|
This article contains mature content. |
| Though there are no images of such content (per wiki rules), this article contains content that some readers may find unsuitable. It may be unsuitable for younger readers. Please leave this page if you do not want to be exposed to such content. |
Rick Sanchez is one of two main titular protagonists from the TV show Rick And Morty.
He is a megagenius scientist who has alcoholism and reckless, obvious, nihilistic behavior are sources of concern for his "daughter's" family, as well as the safety of their son, Morty. Upon the series' inception, Rick's mysterious origins and mental health were large sources of speculation. As time has gone on, more has been revealed about his character; his backstory explaining much of his behavior. At the same time, Rick has continuously committed more heinous acts
Biography[]
While Rick's backstory remained shrouded in mystery for much of the series, it's clear that he always had a knack for science and invention, being able to rewire and fix a television around the age of 12. It wasn't until "Rickmurai Jack" where Rick's past is finally shown in great detail. The "totally fabricated" backstory shown in "The Rickshank Rickdemption" was mostly based on the truth and further hinted at in "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort".
Prior to the beginning of the series, Rick had a fairly normal middle-class childhood and had developed an interest in tinkering with things at a young age. As an adult, he married a woman named Diane and they had a daughter, Beth. Rick eventually became a scientist who was struggling to invent teleportation. One day, he was visited by an alternate version of himself, who offered him the ability to travel to different realities, but Rick refused. Angered by this, the other Rick sent a bomb through a portal, possibly attempting to kill Rick C-137, but instead killed Diane and Beth. Rick grieved for an unknown period of time, before inventing his own portal gun and going on a quest for revenge.
Rick would spend the next few decades searching for the Rick who murdered his family. He eventually became a weapons dealer, trying to find parts for a device to help him track down the one who killed his family. Rick eventually met Birdperson at a festival and formed rock band called "The Flesh Curtains" together with Squanchy The three eventually formed the core of the resistance against the Galactic Federation, culminating in the Battle of Blood Ridge. After winning the battle, Rick offered Birdperson the chance to join him in his adventures throughout the multiverse, but Birdperson refused. Hurt by this, Rick left to continue his quest for revenge.
During this time, Rick murdered several of his alternate selves, all of which belonged to an unknown organization of Ricks, yet none of them were the Rick he was searching for. At this point, Rick had become depressed after failing to find his family's murderer and often used alcohol to numb his constant mental anguish. Eventually, the other Ricks banded together to try and stop the so-called "Rickest Rick". However, even this proved to be futile and Rick, yet again, murdered most of the alliance set on taking him down. Because of his unstoppable nature, the other Ricks eventually admitted defeat to Rick C-137, acknowledging him as their leader.
This would lead to the construction of the Citadel of Ricks as part of their truce. Rick himself oversaw the construction process, but he soon left after it was built due to how the other Ricks wanted to run it, leaving it to be run by the Council of Ricks. Not yet ready to give up his request for revenge, Rick eventually found out where his family's killer originated from. After discovering that said Rick had abandoned his family, Rick crashed into the house of Beth Smith, a version of his daughter who never died, who believed this Rick to be her original absent father. Rick then inserted himself into the family, hoping that his target would return one day so he could kill him. This, of course, lead to the start of the series, where Rick has supposedly returned from his 20 year long absence
Substance Abuse[]
Originally, Rick's consumption of alcohol is presented more from a comedic viewpoint throughout the series' run, but in the Season 1 finale "Ricksy Business", Bird Person claims that Rick is in "great pain" (citing his catchphrase "wubba lubba dub dub" as meaning "I am in great pain. Please help me." in Bird Person's language), and that he uses drugs and alcohol to numb himself. This is most likely due to his genius intelligence, nihilism, and the traumatizing effect that his continuous adventures may have on him, in the past and present (in "Rick Potion No. 9", Rick explains that the best method on how to deal with horrible events and outcomes is to "not think about it"). In "Rickmurai Jack", it's shown that Rick began drinking copious amounts of alcohol to deal with the death of his wife and daughter as well as his failure to enact revenge upon their killer.
Criminal Record[]
Throughout his numerous adventures with Morty, Rick has been shown to be ready and willing to disregard rules, laws and social norms if it is necessary to complete a task or escape a dangerous situation. Season one has Rick resorting to assault, battery, vandalism, smuggling, corruption of a minor, home invasion, reckless endangerment, terrorist threats, indecent exposure and even murder and arson in order to get the job done. The most common crimes committed are driving (or flying, in basically Rick's case) under the influence, drug abuse, and public intoxication.
Friends/Family[]
Though exploitative and demanding, Rick genuinely cares about his grandson and values their adventures together, making him one of the few Ricks to do so. He hesitates to outwardly show any love or appreciation however, making sure Morty doesn't get cocky. In "M. Night Shaym-Aliens!", Rick seems genuinely surprised to find that the Morty he traveled with turned out to be a simulation, calling the Zigerions "diabolical sons of bitches", angry that they simulated his genitalia. He later becomes very drunk and threatens the real Morty with a knife, demanding to know whether or not he is another simulation before passing out. Morty is possibly the stabilizing influence in Ricks life that keep Rick from doing things that could end up doing a lot of harm though this does not work on many occasions. When Rick messes up, Morty is the one who convinces him to fix things.
Though Morty often frustrates him, Rick seems to get very upset at the idea of not being able to have adventures with Morty. He repeatedly attempts to help Morty escape from his other obligations to free up more time, in order to have him continue to be his assistant, such as pulling him out of school, manipulating Mr. Goldenfold's dreams to give Morty A-grades in math, allowing Morty to lead an adventure of his own and creating a serum of vole oxytocin to force Jessica into loving Morty. Rick even goes through an elaborate heist setup that causes an unknowing Morty, who expressed interested in pitching a series idea for Netflix, to lose interest in the endeavor and continue agreeing to go on adventures with him.
Rick's (and all Ricks in other realities) reason for bringing Morty along with him is that all Ricks give off a very distinct brainwave pattern due to their genius, making them easy to track by their various enemies. The only way to camouflage the brainwave is to stand near someone with "complementary" brainwaves, which Rick calls "Morty Waves". Despite this, Rick seems to do things with Morty for reasons beyond needing camouflage, such as watching TV with him in "Rixty Minutes", taking him to an alien pawn shop in "Raising Gazorpazorp", and infiltrating Mr. Goldenfold's dreams in "Lawnmower Dog". It can also be pointed out that Rick can be spiteful to those that have genuinely upset Morty, such as in "Meeseeks and Destroy" when King Jellybean assaulted Morty, which not only caused Rick to attempt to cheer Morty up but also murder King Jellybean once he figured out what happened.
Rick believes that Morty is "as dumb as he (Rick) is smart", but still insists that Morty focus on science in "Rick Potion No. 9". He claims that Morty will "be like [Rick] someday", and that he has a "special mind". He also takes offense when Jerry insinuates that Morty has some kind of disability.
Summer[]
Rick initially cared very little for and paid scarce attention to his granddaughter, saying her opinion meant "very little" to him. As time went on, however, the two began to bond and go on their own adventures, making her - in a sense - Rick's second sidekick. In "Something Ricked This Way Comes", Rick and Summer train themselves together to buff up and assault Mr. Needful for revenge. He has abandoned at least one Summer to die after he was forced to switch dimensions. However, he seems to care for his current version. He tends to acknowledge her input, stating he was almost proud her suggestion to destroy the federation.
Rick is also disgusted by the sight of a dream version of Summer dressed in sexual clothing in "Lawnmower Dog", and having her ask Rick and Morty to "make an inter-generational sandwich" makes him visibly disgusted.
Beth[]
It appears that Rick loves his daughter, and for the most part is kind to her. However, his treatment of her may just be a ploy to stay on her good side so he can continue to stay at her home and continue his adventures with Morty, although during "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind" many Ricks from different dimensions seem to like C-137 Rick's daughter, proving that he might have true feelings for his daughter.
Jerry claims that Beth was "raised like a reptile by a mentally ill scientist" in "Raising Gazorpazorp", suggesting that Rick's method of raising Beth was unorthodox.
Rick also treats Beth with more respect than he does the rest of the family. He often will curse at the other members or mock them but he is never seen doing this to Beth. He also has called her "Sweetie" a few times.
While the exact details have yet to be revealed, it can be assumed that Rick was absent from a majority of Beth's life due to his adventures and terrorist acts against the Galactic Federations, most notably with Birdperson and Squanchy. Rick only came back into Beth's life a short while before "Pilot", though he visited at least once during Morty's very early childhood. It is likely that she was unaware of this visit. During the events of Total Rickall, Rick comforts Beth when she shoots Mr. Poopybutthole after thinking he was a parasite.
In "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy", Morty lashes out on Beth for her distance towards him and Summer. He blames this on her relationship with Rick, telling her that she doesn't need to prove herself to be worthy of Rick's love by acting essentially just like him, as it is making her appear just as narcissistic and irresponsible. And that while she's trying to gain Rick's approval, she's hurting him and Summer.
Beth believed she needed to prove herself to Rick because of how rarely he ever tells her he loves her. He admits this to Jaguar in, "Pickle Rick." Rick also admitted in the same episode to Jerry that he believes Jerry impregnating Beth ruined her chances of being successful, and detests him for his detachment to his daughter. Beth's awareness of her mistreatment of her children may drive her farther away from Rick, as she may stop trying to get him to love her, and instead find solace in her relationship with her kids.
In The ABC's of Beth, Rick behaves with Beth similarly to how he behaves with Morty and Summer, deriding her and her actions. However, he sympathized with her when she admitted she was similar to him and suggested she go off into the universe to explore it just as he did.
In Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri, it's also revealed that Beth gave Rick the responsibility of choosing for her, something that caused Rick visible stress for having to make such a large decision. Unsure of what the right decision is, Rick decides to forgo responsibility and switch the two Beths around so he doesn't know which Beth is the clone because he erased his memory. Rick later goes out of way to save his daughter, successfully freeing both. At the end, neither Beth want to know who is the original and both share a dislike of Rick. Also, Rick finally acknowledges his terrible parenting after seeing his own actions in a recording. The realisation of how utterly pathetic and selfish his treatment of his daughter (though not original) is, Rick understands that he just lost possibly the last family member that cares for him.
In "Rickmurai Jack", it's shown that Rick actually cares for Beth much more than he let on. As it happens, Rick's original Beth and Diane were both killed by a bomb sent by an alternate Rick. The deaths of her and Diane have deeply haunted Rick and caused him to search the multiverse to find and kill the Rick responsible for their deaths. This cements how much Rick cares for his daughter and how driven he was to avenge their deaths.
Jerry[]
Rick has no respect for Jerry and uses any chance he gets to demean or humiliate him, whether it's constantly reminding him of his failing marriage to Beth or mocking his low intelligence. Rick seems to somewhat resent the fact that Jerry had sex with Beth, and got her pregnant (with Summer) at seventeen.
Despite the fact that Rick sees Jerry as an idiot, he still helps him with his requests (providing him with an intelligence enhancer for Snuffles, the Meeseeks Box, and the parallel timeline goggles), and asks that the Rick Officers from the Council of Ricks "unfreeze his daughter's idiot" in "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind". However, it may simply be a way of him getting Jerry to stop bothering him or not bother him in the first place.
In "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind" while the alternate Ricks are waiting at Rick C-137's house, Rick accurately predicts that the others Ricks "won't be able to resist" messing with Jerry, meaning that Rick hating Jerry is evident for almost all Ricks in every reality.
Also, in "Mortynight Run", a daycare was set up by a Rick to allow other Ricks to deposit their respective Jerrys. At first glance, it would seem the Jerrys enjoyed their time there but the more grim reality is revealed when a couple of Jerrys claimed they are abandoned as "their Ricks never returned". It's also revealed though that they are free to leave whenever they want as holding them against their will would be illegal. They just choose not to because they can't handle it out there because they're Jerrys and they don't know how to survive space. This can be seen as Rick at least not wanting Jerry to be killed since a version of him set up a daycare filled with stuff Jerry enjoys.
Despite his apparent hatred of Jerry, in "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate," he was just as horrified as the rest of the family at seeing him shot dead by the guards, though was right back to his usual demeanor towards his son-in-law when he was revived by advanced alien technology. In the episode "M. Night Shaym-Aliens!" he actually comforts Jerry after Jerry finds out the best day of his life was a simulation.
In "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy", Morty convinces Rick to take Jerry on a "pity adventure" to keep him from committing suicide. Rick later admits to Jerry that he believes when he impregnated Beth, it ruined her chances of being successful, and he detests him for his detachment to his daughter. Dan Harmon has stated that Rick only hates Jerry by circumstance, and throughout the episode, they seemed to have been spending a good time together. Towards the end of the episode, Rick and Jerry's souls spend what feels like decades together when they are detached from reality, flying into a wormhole. At the end of the episode, they both learn to respect each other more.
In the post credits scene of The ABC's of Beth, Rick gives Jerry a message on his answering machine, telling him he took care of Jerry's problem (his ex-girlfriends Kiara's ex-boyfriend Trandor, who also messaged him threatening his life), and telling Jerry he's looking out for him. This implies that Rick did this of his own accord, or was simply asked by Morty or Summer to look out for him. During The Rickchurian Mortydate, Rick was dismayed to hear that Jerry and Beth have reconciled. When confronting them, he admits he was planning to kill Jerry but gave up because of the latter's importance to his family. Although Jerry was shocked, he was happy Rick acknowledged that. Rick was later annoyed that Beth is now more defensive of her husband.
In Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri, Rick saves Jerry and Beth from Tammy Guetermann. He forbade their therapist from entering the ship, since she wasn't in his family, meaning he sees Jerry as such.
Gallery[]
