[Nendoramachine]

Nendoramachine’s Monster Thread!

I have been wanting to do this thread for quite some time. This thread will be devoted to Monsters, villains, their history, what shows and episodes they’ve been in, their design pictures from Sentai Monsters Design Works, and what happened to their suits.

Like Power Rangers having a monster of the day, this thread will be a “Monster of the Week”. Each week will be devoted to discussing one particular monster! It is my hopes that this thread becomes a library of information on monsters, as well as a place for people to share thoughts and info.

For now this thread will cover monsters and villains from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Seasons 1-3 to Zeo. (Zyuranger, Zyu2, Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Ohranger respectively) But will move on into Turbo, In Space, and Lost Galaxy. I plan on going no further than that because those monsters are my particular area of expertise. But if someone wanted to take the reins after that, I would much oblige.

Thread rules:

1. Stay on topic as best as possible. One monster per week. The only exceptions are monsters turned into hybrids, and monsters re-used (Like Pipe Brain for Tube Monster)
2. General thread rules apply as always (Don’t double- post, No pictures exceeding the regulation amount of pixels, etc. etc.)
3. This is not a thread for rumors, just fact. If something IS a rumor about a monster suit, please label it as a rumor. We don’t want false information spread on this thread.
4. If you have new information on a monster, please have facts to back it up

Legal disclaimer: Photos and drawings posted in this thread are property of Saban and Toei and all rights go to their respective owners. I do not own or claim to own rights to these photos in any way. Photos and drawings on this thread are for Instructive and informative purposes only, and are not for personal gain in any way.

So, to begin…

I thought we’d start off with a monster that’s so overrated, it’s not even funny! King Sphynx! (Dora Sphynx) Here’s his design drawing:



Style-wise, his hands are chunkier in the drawing, and the colors on his “Ankh-piece” and shoulderpads differ.



King Sphynx was in episode 5 “A Pressing Engagement”. Rita planned to send Goldar and a monster down to tear Jason apart from his friends. Finster suggested King Sphynx. He could use his wings to sweep the other Rangers away. Rita sent down King Sphynx and Putties to gain control of the park. King Sphynx blew Kim and Zack all the way back to the Youth Center. Then he fired fireballs from his question mark staff at Jason. Jason got out his Power Sword and fought King Sphynx sword-to-staff. Then King Sphynx teleported them both to the quarry where they continued to do battle. Then Goldar appeared and aided King Sphynx by blasting Jason with his sword. Jason slashed King Sphynx across his chest, then Rita made the two grow. Both tried to stomp Jason, and King Sphynxwhacked the ground with his staff. Kim and Zack went to go get Trini and Billy. The four went to the Command Center where they were briefed and Zordon bestowed on them the power crystals so they could call their zords. Back at the battle, Jason's sword acted of its own and blew up a fissure in a nearby cliff. As Jason raced to the cliff, Goldar fired eye beams at him. In the rocks, Jason found a bag with the power crystals in it that Zordon had already given the teens. (?) THe Rangers called their Dinozords and formed the Megazord tank mode. Goldar blasted it with his sword, but they fired the cannons in retaliation. Then they used the power of their crystals to fire eyebeams out of the individual zords. Goldar slashed the tank, then both he and King Sphynx blasted it with their weapons. The Rangers formed the Megazord. King Sphynx charged the Megazord, and the megazord punched both, knocking them over. Goldar slashed the Megazord multiple times. The Rangers went back into tank mode and rammed Goldar, then the Megazord reformed and zapped both with its cranial laser. Goldar attacked he Megazord and King Sphynx flapped his wings. Then Jason called on the Power Sword and defeated the Sphynx. Goldar retreated.
King Sphynx later appeared in a flashback in episode 28 “Island of Illusion, part 2”.

In Zyuranger, The Dora Sphynx was a questionmaster, and if you got his question wrong he would blow you away with his wings! He could turn children and people into trees. Eventually Sphynx came upon Boi and asked him a question. Boi couldn't answer correctly, so Sphynx blew him away. The Zyurangers were on their bikes when they saw Dan flying away as well. Upon following him, they discovered the children and Dan and Boi were turned into trees. Sphynx confronted them. He challenged them to a riddle and sent them to the ampitheater. Golems were conjured up to assist Sphynx and they fought for a bit. Sphynx asked Mei a question and turned her into a tree. He did so with Goushi as well. Sphynx then asked Geki five questions, but Geki got the last one wrong, so Sphynx transformed and they dueled. Sphynx transported Geki to the quarry, then Bandora made him grow. Geki summoned the Tyrannosaurus, but Geki was transported away by the guardian beasts. Later, Geki was sent back to the woods where Barza informed him about the Dino Crystals. Sphynx reappeared and attacked Geki, this time with Grifforzer. Geki transformed and battled the two, taking the fight to the quarry. Then Bandora made Dora Sphynx and Grifforzer grow. They tried to trample Geki and Dora Sphynx tried to whack Geki with his staff. Geki's sword led him to the Dino Crystals. Grifforzer shot eye beams at him as he went for them. Dora Sphynx also aided by shooting at him with his crown snake. Geki found the crystals and threw them to the rest of the Zyurangers, freeing them from the trees. The Zyurangers formed Daizyujin fo the first time and went into tank mode. Grifforzer fired his sword at the tank and the tank fired back, also firing the beasts' eye rays. Grifforzer struck the tank, then both monsters fired their weapons at it. Then Daizyujin went into its normal mode and the three fought for a bit. Daizyujin went back into tank mode to ram Grifforzer, then Daizyujin shot its cranial laser. Then Dora Sphynx went back into human form and gave the Zyurangers some riddles. Dora Sphynx called Grifforzer off. After a few riddles, Geki chastised Sphynx for being boring. Geki challenged Dora Sphynx to ask the one question he could not answer- what Sphynx's weakness was. Sphynx thought it a good idea, so he asked it. The Zyurangers failed and Sphynx revealed it was the snake on his head, because it stored all his riddles. Dora Sphynx regrew and tried to blow them away, but Daizyujin called the sword and used it to cut off Sphynx's snake, and ended him. Grifforzer fled.

The suit of King Sphynx was sent to America, but it was in terrible shape and fell apart. Its head however, was still intact and it went on display in Zoom Comics in Beetleborgs. The head’s whereabouts are unknown.



King Sphynx is the most over-marketed monster. He’s on everything from jigsaw puzzles to children’s underwear. King Sphynx had at least five action figure incarnations, four of which are below. An 8-inch, a 3-inch PVC, a Micro Machines, an Imaginext, and a pull-back, among others.

[Ankh Primo]

Ooh, this sounds like fun. But I would say instead of HAVING to go once a week, that we just change the subject whenever the threads runs out of steam.


King Sphinx is still one of my favorite monsters, due to design as well as his abilities. I still love to do the move when he flaps his wings. And it's no surprise he's the most marketed monster, since he was in the original pilot episode.

[MegaZeo]

I've always loved King Sphinx and thought it was such a shame that he never made another appearance past "A Pressing Engagement." He had such a great design, walking a fine line between 'monster of the day' and 'main villain general.' Although, if his suit hadn't fallen apart, can you imagine how many times he would've been a "best monster from the past"? I get the feeling he'd put Eye Guy's record of return appearances to shame.

I can't help but wonder when King Sphinx's color scheme was finalized - There's a point where the suit had the same 'all yellow' coloring that all his MMPR merchandise had:



Which is weird, if you think about it. I mean, by the time Saban got his hands on the Zyuranger footage (and thus began to make toys of the characters for MMPR), King Sphinx's blue and yellow color scheme had obviously already been finalized and filmed.

[Nendoramachine]

Primo Haim Saban wrote:

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Ooh, this sounds like fun. But I would say instead of HAVING to go once a week, that we just change the subject whenever the threads runs out of steam.

I'd like to do that, but the week gives me the time to put all the information on the next monster together. That, and it gives everyone something to look forward to each week!

[kc16]

I like King Sphinx as well, surprised you think he is overrated Nendora. He was a pretty cool monster of the day and his powers of using his wings to blow away the Rangers was pretty neat. As Primo and MegaZeo said, his color scheme was nice. Most of the zyuranger and zyu2 monsters looked cool in my opinion so I'm pretty excited who you choose next as monster of the week.

Funny note, when I was younger I thought King Sphinx and Goldar were brothers or cousins. They looked closely alike and King Sphinx was on so much Power Ranger merchandise, I thought he would be more important to the MMPR plot.

[Almighty_CRJ]

If they had the head, why didn't they just make a long cloth Egyptian dress and stick it on a bodybuilder?

[Nendoramachine]

MegaZeo wrote:

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I can't help but wonder when King Sphinx's color scheme was finalized - There's a point where the suit had the same 'all yellow' coloring that all his MMPR merchandise had.
Which is weird, if you think about it. I mean, by the time Saban got his hands on the Zyuranger footage (and thus began to make toys of the characters for MMPR), King Sphinx's blue and yellow color scheme had obviously already been finalized and filmed.

My best guess is that they took promotional shots of the suit in its blue and yellow state, but then painted the suit as it looked in Zyuranger. But since all we have is the head for evidence, there's no way to tell for sure if this is the case.

[Ataruman]

I always liked DoraSphinx/King Sphinx. I'm not sure why they used it as they did in Power Rangers as just an assistant of Goldar's since the whole scheme in Zyu, with the random guy in the headress turning kids to trees for failing trivia questions, was rather clever.

[⚡Sadsmileyface]

This is an excellent potential discussion topic. Well done OP.

[Nendoramachine]

The Monster of the week is… Twinman! (Dora Mirage)



Twinman’s design stayed pretty spot-on. The only notable difference is that he has a smaller collar in the initial design.



In Power Rangers episode 38 “A Bad Reflection on You”, The Twinman created a special team of putties that could transform into Power Rangers. They Could also morph from teens into rangers, and were bent on ruining the Power Rangers’ reputation!

…Oh yeah! Because you know Shades make us bad!!

The Twinman acted as the evil Red Ranger, much like Commander Crayfish would become in “Mighty Morphin’ Mutants” and Chromite in “Shadow Rangers”. He was defeated by the Power Blaster.

Similarly, in Zyuranger, Bandora sent the Dora Mirage to ruin the Zyurangers’ reputation. Dora Mirage and the impostor rangers attacked the citizens of Japan, which caused them to form an angry mob and hunt down the Zyurangers! The Zyurangers only cleared their names when the impostors were defeated and Dora Mirage was destroyed by the howling cannon.

Twinman’s suit never made it to America. The suit's whereabouts are unknown.

Little known fact: Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame voiced the Twinman as well as Snizzard in season 1!


Twinman had no action figures made of him, but he had his picture on a Spinner. I am unable to locate a photo of one, so if someone has it, please post a pic!

[Ankh Primo]

Yay! We didn't have to wait a whole week!

That shadow in the illustration makes me realize how great Twin Man would have looked with a cape. I've grown increasingly sad over the years by how little screen time he ended up getting, that was a great design.

[Nendoramachine]

Primo Haim Saban wrote:

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Yay! We didn't have to wait a whole week!

That shadow in the illustration makes me realize how great Twin Man would have looked with a cape. I've grown increasingly sad over the years by how little screen time he ended up getting, that was a great design.

Just so everyone knows, I will be uploading every week, Sunday at the earliest.

I had to do a double-take there! I didn't see he had a cape until you pointed it out! Good eyes! The picture of Twinman in the book is about a third of the scale you see in this thread, so you can see how it was easy to miss.

Also, I forgot to add that the Twinman's name is an obvious pun on the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

[Nendoramachine]

The Monster of the week is…. Bonker! (Yokai Daidarabotchi) (No, I did not name him!)



Now many of you who are unfamiliar with Kakuranger are probably thinking, “Who the heck is ‘Bonker’?!!” Well, Bonker is a very obscure monster to tell you that. In Power Rangers, Bonker appeared for a split second in Power Rangers In Space’s “Countdown to Destruction part 1”. He was in Divatox’s army, along with Admiral Abominator, “fuzzor”, and Changeling (from Beetleborgs Metallix.)

Bonker’s design as you can see was changed in size. His head is smaller than the initial drawing, and they super-sized his arms. (That’s one cumbersome costume!)

In order to understand what exactly Bonker is, one has to have a basic understanding of Yokai and their relation to Japanese folklore. Yokai are Japanese legendary/ mythological creatures. They can be ghosts, phantoms, or strange apparitions. They are a class of supernatural monsters, and range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features, other times they can appear mostly human. Some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. Yōkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shapeshifting being one of the most common. Yōkai that have the ability to shapeshift are called obake. These are what all the monsters of Kakuranger are based upon. According to Yokai Folklore, a Daidarabotchi is a giant responsible for creating the geographical features of Japan. Thus, the ‘globe’ theme of the suit. Notice the little touches in his design, from the Axis on his head, the longitude and latitude lines, and the mountains literally growing out of his shoulders!



In Kakuranger, Youkai Daidarabotchi was a robotic youkai and younger brother of Daimaou. He briefly disguised himself as an innkeeper alongside his sister. But he was killed by Super Kakure Daishogun, Invincible Shogun, and SamuraiMan as a result. (A fight I would have liked to have seen in Power Rangers!)

The Suit of Bonker was in bad shape. As you can see from his above shot in Divatox’s army, he had lost his hands, and was only good for a background monster. (It could very well be that he wasn’t used BECAUSE the hands weren’t shipped, but there’s no evidence to say for sure). His missing hands are likely where the nickname ‘Bonker’ is derived, because without hands, all he’s got are big bonkers! (My, that sounded dirty.) The suit continued to deteriorate from there, as is evidenced by the photos in the link here to grnrngr’s site:
https://www.grnrngr.com/auctions/warehouse/

He’s in the 8th and 9th pic in the top row.

His suit's fate is unknown.

[Truncated Power Rangers]

How did I miss this thread? Great idea.

I'll try to catch up:

If I haven't sold it, my old King Sphinx action figure lies around my dad's house. Great design, and I can't help but wonder if he would have been promoted to general status if they didn't have to stay so close to the footage.

I completely forgot about Twin Man before doing Truncated Power Rangers, but I think that's due to his episode focusing more on the evil Ranger aspect than the monster.

Bonker looks like Rygog with hands.

[Kayweather]

I haven't watched Kakuranger yet, so I've never seen this guy before, but I really like the design. They integrated the globe/ stuff well, and hearing the folklore connection makes it even more clever.

...Though I kind of collect old globes so maybe I'm biased on this one.

[IMTIRED]

This is a very cool thread, and I too am catching up. King Sphinx was definitely an iconic MMPR monster. Like many of us, I thought he would play a larger role in the series due to his image being all over MMPR products, and his "King" name. I also thought he was going to be related to Goldar or some kind of competition for him. I had missed his episode as a child and didn't see it until sometime in the late 90's.

I don't have much to add about the other two monsters. I don't have a strong association with either.

[Ankh Primo]

Finally, this thread's alive again.


Ever since I first saw Daimaou's brother on supersentai.com, I was pissed we never got him in Power Rangers because he looks so freaking cool. Now I finally know why.

Truncated Power Rangers wrote:

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Bonker looks like Rygog with hands.

Rygog has hands, they just look tiny poking out of that shell.

[IMTIRED]

Kakuranger had some great looking monsters. I'd love to know more about the Japanese artists who have designed monsters and Zords over the years. Is there anywhere with information about the monster making process?

When the show premiered, I remember watching it just for the creatures. I'll always wish I was older back when various monster costumes were auctioned on ebay. I'm still amazed at the creativity in making so many different monsters for so many years.

[Zeo-Gold92]

I really like the drawings you've been accompanying with each new monster, are they apart of a super sentai book from japan or is it just from images scattered around the internet? Also I didn't get a chance to comment before so I'll do it now hoping not to destract the thread BUT King Syphnx was an excellent villain, from his design to not just feeling like a MOTW/MOTD, plus it helps that 'A Pressing Engagement' was such a great episode in general.

[IMTIRED]

It saddened me to see an epic monster of Finster's reduced to a prop in the Beetleborg's comic shop.

Glad you asked that question Zeo-Gold92, I'm curious as well.