Serpentera


 * Not to be confused with the similarily named monster, Serpentina.

Serpentera was a colossal (in comparison to the Power Rangers' Zords) and personal Zord of Lord Zedd, and was co-piloted by Goldar.

Properties
Serpentera was the most massive Zord that was ever created; the skycraper-sized Red Dragon Thunderzord was roughly the size of its hand. It resembled an Eastern Dragon in form, and had enough power to annihilate a planet. Serpentera attacked by firing out bolts of energy, and its colossal size allowed to crush nearly any foe, although Tor the Shuttlezord withstood it, if only barely. Serpentera's massive power brought the Power Rangers to the brink of defeat every time that it was called, and it failed to destroy them only because of its one weakness: the colossal amount of fuel that it needed to power its offensive capabilities. That weakness, however, did not appear to affect enough, if at all, its basic flight capabilities, nor the engines that Serpentera used for interstellar flight, as indicated by the fact that it was still able to return to the Moon even after it lost power in battle against the Rangers.

History
Serpentera was first used when Lord Zedd took it to the Deserted Planet to keep the Power Rangers from getting the Sword of Light. Jason briefly attempted to fight Serpentera with the Red Dragon Thunderzord, but quickly saw that his Zord was no match and retreated in Tor after Serpentera proved unable to crush it. Zedd then went on a rampage with Serpentera, destroyed everything in sight, but grew frustrated that he was unable to find the Rangers and then decided to destroy the entire planet. Fortunately, the Rangers managed to escape with the Sword of Light before Serpentera completely destroyed the Deserted Planet. Zedd then took Serpentera to Angel Grove to destroy it, but to his dismay, found that Serpentera had used up too much power, which forced him to retreat back to the Moon Palace in order to refuel.

The only other time that Serpentera did any fighting was when Zedd created Pachinko Head. While Pachinko Head was in Angel Grove, Zedd then took Serpentera to Earth. After Pachinko Head was destroyed by the Thunder Megazord, Serpentera then arrived and disassembled it with one blast. Zedd then attempted to crush the Red Dragon Thunderzord, but it hid inside Tor's armor. Zedd tried to crush Tor again, but the attempt somehow drained over half of Serpentera's power, and Zedd was forced to retreat back to the Moon, again.

Serpentera was later used by Zedd to try and capture Bookala and its diamond power source so that he wouldn't have to keep recharging it, but the attempt to capture Bookala failed due to interference by the Rangers who later tricked Zedd and gave him a fake version of Bookala's diamond power source.

Serpentera was later used to take Zedd and Rita Repulsa on their first honeymoon as seen with a "Just Married" banner that trailed from its tail. Though Zedd and Rita attempted to go for a second honeymoon, Serpentera ran out of power due to Rito Revolto's forgetfulness.

Sepentera was used by Zedd and Rita to escape the Moon when the Machine Empire attacked. It was unknown why Zedd and Rita chose to flee the Moon instead of using Serpentera to defend the Moon Palace, given how powerful it was in spite of its weakness. Serpentera was not seen again afterwards for a long time, so it was unknown if it was used when Zedd and Rita returned to the Moon, but, presumably, Zedd had it buried sometime after his return, possibly to prevent it from being stolen or destroyed by his enemies. Serpentera was then later unearthed on the Moon by General Venjix and his cohorts after they discovered the location of where it was buried. After it was given a neo-plutonium core in order to compensate for its weakness and was greatly miniaturized for reasons unknown, Serpentera was piloted by Venjix (after he successfully got past the Red Rangers who tried to stop him) toward Earth in order to destroy it. However, before Venjix could succeed, Serpentera was then destroyed by the Red Wild Force Ranger using the Wild Force Rider, and took Venjix, who was the last known commander of the Machine Empire, with it.

One possible theory was that that second incarnation was a prototype (or alpha version) of the actual Serpentera, given that Zedd took Serpentera with him after he left, and there was no evidence that he brought Serpentera back with him when he returned to the Moon, as well as the second one's significant reduction in size and power. Another possible theory was that the second Serpentera was given a reduction in size in order to mitigate its tremendous fuel consumption. The second Serpentera appeared silver and purple where the original was green and gray. The likely reasons out of universe were that Serpentera was reduced in size either for reasons of animation cost, or its size being reduced to make Cole's destruction of it appear more believable than what would have been possible when it was shown to be bigger than most (if not all) cities and was powerful enough to destroy planets.

There was also some debate as to Serpentera's origins due to there being no known canonical sources. Some believed that it was a spoil of the previous war against Zordon 10,000 years ago (in which the Sword of Darkness was also claimed.) Another popular theory was that Zedd had it built himself in order to deal with the Rangers: that theory was supported by a short scene when Serpentera first landed in Angel Grove, and ran out of power. Zedd then yelled: "Serpentera out of power again?! Impossible! The thing is brand new!" However, that could have been him refering to the fact that it was the first time that he had used Serpentera.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 2)

 * The Power Transfer
 * Rocky Just Wants to Have Fun
 * The Great Bookala Escape
 * The Wedding, Part 3

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 3)

 * The Potion Notion

Power Rangers Zeo

 * A Zeo Beginning, Part 2

Power Rangers Wild Force

 * Forever Red (death)

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

 * Legacy of Power (archive footage only)

Specials

 * Lord Zedd's Monster Heads (archive footage)
 * Power Rangers Zeo: Zeo Quest (archive footage)

Toys

 * Deluxe Megazords toyline

Games

 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition (Background of Lord Zedd's Stage)
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle (Final Boss)

Comics

 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink Issue 6
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) Issue 30
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Finale Issue 1