Claydoiousian

Claydoiousians are a sapient caninoid species from Claydoious. Finster, a member of this species, was an infamous artisan who made clay-based monsters for the evil alien sorceress Rita Repulsa.

Biology
Claydoiousians are short humanoids who somewhat resemble Scottish Terriers, with long, pointed ears in a position closer to where Humans have their ears, and a pointed, almost spike-like fur-covered nose on the end of their snouts. While their bodies are covered in smooth fur, aging males of this species are known to grow longer, lighter, beard-like fur on their snouts, and both sexes of this species can grow longer fur on their craniums, able to be styled into hair. Members of this species can have either white or black fur, and females of this species are known to have slightly shorter snouts than males. Members of this species can live for thousands of years.

Culture and society
Prior to Finster becoming mad with his obsession of the grotesque and monstrous, Claydoiousians were a peaceful race who appeared to be in a pre-industrial stage of development, their clothing bearing a somewhat medieval or early colonial-era aesthetic.

History
Over 10,000 years ago, a male Claydoiousian, named Finster, married a female of his species named Plepra, and worked as a sculptor. As he grew older, he became bored with the peaceful life in the village, his mental health deteriorating as he began making sculptures of horrifying monsters, seeing the beauty in the twisted. He also began to terrorize his village with fires in his madness, killing many villagers and locking himself in his workshop for days, until he was caught by Plepra, who realized that Finster was the arsonist. She threatened to expose him, and when Finster tried to stop her from getting help, he accidentally killed her in a struggle when she fell headfirst against a table. Stricken with grief and still mad with his obsession, Finster was approached by alien sorceress Rita Repulsa, who supplied him with a magic clay that could allow his creations to come to life, and destroyed the rest of the village. Now part of Rita's army, which itself was a part of the greater United Alliance of Evil, Finster worked as Rita's monster-maker for millennia, but when he had time, he tried to make living sculptures of Plepra, using a lock of her hair to give the clay her mind and essence. However, he would constantly destroy the sculptures, as they all displayed Plepra's will for him to stop his work. Eventually, Finster, along with Rita and her other soldiers, were shrunken down and imprisoned inside of a trash can-shaped containment unit by Zordon, a disembodied Eltarian wizard, on Earth's moon.

10,000 years later, in 1993, Finster was accidentally freed along with Rita and her other minions by two Human astronauts, with Rita resolving to conquer Earth. Taking up residence in an ancient M51 Galaxy humanoid fortress on the moon, Finster began to create Putty Patrollers, humanoid monsters made of the living clay, to be used as foot soldiers, utilizing a machine known as the Monster-Matic. Finster also created various monsters that were far stronger than Putties, and served as an advisor, alchemist, and general inventor, creating potions and other technologies for Rita to utilize. Along with Rita and her other minions, Finster's monsters combated Zordon's elite defense force on Earth, known as the Power Rangers. Eventually, Rita was outed by her superior, a corrupted cyborg Eltarian named Lord Zedd, who made Finster's main position as a monster-maker obsolete by creating his own monsters and Putty variants. Depressed, Finster idled away in his workshop while he reminisced about his service under Rita, with Zedd soon going into a deep sleep to regenerate his old power. Fortunately for Finster, Rita, who was returned to the containment unit and shot into space, managed to return to the moon and had Finster return her to normal size. At Rita's request, Finster created a love potion to use on Zedd, which would convince him to marry Rita and thus allow her to regain her power, while also making a scheme to capture the Rangers as a wedding present. To accomplish this, Finster accompanied two of Lord Zedd's Putties to capture Alpha 5, the robotic helper of the Power Rangers, inserting a disc into Alpha's body that reprogrammed him to be evil. While the Rangers were occupied dealing with various monsters Finster whipped up, sent to them by the corrupted Alpha, Finster gave Rita a facelift, making her appear far younger.

Although he had resolved to help Rita, Finster still protested the marriage with Lord Zedd, although he ended up acting as the presiding priest during the ceremony, and watched as Zedd and Rita attempted to destroy Earth with Serpentera, Zedd's robotic superweapon, although the plan was foiled the the Rangers, who had managed to escape the monsters. With Rita back in a position of power, Finster once again became the primary monster-maker, and later, he and Goldar, one of Rita's strongest alien generals, were surprised to learn that Zedd truly loved Rita, as Finster attempted to use a supposed antidote for the love potion on him. After almost three years of failing to destroy the Rangers, Rita and Zedd finally managed to destroy the Ranger's power coins, depowering them, but as they were celebrating their victory, the moon base was attacked by the Machine Empire, forcing Rita, Zedd, Finster, and all their minions to escape on Serpentera, although Goldar and Rito Revolto, Rita's skeletal brother, were left behind on Earth while trying to destroy the Rangers' base of operations. When Zedd and Rita eventually returned to the moon, utilizing a vehicle shaped like a camper van, Finster accompanied them, building some more machines for the evil duo while they plotted to depose of the Machine Empire. One of Finster's machines was a robotic missile named Louie Kaboom, who used a humanoid robot form to briefly take command of the Machine Empire when its current ruler, King Mondo, was being rebuilt after a failed attack on the Rangers. Later, Finster made Rita a new wand, one powerful enough to create a monster capable of overwhelming the Rangers, although the monster was destroyed after being tricked into merging with a more vulnerable Machine Empire robot.

While the Machine Empire was eventually forced off of Earth, Rita and Zedd also left the system with their minions for unclear reasons, leaving Earth for a space pirate named Divatox. Finster remained in Rita's service, even during the United Alliance of Evil's assault on the known universe, commanded by their alien leader Dark Specter, who had captured Zordon and planet Eltar. During the final battle, Finster was present on a world in the Vica Galaxy, alongside his masters, where they fought the Triforian Gold Ranger. However, just before they could overwhelm the Gold Ranger, Andros, an alien Ranger, shattered Zordon's containment tube at the Eltarian's command, releasing all of Zordon's energy as a cleansing wave that washed over galaxies, instantly disintegrating all of the evil forces. However, Finster, like Rita, Zedd, and Divatox, was not destroyed, but rather, purified. In the wake of the event, Finster was cured of his obsession with the grotesque, and settled on Earth as a simple artisan once more, now spending his days making humanoid sculptures. 25 years later, he was visited by former Ranger Tommy Oliver concerning a crystal, and soon afterwards, was murdered by Scorpina, one of Rita's former generals who somehow escaped Zordon's energy wave. Before dying, Finster was able to create a living sculpture of himself, which Tommy found, where Finster apologized for his evil past and assured Tommy that he would be able to save his son, J.J., who was kidnapped by Scorpina. At the end of the message, Finster's statue dissolved.

Appearances

 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993)
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2 (1994)
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 3 (1995)
 * Power Rangers Zeo (1996)
 * Power Rangers in Space s01e01 "From Out of Nowhere" (1998)
 * Power Rangers in Space s01e42 "Countdown to Destruction, Part 1" (1998)
 * Power Rangers Dino Thunder s01e04 "Legacy of Power" (2004)
 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2017 Annual, "Perfect" (2017)
 * Power Rangers: Soul of the Dragon (2018)
 * Power Rangers Beast Morphers s02e22 "Making Bad" (2020)