When we first saw Karone, she was Astronema, Princess of Darkness and the main bad girl on Power Rangers in Space. (And, in my opinion, the most evil of all villains ever to star on PR.) But, as it turned out, the reason she was so nasty was because when she was a little girl, she was taken from her home on KO-35 and her cute brother Andros (poor girl) by the evil bounty hunter Darkonda. She was then dumped on the doorstep of Darkonda's archrival, Ecliptor. (Why is unknown.) The dark warrior took the little girl in, raised him as his daughter, and gave her the name Astronema. Ecliptor had told Astronema that the Power Rangers destroyed her parents and her brother, which was probably the main reason why she wanted to kill them so bad. But, certain events in her long struggle with them changed her heart and returned her to the good girl she once was. (One event being that she developed a crush on Zhane.)
During a one on one battle with Andros, Astronema's locket was cut from her neck and lost in some rubble. Andros found it sometime later and when he opened it, he saw the exact same pictures of him and Karone that were in his locket. He showed Astronema this and told her that she was Karone and that he was her brother. At first, Astronema didn't want to believe it, but she came around just in time to save Andros from getting his chest crushed by one of her monsters.
It was after this that Karone decided to help the Rangers find Zordon. Andros welcomed her with open arms, but it took the others a little while before they could trust her. Once they came around,they made Karone, the honaray Purple Space Ranger.
Soon after, Dark Specter sent a huge asteroid to wipe out all life on Earth. When the Rangers' two attempts to destroy the asteroid failed, Karone decided to risk everything and sneak aboard the Dark Fortress to reprogram the asteroid. She was caught by Ecliptor and was brainwashed. She was Astronema once again.
The brainwashing made Astronema emotionless and even more evil than before. She created (or employed) the Psycho Rangers, evil versions of the Power Rangers who fed off Dark Specter's massive powers. Her plan was to destroy the Rangers slowly while draining Dark Specter away to nothing. Her plan would have worked if the Rangers hadn't destroyed the Psychos.
When Dark Spector decided to launch a massive attack on the whole galaxy, he put her in charge of the operation and put Zordon in her custody. When Darkonda killed Dark Specter, Astronema became the Queen of Evil. Her first act as queen was to concur the Earth. Her plans were postponed when Zhane, Cassie, Ashley, Carlos, T.J., and an army of civilians began to battle her troops and Astronema herself was forced to retreat to the safety of her Dark Fortress. There she found Andros, who had snuck aboard her ship to try and convince her to stop her rein of terror. But instead of listening to him, Astronema tried to kill him with a blast from her staff. Andros accidently deflected the blast right back at Astronema, ending her life. (Or so it appeared.)
After Zordon's energy wave turned all Astronema's troops into sand, Andros took his sister to Earth and cried over her body. His tears fell on her face and not only woke her up, but changed her back into Karone.
Months/years later, Karone is given the powers of the Pink Galaxy Ranger by the gohst of Kendrix and moves in with Maya on Terra Venture. Later, she helped Red Ranger Leo get two spechial keys that would restore his powers. Before Karone could get the keys she had to pass a test by fighting herself as Astronema. (The best battle of PR:LG) Karone passes the test by telling her evil double to kill her instead of Leo. Then, Leo gets the keys, gets his powers restored and then some, then blows the evil Magnatox into the next century. (If you ask me, once Magnatox was gone, Leo should have given the keys to Karone and let her use their powers from then on. After all, she was the one who did all the muscle work to get them.)
After Karone tried to help Damon land the job of Terra Venture's Chief Mechanic, she disappeared into the background and had very minor rolls in the Rangers fight against Captain Mutiny in the Lost Galaxy and in the final battle for Terra Venture. It was almost like she didn't exist. Which was really a shame.
After Terra Venture landed on Meroni, Karone and the other Rangers returned their Quasar Sabers to the stone they were pulled from and changed all of the planet's stone people back into flesh. And not only that, but Kendrix is returned to them as well. Kendrix thanks Karone for filling in for her and Karone says that she wouldn't miss it for the world. Just what happened to Karone after that is unknown. One thing is for sure; she didn't help the Galaxy Rangers when they went to Earth to help the Lightspeed Rangers fight Trakeena and Tri Skull. Why? Don't ask me. But I would love to see her again. She's both my favorite Pink Ranger and female Ranger.
Must see Karone/Astronema episodes: "From Out of Nowhere pt.1 & 2," "Shell Shocked," "Invasion of The Body Switcher," "A Date With Danger," "The Secret of the Locket," "Astronema Thinks Twice," "The Rangers' Leap of Faith," "Dark Specter's Revenge pt. 1& 2," "Countdown to Destruction pt. 1& 2," "Protect The Quasar Saber," "Facing the Past," "Turn Up The Volume."
*Karone is played by Melody Perkins
Main picture provided by Nak's Power Rangers. Other images were provided by Star Points, a closed Power Rangers site.
