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This article is about a/an ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.



Black Ranger (1)
Zack Taylor
Gender:	Male
Season:	Mighty Morphin
Color(s):	Black
Homeworld:	Earth
First Appearance:	Day of the Dumpster
Last Appearance:	The Power Transfer (2)
Number of Episode Appearances:	88 (Mighty Morphin) Full list of appearances
Actor:	Walter Jones Joel Rogers (voice; eps. 82-88)

Zachary "Zack" Taylor was the first Black Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.

Character History

Mighty Morphin Era

"Looks like it's time to go to work"

―Zack Taylor

Zack Taylor was a student who attended Angel Grove High School. A very enthusiastic, upbeat person, he was very close with his friends Jason Lee Scott, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Kimberly Ann Hart. Zack is a prankster and particularly enjoys holidays such as Halloween, to scare his friends; in contrast he was greatly afraid of bugs and snakes, a fear he partially conquered when he fought the monster Spidertron. He enjoys dancing at every chance he gets, and even developed his own fighting style, Hip Hop Kido, which he occasionally taught. As a close friend to both Jason and Tommy, all three liked to work out together and practice their martial arts. As the highest ranking of the Rangers, Zack served as Jason's second-in-command prior the arrival of Tommy and his becoming the White Ranger and eventual leader of the team. When Rita Repulsa had been released and her intention was to take over Earth, Zack and his friends where chosen by Zordon to defend Earth as the Power Rangers. Although initially dismissive of being chosen, Zack soon discovers that he is right for the job. Zack became the Black Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, and controlled the Mastodon Power Coin and the Mastodon Dinozord.
Throughout the remainder of the first season, Zack attempts to gain the affections of fellow school student, named Angela, though she would turn him down several times before conceding to go on a date with him. When their date was ruined by a monster attack, Zack's chances with Angela seemed slim. However, he refused to give up and succeeded in making amends with her after several ruined attempts, earning a kiss on a lips for his efforts. When Lord Zedd came to Earth for his own ambitions, Zordon gave the Rangers new Zords to battle Zedd's more powerful monsters. Zack gained control of the Lion Thunderzord.
Later on, a peace conference was soon held to be attended in Switzerland, and only three teenagers were selected to go. Zack, along with Jason and Trini were selected. With his zest for living, upbeat attitude, and charm, Zack was a natural choice at the peace conference. Three of their friends, Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos, and Aisha Campbell would replace them as Rangers. Zack's last Ranger mission was to find the Sword of Light, which he would use to transfer the Rangers' powers. Adam became Zack's successor as the new Black Ranger. His current whereabouts are unknown but it is possible that he may have returned to his normal life.

Black Mighty Morphin Ranger

Zords

Arsenal

Ranger Key

The Mighty Morphin Black Ranger Key.

The Black Mighty Morphin Ranger Key is Zack's personal ranger key. This key along with the majority of the Core Ranger Keys are seen lining the Command Center's interior walls. This key is mainly used by Jake Holling (Super Megaforce Green) who uses it to fight as the Black Mighty Morphin Ranger.

When the Super Mega Rangers became the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers while fighting Matacore. Samurai Surprise

MMPR interactive CD-ROM

Zack's birthday was given as May 3, making him a Taurus.
Zack's birthplace was given as Washington, D.C.
Zack's favorite food was meatloaf; his favorite subject was American history.
Zack was supposedly the fastest sprinter on Angel Grove High's track team.
Intuition was the guide of Zack's life, as he frequently acted on gut feelings.

MMPR fan club video

Asked about favorite foods, Jason admitted he liked big bowls of ice cream, though not as big as Zack would eat.
Asked about what music he liked, Jason said he liked hip hop, which he got from hanging around Zack too much; Zack and Jason would often dance around and have a good time in one of their garages, until someone would walk by, embarrassing them.
Being interviewed himself, Zack sat in the Juice Bar; he had his hair in braids and wore a communicator.
Zack described himself as the fun, bouncy member of the group, the crazy, fun-loving, spontaneous jokester; he added that he was a guy everyone got along with, and he'd always have an ear for people.
As an instance of being caught off-guard, Zack described seeing an old lady acting weird and then turning into a Putty; he remarked that he should've known Rita had been up to something.
Zack's favorite ice cream was cookies and cream.
On the topic of music, Zack said he liked hip hop, since he loved anything he could dance to, and although he claimed to be able to dance to almost anything, hip hop had a funky groove he liked; he also enjoyed a variety of other music from rap to old-style rock 'n roll such as Elton John and Billy Joel.
With regard to his plans for the future, Zack thought he'd go to college, where he'd have more time to discover what he wanted to do; some ideas he'd considered were going into advertising, in which he could be creative and come up with jingles, or being a travel agent so he could see the world.
Asked how he'd come up with hip hop kido, Zack said he'd combined dancing with martial arts, figuring it was the best way to have fun and defend oneself at the same time.
Talking about her friends, Kim said she loved Zack, calling him fun and a great party guy who could always entertain people.

Notes

Controversy over Thuy Trang and Walter Jones being cast the Yellow and Black Rangers led to accusations of racism against Saban. According to Tony Oliver at Power Morphicon 2007, the producers were unaware of this being racially insensitive until the 10th episode.
Walter Jones, the actor portraying Zack, is missing the middle finger on his left hand, but somehow the camera almost managed to avoid portraying this. However near the end of "Island Of Illusions, Pt. 1", you can see the missing finger. His missing finger can also be seen in his morphing sequence, where the other Rangers show 5 fingers on the top of their Morpher. If you also look closely in "The Wanna-Be Ranger", Primator tricks Trini and Kimberly that the others are having trouble in the park as Zack. Zack actually stays behind and drinks Trini's banana shake, and his missing finger is seen.
He's the only original Mighty Morphin Ranger who is not featured in Power Rangers: Super Legends.
Due to the morphing order of the five original rangers, this makes Zack technically the very first character in the series to morph into a Power Ranger.
Zack is also the very first ranger in the series to be officially introduced. However he's not the first ranger to appear onscreen. This title belongs to Kimberly.
Zack shares the name of the 12th president of the United States.
Zack is one of three original Rangers to leave the series and make no further appearances in character. Trini and Billy were the other two, however Thuy Trang (The actress that portrayed Trini) was killed in a vehicle accident in 2001, and David Yost (the actor that portrayed Billy) left the show due to disagreements with the cast and crew and is unlikely to return.
Zack's fun-loving and wisecracking personality sharply contrasts with his Sentai counterpart, Goushi, who was the serious voice of reason.
While Zack's Zord is a mastodon, his Sentai Counterpart's Guardian Beast is a mammoth. This can be forgiven, as a mastodon and a mammoth look somewhat similar to each other.
The spelling of Zack's name is often disputed, with several sources including official merchandise spelling his name as "Zach". However, as confirmed by opening credits, it is officially spelled "Zack".
The name Zack Taylor was originally used in a pitch by Saban for an adaption of Choudenshi Bioman called Bio-Man. The character was to be Green2.