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Icon-mightymorphinThis article is about a base in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Turbo. Icon-ohrangerIcon-carranger

The Command Center, and later, the Power Chamber, was the headquarters for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Zeo Rangers, and the Turbo Rangers. It also served as the home of Zordon and Alpha 5. It possessed highly sophisticated computers that were capable of incredible feats of science fictions, including teleportation, scanning and contacting other temporal dimensions, and identifying the names of new monsters mere seconds after they have been created.

Initially, the base was called the Command Center, and used in the first series. At the beginning of Power Rangers Zeo, storylines and a new scene design led to the location being renamed the Power Chamber, though beyond superficial differences there was little to no change in the building's function. It appeared also, as the Command Center, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, though it had been thoroughly redesigned. Only the external shot of the building remained consistent for all incarnations of the structure, though even that was tweaked in the two theatrical movies. The building still stands today in Burbank, California.

History[]

According to the series and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Zordon had set up the building called the Command Center on Earth millennia ago, as an outpost to be used in his fight against evil. Zordon himself was trapped in a "plasma tube", appearing just as an ethereal head in a column of light, and the day-to-day maintenance of the facility fell to his robotic companion, Alpha 5.

The building was located in a mountainous region, nestled between the twin peaks of a mountain, in the area that would later be called California. It was located near to the fictional city of Angel Grove, the setting for much of the action in the first five years of the show's run. Its location was supposed to be a closely-guarded secret.

Command Center[]

MMPR CommandCenter

The Command Center in Welcome to Venus Island

COMMANDCENTER7

The Command Center was introduced in the pilot episode of the show, Day of the Dumpster. The five original teens were teleported to the Command Center by Zordon and Alpha 5 to receive their powers, becoming Power Rangers. The Command Center henceforth served as an "official" meeting point for the Rangers, and they would frequently gather there to learn about new threats before leaving to tackle them. Often they would "Look to the Viewing Globe", a large crystal ball-like object that could display pictures of events occurring in the city, most often of attacking monsters (actually Super Sentai footage not shown otherwise) Zordon and Alpha 5 used the Command Center to construct new weapons for the Rangers, as well fix the Zords when they were damaged. The Center and the Zords were linked, with the destruction of the Thunder Megazord and White Tigerzord during the first confrontation with Rito Revolto triggering an explosive feedback that damaged the Command Center as well.

COMMANDCENTER3

The inside of the Command Center resembled a large, low, circular podium, on which people could walk, with computer consoles arranged around its edge; one console had a rotating light within a pink-orange crystal that served as an alarm; it would go off whenever any evil activity surfaced. It also had a very distinctive descending wail (in Alpha's Magical Christmas, however, the wail ascended instead). On one side was Zordon's plasma tube, and the Viewing Globe was opposite. Beyond the ring of computers were no walls, but rather a blackness, dotted with lights, resembling the night sky. There were no obvious doors leading into or out of the main room (most travel to and from the Command Center was by teleportation), but occasionally computer-generated doors were added to access secret locations.

The Command Center could only be entered at will by those who possessed a power coin; as a result, while Zordon and Alpha could allow visitors such as Rocky, Aisha and Adam to enter the Center before they were Rangers, Lord Zedd had to explicitly ask for the shield to be lowered to let him in after he had captured Kimberly and Ninjor to issue his demands (Changing of the Zords), while Tommy was able to attack the Command Center directly after he first became the Green Ranger under Rita's influence. While the Center was linked to Zordon, with the building often being depicted as losing power when Zordon was completely cut off by external forces, it retained some power during the time when he was trapped in another dimension after the Green Ranger attacked the Center. When the other five Rangers were corrupted by the Hate Master, Billy was able to remotely cut off power to the Command Center that rendered it unable to contact Zordon or recharge, but Aisha- the only Ranger unaffected by the Hate Master's spell- was able to teleport back to Angel Grove by using Alpha as a temporary power source for the teleporter, leaving him to work on a means of freeing the other Rangers from Hate Master's influence, although he only acquired the power to do so once Aisha was able to talk her teammates partially back to normal so that she could turn off Billy's jammer (Stop the Hate Master).

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, the Command Center was featured with a brand new design. In this, the main room was a brightly-lit oval chamber with a large set of sliding double-doors at one end, opposite Zordon's energy tube (similarly redesigned). The computer terminals were still present, but spaced differently around the room, leaving space for coloured glass columns of indiscernible purpose. The Viewing Globe was still present, located to one side. More info is listed on the Command Center (movie) page.

In the Series 2 episode "Wild West Rangers", the exterior of the Command Center was slightly altered, with the side of the building resembling the Wild West-era style.

Power Chamber[]

Main article: Power Chamber

In 1996, two evil villains, Rito Revolto and Goldar attempt to blow up the Command Center by placing a bomb outside. Master Vile predicted blowing up the Command Center would start a chain reaction which would disintegrate the "Morphin Grid" forever, robbing any Ranger teams from Morphing in traditional methods. This plan was foiled by Alpha 5, who defused the bomb. However, Lord Zedd succeeded, via a time paradox, to destroy the Rangers' Power Coins. Needing a new power source, the Rangers went through time to reassemble the Zeo Crystal. Tvicon TV STORY-Water You Thinking? to Tvicon TV STORY-Hogday Afternoon, Part II

A short time later, Rito and Goldar were able to teleport into the Command Center from a forgotten series of passageways running underneath the facility. The villains were able to plant an implosion device, take the Zeo Crystal, and leave. The Rangers teleported out to safety (although not before Billy was caught in a small explosion that charged his body with negative proton energy, something that would have reprocussions later), but their mentor Zordon and companion Alpha 5 seemed destroyed in the blast. Tvicon TV STORY-Hogday Afternoon, Part II

Wandering up to the ruins of the Command Center, the Rangers discover the Zeo Crystal. It created a hole in the ground which swallowed up the Rangers and took them to the hidden passages. Following the noise of Alpha's voice, the Rangers were lead to a vortex. Meanwhile above ground, the exterior of the Command Center rebuilds itself. Walking through the vortex, the Rangers return to their base of operations, but this is a more futuristic version, the second generation of strategic command outposts. Zordon, still very much alive, announces the facility is known as the Power Chamber. Tvicon TV STORY-A Zeo Beginning

Alpha 5 is shown coming out of one door of the Power Chamber (his bedroom, apparently) wearing pajamas and a nightcap while holding his teddy bear, suggesting there are quite a few rooms in the Chamber. Tvicon TV STORY-Inner Spirit

Design[]

The Power Chamber has an unusual shape. It is almost circular, but the back wall curves inwards. At the front of the Chamber was a plasma tube where Zordon, and later Dimitria, could communicate through. In front of Zordon was a computer bank, and another one to one side. Also in the Chamber were two double doors at each side, a bio-bed, a viewing globe built into the wall, and two displays on the wall. One of these was a map of Earth, another a diagram of the Chamber. A rotating alarm (with the same wail as the old Command Center alarm) is above the displays on the wall next to Zordon's tube. Along the back wall were several glass display cases, each containing the Mighty Morphin suits, and the center case containing their Power Weapons. There is also a rotating alarm panel above the center case display.

Scene Change[]

180px-Power Chamber 3

The Power Chamber redesigned as shown in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

A new Power Chamber set was introduced for Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, and was also used in the Power Rangers Turbo series. This was a significant change from the original Power Chamber set as seen in episodes of Power Rangers Zeo. Among other things, the tubes along the back wall containing the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers suits were changed to colored tubes of light. The rotating alarm was changed to a trapezoid shape. No explanation was made in the movie or the television show for the significant change to the set.

Off to one side of this Chamber through one of the double doors was access to the Hidden Chamber. This resembled the design of the old Command Center without the console ring, with the columns of light to one side of a plasma tube for Zordon, and other columns of lights and a tube for Dimitria. In this Chamber, Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam transferred their powers to TJ, Cassie, Ashley and Carlos respectively. Tvicon TV STORY-Passing the Torch

Notable events[]

King Mondo apparently knew of the location of the Power Chamber, although his successor Divatox did not. Tvicon TV STORY-The Shooting Star

When Mean Screen was sent to Angel Grove, he infected the Power Chamber that infected the Zeozords and made them useless. Only the Defender Wheel wasn't affected, since Alpha isolated it from the grid, until a counter virus from Raymond got rid of it. Tvicon TV STORY-Mean Screen (episode)

King Mondo activated a nuclear non-reflective protective shield around the Chamber so that the Gold Ranger, who was teleporting to the Chamber at the time, would smash into the field mid-transit and be destroyed. The Gold Ranger had to be redirected until Billy could find a way to lower the shield. Tvicon TV STORY-Revelations of Gold

When the Earth's temperature was rising rapidly by Mondo's Defoliator monster, there was a danger that the Chamber's heat shield would fail. Tvicon TV STORY-There's No Business Like Snow Business

The Power Chamber momentarily lost power when Main Drain was draining power around Angel Grove to energise himself. Tvicon TV STORY-Inner Spirit

When Earth became frozen in time, there were no ill-effects inside the Chamber. When Angel Grove began vanishing, the Rangers teleported to the Power Chamber, to find it not there. In actuality, the Power Chamber had been transported to a hidden dimension where it could not been seen by the Rangers. Tvicon TV STORY-A Brief Mystery of Time

Whilst the Super Zeo Megazord and Red Battlezord battled the Mechaterpillar, Quadrafighters and Cogs attacked the Zord hangar. This forced Billy to lock down the Zeo Megazord and Warrior Wheel, protecting them but also rendering them useless to the Rangers and nearly led to their defeats. Tvicon TV STORY-Another Song and Dance

Destruction[]

At the end of Turbo, Rygog and Elgar found the Power Chamber by tracking the Rangers' teleportation beams after their fight with Goldgoyle. Having discovered its location, and having defeated both of the Rangers' Megazords, Divatox's forces attacked the Power Chamber en masse. Hordes of Piranhatrons raced up to the Chamber, having teleported into the area undetected. The Rangers tried to hold them away from the Chamber, but were forced back inside.

Once there, the Piranhatrons used a battering ram to break open the main doors, while others scaled the walls and smashed in through the roof. Though the Rangers and Alpha 6 fought bravely, they were overwhelmed by the Piranhatrons, and Elgar managed to destroy Zordon and Dimitria's plasma tube to ensure that they wouldn't be able to come back before he planted explosive charges. When the charges were detonated, the building was completely destroyed by the explosion, leaving only a pile of rock and rubble. Before Divatox could claim victory and find the Rangers among the rubble, she was recalled to the Cimmerian Planet by Dark Specter, prompting the four new teens to pursue her into space and abandon the former Command Center location forever. Most people tend to think the destruction of the Power Chamber led to the Turbo Powers dissipating. But as the viewers can see in that episode, the Rangers didn't demorph until long after the PC exploded. They actually lost their powers just after Eltar, which was stated by Justin to be the true source of the Turbo Energies, fell to Dark Specter's forces. Tvicon TV STORY-Chase Into Space

Legacy[]

Loose Plot Threads[]

Since the explosion, it's currently unknown what became of the rubble surrounding the Command Center or the objects stored there, such as the Sword of Light and the Sword of Power.

It was suggested that the Zeo Crystal was also stored in the Power Chamber following the Rangers change into their Turbo Powers. This proved to be false as the Zeo Rangers still had the crystal and their powers, as Tommy was able to morph into the Red Zeo Ranger in "Forever Red" and the other Zeo Rangers participated in the "Legendary Battle". Tommy also later had his Zeo Sub Crystal integrated into his Master Morpher.

Footage of the explosion that destroyed the Power Chamber was recycled from the destruction of the Command Center at the end of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Once & Always[]

Cranston-Tech-Interior

Billy Cranston designed Cranston Tech after the exterior of the Command Center; even modeling a secret basement level after a mix of the Command Center and Power Chamber.

Behind the Scenes[]

Commandcenter

The Brandeis-Bardin Campus retreat building

The exterior of the Command Center is the Brandeis-Bardin Campus retreat building of the American Jewish University. The site itself is heavily landscaped so for establishing shots of the Command Center in the first season the building was visually cropped along side the Vasquez Rocks formation in the Sierra Pelona Mountains to add a desolate looking mountainous terrain. From the second season, a scale model of the building was used for exterior shots which continued right up until the Power Chamber was destroyed at the end of Power Rangers Turbo. The actual building only appeared in four episodes; Day of the Dumpster, Alien Rangers of Aquitar Part II and both parts of Chase into Space.

Notes[]

Pr-ccpd-toy

prototype @BandoraPalace

  • Bandai released a playset based off of the interior of the Command Center in 1994, referred to as the "Power Dome". The original prototype was a lot closer to the show's look than the final product. [1]


Appearances[]

See Also[]

References[]

Footnotes[]


Icon-mightymorphin Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Rangers
Season 1: Jason Lee Scott - Zack Taylor - Billy Cranston - Trini Kwan - Kimberly Ann Hart - Tommy Oliver
Season 2: Rocky DeSantos - Adam Park - Aisha Campbell - Tom Oliver
Season 3: Katherine Hillard
Once & Always: Minh Kwan
Aquitian Rangers: Aurico - Delphine - Tideus - Cestro - Corcus
Gear
Season 1: Power Morphers - Power Coins - Blade Blaster - Thunder Slingers - Power Sword - Power Axe - Power Lance - Power Daggers - Power Bow - Power Blaster - Dragon Dagger
Season 2: Saba - Power Cannon
Season 3: Ninja Coins - Alien Coins - Metallic Armor - Shark Cycles
MMAR: Aquitian Saber - Aquitian Laser - Aquitian Fist
Allies
Zordon - Alpha 5 - Farkas Bulkmeier - Eugene Skullovitch - Ernie - Mr. Caplan - Ms. Appleby - Ninjor - Jerome Stone - Alpha 9
Masked Rider
Dex Stewart - King Lexian - Donais - Zarius - Ferrian
Zords and Megazords
Zords
Season 1: Tyrannosaurus Dinozord - Mastodon Dinozord - Triceratops Dinozord - Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord - Pterodactyl Dinozord - Dragonzord - Titanus
Season 2: Red Dragon Thunderzord - Lion Thunderzord - Unicorn Thunderzord - Griffin Thunderzord - Firebird Thunderzord - White Tigerzord - Tor the Shuttlezord
Season 3: Red Ape Ninjazord - Pink Crane Ninjazord - Yellow Bear Ninjazord - Blue Wolf Ninjazord - Black Frog Ninjazord - White Ninja Falconzord - Red Shogunzord - White Shogunzord - Yellow Shogunzord - Blue Shogunzord - Black Shogunzord
MMAR: Red Battle Borg - White Battle Borg - Yellow Battle Borg - Blue Battle Borg - Black Battle Borg
Megazords
Season 1: Dino Megazord - Dragonzord Battle Mode - Mega Dragonzord - Dino Ultrazord
Season 2: Thunder Megazord - White Tigerzord - Mega Tigerzord - Thunder Ultrazord
Season 3/MMAR: Ninja Megazord - Ninja MegaFalconzord - Ninja Ultrazord - Shogun Megazord - Shogun MegaFalconzord - Shogun Ultrazord
Villains
Season 1: Rita Repulsa - Goldar - Squatt - Baboo - Finster - Scorpina - Lokar - Putty Patrollers
Season 2: Lord Zedd - Z Putty Patrollers
Season 3/MMAR: Rito Revolto - Master Vile - Hydro Hog - Tenga Warriors
Masked Rider
Count Dregon - NefariaIcon-crosswiki - CyclopterIcon-crosswiki - DoublefaceIcon-crosswiki - GorkIcon-crosswiki - FactIcon-crosswiki
Plague Sentry - Plague Patrol - Cogwarts - CommandoidsIcon-crosswiki
Monsters
Season 1: Bones - Skeleton Warriors - Giant - Mighty Minotaur - King Sphinx - Gnarly Gnome - Pudgy Pig - Chunky Chicken - Eye Guy - Mr. Ticklesneezer - Knasty Knight - Pineoctopus - Terror Toad - Madame Woe - Snizzard - Dark Warrior - Genie - Shellshock - Spidertron - Spit Flower - Frankenstein Monster - Wheel of Misfortune - Mutitus - Rockstar - Samurai Fan Man - Weaveworm - Babe Ruthless - Fang - Cyclops - Hatchasaurus & Cardiatron - Polluticorn - Twin Man - Cyclopsis - Octoplant - Goo Fish - Goatan - Fighting Flea - Jellyfish Warrior - Mantis - Dramole - Grumble Bee - Two-Headed Parrot - Peckster - Pumpkin Rapper - Soccadillo - Slippery Shark - Lizzinator - Rhinoblaster - Commander Crayfish - Oysterizer
Season 2: Pirantishead - Primator - Saliguana - Bloom of Doom - Robogoat - Octophantom - Stag Beetle - Invenusable Flytrap - Guitardo - TurbanShell - Pipebrain - Trumpet Top - Mirror Maniac - Nimrod the Scarlet Sentinel, AC & DC - Lipsyncher - Pursehead - Magnet Brain - Key Monster - Doomstone - Terror Blossom - Four Head - Beamcaster - Silver Horns - Skelerena - Scatterbrain - Pachinko Head - Showbiz Monster - Flame Head - Cannontop - Weldo - Evil Bookala - Jaws of Destruction - Tube Monster - Photomare - Wizard of Deception - Rat Monsters - Snow Monster - Turkey Jerk - Mondo the Magician - Needlenose - Vase Face - Party Crasher Monster (scrapped)
Season 3/MMAR: Repellator - Vampirus - Artistmole - Lanterra - Marvo the Meanie - Centiback - Hate Master - Face Stealer - Miss Chief - Katastrophe - See Monster - Crabby Cabbie - Inciserator - Garbage Mouth - Ravenator - Brick Bully - Sinister Simian - Blue Globbor - Dischordia - Professor Longnose - Parrot Top - Smudgey Swirl - Yetiki - Piecemeal - Barkzo - Slotsky - Barbaric Brothers - Bratboy - Witchblade - Arachnofiend - Calcifire (toy only) - Steamy Meany (toy only)
Evil Zords: Serpentera
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