| “ | Mom, Dad guess what. I got a plan, I got a plan, I’ve got a plan! I’ll send my own pitching machine to their practice tomorrow. Whatta ya think? Hmmmm. You hit a ball from my pitching machine, the machine sucks you inside, then we’ll catch those three and use ‘em as bait to catch the others. Aaaand, with the Rangers out of the way, you’ll be free to rule the world. Waddya think, Daddy? It’s just brilliant. | „ |
| ~ Prince Sprocket’s plan for the People Pitcher. |
The People Pitcher is the baseball pitching machine-themed monster of the Machine Empire serving Prince Sprocket and a minor antagonist in Power Rangers Zeo. He serves as the main antagonist of the episode "Rangers in the Outfield", as well as a minor antagonist in the episodes "It came from Angel Grove" and "A Golden Homecoming."
He is voiced by Ari Ross who also voiced Mad Mike the Pizza Chef in Power Rangers Turbo a year later.
Personality[]
The People Pitcher spoke mostly in baseball related puns and lingo but was a violent kidnapper intensely loyal to Sprocket and the Machine Empire. The monster proved to be extremely cocky and little fazed him; arrogantly laughing and taunting the Rangers even after Tommy damaged his internals. The People Pitcher was also shown to also be slightly masochistic, laughing happily even as he fell over and died.
Biography[]
Past[]
The People Pitcher was manufactured by the Machine Empire, working under King Mondo and Queen Machina. With their monsters and never-ending army of Cogs, the Machine Empire was able to devastate and conquer entire galaxies.
Zeo[]
In 1996, King Mondo leads his Machine Empire to the Moon where they drive out Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa but their invasion is ultimately stalled by the interference of the Zeo Rangers.
After Tanya discovers her talent for baseball pitching, King Mondo is enraged that they failed to take advantage of it so Machina orders Prince Sprocket as well as Klank and Orbus to come up with their own plans. However, the latter two are quickly ignored in favour of Sprocket who takes inspiration from the Rangers' "children's games." After hearing that Rocky and Adam are planning to practice baseball the next morning at the Angel Grove Adventure Landing, Sprocket decides to use that to the Machine Empire's advantage by using the People Pitcher to capture the Zeo Rangers and render the Earth defenceless. By the time that Adam, Rocky and Shawn go to bat, the Cogs have already switched out the regular baseball pitching machine for a disguised People Pitcher. When Rocky gets up to bat, the People Pitcher captures him before revealing himself and keeping Adam busy whilst Mondo and Machina send Cogs to steal Rocky's Zeonizer. Although Adam fights hard, the Cogs escape with the Zeonizer with the People Pitcher following.
Teleporting to the other side of the Adventure Landing, the People Pitcher and his Cogs are met by Sprocket as well as Klank and Orbus where they are soon confronted by the remaining Zeo Rangers. This results in a game of hot potato between the Rangers and Cogs over the Zeonizer until Tommy takes it only to be shot and absorbed by the People Pitcher. However, this allows him to give Rocky his Zeonizer who morphs before they jam the People Pitcher's gears and force him to eject them by shooting the gears with Tommy's Zeo Laser Pistol. Although weakened, the People Pitcher is still able to fight off the Zeo Rangers until Rocky weakens him with his Zeo III Power Spin before the entire team finish him off with a combined jump-kick. However, Klank and Orbus then make him grow so they form the Zeo Megazord which is initially no match for the People Pitcher until they drop him to the ground with the Zeo III Battle Helmet. They then equip the Zeo Megazord Saber with which they are able to gain the upper hand before killing him with an energised slash.
| “ | Sprocket: I really hate those lousy Power Rangers! Look at what they've done this time! Mommy, they've ruined my favourite creation! Machina: There, there my dear. Don't blame yourself. You mustn't take it personally. They have ruined all our creations. |
„ |
| ~ Sprocket and Machina after Punch-A-Bunch destroyed his glove. |
After Sprocket complains about Punch-A-Bunch damaging himself during battle against the Zeo Rangers, the People Pitcher is indirectly referenced along with all previous monsters used up to that point when Machina reassures her distraught son that the Rangers have ruined all of their monsters.
A dream version of the People Pitcher is seen after Zordonicus reveals himself to be King Mondo and torments Adam with a group of Cogs and past monsters. However, this version of the People Pitcher almost immediately ceases to exist when Adam abruptly wakes up from his dream.
Much later on, after Trey of Triforia transfers his Gold Ranger powers to Jason Scott to deny them to King Mondo, the emperor executes his ultimate plan; recreating an army of past monsters (including the People Pitcher) and upgrading them with the Neo-Plutonium Armour. The new and improved monsters are much stronger than they were before and are completely immune to the Rangers' weapons with the ultimate mission of destroying the Zeo Megazord. However, the four he sends out are destroyed by the new Super Zeozords and he is forced to scrap the rest of the now useless monsters which include the People Pitcher.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Strength: The People Pitcher could shove his body forwards with enough force to knock back the Zeo Megazord.
- Durability: The People Pitcher shrugged off a jump kick from Rocky, the Zeo III Power Spin, multiple punches from the Zeo Megazord and survived several slashes from the Zeo Megazord Saber.
- Depth Perception: The People Pitcher possesses depth perception despite only having one eye.
- Skilled Fighter: The People Pitcher is able to easily overwhelm all five Zeo Rangers in battle.
- Baseball Machine Transformation: The People Pitcher can turn into a baseball machine and back at will.
- Baseball Absorption: The People Pitcher can fire a light green ball as a baseball machine that, when it hits the enemy, absorbs them into his body. It does this by consuming the victim in purple energy swirls, exploding around them, and turning the victim into a baseball to absorb.
- Storage Chamber: The People Pitcher has a massive cog and smoke-filled void within himself to contain his enemies.
- Teleportation: The People Pitcher can teleport to any location at will by surrounding himself in purple energy swirls and shifting away.
- Super Speed: The People Pitcher can run faster than Tommy’s go-kart could drive.
- Stretchable Neck: The People Pitcher can stretch his neck to great length although this did nothing.
- Vacuum Suction Breath: The People Pitcher can spew a clear orange laser ray from his mouth that absorbs the enemy into his body.
- Smoke Blasts: The People Pitcher can exhale powerful gusts of white smoke from his mouth although what they could do is unclear as the Zeo Megazord dodged it.
Weaknesses[]
- Destroyed Gears: If the People Pitcher's internal systems were damaged or destroyed, like when Tommy shot them with his Zeo Laser Pistol, anyone trapped inside of him would be ejected.
Arsenal[]
- Arm Cannon: The People Pitcher has a large baseball cannon-like growth for a right arm that could either be used as a gun or as a club to bludgeon his enemies.
- Baseball Blasts: The People Pitcher can fire green baseball-like energy from his baseball cannon capable of causing large explosions but Adam dodged them.
- Smoke Blasts: The People Pitcher can fire white smoke blasts from his arm cannon strong enough to cause large explosions and make Tommy crash his go-kart.
- Fist: The People Pitcher has a normal left hand which he could use to pummel his enemies.
Quote[]
| “ | Ya ha ha ha ha! Bet you can't get a hit from the People Pitcher, Ranger. | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher's first words to Adam. |
| “ | Think fast! Welcome to our ballpark, Rangers! Ah ha ha ha ha! | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher when confronting the Zeo Rangers. |
| “ | Anyone else? | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher reacting to Rocky's Zeo III Power Spin and his final words before his initial defeat. |
| “ | Urrraaah! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Anyone want to try my fastball? | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher after being enlarged by Klank and Orbus. |
| “ | Hey, batter batter! Hey, batter batter! Swing batter! Looks like I'm pitchin' a no-hitter today, slugger! | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher when confronted by the Zeo Megazord. |
| “ | Woooooooow! Ah ha ha! | „ |
| ~ The People Pitcher's last words. |
Trivia[]
- In Ohranger, the People Pitcher was based upon a vacuum cleaner hence his design and suction based abilities.
- This was changed to fit more in-line with the Power Rangers plot.
- In Ohranger, the People Pitcher was defeated by the Defender Wheel immediately after the team jump kick.
- This was cut from Zeo as they had yet to introduce the weapon but Tommy teleported out of the explosion in a red energy streak identical to the one from the Defender Wheel.
See Also[]
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Machine Empire Evil Space Aliens Other | ||