Alpha 5

Alpha 5 is a fictional character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. A fully self-aware artificial intelligence, he is the robotic assistant of the Power Rangers, and resides in their base of operations, the Command Center along their mentor Zordon. The character is known for his "Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!" catchphrase.

Alpha 5 has been physically portrayed by multiple actors: Romy J. Sharf, Sandi Sellner and Donene Kistler in the TV series, and Peta-Maree Rixon in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Richard Steven Horvitz voiced Alpha 5 for the character's appearances in most Power Rangers franchise media, starting from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series until Power Rangers Turbo, which marked the character's final appearance in the Power Rangers TV series. In the 2017 reboot film, Alpha 5 is a CGI character voiced by Bill Hader. Various merchandise for the character, as with other of the series' characters, has been released since the inception of the Power Rangers franchise.

Alpha 5 debuted in the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and provides a support role for the titular protagonists. Though he is a non-combatant, Alpha 5 has occasionally been involved in direct engagements with enemy forces. In one episode, Rita sent the brainwashed Green Ranger to sabotage the Command Center; he slipped a compact disc into Alpha's inner workings, unleashing a virus which causes him to convulse violently. After Billy repaired his circuity and removed the virus, Alpha later captured the Green Ranger in a force field, but Rita rescued him before Alpha could reveal his identity. In one episode, Alpha 5 left the Command Center on Zordon's instructions to retrieve a magical item known as the "Singing Squash" to undo a spell placed on Kimberly and Billy. he encountered Rita's Putty Patrol, but manages to disabled his attackers with his internal defense and the magical squash.

In the second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Alpha had three encounters with Lord Zedd's forces. In The Wannabe Ranger, he attempted to assist a little boy lost in Angel Grove Park, but was attacked by the Primator, a shapeshifting gorilla monster who disguised himself as Billy and tried to trick Alpha into taking him to the Command Center. Alpha activated his self-destruct sequence to protect the Command Center, but seemed unable to deactivate it once the Primator left, and it was necessary for the Rangers to do so. Later in the season, he would leave the Command Center to rescue the now-regressed Rangers, who had been trapped within a photograph by the Photomare monster after being regressed into children. In his attempt to capture the photo, Alpha was confronted by both Photomare and Goldar, but he was able to freeze both villains with a device of his and escape. Near the end of the season, in The Wedding, he was ambushed by Finster and the Putties as he took a hike outside the Command Center. Just as the Green Ranger had, Finster inserted a disc into Alpha's circuits, but instead of delivering a virus, this CD warped Alpha's personality into an evil, obnoxious brat, who assisted Zedd and Rita by tricking the Rangers into an abandoned theater (which Finster proceeded to fill with monsters). Alpha also cut the Rangers off from Zordon and the Thunderzords. When Zordon's pleas for him to stop annoyed him, Alpha comically altered Zordon's image before shutting him off completely. Billy eventually removed the disc from Alpha, instantly returning him to normal.

In the third season, it was revealed that Alpha was constructed on the planet Edenoi, located in the Andromeda constellation by King Lexian, the grandfather of the Masked Rider. The Power Rangers later team up with the Masked Rider against Count Dregon and his forces in a crossover episode.

Alpha initially saved the Command Center from destruction by defusing an implosion generator planted there by Rito and Goldar, though the duo's second attempt was successful as they managed to infiltrate the Command Center's basement to place Lord Zedd's detonation device. They discovered the deactivated remains of Alpha 4, Alpha 5's obsolete predecessor. Subsequently, they placed one of the detonators on Alpha 4's body, and the Center was later destroyed in the explosion.

Alpha 5 was later shown to have survived the events of Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, as he is discovered to be safe within the secondary base, the Power Chamber. Now assisted by Billy, Alpha 5 continued to serve the Rangers (now the [[Zeo Power Rangers) as they battled the Machine Empire. A brief encounter with the Cogs resulted badly for Alpha, being short-circuited by an electric shock from one of their spears.

When Zordon left for his home planet of Eltar (in Shift Into Turbo), Alpha 5 went with him, saddened that he was leaving the Rangers behind. The two later briefly returned in Passing of the Torch, in which Tommy, Adam, Kat, and Tanya retired from their Ranger duties. In this episode, Alpha 5 is shown in his original body. This episode would be his last appearance in the franchise, as his role in the Power Rangers series is replaced by Alpha 6. Alpha 5 was last mentioned in the franchise, as the creator of the robotic versions of the Turbo Rangers in the episode "The Robot Ranger".

## See Also

Season 1 -- Season 2 -- Season 3 -- Power Rangers Zeo -- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie -- Power Rangers Turbo