Theodore "Ted" Swanson

Theodore in what appears to be his office.

Ted Swanson is the principal of Angel Grove High School (formerly Angel Grove Middle School and Angel Grove Elementary School), played by Richard Horvitz. Taking the place, along with having a much bigger role, of Mr. Caplan from the prime universe, he is much kinder and far less abusive and antagonistic, acting as an ally and close friend to the Power Rangers and Prince Alpha. He fired Miss Morrisey in Food Fight after she was caught pinning Kimberly Hart with an overturned desk during the food fight, which Morrisey started by hitting Skull in the face with a pie.

He was also a fan of the Power Rangers before becoming one himself.

Ted is extremely popular with the youth of Angel Grove hosting parties, some school activities, special events and he even helps out in community charity events.

Some of the AGHS desks form into a circle to encourage stronger interaction between students, on his suggestion. He also encourages learning by teaching the teens to always ask "why?", "what?", "where?" and "how?". He is therefore depicted as the stereotypical "nice principal". At his core, Ted is a very sweet and caring man. He believes that everybody (even villains) is special, and he believes "the things you do, good or bad, is because that's who you are". He has a lot of love and respect for his students, and this is evident in the way he treats them at the school. It is not unlike him to remind his students during lessons that they are special as individuals, and special to him. This is even true is his relationship with Alpha 5.

The Rangers, even when they were kids, always refer to him as "Ted" and not "Mr. Swanson", because he hates using formalities and because Mr. Swanson is the name of his father.

He put Alpha to sleep in Crystal of Nightmares and, after comforting him and the Rangers over their crystal-induced nightmares (saying "nothing can't hurt you in a dream, because it isn't real"), he tucked Alpha into bed the next night, assuring the little robot that his fears are alleviated.

When the Rock of Time reversed time for two specific locations in Small But Mighty, he (along with the Power Rangers) was one of many that retained their memories after the time regression (most humans in the school were not memory-regressed, however, and modern technologies remained, which Zedd facepalmed at, calling the Rock of Time "defective", but the god of time Chronos had actually focused his power to reverse time on just two locations, Angel Grove High School (knowing full well that a group of five children became Power Rangers at that time), and the World Peace Conference hall. He and a young Bulk and Skull witnessed the destruction of the Rock of Time and the liberation of Chronos, were restored to their actual age, and the school returned to normal, ruining Zedd's scheme.

In Zeo Revisited he assisted Billy and Prince Alpha in the Power Chamber on occasion, but was not present to witness Somnibot infiltrate the Chamber in Rock-a-Bye, Alpha 5; he was, however, informed of the attack by Zordon later and was one of many that stayed by the prince as he slept. Like Billy and Andrew (from Operation Overdrive), he is also an expert in computer science and robotics; it is this expertise that has assisted him with reawakening Alpha on several occasions, but when Somnibot put him to sleep he did not know how to awaken him. In battle, he is the Teal Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger and Zeo Ranger VII, Teal.

His last appearance as a mentor to the Rangers was A Fire in the Dark during Power Rangers: Aero, and becomes a Ranger team leader in Lost Galaxy: Revisited, having gained the Red Galaxy Powers originally intended for Leo and Mike Corbett. In Chase into Space, he witnesses the Astro MegaShuttle take off into space, and wishes the team good luck.

Years later, having returned to Earth from Mirinoi at an unspecified time, he moves to nearby San Angeles (50 miles northwest from Angel Grove) after winning the lottery for $9,1,995,000,000; sometime before moving he married Melissa. Having regained his Ankylosaurus powers, he reactivates Alpha 5 and Delta 4 and joins them and several other retired Rangers in fighting Sareena Repulsa the daughter of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd. He later joins his Rangers in fighting against the X-Borgs, and was later invited by Alpha to live with him on the Astro Megaship.

Early Beginnings

Theodore Swanson was born on July 25, 1963, in Angel Grove, California. He was born the son of Andrew and Serenity Swanson. At a young age, Ted showed to have a unique and inventive mind. When Ted was 15 years old, he graduated from Angel Grove Technical University with 2 Master Degrees in Robotics and Computer Science. At age 30 he was hired as the new Principal of Angel Grove Elementary School, which later became Angel Grove High School.

Zords

• Anklyosaurus Dinozord
• Sphinx Thunderzord
• Cheetah Ninjazord
• Teal Minotaur Zeozord
• Super Zeozord VI

Ranger Key

The Teal Mighty Morphin Ranger Key is Ted'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 John Burley (Super Megaforce Gold) who uses it to fight as the Teal Ranger.

• When the Super Mega Rangers became the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers while fighting Matacore. Samurai Surprise (Revisited Series)
• When the Super Mega Rangers became the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers while fighting against Invidious and his XBorgs. Love is in the Air (Revisited Series)
• Among several changes as he and the others fought against Emperor Mavro. John became Mighty Morphin Teal while Emma became Mighty Morphin Pink while Gia became an unknown Dino yellow ranger in a Pterodactyl Ranger Mode. The Legendary Battle: Extended Edition (Revisited Series)

Etymology

Ted is a male given name, variant Greek name Theodore which means God's gift or its English variant Teddy.

Notes

• Ted is the first mentor and civilian of the series to eventually become a Power Ranger.
• Mr. Caplan was the principal of Angel Grove Elementary School before him, but it is explained that Ted got the Angel Grove Board of Education to fire him for his callous and abusive behavior towards the elementary school students. This is the reason why Ted appears in the first episode as the principal and not Caplan.
• He graduated college at age 15 with a degree in computer science and robotics.
• He has strong feelings for his employee and (later) fellow Ranger Melissa Jones.
• He retired from AGHS in Quasar Quest and boarded Terra Venture.
• He is inspired by Principal Ted Franklin from iCarly, Andrew Hartford from Operation Overdrive, Mr. Simmons from Hey Arnold! (specifically as depicted in the episode Principal Simmons), and Teddy from the episode "Adventures in Boss-Sitting" of That's So Raven.
• Ted's surname, Swanson, is the patronymic form of Swan, which derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "Swan" or "Swon" meaning swan, and originated as a nickname for a pure or graceful person, qualities attributed to the swan. Likewise, Ted is very pure-hearted and kind, and is very graceful in his martial arts.