"It's morphin time!"

Evil princess Rita Repulsa had long been incarcerated in Moon prison and when she escaped, it could only mean trouble. In preparation for what was to come, five teenagers were recruited – Jason (Red Ranger,) Kimberly (Pink Ranger,) Billy (Blue Ranger,) Zack (Black Ranger) and Trini (Yellow Ranger) to battle the forces of evil. Assembled by an old man named Zordon, they were dubbed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Equipped with clothing, masks and formidable assault vehicles known as Zords, they were also given super powers to aid in their mission. Most of the time, they masqueraded as regular kids at Angel Grove High School, but when duty called, they were ready to spring into action at a moments notice. And with Rita and her henchmen (Baboo, Goldar, Finster, Squatt and Scorpina) on the loose, the rangers were going to have their hands full. Their ace in the hole was that they also had the ability to join themselves and become a powerful robot called a Magezord when things got really rough, and often they did.

All of this resulted in one of the most popular kid shows to ever hit the television airwaves. With fight scene montages, full of martial arts action, and set to rock music, plus numerous out of this world epic battles between the forces of good and evil, kids simple ate it all up and begged for more. Perhaps their parents didn’t quite get the attraction, but it mattered little and industry executives took notice. Soon an onslaught of new Rangers hit the scene, complete with new powers and new enemies. Rita even took a backseat to the new evil ruler in town, Lord Zedd, although they later tied the knot.

The variations on the original premise were almost too numerous to keep track of. Power Rangers Zeo found the teens battling enemies from the Machine Empire. Luckily, they had plenty of newly acquired power, thanks to the Zeo crystal, transforming them into formidable Zeo Rangers. In Power Rangers Turbo, the team were given new turbo zords and spiffy turbo powers which came in mighty handy as they battled a new nemesis, Divatox. These weren’t the original Rangers but four new ones. Dimitria replaced the original mentor Zordon for this series.

Then it was time to leave earth for Power Rangers in Space, where they battled an evil federation of bad guys that included old favorites Lord Zed, Rita, Divatox, the Machine Empire and newcomers Astronema and the evil Commander, Dark Spector. Their mission in this go-around was to rescue their old chum, Zordon, from the evil Federation. Then onward into the future, as the Rangers took up residence on space colony Terra Venture in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. Their mission in this series was to keep their colony safe from the evil designs of the sinister Scorpius. Another new set of rangers emerged for Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, which brought a new bad guy, Diabolico, and all new battles, this time fought at, you guessed it, light speed. And finally, they moved even further into the future for Power Rangers Time Force. Now in the year 3000AD, they had an all new evil nemesis who could travel in time.

If all of this wasn’t enough to overstay their welcome, there were also two feature films – Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. And thanks to some stellar marketing, kids who didn’t get enough Power Rangers from television and films, could show their love for these heroes by purchasing everything from lunchboxes, sleeping bags, backpacks, video games, and of course, action figures by the truckload. Although their popularity eventually did slow down, make no mistake, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers unarguably made their mark in superhero history, as well as millions of dollars for their creators. And if you want to see the eyes of any kid from the 90s light up, simply mention these four words to them – Go,go, Power Rangers!” It works every time.