Zordon

Zordon of Eltar was a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, appearing in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series and many of its subsequent incarnations.

Although the Power Rangers had, in the Power Rangers continuity, predated Zordon (for example, the ancient warriors of Power Rangers: Wild Force), Zordon is generally credited with creating the first group of modern Power Rangers, (though the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers movie suggests he was creating Rangers thousands of years ago, and that these old rangers defeated Ivan Ooze; Dino Thunder suggests that Tommy Oliver is the last of the first Power Rangers.) as well as coining many of the phrases that are still used today. Among the most notable of these terms is the zord, a term for the various building-sized mechanical or biomechanical machines used in the series, and the Megazord, a term for any arbitrary merger of zords into a bigger zord.

It should be noted that in the pilot episode of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Zordon's original name was "Zoltar".

Pre-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
The Power Rangers saga begins with a story of a battle of gigantic proportions between good and evil during some unspecified point in the past. Zordon at some point found five Power Coins, together with a map to the Desert of Despair.

In an earlier version of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Zordon was a member of the "Order of Meledon". He was regarded as the finest commander in the galaxy, a true legend. After the Order's enemies were defeated over time, he moved on to continue the struggle against evil elsewhere. It was also stated by Dulcea that if not for him, the universe would be a very different place. She also said that he was always an inspiration and if he died, a piece of all of them would die, and the forces of good within the universe would be dealt with an irreparable blow.

According to some sources, Zordon and villainess Rita Repulsa had managed to agree to seal the fate of the universe with a best-of-five coin toss. Not wanting to lose, Zordon cheated the coin toss, and easily won. However, this victory was not without a price - Rita managed to trap Zordon in an interdimensional time warp before being sealed away in a dumpster. With Zordon gone, the day-to-day upkeep fell to the duties of his loyal robot, Alpha (throughout the years, as the original Alpha became outdated, he would be replaced by four successors, and eventually five in Turbo).

Since Rita's dumpster landed on the planet Nemesis, Zordon decided to use Earth as his new base of operations, setting up in the deserts of California. Zordon also prepared for the eventual arrival of evil by placing key weapons across the solar system (such as the Mega Voyager which he left on a moon of Jupiter. His experience over the ages gave him knowledge of various peoples and objects all across the known universe, many of which became key to aiding his Rangers. He is also believed to have had a hand in creating the Space Rangers of KO-35.

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
When Rita was released in the early 1990's, Zordon,now only appearing as a large blue head in a blue tower of light, asked Alpha to find five "teenagers with attitude", thus creating the first generation of Power Rangers. Each Power Ranger received a Power Coin - one of the five coins used in the coin toss that decided the fate of the universe eons ago.

Zordon acted as a mentor and advisor for all but a few moments between the original incarnation and Power Rangers: Turbo. It was somewhere during this point that it was revealed that because of the prolonged amount of time in the alternate dimension, bringing him back would be dangerous, if not lethal, as the Power Rangers would find out

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Zordon sensed the return of Ivan Ooze, a demon of unparalleled evil. He quickly summons the Rangers and informs them of the direness of the situation. When the Rangers fail to stop Ivan from being released from his egg (opened by Zedd), they fight his ooze monsters. During the battle, Ooze makes his way to the Command Center and destroys it, smashing Zordon's time warp in the process. Zordon then begins to age rapidly. The Rangers travel to the planet Pheados, where, with the help of Master Warrior Dulcea, they obtain a legendary Great Power. After destroying Ivan Ooze, they go back to the Command Center, only to find out that Zordon is already dead. However, using the Great Power, they bring him back to life.

In Power Rangers: Zeo
In Power Rangers: Zeo, he gave the rangers the Zeo Powers. He gave the rangers Zeo weapons and special moves.

In Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
In Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, the good wizard Lerigot (pronounced LAIR-eh-GO) came to Earth to flee Divatox, who wanted his magical key, capable of passing through safely into another dimension and join forces with Maligore. He sought the help of Zordon, who summoned the Rangers. He knew that, to defeat Divatox and Maligore, the Zeo powers would not be enough, so he and Alpha began work on the Turbo powers (marking the first time a sentient being was the source of a Ranger's power, instead of an artifact created by one), "equipped with the awesome power and velocity of Turbo Technology." He then sent Tommy, Tanya, Katherine, Adam, and the newest ranger, Justin Stewart (Rocky was injured in a martial arts training session and was forced to temporarily retire from Ranger duty, only to permanently retire in the first episode of the Turbo series) to the ocean, where a phantom ship was awaiting them to take them through the Nemesis Triangle (the border between two dimensions). As a last piece of advice, Alpha 5 told them that, once through to the other dimension, communication with the Power Chamber would be impossible. Neither Zordon nor Alpha are seen for the rest of the movie.

In Power Rangers: Turbo
Early on during Power Rangers: Turbo, Zordon returned to his home planet of Eltar, to be replaced by Dimitria. Not much was known about what happened to Zordon afterwards, except that he was captured by the forces of evil at the end of Turbo (he does, however, make a brief appearance, along with Alpha 5 in the episode Passing the Torch, to attend the monumental event of transferring of power to four new rangers). The evil monarch, Dark Specter imprisoned Zordon and began draining his powers for his own gain.

Death
The Power Rangers: In Space saga would bring an end to the continuous storyline that had existed since the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Ironically, in the finale episode, Countdown To Destruction, which is considered one of the best series finales of Power Rangers, the current Red Ranger Andros would be forced to kill Zordon (by smashing the column that contained him) in order to defeat evil once and for all by unleashing a power energy wave that washed across several galaxies.

Legacy
Although Zordon ceased to exist, many other characters in later incarnations served in much of the same role as Zordon - in some cases, the role of Zordon is divided into two characters, one being the philosophical mentor and the other being the technical genius of the Power Rangers team (examples include Captain Mitchell and Miss Fairweather in Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue, Princess Shayla in Power Rangers: Wild Force, Sensei Kanoi Watanabe and his son Cam in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm), Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder), Anubis Cruger in Power Rangers: SPD), Udonna in Power Rangers: Mystic Force), Sentinel Knight in Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive), and RJ in Power Rangers: Jungle Fury

Because of Zordon's influence on much of the first part of Power Rangers, there remains persistent rumors of Zordon's return in a future incarnation. An opening for Zordon's return was provided in his last words: "My spirit will live on forever in all that is good." So far, such rumours remain unsubstantiated.

Since the end of Power Rangers in Space, the new generations of Rangers have had to battle evil that was not destroyed by Zordon's energy wave. These beings exist because they either did not exist until after the wave or because they existed, at the time of the wave, in universes or dimensions separate from our own. In the case of machines, it is understood that those that were not activated during the time of the Z-Wave were not affected by its power, which is how Lord Zedd's personal War Zord, Serpentera, and the remaining generals of the Machine Empire, survived.