Impori Zedd (Jedi Renaissance)

Darth Zedd, formerly the Emperor of the Sith was a male Human Sith Lord and a sorcerer of great renown throughout the New Sith Empire. Born Impori Zedd, he served as a Jedi Master of the Council of Ten Masters on and was the headmaster of an ancient academy on. During the rise of the New Sith Empire, Zedd became corrupted by the dark side and married his fellow Jedi-turned-Sith Rita Bandora before declaring themselves as the Sith Lords of the Gorma tribe. Mastering the ability to prolong their own lives, Repulsa used her talents in alchemy and sorcery to transform the Rogue Moon's unique clay-like soil into living flesh. With this technique, Repulsa's minions would model a warrior from the clay and then preform arcane spells to make it grow to standard height and live as animated flesh. To complete this process, Repulsa tore a rift in the Force wherein she created a Spirit Realm; a holding place where her cursed servants and soldiers were sent after death instead of becoming one with the Force. Once there they could be called at will to retake their bodies after a new one was crafted from the Rogue Moon clay.

With this ability, Repulsa effectively wielded an unlimited number of soldiers who could never be defeated. Each time a warrior died in conflict, they could be rebuilt stronger and more deadlier then before. Combining her army of loyal fallen Jedi Knights, Bandora's army conquered many systems and successfully drove the Republic out of the Western Reaches of the Outer Rim Territories. When her husband, Zedd, tasked her with conquering Ansion and defeating their former Jedi ally, Elriza Zordon and annihilating his Jedi Rangers who were resilient and refused to back down when confronted by one of the Gorma tribe's monstrosities. Infiltrating the Jedi Command Center on Ansion under the pretense of seeking a peace agreement with Zordon, Repulsa used the dark side to tear a rift in time-space and toss Zordon through it, rendering him lost to the galaxy. Before Repulsa could flee, the Rangers captured her within their own domain and imprisoned her within a space dumpster. Shrinking her body down within the confines of the disposal bin, the rangers lured her chief generals and alchemists into a trap and sealed them inside as well. Launching the innocuous prison into the void of space, Repulsa and her minions remained safely imprisoned within the canister without need of nourishment or recreation, doomed to spend all eternity confined within the small space.

It wasn't until 13 BrS that the space dumpster crashed into the surface of in the Dathomir system. Located by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, the Human Sith sent unwitting minions to free the ancient evil. Upon their release, Repusla and her allies destroyed their liberators and their prison and hijacked their ship to return to the abandoned palace over Taris. Rebuilding her armies, Repulsa was quick to join Darth Spector's new United Alliance of Sith and began waging war on the fringes of the galaxy. While her armies were strong, they were unable to avoid the purifying wave of Force energy released by the destruction of Zordon's plasma tube. As the wave tore across the battlefield, Repulsa's armies were reduced to their clay-state, standing like statues across countless worlds. Repulsa herself had never been killed and brought back and instead was purified into her once beautiful state as Jedi Master Bandora. Standing in the light of the Force once more, Bandora's body vanished in a flash as she became one with the Force.

Early life
Born Rita Bandora to the powerful Jedi Master Enomac Vilé, Bandora was trained in the ways of the Force by her father's retainer, the alchemist Riles Finster. Her mother, also a Jedi, practiced sorcery and passed it down to her daughter and a power of the light side of the Force. Along with her brother, Rito, Bandora was trained as a Jedi and eventually became a Jedi Knight. Crafting a scepter through which to channel her Force abilities and sorcery, Bandroa eventually attained the rank of Jedi Master and was quick to stake a claim on the Rogue Moon of Taris. Building a fortress of her own, Bandora sought to ensure the Sith presence on the Outer Rim was not allowed to take root in the Taris system and established an academy for young Jedi there. Joined by her former master, Bandora discovered that the moon's surface was rich with a unique clay or "putty" which was useful in alchemy and could be used to create living flesh.

When the Sith assaults on Outer Rim systems intensified and the High Council on Coruscant did little to stop it, Bandora gathered with colleagues on to discuss the matter. Under the leadership of Jedi Master Elriza Zordon a Council of Ten Masters was formed to ensure the safety of several swaths of the Outer Rim. From her academy on the Rogue Moon, Bandora kept a close watch on the Ojoster sector and sent out Jedi Rangers to patrol and ensure that the Sith could not establish a foothold in the sector. A close confidant of fellow Ansion Councilor Impori Zedd, the two shared an interest in the mystical aspect of the Force and had a friendly rivalry when it came to perfecting their skills. Bandora was highly active in the pursuit of the furthering of alchemical sciences and was increasingly fascinated by the properties of the putty being mined from the Rogue Moon. While she could create living flesh, she had so far failed to imbue it with a mind of its own. Retreating to her inner sanctum, Bandora pondered her quandary for sometime until she eventually found a solution within the dark side of the Force. Tearing open a wound in the Force, Bandora established a Spirit Realm, a place of shadow and torment where she could banish spirits and hold them there, preventing the dead from becoming one with the Force. Using her arcane magicks to curse her Jedi Rangers spirits, Bandora made it so upon their death their spirits would pass into her Spirit Realm.

With her mind fully entrenched in the dark side, Bandora secretly renamed herself Darth Repulsa and began amassing her army. Every time one of her generals was killed in battle, their soul would remain in waiting until a new body was prepared using putty. Through her sorcery she would then bind the living flesh with the soul, making improvements to their physical form to better serve her militant purposes. With the full backing of her corrupted Jedi servants, Repulsa began forging alliances with other dark siders and luring other Jedi to her new empire. Enticing Master Zedd with the promise of sharing her secrets with him, the two married and untied the Gorma tribe with Repulsa's Dora faction. Taking control over the planets formerly under her protection, Repulsa quickly conquered Taris, Regda II, Sorcery VII, and Tarmac III before attracting the attention of other Sith Lords. Earning the Sith Empire's respect, Repulsa was permitted to operate freely in the Outer Rim for a time before her former Jedi allies learned of her betrayal.

Learning the ways to preserve her life, Repulsa was able to wage war with the Jedi and the Republic for a millennium causing untold chaos and ruining the futures of hundreds of worlds. As Zedd's Empire ravaged other sectors, Repulsa was left in command of her Palace near Taris and relished in her seeming immortality. As time passed, Zordon's Jedi forces grew in their fighting skills and capabilities, wielding towering zords against her monstrous generals and destroying them more quickly and efficiently. Realizing the threat Zordon posed, Repulsa feigned failure and called for negotiations. Entering the Command Center on Ansion, Repulsa revealed the depths of her treachery and trapped Zordon in a time warp. Before Zordon was gone, the wizard revealed he was prepared with his own fail safe. Using a nearby space dumpster as a prison, Zordon sealed shrank Repulsa and imprisoned her with the canister. With Zordon gone and Repulsa imprisoned, the surviving Jedi Rangers rallied together and raided Repulsa's palace and arrested her chief aides and generals and imprisoned them alongside their master int he dumpster before casting it into the void of space where they would be lost to time and memory.

"I am Lord Zedd, Emperor of all I see."

- Lord Zedd

Lord Zedd is a major villain from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series and recurring through Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers in Space. He was played by Ed Neil, with Robert Axelrod supplying the voice. Steven Blum voiced him in the video game Power Rangers: Super Legends.

The character was the first American-made villain for the Power Rangers series of shows with no origin in the Japanese Sentai shows. Originally depicted as a frighteningly more evil character than Rita, with a dark, gothic atmosphere during his scenes in the Lunar Palace and the dark tone of his theme, complaints from parents resulted in Zedd being toned down immensely, such as his marriage to Rita and reversing the Earth's rotation in an attempt to make the Rangers forget their duties and powers. After this, most of his plans seemed rather hair-brained and wackier than previously.

He and Rita both have a son, Thrax, who appears in Operation Overdrive, during the 15th Anniversary 2-part special, "Once A Ranger", where he is mentioned to have succumbed to good. He later regains his lost powers thanks to interference in the timeline by his past self.

Since his appearance, Zedd is often considered the greatest Power Rangers villain of all time.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
Zedd is the self proclaimed "Emperor of Evil". As Countdown to Destruction seems to confirm, he appears to once have a human form. Thousands of years before the start of the series, he had left Rita Repulsa to takeover Earth while he pursued the conquest of other systems.

In the show's second season premiere, he arrived on Earth, to punish Rita, disgusted with her failure in defeating the Power Rangers. Stripping Rita of her powers, he shrunk her and imprisoned her within a "Space Dumpster," hurling her into the depth of space. He then mutated a piranha into the monstrous Pirantishead, who assumed command of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord and Dragonzord. The Rangers barely survived the attack, but managed to regain control of their Zords. Furious, Lord Zedd attempted to destroy the five dinozords, only for the rangers to turn the tables and transform the remains into the more powerful Thunderzords.

Despite the Rangers' acquisition of the Thunderzords, Lord Zedd attacked again and again, each assault deadlier than the last. His monsters were created from objects on Earth with the power of his scepter, and he made them grow using spherical grenades - Zedd would throw the grenade down to the monster who would then catch it, pull out the pin and throw it to the ground to make itself grow. After his marriage to Rita they would instead grow their monsters by crossing their staffs. He once desired Kimberly to be his queen based on her good looks and tenacity, and sent Goldar to capture, brainwash and train her into being so, but his plan failed when it was discovered that the magic dust that was used to entrance her didn't work and that she was really doing a Rita impression to fool Goldar and buy the Rangers enough time to rescue her. Zedd has hated Kimberly ever since.

Zedd once attempted to create a team of evil Power Rangers, but Tommy managed to free his enslaved group of humans before the plan took place. He swore to erase the Green Ranger forever, finding him the most offensive of Rita's mistakes, concentrating his attacks on him. He finally succeeded with the TurbanShell monster, wiping out Tommy's power forever. He later planned to make Tommy his successor by brainwashing him, but Zordon managed to get to Tommy first, making him the new White Ranger. Unfortunately for Zedd, these aforementioned events left Zedd without a queen or heir, making him grow angrier with the Rangers because of their constant interference.

Over time, Lord Zedd discovered that the Rangers were no pushovers, and each of his monsters failed to defeat them. With the Thunderzords and new White Ranger at their side, the Power Rangers seemed indestructible. He soon unearthed the gigantic war machine known as Serpentera that was so large that it could crush the Ranger's Zords with ease, however its flaw was that it used up its energy so fast that it could only be used for short periods of time.

Soon it was time for Zedd's Centennial Recharge, which he must undergo to fully restore his evil energies. It was during this slumber that Rita Repulsa returned to the Palace, plotting revenge. She poured a love potion created by Finster into the Centennial Recharge machine, and when Zedd awoke, he instantly fell in love with Rita, proposing. However, the love potion did not work as Rita hoped; she planned on manipulating him, but Zedd was strong enough to resist, but not completely. He became less serious on defeating the Rangers and more focused on his life with Rita.

With Zedd and Rita side by side, the Rangers battles were more difficult. Zedd and Rita's schemes together included creating a clone of the evil Tommy and sending the Rangers back into the past. When his wife's brother, Rito Revolto, arrived on the moon (even with Tengas and a Vampirus as gifts) Lord Zedd was disgusted by the skeleton's stupidity, and would bellow with rage every time Rito called him "Ed." Rita's love potion was eventually removed from Zedd thanks to Goldar, but to everyone's surprise, Zedd loved Rita anyway. During the Pink Ranger fiasco when Zedd had her held hostage to force the Rangers to use the Shogun Zords in his service, Lord Zedd battled Tommy personally to keep him from saving Kimberly from an alternate dimension. This marked the only time that Zedd had battled a Ranger personally, proving himself quite capable of holding his own, a trait passed down to his son in later years. Though Zedd easily gained the upperhand against the White Ranger, Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat.

When Master Vile arrived on the moon, Lord Zedd was pushed to the side as Vile took over in his search for the Zeo Crystal. He expressed disdain for his father-in-law, who constantly put him down. Once Vile left after his army was defeated by the Aquitian Rangers, Zedd was ecstatic, and he resumed his attacks on Earth. The Rangers had been turned to children due to Vile's Orb of Doom and all that stood in Zedd's way were the Aquitian Rangers. Zedd managed to find a map of the Ranger's Command Center, pointing out a weak point. He sent Goldar and Rito in to plant a bomb and steal the Zeo Crystal before the Orm of Doom's magic was undone. Though unable to stop the rangers in undoing the damage Master Vile did, Zedd was able to destroy the Command Center. But before they could take advantage of it, the Machine Empire arrived.

Zeo and Beyond
When the Machine Empire arrived and attacked, Zedd and Rita were forced to retreat, taking Serpentera to the M51 Galaxy. They soon returned, however, in a motorhome, plotting to overthrow King Mondo and destroy the Empire. The two forces clashed on several occasions, neither gaining much ground. At one point, Prince Gasket had Tommy brainwashed and about to kill the other Rangers, but Zedd had Finster help free them to prevent a Machine victory. After a series of failed attempts, they finally managed to destroy the Royal House of Gadgetry with a bomb in the shape of a gift.

Zedd and Rita were mysteriously absent during the Power Rangers: Turbo Season, and fans have speculated that a "gap" between Power Rangers Zeo and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie reveals what occured after Rita and Zedd had regained control of the moon from The Machine Empire. Events in Forever Red suggest that Zedd at some point launched an attack on Earth with a significantly more powerful Serpentera, only to be defeated again by The Zeo Rangers. Disillusioned and convinced he would never defeat them, Zedd and Rita retreated for good.

Lord Zedd, along with Rita, makes a cameo apperance in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, when Divatox calls Rita for advice on how to deal with the Power Rangers, she is subjected to Zedd's snoring and Rita instructing her to flee, rather than fight. After many successive failures, this was the best advice the villianess could get.

A year later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on the Cimmerian Planet, Zedd toasting to Dark Specter's capture of Zordon and takeover of the universe. Months later, they invaded the Vica Galaxy and quickly conquered it, defeating and capturing the Gold Ranger in the process. When Zordon's energy wave washed over them and their army, Zedd was spared, transformed into a human being. His love for Rita seemed to remain and the two danced together in the remnants of their army, much to the confusion of the Gold Ranger.