Summary

• Finster's resilience outshines even Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd's recurring villain roles in the Power Rangers franchise.
• Crafty survival skills or cowardice? Finster's quick thinking saves him amid chaos.
• Finster shines as a character with main villain potential in BOOM! Studios comics, proving his worth in various Power Rangers universes.

Warning: Spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3!Many supervillains have come and gone from the Power Rangers franchise, but few would expect Finster to be the one destined to outlive even the most recurring of Ranger enemies. Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd were two of the earliest main antagonists of the series. Today, they continue to leave their impact. Zedd was the main villain in the latest Rangers season, Cosmic Fury, while Repulsa resurfaced as Robo-Rita in the Once & Always anniversary event.

Yet, while Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd are destined to perish and return over and over again, it's their mad scientist Finster who remains the franchise's most consistent villain, as seen in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3 by Amy Jo Johnson, Matt Hotson, Nico Leon, Dono Sanchez-Alamara, and Ed Dukeshire.

In a world where the Rangers manage to destroy Rita, Zedd, and the rest of the Moon Palace, Finster miraculously survives as the only surviving member of Rita's original villain crew. His surprising resilience is actually a recurring quality for Finster across the multiverse, highlighted in the comics.

How Does Finster Survive the Power Rangers' Attack?

Crafty or Cowardice?

In the world of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Retun, the Power Rangers permanently decimated evil 22 years ago thanks largely to Billy's Benevolator, made with the intention to eradicate all traces of evil (not unlike Zordon's Z-Wave). However, because the Benevolator was damaged in their final fight, the plan backfired by turning the Benevolator into a bomb that partially destroyed the moon and killed everyone on it, except for Finster. He had the savviness to hide in the Moon Palace's vault mere seconds before the explosion went off. Some (including Selena Repulsa) would call his act cowardly, but it takes a certain wherewithal to think so quickly in a stressful moment.

In the years that followed, Finster's crafty survival skills under stress continued to manifest, as he was forced to eat the dead remains of his Putty creations while stranded on the moon until Selena arrived. And while Rita Repulsa was believed to have died as well, she actually did some last-minute hiding of her own. Rita used the Benevolator as a portal to transfer her spirit into the confines of the Morphin Grid seconds before the explosion. This is where Finster comes into play in the story's present, as Selena has Finster create a machine that can bring Rita back from the Grid, making him an instrumental part of the plot.

Finster's Other Return in the Comics

The Canonical Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Graphic Novel Sequel

This wouldn't be the first time that Finster would return unexpectedly while his higher-ranking peers are nowhere to be found. While The Return takes place in an alternate universe, Power Rangers: Soul of the Dragon by Kyle Higgins, Giuseppe Cafaro, Marcelo Costa, and Ed Dukeshire is a direct sequel to the television canon. It's revealed in the graphic novel that Finster has been long reformed for decades, having not so much as touched magic since the Z-Wave. Like with other villains affected by the Z-Wave, Finster is purely goodhearted and has no interest in pursuing evil.

Living his mild-mannered life, he's visited by Tommy Oliver, whom Finster has befriended post-Z-Wave. He helps Tommy find his missing son as both men suspect Rita Repulsa's work is afoot following rumors of a new foe on the streets calling themselves "The Witch." As it turns out, the Witch isn't a returning Rita, but a returning Scorpina, who kills Finster in an attempt to, as Tommy put it, "tie up loose ends." Nonetheless, it's impressive to see that Finster survives as long as he does and still proves relevant in the Ranger world, more so than Zedd or Rita in the present day.

Finster Has Been A Fixture In Power Rangers Comics

Finster Has Main Villain Potential

In a third universe, specifically the main BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comics universe, Finster finds a way to earn his keep away from existing behind the scenes for Lord Zedd or Rita Repulsa. BOOM! Studios' comics go out of their way to reinvent the classic character by remolding Finster at the forefront as a primary antagonist. Early into the main comic series' run, Rita Repulsa goes M.I.A. without a trace. This gives Finster nothing but time on his hands, and he uses it to give his infamous monsters the most diabolical of upgrades.

For this arc, Finster manages to make these monsters so masterfully sentient that once he models them after humans, the monsters don't even know their true nature until they are forced to transform into monsters. Finster plants these monsters all over the world, making them transform at random and making it close to impossible for the Rangers to predict when and where they need to be in order to stop them. If not for the help of Promethea and Grace Sterling, Finster would have defeated and overwhelmed the Rangers.

Finster is the Mighty Morphin Franchise's Most Overlooked Villain

He's More Than Just a Lackey

Finster is easy to underestimate or even forget about because most of his work is restricted to the background, but he always manages to be one of the cast's most important characters, whether audiences are aware of it or not.

In three extremely different Power Rangers universes, Finster maintains his relevance whether he's working for the head honchos of Bandora Palace or by himself. Finster is easy to underestimate or even forget about because most of his work is restricted to the background, but he always manages to be one of the cast's most important characters, whether audiences are aware of it or not. In the main canon, the reason each monster of the week exists is because of Finster. Even when he's retired, he still finds a way to be a big part of the plot.

While most of his work in the BOOM! Studios universe is business as usual, he's proven exactly what kind of threat he's capable of being when left to his own devices. Finally, as the last surviving villain from the original supporting villain cast, Finster proves his worth to the next generation of evil in Selena Repulsa. He's incredibly useful as a supporting player and sidekick to the main villains, but Finster has more than proven himself to stand tall on his own, be it beside the Power Rangers or against them.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #3 is on sale now from BOOM! Studios.