As with all leaders, Zedd usually gets his ne'er-do-well underlings to do his dirty work for him and, besides his collection of monsters, of which he created a new one practically every episode, he had a bunch of regulars who lived alongside him at his Lunar fort.
The original Power Ranger villainess, Rita Repulsa was revealed to have been but a pawn of an even greater evil in season 2 of Mighty Morphin, when Lord Zedd reared his head. Before that, Rita had ruled solo over her mob at the Lunar Palace and given the Rangers a fair run for their money in her time. A sorceress skilled in the dark arts, she was released from 10,000 years of imprisonment in a space dumpster by two hapless humans, and thereafter set up base in the (ready made) Lunar Palace on the moon and began her campaign to conquer the world. Rita used her wand to cast spells and make monsters grow, and though we're not quite sure what it is about Earth that made her want to conquer it, she was determined to do so nevertheless!
Contrasting with her role in later series (particularly series 3), where Master Vile turned up and made her appear as something of a youthful brat, Rita was originally more of a matriarch figure; one got the impression that she was no longer very young, and that her age had given her great wisdom. She seemed to be well respected by those younger aliens around her (she, quite affectionately, refers to Goldar and Scorpina as "children" at one point).
In series 2, Lord Zedd returned (from God knows where... he must have been busy those past 10,001 years!) and deeming himself more worthy an opponent for the Rangers, decided to have a go at destroying them himself. He punished Rita for her failures by shrinking her and imprisoning her (once again) in a space dumpster (but this time, a little one - one presumes so the prop department didn't need to make a big one!). This cruel act spurred Rita on to revenge and, managing not only to guide her dumpster back to the moon and escape it, she re-entered the palace and, whilst Zedd was recharging his energies, plotted with Finster to overthrow him. Using a love potion, she made Lord Zedd love her madly, and they swiftly married.
But it seems that time is a great healer, and Rita never did follow her plan through to overthrow Lord Zedd. In contrast, it appears that she grew quite fond of him, and he of her, to the point that they appear to have been made for one another.
In series 3, Rita's brother, the skeletal (and stupid) Rito Revolto arrived, followed a few episodes later by their father, the arrogant but powerful Master Vile.
Zedd and Rita in series 3 - as man and wife.
Rita and Zedd were forced to flee their Lunar Palace after the Machine Empire parked their backsides on the moon during Power Rangers Zeo, but they later made a comeback, and though they never starred as central villains in Power Rangers again, they made consistent cameos until their rather appalling send-off in Power Rangers in Space when they were turned "good" by Zordon's evil-cleansing light wave. Ugh...
Rita reared her head one final time in Power Rangers Mystic Force as the "Mystic Mother", a sorceress of light and goodness. 0_o Erm, yeah... not sure how we got there! Mr. Zedd had obviously gallavanted off somewhere in the meantime, looking for a way to become evil again. (And the less said about Rita and Zedd's so-called son "Thrax", the better.)
Rita was Bandora the sorceress in the Japanese Zyuranger series (hence the bad dubbing and repeated use of footage), and played by actress Machiko Soga. An American actress, Carla Perez, took over the role in series 2 of Power Rangers and onwards, whilst Barbara Goodson did the oh-so-memorable screeching voiceover for the character! :)
Goldar kicked-ass in series 1. Rita's second-in-command and bodyguard, Goldar wore a suit of golden armour and was said to have hailed from Titan, a moon of Saturn. Despite his skills as a warrior and leader, he was apparently quite shy underneath and preferred to hang about by himself. Scorpina was his most competant partner in battle, and clearly his love interest (though the American show didn't follow the Japanese Sentai series and give Goldar and Scorpina a baby. Now that would have been rather too weird!). Goldar had a tendency to step on Rita's toes, but usually it was only for her own good (and she would let him know if he asserted himself too much). Though he appeared with his wings in the first episode, he was not to be seen with them again until Zedd restored them in "The Mutiny" (though little good they were).
Goldar obviously hit his head very hard when Zedd stormed the Lunar Palace at the start of season 2 because he became a grovelling sycophant in a mere matter of moments! He only degenerated further as consequent Power Rangers series went by, cumulating in his (perhaps merciful) destruction in Power Rangers in Space. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, in comparison, maybe Zedd wasn't nearly as badly treated by the writers as poor Goldar was! I presume that they did not want any competition around for Zedd in series 2, so they dumbed-down this fairly intelligent winged-warrior. Maybe classic-Goldar and Zedd would have been a rather too ruthless team? Who knows? (That's something I would have welcomed, but maybe it would have been too much for younger viewers to cope with.)
Goldar was voiced by Ryan O'Flannigan, who is also credited as Kerrigan Mahan. The character made a comeback in the Power Rangers: Super Legends PS2 game, but unfortunately came back to us with a terrible voiceover, without wings, and in full grovelling mode!
His counterpart in the Japanese Zyuranger series was called "Grifforzer", played by Hideaki Kusaki and voiced by Kan Tokumaru. Grifforzer was Bandora's second-in-command. He was married to Lammy (Scorpina).
Scorpina brought a bit of added "girl power" to the crew on the moon, balancing out Rita's role as matriarch and sorceress with her youthful energy and athleticism. A fine warrior, she was an old friend of Rita's, and Goldar's other half. Whenever Rita made her giant-sized, Scorpina turned into a giant scorpion monster.
Scorpina was only seen once outside of MMPR season 1 when she made a brief comeback under Zedd's command in series 2. It's a shame she wasn't brought back for longer during Zedd's reign; before Rita's return, the Lunar Palace had become something of a bachelor pad, and I think Scorpina's presence would have brought out some of the charmer in Zedd, and added some friction to the already frayed relationship between Zedd and Goldar. (But I guess this is what fanfic is for!)
Scorpina was voiced by Wendee Swan, and was played by actress Ami Kawai. (All her footage - bar a single episode in season 2 - is from the Japanese Zyuranger series, where the character was known as "Lammy". I've no idea who briefly played Scorpina in series 2 of MMPR.)
Skeletal son of Master Vile and brother to Rita Repulsa, Rito lacks intelligence, subtlety, and, to be frank, any usefulness at all, even if it was through him that the Thunderzords were destroyed. He brought some laughs here and there to the show with his blunt brand of humour, but gave us little else. He consistently called Zedd "Ed", much to the Emperor's chagrin, and was trusted one too many times with important tasks, only to mess them up time and again. (You'd think Zedd would learn after a while!)
Rito was voiced by the late Bob Pappenbrook. He was sourced from the Japanese Kakuranger series.
Rita Repulsa's loyal monster-maker, Finster hails from the planet Clayobious and, with his special brand of clay and Monster-matic machine, produces armies of Putty Patrolers and multitudes of weird and wonderful monsters for his beloved queen, Rita Repulsa, to send down to earth. He continued to serve under Lord Zedd, but had no real purpose in his life until Rita made her return ,and his skills were once again put to use.
Finster is perhaps one of the few aliens from the original two series, next to Squatt and Baboo, who managed to retain his original character traits until the end of his era. He was voiced by Robert Axelord, who also gave (a very diverse) voice to Lord Zedd. In the Japanese Zyuranger, he was called "Puripurikan" and played by Takako Iiboshi, with a voiceover by Yutaka Ôyama.
Okay, Vile was not technically one of Zedd's underlings - but I wish he had been. This decrepit old warlock just turned up one day and decided to lord-it-up over my Emperor -- and he got away with it, too! The bastard.
Vile is Rita and Rito's father, and conqueror of the M51 galaxy (from which he also hails). According to Zordon, he is older and wiser than Zedd in the ways of evil, and for a brief few episodes, he manages to thwart the Rangers' attempts to stop his wicked plots - but winds up failing when the Alien Rangers show up.
Zedd, Rita and company are forced to flee to the safety of Vile's home when the Machine Empire invade in Power Rangers Zeo. (Which conjures some wonderfully zany imagery, if nothing else!)
Vile is sourced from the Japanese Kakuranger series.
A small, troll-like blue alien from Myrgo, Venus, Squatt's many spikes are said to have popped up in reaction to oxygen exposure. He has the brain the size of a peach-pip and is thus not particularly competant. Along with Baboo, he basically serves as a scapegoat and cheerleader. Why Zedd kept him and Baboo around after Rita's banishment is a bit puzzling, but I guess we all need a bit of silliness in our lives. :)
Michael J. Sorich gave his voice to Squatt. He was called "Bookback" in the Japanese Zyuranger, played by Minoru Watanabe and voiced by Takeshi Watabe.
A reject from Planet of the Apes, Baboo is rarely found without his buddy Squatt, and together the two form Rita's cheerleading team, and official scapegoats. Though he tries to help, and has tried his hand at alchemy on occasion, he more often than not just irritates Rita and gets himself into all sorts of trouble. He was fortunate to escape any ill-treatment at Zedd's hands when the Emperor returned, and was left to lurk in the background, ready to take the blame for all and everything, whether it was his fault or not.
He was called "Totpat" in Zyuranger and voiced by Kaoru Shinoda.
A band of dispensable warriors made from special clay by Finster. They are dim-witted, but curious and always determined to put up a fight. They can mould their hands into various weapons. There is also a "super putty" variety which are stronger and made from an even more special clay.
Lord Zedd has his own brand of putty patrollers, distinguished from Finster's by their lack of "tiger stripes" and lighter colouration. Zedd's putties also have a ridiculously simple weak-spot in the "Z" on their chest - one hit to that and they go bye-bye. :D
The putties were known as the Golems in Zyuranger and were infinitely more menacing than they turned out to be in MMPR.
Ripped from Power Rangers - The Movie, the Tenga warriors are a group of greasy-feathered, black birds who act as the grunts in MMPR series 3. They were a late wedding present from Rito Revolto to his sister, Rita, and her husband, Zedd.
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