By Phil Hornshaw on Aug 27, 2018 11:00 pm
These are even crazier than you remember.
The Power Rangers had it rough. Every week on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the "teenagers with attitudes" recruited by the big floating head Zordon had to face down a giant monster that threatened to destroy their relatively nondescript California town of Angel Grove. In just about every episode, the formula was the same. The teenagers found themselves attacked by some monster sent from the moon by the constantly screaming Rita Repulsa and her goons, in her continuing attempt to conquer Earth. They'd use their dinosaur-based Mighty Morphin powers to become the Power Rangers and wail on the monster, and then Rita would use her magic scepter to make the monster get Godzilla-huge. The Rangers met giant monsters with giant robots, calling out their prehistoric creature-themed Zords, and then eventually combined them together to create the Megazord robot and finally make the monster explode. Doing all that karate and robot-driving was a tough job, but one person might have had a tougher one at the start of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Finster. Though he wasn't a fighter himself, his role in service of Rita Repulsa was to create those all various monsters in hopes of finally getting the Power Rangers out of the way. Finster's monsters ran the gamut of themes and powers--he was constantly anthropomorphizing stuff, drawing on things like scary animals, plants, and objects, and turning them into Ranger-fighting villains with tons of goofy gimmicks. It didn't take long for Finster (as well as other monster-making henchmen, and later, Lord Zedd) to start scraping the bottom of the idea barrel, though. The show might have started out with cool monsters like a minotaur, a sphinx, a skeleton, and "what if a lizard man made of snakes," but it quickly devolved to the level of "what if Kimberly's purse, but with legs." Clearly, it's difficult to come up with endless creative creatures you can send to murder superpowered teenagers and fight their mechanical dinosaurs. The fact that Power Rangers was made by adding American actors to footage from Japanese TV shows didn't help in the realm of "things making sense." There are some pretty out there explanations for a lot of these monsters--sometimes thanks to American writers making up scenarios to stick them into, and sometimes because the show didn't bother and just completely adapted the source material for its American audience. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the series that started the Power Ranger phenomenon that continues to this day, we're taking a look back at the strangest, most ridiculous, and most awkward creatures the original three seasons of the show dreamed up. And don't miss our gallery of every Megazord in the show's history.
1. Turkey Jerk
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 48--Storybook Rangers, Part 1 A Thanksgiving-themed episode needs a Thanksgiving-themed monster. It's not like the Power Rangers could have fought sentient cranberry sauce or something. Actually, we should check that they never fought sentient cranberry sauce.
2. Mr. Ticklesneezer
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 9--For Whom The Bell Trolls This little guy is just weird. He was a toy that belonged to Trini that the bad guys brought to life, but despite looking frightening and weird, he was actually a pretty nice guy. At the end of an episode about him stealing life-sized stuff like planes and cars and shrinking it down to keep in bottles, he even gave everything back. And then he turned out to be just Trini's dream and not a monster at all.
3. Frankenstein's Monster
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 25--Life's a Masquerade Frankenstein's Monster is a legit monster in pop culture, so having him fight the Power Rangers is only a slightly weird idea (after all, Scooby Doo and his gang faced him once). What's strange is this monster's getup. He's basically just a guy with a pair of shoulder pads and a hat painted gray on his head. That's surprisingly low effort even for Power Rangers.
4. Pudgy Pig
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 6--Food Fight OK, pig-themed monster who eats stuff--the logic follows. Except Pudgy Pig is just the head of a pig, with no body, but legs, and feet sticking out of his mouth. Plus he wears a huge Roman centurion helmet, for no apparent reason.
5. Goo Fish
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 43--Something Fishy Exactly what it sounds like: giant spiky creature. Spits sticky goo. You know, like a fish.
6. Crabby Cabbie
Appearance: Season 3, Episode 22--Follow That Cab Lord Zedd turned an actual taxi cab into a monster, which, okay--we have Transformers movies. But who's that weird little worm guy driving?
7. Artistmole
Appearance: Season 3, Episode 8--A Brush With Destiny No fun pun here, just a straight-up description of a weird idea for a creature. The artist part comes from Kimberly's dreams about becoming an artist. No idea why the mole, though.
8. Pursehead
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 19--Two for One We weren't kidding when we said one monster was literally a purse brought to life. Pursehead didn't look anything like Kimberly's purse that was transformed to make this creature, but hey, if children cared about continuity errors, they would definitely not be watching Power Rangers.
9. Key Monster
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 21--Zedd's Monster Mash Just a giant key, like, come on, guys.
10. Lipsyncher
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 19--Two for One It's a lipstick, but it's a monster. The upshot here is that Lipsyncher's creature design is actually pretty solid, giving it something of a Hellraiser vibe.
11. Babe Ruthless
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 32--A Star is Born You know that scene in 30 Rock where Jack Donaghy tries to write sketches by coming up with catch phrases and working backwards? That scenario is our theory on how Babe Ruthless came to exist. It's a baseball-themed, uh... Bigfoot? Werewolf? Anyway it makes no sense.
12. Brick Bully
Appearance: Season 3, Episode 27--Another Brick in the Wall Literally just a brick wall that Rita Repulsa accidentally brought to life. Its reward for gaining sentience was being forced to dedicate its existence to--what else--murdering superpowered children.
13. Vase Face
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 52--Blue Ranger Gone Bad The bad guys turn the clay vase Tommy made in art class into a guy. "Agh, my art project!" Tommy exclaims.
14. Pipebrain
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 14--Missing Green A trophy that looks like pipes that came to life and became a monster. One might accuse this monster of being phoned-in, but Zedd probably would have gone with an actual phone, so maybe this was just an off day.
15. Tube Monster
Appearance: Season 2, Episode 38--A Reel Fish Story It's just Pipebrain again, but painted a different color. Maybe this was an episode that had to be made while the writers were on strike.
16. Oysterizer
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 60--An Oyster Stew A lot of things that became monsters on Power Rangers aren't intimidating. Oysterizer holds a special place on the show for being born from the least intimidating thing possible, while simultaneously turning into what might be the grossest creature. It is very, uh, fleshy.
17. Pumpkin Rapper
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 54--Trick or Treat The name says it all, really. Creatures that rapped but were otherwise completely unrelated to rap came up a few times in Power Rangers episodes, actually--though that's not especially surprising, given that it was the mid '90s. Zack, the Black Ranger, also did a lot of breakdancing.
18. Pineoctopus
Appearance: Season 1, Episode 11--No Clowning Around The logic here is really hard to follow. Pineoctopus adopts a human form to try to take down the Power Rangers at a carnival, posing as Pineapple the Clown, who is a regular clown. His plan: Use magic to turn the Rangers into cardboard cutouts, a thing he utterly fails to do (only Trini's younger cousin gets transformed). That part's confusing on its own, but later, he reveals his true form, which is a man-sized pineapple, apparently. Since no one is menaced by a pineapple, even an abnormally large one, he also gets octopus arms. So to recap: He's a big pineapple; with octopus arms; who chose a completely unrelated clown disguise; to turn the Power Rangers into cardboard, of all things. Also, he was defeated by water.
19. See Monster
Appearance: Season 3, Episode 21--Changing of the Zords Things with lots of eyes or that are made up of disembodied eyes are legitimately unsettling to a lot of people. What's more unsettling, though, is that this guy is definitely a sex criminal--he's a flasher, but what he flashes you with is his gross skinless body and many eyes. This thing is legitimately not appropriate for children.
By Meg Downey on Aug 27, 2018 10:59 pm
Iron Fist is back again, and we're hopeful for Season 2.
The Netflix MCU may pride itself in being about "street level" heroics versus its big screen counterparts' aliens and magic rocks and cosmic genocides--but that doesn't mean things in regular, everyday New York City don't get a little dicey from time to time. This is especially true when it comes to the world of Danny Rand, who brings his own level of crazy to the Defenders mix. He may not have bulletproof skin or the ability to lift cars, but the Iron Fist does his best to make literally fighting dragons work in a street level world, and that takes some work. The Iron Fist story isn't necessarily complicated, but it's certainly got more moving parts--and a much broader scope--than your traditional Netflix Marvel story. Not only is Danny the product of an ancient, mystical civilization that hails from another dimension, he's also the wielder of a chi-based, kung fu-influenced weapon that's designed to destroy another ancient, mystical group of people who may or may not be puppeteering the entirety of New York's underworld from the shadows. The Iron Fist continuity and mythology weaves its way through nearly every Defender's life in one way or another, whether they're dealing with the nefarious Hand themselves like Daredevil, or just trying to keep their heads above water while duking it out against corrupt systems like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. On top of all that, the bulk of Iron Fist's first season culminated into the Defenders miniseries, so that's even more you'll need to bring yourself up to speed on: the story of the "Black Sky" and the final battle against the Hand--things you'll probably want to know before you go wading back into the chaos. All of this is to say, there's kind of a lot to keep track of here--and it's understandable if you're not caught up, considering most people thought Iron Fist Season 1 and Defenders were pretty bad. But we have high hopes for Iron Fist Season 2, given everything we've seen so far. So whether you binged that first season back when it was released, or you want to dive right in without ever having to put yourself through it, we're here for you. Here's your crash course in everything Iron Fist, and a rundown of exactly what you need to know and what you'll need to remember to hit the ground running When Iron Fist Season 2 releases on September 7.
1. Danny Rand
AKA the Iron Fist. Danny was a wealthy corporate heir from New York City when he and his parents were the victims of a mysterious plane crash over the Himalayas. Danny's mother and father were killed, but Danny was found alive by a pair of monks who brought him back to the secret and mystical city of K'un-Lun and saved his life. In K'un-Lun, Danny was rigorously trained in martial arts until he was given the opportunity to complete a sacred trial--fighting a literal dragon named Shou Lao the Undying--to become K'un-Lun's protector, the Immortal Iron Fist. Danny succeeds in the challenge, becoming the first "outsider" to ever wield the power. Unfortunately, Danny was also the first Iron Fist to ever abandon his "post" in K'un-Lun. He left the mystical city 15 years after he arrived, when the dimensional gate between it and the outside world was opened yet again, and returned to New York to unravel the mystery of his parents' deaths. Since then, he's been battling the Hand--a group of Illuminati-like gangsters who are the sworn enemies of K'un-Lun and the Iron Fist. During Season 1, Danny learned the Hand had played a part in his parents' murders and infested Rand Enterprises. During another of Netflix's Marvel series, Defenders, he teamed up with Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Matt Murdock to take them out.
2. Power Man and Iron Fist
Of all the Defenders, Danny has become closest with Luke, who he assisted with tracking down the source of a mysterious drug infiltrating Harlem in Luke Cage Season 2. Though they've yet to officially team up as a duo for more than this episode, the "Power Man & Iron Fist" dynamic is one with some real history in the comics, dating all the way back to the '70s. Danny and Luke may not always see eye to eye, but following Defenders, they've grown to have a (somewhat grudging) mutual respect for one another. If anyone is going to show up to help Danny out of a bind now, it would definitely be Luke.
3. Rand Enterprises
Danny's family company and the source of his fortune, Rand Enterprises passed to the Meachums after the Rand family plane went down in the mountains. The crash was eventually revealed to be a plot made by the Hand in conjunction with Ward Meachum--a scheme Danny uncovers upon his return to the city. Rand works in chemical distribution, especially in pharmaceuticals, where they help produce and market various components for medications and designer drugs. They have a long history of profiteering off of the desperate and the needy--a habit Danny attempts to stop much to the frustration of the board of directors--and their factories have been caught up in numerous lawsuits for dangerous conditions and lethal side effects.
4. The Hand
An ancient and mysterious cabal of immortal ninjas and assassins, The Hand is a many armed, shadowy illuminati with their fingers in any number of doomsday schemes. Introduced in the Netflix MCU back in Daredevil, the Hand seems to be everywhere and nowhere at once--including embedded deep within Rand Industries itself. Led by the enigmatic Madam Gao, the Hand has been using Rand to make and distribute an artificial and highly addictive heroin, effectively to destabilize New York and pave the way for their next big move--the resurrection of the "Black Sky," an ultimate weapon they could use to rule the world. The "Black Sky" turned out to be Elektra Natchios, ex-girlfriend of Matt Murdock. The final showdown between she and Danny took place in Defenders in a battle that left Murdock assumed dead, Misty Knight without an arm, and the Hand in pieces.
5. K'un-Lun
One of the "Seven Cities of Heaven" in the comics, K'un-Lun is a mystical, extradimensional city that only appears on the mortal plane every fifteen years. Following his family's plane crash, Danny was found and taken in by a set of monks from K'un-Lun, where he was subsequently raised. The Iron Fist is K'un-Lun's legendary protector, a power passed down from generation to generation of K'un-Lun's finest warriors. To wield the Fist, a hopeful must face the trial of Shou-Lao the Undying, an actual literal dragon who lives within the city's walls.
6. Colleen Wing
A master martial artist and owner of her own dojo, Colleen was one of the first people in New York Danny believed he could trust after his return. Things got intense between them pretty quickly, blossoming into a sort of on-again-off-again romance that became incredibly complicated when it was revealed that Colleen had been secretly part of the Hand all along. Luckily, that didn't make her evil. Colleen's part of the hand was, she believed, a humanitarian effort--an argument she was happily able to make until her former sensei, a man named Bakuto, betrayed her. With her eyes opened to the truth, she joined Danny in his quest to destroy the Hand. They mostly succeeded in Defenders, which picked up right where Iron Fist Season 1 left off: the two of them setting out to track down the Hand and get real answers, no matter the cost. Colleen ended up forging a close bond with Misty Knight through Defenders, which they're set to continue as the Daughters of the Dragon in Iron Fist Season 2.
7. Ward Meachum
Danny's childhood friend/bully and the son of his father's business partner, Ward Meachum took over Rand Industries following the deaths of both the Rand family and his father Harold. However, Harold had secretly made a deal with the Hand to cure him of his terminal cancer with the caveat that he would remain publicly and legally deceased. Harold remained confined to a secret penthouse apartment with only his son knowing he was actually alive. This meant even in his position of power, Ward was still kept on a short leash by his dad--a man whose approval Ward could never seem to win. Ward's story throughout Season 1 had its fair share of twists and turns, pivoting from diabolical corporate sabotage to tainted heroin usage (no, really), ultimately to a form of semi-altruism in trying to save his sister from their megalomaniacal father and ultimately help Danny. Sort of. The jury is still out on whether or not Ward is actually turning over a new leaf or just trying to save himself.
8. Joy Meachum
Ward's sister and friend of Danny, Joy spent her adult life not knowing her father or brother's secret dealings with the Hand until Danny's return ultimately set those dominos toppling down. Although she is in theory a much kinder and more empathetic person than her brother, Joy takes far more naturally to her father's ruthless business practices, and promptly found herself caught in his web, despite Ward's warnings. Her dealings with the Hand and her father nearly cost her her life, but Danny and Colleen were able to save her. Unfortunately, despite the rescue, Joy decided that Danny was largely responsible for her family's downfall and began arranging with his enemies to plan his "removal" from the situation.
9. Harold Meachum
Danny's father's business partner and a puppet for the Hand, Harold sold his soul for the chance to survive his terminal cancer and live forever. He spent years puppeteering his son from the shadows while the world believed him to be dead, all while frantically working to make the moves the Hand requested of him. Harold's deal with the hand involved functional immortality, the ability to return from death (if slightly altered) even when mortally wounded. This came in handy when he was "assassinated" by his son, Ward, who realized just what a monster his father had become. Harold came back to life even less human than he had been before and set his sights on manipulating Joy.
10. Davos
Danny's best friend from K'un-Lun, Davos is a devout believer in his homeland's traditions and the sacred duties of the Iron Fist. He leaves the city in an attempt to find Danny, who he believes abandoned his post, and encourage him to return--or, failing that, to brutally exterminate the Hand no questions asked. Davos believes Danny to be unfit as Iron Fist because he has allowed his own personal grief and feelings to consume him and distract him from his mission, something that ultimately reveals Davos's deep seated jealousy for Danny overcoming the trial of Shou-Lou. Davos firmly believes that the Iron Fist was his birthright and that Danny has done nothing but corrupt the legacy of K'un-Lun by using its powers for his own personal quest for revenge. He and Joy Meachum end up conspiring with one another to bring Danny down as the dust of Season 1 starts to settle.
11. Misty Knight
Misty has been a fixture of the Netflix MCU in shows like Luke Cage and Defenders as a detective based out of Harlem. She became involved with the conflict between the Hand and New York's superheroes in Defenders, where she lost her arm in the final battle while fighting alongside Colleen Wing. Danny helped fund Misty's recovery in a Rand Industries hospital. In Luke Cage Season 2, Misty was fitted with a high tech prosthetic arm. She later began training with Colleen in martial arts. Misty will be joining forces with Colleen in Iron Fist Season 2 to help Danny face off against Davos.
By Mat Elfring on Aug 27, 2018 08:13 pm
Fans of both Daniel Bryan are going to be very happy as 2K is bringing back Showcase Mode for WWE 2K19, which follows the career of the superstar. From his first match as Bryan Danielson to his feuds with The Miz, it will be covered in the upcoming game. One of the selling points for WWE 2K series is the gigantic roster, which WWE 2K19 will have. This year's edition will undoubtedly have a plethora of superstars to choose from when the game releases on October 9, 2018. Last year's WWE 2K18 ended up with over 180 wrestlers--the largest in the history of the series--and while 2K isn't boasting this year's edition will topple that, yet, it should still be more than any player can handle. It's early, and there still aren't specific details about gameplay, aside from the Million Dollar Challenge, which takes place within a yet to be announced new mode in 2K19. However, there have already been a few announcements for characters on the roster, including cover star AJ Styles and pre-order bonus characters Ronda Rousey and Rey Mysterio. Additionally, the $130 Wooooo! Edition of the game has been announced which comes with a bunch of exclusives including a season pass, exclusive roster additions, a piece of Ric Flair's robe, early access to play, and more. This year's edition will be skipping Nintendo Switch, after last year's port featured a bevy of problems from frame rate issues to resolution dropping down to 540p, even in docked mode. However, the game will still be released in early October for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you're interested in pre-ordering WWE 2K19, check out our pre-order guide, with all the info about what each edition contains, where to buy it, and pricing. Over the course of the next few months, we'll keep you updated with all the newly confirmed superstars in the game, as well as a breakdown of which shows these wrestlers are from and how many new additions will be playable. You can find links to the latest updates below as well. Confirmed playable characters breakdown (so far): - Total wrestlers: 17
- New to the series: 4
- Raw superstars: 1
- Smackdown superstars: 6
- Legends: 7
- NXT superstars: 2
- 205 Live: superstars: 0
- Men's division: 15
- Women's division: 2
Jump ahead to the latest updates:
AJ Styles (Smackdown)
Cover star.
Ronda Rousey (Raw)
New to the series. Pre-order bonus character.
Rey Mysterio (Legend)
New to the series. Pre-order bonus character.
Ric Flair (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains exclusive Wrestlemania 24 attire.
Charlotte (Smackdown)
Deluxe edition contains exclusive Wrestlemania 32 attire.
Dusty Rhodes (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character in his Wrestlemania VIII attire.
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains '80s-inspired character.
Undertaker (Legend)
Deluxe edition contains the character in his 2002 Bikertaker outfit.
Daniel Bryan (Smackdown)
2K announced that the Daniel Bryan's career will be the subject of WWE 2K19's Showcase Mode. There will be 11 different models of Bryan, each with its own unique moveset and look. Additionally, GameSpot talked to Bryan about his longtime feud with WWE superstar The Miz.
Randy Orton (Smackdown)
John Cena
Kane (Smackdown)
Kofi Kingston (Smackdown)
Tyler Bate (NXT UK)
Pete Dunne (NXT UK)
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