Power Coins
The Power Coins were the sources of power used in the Power Morphers of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. | |
First seen | Day of the Dumpster |
Last seen | Dimensions in Danger |
Series | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Power Rangers in Space Power Rangers Wild Force Power Rangers Dino Thunder Power Rangers Super Megaforce Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel Power Rangers Beast Morphers |
Table of Contents
Coins of Power
When Zordon first recruited Zack, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Jason to become Power Rangers, he granted them five Power Coins, each located in a device called a Power Morpher.
Zordon explained that each Ranger would be given access to extraordinary powers drawn from the ancient dinosaurs. Each Power Coin was a small metal disc, golden in color and approximately two inches in diameter.
Each coin featured a stylised representation of each dinosaur on one side; the Mastodon, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Sabre-toothed Tiger and Tyrannosaurus.
When the teens were attacked by the Putty Patrol, they reluctantly used their Power Morphers to transform in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. When transformed, the Morphers and Coins were clearly visible, located on each Rangers belt.
Each of the Dinozord cockpits were shown to contain the same dinosaur insignia on their control panels as was present on the Power Coins.
When the Rangers formed the Megazord, an insignia on the wall of the cockpit appeared to feature a combined design featuring each of the five dinosaur insignia. [MMPR1: “Day of the Dumpster“]
The dinosaur insignia of the Power Coins were also found on each of the Power Weapons, including the Dragon Dagger and Saba. [MMPR1: “Teamwork“, “Green With Evil, Part V“][MMPR2: “White Light, Part II“]
Summoning the Power Crystals
A short time later, the Red Ranger was trapped alone to fight both a giant sized Goldar and King Sphinx. Zordon informed the Rangers that they would be able to use their Power Crystals to help Jason.
Alpha 5 instructed each Ranger to place each of their hands together to summon these Power Crystals. As each Ranger parted their hands, a glowing triangle of light appeared between them before taking a solid form. This solid form was recognisable as the control sticks that had been present in their Dinozords when the Rangers first boarded them.
Zordon explained that the Power Crystals contained the essences of the Rangers’ morphing powers. Not only could these crystals be used to find each other in any peril, but they could also be used with their Zords to draw power from the very heart of the Morphing Grid. [MMPR1: “A Pressing Engagement“]
In normal battle, the Rangers would summon their Power Crystals from their Power Coins. From within their Dinozord cockpit, each Ranger would remove their Power Coin from their Power Morpher.
Holding the coin in their right hand, they would slide their left hand away from it, causing the crystal to form in the space between them. The Rangers would then be able to insert the fully formed Power Crystal into the control panel of each Dinozord.
This would become standard practice through the lifespan of the Dinozords. [MMPR1: “Different Drum“]
Teamwork
When Madame Woe warped the Power Rangers to one of her jewel dimensions, the Rangers found themselves struggling to combat her. The Blue Ranger stated that the only way to defeat her was to return her to their home dimension.
However, the only way to escape her jewel dimension was to combine the Power Coins. Each Ranger removed their Power Coin from its Power Morpher, calling the name of their dinosaur. Holding the five coins close to each other, the Blue Ranger was able to summon the power of all five coins into his alone, allowing him to escape Madame Woe.
The Blue Ranger found himself able to withstand a constant barrage of attacks until he was able to crush Madame Woe’s magic jewel in his hand. [MMPR1: “Peace, Love and Woe“]
The Sixth Coin
Rita later revealed that she had a Power Coin of her own in her possession and had apparently been waiting for a suitable candidate to give it to. Observing the fighting prowess of Tommy Oliver, Rita sent a Putty Patrol to attack him, subsequently kidnapping and placing him under a spell to control him.
As Tommy received his orders to attack the Power Rangers, the Green Ranger Power Coin appeared in the palm of his hand in a flash of green flame. The coin was similar to the other, but featured a three-clawed print rather than the head of a dinosaur.
With a Power Coin in his possession, the Green Ranger was able to enter Zordon’s Command Center undetected, destroying its computer control panels and severing the connection to Zordon.
Later that day, upon discovering the damage, Trini appeared to be confused as to who could have caused it as nobody could enter the Command Center without a coin. [MMPR1: “Green With Evil, Part I“]
Following his successes against the Rangers, Tommy, with Power Coin in hand, was able to shoot green energy blasts from his eyes that knocked Bulk and Skull into a dumpster.
That same day, Tommy would then use his Power Coin to teleport Jason to the Dark Dimension. Upon his arrival in the Dark Dimension, Jason found that his Power Morpher and Power Coin had been removed and were now in the hands of Goldar. [MMPR1: “Green With Evil, Part II“]
When Alpha 5 restored the connection to Zordon, each of the Power Coins glowed brightly as Alpha carried out Zordon’s instructions to teleport them to their Dinozords. When the Red Ranger destroyed the Sword of Darkness, Rita lost control over Tommy who was now free to use his Power Coin as a Power Ranger. [MMPR1: “Green With Evil, Part V“]
Stealing Power
In late 1993, Rita was able to abduct the teens to her Island of Illusion. Just as had happened with Jason in the Dark Dimension, the teens each found that their Power Coins were missing. [MMPR1: “Island of Illusion, Part I“] The only helpful inhabitant of the island appeared to be a creature called Quagmire, who was able to advise the teens on how to resist the hallucinations the island caused but could not tell them how to find their Power Coins. However, when each teen was able to overcome their own personal illusion, they found their Power Coins had been with them all along. [MMPR1: “Island of Illusion, Part II“]
A short time later, Rita attempted to reclaim the Green Ranger’s Power Coin by utilizing a magic candle that, when fully burned, would return the power to her. [MMPR1: “The Green Candle, Part I“]
The Green Ranger decided to pass his Power Coin to the Red Ranger to stop Rita, knowing that in doing so, he would no longer be a Power Ranger. As the Green Ranger placed the coin in the palm of the Red Ranger, it quickly burned a green flame that turned to red before disappearing.
With the coin now belonging to Jason, it was safe from Rita’s grasp. No longer connected to the Power Coin, the Green Ranger’s body glowed green, remarking that he felt weak and strange inside. Zordon explained that this was due to his body morphing back to its normal state, and the Green Ranger finally demorphed. [MMPR1: “The Green Candle, Part II“]
Going Green
Rita would later use the Dramole monster to kidnap the parents of Angel Grove and hold them hostage in her Dark Dimension. Goldar offered a trade to the Rangers. In exchange for their parents, the Rangers would surrender their Power Coins to Goldar. Goldar conjured a golden box inset with green gems and opened it, ready to accept the Coins.
The Rangers petitioned Zordon for advice, who advised them that he could not make the decision for them as it affected their families. Deciding that while they had been able to do a lot of good as Rangers, the right thing was to accept the deal. One by one, the Rangers placed their Coins in the box. Goldar snapped the box shut, declaring that he had no intention of releasing their parents and in fact intended to ensure that Rita would rule the world. [MMPR1: “Return of an Old Friend, Part I“]
Jason asked Tommy to use the only Power Coin they had left- the Coin of the Green Ranger. Zordon explained that he would have to infuse Tommy with an enormous amount of his own energy to allow Tommy to morph again. Tommy agreed and teleported to confront Goldar. Tommy fought a platoon of Putty Patrollers who were guarding the Power Coin box and was able to retrieve the Dragon Dagger and the Coins by breaching the protective force-field that surrounded the box. As soon as it was in Tommy’s possession, Alpha 5 teleported Tommy back to the Command Center, who dropped the box to the floor as he fell unconscious.
Recharging the Rangers
Zordon, suffering the effects of the power drain used to let Tommy morph earlier, appeared to be so weak that he lost his connection to the Command Center.
Alpha 5 suggested that the Rangers use the combined powers of the five Power Coins to recharge Zordon, similar to how they had combined powers in the fight against Madame Woe. Once again holding their coins together and calling the name of their dinosaur, energy flowed from each of the coins to Zordon’s tube, bringing him back.
A short time later, Tommy’s body become electrically charged with green energy which he absorbed when he breached the force field that surrounded the Power Coin box. Alpha 5’s scans showed that this energy had also restored Tommy’s Green Ranger powers, allowing him to morph again. [MMPR1: “Return of an Old Friend, Part II“]
In 1994, Lord Zedd decided to use the same magic candles as Rita had used to drain the energies of the Power Rangers. With the Rangers captive in Zedd’s Dimension of Doom and the candles nearly consumed, the Red Ranger had an idea to save his teammates.
Collecting each of their coins, he placed them on the tiny stumps of each remaining candle. Raising his own coin to the two golden orbs between the candles, energy from his coin appear to compel the orbs to restore the candles to full size, before the energy they had siphoned returned to the other Rangers.
With the emergency over, the Red Ranger returned the Power Coins to the Rangers. [MMPR2: “Missing Green“]
The Seventh Coin
As the Green Ranger powers were completely extinguished by his final battle against Lord Zedd’s monsters, Zordon and Alpha 5 set about the task of creating a new, more powerful Ranger whose powers could never be stolen away by the forces of evil.
Shutting down the Command Center, they retired to a hidden chamber beneath the building where they began to build the new Ranger powers. Once complete, Zordon introduced Tommy as the new White Ranger to the team.
The White Ranger possessed a Power Coin and Power Morpher as the Green Ranger did, but it did not appear on his morphed suit.
The White Ranger Power Coin bore the design of stylised tiger stripes, and was present on his chest shield as well as on his personal weapon, Saba. [MMPR2: “White Light, Part II“]
The Power Transfer
When Zordon began the ceremony to pass the Ranger power from Jason, Zack and Trini to Rocky, Adam and Aisha, he charged the Sword of Light with energy and the powers from each of the three departing Rangers appeared to transfer to the new recruits. The three new teens were instantly morphed into Power Rangers. The departing Rangers remained in their morphed forms, each appearing to still possess duplicate Power Morphers, Power Coins and Blade Blasters, albeit temporarily as they were soon teleported out of the Command Center and back to their civilian lives. [MMPR2: “The Power Transfer, Part II“]
Fakes and copies
Having failed to defeat the Power Rangers with monsters, Lord Zedd attempted to defeat them with a team of his own Rangers and so kidnapped the teen ambassadors of the World Teen Summit. Like Goldar did before, Zedd ransomed the teens for the Power Coins.
Having learned from the experience, Tommy hatched a plan to retrieve the kidnapped teens. The six Rangers agreed to meet outside of the Cave of Despair. Goldar and handed him a red box with six Power Coins inside. As the White Ranger opened the box, Goldar inexplicably failed to notice that the Power Rangers still had Power Coins in their Power Morphers, nor that of the six coins in the box, two were of the Sabre-toothed Tiger and none the Tyrannosaurus.
Snatching the box, Goldar revealed that just like before, he had no intention of releasing the teens. Realising this, the Blue Ranger quickly snatched the box back from Goldar, explaining that it contained fake Power Coins anyway, rendering the entire interaction completely pointless. The Rangers then fought off a squadron of Z Putties, and rescued the teen ambassadors. Bulk and Skull found the box and saw that it was labelled “Power Rangers Power Coins”. Bulk’s excitement soon disappeared, when Skull discovered that the coins were made of good, delicious chocolate. [MMPR2: “A Monster of Global Proportions“]
The Wizard of Deception created a clone of Tommy who once again possessed the powers of the Green Ranger, including his Power Coin. The clone Green Ranger was able to use the Power Coin to enter the Command Center taunt Zordon and Alpha 5. [MMPR2: “Return of the Green Ranger, Part II“] The White Ranger later appeared to strip the Green Ranger clone of his powers using the wand captured from the defeated Wizard. As the White Ranger touched the wand to the Dragon Shield, the Green Ranger demorphed into his human form. [MMPR2: “Return of the Green Ranger, Part III“]
When Rita transformed a statue of Billy into an evil duplicate, the clone began stealing the Power Morphers and Coins from the five other Rangers. When he was discovered, he was drawn into a scuffle with the real Billy, who began to morph. With the clone attempting to grab the Power Morpher, both Billy’s transformed into separate Blue Rangers. However, the clone was destroyed by the combined effort of five Blade Blaster lasers and Saba. [MMPR2: “Blue Ranger Gone Bad“]
Wild West Rangers
When Kimberly was sent to 1880, she sought help from the past versions of Zordon and Alpha 5. Acknowledging that Rita still possessed the Green Ranger Power Coin in that time period, Kim asked where the other five were.
Alpha 5 explained that they were all present in the Command Center. Zordon told Kim that she could not take the 1880 version of her Power Coin as she was already in possession of her 1994 version. Zordon stated that too much pink energy would be dangerous.
However, Kim had actually planned to give the other four coins to the ancestors of the 1994 Ranger team.
Meeting them in the desert, Kimberly presented the Power Coins in a small black casket. The teens agreed to use the coins and Abraham, Rocko, William and Miss Alisha became the first Earthlings to use the Power Coins. [MMPR2: “Wild West Rangers, Part II“]
Beginning and the end of the Power Coins
Following the destruction of the Command Center power core and the Thunderzords, the Power Coins were rendered useless. Zordon explained to the Rangers that he had not actually created the Power Coins, but simply found them. Along with the coins, Zordon had also discovered a map to the hidden temple of Ninjor, the being thought to have forged the Power Coins. The Rangers would use this map to venture through the Desert of Despair in order to gain replacement Power Coins from Ninjor. [MMPR3: “Ninja Quest, Part II“]
Future of the Power Coins
In 1997, Adam visited his successor Carlos in Angel Grove, following Adam’s retiral from Ranger duties. Adam revealed that he still had his Power Morpher and Power Coin in his possession, which was now charred and visibly cracked following the battle with Rito in 1995.
Alpha 6 explained to Adam that he should never attempt to use the broken Power Morpher as it would likely destroy him if he tried. Adam later ignored Alpha 6’s warning and managed to morph into the Black Ranger. When morphed, the Power Morpher and Coin appeared undamaged, but the suit was unable to stay intact causing pain and ultimately demorphing a few minutes later. [PRiS: “Always a Chance“]
When Jason joined the team of Red Rangers on the Moon to stop General Venjix from retrieving Serpentera, he presented an undamaged Power Morpher and Power Coin, and inexplicably was able to morph into a fully operational Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, despite his powers having been passed to Rocky and subsequently lost like Adam’s. [PRWF: “Forever Red“]
Ten years later, Sentinel Knight assembled a team of veteran Rangers to support the Operation Overdrive Rangers. Channelling some of his own energy, he was able to restore the powers of the Black Mighty Mighty Power Ranger. [PROO: “Once A Ranger, Part I) ”] The Black Ranger later fought in the battle against Thrax. [PROO: “Once A Ranger, Part II ”]
Rocky would use the Tyrannosaurus coin to morph into the Red Ranger to stop the invading clone Ranger army. [PRSNStl: “Dimensions in Danger “]