Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/YMMV

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Regarding the Original Series

• Accidental Innuendo: "I want my mommy." "Yeah, I want your mommy."
  • "Oh, don't leave! You'll miss my coming-out party!"
  • In the first season Halloween episode, Rita: "I love to get nasty, it's so nice!"
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Zordon, a wise sage or using teenagers to fight his battles for his own possibly shady means, likely breaking intergalactic law. As for the Rangers themselves, goody-good role models for the youth of the nineties, or Jerkasses to two (possibly mentally retarded) people perceived to be bullies but only needed friends/find out the rangers' identities.
  • Tommy, Zordon's paladin, or someone who just wants revenge, and doesn't mind throwing his friends under the bus to do it? Does he divorce himself from the Green Ranger?
• 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. 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 holiday 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.
• Awesome Music: "I Will Win", "We Need A Hero", and of course, "Go Go Power Rangers" (and the extended version)... Ron Wasserman, we love you.
  • It's so awesome that Masaaki Endoh made a Japanese version. Epic.
  • Here is the theme for those interested: enjoy it's epicness.
  • Fight.
  • Data Zone a ROCKIN song from the Fighting Game based off the show.
• Badass Decay/Villain Decay: Name a villain who wasn't subject to this. Lord Zedd gets special mention, as he had to be toned down after the Moral Guardians deemed him too scary.
  • Tommy. He started out as a villain and only got cooler when he became a good guy.
  • Don't forget Goldar, although his was more of a freefall than a decay. After "Green No More" when Tommy beat him while unmorphed, he went from The Dragon who was more than a match for the entire team, to someone who could get knocked flat on his back by an unmorphed Billy.
  • Scorpina avoided this fate by going the way of Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
  • Linkara argues that Zedd was actually more effective after his marriage with Rita. Citing that pre-marriage Zedd merely destroyed the Green Ranger powers, while post-marriage Zedd destroyed the Thunderzords, captured the Rangers ally Ninjor (briefly), captured the Falconzord (briefly), eventually destroyed the Ninja coins and blew up the Command Center.
    • And don't forget that the first and only time he fights, he kicks Tommy's ass.
• Complete Monster: Lord Zedd was built up as this. Then came his Villain Decay.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Rita is notoriously difficult to shop for, as Rito can attest to:

Rito: Y'know, picking out a present for you has never been easy. Remember when Mom and Dad got you that little fire-breathing dragon, but you really wanted that cute little planet, so you used the dragon to burn the house down?

• Damsel Scrappy: The Pink Rangers somewhat, in retrospect.
  • Ignoring the fact that in season one the Pink Ranger single-handedly destroyed two seperate monsters on her own. Snizzard and Terror Toad
  • And ignoring the fact that Kim was one of the most loved characters (though Kat I can't attest for).
• Die for Our Ship: Tommy/Kim vs Tommy/Kat.
  • Poor Kat gets it the worse. Tommy/Kim shippers keep on bringing up how they hated Kat for trying to steal Tommy from Kim, ignoring the fact that Kat was under an evil spell, and once she was free from it she stopped. Hell, she even tried to hook Tommy up with a completely different girl, after Kim had dumped Tommy. And it was Tommy who finally pursued Kat.
• Ear Worm: Go Go Power Rangers!
  • It's actually part of Shuki Levy's Signature Style (as seen with the other Saban shows' themes, and even Inspector Gadget) to have insanely hummable, memorable theme songs that basically consist of the show's name and the word "Go."
  • Masaaki Endoh's version of the song turns the earworm into an Epic Earworm
  • Bulk and Skull's theme
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Bulk and Skull are easily the most popular characters among aged fans, as well as the longest running (MMPR to PRiS, with cameos in Lost Galaxy & Wild Force's Forever Red).
  • Also, some of the more memorable monsters, including Pudgy Pig, King Sphinx, and Dark Warrior.
  • Scorpina having a huge fanbase is pretty logical considering that she's the show's embodiment of Evil Is Sexy, at least in her regular form.
  • Tommy. Kids actually wrote letters to bring him back the first time he left the show. In fact thats the whole reason he did come back as he was originally suppose to not come back after Green Candle, save a cameo in Doomsday.
• Evil Is Sexy: Scorpina in her regular form. This is completely averted when she transforms however.
  • Rita Repulsa, from the second season onwards after applying special makeup to make herself look a helluva lot more younger and beautiful.
• Fan Yay: Jason. He hangs around a gym, tends toward fanservice as much as any other male ranger, is always hanging around Tommy...The false gay porn rumors only made it worse. Also, Zedd for that metal codpiece.
• First Installment Wins: This is likely the only series the general population thinks about in regards to the the 18-year-old franchise.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Billy getting the most love interests out of the entire cast might seem Hilarious in Hindsight when you learn that actor David Yost is gay...until you also learn that some of the staff gay-bashing him behind the scenes (and nobody actually doing anything about it) was the reason he left the series. Not to mention that him having that many girlfriends may have been a desperate attempt by the producers to have him NOT seem gay (even though he didn't).
  • Lord Zedd once sarcastically asked, "What is it this time, Finster? A monster that blows itself up?" At the time, simply a humorous jab at the show's Once an Episode fantasy conventions. Nowadays, people are more aware that "a monster that blows itself up" has a very realistic context. And even putting the real world out of it, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy takes the concept and plays it for serious drama.
  • There was an episode in which a time capsule is involved. The rangers then talk to each other about how they hope the future will be like. The Following: No Hatred, No Crimes, No Wars. You know, The usual peaceful future we all dream of.
  • "Too much Pink Energy could be dangerous."
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Not sure if this was intentional so can't really call it a Shout-Out, but the goofy ineffective bullies are Bulk and Skull...
  • From "Mighty Morphin' Mutants": Dragonzord, use your tail whip, now!
  • Watch Rita's reaction to Zedd's suggestion they have a child in "Return of the Green Ranger" and then go watch "Once a Ranger".
  • After David Yost coming out as gay, the parade of female love interests for Billy can feel like this.
  • Michael R. Gotto (Young Tommy) grew up to be a high school teacher. Heh...
  • In an episode, to avoid drawing suspicion to themselves, Jason tells Ernie that he thinks the Power Rangers are aliens from a distant planet. A few seasons later...
• Ho Yay: Tommy and Jason, who even had several "breakup" episodes; Rocky and Adam, who were best friends; Kim and Aisha, who were also best friends, briefly lived together, and there's a cute scene where Kim kisses Aisha on the cheek to cheer her up after a local sorority-ish thing rejects her.
  • Plus Jason and Zack before and after Tommy shows up.
  • Rocky/Adam to a much lesser extent.
  • Bulk and Skull. Not as much as some of the Rangers had with each other, but it was there)
• Internet Backdraft: Tommy. Perhaps the exposure to Gary Stu in fanfic really made him look bad.
• Macekre: Par for the course for the franchise, but Season 3 is a notable case. The entire Kakuranger series was reversed; the Shogunzords actually came first in Japan, followed by the Ninjazords. (To say nothing of the Battle Borgs and Alien Rangers.) For example, Vampirus was the first Season 3 MOTW. The Japanese equivalent was in episode 36.
  • Alternatively, you can marvel at how the writers managed to get around the footage, and the fact that they were only five Kakurangers (and no pink), using Tsubasamaru to complete the set, taking advantage of Amy Jo Johnson leaving the series by creating this whole stolen Power Coin plot, which explained the lack of Pink Shogunzord, all the while being the first season with an actual plot which culminated with Rita's own father showing up and the ranger having to look for the Zeo Crystal, tying the story to the next season (almost) seamlessly.
• Marty Stu: By Zeo, everything was about Tommy. Kimberly also suffered Chickification as soon as Tommy joined the team.
• Memetic Badass: Adam
• Memetic Sex Goddess: Kimberly and Scorpina.
  • Aisha and Kat also.
• Moe: Trini
• 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."
  • To be fair, they weren't so much interested in ruining Kimberly's Pan Global Games dreams. Instead, they wanted to tire her out to the point that she would suffer a horrible injury training. Still a step down from seeking ultimate power or weaponry, but there's something to be said for striking a morale blow against the Rangers.
    • Plus, by this time, they had taken her Power Coin, which she bonded her life force to, thus slowly killing her. They wanted to wear her out to the point where one good blow would take her out.
• MST3K Mantra: It's a show about teenagers in spandex fighting rubber monsters with transforming dinosaur robots while the school bullies get hit by flying cakes. Don't think too hard about it.
  • "Why don't the monsters ever attack while the Rangers are morphing/the Zords are combining?"
    • To this show's credit, the morphing sequences didn't take NEARLY as long as the transformation scenes on Sailor Moon.
  • "If the Megazord is solar-powered, why doesn't Rita send her monsters at night?"
    • That was actually a plot point in "Green With Evil" when she blocked out the sun...no points if you guess the result.
  • "What's the point of the Rangers having secret identities if Zedd and Rita already know who they are?"
    • So the Rangers can still have somewhat normal lives. They would be either celebrities or wanted vigilantes if the world knew their identities. They would never have a free moment.
  • "Why don't Zedd and Rita send down a hundred monsters and completely overwhelm the Rangers?"
    • Again tried, they even increased the handicap by putting them in a place that disabled morphing...no points if you guess how it turned out.
  • "Why can't anyone figure out who the Rangers are even though the teens always wear their Ranger colors and hang out together?"
    • It was 1993 solid colors were actually pretty common apparel then.
  • "How come the monsters always land in the exact same city? How come the city turns into a canyon whenever a fight scene's about to happen? How come it's sunny in space? How come Alpha's so gay? How come Kimberly's so hot? Why? Why?! WHY?!"
    • AND WHY IS THAT THEME SONG SO CATCHY?
• Narm: Every single line delivered when the Rangers are morphed.
• Narm Charm: Yes, this show is Narm all the way, but that doesn't keep you from enjoying it.
• Nightmare Fuel: What would have happened had Tommy not reformed? Lord Drakken, that's what. His mere existence embodies that alternative, and is terrifying.
• One True Threesome: Rocky/Aisha/Adam. Also there are hints of Kim/Trini/any of the male rangers and Jason/Kim/Tommy.
• The Problem with Licensed Games: Averted. The 16-bit games were surprisingly good.
• Retroactive Recognition: In two flavors:
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) went on to bigger and better things, most notably Felicity.
    • Of course, after Felicity she more or less dropped off the face of the planet, going on to blame her lack of roles on how well known her role as a Power Ranger was. Until she got cast in Flashpoint, that is.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Johnny Yong Bosch (Adam), on the other hand, became a voice actor with credits in Trigun, Bleach, and Code Geass
    • As for Barbara Goodson... ZOMG! Laharl is trying to conquer Earth!
    • Funny thing is, Machiko Soga, the actress who portrayed Witch Bandora (Rita Repulsa's original character) in ZyuRanger, voices Rita in the Japanese dub of Power Rangers.
    • Richard Horvitz (better known for being the voice of Zim and Billy) as Alpha's voice.
    • Anime dubbing dame Wendee Lee became the voice of Scorpina (and later Alpha 6 in Power Rangers in Space).
• The Scrappy: All of the Aquitan Rangers. Rocky for some. Adam and Aisha fare better.
• So Bad It's Good
• Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying: So much.
• Special Effect Failure: For some reason still unknown to this day, Saban apparently couldn't get their hands on the actual Zyuranger Dragon Armor and tried to make their own. The problem is, Saban's piece is made of of shiny gold fabric, which looks completely different from the matte gold FRP original.
• Tear Jerker: A real life example. The news of Trini's actress Thuy Trang getting killed in a car accident devastated many fans and staff members alike. Many fans to this day still have and make memorials and tributes dedicated to her out of respect for her passing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many times in the show, they could have Tommy confronting his fear of turning evil again, but they don't. Also, they could've had Tommy make a Faustian bargain with Rita.
• Unfortunate Implications: The original Black Ranger is a black guy and the original Yellow Ranger is an Asian girl. When both left the show, their replacements gave the roles a Race Lift to fix the problem.
  • Word of God says that this was unintentional, with the staff honestly not realizing the implications until after three or four episodes were in the can. Walter Jones (Zach) has said he never really had a problem with it and that the actual reasons were more along the lines of working with the Zyuranger source material. Jones originally wanted to be the Blue Ranger, but since the suit actor footage portrayed the Red and Black Rangers as close friends, Zach was made the Black Ranger to line up with his being Jason's Black Best Friend.
  • The show itself never really addressed each member by any handle other than "[color] Ranger". But on the official Disney site of the franchise, each member of the original team is given the handle of "[color] Power Ranger" to distinguish them from later incarnations of the team, leading to such unintentionally racist codenames like "White Power Ranger," "Black Power Ranger," and "Yellow Power Ranger."
  • The season 3 finale had a focus on each Ranger's heritage, except for Kat, which was focused on herself in the future as an old maid. Tommy's ancestors were California Indians living in tipis.
• The Woobie: Ladies and gentlemen, David Yost.
  • So, Tommy is forced to fight his friends, victim of an evil enchantment every other day, is forced to fight his clone (the closest this show will get to "Luke, I Am Your Father" until In Space), and still keeps fighting. Only in Dino Thunder do we actually see the implications of this.

With regards to the Reversioning

• Non Sequitur Scene: "Green With Evil" parts 3 and 5 are briefly interrupted by "Dance-offs"; the first between Billy and Zack and again between Zack and Alpha. (Some episodes of the first season had a little less than nineteen minutes of runtime, they had twenty-one minutes to use.)
• Broken Base: The two main camps of returning adult fans are those saying "they dumbed it down!" and those who feel it was Cool but Stupid to begin with. Then there are the Super Sentai purists who already know ahead that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was adapted from Zyuranger, wondering how is it possible to "bastardize a bastardization."
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The inclusion of extra Unsound Effects and other things in the 2010 reversion has caused a massive uproar in older fans that grew up with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and can't stand to see this happen to their childhood.
• Unfortunate Implications: They change Zack's introductory footage in the opening from him performing his Hip Hop Kido (from the episode "Itsy Bitsy Spider") to Jason giving him a boost in a jump (from the episode "Day of the Dumpster").

With regards to the 1995 movie

• Awesome Music: The "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song was somehow made more awesome, courtesy of the Power Rangers Orchestra.
  • Masaki Endō actually based his cover on this version of the song, taking it past Up to Eleven.
  • Likewise, the film score by Graeme Revell, especially the "Great Power" leifmotif.
• Critical Dissonance: The film was generally thrashed by critics but fans of the series tend to receive and remember it fondly. Among many things, it embodies the general fun of the series while having entirely original footage.
• Guilty Pleasure
• Ham and Cheese: Paul Freeman takes a page from Raul Julia's book, and delivers a magnificently hammy performance as Ivan Ooze.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Kid Hero imagining himself as a Silver Ranger - no, a Gold Ranger; since then, both have become staple colors for Sixth Rangers. It gets even funnier after Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, where the Sixth Ranger is Silver but has a Gold powerup mode, and once (when Power Copying) couldn't decide between Go-On Gold or Silver (also known as RPM Gold and Silver) and so chose both.
  • And then of course, a young kid wanting to be a Power Ranger. Might be a Funny Aneurysm Moment depending on your point of view.
• Magnificent Bastard: Ivan Ooze.