Mantis

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

Mantis
Season	Mighty Morphin 1
Episodes	Plague of the Mantis Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park
Voice Actor	Barbara Goodson

"So Yellow Ranger, you dare to challenge me to single combat? You have no chance against me, weakling!"

―The Mantis' first words when confronting Trini after she morphed.^[src]

"What is this?!"

―The Mantis when reacting to the other four newly arrived Power Rangers.^[src]

"With all your friends….it’s not a fair fight. You all have no honour."

―The Mantis' insult to Trini's honor.^[src]

The Mantis was an praying mantis monster who was extremely skilled in Praying Mantis Kung Fu an expert warrior. He was the main antagonist of the episode "Plague of the Mantis".

History

Rita ordered Finster to create the Mantis to do destroy Trini since he had been created to match her mantis fighting style. The Mantis was first detected by Alpha who sent Trini (who was practising her martial arts in the woods) to investigate only for her to have to morph as the monster arrived. They then battled, with the Mantis calling Trini a weakling and easily overpowered her. Luckily, before she morphed, Trini had called the other Rangers for help. They swiftly made an appearance, forcing the Mantis to retreat as he was now outnumbered but not before directly insulting Trini's honor.

Trini was at the Youth Center when she got a letter thanks to Ernie which had been secretly sent by Rita. It was supposedly from Master Li and told her to meet him in the quarry for some "special training" only for it to turn out to be a trap as the Mantis was lying in wait. Rather than call her friends, Trini decided to fight Mantis alone to restore her supposedly lost honor. The monster wanted to defeat Trini in a battle one on one, using her nobility and bravery against her. When Trini fought him, Mantis realized that his opponent is not only brave, but is highly skilled in battle so cheated in battle and summoned Putties who held her down. Luckily, before he could finish her off, the other Rangers arrived and saved her. They had seen the same letter Trini had and worked out that it was a very obvious trap. With the gloves fully off as the Mantis was a cheating hypocrite, Trini used her Power Daggers to take down the monster. However, he quickly recovered and was able to quickly cut down all five Rangers with remarkable ease.

With her monster emerging victorious, Rita made him grow so the Rangers summoned the Megazord but it was no match for the monster's pincers. Jason summoned the Power Sword and they matched the monster's blades. They then turned the tables by stabbing him in the gut and flipping him to the ground before hitting him with two slashes to the stomach. With the Mantis now severely weakened, they destroyed him with an energized slash. TV STORY-Plague of the Mantis

Trumpet Top later summoned an illusionary Mantis among other monsters as part of a plot to wear down the Rangers until Zordon saw through the plot which made the monsters vanish.. TV STORY-Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park

Personality

The Mantis is a cunning, intelligent and skilled fighter in battle. But despite his skills he lacks such traits, as honor and prefers to cheat in battle. He  was surprisingly arrogant as he challenged Trini for a duel. He promised her a fair fight, but after the battle he told her that he really has no honor.

Powers and abilities

• Strength: The Mantis was capable of battling Trini and knocking the Megazord back with one swing of his pincers.
• Skilled Fighter: The Mantis is also a skilled fighter, skilled in Praying Mantis Kung Fu. He easily overwhelmed Trini and even the Megazord barely keep up.
• Teleportation: The Mantis can teleport to any location at will.
• Putty Summoning: The Mantis can summon Putties to aid him in battle.

Arsenal

• Mantis Claws: Instead of hands, Mantis has massive razor sharp pincers which he can use to slash his enemies. A single swing of his claws cut down a tree.

Behind The Scenes

Portrayal

• Mantis is voiced by Barbara Goodson who also voiced Rita.

Notes

• The Mantis comes from what is commonly referred to as "Zyu2" footage, and was not seen in the original Zyuranger.
• The Mantis is one of only three monsters in Season 1 to lack any projectile or energy attacks, the others being the Giant and Frankenstein's Monster.
  • However, one could argue the Mantis is actually the fourth since Mutitus' original form lacked one as well. Others would argue that Mutitus is invalid since his second form had an energy attack and they were the same entity.
    • The fact that Mutitus and Frankenstein were the same entity in Zyuranger means that this is not a coincidence.
• The Mantis, much like the Fighting Flea before, has a gender discrepancy. They are referred to as male by the Rangers but also have a very obvious female voice.
  • The Mantis has arguably the simplest monster design for a Zyu2 monster since she is just an anthropomorphic mantis with no monstrous additions besides his size.
• The Mantis is the first praying mantis-themed monster in Power Rangers. The next is Praying Mantis in In Space 5 years later, followed by Motor Mantis in Lost Galaxy 6 years later, and Creepox in Megaforce 19 years later.