History of Power Rangers

The following is a transcription of the 8-page history of the Power Rangers from the Grandreams PR annual, a hardcover 64 page book published in 1998 in the UK.  (PR runs one year behind there.) It lines up with a lot of the 'apocraphyl' backstory to PR which has been published in various books over the years, and the one used in the MMPR Fan Club video, apparently the backstory taken from the PR series bible.

THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL STORY OF THE POWER RANGERS

    The fascinating story of the Power Rangers began many Eons ago in a Solar System far, far away.  It was born out of a battle between the forces of good
and the forces of evil...
    On the side of good was Zordon; wizard, sage, scholar and a true champion of all that is honest, just and true in the Universe. He knew that without the overwhelming influence of good, our lives would be pointless and we would
all be lost to the putrid powers of evil.
    The opposite point of view was held by Zordon's arch enemy, Rita Repulsa, the Empress of Evil. Rita was not only bad to the bone, she was ambitious too- she wanted to rule all the galaxies in the known universe and didn't care what evil deeds she had to perform to achieve that ambition.
    The war lasted for more than 2,000 years. The battle raged across countless time lines and in many of the parallel universes that exist in the vastness of space.
    Eventually- after several innocent planets, moons and stars were destroyed in the conflict- the wise Zordon decided the war must end. He proposed a simple solution and, believe it or not, Rita Repulsa agreed to it. And so, after all that terrible fighting, the fate of the universe was to be decided on the flip of a coin- a simple game of heads or tails!
    The coin was tossed, and Zordon won. Rita was none too pleased and insisted they go for 'the best of five.' And still she lost. Zordon now held the future of Rita Repulsa, and her repugnant followers, in the palm of his hand. Zordon decided not to eliminate Rita and her motley crew, in spite of all the bad things they had done. Instead, he imprisoned them inside a sealed Zithium Cylinder (a kind of outer space rubbish bin). Then he cast them adrift among the galaxies, the 'black holes' and all the other mysterious elements that make up the known universe.
    With Rita and her cronies gone forever, intergalactic space was declared safe once again.

    The Zithium Cylinder drifted around for a thousand years and covered over
a gazillion space miles. In all that time, Rita was not idle. She devised an extremely cunning plan, and trapped Zordon in an inter-dimensional time warp.
    Then the cylinder landed with a bump, on the small lump of round rock that orbits planet Earth, our very own Moon. There it stayed, still sealed, still safe, for many more years- until the clever scientists and space boffins of Earth eventually succeeded in sending astronauts to the Moon. It was two of these guys who one day stumbled across the weird-looking Cylinder.
    Rita managed to trick the astronauts into releasing her, and once again her ghastly ambitions were unleashed upon the Earth. She blew up mountain ranges, sucked entire lakes dry, demanded blind obedience of all Earthlings and generally ticked everybody off.
    Zordon actually anticipated that Rita might one day escape from her cylindrical jail. And, to counter this awful happening, he had secreted an Inter-dimensional Communicator and a super powered computer in a command center somewhere in the California Desert.
    The Command Center was controlled by a specially trained android called Alpha 5. It was he who first detected Rita's presence on Earth.
    Alpha relayed this information to Zordon (who remained in the time warp and appeared only through an Energy Tube built into the Command Center).
Zordon instantly ordered Alpha to seek out the very best means of combating Rita's new threat to the safety of planet Earth.
    Using the inter-dimensional communicator, Alpha conducted some serious research. He eventually deducted that the two most powerful forces so far known to Man were Pre-historic Dinosaurs and Teenagers with Attitude!!!

    Zordon took Alpha 5's findings and then- using the Inter-dimensional Communicator- set about collecting some fossilized dinosaur remains from Earth. He extracted the essence of these ancient bones and used it to give power and dynamism to five Dinozords- Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus
Rex, Mastodon and Saber-toothed Tiger. These Dino Zords were exactly like the ancient animals except for the addition of guidance and weapons systems, super propulsion, bucket seats, air-conditioning and anti-lock breaks!  The next task assigned to Alpha 5 was to recruit five 'teenagers with attitude', each with special personality traits and physical skills. These recruits would man the Dino Zords and help combat the threat posed by Rita Repulsa.
    The quest was eventually narrowed down to five extra special youngsters- all from the town of Angel Grove where they were students at the High School. Under Zordon's direction Jason became the Red Ranger; Trini was appointed the Yellow Ranger; Billy was the Blue Ranger; Zack became the Black Ranger and Kimberly took on the role of the Pink Ranger.
    Each of these Power Teens then took possession of a Dino Zord, a Power Coin and a personal weapon, created to enhance their own physical capabilities.
    The identity of this fighting force was kept top secret. In everyday life they were simply five bright young students- but when called into action they would "morph" into their Power Ranger personas.
    Now Zordon was ready to launch a counter-attack on Rita Repulsa. And the Empress of Evil was about the meet he most powerful force in all the galaxies... The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

    It was an awesome responsibility for the Power Teens as they adjusted to the impact that the new powers and weapons had on their lives. But they handled it all with great poise.
    They discovered different ways to combine their Dino Zords to create different levels of firepower, even bringing all five together to form the almost invincible Megazord.
    They scored some early successes against the Evil Empress and her creepy cronies. And Rita grew increasingly annoyed and frustrated that the Power Teens were spoiling her plans and thwarting her awful ambitions.
    Then Rita came up with a devilish plan. Using an ancient Power Coin, she transformed a local lad called Tommy into the Green Ranger- her own personal Power Ranger. She infiltrated Tommy into the Teens' trust, intending to use him against them.
    But there was a fatal flaw in Rita's plan. Tommy was basically a good person. He fought with all his might against her influence. And, with Jason's help, Tommy eventually freed himself from Rita's spell.
    Rita Repulsa was absolutely livid at this turn of events and she became even more determined to destroy the Power Rangers- especially Tommy!
    Rita did all kinda of nasty things including: kidnapping the Power Rangers' parents... creating evil replicas of the Power Rangers... and feeding them substances that turned them from good to evil. But somehow the Power Rangers always managed to get the better of her.
    Rita's boss, Lord Zedd, had watched all her efforts in dealing with the Power Rangers. He thought she was rather pathetic, and felt he could do a
much better job himself.
    Lord Zedd was a towering, well-muscled creature with a blood-red exterior
and razor-sharp body armor. At his disposal was an entire army of monsters. These monstrosities had been created with Zedd's own personal touch and inspired by Earth's plants and animals. They included Robogoat, Octophantom, the Invenusable Fly Trap, Guitardo and Pachinko Head.
    With power more awesome than anything the Rangers had ever encountered before, Lord Zedd destroyed the Dino Zords. But even he had not expected to come up against the ingenuity of Alpha 5. Using fragments of the broken Dino Zords, the clever little android was able to reconstruct them as the Thunder Zords, called Unicorn, Tiger, Dragon, Lion, Griffin, and Firebird.
    Around this time Jason, Trini and Zack were selected to attend the World Peace conference in Switzerland. With their strength cut in half, the remaining Power Rangers were saved from certain defeat, thanks to the wisdom of their mentor, Zordon.

    Zordon selected three new teens whose high moral character and superior strength and fortitude made them ideal to join the ranks of the Power Rangers. And so the powers of the three departing Rangers were transferred to Rocky who became the Red Power Ranger; Aisha who took on the mantle of the Yellow Power Ranger; and Adam who became the Black Power Ranger.
    Zordon then strengthened the Power Squad by recalling Tommy to the fold, as the White Ranger. Once again they were ready to take on any evil force in the universe.
    Meanwhile, Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd also strengthened their union- when
Rita tricked Zedd into marriage. While apart they had caused more than enough mayhem, but together they spelled double-trouble, especially when they formed a horrendous and dangerous army of monstrous beings all willing to help in the cause of universal domination.
    Rita and Zedd eventually succeeded in destroying the Thunder Zords- and it looked for all the world as if the Power Rangers were defeated.
    But Zordon told the Teens about the Temple of Power, and Ninjor, who had
forged the original Power Coins.
    The Teens set out to find Ninjor, and to receive new powers. Their search took them across the Desert of Despair, where they were set upon by Tenga warriors sent by Rita and Zedd.
    The Power Rangers escaped this ambush, and eventually arrived at the Temple of Power. There, Ninjor endowed them with brand new powers and new Zords. Called Ninjazords, these incredible machines drew their powers from the Falcon, the Crane, the Ape, the Shark, the Wolf and the Bear.
    Once again the Power Rangers were ready to protect the Earth from the likes of the vile Lord Zedd and his unlovely wife Rita Repulsa.

    The Power Rangers made a new friend, Katherine. Unfortunately she was under Rita's powerful spell and she captured the Falconzord. This rendered the other Ninjazords inoperable.  But when Katherine had a vision of her childhood, she realised she was not evil at all and was able to break free of
Rita forever.
    Katherine eventually took over for Kimberly, as the Pink Ranger. And she
is put to work immediately when Rita's father, Master Vile- unable to stand the incompetence of his daughter and her husband any longer- arrived on Earth determined to put an end to the Power Rangers once and for all.
    Master Vile set out to capture and utilise the Zeo Crystal, a supremely powerful gem that was guarded by a force field. The Power Rangers decided to locate the Crystal and destroy it before its powers could be used for evil.
    The teens succeeded in finding the gem which they dismantled before scattering the pieces around the world. Then Master Vile unleashed his ultimate plan; he turned the Earth back in time. This reduced the Power Rangers to powerless children who could only look on helplessly as Zedd, Rita
and their nasty cronies wreaked havoc on Angel Grove.
    The Child Rangers eventually recovered and reassembled the Zeo Crystal in
the Command Center.
    Zedd and Rita launched a massive attack on the Command Center which erupted in an explosion and was reduced to a pit of smoking debris. It seemed that Zordon and Alpha 5 had been destroyed too, and that the evil beings had probably stolen the Zeo Crystal at last. But the teens began digging through the burnt and blackened soil where the Command Center had once stood- and they unearthed the Zeo Crystal. It had survived the attack, and still worked its magic!
    As Tommy held the crystal in his hands, it began to glow. Its light filled the air, and the ground began to rumble and shake. The Teens found themselves falling through space and they landed in what used to be the Command Center basement.
    To their greatest surprise they discovered Alpha 5 there, still intact. He told them to step into the Vortex, a beautiful multi-colored force field, beyond which was a room none of them had ever seen before.
    This was the Power Chamber. Alpha 5 explained that it had been there since the beginning as Zordon knew that the Command Center would one day come
under attack.
    Thanks to the magical powers of the Zeo Crystal, the Command Center re-assembled itself. Then Zordon appeared in the Energy Tube and informed the Teens that Rita and Lord Zedd had fled to the far reaches of the universe.  But now a new force of evil- the Machine Empire- had invaded our galaxy.
    The Machine Empire was ruled by King Mondo and Queen Machina who commanded an army of Cogs, mechanised fighting robots that did not know the meaning of Surrender.
    But how on Earth were the Power Rangers going to combat this new force?

    Zordon explained that even though the Power Coins were gone forever, there was a new energy source at the Rangers' disposal. It came from the Zeo Crystal, and it gave the Rangers greater powers than ever before- this was the Zeo Power.
    Zordon issued each Ranger with a Zeonizer, which allowed them to morph and call upon their new Zeo powers.
    Billy relinquished his position as the Blue Ranger. Then Zordon bestowed each Ranger with their Zeo powers: Tommy, the leader, became the Red Zeo Ranger; Katherine retained the Pink assignment; Rocky became the Blue Zeo Ranger; Adam donned the Green uniform and Tanya joined the team as the new Yellow Zeo Ranger in place of Aisha... and they were ready to take on whatever Mondo and Machina could throw at them.
    The twisted royals, aided by an entire arsenal of machine-monsters, certainly gave the young heroes a terrible time.
    The Zeo Power Rangers were helped in their struggle by the arrival of a mysterious and ultra-powerful Gold Ranger. This was Trey, Lord of the distant planet Triforia. He came from a race of peace keepers and roamed the galaxy helping those in need.
    After helping the Power Rangers battle Rita and Zedd, Trey returned to Triforia to be replaced as the Gold Ranger by Jason, who returned from a peace conference to accept the new power.
    Just when all seemed calm again, Rita and Zedd returned to do battle with
Mondo and Machina, all of them desiring to rule the universe.
    The Zeo Rangers managed to thwart the evil plans of the dual foe. Then, in a surprise move, Lord Zedd attempted to make peace with Mondo and Machina. He gave them a present, which turned out to be a bomb. Mondo and Machina were blown away.
    Meanwhile, Jason's powers began to fade mysteriously, and Billy left Angel Grove for another world.
    The remaining Zeo Power Rangers were left wondering what new challenges would face them.
    This answer appeared in the shape of Divatox. This barbaric lady pirate was intent on unleashing the greatest evil ever known to man- the beast known as Maligore.
    First Divatox had to capture Lerigot, a kindly wizard from the planet Liaria. Lerigot held the only golden key capable of releasing Maligore from his volcanic prison on the island of Muiranthias.
    The Power Rangers were called upon to help protect the little wizard.
    Divatox used all the wicked resources at her command to ensure that her plan of uniting with Maligore was brought to fruition.
    The Power teens faced many perilous situations in Africa and at the bottom of the ocean, there they battled Divatox's warriors, the Piranhatrons.
    Everything came to a head at the volcano on Muiranthias.  And it was then
that the wise Zordon realised that he had to bestow new powers upon the Rangers if they were to stand any chance of winning this particular confrontation.
    These were the Turbo powers... and they destroyed Maligore, defeated Divatox and ruined her plans to dominate the universe.
    Zordon was at last released from his inter-dimensional time warp and returned to his home planet taking his trusted servant Alpha 5 with him.
    Without these two powerful allies, the Turbo Power Rangers remained in jeopardy- until the arrival of Zordon's beautiful replacement, Dimitria, who provides the wisdom the Rangers need to take on Divatox.
    As always, there are plenty of surprises in store... especially as Divatox will do anything and everything to get her revenge on the Turbo Power
Rangers...

    [ends]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The following is a transcription of the character profiles from the Grandreams PR annual, a hardcover 64 page book published in 1998 in the UK. (PR runs one year behind there.) Along with the PR history, and a couple puzzles/games this constitutes the entire text of the book. The information in the profiles appears to be completely reliable, in parts echoing other profiles seen for the characters, or other information available.

    Factoid taken from the intro page. (the rest of the blurb is meaningless intro stuff, so I'll just add this)
    -Each Turbo Zord is supposed to reflect the personality of the Turbo Ranger who drives it.

    Tommy
    Tommy has had a pretty weird life as a Power Ranger. First he was the Green Ranger planted amid the Power Teens by wicked Rita Repulsa in her attempt to destroy them.
    Thankfully, Tommy eventually broke free of Rita's evil influence, and Zordon was so impressed with him that he appointed him leader of the Power Rangers and gave him the White assignment. When the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers became the Zeo Power Rangers, Tommy was reassigned to the Red uniform.
    In Power Rangers Turbo, Tommy takes a summer job building a racing car with the enthusiastic and very clever Justin as his helpful assistant.
    Tommy is brave, heroic, and responsible and has a powerful sense of duty.
 He also has a great sense of humor and enjoys martial arts and other sports.
    There is a romantic relationship between Tommy and the Pink Power Ranger,
Kat.

    T.J.
    T.J. arrived in Angel Grove on board a bus, on which he first met Cassie,
who was destined to become the Pink Turbo Ranger. The two teens did not realize it, but they were about to make quite an entrance into the little town!
    They quickly saw that Tommy and Kat were in big trouble and they did not hesitate to help them.
    When the Power Rangers decided to hand their powers on, T.J. became the new Red Ranger, and took on the mantle of leadership.
    He is a seventeen-year-old African-American. He is athletic, intelligent, and a born leader. He leads by example, not by force, and his gentle nature and charming smile seem to draw people to him.
    T.J. is the cool, calm balance to Carlos' hot-blooded character. The new Red leader is always assessing the situation, making sure everyone is working
together- he is a worthy successor to Tommy.

    Rocky
    After taking over for the original Red Ranger, Jason, Rocky DeSantos gave
sterling service as a member of the Power Teens as they battled the forces of
evil.
    He is a charismatic teen with an easy-going nature and a ready smile playing on his lips. When Zordon bestowed the Zeo power on the Power teens, Rocky became the Blue Ranger.
    Then his parents broke up he was left to help his mother bring up the family's six younger children. The DeSantoses lived in a poor neighborhood and there were endless chores for Rocky to attend to.
    It was to get away from the pressures of his domestic life, that he first
began to train in the martial arts.
    With constant practice he quickly gained grade after grade, and finally found himself the proud possessor of a Black belt.
    And, of course, those martial arts skills were vital to Rocky's secret life as a Power Ranger.
    After receiving a nasty injury in a karate accident, Rocky passed the Blue Ranger assignment on to young Justin.

    Justin
    Twelve-year-old Justin became the youngest ever Power Ranger when Rocky was seriously injured in a karate accident.
    This wide-eyed, inquisitive and energetic boy had been helping Tommy with
his racing car project.
    Justin's enthusiasm and lack of experience sometimes gets him into trouble. He often looks to the other Power Rangers- especially Tommy- for guidance.
    Justin has an exceptionally high IQ. In fact, he's so bright that he has been moved up a few classes at the Angel Grove High School where he studies alongside the other Power Rangers.

    Adam
    Handsome young Korean-American Adam Park is spiritual and shy, with a subtle sense of humor that makes him both funny and charming.
    In the summer Adam discovered a new interest when he became involved with
the Angel Grove Stunt Show. There he is able to showcase his physical talents by playing different roles in the show, and each time he wows the audience!  He also shares a special friendship with Yellow Turbo Power Ranger, Tanya.
    Adam was once the Black Power Ranger, but Zordon reassigned him to the Green uniform when distributing the Zeo powers.
    When he was much younger he used to get pushed around at school. That's when he turned to studying martial arts- and being a very fast learner, he discovered he had a brand new talent- and quickly found he wasn't bullied anymore.

    Carlos
    Carlos is a good-looking, very athletic seventeen-year-old Mexican-American. He's a good student, popular with the other kids, and is the star of the Angel Grove soccer team.
    What's more, he is every young girl's dream date!
    Carlos can be headstrong at times and has a strong sense of justice, always seeing an issue in either black or white.

    Tanya
    Tanya loves music and would love to become a famous pop star. She also loves to read, and enjoys all kinds of sporting activities.
    She has a very dry sense of humor and a wry wit.
    Since she used to live in Africa, Tanya is very interested in African culture and tradition.
    She works on her martial arts skills with her friend and co-ranger Adam. Tanya works at the local Angel Grove radio station so she can learn as much as she possibly can about the recording industry.

    Ashley
    Ashley is a bubbly, positive, upbeat person who always sees the bright side of a situation.  She is a cheerleader who is popular with the other kids, and belongs to just about every club at Angel Grove High School.
    There are times when her grades suffer, due to her over-involvement in school activities, but she always manages to pull through.
    Ashley's dream is to one day become a top fashion designer- the next Donna Karan, perhaps!

    Kat
    Kat, a native of Australia, is a born leader who is interested in helping
her community and caring for the environment. Her training in dance gives her a graceful and elegant style.
    In the summer Kat became a student teacher at Justin's summer school- and
discovered that he is a child genius!

    Cassie
    Cassie, a seventeen-year-old Asian-American, is a bit of a rebel. Her taste in clothes leans towards a slightly grunge-rocker style- and she would love to play guitar in an all-girl rock band!
    Cassie is strong-willed, independent- and she has a softer side with an iron resolve that will take her far in life. Her dream is to one day become a champion martial artist.

    Look out- it's Divatox!
    Divatox looked down upon a sea of warriors and monsters... hundreds of them. They all stared up at her in adulation and were chanting her name.
    'Silence,' she cried- and the crowd instantly obeyed the command.
    'Warriors, monsters, faithful followers,' she continued. 'You are all aware of the reason we are here.'
    A cheer arose from the crowd- and they began chanting: 'Destroy them! Destroy them!'
    Divatox spoke again: 'The ruination of my plan to dominate the universe must be avenged. The Power Rangers will pay dearly. Their beloved Earth will become mine. Are you with me?!!!'
    And the crowd erupted again, cheering wildly.

    From this evil scene you can see the power Divatox wields over her many minions. And you can see just what a task the Turbo Rangers face.
    A one-woman wrecking crew, Divatox is an arch-villain intent on destroying the Power Rangers. The only things that really matter to this barbaric pirate of the cosmos are fame, fortune and her own diminishing beauty.
    A lifetime of evil has turned her into a vain, bitter, fortune-hunting shrew with an acerbic wit to cut down anyone who crosses her.
    Under her viscous and dominating rule, Divatox's minions cower at the very mention of her name.
    In her powerful vessel, the Subcraft, she works day and night to achieve
her ultimate goal- to destroy or enslave the Turbo Power Rangers.

    Rygog
    Rygog is the second-in-command to Divatox, and will do anything to destroy anyone for his evil mistress.
    His exceptionally vile disposition and menacing appearance ignite fear in
the hearts of all who encounter him.
    He barks orders fiercely to his underlings, but he becomes nothing more than a boot-licking toady when it comes to Divatox. In fact, he is always crawling around her.
    Although Divatox always trusts Rygog to carry out her evil deeds, she treats him with utter contempt and disdain whenever he attempts to suck up to
her.
    He really is such a creep!

    Elgar
    Elgar is Divatox's tall, turnip-brained nephew. He is constantly on hand with some bonehead comment- or some ridiculous observation on the obvious.
    He constantly botches his aunt's vile schemes- and whenever that happens she is quick to go all Medieval and unleash her wrath upon him.
    Elgar is more of a liability than an asset to Divatox's plans. But then again, he is family.

    Porto
    Porto is the sniveling henchman who serves as the brains behind Divatox's
nautical operations. He is also the creator of the monsters used in her endless quest for power.
    With a creepy voice and manner, Porto is in charge of all things to do with the remarkable Subcraft- which he designed and built.
    Most of the time, Porto is filled with resentment at being nothing more than the Subcraft's Technical officer.  Despite his superior intellect, he remains reduced to taking orders from Divatox and Rygog and taking them wherever they want to go.
    Porto is always complaining and insulting his masters under his breath.

    The Piranhatrons
    These warriors are the evil foot-soliders deployed by Divatox and her crew- to divert the Turbo Power Rangers at every opportunity.
    Although less fantastic than the monsters which Porto creates for Divatox, the Piranhatrons are no less dangerous.
    More often than not, these warriors strike unannounced- often challenging
the Turbo Power Rangers in their civilian, or un-morphed state.

    Blue Senturion
    The Blue Senturion came to present-day Earth from the future and doesn't know or understand the happenings of everyday life in the 20th century.
    The Turbo Power Rangers regard him as a their protector. Yet they also look out for him, as he is kind of naive and not altogether with it in the present day.

    The Phantom Ranger
    This mysterious character embodies the spiritual essence of all power Rangers, past and present. He arrives and departs in a strange apparition.
    He is part real, part ghost and never discloses his identity. The Phantom Ranger gives the Power Rangers an awesome new fleet of Zords- the Rescue Zords- along with the Artillatron, the Turbo transporter.

    Alpha 6
    Alpha 6 replaced Alpha 5 when the older android returned to his home planet with Zordon.
    Alpha 6 is quite different from his predecessor.  He raises a lot of laughs with his brash, street-smart personality.

    Dimitria
    Dimitria, a beautiful sorceress, is a champion of good in the universe- just like Zordon.
    She came to the aid of the Power Rangers in a time of great need. When Zordon and Alpha 5 returned to their home dimension, the world was left defenseless and was attacked by Dimitria's evil twin sister, Divatox!
    Dimitria knows that she must help the Turbo Power rangers to protect the Earth from her sister's wrath. She appears to them as a three-dimensional
holograph in the Power Chamber. She is a sage and mentor to the power teens, although sometimes her advice can be just a little cryptic.

    Artillatron
    Artillatron is the storage and transport Zord which dispatches the Rescue
Zords. When the Rescue Megazord is formed, it can get extra artillery power from the Artillatron in the form of a flaming cannon and a rotating laser.

    Lerigot
    Lerigot is a lovable wizard from the planet Liaria. He appears in the Power Chamber, returning in order to give Zordon freedom to rejoin his own family.

    [ends]