Elizabeth "Z" Delgado

Elizabeth “Z” Delgado likes to present a “tough girl” exterior to the world and to her fellow B-Squad cadets. She calls “warm and fuzzy feelings” things she “hates so much” and delights in mocking her more feminine and spoiled roommate, Sydney Drew (Beginnings pt. II). It is interesting then, that Z is also the most optimistic member of B-Squad, quick to defend both friends and strangers and make them feel like they belong (Dogged, Sam pts. I and II). In the beginning of the series, Z rapidly adapts to her new life as an S.P.D. cadet, preferring to see “the bright side” of being the Yellow Ranger. Though she sometimes clashes with Syd, the two develop a strong friendship, often teaming up in battle and being told by Cruger that they fight well as a team (Abandoned), and she also develops a close friendship with Bridge. Adapting easily does not mean that Z completely embraces or trusts the strict regulations of S.P.D., however; she will break protocol or find convenient loop holes in the rules when the situation suits her (Beginnings pt. II, Sam, Badge). Z also possesses a natural talent for quick memorization and appears to know the S.P.D. handbook by heart soon after joining (Beginnings pt. II).

While her friend Jack prefers an independent lifestyle and helping the poor on the street, Z dreams of being a part of “something bigger”, a member of a cause that is greater than herself. Z is very socially conscious and strongly believes in personal responsibility to a larger community. She expresses this opinion in the episode Sam pt. II when she rejects the mischievous behavior of the street child Sam, stating, “what is the point of having powers if you can’t help people?” Z appears to hold herself and her fellow mutant teammates to a higher degree of responsibility because they have special abilities; she expects them to use them for the greater good. This perspective is noble but also naive, especially when Z applies it to people with questionable morals such as Piggy (S.W.A.T. pt. I, Missing, Endings pt. I).

It is most likely that Z's strong desire to belong stems from her childhood. Z had no friends growing up and was the victim of discrimination and bullying. Classmates called her names like “freak” and “monster” and made fun of her lower class background (Sam pt. II). When Z was twelve, she once ran away from her classroom to a park where she was almost assaulted by a monster. She was saved a by a cloaked stranger, but lost her “Z” charm necklace in the process. As an adult, Z discovered that the cloaked stranger was Commander Cruger. The exact implications of this event were never explored further, but it was a pivotal turning point in Z's life. It is likely that Z's optimism and desire to help people stems from the mysterious hero of her childhood, leading Z to become the courageous and caring woman she is today.

In her spare time, Z likes to listen to music on her headphones. She also was shown reading, playing lightball and taking photographs of her friends. She has a large poster in her room that is covered with photographs and other images. She is slightly messy.

All five of the core S.P.D. Rangers possess unique genetic powers. The origin of their powers remained a mystery until the episode Sam pt. II, where Cruger revealed that their parents worked for S.P.D. in a secret project that involved prolonged exposure to “cellular enhancers”. This exposure resulted in mutations in their childrens' DNA. Z has the power to clone herself, and her eyes flash when making them. Her clones have the ability to assume solid and transparent forms and can also talk (Beginnings pt. II, Sam pt. I and others). It is unknown how many clones she can make; typically she does one to three at a time.

The Yellow Ranger has the following arsenal:

• Delta Morpher - The morpher has four functions. It allows Z to morph into the Yellow Ranger, operates as a communication device, is used to judge criminals in “Judgment Mode” and to contain criminals in “Confinement Mode”.
• Deltamax Striker - This weapon combines the baton and knuckle sidearms to form a more powerful weapon.
• Delta Enforcer - A powerful rifle weapon used only in S.W.A.T. Mode. It has the power to contain guilty criminals when a Confinement Card is swiped and inserted.

The Yellow Ranger has one power-up:

• S.W.A.T. Mode - Short for Special Weapons and Tactics. An upgrade all five core Rangers received after undergoing training under Sgt. Silverback to learn how to work together. S.W.A.T. Mode gives the Rangers extra armor and a weapon, the Delta Enforcer, as well as enhancing their helmets' tracking capabilities and their own physical strength.

The Yellow Ranger's Vehicles:

• Delta Cruiser - The Delta Cruiser is a Jeep used by the Rangers to patrol, perform reconnaisance, and drive to the scenes of crimes and battles. Usually Z drives and Syd rides shotgun.
• Yellow Delta Runner - Z's Delta Runner is the most heavily-armored of all the Runners and can clear a path through rubble or ram into enemies without damaging itself. It can also raise flashers to blind enemies with and contains the handle, hilt and part of the blade of the Judgment Sword. It becomes the right arm of the Delta Squad Megazord and sits on the right shoulder of the Deltamax.
• Yellow S.W.A.T. Flyer - The Yellow S.W.A.T. Flyer is one of the smallest and is very fast and agile. It forms the right foot of the S.W.A.T. Megazord and the end of one of the S.W.A.T. Flyer Cannon's barrels.

Nothing was ever mentioned of Z's parents or any extended family in the series, though she thinks of Jack as her older brother. Like the rest of B-Squad, one or more of her parents once worked for S.P.D. as scientists. Since she lived on the streets for several years, it can be inferred that she is an orphan, though this was never directly stated; she may simply have run away from home at some point.

• Sam - Z shares a strong bond with the Sam from her time period. The two of them met when Z saw Sam use his powers to help the monster Bugglesworth escape from a Zord fight. Z claims that Sam reminds her of herself as a young child and closely identifies with him.

• Piggy - Z and Jack met Piggy on the streets of Newtech City. For some unknown, unspecified reason, Z tends to trust Piggy more than any other member of B-Squad, including Jack (Beginnings pt. II, Missing, S.W.A.T. pt. I). For example, in the episode Missing, Z told Piggy that Bridge had been kidnapped, believing that he would keep the information to himself (which he of course didn't). The exact nature of the relationship between Piggy and Z (or Jack) is unknown.

• Z's profile on the Jetix website listed her age as 17. This is feasible, but was never confirmed in-show. As the accident that created their powers happened in 2001, none of the Rangers can be any older than 24 at season start.
• Given the above point, it's safe to assume that Z was born sometime during the year 2008.
• On the original casting sheets, Z and Jack were biological siblings- both were Latino and had the last name Manners. This was changed before the show began to their living on the streets for a long time together, resulting in their having a sibling-like relationship instead.
• According to her first character description, Z was originally to have amazing gymnastics skills and be very quick. In addition, everyone else was to be alternately attracted to and repelled by her personality.
• A somewhat-popular fanon theory states that Z is the daughter of Black Wild Force Ranger Danny Delgado, based on the fact that they share a last name and are of Latino descent. While this seems feasible in theory, it's worth mentioning that there are a lot of people in the states of California and Colorado (the latter being where Wild Force took place, according to the series Bible) with the last name Delgado. Also, it seems extremely out-of-character for Danny to willingly allow his daughter to run away and leave her to live on the streets for five years; it is also highly unlikely that he wouldn't have had some sort of provision in place for her to be taken care of if he died, such as her being adopted/cared for by his teammates.
• Some of Z's backstory was adapted from that of her Dekaranger counterpart, Jasmine- both of them were shunned by their peers due to having special powers (Jasmine was an ESPer, or psychic, and had abilities similar to Bridge's) and both ran away from school at one point and were almost attacked by an alien, before being saved by Doggie. However, unlike Z, Jasmine actually briefly considered suicide by letting the alien kill her; Japan's Doggie also did not hide his identity, and persuaded young Jasmine to join S.P.D. and use her gift to help other people.