Rick's Origin Explained
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Everything We Know About Rick's Origin
In a show as irreverent and random as Rick and Morty, it’s sometimes hard to pin down what information to take seriously and what to just chalk up as zany plot-filler. Similarly, in keeping with the show’s underlying theme of nihilism, which holds that nothing really matters anyway, character backstories tend to be presented piecemeal, if at all. While this makes for greater layering, it can also be frustratingly secretive. And no one is more enigmatic than the co-eponymous Rick C-137, aka Rick Sanchez.
His early life is a mystery; however it seems safe to say that he had a complicated relationship with his father . . . Although we’ve been given glimpses into his origins as a dimension-hopping super-scientist, those glimpses are not particularly trustworthy. In “The Rickshank Rickdemption”, a memory seems to reveal that Rick was once a devoted husband and father, who gave up on inventing interdimensional travel to avoid becoming lonely and selfish. In response, another Rick killed his wife Diane and daughter Beth - setting him back to the path to new dimensions. However, this turns out to be a fabrication, devised to escape a Galactic Federation Prison . . . Or WAS it all a fabrication? Could some of it have been true? The truth is, we don’t really know for sure.
What we do know is that at some point, Rick was married, and had a daughter, Beth. In the “fabricated” memory, his wife’s name was Diane. For all intents and purposes, and despite his emotional distance, it seems like Rick tried to be a good father, developing toys for his borderline sociopathic daughter, and even creating a pocket-universe called Froopyland where she could play safely without harming herself or others.
As for his marriage, whether it was happy or not remains unclear, as are his reasons for eventually leaving Beth. The act of abandonment left her with some pretty crippling issues, and may have contributed to her attachment to Jerry. The big question is: what was Rick doing while he was gone? The description on the show’s Facebook page states that he was gone for “nearly 20 years”. But photos and brain-scans of Rick with a baby Morty suggest that the figure was closer to Morty’s total age, 14. Then again, fans have also suggested this is a Morty from another dimension.
Not much of what happened during Rick's missing years is confirmed. His beef with the Gromflomites goes far back enough that Rick and Bird Person were probably fighting the Galactic Federation before Morty was even born. According to Bird Person however, Rick's time away from his family wasn't all lecherous fun. It was a dark time for Rick and we can only hope that future episodes will expand further on this chapter in his life.
In a show as irreverent and random as Rick and Morty, it’s sometimes hard to pin down what information to take seriously and what to just chalk up as zany plot-filler. Similarly, in keeping with the show’s underlying theme of nihilism, which holds that nothing really matters anyway, character backstories tend to be presented piecemeal, if at all. While this makes for greater layering, it can also be frustratingly secretive. And no one is more enigmatic than the co-eponymous Rick C-137, aka Rick Sanchez.
His early life is a mystery; however it seems safe to say that he had a complicated relationship with his father . . . Although we’ve been given glimpses into his origins as a dimension-hopping super-scientist, those glimpses are not particularly trustworthy. In “The Rickshank Rickdemption”, a memory seems to reveal that Rick was once a devoted husband and father, who gave up on inventing interdimensional travel to avoid becoming lonely and selfish. In response, another Rick killed his wife Diane and daughter Beth - setting him back to the path to new dimensions. However, this turns out to be a fabrication, devised to escape a Galactic Federation Prison . . . Or WAS it all a fabrication? Could some of it have been true? The truth is, we don’t really know for sure.
What we do know is that at some point, Rick was married, and had a daughter, Beth. In the “fabricated” memory, his wife’s name was Diane. For all intents and purposes, and despite his emotional distance, it seems like Rick tried to be a good father, developing toys for his borderline sociopathic daughter, and even creating a pocket-universe called Froopyland where she could play safely without harming herself or others.
As for his marriage, whether it was happy or not remains unclear, as are his reasons for eventually leaving Beth. The act of abandonment left her with some pretty crippling issues, and may have contributed to her attachment to Jerry. The big question is: what was Rick doing while he was gone? The description on the show’s Facebook page states that he was gone for “nearly 20 years”. But photos and brain-scans of Rick with a baby Morty suggest that the figure was closer to Morty’s total age, 14. Then again, fans have also suggested this is a Morty from another dimension.
Not much of what happened during Rick's missing years is confirmed. His beef with the Gromflomites goes far back enough that Rick and Bird Person were probably fighting the Galactic Federation before Morty was even born. According to Bird Person however, Rick's time away from his family wasn't all lecherous fun. It was a dark time for Rick and we can only hope that future episodes will expand further on this chapter in his life.
