THE Power Rangers the franchise has been transforming for over 30 years, but the original Powerful Morphin’ the incarnation is always the most emblematic. Among the classic team, Tommy Oliver, the original Green Ranger, remains a standout, with the late actor Jason David Frank portraying the character over several seasons. This made Tommy the Power Rangers’ greatest hero, but another version of him was their greatest enemy in the comics.
The Boom! Workshops Power Rangers the comics have their own version of classic continuity, adding several new stories and characters. Chief among them is Lord Drakkon, who is none other than an alternate version of Tommy Oliver.. Although he bears the same face as his heroic counterpart, he is the ultimate evil of the world. Power Rangers universe and puts Rita Repulsa to shame.
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Who is Lord Drakkon?
This Power Ranger Was Really Green With Evil
Debut in Boom! The studios Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #4 by Kyle Higgins, Steve Orlando, Hendry Prasetya and Corin Howell, Lord Drakkon came from an alternate reality in the Power Rangers multiverse. There, Tommy Oliver’s life was similar to that of the mainstream universe, with one major exception. When he was freed from Rita Repulsa’s mind control, he did not join Zordon and the Power Rangers.
Instead, he left on his own and eventually fell under Rita’s unchecked influence, viewing his form of conquest as helping society. Particularly impressed by the story of her former protégé Drakkon, Tommy used his Green Ranger powers to conquer city after city in Rita’s name.. This saw him kill Jason Lee Scott (the Red Ranger) and absorb the power that Zordon intended to use to transform Jason into the White Ranger.
The Lord Drakkon storyline was part of the now iconic “Shattered Grid” arc.
Now more powerful than ever and having learned several techniques from Rita, Tommy ends up turning against his mistress, killing her and taking her place after defeating the Power Rangers. Transforming Finster into a cyborg using the remains of Alpha 5, the evil Tommy Oliver renamed himself Lord Drakkon and attempted to take over the world at large. Opposing him were the “Coinless”, a resistance group made up of former Power Rangers, although Kimberly Ann Hart, the former Pink Ranger, had been brainwashed into becoming his personal “Ranger Slayer”.
He also sent Ranger Sentries to enforce his will, viewing total control and ultimate power as his birthright through pure existence. Fortunately, an encounter with the Power Rangers of the mainstream universe temporarily depowered him and his Sentinels. Although he apparently jumped to his death afterward, Lord Drakkon entered a portal to the main universe, and his brief capture there only resulted in him regaining his powers.
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Then Lord Drakkon went in a multiversal crusade against various teams of Power Rangers. He murdered other incarnations of Tommy Oliver and he particularly despised how much Tommy was loved as the Red Zeo Ranger. At one point he seemingly died with this world beaten and conquered, but even that wasn’t the case. Lord Drakkon’s perseverance was shared with his entire universe and he remained alive in the remains of a world in tatters.
Since then, he has gone on to antagonize other groups of Power Rangers, including the Omega Rangers. Sometimes he even showed a sense of mercy and nobility towards these enemies. While this presents a chance for redemption, he will likely remain the only evil variant of the most iconic Power Ranger.
Powers and Abilities of Lord Drakkon
The Dark Power Ranger overshadows the abilities of others
As one of the most powerful Power Rangers in franchise history, Lord Drakkon possesses gifts and abilities far beyond others. In many ways, he is equivalent to an entire team of Rangers, if not even stronger. This is partly due to the nature of his original Green Ranger powers, and while they could be altered by the Green Candle, they were not the only source of his strength.
The evil Tommy Oliver added the powers of the White Ranger to his first set of powers, after which he truly became Lord Drakkon.
This is the opposite of the mainstream Tommy Oliver, wholost its original powers in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series before becoming the White Ranger. The White Ranger’s powers were also a cut above those of normal Rangers, which is why the mainstream Tommy replaced the Red Ranger as leader. So Drakkon having more power on top of that only enhanced his strength.
Additionally, unlike the normal version of Tommy, Lord Drakkon learned dark magic and incantations under the tutelage of Rita Repulsa.. Few other Power Rangers can even use magic in such a capacity, which gives him another distinct advantage. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg as Lord Drakkon eventually began absorbing the powers of the morphers of his fallen victims. As he traveled across the multiverse, his list of energy sources matched his growing number of kills, giving him a true line of access to the Morphing Grid itself.
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Since this plane of existence lies beyond the multiverse and in a realm of its own, this explains how Drakkon quickly gained so much power. Eventually able to eclipse the power of even the mighty Omega Rangers, Lord Drakkon’s abilities grew to allow him to manipulate reality. This is believed to be part of why he and his universe survived the predicted destruction.
Lord Drakkon has expanded his arsenal with Ranger weapons
He further increased his power as his arrogance grew
Lord Drakkon’s arsenal matched that of Tommy Oliver’s other incarnations, and he enriched it with the weapons of his fallen enemies and new weapons he acquired.. These included the powerful Black Dragon Cannons, not to mention an army of evil Power Rangers and villains who serve him.
The evil Tommy Oliver can cross the multiverse to complete his army or kill all enemies in an alternate universe.
Lord Drakkon has usually only been defeated through convenient intrigue or story developments. All of this makes him a far greater threat than most individual Power Rangers, let alone entire Ranger teams. He also possesses a key strategic mind, knowing when and where to attack an enemy. Of course, he’s not without weaknesses, which is a saving grace for his enemies.
Due to his extreme power, Drakkon is very arrogant and sometimes relies too much on these abilities. Lord Drakkon’s morpher is always vulnerable (at least initially) to overload, leaving him and his followers powerless. When this happened, he was shocked to the point of helplessness, and it seems that while unchanged, he lacked much of the martial arts training that his traditional counterpart possessed.
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This is due to the fact that he did not have the same childhood in Angel Grove, with the general public Tommy frequently fighting with Jason and participating in tournaments. Even with these weaknesses, he is still more than an adversary to many Power Rangers, his power beating the others without a doubt. Due to this immense scale of power, he has been a constant villain in BOOM! Comic book studios, but that’s not the only reason for its popularity and menace.
Why Lord Drakkon is so dangerous
The threat of Lord Drakkon is inherent to who he is
Beyond the evidence of his immense power, Lord Drakkon is the most dangerous Power Ranger for several other reasons.. On the one hand, he willingly chose to become evil, because Rita Repulsa’s brainwashing didn’t make him that way.
This version of Tommy would have always taken a villainous path to some extent, and Rita’s presence only manifested that in becoming the Green Ranger.
The stories about Drakkon’s original power tempted Tommy, and it’s clear that it was always what he craved. The wise words of encouragement and correction from Zordon and the Power Rangers meant nothing, and Lord Drakkon reveled in his vile nature. This was most evident in his disgust at the popularity of the Zeo Red Ranger version of Tommy Oliver, and he didn’t see why they would worship his heroism.
This concept embodies why Lord Drakkon is such a cruel and dangerous enemy. Aside from his many powers and the army of loyal followers he has at his disposal, Drakkon is ultimately an evil version of the greatest Power Ranger of all time. His villainy made him an anomaly, as he was meant to be the only evil incarnation of Tommy in the multiverse. Not only do most Power Rangers teams know who Tommy Oliver is supposed to be, but his heroism is downright legendary.
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So an evil version that seeks to expand beyond its broken world and conquer others is a particularly dark concept, especially for the Rangers of the mainstream universe, who once called a version of Tommy their friend .
It’s essentially the equivalent of the idea of an evil version of Superman, with the power to support that concept. It has since been adapted into outdoor media, with video games, toys, and other collectibles allowing fans to introduce and even play as the deadliest Power Ranger.
Power Rangers
Power Rangers is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai franchise. Over the years, the franchise has created popular comic books, television shows, films, and theatrical performances, and produced numerous games and toys.
- Created by
- Haim Saban, Shotaro Ishinomori, Shuki Levy
- First TV show
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
- Latest TV show
- Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
- First episode broadcast date
- August 28, 1993
- Last episode
- 2023-09-23