Rita Repulsa

Rita Repulsa
Portrayed by	Machiko Soga (Japanese footage, 1993–1994, 2006) Carla Perez (American footage, 1994-1998) Julia Cortez (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie) Barbara Goodson (voice - Rita Repulsa) Susan Brady (voice - Mystic Mother)
Status	Mystic Mother
First appearance	Day of the Dumpster (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Homeworld	Unknown

Rita Repulsa is a fictional character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. She is based on the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger villain Witch Bandora. In 2006, Jetix had a poll asking viewers to vote for the greatest villain in the history of the Power Rangers and Rita Repulsa was voted as number one.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2006 series, Power Rangers: Mystic Force, the audience sees that Rita has become Mystic Mother (played by Machiko Soga, the original Rita actress, for the Japanese series, Magiranger) and she is the empress of all good magic. In episode 31 of Mystic Force, it is referenced that Mystic Mother was once called Rita in "the dark days".

Character attributes

Personality

An evil alien witch bent on galactic domination, Rita Repulsa was the first villain the Power Rangers had to face. Most discernible by her two pointed hair cones, one may also recognize her by her screeching voice, Madonna-like cone bra, and obnoxious attitude. While she is sadistic and power hungry, her character would usually become humorous whenever the Power Rangers defeated her; this would end with the catchphrase "I've got such a headache!" As Rita then married Lord Zedd later on in the series, her humorous personality was increased (usually arguing with Zedd or her father, Master Vile).

Powers

Being a powerful witch, Rita possesses many magical abilities. In the first season, her wand was used as the recurring plot device to make her monsters grow to enormous sizes.

In the 2006 series Power Rangers: Mystic Force she is the ruler of all good magic and can use that magic to defend herself if and when she needs to.

Portrayal

The character of Rita Repulsa was portrayed by three actresses. Since the character originated as the Zyuranger character Witch Bandora, she was portrayed by Machiko Soga in the original Japanese footage used for villain scenes, with her English voice performed by Barbara Goodson. Carla Perez would take over the role from Soga after the character's reintroduction midway through the second season through the end of Power Rangers In Space. In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, she is portrayed by Julia Cortez. Barbara Goodson continued to provide Rita's voice when Perez and Cortez played the character. Her final appearance as Mystic Mother is portrayed by Machiko Soga, with Susan Brady providing her voice.

Synopsis

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Season 1

At the beginning of season 1, Rita Repulsa had been imprisoned for over ten thousand years in a space dumpster. She, along with the other season 1 villains, was released by a pair of Earth astronauts. She exited the dumpster along with her minions Goldar, Baboo & Squatt and Finster. Rita claimed she would conquer the first planet she saw after being freed, and it happened to be Earth. Over the course of the show, Rita Repulsa battled the Power Rangers using everything from phobia spells, super Putty patrollers, binding magic spells, and on occasions, she would even allow the likes of Goldar and Squatt and Baboo to be "in charge" of destroying the Power Rangers. Nothing worked, and Rita would normally take her frustrations out on her henchmen by bashing them on the head with her magic wand or screaming into their faces. One of Rita's most memorable traits was that following each loss, she would either swear vengeance, or complain that she had a headache (the latter becoming one of her trademarks). Eventually Rita's reign of terror came to an end when Lord Zedd returned to assume control. Then it is revealed Rita was not the true empress, but actually the regent of Zedd's empire while he was off in other places. Zedd was furious that Rita had failed to defeat "children" and conquer the Earth. Despite Rita's begging and pleading, Lord Zedd vaporized Rita's magic wand and shrank her down to the size of a toy before again exiling her into space in a space dumpster.

Season 2

Locked within a space dumpster, Rita came within inches of freedom when her dumpster came to Earth, and Bulk and Skull succeeded in opening the dumpster. But the Power Rangers were successful in sending Rita back into space. Eventually her dumpster crashed into the moon, and she escaped. Down but not out, after regaining her freedom, Rita sought assistance from Finster, her still loyal henchman, to concoct a love potion that would generate libidic feelings for use on Lord Zedd. She also used a beauty cream made by Finster over her face to become younger (serving to transition the actress from Soga to Perez). The love potion worked, and the two were then married. Once married to Lord Zedd, Rita gave up her magic practices and worked alongside Lord Zedd as a partner in crime. Zedd and Rita attempted to defeat the Rangers, using clones of the Rangers and time-travel, and though they each failed, the Rangers did not claim victory so easily.

Season 3

Shortly after the wedding, Rita's brother, Rito Revolto, arrived to join his sister and brother-in-law on their quest to destroy the Power Rangers. Also, following this, monsters were now made to grow by Rita and Zedd's crossing their staves and using lightning to make monsters grow. Nevertheless, they continued to fail, even with help from Rita's spy, Katherine Hillard, who, after breaking free from Rita's control, joined the forces of the Power Rangers as the second Pink Ranger when Kimberly Hart departed for Florida. Additionally, Goldar found out about the love potion that Rita used on Lord Zedd, and had a concoction created to reverse the effects. The anti-love potion brought Zedd back to normal, however, he had apparently developed a real love for Rita of his own accord.

Later still, her father, Master Vile, made his entrance, aiding the villains greatly by leaving the Rangers as powerless children.

In Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers

After her father turned back time using the Orb Of Doom, The Alien Rangers were summoned from Aquitar. During this story arc, the villains were successful in destroying the Ninja power coins and planting an implosion device which, when the timer ran out, destroyed the Command Center.

In Power Rangers: Zeo

Rita and Zedd fled to live in refuge with Master Vile following the invasion of the Machine Empire. However, the couple, along with the other villains, returned to the moon in a campervan and throughout the latter part of Zeo, Rita and Zedd attempted to thwart the Machine Empire's plots and even aided the Rangers to prevent the Machine Empire from claiming Earth. In Rangers Of Two Worlds, Part 1, Finster made a new wand for Rita, which was used to create a monster that was strong, even against the Zeo Ultrazord. After King Mondo and his family are defeated by the Power Rangers, Zedd and Rita gave Prince Sprocket a present, claimed as a peace offering, which was actually a bomb, which blows the Royal House of Gadgetry to pieces.

In Turbo; A Power Rangers Movie

Rita and Zedd made a small cameo appearance in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. Divatox calls them in the middle of the night to ask them how to destroy the Rangers. In a comical scene, Rita held the phone to a snoring Zedd, saying that if she knew how to stop the Rangers she wouldn't have to listen to that, and then told Divatox her advice was to run.

In Power Rangers Turbo

In the episode "The Millenium Message", the Blue Senturion plays a video message from the future foretelling of Dark Specter's alliance and their attack on the galaxy. Shown working together and causing destruction are Rita, Zedd, Mondo, Machina, and Divatox.

In Power Rangers In Space

In Power Rangers In Space, Rita and Zedd joined the alliance of villains led by Dark Specter, and assisted with Dark Specter's scheme to vanquish all good in the universe. However, during the final confrontation, when Zordon sacrificed his own life (at the hands of the Red Space Ranger Andros), Rita was transformed into a normal human, along with Lord Zedd, who had also been transformed into a normal human being.

In Power Rangers Mystic Force

Rita as the Mystic Mother.

In Power Rangers Mystic Force Rita is revealed to have become the Mystic Mother, Empress of Good Magic and leader of the Mystic Ones. She is the one who apparently gave the Power Rangers Mystic Force their link to the Morphing Grid. When she learns that the Master is about to assault the Mystic Mother's fortress, Udonna mentions that she was "known as Rita in the dark days". It is the Mystic Mother who gives Clare the powers of a full sorceress and helps the Mystic Rangers to defeat the Master of Darkness – in typical Rita fashion, she accuses the Master of giving her a headache.

The characters were unrelated in their original series, even though they were both played by Soga, and the writers decided to connect the characters both as an easter egg for long-time fans and as a tribute to Soga herself, who passed away while Mystic Force was in production.

Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive

In the 15th anniversary special episode, Once A Ranger, Zedd and Rita's previously unknown son, Thrax, confronted the Overdrive Rangers. Thrax united the current team's various enemies and severed their connection to the Morphing Grid. In response, the Sentinel Knight assembles a team of veteran Rangers to defeat Thrax. Adam, the new team's leader, mentions his previous battles with Zedd and Rita and observes that Thrax will be difficult to defeat. When he later mentions Rita's change of allegiance, Thrax mocks his mother's decision to embrace good.

In other media

Films

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

Julia Cortez as Rita in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Rita, Zedd, Goldar, and Mordant arrive on earth at the constructive site and crack open a giant egg releasing Ivan Ooze after 6,000 years, a morphological being who ruled earth with an iron fist before he was overthrown by Zordon and a group of young warriors. Ivan usurps Rita and Zedd, trapping them in a snow globe. In a mid-credits scene, Goldar briefly lounges in Zedd's throne being served by Mordant only to panic when Zedd and Rita appear having been released after Ivan was destroyed.

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie

In the movie's alternate continuity, Rita and Zedd are married, though their space palace looks different. They release Ivan Ooze, but become trapped in a snowglobe for the remainder of the movie.

Power Rangers (2017 film)

Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa in the 2017 film Power Rangers.

On February 2, 2016, it was announced that Elizabeth Banks would portray Rita Repulsa in the reboot. Rita is the former Green Ranger, with her character now seeking to harness the Ranger's power source. People released a promotional photo of the actress in character on April 19, 2016. An apparent former member of Zordon's Ranger team, Rita betrayed them to acquire the power of the Zeo Crystal, the source of all life on Earth, killing the rest of the team until Zordon buried the Power Coins and had Alpha hide his location with a meteor that blasted Rita into the ocean and seriously damaged her armor. She is brought up in the present day by a fishing boat captained by Sam Scott, Jason's father, and soon sets about gathering gold to replenish her power with the goal of unleashing Goldar, a massive monster who will allow her to acquire the Crystal. After the Rangers are forced to confront her directly despite not having mastered their powers, she kills Billy after she forces him to reveal the location of the Crystal, which is underneath the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, but Zordon and the other Rangers are able to revive him, at the cost of sacrificing Zordon's chance to come back to life himself. The Rangers subsequently face Goldar in battle with the Zords, but only gain the upper hand when they form the Megazord. Despite Rita merging with Goldar to take charge of the fight, the Rangers are finally able to defeat her and destroy Goldar. They offer her the chance to surrender and hand over the green Power Coin, but she instead tries to attack them again, only to be 'slapped' into the sky by Jason. She is last shown drifting in space towards the moon, smiling in satisfaction as her body freezes.