Lord Zedd
Lord Zedd is a fictional villain from the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, played by Ed Neil in a costume, with Robert Axelrod supplying the voice. The character was the first American-made villain for the Power Rangers series of shows that had no origins in the Japanese Sentai shows. He was such a frightening character when first introduced that parents actually complained that he was "too evil" for the show, resulting in Zedd being toned down immensely, such as his marriage to Rita.
Fictional biography
Zedd is the self proclaimed "Emperor of Evil". He arrived on Earth, leaving his conquest of other systems, to punish Rita Repulsa, 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 and Dragonzord. The Rangers barely survived the attack, but managed to regain control of their Zords. Furious, Lord Zedd opened a crevasse in the ground which swallowed all the Zords except for Dragonzord. Despite the Rangers' acquisition of the Thunder Zords, 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. A number of these monsters happened to be cyclopses, which could hint to Zedd very well being one himself.
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.
Over time, Lord Zedd discovered that the Rangers were no pushovers, and each of his monsters failed to defeat them. With the Thunder Zords and new White Ranger at their side, the Power Rangers seemed indestructible. He soon managed to build a 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. With Zedd and Rita side by side, the Rangers were now struggling to defeat their foes. Zedd and Rita's schemes together included creating a clone of the evil Tommy and sending the Rangers back into the past.
When Rito Revolto arrived, 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. Zedd beat the White Ranger around like a ragdoll until Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat. When Master Vile arrived on the moon, Lord Zedd was pretty much pushed to the side as Vile took over in his search for the Zeo Crystal. 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 was a group of aliens from a water planet who weakened easily on land.
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. They succeeded, but before they could take advantage of it, the Machine Empire arrived.
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, he finally managed to destroy the Royal House of Gadgetry with a bomb in the shape of a gift. Despite declaring their return, however, Zedd and Rita took a rest before resuming their attacks, but by then Divatox had already began her assault on Earth.
Lord Zedd in human form
Years later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on the Cimmerian Planet, Zedd toasting to Dark Specter's 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. Zedd and Rita were mysteriously absent during the Power Rangers : Turbo Season.