Ecliptor

Ecliptor (voiced by Lex Lang) is Astronema's second-in-command. He is a powerful general, capable of holding his own against even the Red Space Ranger, Andros. He wields a sword (which can fire electric blasts), fires beams from his eyes, and can even make a duplicate of himself, called a Cyber Shadow. Ecliptor is built, not born, as a creature of evil. In other words, he is a robot. He is charged with raising the captured Karone into a life of evil, so that she would become Astronema, Dark Specter's most devoted acolyte. It is sometimes implied that Ecliptor is more devoted to keeping Astronema safe than to his evil cause, which would suggest some kind of love, or at least a protective instinct. Ecliptor treats Astronema as both his queen and his daughter, offering advice when needed. He is always quick to reaffirm that Astronema is, and always has been, evil - although this is not the case. He is later destroyed once in battle against the Astro Megazord, but was revived in a bulkier second form. Ecliptor's arch-rival is Darkonda, a bounty hunter who worked for Dark Specter to capture Karone. Darkonda treats Ecliptor with disdain, always trying to one-up him. Ecliptor places a very high value on loyalty and absolutely hates the treachery that Darkonda delights in. Darkonda can also merge with Ecliptor to form a very powerful entity named Darkliptor. In this form, Darkonda is dominant, but Ecliptor can force them apart if he is strong enough. Ecliptor has even killed Darkonda on three occasions, during one of which, he saved Andros from a booby trap that was set for him by Darkonda. When Andros finds out that Karone was Astronema, Ecliptor attempted to keep them apart, in order to prevent Astronema from learning the truth. He failed, and Astronema returned to the side of good as Karone once again. Ecliptor remained devoted to his princess, defending her against the attacks of his own forces. He was branded a traitor and was captured by Darkonda. Later, Ecliptor is brainwashed by Darkonda to be fully evil, driving out any protective instinct he may have had towards Karone, and he is turned into a more powerful version of himself (this is considered his third form). It was this reprogrammed Ecliptor who captured Karone for her to be brainwashed into being Astronema again. Towards the end of the Rangers' conflict with Astronema, Ecliptor gains an upgrade, turning red for a time. In this super-powered form, he destroys the Delta Megazord and severely damages the other zords before his new power expired, as after taking hits from each of the Rangers' individual weapons, he took one slash from Andros' Spiral Saber (in addition to a couple of hits from Andros' Battlizer), turning him back to normal. In Countdown to Destruction, when Andros inadvertently kills Astronema, Ecliptor appears. Breaking free of some of his programming, he demanded to know how Andros could have done this to his own sister. He vowed to avenge her death and they began dueling. Andros strikes him down and then turns to Zordon's energy tube, destroying it. The destruction sends a wave of energy that dissolves Ecliptor into a pile of sand. He is the first of many Zordon-era villains to be destroyed. Ecliptor was also one of the few Power Rangers characters to exhibit the "honorable villain" personality, which was used again for Villamax, Diabolico, Zen-Aku, Koragg, and several others.