Astronema

Karone (/ˈkɑːroʊn/), also known as Astronema, is a fictional character from the Power Rangers universe, first appearing in the television series Power Rangers in Space. She is known to be the only character in the Power Rangers universe to "evolve" from being the Power Rangers' archnemesis (Power Rangers in Space) to a Power Ranger (Pink Ranger) herself (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy), and the first non-earth human Pink Ranger.

Power Rangers in Space
Karone was born on the planet KO-35 and the sister of Andros, the Red Space Ranger. Along with Andros, she had dreamed of one day being a Power Ranger. One day, while playing with Andros as a child, she was kidnapped. Having left to retrieve a toy, Andros only heard her scream. By the time he returned, Karone was gone. No one knew what had become of her and while Andros spent years trying to learn the truth, it turns out that Karone had been kidnapped by the evil bounty hunter, Darkonda. Having acted on higher orders, Darkonda took her to be raised by his rival, Ecliptor, to be evil. She was then named Astronema.

As Astronema
Karone as Astronema

Ecliptor raised the young Karone to be Astronema, the princess of evil. He considered her a daughter and she in turn saw him like a father; trusting him deeply. Ecliptor had also told her lies of the Power Rangers destroying her parents and her brother. Over time, Karone grew into being Astronema – her true memories fading, as she became evil and a highly trained warrior. After years of training and competing against other evil warriors, Astronema was later tutored in the dark arts of magic. She was awarded the Wrath Staff, which she uses to manipulate others and battle her opponents. With Dark Specter's help, she gained the space station, the Dark Fortress and an army of robotic soldiers called Quantrons. She also became a member of Dark Specter's alliance (though she later denied involvement in attacking Eltar and kidnapping Zordon).

As Astronema, she traveled the universe, conquering and destroying all those who would not serve her or Dark Specter. In a flashback in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, she met a warrior that carried the Armor Keys, magical talismans that would grant him great armor. To prevent the warrior from using the keys, she turned him into a stone figure. (Years later, a regretful Karone atoned for this.)

Astronema is first seen in "From Out of Nowhere, Part 1," at the gathering of villains on the Cimmerian planet. Elgar touts her as the new princess of evil. After Andros infiltrates and escapes the gathering, Dark Specter orders Astronema to eliminate him. After Andros acquires the former Turbo Rangers as a new team, her orders are to prevent them from locating Zordon. These attempts often involve attacking the Earth to draw their attention.

During her time attempting to defeat the Power Rangers, Astronema was shown to be extremely ruthless, but also had a comical side to her (such as her complaining about having to wait for things to happen even if the wait was short). Astronema is known to change her hairstyle and color at will (which was never acknowledged by any character). She wore a locket that had pictures of her and Andros as children. (Andros had a similar one) As far as she knew, it was all she had left of her family, so she was very protective of it.

Astronema shows a soft side during a plot when she becomes romantically involved with Zhane, the Silver Space Ranger. This "star-cross" occurred as a result of Zhane's deep conditioning of compassion, which influenced him to heal her when she had not died of a wound inflicted in battle. Grateful to him, Astronema engaged in a mutual courtship for several weeks. However, their relationship ended when Ecliptor sent a monster called Horror Bull to destroy the Power Rangers, distracting Zhane from his meeting with Astronema. Disappointed, Astronema shot Zhane with an energy bolt, destroying his gift of flowers, and turned her back on him.

When Andros discovered Astronema's true identity, he did everything in his powers to reform her. He very nearly succeeded, even making her an honorary Power Ranger, and based upon her clothing, she could have been the first Purple Ranger. However, she was captured by Ecliptor, who was brainwashed, and was condemned to the same fate as him. Her emotions were removed by cybernetic implants that later controlled her. During this time she was depicted as completely evil, but also maintained a calm persona, even when punishing her minions. However, the implants resulted in her also gaining a desire to overthrow Dark Specter himself (though she kept this a secret from him and pretended to be loyal to him). Her plan for this consisted of sending out the Psycho Rangers, whose battles with the Power Rangers would drain Dark Specter's power until he died. Astronema's desire to make sure that they completely drained Dark Specter caused her to sometimes pull out the Psychos during a battle, even when they were on verge of killing the Power Rangers. Eventually the Psycho Rangers were all killed by the Power Rangers, putting an end to her plan.

Despite that, things started to turn in her favor when a powered-up Ecliptor destroyed the Delta Megazord, and when the Mega Voyager was destroyed stopping a monster she sent out called Tankenstein. After the Mega Voyager's destruction, Dark Specter ordered an all-out attack by all of the villains under his command (Zedd, Rita, Divatox, and the Machine Empire) on the whole universe with Astronema leading the attack on Earth. When Dark Specter was destroyed by Darkonda, Astronema became the new Queen of All Evil. In the final battle in "Countdown to Destruction," she battled Andros and appeared to be killed when he deflected an energy blast back at her. After Andros destroyed the energy tube of Zordon, it released a wave of purifying energy that eradicated or converted all the evil forces but left Astronema's body unchanged. Leaning over her, Andros cried, and two tears ran off his nose and landed on her cheek. These removed Astronema's programming, reverting her back to Karone. Restored, she returned to Earth with Andros and the other Rangers.

In Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
Some time later in the Lost Galaxy series, Karone, disguised once again as Astronema, was present on the planet Onyx when the Pink Quasar Saber was on auction. The Quasar Saber had previously been lost when its previous owner, Kendrix Morgan, was killed. Despite Trakeena revealing her real identity, Karone stole the Quasar Saber and sought to return it to the space colony Terra Venture, where the Galaxy Power Rangers were stationed. When Karone quickly lost a battle with Trakeena over the Quasar Saber, taking many hits to her stomach, leaving her disoriented, Trakeena pushed her off the cliff they were fighting on to her apparent death, but then the spirit of Kendrix appeared to her and saved her. Kendrix passed on her Transmorpher, allowing Karone to become the new Pink Galaxy Ranger. Karone then turned the tables on Trakeena, forcing her to relinquish the Quasar Saber. Karone had finally achieved her dream of becoming a Power Ranger.

Later on, Leo had lost his powers to Magnetox and had no idea how to get them back. Karone recalled of a powerful warrior she had battled as Astronema who had magnificent powers. However, she was unsure if he or the powers still existed as she turned him into stone to prevent him from using his powers on her. Karone and Leo traveled to the planet in search of the power. Leo was struck down when a skeleton guarding the entrance recognised Karone as Astronema. Karone had to face her past and if she was truly good, she would prevail. Karone then battled a manifestation of Astronema, who nearly killed Leo in the process. She proved that she was no longer evil; allowing her and Leo to enter the cave. Karone found and freed the warrior that she had turned to stone previously as Astronema by apologizing and then crying on his hand, which revived him. He forgave her and then passed his powers on to the Red Ranger, Leo.

Karone remained the Pink Ranger until Terra Venture crashed on Mirinoi. She returned the Pink Quasar Saber to its altar, which resurrected Kendrix.

During the Galaxy Rangers' team up with the Lightspeed Rangers, Karone was not present, as Kendrix was the Pink Galaxy Ranger again.

Karone is mentioned as Astronema in Tommy Oliver's Legacy of Power video log in Dino Thunder. However her relationship to Andros and her time as the Pink Galaxy Ranger are not mentioned.

She returned in Power Rangers Super Megaforce episode "Legendary Battle" along with Leo and Damon as the returning Galaxy Rangers, implying that Kendrix had given her powers back to Karone.