Morphin Grid

This article is about a/an source of power/location in the Power Rangers franchise.

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"Alpha. Adjust the Morphin Grid and locate Jason on the Viewing Globe"

―Zordon and the very first mention of the Morphin Grid ever.^[src]

"(Nate): If my calculations are correct, we will have access to the most powerful energy source in the known universe!
(Mayor Daniels): That's exactly what I'm afraid of.
(Commander Shaw): It seems that the mayor thinks what we're doing is a mistake.
(Mayor Daniels): A HUGE mistake! Since before you were born, every monster out there in every dimension from Rita Repulsa to Sledge and Galvanax. They all wanted to take the Rangers' power and rule the universe. And now that you've wrapped it up with a little ribbon, some evil mind will try to take it again. And when they come. This...place? Grid Battleforce? It won't be able to stop them."

―Mayor Daniel's misgivings about Morph-X due to the history of villains wanting ultimate power.^[src]

The Morphin Grid is a multi-dimensional energy source accessed by the Power Rangers. By establishing a link, an individual's cellular makeup is instantaneously uploaded to the Grid, allowing them the knowledge and powers that come with it.

Overview

The term "Morphin Grid" is a catch-all term referring to the overall concept of the Rangers' powers. Specifically, their powers are drawn from Grid Energy, powerful sources created by the Masterforge, which is led to using gates known as Master Arches. It is recommended to use a Morpher as it is able to contain the raw amounts of energy exuded by the Grid. Using a broken Morpher is not advised as the large concentrations of energy will leak and kill the user if excessively done. COMIC STORY- Power Rangers Universe (Boom! Studios) Issue 4 TV STORY-Always a Chance

Once a Ranger has been connected, they can gain incredible new powers:

• In the Boom! comics, Jason and Trini were shown lifting boulders the size of small houses and running at incredible speeds. Billy and Kimberly initially had no combat training, but once morphed, they became great fighters, showing the Grid can grant martial arts skills. Such particular quirks proved crucial in consistently saving the lives of newly chosen Rangers who find themselves abruptly thrusted into their first battle before having a chance to receive proper combat training.
• In the 2017 film, the Grid granting new abilities to the team served as a plot point: New bearers of Power Coins are shown to break things they touch a bit too easily, until they get accustomed to using their enhanced strength. Billy in particular finds himself bewildered to see his long-time bully fail to break his arm. Later, said bully knocks himself out cold in an attempt to headbutt Billy. This is due to the Grid enhancing Billy's durability. In spite being durable against attacks from mundane adversaries, the Rangers are not invincible with their Grid links. Beings with sufficient power, such as former Green Ranger Rita, can still hurt them.
• The Energems granted a non-aging effect to its users.
• The Dino Gems granted superhuman powers to its users.
• Through unknown means, Kat Manx and several of her associates from SPD somehow gained access to the Grid and experimented with it, which granted the children of her associates superhuman abilities.

Accessing the Grid

Anyone, such as evil beings, can access the Grid to create their own evil Rangers or take control of other Zords and Megazords.

The Grid can also become corrupted by different means with varying results, such as anomalies creating Dark Grid Energy that then creates manifestations of evil beings or an entire planet’s connection to the Grid being tainted by evil and causing Rangers who morph within it to take on “infected” versions of their suits with their emotions twisted and free will suppressed, attacking and causing destruction at the bidding of whomever tainted their Grid connection. This can even spread throughout the universe, which would have dire consequences as everything would potentially die if the Morphin Grid’s light was extinguished by evil.

Although powers can be duplicated, the Grid can only contain one active connection to a specific Ranger. Multiple active connections to the same Ranger will cause disruptions in the Grid and weaken each morphed user. This is shown through Zordon forbidding the use of the second Pterodactyl Power Coin while one was already active, stating a line that has become somewhat memetic, "Too much pink energy is dangerous." TV STORY-Wild West Rangers (episode) The repercussions were shown on two occasions:

• When Kimberly Ann Hart had her Crane Power Coin stolen and presumably replaced with a fake by Katherine Hillard, she was weakened to the point where she was hospitalized. TV STORY-Changing of the Zords
• Due to the co-existence of both Trent Fernandez-Mercer as the White Dino Ranger and his clone, they were severely weakened while simultaneously morphed. TV STORY-Strange Relations
• A strange case, both Jayden Shiba and Lauren Shiba are Red Samurai Rangers, which theoretically should cause issues with their simultaneous powers, though none where shown on-screen. TV STORY-Fight Fire With Fire

A Ranger's connection to the Grid is powered by Grid Energy, which can be siphoned through various means:

• Zordon explained twice that the destruction of the Rangers' Zords (as with the Thunderzords) can also mean the loss of their powers, though this was retroactively rectified that their connection to the Grid was siphoned from their Zords' destruction, and not the connection itself which was still intact. TV STORY-Ninja Quest Billy later found ways to connect to the Grid and restore his original team's powers.
• Madtropolis was capable of siphoning Grid Energy from a Ranger, leaving them weak and tired until Cameron Watanabe restored their powers. TV STORY-The Samurai's Journey.
• Motodrone siphoned Hunter Bradley's energy he was unable to move whatsoever although Cam revealed that only an imprint of Hunter's power was taken. TV STORY-Brothers In Arms
• Lothor used the Samurai Amulet to siphon the Wind Rangers' Grid Energy supply, TV STORY-Storm Before the Calm though their powers were temporarily restored by the Abyss of Evil, which only provided a temporary and waning supply. TV STORY-Thunder Storm

The Morphin Grid damaged.

Connections to the Grid can be severed (but repaired) through various methods:

• Thrax was also able to disrupt the Overdrive Rangers connection to the Grid until the connection was repaired by Alpha 6.
• Keeper's staff was able to sever Albert Smith's connection to the Purple Energem, which are direct connections to the Grid. TV STORY-World Famous! (In New Zealand)

Nature

Throughout the franchise, the Grid has taken on various different physical forms, each with varying levels of functionality:

• A physical piece of the Grid appeared as the Solarix, where it was used by the Morphin Masters to disconnect the Zeo Crystal-filled Splintered Star planet from the Grid, becoming The Void. COMIC STORY- Beyond the Grid
• The Grid manifested as a mid-sized boulder in front of Ethan James and Kira Ford, allowing them an opportunity to upload their memories as Dino Rangers into it. TV STORY-Before it Began These memories cannot be overwritten except by objects such as the Rock of Time, albeit only temporarily and can be restored. TV STORY-Rangers Back in Time
• The Grid appeared as an electromagnetic field where Alpha 6 was able to physically access and repair. TV STORY-Once a Ranger
• The Power Eggs contain large glowing rainbow crystals within them that are powerful physical manifestations of the Grid. These can be used with a Master Arch to create a massive shield to protect a planet from an infection of the main Grid while also acting as a temporary “backup generator” to create an isolated secondary Grid for Rangers to morph safely into their suits and fight off invaders for a limited time. COMIC STORY- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 117

It was theorized by Jen Scotts that the Grid can manipulate the space-time continuum, which was proven through Billy using a "neutrino power grid molecular" in the Command Center to locate Rita Repulsa's time-warp shuttle. TV STORY-High Five The Grid also was able to separate all Ranger teams into different eras to prevent an existential paradox that would have erased them either because Tommy Oliver did not survive or became evil following the events of "Green with Evil". COMIC STORY- Shattered Grid

Though unknown if this applies to all beings, Zordon mentioned he would "become one with the Grid at death" to the Emissaries Three, which he ultimately did following the Z-Wave. TV STORY-Countdown to Destruction He would later appear in the form of Zayto and converse with Aiyon before bringing his soul back to Earth. TV STORY-The End

The Grid also has the power to manipulate matter; Alpha taps into the Grid to produce flowers outside the Command Center and clothes for Bulk and Skull when the reprogrammed Alpha teleports them to the Australian outback. TV STORY-The Wedding It can also be inferred that with the same applications the Grid can turn things such as the Galactabeasts, Animal Spirits and Wildzords into actual Zords.

History

Ancient Past

Although the exact origins of Grid Energy are unknown, they are channeled through the Masterforges, which have been studied by the Morphin Masters since ancient times. The Grid operates like a dimension of pure energy and knowledge, not good nor evil. They established the concept of Morphers to harness its raw power after the Morphinaut inundated with it for centuries to seal Dark Specter away. As such, the six Squadron Rangers sacrificed their humanity to become the Emissaries Three and rescue the Morphinaut, who became the Phantom Ranger. Half a millennia later, the Morphin Masters created several objects capable of harnessing the power of the Grid, such as the Dino Gems, Energems, and the Ninja Nexus Prism which were sent out into space to fight against evil.

Prehistoric era

During prehistoric Earth times, a group of aliens from Rafkon arrived on Earth to fight against the Sporix Beasts and were granted power by the Morphin Masters to become the Dino Fury Rangers. Some time later, an asteroid that contained the Dino Gems crashed landed on Earth and extinguished the dinosaurs.

In the Dino Charge universe of an alternate timeline, Keeper arrived with the Energems and bonded them to dinosaurs before their extinction.

Modern Times

The Grid was first name-dropped by Zordon, who used it to locate Jason Lee Scott during his solo duel with King Sphinx, though it was described as a computer system rather than a power source. TV STORY-A Pressing Engagement It was then brought up by Lord Zedd who described as the balance between good and evil, though it's unclear whenever he was just being a show-off to Goldar, or he was actually aware of the grid's balance of good and evil. TV STORY-White Light

Groups and individuals such as Lightspeed, Time Force, the Animarian Warriors, the Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies, Space Patrol Delta, Hartford, Robert James, the Ancient Samurai Rangers and Gosei are shown to have established access to the Grid to form Ranger teams but how they found the Grid itself is given little to no explanation at all. Andrew likely had an information network to find ex-Rangers to help him make a connection to the Grid for his team, while RJ had his acquaintance make four Morphers. Both of them made the Ranger arsenal from scratch with real world material and not Grid energy constructs.

In Power Rangers S.P.D., Kat Manx and a group of human scientists experimented with the Grid to create the morpher technology used by S.P.D. Rangers though this had the side-effect of mutating the humans' genetics and DNA causing their children to be born with unusual superhuman abilities. TV STORY-Sam

In Operation Overdrive, the Rangers' access to the Grid is damaged by Thrax, Flurious' forces, Moltor's forces, Kamdor's forces and the Fearcats. When Sentinel Knight restores the Retro Rangers' powers, it is shown the only damaged part of the Grid is the section connected to the Overdrive Rangers. Andrew Hartford reinforced the Grid to prevent further damage but it has to be repaired from the inside which a reactivated Alpha 6 does. TV STORY-Once a Ranger

In the RPM universe, Doctor K explained that she discovered a Bio-Field of electrical energy from which she draws power for the Ranger Operators, their gear, and their Zord Attack Vehicles. Though never explicitly identified as such, most likely due to a lack of detailed knowledge of the Grid as it existed then, it is implied and assumed the Bio-Field is meant to be the Morphin Grid. TV STORY-Rain Later she mentioned that Lord Drakkon's Black Dragon Cannons which were designed to disrupt Grid connections, could also disrupt the Bio-Field, indicating that they are one and the same. COMIC STORY- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 27

The Grid is presumably where Noah Carver acquires the Legendary Ranger Database, whose data on past Rangers proved invaluable against the Armada. TV STORY-Earth Fights Back It is possible, though not confirmed, that the database's information comes from Rangers storing their knowledge and history in the Grid as seen in Dino Thunder's S.P.D. preview.

In Beast Morphers, it was revealed Grid Battleforce discovered a substance originating from the Grid created by Nate Silva called Morph X; through its connections to the Grid they learn of other Rangers and their battles against evil forces such as Rita Repulsa, Sledge and Galvanax. The idea of using the Grid as a power source disturbed Mayor Adam Daniels who worries another evil will rise in light of this like all Ranger enemies which is later confirmed through the emergence of Evox (later confirmed to be Venjix) who wishes to take over the Grid itself. Luckily the Grid Battleforce, having foreseen this formed the Grid Battleforce Rangers. Following the final defeat of Evox, all Morph-X in Coral Harbor was sucked into the air and reabsorbed into the Morphin Grid. In light of the mass destruction reaped in the final battle, it was decided that Morph-X would no longer be developed and be permanently discontinued. Instead, Coral Harbor switched to more natural and renewable means such as wind and solar power. TV STORY-Evox Unleashed

The Morphin Grid was also capable of changing a highly powerful meteor into a Power Coin as well as summoning the user of said coin in an instant and (implicitly) even restoring any previously destroyed Zords to working condition. TV STORY-Grid Connection

The Dino Fury Rangers' connection to the Grid was severed when their statues at Dinohenge were destroyed by Zedd. The staffs of the Morphin Masters contain a direct connection to the Grid, which Billy used to create the Cosmic Fury Rangers.

Kat later mentioned overhauling the Grid to review previous Ranger battles. TV STORY-Insomnia

Links to the Morphin Grid

Mainstream

• Morphers
• Power Coins
• Power Chamber
• Zeo Crystal
• Golden Power Staff
• The Power Ruby
• Quasar Sabers
• Lights of Orion
• Power of the Knight
• Power Animal Crystals
• Power Disks
• Dino Gems
• Mystic Force Spells
• Corona Aurora
• Excelsior
• Animal Spirits
• Engine Cells
• Symbol Power
• Power Cards
• Wild Sword
• Legendary Ranger Keys
• Energems
• Ninja Nexus Prism
• Morph X
• Dino Fury Keys
• Dinohenge
• Cosmic Orbs

Comics

• Solarix
• Omega Morphers
• Ranger Academy Power Coins

Films

• Power Coins

Unexplained

• New Powers

Notes

• The Morphin Grid is a concept exclusive to Power Rangers and is a major plot device that narratively connects all Power Rangers series together, serving as the ancestral source and origin of all teams' powers. In contrast, Super Sentai teams get their powers from various sources, each having little to no connection with each other.
• During fight scenes involving Rangers, sparks fly off of areas where they take damage, which is speculated by the YouTube series "DeathBattle!" to actually be Grid Energy absorbing damage for the Rangers that would normally harm and/or kill a person. Behind-the-scenes, this is a carryover from Super Sentai stunt scenes where sparks fly to indicate where a suit-actor has been hit.
• The Morphin Grid is similar to The Force from the Star Wars franchise as they are both energies that give their characters powers.