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[[File:the-mighty-morphin-power-rangers-cast-poster-498c0 9658.jpg|frame|[[The Nineties|The 1993 original.]]<ref>The green one isn't there for long.</ref>]]
{{quote|'''Rita Repulsa''': [[Incoming Ham|Ah~!]] [[Sealed Evil in a Can|After ten thousand years,]] [[Large Ham|I'M FREE!]] [[Apocalypse Day Planner|It's time to]] [[Take Over the World|CONQUER EARTH!]]
'''Zordon''': [[Robot Buddy|Alpha]]! [[Big Bad|Rita's]] [[Cardboard Prison|escaped]]! [[Recruit Teenagers with Attitude|Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!]] }}
 
{{quote|''"[[By the Power of Greyskull|It's Morphin' Time!]]"''}}
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Long ago, Zordon [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sealed the evil Rita Repulsa away in a space dumpster]] on a passing asteroid (although fans have been confused because it was not specified as such), but some careless astronauts accidentally freed her. Taking up residence on the moon, she declares war on Earth. Unable to fight her himself due to being trapped in a time warp, he asks his assistant, Alpha 5, to summon five "teenagers with attitude" in order to stop Rita. He gave them the Power Coins, allowing them to morph into [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|rainbow-colored]], [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs|dinosaur-inspired]] superheroes and proceed to teach lessons of many kinds.
 
Gets a bit more interesting with the introduction of the [[Heel Face Turn|villain-turned-hero]] [[Sixth Ranger|Green Ranger]] [[Breakout Character|Tommy Oliver]], which shakes up the character dynamics and introduces a new zordZord to shake up the mech battles. The season was supposed to end after episode 40 with a [[Grand Finale]], "Doomsday," but was so popular that they commissioned additional Japan-made fight footage to continue the season. It is largely at this point where the series started making plans for a more long-term commitment. Tommy had his powers drained from him before "Doomsday" (an adapted story where the Green Ranger's Sentai counterpart died) only for a time. Afterward, he get his powers back [[Hour of Power|with restrictions]] in an effort to further ride the popularity of the character. The Toei-filmed action footage made some efforts to reflect the plot and characterizations of Power Rangers (such as the Blue Ranger's tech-savvineess and the romantic relationship between Green and Pink) and is referred to as "[[Fan Nickname|Zyu2]]" footage in fan circles.
 
The second season introduced Rita's superior, Lord Zedd, who decides that he's had enough of her failures and banishes her. The Rangers learn that Zedd is much more powerful and that they need to upgrade their Zords into the mythology-themed "Thunderzords". (Aa method of using ''Dairanger'' zord footage instead of continuing to pay for more original footage.). It brings up the final end of the Green Ranger powers, only to later introduce the White Ranger. It also featured the first ranger replacements as three Rangers were chosen to go to a peace conference ([[Real Life Writes the Plot|Inin reality, the actors demanded more money]]).
 
At this point, the Zyu2-footage started to wear extremely thin as the only way to show the White Ranger with the other Rangers was through American-filmed costume footage; also the monster footage and Zord footage were almost irreconcilable. Rita comes back mid-season and slips Zedd a [[Love Potion]], so [[Unholy Matrimony|they get married]]; then, the in-laws started showing up in the third season.
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** The actual dialogue from the first episode was:
{{quote|'''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!" }}
 
----
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* [[Chest Insignia]]: Personal dino emblems on the belts (with the White Ranger one on the 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 just before).
* [[City of Adventure]]: Angel Grove.
* [[Cut and Paste Translation]]: By the time Season 3 came, material from three different ''Sentai'' shows were being used in addition to American made footage.
** "Ninja Quest Part I" alone used Zyuranger footage, Zyu2 footage, Dairanger footage, Kakuranger footage and U.S.-original footage. ''Damn''.
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* [[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'' (The Red Dragon Thunderzord is shorter than where Serpentera's knees are). 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 Shishi Ranger's mecha into the Black Ranger's zord. Similar problem with the Kakuranger having no Pink Ranger, meaning no pink Shogun Zord either.<ref>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.</ref>
** [[Animal Mecha]]: For all three seasons, save for the Shogun Zords and Battle Borgs and even then, the humanoid forms still had animal-like faces.
** [[Combining Mecha]]: All of the Megazords (including Dragonzord Fighting Mode).
** [[Transforming Mecha]]: Only in Season 2; the Red Dragon Thunderzord, the White Tigerzord, and Tor could all change to humanoid warrior modes.
** [[Leader Forms the Head]]: Averted with the Ninja Megazord, whose head and torso are formed by the Pink and Yellow Ranger's zords. Played straight by all other Megazords, where the Red Ranger's zordZord makes the core.
* [[Mid-Season Upgrade]]: Inverted in Season 3. Midway through the season, the Rangers gain the new Shogunzords. However, prior to that, the Falconzord is stolen and the other Ninjazords 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 Ninjazords inoperable.
** Also worth noting, is the Ninja Megazord's Japanese counterpart was the [[Mid-Season Upgrade]] and the Shogun Megazord's was their original mecha. Which is part of the reason for the above.
* [[Monster of the Aesop]] / [[Monster of the Week]]
* [[Mooks]]: The Putty Patrollers (seasonSeason 1), the Z-Putties (seasonSeason 2) and the Tenga Warriors (seasonSeason 3).
* [[Motifs]]:
** [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: Season 1.
*** [[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.
*** [[Stock Dinosaurs]]: Mastodon, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Sabertooth tiger, Tyrannnosaurus, and Brachiosaurus (Titanus). Only three of those prehistoric beasts were actual dinosaurs.
*** [[Ptero-Soarer]]: Kimberly.
*** [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]]: Well, what else would the Red Ranger have?
*** [[War Elephants]] (Mastodon): Zack.
** [[Mythical Motifs]]: Season 2's zords.
*** [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons]]: Jason/Rocky.
*** [[King of Beasts]]: Zack/Adam.
*** [[Unicorn]]: Billy.
*** [[Our Gryphons Are Different]]: Trini/Aisha.
*** [[The Phoenix]]: Kimberly.
*** [[Panthera Awesome]]: Tommy (White Tiger).
*** [[Turtle Power]]: Tor.
** ([[Highly-Visible Ninja]]) [[Ninja]] with [[Animal Motifs]]: Season 3.
*** [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: Rocky.
*** [[Big Badass Bird of Prey]]: Tommy.
*** [[Big Badass Wolf]]: Billy.
*** [[Everything's Worse with Bears]]: Aisha.
*** [[Frogs and Toads]]: Adam.
*** [[Seldom-Seen Species]]: Kimberly/Kat (Crane) and Adam.
* [[Never Say "Die"]]: Averted in "The Green Candle Part II.".
{{quote|'''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.
* [[Psycho Rangers]]: Happened one too many times throughout the series.
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* [[Stock Footage]]: The morphing sequences and especially Zord summoning were the major time-spenders (the Dragonzord snapping a smokestack in its teeth even became [[Memetic Mutation|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.
* [[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.
* [[Weapon of Choice]]:
** [[Swiss Army Weapon]]: Blade Blasters.
** [[Heroes Prefer Swords]]: Jason's/Rocky's Power Sword.
** [[Knife Nut]]: Trini's/Aisha's Power Daggers.
*** Doubles as [[Instrument of Murder]]: Tommy's (as Green Ranger) Dragon Dagger/Flute.
** [[Blade on a Stick]]: Billy's Power Lance.
** [[The Archer]]: Kimberly's/Kat's Power Bow.
** [[An Axe to Grind]]: Zack's/Adam's Power Axe.
** [[Talking Weapon]]: Saba, Tommy's White Ranger weapon.
** [[BFG]]: Power Cannon.
* [[Word Power]]:
** [[By the Power of Grayskull]]:
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'''{{color|blue|"Triceratops!"}}/{{color|blue|"Blue Ranger Power!"}}'''
'''{{color|gold|"Sabertooth Tiger!"}}/{{color|gold|"Yellow Ranger Power!"}}'''
'''{{color|red|"Tyrannosaurus!"}}/{{color|red|"Red Ranger Power!"}}''' }}
** [[Calling Your Attacks]]: Quite frequently.
** [[Invocation]]: "It's Morphing Time!"
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{{quote|'''Paul Schrier:''' 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.
* [[Annoying Laugh]]: Skull.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Alpha when Bulk, Skull, and Kimberly get trapped in a monster cab: "Aye-yi-yi! Lord Zedd and Rita have created a Crabby Cabbie! And he's charging double the going fare!"
* [[The Artifact]]: The Rangers were still wearing the same suits after Season 1 despite the fact that they were no longer piloting robots based on prehistoric beasts. While the Thunderzords in Season 2 were still transformed versions of the Dinozords (except Tommy's, who got an all new zordZord with a suit to match), they all ended up being destroyed in Season 3, forcing the Rangers to look for new zordsZords and draw their powers from different animals.
* [[Art Initiates Life]]: Finster's creations.
* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: Rita and Zedd, surprisingly enough, after the [[Love Potion]] wears off.
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* [[Badass]]/[[Badbutt]]: Tommy and Jason, mostly, though everyone got their chance to shine at some point (including Alpha, Bulk & Skull and the villains).
{{quote|'''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 Power Coins, and Goldar and Rito blowing up the Command Center.
** "Green With Evil" had Tommy wiping the floor with the good guys until part 5.
** Mid-way through Season 3, Zedd and company managed to steal the Pink Coin, capture the Falconzord (thus rendering the other Ninjazords inoperable) and imprison Ninjor. A good chunk of the season passed before all of these changes were reversed.
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** Scorpina, too, in her giant form.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Tommy did this a ''lot''.
** Titanus also pulls this in the "Doomsday Part 1", charging onto the scene in attack mode with Zordon's command and blasting the Megazord and Dragonzord 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.
* [[Big Good]]: Zordon.
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: The wall behind Tommy inside the Tigerzord has spheres written with kanji on them.
* [[Black Best 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.
* [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In]]: 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 Dino Megazord's sword would descend from the sky and, unless caught in midair by the Megazord, would do this as well.
* [[The Blank]]: Victims of the Face Stealer.
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* [[Chick Magnet]]: Billy. Seriously, he attracted an obscene amount of women for being the geekiest guy in school.
** Also, in-universe, I think the girls found it very interesting that a nerd was also [[Badass Bookworm|built like a tank]]. How often do you run into those?
* [[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 [[Space Jews|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, [[Series Continuity Error|and Tommy is still the Green Ranger, even though Rocky, Adam and Aisha are friends with the Rangers]]).
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Scorpina disappeared from the series in the end of Season 1 after all the ''Zyuranger'' stock footage ran out. Although they did get [[The Other Darrin|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 episodes.
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* [[Covered in Gunge]]: At least [[Once an Episode]], usually to Bulk and/or Skull.
* [[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 seasonSeason 3. This was years before a [[Kamen Rider Decade|Kamen Rider]]/[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger|Super Sentai]] crossover!
* [[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 curb-stomping the Thunderzords some episodes earlier.
* [[Cute Kitten]]: "P.C." ("Park Cat") in Season 3, who was actually Kat under Rita's spell.
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* [[Dance Battler]]: Zack, who tried to combine the two into "hip-hop-kido."
* [[Dark Fic]]: "Agony In Pink" is a particularly infamous one.
* [[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 [[Flaming Sword|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.
* [[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 more of a role in episodes again.
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** The Green Candle also qualifies, holding Tommy back from just curb-stomping Rita's monsters left and right after being shown to equal the entire rest of the team by himself.
* [[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.
* [[Dynamic Entry]]: In his Green Ranger days, Tommy was known to leap towards enemies crotch-first. (Seesee [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e9_pfucrdw here], 30 seconds in.). Unsurprisingly, it's been the subject of [[Memetic Mutation]].
* [[Eenie Meenie Miny Moai]]: In Season 1's "Foul Play in the Sky", the Rangers inexplicably fight a monster in a park with Easter Island heads statues.
* [[Epic Fail]]: [http://www.my-coloring-pages.com/power-rangers/gallery/image/power-rangers-coloring-pages-045/ This coloring page of Zordon].
* [[Epiphanic Prison]]: "Island Of Illusion.".
* [[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.
* [[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 [[Put on a Bus|left for the Peace Conference]], so...
* [[Expy]]: Dragonzord? More like [[Godzilla]]zord.
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* [[Fainting]]: Kimberly, quite a bit.
* [[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.
** Then there was that very unconvincing "No way!" from Tommy in ''"Green with Evil, partPart 5''V" with a voice that was quite clearly ''not'' Jason Frank's.
* [[Fakin' MacGuffin]]: The Power Rangers deceive Lord Zedd and Goldar into getting the fake Lightning Diamond while keeping the [[MacGuffin|real diamond]] nice and safe so that the Bookala can return to his home planet in "The Great Bookala Escape".
* [[Fat and Skinny]]: Both Bulk & Skull and Squatt & Baboo.
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* [[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''.
* [[Fountain of Youth]]: Applied to the whole of Earth during ''Alien Rangers''.
* [[Frankenstein]]: 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, it only causes him to change form in [[Zyuranger]] to what we know as Mutitis.
** 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 "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.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Rita's father, Master Vile, who is described by Zordon as "infinitely older and wiser in the ways of evil." He proves this when, after a few episodes of nearly-successful plots to destroy the Rangers (culminating in the aforementioned age-reversal), each time having victory snatched away at the last minute, he realizes he simply [[Failure Is the Only Option|can't win]], and returns to his own empire "where evil reigns supreme and the bad guys always win!"
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* [[Go for the Eye]]: Eye Guy.
* [[Golem]]: The Putty Patrollers (which were originally called "Golem Warriors" in ''Zyuranger''). About half of the Season 1 monsters and some from Season 3 were clay figures run through a monster maker, as well.
* [[Halloween Episode]]: Three: "Life's A Masquerade,", "Trick or Treat", and "Zedd's Monster Mash,", though only the third actually takes place on Halloween. Also the video release ''Lord Zedd's Monster Heads'', in which Zedd throws his own Halloween party.
* [[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]]: "Stop The Hate Master.".
* [[Having a Gay Old Time]]: So, Rita destroying the Earth is part of her "coming out party?" Kids, [[Space Whale Aesop|don't make fun of homosexuals, or they will send monsters down from the heavens to ravage the Earth.]]
** Or debutantes, depending on your context.
** In the episode "A Bad Reflection on You,", Skull says to pseudo-Kimberly, "Wanna catch the submarine races tonight?"
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: After losing the Megazord in "Green With Evil, Part 4,IV", the Rangers go through this. Only Jason wants to keep fighting.
* [[He's Back]]
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Jason and Tommy, but even moreso 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 ''[[Power Rangers Zeo|Zeo]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]]'', and ''[[Power Rangers in Space|Space]]''.
* [[Hollywood Darkness]]: The Season 3 premiere.
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** 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": Might Mace, Dino Daggers, Battle Bow and Cosmic Cannon (though the Power Sword retained its usual name).
* [[I Need You to Shut Up]]: During "Green with Evil,", the Command Center's console gets trashed for about the thirtieth time, and Billy is tasked with making repairs:
{{quote|'''Alpha''': "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
'''Zack''': "Alpha, Billy's trying to concentrate." }}
* [[Informed Ability]]: 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 capable of that ''if the Rangers hadn't just [[Took a Level In Badass|gotten a new ally in Ninjor, new powers, and new Zords]]''.
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** Note that despite having [[Jaded Washout]] tendencies, he has dealt quite far more damage post-marriage than pre-marriage.
** Zedd had brushes with success, only to have them taken away at the last moment, much like the former [[Trope Namer]], Al Bundy.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Bulk and Skull.
* [[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. And the Stag Beetle monster, when he possessed the Green Ranger's powers.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: In "The Spit Flower", Rita sends a squad of Putties to trash Kimberely's design of a flower float for the big Angel Grove parade, and she starts crying.
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* [[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 Tommy in "Green No More Part II."
** Goldar again to Jason in "Green With Evil, Part 3.III".
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: A couple of times in Season 3, such as Zedd asking Tommy if all the "[[Kiai|hiyah]]"s were really necessary, or a Tenga [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]] and commenting that [[Recycled Script|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.
** In a couple 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 excuse was used more than once). In the third season 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, Bulk and Skull are patrolling through the park when they come across Rito, Squatt and Baboo, seconds before they [[Villain Teleportation|teleport away in their usual multicolored flashes]]. The two begin screaming in their usual fashion, then say the following:
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'''Skull:''' "Because Evil Space Aliens are using their magical powers right in front of us."
'''Bulk:''' "Oh."
''They continue screaming.'' }}
** Back in the first season, in the episode "Grumble Bee,", the Rangers in the Megazord summon their 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.
* [[Lens Flare]]: The command center was sometimes more lens flare than set.
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* [[Long Hair Is Feminine]]: Subverted/Inverted hard with Tommy, Trini, and Kimberly. Tommy, often considered [[The Ace]], had long hair (perhaps related to his native American heritage). Trini, the [[Cute Bruiser]] martial artist, had very long hair, and although feminine, was definitely not [[The Chick]]. Meanwhile, Kimberly, who not only [[The Chick]], but the template for [[Power Rangers]] chicks, had short hair.
* [[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.
* [[Lowered Monster Difficulty]]: [[Monster of the Week|Monsters]] such as Eye Guy, Snizard and Pirantishead 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 [[Combining Mecha|Zords]] or the [[Converging Stream Weapon|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.
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* [[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 [[Paper-Thin Disguise|do it in front of the Rangers, who wouldn't notice a thing]].
* [[Mirror Monster]]: A literal one, Season 2's Mirror Maniac.
* [[Monster Clown]]: Pineapple the Clown, the human form of Rita's Pineoctopus monster.
* [[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 [[Elite Mooks|received some upgrades to become tougher]].
* [[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? {{spoiler|The stereo.}}
{{quote|'''Kimberly''': {{spoiler|"Cool stereo!"}}}}
* [[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, [[Genius Bruiser|built like a friggin' tank.]] No wonder he got so many girls.
* [[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 in the end of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and necessitated the creation of the Power Rangers Zeo.
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* [[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 would have actually ''foiled'' Zedd and Rita's plan.
* [[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 Shogunzords 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 Shogunzords to be under the Rangers' control.
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* [[No Indoor Voice]]: Jason once he morphs.
** Rita's default voice appears to be a constant, shrill scream of some sort.
* [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore]]: While MMPR had a few [[Wham! Episode|Wham Episodes]] the main premise remained the same for about the first 130 episodes with the most of them being stand alone with the Rangers fighting the [[Monster of the Week]] with the occasional 2 or 3 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 seasonSeason 3 with the 3 part Episode Changing of the Zords. While the Rangers did eventually win and get the Shogunzords, Lord Zedd and Rita still had the Pink Rangers powers, the Falconzord, 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 25 episodes of the series.
* [[Oculothorax]]: Eye Guy's core form is one.
* [[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.
* [[Official Couple]]: Tommy/Kim.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Rito in "Ninja Quest Part IV,", seconds before the Ninja MegaFalconzord slams its finishing attack fists into him.
** In "The Mutiny, Part 1,", 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.
* [[One-Winged Angel]]: Scorpina. Unlike Goldar and most other [[Monster of the Week|monsters]], she doesn't just get bigger when Rita makes her grow, she goes from "Hot Asian chick in armor" to "Grotesque humanoid scorpion complete with giant claw and whip-like tail."
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{{quote|'''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...[[Magic A Is Magic A|most of the time]]. Tommy still out-gambits her, by giving Jason the Green Power Coin. Rita is only able to steal the power from Tommy. Then [[Chekhov's Boomerang|Tommy gets better]] but [[Hour of Power|only temporarily]], and he runs out of power again facing Zedd. But that's okay, because he gets the White Ranger powers, which are better.
* [[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.
* [[Politically-Correct History]]: In "Wild West Rangers,", 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.
* [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]]: Season 3's "A Friend in Need" three-parter for ''[[Masked Rider]]''.
* [[Precap]]: "Today on ''Power Rangers''!"
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* [[Rule 34]]: Used in the fic ''[[Observe the Viewing Globe]]''. Would be [[Power Perversion Potential]], but the writers ''completely made up'' this side effect of the Power.
* [[Running Gag]]: Say it with me now: "I have a '''''HEADACHE!!!!'''''"
** Bulk and or Skull getting hit with some sort of substance.
* [[San Dimas Time]]: "Wild West Rangers.".
* [[Saving Christmas]]: "I'm Dreaming Of A White Ranger".
* [[School Play]]
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: Master Vile, as noted under [[Genre Savvy]] above.
** 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.
* [[Sealed Evil In a Soda Machine]]: ''Power Rangers'' is probably the [[Trope Codifier]] here, with a new sealed evil unsealed practically every season: Rita Repulsa, Ivan Ooze, the Demons from ''Lightspeed Rescue'', the Orgs from ''Wild Force'', the villains from ''Mystic Force'', and more.
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* [[Sesquipedalian Smith]]: Kimberly Ann Hart.
* [[Shout-Out]]: In one scene in Season 3, the Rangers (in their Ninja Ranger outfits rather than their Ranger suits) decide to go all [[Super Sentai]], doing a team roll call (which IIRC they'd never done before - all previous uses of roll call footage had been adapted into either different speeches or Zord calling) followed up with a team pose - specifically, the signature pose of ''[[Dai Sentai Goggle Five]]''!
** In "A Chimp In Charge,", as Finster attempts to transform a chimpanzee into the Sinister Simian, he asks "Don't you want to be a big gorilla like [[King Kong|King... what's his name]]?"
** "Rangers in Reverse". The natural rotation of the Earth is stopped and then put in reverse, causing time itself to rewind. [[Superman|Where does this sound familiar?]]
** "May the Power protect you." I know I've heard something like that [[Star Wars|somewhere before]].
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* [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]: All three seasons introduced new bad guys to ramp up the threat.
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Is it Zack or Zach? Various sources have used either one, but officially it's Zack.
* [[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.".
* [[Standardized Leader]]: Jason.
* [[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]].
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Kat were this to varying degrees when Jason, Zack, Trini, and Kim respectively left the show. They weren't complete clones of the originals - the Yellow and Black Rangers were given a [[Race Lift|race switch]], Rocky and Adam were more like Zack and Trini than Jason and Zack, respectively - but there are still vibes of this. Especially with how Kat later became Tommy's love interest, like Kim was.
* [[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 and then adds "it's just been me and my stack of papers, bowl of popcorn, [[Rule of Three|a couple of chairs]]..." before he is cut of by Zack whose [[Genre Blindness]] prevents him from spotting the denial.
* [[Take Over the World]]: Rita and Zedd's ultimate goal, naturally.
* [[Team Rocket Wins]]: The villains would occasionally get their act together and really stick it to the Rangers.
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* [[Those Two Bad Guys]]: Squatt and Baboo, later Goldar and Rito.
* [[Those Two Guys]]: Bulk and Skull.
* [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works]]: The Dragon Dagger in "The Song of Guitardo.".
** Jason also tossed his Power Sword a couple times: In "Green With Evil, Part 5V", 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 staff in the process.
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* [[Winged Humanoid]]: Goldar and King Sphinx
* [[Yandere]]: Zedd, under the potion's effects.
* [[Yeah! Shot]]: In "Day of the Dumpster,", "Green With Evil, Part V,", and "Doomsday.".
* [[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.
* [[Youth Center]]: It's more like a gym, though.
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