Kat Hillard
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Katherine Hillard | |
| First Appearance: | A Ranger Catastrophe, Part 1 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) |
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| Last Appearance: | Passing the Torch, Part 2 (Power Rangers: Turbo) |
| Status: | Retired as a Ranger |
| Affiliation: | None |
| Homeworld: | Earth |
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Katherine "Kat" Hillard is the fictional character in the Power Rangers franchise. She was played by Australian-American actress Catherine Sutherland in adult form, and by Julia Jordan in child form. Kat is the second Pink Power Ranger of the third season in the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the Pink Zeo Ranger in Power Rangers: Zeo, and the first Pink Turbo Ranger in Power Rangers: Turbo.
Katherine had quite a different personality from that of Kimberly Hart. Kat was generally an introverted, calm young woman whereas Kim was far more upbeat, jubilant and outgoing. Katherine was rather soft spoken and nonchalant, and rarely openly displayed her emotions as Kimberly did.
Katherine is the only Ranger who does not have a background in martial arts or gymnastics. However, she has a background in ballet. Though she would later prove herself to be a capable member of the team, her ability to fight just as well as the other, more experienced members of the Power Rangers, was never explained, and she was rarely seen fighting unmorphed until Power Rangers: Turbo.
Katherine worked extremely well with animals; with Aisha's help, she taught her aunt's chimp, Kelly, sign language (MMPR's "A Chimp in Charge") and trained a dog, Smokey, to help the Junior Police Force (Zeo's "Every Dog Has His Day"). She also proved to be musically talented by helping Aisha write the winning entry in Angel Grove High School's competition to write a school theme song.
Kat was the first Power Ranger not born in North America; she was actually born in Australia. This would be repeated again in Power Rangers: Mystic Force with the addition of Xander Bly, the Green Mystic Ranger. Katherine was the only Ranger to wear the same Ranger color for three series in a row.
Katherine Hillard has the distinction to not only share her first name and her nickname with her another Ranger, Katherine Manx of Power Rangers: S.P.D..
Character History
A former aspiring champion diver (an ambition she abandoned after a diving accident), Kat came to Angel Grove, with her family after her father was transferred, from Surrey Hill, Australia as a junior in high school. Rita Repulsa had made her an evil spy and gave her dark powers as well as the ability to turn into a cat. She had to be found by Kimberly Hart and Aisha Campbell, the Pink and Yellow Ninja Rangers, as a cat and was adopted by them. She spies on the Rangers to gain information on their lives.
Kat stole Kim's power coin which weakened Kim. Using the coin, she was able to break into the Falconzord and capture it, rendering the other Ninjazords useless. Because the coin was in the hands of evil, Kimberly's powers (and even her own life force) were drained.
When Kimberly fell at the Youth Center due to her weakened state, Kat was there, presumably trailing her, and called the hospital to come and pick her up. She felt responsible and guilty, perhaps because she was trying to resist Rita's spell. This ultimately helped break the spell that Rita had over her. Seeking to redeem herself for her past misdeeds under the spell, she turns herself over to Rita and Zedd shortly after this, thinking the villains would free Ninjor. Kat manages to trick Rito into falling asleep, and after retrieving the Pink Power Coin, is teleported to safety by Alpha.
Kat had returned Kim's Power Coin and became her replacement as Kim left for the Pan Global Games. She controls the Crane Ninjazord and becomes the second Pink Power Ranger and Pink Ninja Ranger. She copilots the White Shogunzord with Tommy, the White Ninja Ranger. In "Rita's Pita," Katherine had the ability to pick up Rita's thoughts as a side effect of the spell she was put under, but these abilities soon faded. There was a point where she wanted to date Tommy, but as Kim and Tommy were still a couple at the time, Kat hid her feelings from Tommy (and was very jealous of Kimberly while under Rita's spell).
After the time was reversed, Kat was turned into a child, and the Ninja Power Coin were destroyed, Kat's Zeo Quest took her to Australia, presumably the future, where she was tested for goodness of heart by Agatha, whom young Kat initially mistakes for her older self. Katherine obtained her crystal by helping out an old lady in distress (Agatha in disguise) and being rewarded with the Pink Zeo sub-crystal.
Kat became the Pink Zeo Ranger (Zeo Ranger I), piloting the Zeo Zord I and Super Zeo Zord I. Katherine was very friendly in welcoming new Ranger Tanya Sloan to the team; she helped Tanya register for school and invited the newcomer to live with her family throughout Power Rangers Zeo.
After Tommy received a Dear John Letter letter from Kimberly, Kat tried her best to set Tommy up with another girl, but it failed due to Tommy's intervening Ranger duties. Kat and Tommy were eventually dating by the episode Hawaii Zeo, and later shown to be married in the Zeo season finale, with at least two grandchildren, one of which appears to be a Power Ranger.
Tommy was later captured by Prince Gasket of the evil Machine Empire and brainwashed into attempting to destroy his friends, believing them to be the threat to the world. The Rangers were successful in restoring Tommy's memories after demorphing to show him the faces of his true friends; this was Katherine's idea, and she was the first one to demorph in front of Tommy, eventually embracing him in a hug as he attempted to strike her.
Prince Gasket's wife, Archerina, also exhibited great dislike for Katherine, perhaps originating out of jealousy, that led to a rivalry between the two. In "A Mystery to Me," Gasket and Archerina arranged for the other Rangers to be captured in a secluded room of a mansion during a mock murder mystery so that Archerina could challenge her rival. Katherine accepted to free the others, but was outnumbered until Auric the Conquerer offered his assistance.
Kat later became the Pink Turbo Ranger and controls the Wind Chaser Turbozord. After graduating at the top of her class, Kat became student teacher at Angel Grove High in Justin's class, and discovered that he is a child genius.
After being insulted over her weight at a dance recital, Kat develops something of an eating disorder, and Numbor uses her poor self-esteem (and his own number-altering powers) to make her light as a feather. When Kat realizes that inner beauty is more important, the spell is broken, and she defeats Numbor on her own (she even initiated the Turbo Megazord Spinout that destroyed him).
She gave her powers up to Cassie Chan to pursue other things in life. Kat had selected Cassie to become the new Pink Ranger, due to her sense of loyalty and trustworthiness which had led her to come to her defense. Currently, Kat is studying ballet in England.