This article is about a monster in Power Rangers Zeo . |
- ""Rock-a-bye Rangers in the tree tops.""
- ―Somnibot's signature lullaby. It's shorter than Rock-A-Bye Baby since she usually hums the rest of it.[src]
- "Hey, this is a private slumber party!"
- ―Somnibot speaking to the Gold Ranger after her singing was interrupted by him.[src]
Somnibot is a female lullaby-singing, sleep-themed monster who serves as the main antagonist of the episode "Rock-A-Bye Power Rangers".
History
Somnibot was created when King Mondo and his wife Queen Machina were impressed that their plan to wear out the Rangers (with two weeks worth of Cog attacks) was working. Mondo asked Klank and Orbus to assemble her as a way to finally finish the job and, the following afternoon, she was presented to the Gadgetry Family. Mondo asked Klank to ask a Quadrafighter pilot to send her to Earth to begin singing her cradle song to the citizens of Angel Grove, which she agreed to before boarding her flight.
While flying to Earth on the back of a Quadrafighter, Somnibot decided to practice using her spell. She sang the lullaby "Rock-a-Bye Baby" as a way to practice using her spell, which caused the pilot to almost fall asleep. Realizing this, she woke him back up and told him not to fall asleep at the wheel, but she herself began to fall under her spell's effects, telling the pilot to wake her when they get to Angel Grove.
When she arrived at the park, several citizens were about to run away, but she cast her spell and put them to sleep with her song. She briefly boasted about her spell's strength before laughing.
Later, she, Klank and Orbus were at a riverbank outside of the city, along with several Cogs. After the Cogs and the Rangers engaged in battle for a few moments, Klank gave Somnibot her cue to sing. She began casting her sleeping spell, her eyes and hands glowing violet as she sang her cradle song to put the Rangers and Cogs to sleep. After a prolonged period of time, the Gold Ranger showed up to stop her. Somni unleashed her pink energy projectiles at the Ranger, but he attacked her with one of his own and she was blasted apart.
Machina fretted over her destruction, and Mondo ordered Klank to not only rebuild her, but boost her power. Thus, her spell was amplified to a more powerful state than before. She used it on Bulk and Skull when they were arresting a burglar (who also was subjected to her spell) and then on the Rangers when they arrived at the parking lot to confront her. The Gold Ranger arrived to fight her, but Somnibot used her spell on him as well. After a prolonged period of time, she was finally shorted out by a power surge initiated by Alpha 5; her spell, to her anger, was broken and her frequency was terminated. This presumably woke up everyone that she had placed under her spell. Declaring that she can stop the Rangers even without her spell, Klank summoned the Cogs to aid her in fighting the Rangers. After a bit, the Rangers fired on her with the Zeo Cannon which defeated her once again. Klank flew Orbus to her, and he re-energized her and made her grow. This forced the Rangers to summon the Zeo Megazord. It is discovered that not only did Somnibot herself grow, but also her arrogance did as well. After the Rangers beat her around for a bit, they call forth Pyramidas and form the Zeo Ultrazord. Unimpressed with their "fancy contraption", she declared herself to be invincible before laughing again. But she is proven wrong, and with a cry of surprise the Rangers fire on her, destroying her for good this time. TV STORY-Rock-A-Bye Power Rangers
She later appeared in Prince Gasket's Machine Arena, back in her original nightcap-wearing form. TV STORY-King For A Day
Personality
Unlike other monsters that have come before her and since (with the exception of Waspicable), Somnibot's personality is very childlike, playful and yet despite her sweet-natured appearance she is pretty deceptive in her first form, due to the fact that she has a very nurturing, non-threatening initial appearance and lullaby-based powers. However, she was putting people to sleep with her singing (and sending them to the Dream World) against their will, which is wrong and she clearly didn't care given her enthusiasm on continuing to do so rather than have second thoughts on her mission. In her second form, however, she is far more sinister and overconfident after she has been given a power boost and an upgrade to her appearance. In both forms, she is very dedicated to her mission of singing the Rangers to sleep. She also is very proud of her singing ability, though she understands whether or not to sing and cast her spell (as she almost put a Quadrafighter pilot to sleep, which would have spelled disaster for her). However, her confidence got the best of her when she arrogantly declared to the Rangers that she was invincible before getting destroyed by the Zeo Ultrazord, which she called a "fancy contraption" before laughing. To this end, she takes her power very seriously and isn't above boasting about her spell's powerful nature, proclaiming "This is too easy!" and laughing wickedly when she puts several Angel Grove citizens to sleep against their will in Angel Grove Park. When her spell is finally stopped, she is not at all distraught, wanting to take on the Rangers directly "with her own powers" despite her being rendered powerless due to her frequency being terminated and her power broken. Her hubris proved to be her literal undoing when she is destroyed by the Zeo Ultrazord.
She is also quite punny, making various sleep- and bedtime-related puns and metaphors in both of her forms (most monsters built on a certain "theme" tend to make many puns and metaphors, and she is no exception).
Somnibot was later seen as an audience member in Prince Gasket's Machine Arena. It is unexplained how she got revived from the Zeo Ultrazord finisher, but she was resurrected from the assault with no permanent injury. TV STORY-King for a Day
She has not been seen since and was not seen among the monsters in King Mondo's monster army, leaving her final fate unconfirmed, but it can be assumed that she was destroyed by Zordon's Energy Wave because, despite her docile and harmless initial appearance, she had used her sleep induction abilities only for evil. Alternatively, she may have been redeemable enough for it to spare or even purify her. TV STORY-Countdown to Destruction
Forms
Powers and Abilities
Powers
to be added
Abilities
- Lullaby-singing Voice: Somnibot's singing voice seems to possess magical abilities. She primarily uses her voice in song to put people and other robots to sleep. Her primary lullaby is "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and she often sings to the song's melody. Somnibot's singing is a talent that she utilizes as part of her spell.
- Twinkle Dust and Energy Waves: In addition to her singing, Somnibot has the ability to entrance anyone into a deep slumber, using the red to violet twinkle dust and energy waves that are emitted from her hands. She uses both of these things in tandem for her spell to work correctly (when she is in both forms), though she seems to struggle a bit in her second form as it took a bit longer for her to put Bulk to sleep. Her twinkle dust is also now colored white, like that of the brightest stars in the night sky.
- Energy Balls: Somnibot can fire concentrated pink energy spheres from her mouth (in rapid succession) as projectiles to attack her opponents, with them taking down all five Rangers with one blast.
Weaknesses
- Her Frequency: According to Zordon, the main source of Somnibot's powers is her brainwave frequency, which can work on both humans and machines alike. It must be altered or terminated, according to him, in order for her to be defeated. By blocking it, her hypnotic music was nullified.
Arsenal
- Fists: Somnibot has no weapons of any kind and relies solely on her voice and fists to defend her in battle.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
to be added
Abilities
to be added
Weaknesses
to be added
Arsenal
to be addedBehind the Scenes
Portrayal
- Somnibot is voiced by Barbara Goodson, both singing and speaking. She is suit-acted by an uncredited suit performer in the original PR footage.
- Barbara would later use Somnibot's exact voice as the voice of Notacon in Trip Takes a Stand.
Design
In her first form, Somnibot wears a large pink nightcap with white trim on her head and her voice is rather yawn-heavy on occasion, as if her singing puts her to sleep as well. True to her motif, she also makes various sleep- and bedtime-related puns and metaphors in her first form as well. In her second form, however, her puns become more dark and sinister. As explained, in her first form she is very narcoleptic. Overall, she has a very adorable-looking appearance in her primary form, resembling a cute cartoon robot with a round face, a "nutcracker"/"puppet"-esque mouth, big sleepy eyes and a white torso. This form, however, is meant to deceive one into thinking that she is using her powers to help others when she is in fact using her powers to hurt others, as Zordon implies to the Rangers.
After her initial defeat, she returns with a giant, megaphone-shaped speaker where her face used to be, losing her cute, cartoony appearance and her characteristic narcoleptic mannerisms. Her attitude is much nastier, her characteristic sleepiness and sweet-looking nature entirely gone.
Etymology
- Her name comes from the Roman Latin word somnus, which means "sleep, drowsiness". She is thus named after the Roman god of sleep, Somnus.
Notes
- Bara Gūsuka, Somnibot's Japanese counterpart, was originally male (voiced by a female, veteran voice actress Kazue Takahashi), but she herself was changed to female. However, King Mondo mistakenly refers to Somnibot as male when he orders Klank and Orbus to reassemble her and boost her special powers. This makes her a part of the somewhat extended list of Power Ranger characters that were gender-swapped from their respective/original Sentai Series counterparts, such as Flame Head, Photomare, Wedding Dress Org, Octoplant, Somnibot herself, Florabundacus and Crazar among others.
- Somnibot also had a second form before her megaphone speaker face - a windup version of herself (complete with winding key) combined with two phonograph horns on top of her head, a computer module on her stomach and a baby doll taped to her back. This form was never shown due to time constraints.
- According to the 1996 TV Guide magazine, when Zeo was under development, Somnibot's name was originally going to be Slumber before the production team decided to change it to her current name.
- Barbara Goodson was offered the role by Scott Page-Pagter and Tony Oliver when Rock-A-Bye Power Rangers was being written. When coming up with Somnibot's voice, she used her highest voice possible and tried to make it feel like it was really Somnibot speaking and singing. She also likes her initial "cute" appearance.
- Somnibot reappears as an audience member in King for a Day, having reverted to her sleeping cap-wearing first form. Somnibot can be seen when Tommy is about to fight Jason, after saying "starting for you, Gold Ranger".
- Barbara Goodson, Somnibot's American voice actress, was uncredited in the episode.
- Somnibot's pink nightcap is in a different position on her head in American footage than in the Ohranger footage.
- Yoshiro Harada is her character designer.
- Back in early 2003, shortly after the series changed hands from Saban Entertainment to Disney, some of the monster costumes, including Somnibot (minus her hands, head spikes and feet), were auctioned off by ABC Auctions. Her costume had fallen into a state of disrepair after Rock-A-Bye Power Rangers and King for a Day were filmed. The only part of her not damaged is her face.[1] Additionally one of her hands was sold to an unknown buyer. It sold for $484.99.
Appearances
- Power Rangers Zeo
- Episode 31: Rock-A-Bye Power Rangers
- Episode 42: King for a Day, Part I
- Episode 43: King for a Day, Part II
See Also
- Bara Gūsuka - Super Sentai counterpart in Ohranger. See comparison page.
- The song that Somnibot sang in the episode, Rock-a-Bye Baby
References
Footnotes