 This article is about a/an ally in the Power Rangers comic sub-franchise by Boom! Studios.
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- ""Is that all I was then? A sacrifice... for.., the right way? That is why you sent me in unprepared and... left me to die? I am sorry Zordon, but you can no longer be allowed to dictate the terms of good and evil. I had hoped these Rangers would see through your failings, but they are simply too brainwashed. When I am done with you, I will unburden them of the responsibility and find warriors more suitable than children. I was programmed to bring the dream of peace and prosperity to the universe Zordon, and I will achieve that goal... even if it means eliminating you in the process."
- ―Alpha 1 mentally breaks and gives an ultimatum that he will destroy everything Zordon built to fulfill his programming.[src]
- ""An ex-ex-excellent shot Rangers. I under Es-es-estimated you. Once I am prop-properly re-re-reconfigured, we shall conclude out bus-business. You mis-misunderstand.""
- ―Alpha 1 speaking to the Rangers after his Megazord bodies destruction and refusing help from alpha and his final words.[src]
Alpha 1 is the first of the Alpha series of robots made to assist Zordon, he is a comic exclusive character to line of comics produced by Boom! Studios.[1]
Character History
Alpha 1 was commissioned by the people of Edenoi by the order of King Lexian to assist Zordon in his war against evil, a war that at that time over 10,000 years ago, he was losing. Alpha 1 proved to be an invaluable asset, facing many monsters and destroying them. During one combat mission to the moon Prillon 12, Alpha 1 was badly damaged in an ambush and nearly went offline and Zordon lost his signal. Believing him to be destroyed, Zordon tried new ways of fighting off the forces of evil, creating the Power Rangers as a result. In reality, Alpha 1 was rescued by a ship and repaired himself upon reactivation. He spent millennia trying to find Zordon, eventually coming to Earth in the 21st century.
At first, he assisted the Power Rangers in various ways after becoming aware of them. Early on Alpha 1 helped them from the shadows by covering the abscence of Jason and Trini when they were taken away to Breel by doing thier homework via Angel Grove High's email system and calling anyone who suspected something was up and posing as them to reassure that person everything was fine. He then made his presence known to Billy and Zack when they tried to trace their mysterious benefactor by contacting them directly from a school computer. He then later appeared in person at the Angel Grove Museum of Natural History, saving Trini and assisting the Rangers in evacuating the civiliains and providing defensive combat support by effortlessly eliminating an entire squad of Putties in one shot. He then gives advice on how to defeat Stabasuarus Rex after scanning its internal body structure, suggesting they use Tower Formation to break the skin of the beast. This act wins the robot the trust of the Rangers, who bring him to the Command Center.
Alpha 1 is happy to serve his master Zordon again and reunites with him and meets his "great-great-great grandchild" Alpha 5. He is at first marveled by the tech his successor operates on, but is surprised to hear that Alpha 5 has no desire to be a warrior like him and wishes only to defend and aid Zordon. He thinks this is a mistake, as Alphas were orignally built on Edenoi to be combat robots and encourages him to get upgrades to make him stronger, but then accepts his "kin" in his role as Zordon's guardian and vows that together they will eradicate Rita's evil from the universe.
Later, he helps Billy design and build a prototype Blue Ranger exosuit that can greatly improve the fighting capabilities of a single Ranger, hoping to get it past testing and eventually produce more for the other Rangers. However, the suit suffers a malfunction to its jet propulsion unit in the simulator, causing Zordon to reject the proposal for using it out in the field out of concern for their safety. Alpha 1 isn't deterred by this and helps Billy find the problem, fixing the thrusters by calibrating the combusters to boost air flow and thrust power. Billy and Zack lament that despite fixing the problem, Zordon still won't let them use the suit. Alpha 1 at first thinks that his master is simply looking after his charges, but also hints that he thinks Zordon is holding them back out of concern for their safety and this may put the war in a perpetual stalemate. When Goldar attacks the Youth Center to find someone worthy to activate the Dragon Power Coin, Alpha 1 is ordered by Zordon to stay put as he believes his Rangers can handle the situation. Zack rejects this and in a bold act of defiance, insists that Alpha 1 comes with them. Zordon reluctantly agrees and after defeating some Putties with the Rangers, the robot reveals his true colors by brutally blasting Goldar in the back and preparing an attempt to murder him in cold blood. Defenseless and unable to teleport away, Goldar gets scared as Alpha 1 reveals his philosophy of war: Kill anything that stands in your way without mercy or hesitation. The Rangers reject this as it isn't their way of fighting and try to save Goldar when they refuse to murder the warrior in cold blood and Alpha 1 attempts to do it himself. He then attacks the Rangers and contains them in a force field, as he states he has no quarrel with them thus used non-lethal methods of getting them out of his way.
Zordon contacts him, wondering what his friend is doing, with the robot stating that as he traveled the galaxy he came to an epiphany. Alpha 1 believes the results of Zordon's acts of not escalating a fight were meaningless as countless worlds suffered as the sage held himself back, calling his master a coward to not want any blood on his hands. Zordon explains to Alpha 1 that if he did let go of his ideals, he would become a monster and the sacrifices of those who fought with honor and died by his side would be in vain if he became a cruel man. Offended by this, believing Zordon made him nothing but a sacrificial pedestal to be a martyr for others, Alpha 1 has a mental breakdown and decides to kill his master and afterward relieve his Rangers of their powers to be replaced by more hardened soldiers who would be better suited for the job. Ranting that he will fulfill his programming and bring peace to the universe, by any means necessary. He uses his machine assimilation powers to absorb metal objects, electronics and vehicles to create a Megazord body to prepare to attack and destroy the Command Center. He leaves the Rangers in their containment, changing his opinion on them and asking them to ponder over working for him instead and discuss ways to win the war once his task is done. He quickly arrives and bombards the Command Center with heavy energy blasts that nearly break the defensive shields, but the Rangers, who were freed by Goldar as a repayment for saving him and out of a warrior's pride to have the honor of killing them himself, arrive in their DinoZords to try to stop him.
Alpha 1 proves to be a formidable opponent, as he is able to calculate and anticipate their moves despite damage to one of his limbs and his combat strategies in his computer brain counters the Megazord's attacks and badly cripples it. Alpha 1 realizes the Rangers will never join him and decides to drop his mercy towards them and attempts to kill them to get to Zordon. Zordon comes up with a plan and gives instructions to his Rangers, they form the Megazord Tank Mode and then, in an unexpected move, Alpha 5 arrives in Billy's exosuit and rips off the evil Alpha 1 Megazord's right leg and reveals he is just a distraction. The Megazord Tank Mode fires a devastating blast at Alpha 1 at close range, destroying his Megazord body and leaving him crippled and leaking power. He commends the Power Rangers for an impressive fight, but vows to get back up, rebuild himself and resume their battle. Alpha 5 offers some compassion to his predecessor, saying that he can fix him and Alpha 1 can be forgiven for what he did if he just returns to Zordon. Refusing such a notion, he says the broken body he is in is "just a shell", breaking his power core in an effort to self-destruct. Knowing he cannot eliminate them, Alpha 1 says that he will return someday for revenge and until then, he will be watching them as his body explodes and the Rangers and Alpha 5 evade the blast.
Zordon simply says afterward that if Alpha 1 uploaded himself somewhere, they will be ready for him when the time comes and that perhaps in a way the robot was right about how he holds back his Rangers, promising to not treat them as his children anymore and more like the Power Rangers they were meant to be. He has yet to return so he is either scheming for the long haul or his final gloat was false.
Personality
Alpha 1 is a sharp contrast to his successor Alpha 5, as he is a hardened warrior who believes that evil must be eliminated regardless of the methods used due to his programming. While he was at first committed to helping Zordon like in the old days by aiding the Power Rangers, he began to view Zordon as "weak" coming to the "logical" thought process that the sage's very inaction and moral standards is what has allowed Rita Repulsa and her forces to endure for so long and bring suffering to the universe. He then rebelled against his master, seeing him not as a friend, but an obstacle to be removed along with the Power Rangers as they attempted to stop him from murdering Goldar.
Powers and abilities
Alpha 1
- Forcefield Generator- Alpha 1 is equipped with a powerful forcefield generator which can project shield barriers in a surrounding area to protect civilians and Rangers during a monster attack or capture prisoners.
- Built-in Weapons - Unlike Alpha 5, Alpha 1 was built to be a combat support robot and is armed with energy cannons located in the "palms" of his robot claws. Said energy cannons fire a surge of powerful bolts that can eradicate an entire platoon of Putties in one shot.
- Computer Hacking Tools- Alpha 1 has been shown to possess immense skill in hacking computers, such as the ones in Angel Grove High, to perform tasks to protect the identities of the Power Rangers.
- Machine Assimilation - Alpha 1 can self-repair or add new components by absorbing other machines. This feature can also make him into a Megazord sized robot for combat.
- Rocket Propulsion - Alpha 1 can fly using the rockets built into his back.
- Consciousness uploading - Despite his defeat, he stated that his body was "just a shell". This indicates that Alpha 1 has the ability to upload his A.I. to other machines or robot bodies if his own body is on the verge of being destroyed or suffering critical system failure.
Alpha 1 merge with various scrap parts
Alpha Zord
- Super Strength-Alpha 1's Zord like body was immensely strong, picking up and throwing the Tyrannosaurs Dinozord with one arm as if it were a toy.
- Durability-Alpha 1's Zord body can take blasts from the Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger Dinozords without getting a scratch.
- Flight-Alpha 1's Zord body can fly using the jet boosters on it's underside.
- Energy Blasts-Alpha 1 can fire blue energy bolts from his arms that were strong enough to nearly take down the Command Center's shields with one blast and, when combined with Alpha 1's missiles, took down the Megazord with one blast as well as crippling it in Tank Mode.
Arsenal
- Clawed Fists-Alpha 1's Zord body has massive yellow fists with silver claws on the end to smack the Zords.
- Missiles-Alpha 1 can fire blue energy that forms into missiles from the holes in the center of these fists. This was strong enough to take down the Megazord with one hit.
- Power Sword-After taking down the Megazord, Alpha 1 stole the Megazord's Power Sword to try and impale it but was knocked back and they retrieved the weapon.
Behind the Scenes
See also
- Alpha 5 (2016 comic) - Alpha 1's eventual successor
- Alpha 5 (World of the Coinless) - The alternate universe version of Alpha 5 from Lord Drakkon's reality.
- Finster 5 - The alternate universe hybrid cyborg of Finster and Alpha 5 that serves Lord Drakkon.
