The Top 10 Evil Power Rangers

The multi-coloured, spandex wearing heroes have battled the forces of evil for over 25 years. But a tradition starting way back in the original series of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers saw evil Power Rangers enter the fray every now and then. Often these evil Rangers tend to be shadow versions of the heroes or a team member or two placed under a temporary spell for the episode. However, there have been plenty who were evil and around for more than a single episode. Here we will look at 10 of the best of these evil Rangers and how some left major marks on the franchise.

This list will only look at evil Rangers from the shows themselves, so it will not include Lord Drakkon, Psycho Green or the Ranger Slayer. As cool as these evil Rangers are, they can not be considered true cannon to the Rangerverse like the shows. We also will not be including Karone/Astronima in this list, as while she did eventually become a Ranger, she joined a later team rather than the team she fought against. Her story was more one of redemption rather than being an evil Ranger turned good. With that said, let's get to the list!

10. The Spirit Rangers

• Series: Power Ranger Jungle Fury
• First Appearance: Episode 23 - Fear and the Phantoms
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episode 24 - Blue Ranger, Twin Danger

During Jungle Fury, the Rangers sought out new masters to teach them new techniques to fight against the evil Dai Shi. Seeing an opportunity, Dai Shi sent his forces to capture the masters who held the spirits of the elephant, shark and bat. When his forces captured them, they were exposed to the Crystal Eyes which put the masters into a trance and gave their animal spirits the form of three new evil Rangers.

The Spirit Rangers held immense power and came close to defeating the Rangers. They were only stopped when RJ rescued the masters, one being his father, which stopped the Spirit Rangers. Now back to normal, the masters Spirit Rangers now aided the team in fighting against Dai Shi. They are also among the very small number of Rangers created for Power Rangers and have no Super Sentai counterparts, making them truly unique on this list.

09. Zen-Aku

• Series: Power Rangers Wild Force
• First Appearance: Episode 10 - Curse of the Wolf
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episode 15 - The Ancient Warrior

Zen-Aku was a Duke Org that shook the Rangers inner confidence and came close to defeating them. The major surprise for the Rangers was when Zen-Aku revealed he had three Dark Wild Zords himself, the Alligator, Hammerhead Shark and Wolf Wild Zords. Combined they became the Dark Predazord, and it proved more than a match for the Ranger's Megazords. He even stole the Elephant, Giraffe, Black Bear & Polar Bear Wild Zords from the Rangers, increasing his arsenal.

Eventually the Rangers discovered that Zen-Aku was actually Merrick, the Lunar Wolf Ranger. Upon breaking the curse on the ancient warrior, Merrick joined the team as the Lunar Wolf Ranger. But the shadow of Zen-Aku still lingered as Merrick had to prove he was free of the curse of Zen-Aku once and for all. Facing the curse in battle, he won and showed how he was not an instrument for evil any longer. Upon the series conclusion Merrick left to explore the modern world before him. But Zen-Aku proved he was not gone and actually joined the Ranger on his exploration of this new world.

08. The Thunder Rangers

• Series: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
• First Appearance: Episode 2 - There's No "I" In Team
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episodes 7 - Thunder Strangers Part 3

Not wasting any time, the Wind Rangers quickly found themselves up against the evil Thunder Rangers. Being the only survivors of the Thunder Academy's attack from Luthor's forces, the brothers were lied to and manipulated to fight on the wrong side. When their identities were revealed to the Wind Rangers, Tori (the Blue Wind Ranger) especially took the news as a shock. But eventually the brothers discovered the truth and freed the Wind Ranger's sensei from Luthor possession.

Once freed from Luthor's manipulation, the pair left for a time to make peace with their actions and find their destiny. But as you'd expect in Power Rangers, this destiny took them back to the Rangers and the duo finally joined the team permanently. It was especially interesting when Luthor returned for the team-up of the Ninja Storm Rangers and Dino Thunder Rangers, as he used a spell to turn the Wind Rangers evil. This meant the Thunder Rangers could repay their comrades and free them from evil.

07. Blaze & Roxie

• Series: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
• First Appearance: Season 1 - Episode 1 - Beasts Unleashed
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Roxy: Season 2 - Episode 17 - Fossil Frenzy. Blaze: Season 2 - Episode 19 - Source Code

Originally meant to be the Red and Yellow Beast Morpher Rangers, during the bonding process the system was infected by Evox. This resulted in Blaze & Roxie being put into comas and evil avatar versions of them causing problems for the Rangers. Now as an evil Red and Yellow Rangers, the pair fought for more approval from Evox and did everything in their ability to destroy the newly formed team of Rangers. That was until they were finally defeated at the end of the first series. This caused the real Roxy and Blaze to awaken from their comas and reunited them all.

Believing Evox was defeated and enjoying the peace, life started getting back to normal. That was until Evox revived his evil versions of Blaze and Roxy, now as robots and sporting new colours as evil Brown and Purple Rangers. Knowing they could be rebuilt, the pair were now more likely to take risk and were more ruthless than before. But they were finally defeated along with the threat of Evox. This concluded their run as the longest running evil Rangers from the franchise as they were constant villains from the beginning to end of the series.

06. Koragg the Wolf Knight

• Series: Power Rangers Mystic Force
• First Appearance: Episode 2 - Broken Spell
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episode 30 - The Return

One of the most imposing of all the evil Rangers, Koragg fought the Rangers throughout the series and instantly stole the staff of the White Mystic Ranger to depower her early in the series. This enabled him to truly challenge the novice Rangers and push them to their limits. He fought with brute force, but did hold a rooted sense of honour in battle. He also had a mighty steed known as Catastros. When Koragg grew giant he could merge with Catastros to form both the Knight Wolf Centaur & Centaurus Wolf Megazord.

As the series progressed, it was revealed that Koragg was actually Leonbow, the lost husband of the White Mystic Ranger, Udonna, and the father of the Red Mystic Ranger, Nick. When he returned to the side of good he dropped the purple colours for a blazing red. But the curse of the Knight was not over, as it possessed Nick and turned him into a new evil Wolf Knight. This resulted in a battle between the two, which is still one of the best fight in all of Power Rangers history.

05. A-Squad

• Series: Power Rangers SPD
• First Appearance: Episode 1 - Beginnings Part 1
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episode 37 - Endings Part 1

When first introduced to viewers, A-Squad were the top team at Space Patrol Delta. Famous and highly admired, the B-Squad had the aim to do whatever it took to become part of A-Squad. But early in the series it is reported that the A-Squad were missing in action while on a covert mission. This caused the B-Squad to take their place and become the first line of the law on Earth. While they were no A-Squad, they slowly proved themselves more and more and seemed to be earning the title of A-Squad themselves.

They got their chance to prove if they were on par or even better, when it was revealed the A-Squad had joined Emperor Gruumm and betrayed SPD. This resulted in a major battle and while it was close, the B-Squad activated their S.W.A.T Mode and sealed victory and arrested A-Squad for treason. While they had fewer episodes than some earlier entries on this list, they did present a major threat and surprise at the end of the series. The team were also created solely for Power Rangers and was the first team in the franchise to have a female Red Ranger.

04. Trent Fernandez-Mercer

• Series: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
• First Appearance: Trent: Episode 3 - Wave Goodbye. As a Ranger: Episode 11 - White Thunder Part 1. Clone: Episode 21 - Copy That
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Trent: Episode 21 - Copy That. Clone: Episode 30 - Strange Relations

A series that showed true homage to the original team of Rangers, it was no surprise they had their own evil Ranger that nearly destroyed the team. Much like the original Green Ranger, the White Dino Ranger set his focus on Kira, the female Ranger on the team. Under the control of evil, Trent was pretty ruthless and had no care in harming Kira both on the battlefield or by hurting her feelings out of Ranger form. But he was eventually freed from the control of evil and reluctantly joined the team.

However, Zeltrax created a clone of the evil White Ranger to continue being an issue for the Rangers and Trent. The creation of the clone caused a strain on the Morphin Grid and over the course of the series it resulted in a battle to the end between the two. Both could not exist at the same time, so Trent had no option but to destroy his own evil clone. Offering a true threat, this evil Ranger persisted longer than many and the fans still consider this Ranger's design to be one of the best in the whole franchise.

03. Tommy Oliver

• Series: Might Morphin Power Rangers
• First Appearance: Tommy: Episode 17 - Green with Evil Part I: Out Of Control. Clone: Return of the Green Ranger, Part I
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Tommy: Episode 21 - Green with Evil Part V: Breaking The Spell. Clone: Return of the Green Ranger, Part III

Now some will instantly be screaming that this Ranger should be number one, as he was the first ever evil Ranger within the franchise. Yes, it is true Tommy started the tradition and was pretty ruthless in his pursuit against the Rangers. But when you examine his tenure under evil, he did not accomplish as much as others and this is simply down to his tactics when he went up against the Rangers.

He did succeed in severing the Ranger's link with Zordon and did invade their Megazord cockpit. He also took keen interest in demoralising the Pink Ranger and to defeat the Red Ranger. This is however where he went wrong. Instead he should have focused his attention on the Blue Ranger, who was the brains behind the team. If he had done this, the Rangers would have been unable to reboot Alpha 5 or to reconnect with Zordon, making them easy pickings for Rita. But regardless, he did do some true damage and when his evil self was cloned and returned, it did remind Tommy how bad he truly was when he was evil.

02. Katherine Hillard

• Series: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• First Appearance: Episode 17 - A Ranger Catastrophe, Part I
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Episode 23 - A Different Shade of Pink, Part I

Now technically Kat was not a Ranger when she was evil, but her direct action after breaking her spell from Rita resulted in her becoming a Ranger in the wake of her evil deeds. This makes her eligible for this list and when you look at her as a minion of evil, she was actually pretty effective even without a Power Coin to turn her into a Ranger. You could even argue she was better under Rita's spell than the original Tommy.

She had the ability to morph into a pair of feline form, an ordinary house cat and an evil monster of Rita's. But this was not where she outdid Tommy. With no powers, she actually took a Ranger out of action, when she stole the Pink Power Coin. This simple act weakened the Rangers and saw a change in the team's ability to react the same. But when a depowered Kimberly injured herself as a result of Kat's deeds, it broke Rita's spell and freed Kat for good. Her willingness to sacrifice herself showed the team that Kat was the only choice to replace the original Pink Ranger and made Kat a female legacy akin to Tommy's in the franchise.

01. The Psycho Rangers

• Series: Power Rangers in Space & Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
• First Appearance: Episode 31 - Rangers Gone Psycho
• Resurrection: Episode 38 - Mission to Secret City
• Restoration (Lost Galaxy): Episode 30 - To the Tenth Power
• Joined the Rangers/Defeated: Pyscho Pink: Episode 33 - A Rift in the Rangers. Psycho Blue: Episode 34 - Five of a Kind. Psycho Red, Yellow & Black: Episode 36 - The Enemy Within
• Resurrection Defeat: Episode 39 - Ghosts in the Machine
• Restoration Defeat (Lost Galaxy): Psycho Red, Blue, Yellow & Black: Episode 30 - To the Tenth Power. Psycho Pink: Episode 31 - The Power of Pink

Who else could be at the top of an evil Ranger list? This team of evil Rangers were perhaps the toughest foes for Ranger teams to defeat, as they were resurrected after their initial defeat, then digitised into data cards on the second attempt until finally being destroyed once and for all. They literally would not stay down. Debuting in Power Rangers in Space, the team were a deadly threat who lived to end the Rangers, but teamwork was what they lacked to be a true success.

The Space Rangers firstly took down Psycho Pink, shortly followed by Psycho Blue. Psycho Red, Yellow and Black persisted in attempting to defeat the Rangers, but where also eventually taken down. But this was not the end of the Psycho Rangers, as they used Astronima's Digitiser to revive them with physical bodies. The Space Rangers succeeded in forcing them into the machine once again, causing them to now be turned into data cards and no longer a threat.

However, in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, the Psycho Ranger's restored when Trakeena acquired their Data Cards. This forced the Galaxy Rangers to team-up with the Space Rangers to take them down once and for all. But Psycho Pink survived the battle and went on to make Ranger history. She found the Savage Sword which would increase her power and the only way to stop her was for the Galaxy Pink Ranger to sacrifice herself. This was the first time a Ranger ever died in the series, and cements the Psycho Rangers amongst some of the toughest and strongest villains within the franchise.

Which evil Ranger is your favourite? Did you favourite make this list or was it one of the many left out?