'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' Fans Just Uncovered This Fact About the Black Ranger
Walter Emanuel Jones, who played the Black Power Ranger in the '90s, lost his middle finger in a childhood accident.
Published Nov. 1 2024, 11:57 a.m. ET
Recently, we've been diving deep into some of our favorite classic shows, including the iconic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This '90s superhero series has become a true pop culture phenomenon, and we're excited to share it with the next generation — it's truly a perfect show in our eyes!
While exploring the series, we noticed that Zack Taylor (Walter Emanuel Jones), the original Black Ranger, is missing his middle finger. What's the story behind that? Did the actor lose his finger during the show? Here's what we've found out.
The actor who played the original Black Power Ranger lost his finger at four years old.
On Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, Reddit user u/big_gains_only took to the "Interesting as F--k" subreddit and pointed out the Black Ranger's missing finger.
Along with four photos — three featuring the character and one of Walter Emanuel Jones, the actor behind the role — the user wrote, "So, the Black Ranger was missing his middle finger the entire time! WHO KNEW..."
It turns out that Walter actually lost his middle finger on his left hand before his time on Power Rangers. In a 2012 interview with Sharing the Details, he explained that he lost his finger in an undisclosed accident when he was only four years old.
"As a kid, growing up without a middle finger, people were fascinated by it," he recalled. "Girls wanted to touch it and they would oftentimes scream. I lost it at a young age and I doubt it will ever come back. Yes, the rumors are true but I want to reiterate that I lost my finger before Power Rangers and not during or after the show."
Many Reddit users admitted they never noticed the Black Ranger's missing finger until now. The top comment read, "Damn, I never [even] noticed. I watched every episode a million times. I thought 'Yeah, whatever' when I saw this, but it's legit, the actor had his middle finger amputated when he was 4 years old."
A second Reddit user wrote, "I even followed him over to his Nickelodeon show Space Cases after his run on Power Rangers ended... it's crazy that you can see a person, be a fan of them, follow a chunk of their career, and without the internet, we'd never see something missing in plain sight."
Some users had spotted it before, with one commenting that it was "kind of an urban legend that actually was true." The same Reddit user added, "Once I found out about it, it became a game within the show to spot the missing finger. They were very careful how they shot his hand. It was always juuuuuust out of the shot or obscured by something."
Another fan said, "I knew this early on and then always watched as close as I could so I knew when they cut in the original show stuff with the American version. Vast majority of the time when he was suited up, all digits were present.
One user even shared their personal experience: "I'm in fact missing my middle finger from an accident when I was a teen. I've had close friends who did not notice FOR YEARS. It just never really comes up, and it's easy for eyes to gloss over all those other fingers."