred to Madame Woe (a Monster of the Week who appeared in a previous episode) as a "nightmare queen" who Billy fought in a "realm of dreams," which really didn't describe Madame Woe or the actual battle at all.
• Rock Opera: "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: A Rock Adventure," a Concept Album that takes Ron Wasserman's soundtrack and adds audio clips from the show between and during the songs. The result is a loose retelling of "The Mutiny" with bits from other episodes thrown in.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: The Aquitians are blatantly humans wearing prosthetic makeup.
• Rule of Three: The Rangers have to follow three rules: 1.) Never use their powers for personal gain 2.) Never escalate a battle unless forced to 3.) Never reveal their identities to anyone.
• Running Gag:
  • Rita's "I have a HEADACHE!"
  • Bulk and or Skull getting hit with some sort of substance
  • Rito thinking that Lord Zedd's name is Ed.
  • Bulk's pants getting ripped.
  • Mr. Caplan's toupee getting blown off his head.
• San Dimas Time: "Wild West Rangers."
• Saving Christmas: "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger."
• School Play: At least one, with Kimberly on stage.
  Zack: "Break a leg."
  Tommy: "Don't you dare."
• Scout-Out: In "Opposites Attract," Kimberly is leading a group of young girls called "Angelettes" on a hike when they're attacked by Magnet Brain.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Master Vile.
  • Squatt and Baboo in "Return of an Old Friend Part II," when Tommy reclaims the Dragon Dagger and Dragonzord.
  • Goldar and Scorpina had a habit of doing this during Megazord fights.
    • And Rito. A variation of it was one of his catchphrases:
    "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!"
• Sealed Evil in a Can:
  • The Trope Namer Rita Repulsa from the first season was originally trapped in a "space dumpster" on the moon (or a moon, or something) for 10,000 years until astronauts accidentally released her. Her line from the intro sequence is rather iconic:
    "Ahh! After 10,000 years I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!"
    • Her boss Lord Zedd eventually returns and displeased with her failure puts her back in her dumpster (or a different one) and sends her off into space again. She gets out twice. The first time the Rangers catch her and reseal her, the second time she stays out for good.
  • To a lesser extent, in the episode "Final Face-Off," Rita opens an urn that imprisoned the legendary Face Stealer. The Rangers lock him back in the urn upon his defeat at the end of the episode.
• Second Year Protagonist: Though it took them four seasons to graduate, Word of God as per the official merchandise places not a single Ranger below the age of sixteen during the first season. The only one to graduate ahead of the others was Billy, who was a freakin' genius, and given what ideal role models they were all supposed to be, it's doubtful any much less all of them were in remedial classes.
• Secret-Keeper: Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, before becoming Rangers themselves.
• Self-Deprecation: When Lord Zedd first arrives, Zordon says he has no idea what the villain may have in store. Zack quips "I got a feeling it ain't Pudgy Pig."
• Series Fauxnale: The two-part episode "Doomsday" was intended to be the series' finale since Saban exhausted almost all of the original Zyuranger footage. But when Power Rangers proved to be a surprise sensation, they revised the episode at the last minute, editing out the ending from Zyuranger where Rita Repulsa and her henchmen are sent back to the dumpster. The fact that it was meant to be the series finale becomes very obvious at the end when Zordon gives the Rangers the option to retire as well as the Rangers acting like Rita had been defeated for good, even though in the final version of the episode she clearly escapes back to the moon to fight another day.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Billy. Trini had to translate his Techno Babble and Spock Speak.
  "Prodigious!"
  • To say nothing of "It's time for molecular transmutation!"
  • In the first season, the only time he seems able to say "yes" instead of "affirmative" is when he drinks a potion that turns him punk.
• Sesquipedalian Smith: Kimberly Ann Hart. Helps seal the idea that she's the "hot popular girl," especially after becoming class president Kimberly Hart in one episode.
• Share Phrase: Initially, Jason was usually the one to say "It's Morphin' Time," but all of the other Rangers have said it when it's more convenient for them too. Even Bulk said it in a dream in "Crystal of Nightmares".
• Shirtless Scene: Jason sleeps shirtless, a fact revealed in "Crystal of Nightmares".
• Shoe Phone: In "Stop the Hate Master Part II," Skull Has An Actual Shoe Phone. Make of this what you will.
• Sizeshifter: Ninjor.
• Smash Cut: "Second Chance" has one from Soccerdilla ricocheting off of the rangers to Tommy emerging from stairs into a school hallway being contacted by Alpha 5.
  • Goldar also shows the ability in one episode, in order to have a giant-sized face-off with the previously mentioned ninja master.
• Smooch of Victory: Zedd comedically gives Goldar one of these when Master Vile finally leaves.
  Goldar: "For the love of Mike...!"
• Somethingitis: In the episode "I, Eye Guy," Bulk and Skull start causing havoc at the science fair, with Skull complaining that he might contract nerditis from the people participating.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: As the show begins, Rita Repulsa is an intergalactic witch who is essentially Zordon's evil equivalent, making her sound like a fairly big deal. Then Season 2 introduces Lord Zedd, the Emperor of Evil who was far worse than Rita. Near the end of Season 3, we meet Rita's dad Master Vile, who is described as infinitely wiser in the ways of evil than Zedd ever was. Later, in the premiere of Power Rangers Zeo, Master Vile admits that King Mondo and Queen Machina are the only ones in the galaxy "more evil" than himself.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Burai, Tommy's counterpart in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, died by the end of that series, but in MMPR Tommy merely lost his powers instead (well, temporarily).
  • In Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Rito's counterpart was in fact killed by the Ninja Zords. In MMPR, things were changed so that he survived the battle. He gets the ChuckCunningham treatment after Power Rangers Zeo so it's possible he's still out there, as he's not shown getting vaporized in Power Rangers in Space.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Zack or Zach? Various sources have used either one, but officially it's Zack.
  • The name of the show is not Mighty Morphing Power Rangers; it's a slang spelling. Officially, there's not even an apostrophe after the word in question.
    • Some licensed materials display it as "Morph'n," as apparently "Morphin" is a term for the drug Morphine.
  • A decent amount of merchandise spelled Season 2's main villain's name as "Lord Zed," but as the man himself tells Rito in Season 3: "Z-E-D-D! MY NAME IS LORD ZEDD!"
• Spiking the Camera: The Rangers do this almost every time they morph.
• Spot the Impostor: Done a few times, but most notably in Season 2's "The Wanna-Be Ranger."
  • Also in Season 2's "Blue Ranger Gone Bad."
• Squashed Flat: Finster gets accidentally trampled by a squadron of eager monsters in "Alien Rangers of Aquitar."
• Standardized Leader: Jason's righteous, courageous and responsible, a straight-up boy scout. Tommy's "darker and edgier" presence also makes him seem cleaner cut by comparison.
• Stock Evil Overlord Tactics: Emphasis on Stock, Rita may have had zany schemes, but they always boiled down to "Make My Monster Grow!"
• Strictly Formula: Most notably in the first season, where more often than not, it took a multi-part episode to indicate that there would be any appreciable plot beyond fighting the Monster of the Week. Around halfway through the third season, namely beginning in the three-part "Changing of the Zords" episodes, the dynamic of the series changes to be much more serialized, first trying to retrieve Kimberly's Power Coin, the Falconzord, and Ninjor, and then shortly after recovering them, retrieving the Zeo Crystal to undo a time-reversal and restore the Ranger Powers. During the Master Vile arc, there was only one standalone episode (and it was against a monster that required their strongest Zord formation).
• Suicidal Overconfidence: Monsters would often charge at the Megazord while it was powering up its finisher and even dismiss the finisher as ineffective before meeting their demise.
  • In their defense, some of the monsters might be trying to reach the Megazord to stop it from using its finisher. It's still not the most brilliant strategy, but at least it makes more sense than running face-first into death.
• Super Powered Mooks: The Super Putty Patrollers in the episode "Gung Ho" live up to their name. They're nigh-invincible, and if one is destroyed, it'll regenerate into two more. The only way the Rangers are able to defeat them is with the Thunder Slingers.
• Surveillance as the Plot Demands: The good guys have the Viewing Globe, the villains have Rita's telescope and Zedd's visor. The last two can not only zero in on Angel Grove from the moon, but give their owners perfect camera angles.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In "Happy Birthday Zack," when Zack comes to the Youth Center looking for the other Rangers, Ernie says he hasn't seen anyone, then adds "It's just been me and my stack of papers, a bowl of popcorn, a couple of chairs..." before he is cut off by Zack who doesn't spot the denial.
• Take Over the World: Rita and Zedd's ultimate goal, naturally.
• Take Up My Sword: A non-fatal version of this trope occurred to the original Green Ranger (Tommy Oliver). When the Green Candle burned out, all but fully draining his Dragonzord Power Coin, Tommy gave his Power Coin to the original Red Ranger (Jason Lee Scott) to stop Rita Repulsa from absorbing the Power Coin as well as the last remnants of its power, which would have resulted in the creation of another evil and possibly even stronger and unstoppable Evil Green Ranger and Evil Dragonzord via the powers that the Green Candle had already stolen.
• Team Rocket Wins: The villains would occasionally get their act together and really stick it to the Rangers.
  • "Green With Evil": Rita creates her own evil, Green Ranger, which results in the Command Center getting trashed, loss of communication with Zordon and the temporary destruction of the Megazord.
  • "The Green Candle": Rita uses the Green Candle to steal the Green Ranger's powers but Tommy gives his Dragon Power Coin to Jason which just results in a temporary loss of his powers.
  • "Doomsday": Rita creates her own Zord, Cyclopsis, that completely overwhelms the Dino Zords and, at one point, hacks off the Megazord's arm and Dragonzord's tail.
  • "Green No More": Zedd uses a magic crystal to destroy the Green Ranger's powers forever.
  • "Ninja Quest": Zedd and Rita send Rito and a group of monsters that ambush the Rangers, destroying their Dino Power Coins and the Thunder Zords.
  • "Changing of the Zords": Zedd and Rita kidnap Ninjor and steal both Kimberly's Ninja Power Coin (almost killing her) and the Falconzord (rendering the other Ninja Zords useless for a good chunk of the season).
  • "Rangers In Reverse": Master Vile summons the Orb of Doom which renders the Rangers powerless and turns them into helpless children. It's worth noting that the effects from this one stuck, as it was this plan that put an end to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
    • Zedd tried it before in "Rangers Back in Time" (lampshaded by Goldar saying "Been there, done that") with the Rock of Time. The key difference being that the Orb of Doom activated itself by its own self-destruction, so while the Rangers could obliterate the Rock of Time with the Power Cannon, they had no defenses against something that operated by its own self-destruction. The Orb of Doom also didn't regress the memories of the Rangers, as they remembered who they were, but just couldn't morph.
  • "Climb Every Fountain": Zedd and Rita personally destroy the Ninja Power Coins.
  • "Hogday Afternoon": Goldar and Rito destroy the Command Center.
• Teen Genius: With a high school education, Billy can do some amazing techy things, from inventing teleporters to robot repair.
• TV Genius: Billy. He becomes a more realistic example of this. Trini also qualifies.
• Teen Idol: Amy Jo Johnson. Well, pretty much all the Rangers were at the time.
• Terrible Trio: There were a few episodes in Season 3 in which, Rito, Squatt, and Baboo would head out on missions together, usually to retrieve something for Zedd and Rita. Not only did the three actually work well together and succeed in each of their missions, but they were also a great comedic team as well.
• Theme Music Power-Up: With rare exception, once "Go Go Power Rangers" starts playing, the monster the Rangers are fighting is absolutely screwed.
• There Are No Rules: Said by Bulk, when Jason and Tommy are at each other's throats and decide to settle it in the ring.
• This Billboard Needs Some Salt: The Dragonzord likes chomping on smokestacks that resemble candy-canes.
• This Is a Drill: Dragonzord's tail and the Dragonzord Fighting Mode's staff.
  • Also, the weapon of the Genie monster.
• Those Two Guys: Bulk and Skull.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Bulk and Skull in "When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?"
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: The Dragon Dagger in "The Song of Guitardo" and "Football Season."
  • Jason also tossed his Power Sword a couple of times: In "Green With Evil Part V" it's how he knocked the Sword of Darkness out of Tommy's hand so he could destroy it and break Rita's evil spell. In "Two for One," he threw it at the human-like Lipsyncher monster, leaving a bloody scar on her face.
  • Daggers (close enough) were used in Season 2's "Bloom of Doom," as Trini tossing her daggers at a 90-degree angle saved Kimberly from being permanently trapped in an alternate dimension.
  • Tommy does this in Season 3 with Saba when trying to free Kimberly from Lord Zedd's life-draining machine, destroying Zedd's Z-Staff in the process.
• Tiered by Name: Rita Repulsa's Putty Patrollers are replaced with Lord Zedd's Z-Putties, which have a Z on their chests and are practically indestructible - unless you hit them directly in the "Z" in which case they explode into harmless bits.
• Timeshifted Actor: In Season 2's "Rangers Back In Time" and Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.
• Tinman Typist: Alpha 5.
• Title Drop:
  • "FOOD FIIIIGHT!"
  • "It's like I got Putty on the brain!"
• Token Black Friend: Zack to Jason, pre-Tommy. According to Walter Jones, who played Zack, this was intentional on the producers' part for the leader to have a black best friend. This was also the real reason why the Black Ranger happened to be black, as the Black Ranger was the Red Ranger's best friend in the original and they wanted this friendship to be evident in the stock footage fights.
  • Aisha can also be seen like this in relation to Kimberly.
• Too Dumb to Live: The vain monster Octoplant is so busy staring at herself in a reflective building, completely unaware of the Megazord creeping up behind her, that Rita actually has to shout "LOOK BEHIND YOU!" at her. She turns around just in time to catch the Megazord's finishing attack in her face.
• Took a Level in Badass: Billy's job in the fights early on was mostly running and dodging the Putties. After a few episodes, he took martial arts lessons from Trini's uncle and by the second season was a bonafide badass.
  • The Glasses Come Off: He also gradually switched to contacts as the series went on, although he would wear them two more times in Power Rangers Zeo.
    • It's interesting to note that when Billy and Kimberly switched bodies, the first thing he did was to retrieve his glasses from his own face and put them on Kimberly's. Either they're a psychological crutch of some sort, or they traded eyes along with minds.
• Totally Radical: "Morphinomenal!"
  • Kimberly's slang in general was dated for the 90s with the only thing that kept her from being full out 80s is her short, straight hair instead of the original concept of 80s hair in the pilot (itself very dated by 1993).
• Totem Pole Trench: Alien Rangers: Kat and Tommy pull one in the two-part "Alien Rangers of Aquitar" two-parter by wearing a coat and having Kat stand on Tommy's shoulders, pretending to be Billy's mother so that the police will release the other kids into their, ahem, custody. They attempted to justify it by having the officer who fell for it having lost his glasses.
• Transformation Trinket: The Rangers' Power Coins (in both Dino and Ninja flavors), which is the source of their powers, and their Power Morphers, the devices they use to access the Coins' power and morph into the Power Rangers.
  • The Mutant Rangers' Badges of Darkness.
• Tuckerization:
  • Billy Cranston, who shares a last name with Bryan Cranston, who voiced a couple Monster of the Week enemies.
  • Tommy Oliver, named after series writer and voice actor Tony Oliver.
• Two-Teacher School: The only members of the high school's faculty shown more than once were Principal Caplan, Miss Applebee, and Mr. Wilton (the latter only being introduced in the third season).
• Unholy Matrimony: Rita and Zedd.
• Use Their Own Weapon Against Them:
  • "Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park": Trumpet Top blasts the Thunder Megazord with his fire breath causing it to drop the Thunder Saber which Trumpet Top then seizes and uses to strike the Megazord. The Rangers are able to reclaim the saber by commanding it to electrocute Trumpet Top.
  • "Best Man For The Job": Tommy and Kimberly are arguing during a battle with Goldar and the Putties courtesy of a spell placed on them by Rita and Zedd. Goldar takes advantage of their distraction to relieve Tommy of Saba and uses it to blast the Rangers.
• Valley Girl: Early on Kimberly affected this personality, but it was used less and less until it was gone in season 3. By then the concept was dated, and it was 1995, the height of the grunge era.
• Villain on a Bus: Rita Repulsa became one during most of Season 2 when she was overthrown by Lord Zedd. When she returned, Rita was played by an American actress and the writers had to handwave her different appearance by giving her a magical makeover.
• Video Inside, Film Outside: Saban shot the inside scenes with the American actors on video, using a filter to make it look filmed. When it cuts to the Japanese footage, shot by Toei on 16mm, the quality difference is really noticeable.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Lord Zedd is noted as one of the nastiest looking villains across both Power Rangers and Super Sentai. Especially compared to Rita, who had a ornate medieval witch look, Zedd is missing his skin with visible muscles and brain with sharp metallic skeleton and skull head. He also eschews the oversized monster suits in favor of something more form-fitting, he would fit more in the Alien franchise or Dungeons & Dragons. He was reportedly made to behave a bit more goofy in response to Moral Guardians.
• Villain of Another Story: The Hydro Hog is the Big Bad back on Aquitar and thus been causing them trouble for quite some time before he came to Earth at Zedd's request.
• Villain Teleportation: In the first season, the villains and monsters would often just fade away. But once the second season started, they began teleporting with fancy, colorful flashes.
  • Goldar appeared and disappeared with rising flames.
  • Squatt and Baboo were absorbed into expanding blue spirals.
  • Rito's body would spin around into nothingness, and his head would bounce around until it blasted off-screen.
  • Master Vile's snake-heads would turn into energy, wrap around him, and he'd disappear.
  • Rita, Zedd, and Finster never really teleported all that much, so they never had a set special effect. However, Rita used a pretty sweet pair of spiralling fireballs a couple of times in Season 3.
• Visions of Another Self: Kim's time travel trip in "Wild West Rangers."
• Weaksauce Weakness: When he returned to take over Zedd replaced the Putties the villains had been using with his own type who wore a vest with a giant 'Z' on the front. They were supposedly much stronger than the originals and posed a greater danger to the Rangers, even giving them trouble while morphed in the new Putties' introductory fight. And they might have been an actual threat if the Rangers hadn't discovered in that first fight that hitting the 'Z' made the Putty fall apart. And the Z-Putties never made much of an effort to protect their fatal flaw, actually making them even easier to beat than the previous Putties thanks to having an easy target for a one-hit kill.
• Weather Manipulation: Madam Woe and Goatan the Storm-Bringer possessed this power.
• Wham Episode: Lots of them.
  • The "Green with Evil" saga — Rita brainwashes Tommy into serving her as the evil Green Ranger and nearly destroys the team; ultimately the mind control is broken and Tommy joins the Rangers.
  • The "Doomsday" two-parter, which was intended as the Grand Finale before the show's explosive popularity turned it into a Series Fauxnale instead. That said, it's pretty much Rita's biggest solo attempt to get rid of the Rangers for good.
  • "The Mutiny" — kicking off season 2 in a big way, Lord Zedd is introduced, he casts Rita out, and his new Pirantishead monster brings the Zords under his control, forcing the Rangers to upgrade to the Thunderzords.
  • "White Light" — With Tommy's Green Ranger powers completely drained, Zordon decides to give him a new power set...and costume!
  • "The Power Transfer" — Jason, Zack and Trini leave (due to behind the scenes issues) and Rocky, Adam and Aisha come onboard as their replacements.
  • "The Wedding" — Rita and Zedd enter into Unholy Matrimony, which lasts for the rest of the series (and subsequent seasons).
  • "Ninja Quest" — Thanks to Rita's brother Rito, the Thunderzords are destroyed...and so are the original Power Coins! Fortunately, Ninjor trains them in the art of the ninja and they get brand new powers and zords, plus their Ninja Ranger forms.
    • Most of season 3 leading into MMAR could be described as this trope since so many changes to the status quo happen — Kimberly's departure and Kat pulling a Heel–Face Turn to replace her, Master Vile briefly becoming the main villain, the Rangers getting turned into kids and being sent through time...it all climaxes with the "Hogday Afternoon" two-parter, which sees the Zeo Crystal stolen by Rito and Goldar, who also leave implosion devices under the Command Center. The Rangers are teleported out just in time to witness the Command Center get blown to bits. Cue two months of waiting and the non-canon "Zeo serial" bits before the next season began....
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • In "The Wedding" three-parter, the Peckster, Rhino Blaster, Eye Guy, Socadillo, Grumble Bee, Robogoat, Salguana, Snizard, Dramole, and the Invenusable Fly Trap are sent to guard the Rangers in an abandoned theater. These particular monsters remain constant throughout the three episodes. Then in the third part, once the Rangers escape, the Lizzinator appears out of nowhere, bumps into Robogoat as he chases the Rangers, and then is never seen again. Big Lipped Lizzinator Moment!
  • Peckster and Rhino Blaster, also in "The Wedding." With all the other monsters attending Zedd and Rita's wedding, these two monsters are left to guard the Rangers in the theater. The Rangers drop a net on the two monsters and escape, but even though they obviously weren't killed, Peckster and Rhino Blaster are never seen again, not even in the battle royal against the Thunder Zords later in the episode.
  • Fighting Flea, Lizzinator, Octophantom, and Stag Beetle in "Ninja Quest." The four monsters help Rito ambush and destroy the Thunder Zords and then... just disappear.
  • Similarly, Vampirus and Artistmole in "A Different Shade of Pink." The two fight the Rangers along with Goldar and Rito, and are driven off (not destroyed). But they never return for a Round 2.
  • Inciserator, a monster created by Lord Zedd in "The Changing of the Zords" that utterly wipes the floor with the Rangers, teleports away and is never seen or heard from again.
  • Garbage Mouth, Brick Bully, See Monster, Crabby Cabbie, and Parrot Top in "Alien Rangers of Aquitar Part II." Once Professor Longnose is destroyed, they panic and teleport away, never to be seen again.
  • After Tommy loses his Green Ranger powers and becomes the White Ranger, his Dragonzord is never seen again. Is it still "hibernating" at the bottom of the ocean? Or did it fade away along with his Green Ranger powers?
  • On a more literal note, what happened to Billy's lab mouse Jeff?
• White Mask of Doom: Madam Woe sports one. Or it may just be her face. Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel also has a similar, might-be-a-mask-type face.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Zack hates bugs, especially spiders. He also mentions this when fighting a beetle monster. In "The Island of Illusion," Zack's biggest fear is a huge anaconda.
  • "High Five" centers on Trini and her fear of heights, despite that she jumps pretty high up into her Zord in the pilot...
  • And Billy was afraid of fish after one bit him as a kid. Using this to her advantage, Rita sends a fish monster and casts a spell on Billy to make his phobia grow. He got over it and even lampshaded it in a later episode with another fish-themed monster.
• Wicked Witch: Rita.
  • Also, the episode "Water You Thinking?" features a literal wicked witch named Witchblade (no, not that one), an old friend of Lord Zedd's. She calls the Alien Rangers "my pretties," the Battle Borgs their "tin men," and when she is finally destroyed by the Shogun Megazord, she cries "Oh no, I'm falling... falling... what a world...!"
• Will They or Won't They?: Kimberly and Tommy. They did, but then Zeo came along and...
• William Telling: The monster of "Foul Play in the Sky" was the Snizard, a snake-lizard monster whose weak spot/power artifact was a golden apple atop his head. This was a Kimberly-centered episode, and Kimberly's weapon is a bow. Cue *Twang* Hello + Blasting It Out of Their Hands, and then an arrow to the apple.
• Winged Humanoid: Goldar, King Sphinx, and Vampirus.
• Witch with a Capital "B": In "The Spit Flower," after Rita wrecks Kimberly's model float design for promoting world peace reducing Kimberly to tears because she worked so hard on it and they won't have enough time to build a new one, Jason comments "That Rita is a real witch." It's obvious what he meant.
  • In "Goldar's Vice Versa," Aisha tells Scorpina "Let us go, you witch!" By that point, "Sabrina" had upset Aisha so much that Aisha sounded far angrier than the line implies.
• Worf Had the Flu: The Thunder Zords being destroyed by Rito Revolto and his backup monsters in "Ninja Quest." It's strongly implied that the Rangers and Zords would've been able to handle the fight just fine had the Command Center's monster detection systems not been acting up beforehand and been able to warn the Rangers of the monsters waiting to ambush them.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: "Return of the Green Ranger" has the Rangers sent back to colonial Angel Grove 200 years earlier that would put it at about 1795, 12 years after the end of the Revolution which would be odd to have British soldiers there. Though given there is even a British colony in California it could easily be Alternate History as California never was a British colony. Wild Mass Guessing suggests that Power Rangers exists in a world where the Spanish never colonized California hence the name Angel Grove leading in entirely possible that the war occurred at a different time. Course it could have been just a rounded number but if that were the case Alpha would have looked in 1795 and not found them there.
• Yandere: Zedd, under the potion's effects.
• "YEAH!" Shot: In "Day of the Dumpster," "Green With Evil Part V," both parts of "Doomsday," "Green No More Part II," "The Power Transfer Part II," "A Different Shade of Pink Part III," and "Alien Rangers of Aquitar Part II."
• Youkai: The Season 3 monsters, as Kakuranger had this as a theme (though Power Rangers didn't draw much attention to it). Funnily enough, the only monsters that are obviously Youkai are the American-created Tenga Warriors.
• You Said You Would Let Them Go: After the rangers give Goldar their power coins in "Return of an Old Friend: Part 1", Goldar refuses to release their parents, saying he would destroy the world with nothing to stop him.

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The 2010 re-cut.

In 2009, Disney officially cancelled Power Rangers, with Power Rangers RPM serving as the supposed final season. However, to apparently appease disappointed fans, as well as fulfill contracts with stations, a "reversioned" version premiered in January 2010. Consisting of only the first 32 episodes out of the original 60 of season 1, the new version adds a number of visual effects but generally leaves the audio and editing untouched. A new toyline was unveiled as well. It was once numbered as the show's eighteenth year, only to be replaced by Power Rangers Samurai; upon news of Saban regaining the franchise, Disney pulled the plug with the final airing on August 28, coincidentally the date of PR's 17th anniversary.

2010 Re Cut Tropes

• Boss Subtitles: For the villains ("Rita Repulsa: Evil Sorceress") and Zords ("Red Ranger: Tyrannosaurus!").
• Bowdlerise: Despite some annoying edits, mostly averted. A few snippets of scenes, however, would be cut for reasons unknown. Played straight in the Re-Cut version of "Foul Play in the Sky": Disney decided to completely remove the scene of Squatt spiking Kimberly's uncle's soda with a sleeping potion due to the whole thing being uncomfortably similar to a date-rape scenario; unfortunately, this had the unintended side effect of rendering the plot nonsensical.
• Canon Discontinuity: Originally, the recut was considered the 18th season, with Saban even calling Power Rangers Samurai the 19th season in early promos. Not too long afterwards, Samurai was officially designated the 18th season, with the recut MMPR now listed as "Special" 18.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: By this point, a longtime staple of the toyline were figures that transform into a beast mode. Most of the time they stick to established Animal Motifs pretty well, but the 2010 figures turned into dragons instead of dinosaurs (appropriate for Tommy, not so much for anyone else).
• Eye Catch: Kind of. Each episode has unique ones, often using later events in that episode's footage.
• Gratuitous Japanese: The 2010 re-version of "Green With Evil" parts 2 and 3 has "Boom", "Slice", "Woosh", and "Wham" shown in both English and katakana.
• Hit Flash: Some of the Unsound Effects serve as these. The censors are a bit stricter than they used to be.
  • In an interview, the man who was in charge of the reversioning said that standards were made in no small part because of the show itself. It seems like the first seasons "got away" with a little more because there really wasn't a group in place to stop them.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: The commercials and the toy line spoiled the Sixth Ranger for those that hadn't seen the original.
• Recut: The remastered version is full of new visuals like Unsound Effects, Eye Catches, and a new title sequence. (But the soundtrack didn't change, thankfully, not to mention they were legally bound to keep it in.)
• Retronym: The newer toy versions of the original Megazord was given the name of the "Dino Megazord" to distinguish it from its successors.
• Team Hand-Stack: Served as seasonal Book Ends.
• Written Sound Effect: Many of the new visual effects in the 2010 version.
  • Yet "BONK!", in the first two episodes, is more than a mere coincidence. The font and overall design looks the same.
  • BETRAYED! in "Green With Evil" part 2.
  • POWER FAIL! , Outnumbered!, and DEFEATED! in "Green With Evil" part 4.
  • Mocked in Truncated Power Rangers episode 4 about the Green Ranger saga when "Outnumbered!" became "outnum6ered".

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