A fully self-aware artificial intelligence, he[note 1] is the robotic assistant of the Power Rangers, and resides in their base of operations, the Command Center along their mentor Zordon.

Alpha 5 has been physically portrayed by multiple actors: Romy J. Sharf, Sandi Sellner and Donene Kistler in the television series, and Peta-Maree Rixon in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

[4][5][6] Alpha 5's original iteration is described by Nicholas Mojica of International Business Times as a "vintage robot look";[7] his head is shaped like a golden flying saucer, adorned with a visor that flashes when he is speaking.

[3] The character is depicted as naive and childlike in temperament, and often behaves like a surrogate younger sibling to the Power Rangers wanting to spend time with them.

In one episode, Alpha 5 left the Command Center on Zordon's instructions to retrieve a magical item known as the "Singing Squash" to undo a spell placed on Kimberly and Billy.

In The Wannabe Ranger, he attempted to assist a little boy lost in Angel Grove Park, but was attacked by the Primator, a shapeshifting gorilla monster who disguised himself as Billy and tried to trick Alpha into taking him to the Command Center.

Later in the season, he would leave the Command Center to rescue the now-regressed Rangers, who had been trapped within a photograph by the Photomare monster after being regressed into children.

In the third season, it was revealed that Alpha was constructed on the planet Edenoi, located in the Andromeda constellation by King Lexian, the grandfather of the Masked Rider.

Alpha 5 was later shown to have survived the events of Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, as he is discovered to be safe within the secondary base, the Power Chamber.

[12] Jessica Lachenal from The Mary Sue thought Alpha 5's appearance, which resembled a Geordi La Forge-style visor which light up whenever he speaks, was "adorable" and "endearing".

The film's iteration of Alpha 5 has a bio-mechanical look that uses darker hues of the original design's red and blue colors, with a pair of eye stalks dangling from the saucer-shaped head as opposed to a visor.

[15] Like his original TV series iteration, Alpha 5 is an android aide of Zordon; however, he has a less convivial relationship with the teenagers and is skeptical of their competence as the new Power Rangers.

[16][6] Alpha 5's drastically different design from the original iteration received a mixed response, with some journalists labeling it "weird",[17][18][13] "horrifying",[10] or "nightmarish".

[20][7] Phillip Martinez from Player One dissented and opined that the redesign, though aesthetically jarring, matched the visual language of the film's Power Rangers iteration.

[22] Andy Webster, in a review of the 2017 film for The New York Times, commented that "Hader's dialed-down take" of the character "reflects the movie's tempered refinement of the original".

After the children leave via the "magical portal", Tommy, Kimberly and Billy teleport to the Command Center in their ranger suits, and the cast perform "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to end the special.