Power Rangers: The Putty Patrol, Explained

Spare a thought for the humble henchman of any given action series. They’re hired, summoned, or created by a villain to swarm the heroes, only to lose despite an overwhelming numerical advantage. Most are dispatched quickly with one or two strikes. No faceless enemy better exemplifies the short, bitter life in the henchmen business than the Putty Patrol from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Power Rangers remains on the air in various forms. It’s been consistent since its debut in the 90s. Every new generation of kids over the past 30 years has had a few iterations of the franchise to enjoy. Though the concept never went anywhere, the first three seasons still hold a special place in the hearts of those old enough to remember it. Its imperfections made it more compelling, and the comical antagonists were the perfect punchlines.

How are Putties made?

The Putties share their origins with most of the antagonists in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. After over 10,000 years, Rita Repulsa and her small cadre of allies escaped the dumpster that held them. One of the captives was the alien scientist or sorcerer Finster. Finster created almost all of Rita Repulsa’s weapons and soldiers throughout the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He built the Putties and similar antagonists in his Monster-Matic. Finster seems to craft his monsters in small clay figurines. He then feeds them into the Monster-Matic, carefully engineering their full-size form. Any other object he includes would become attached to the monster. Finster mass-produced Putties with a near-identical featureless clay model. After the first season, Lord Zedd emerges, boasting the power to create his henchmen. In either case, Putties are made cheap, easy, and numerous.

What can Putties do?

Putties are all-purpose henchmen capable of carrying out basic tasks. Their greatest asset is their endless numbers. An individual Putty is stronger than the average human being, but they can’t stand against a Power Ranger. Their bodies reshape to resist any unarmed attack, making it almost impossible to defeat one bare-handed. Conversely, any strike from a weapon typically destroys a Putty Patroller. Power Rangers regularly cut down dozens of Putties on their quests to face mightier foes. Putties are usually unarmed but can sometimes shape their appendages into weaponry. The most common options were shifting their hands into rock-like bludgeons and blades, though most still stuck with fists. Though they seem to have little intellectual capacity, they innately understand whatever tasks they’re assigned. Putties frequently operate heavy machinery or drive cars when they must. Putties can’t typically speak, but they can assume human disguises. While hiding in plain sight, they are indistinguishable from ordinary people. Putties are somewhat skilled infiltrators and decent henchmen, but their fragility and strategic weakness allow them to die in droves.

Are there special Putties?

The Putty Patrollers hold the record for the Power Rangers villain with the most appearances with 57 episodes and one feature film. They pop up in almost every episode of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. They’ve since been shown in a few episodes of more recent series, like Power Rangers Beast Morphers. In their long career, a few unique variants have appeared. The second episode of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers featured a one-off antagonist called Bones, who introduced a skeleton-themed batch of Putties. They boasted no special powers, suggesting Bones only dressed them up for branding purposes. In season two, a hysterical villain called Pumpkin Rapper crafted Putties with matching pumpkin heads. Rhinoblaster, a football-playing rhinoceros, brought Putties dressed to play on his team. Those specialized Putties are only costume changes. As with many Power Rangers concepts, many of the best versions are in the comics. Here’s a short list of Putty variants from the Boom! Studios comics:

• Infiltrators: Putties who’ve doubled down on their ability to blend in, adapting human-level intelligence to better mimic their targets.
• Chaos Putty Patrollers: Heavily empowered Putties created by Zedd.
• Foot Ninja Putties: In the Power Rangers crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Finster worked with Baxter Stockman to blend human ninjas with Putties.
• Megaputty: This towering three-headed kaiju was created to engage in a giant monster battle with the Rangers, distracting them long enough for Rita to cast a magic spell.
• Putty Rita Repulsa: Zedd crafted a clone of Rita Repulsa and endowed it with the power of the Dark Red Ranger, a mockery of his mortal enemies. The result became one of the Power Rangers’ deadliest foes.

Putties are the quintessential expendable villain henchmen. Though some thought went into their design and creation, they primarily exist to threaten the townspeople and be quickly dispatched by the Power Rangers. Their goals aren’t noble, and the reason for their inclusion in almost every episode is obvious. There are few jobs as thankless as that of the Putty Patroller.