Goldar

This article is about a villain in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Goldar
Gender:	Male
Villain Type:	General
Seasons:	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Power Rangers Zeo Power Rangers in Space
Homeworld:	Titan
First Appearance:	Day of the Dumpster
Last Appearance:	Countdown to Destruction
Actor:	Kerrigan Mahan

For the version from the 1995 movie, see Goldar

For the version from the 2016 comic book, see Goldar

For the version from the 2017 movie, see Goldar

"My life is dedicated to destroying you!"

―Goldar to Jason Lee Scott^[src]

Goldar (or Flydar in the pilot episode), is a powerful yet very overconfident warrior that served under the command of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd. He usually fought alongside Scorpina or Rito Revolto.

As his name implies, Goldar sports a golden suit of armor with a matching helmet. Goldar is a humanoid cat. Reminiscent of a gryphon, with red eyes and a gravelly voice. It was rumored that early on in the series Goldar was voiced both by Robert Axelrod and Kerrigan Mahan and after the episode Rita's Seed of Evil, only Mahan provided his voice. However, Mahan confirmed that this was false (see Notes for more information) The suit actors who played Goldar in the Sentai footage were Takashi Sakamoto for non-action scenes and Kazutoshi Yokoyama for battle sequences. In original footage, the actor was Danny Wayne Stallcup for the first two seasons while during season three he was portrayed by David Wald and several other actors.

Character history

Pre-Mighty Morphin

According to the first conversations between Goldar and Lord Zedd, Goldar served Zedd with unquestioning loyalty before he was assigned to Rita's team. Where and for how long he served Zedd, however, is unknown.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Goldar led his Empress' very first invasion against the Earth. However, he soon faced the Power Rangers and was beaten by their Megazord after an intense fight (which is in contrast to his Zyuranger version). He also became notable for telling Rita what to do frequently (which Rita told him never to do again in "Doomsday", part 2), and always promised that they will get revenge for their schemes' failures, even though they really didn't in the end. He also has been called a "bumbling fool" by Rita in "A Star is Born", and was scolded by Rita vehemently in "Happy Birthday, Zack", being called a "worthless misfit" and a "dweeb". This pattern also happened when Lord Zedd was introduced as well; in addition to insulting the now apparently-incompetent golden warrior, he often blamed Goldar for his own failures, and had a habit of silencing him (and Squatt and Baboo) frequently, which is the reason why Goldar doesn't have as many lines in the other two seasons than he does in the first season.

Ever since then, Goldar fought the Rangers and their Zords, growing a strong hatred for Jason and Tommy, the Red and Green Rangers, for their continual victories in single combat. Goldar also had a Zord of his own known as Cyclopsis, an ancient war machine, but this Zord was defeated by the Rangers' Ultrazord after a prolonged battle. He was also involved in one of Bulk and Skull's more memorable encounters with a monster, in which Goldar (giant sized) picked up a bus with the two bullies inside.

When Lord Zedd arrived on the moon, Goldar eagerly abandoned Rita for his old master, regaining his wings in the process. As Zedd's right hand man, Goldar led many missions for him, encountering Tommy (now the White Ranger) again and again. Each time they fought, the White Ranger would best him, sending Goldar back to Zedd in disgrace. When Rita returned to the moon and married Zedd, Goldar was aghast. When he finally discovered it was a sham, he immediately set out to make things right and had Finster create an antidote for the love spell Rita used. Unfortunately for Goldar, it was revealed that Zedd had come to love Rita on his own, potion or not. Even after Rita dropped her secret plans of usurping Zedd, Goldar still had a massive dislike for her. Often paired with Rito Revolto, Goldar was disgusted by the skeleton's stupidity (and stench), although they eventually became friends of sorts. This is shown to be true as Rito gave him a Christmas present and he accepted it without argument.

Goldar was also essential in Lord Zedd's powering of the Shogun Zords, as he soundly defeated Ninjor, allowing Zedd to capture and use him as a power source for the Shogunzords.

Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers

Goldar and Rito planted a bomb outside of the Command Center, but it was defused by Alpha 5. The two were then given a map of the Command Centers Basement (that Zedd found) and attempted to blow it up.The bomb went off, and the Command Center exploded. During the chaos, Goldar stole the Zeo Crystal with the help of Rito. During this mini-series, Goldar finally beat the Power Rangers by helping destroy their Ninja Power Coins.

In Zeo

However, they somehow lost the Crystal, and their memories (and in Goldar's case, his wings), and ended up wandering around Angel Grove. They eventually found Bulk and Skull, and ended up becoming their butlers in exchange for food and shelter. Zedd and Rita eventually found them and restored their memories (and Goldar's wings). They returned to their employers and helped them in their quest to destroy the Machine Empire.

In Space

Goldar's final appearance was in the final episode of Power Rangers In Space, Countdown to Destruction. Unlike Rito, Goldar went with Zedd and Rita to the Cimmerian Planet for Dark Specter's conference, where he was responsible for revealing Andros' identity by removing his cloak. He was later present in their invasion of the Vica Galaxy, helping to subdue the Gold Zeo Ranger. When Zordon's energy wave washed over their army, Goldar was likely destroyed, reduced to a pile of sand along with all others who participated in the final invasion, although his fate is not directly witnessed. Alternatively, he was possibly purified into a human form as seen with Rita, Lord Zedd, Divatox, and Astronema, depending on whether he was completely evil or still had elements of humanity.

Video game appearances

Power Rangers: Super Legends

Goldar is the main villain in the Mighty Morphin' section of the game. He is first seen complaining about Rita making him do her dirty work once again. Suddenly, Lord Zedd appears in a time hole and tells him to contaminate Angel Grove's water supply, zombifying everyone there to form an army of Z-Putties. Goldar follows Zedd's demands, however the Power Rangers are hot on his tail. The "chase" ends at Angel Grove, where Goldar is ready to contaminate the water supply, however the Power Rangers stop him and he is forced to grow. He is defeated in the Megazord battle. In the game, he is voiced by Nolan North this time.

Power Rangers Legacy Wars

Goldar as seen in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.

Goldar is among the villains who feature in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.

Personality

Unlike many other henchmen, Goldar was one of the few who was capable of holding his own against the entire Power Ranger team. As time went by in the series, Goldar's character became less threatening and more comical, especially in the first feature film. He was a dangerous fighter initially, being able to defeat the original team in battle single-handedly. Later, however, he began to lose his edge, with Jason handing him his first major defeat in the episode Missing Green. After this point he was apparently less powerful, losing to the rangers more and more in combat.

Change in appearance

From the first episode, Day of the Dumpster, to Lions & Blizzards, the Goldar costume looked like Grifforzer, his Zyuranger counterpart. This caused his snout to rise whenever he was talking. Starting with Crystal of Nightmares, the head was modified so that the jaw (or just the bottom teeth) would move down. This new costume was used for all footage filmed in the U.S. onward, but the rising snout Goldar would appear in recycled footage in the second season.

In addition to the changes in his facial appearance, the revised costume notably has a pair of extended wings. Although Goldar is shown with the ability to fly in early episodes, the wings on the original costume are folded behind him and later disappear for reasons not explained within the season. In "The Mutiny, Part I" when Goldar immediately defects from Rita upon Lord Zedd's arrival, the evil emperor states, "Your spineless, sniveling attitude leads me to believe you will serve me well. For that, I shall restore to you what was once taken away." Zedd then uses his staff to re-grant Goldar his wings. Although he was seen with his wings when in Rita's palace, they disappeared whenever he grew and would continue to appear and disappear throughout the season with no explanation.

His final appearance was in the In Space finale, Countdown to Destruction appearing alongside Rita, Zedd, and Finster.

Gallery

Goldar as he originally appeared.

Goldar without his wings.

Behind the Scenes

Portrayal

Goldar's main voice actor was Kerrigan Mahan. His Sentai suit actors were Takashi Sakamoto (non-action scenes) and Kazutoshi Yokoyama (fight scenes). His US suit actors were Danny Wayne Stallcup (season 1 and 2) and David Wald (season 3). Nolan North voiced him in the Power Rangers Super Legends video game.

Notes

Goldar as seen in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Live.

• Goldar shares his name with the Western localization name of Magma, the protagonist of tokusatsu show Ambassador Magma, adapted from Osamu Tezuka's eponymous manga and known as The Space Giants in the USA.
• Goldar appears in a Ford Overdubs commercial called "Bow to My Engine", with Kerrigan Mahan returning as Goldar's voice.
• Goldar never spoke in the original Day of the Dumpster pilot.
• It's unknown how Goldar lost his wings in "Day of the Dumpster".
• Goldar's birthplace was given as Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
• Goldar had occasionally shown the ability to grow to giant size at will.
• Goldar had individually fought Jason, Trini, Zack and Tommy. Trini was the first Ranger to fight him alone, while Jason was the first to combat him unmorphed.
• Goldar was usually used throughout the first season to deliver exposition (due to his costume being immediately available for original footage), in contrast to his Zyuranger counterpart Grifforzer who was unable to speak for the first twenty-one episodes of the series.
• Goldar received a minor appearance change from Crystal of Nightmares onwards as his mouth, which previously was simply a snout that moved up and down (like his counterpart) became much more responsive with his teeth far more visible than before.
• The tone of Goldar's voice varies considerably throughout the first season of the series. This initially fueled speculation that Kerrigan Mahan had not been the original voice of the character. In truth, Mahan had voiced the character with a gravelly, higher-pitched tone in the earliest episodes, however the resulting vocal strain forced him to experiment with other versions of the voice until he eventually settled on Goldar's iconic, low guttural inflection. Sound bites of Mahan's earlier performance were still used in later episodes, particularly in scenes where Goldar would fight or grow to giant size.
• In the comic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual #1 (2016), it is revealed that Goldar had a brother named Silverback who also worked for Lord Zedd.
• Goldar is a playable character in Power Rangers Legacy Wars.

See Also

• Grifforzer - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page.
• Goldar (movie)
• Goldar (2016 comic)
• Goldar (2017 movie)