List of characters in the Rick and Morty franchise
"Rick and Morty" is an American adult animated multimedia franchise originating with the Adult Swim television series of the same name created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, which premiered in 2013. The television series revolves around Rick Sanchez, an eccentric, alcoholic scientist who takes his grandson Morty Smith on dangerous, outlandish adventures throughout the cosmos and alternate universe. The franchise also includes the spin-off series "Vindicators 2", the , and several comic book series published by Oni Press. The following is a list of characters from the "Rick and Morty" franchise. ;templatestyles src="Template:TOC limit/styles.css" / ;
Overview.
Recurring characters.
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Main characters.
Rick Sanchez.
Richard D. "Rick" Sanchez (voiced by Justin Roiland in season 1–6, Ian Cardoni in season 7–present), is a sociopathic, nihilistic, grouchy, immature, crude, rude, narcissistic, self-centered, alcoholic mad scientist who is the widowed father of Beth Smith and the maternal grandfather of Morty and Summer. He is 70 years old as of season 3. The main premise of the show revolves around Rick's high-concept science-fiction misadventures with Morty (often against his will). His sociopathic tendencies coupled with immense intelligence lead his daughter's family to worry about the safety of their son. An extremely intellectual character – frequently referred to by himself and others as the Smartest Man in the Universe – that views his time as valuable, he disparages many ordinary human conventions such as school, marriage, and love, though he displays genuine affection towards his grandchildren and daughter throughout the series. His reaction to the mundane requests asked of him by Morty and other family members suggests he considers himself wholly superior to them, though in several instances throughout the series he shows a lonelier side. He frequently 'burp-talks' words in the middle of a sentence while speaking, presumably as a result of his alcoholism. He is identified as Rick Sanchez of Earth Dimension C-137, or Rick C-137. In "The Wedding Squanchers", Rick, alongside Squanchy and Birdperson, were revealed to be freedom fighters against the Galactic Federation who labeled them terrorists with warrants for their arrest. In order to guarantee the safety of his family, Rick leaves a tip on where he can be found as he surrenders to the Galactic Federation and is incarcerated in one of their prisons. In "The Rickshank Rickdemption" it is revealed that Rick actually turned himself in, in a scheme to destroy the Federation's economy; when the Council of Ricks interferes, Rick also takes the opportunity to take down the Council of Ricks. Rick also orchestrated "sending" Jerry away for his earlier attempt to convince the family to turn him into Federation custody and making Rick "the de-facto patriarch of the household". However, Rick's attempt at driving Jerry away was unsuccessful, resulting in a diminished role in the family. The character was inspired by Emmett Brown from "Back to the Future" and Marvel's Reed Richards.
Morty Smith.
Mortimer Chauncey "Morty" Smith (voiced by Justin Roiland in season 1–6, Harry Belden in season 7–present) is Rick's neurotic 14-year-old grandson who is frequently dragged into Rick's misadventures. Morty is good-natured but he is easily distressed. He is often reluctant to follow Rick's plans, and he often ends up traumatized by the unorthodox and morally questionable methods Rick uses to 'fix' situations. The main Morty the episodes follow is referred to as the "Mortiest Morty" by Rick due to his courage, which nearly every other Morty lacks due to their main use being makeshift cloaking devices, in which "Morty waves" cancel out a Rick's "genius waves" (a concept Morty takes offense to), and is later revealed to be designated "Morty Prime" in the commentary for "Solaricks". In "The Rickshank Rickdemption", Morty is angry at Rick for abandoning them and convinces Summer not to do so and even comes close to killing Rick when it appears that he is threatening Summer's life, though in the end, after Rick returns home, Morty is glad to have his grandfather back. However, in "The Rickchurian Mortydate", Morty refuses to be at Rick's side when he decides to leave and stays with his parents and Summer. In "Raising Gazorpazorp", he accidentally impregnates an alien breeding robot, which gives birth to his half-alien son, Mortimer Smith Jr.; another son of Morty's, Naruto, is later born in "Rickdependence Spray". Throughout the series, several characters mention that Morty has a learning disability, and he often displays low self-esteem. Despite this, he's shown to be intelligent and resourceful at times, and as the series progresses, he learns how to use many of Rick's devices and even manipulates Rick into taking Jerry on an adventure. By the end of season three he displays an uncanny degree of common sense as well as a deep understanding of Rick's twisted mind, as seen in "". The character was loosely inspired by Marty McFly from "Back to the Future".
Jerry Smith.
Gerald "Jerry" Smith (voiced by Chris Parnell) is Summer and Morty's insecure 34-year-old father, Beth's husband, and Rick's son-in-law, who strongly disapproves of Rick's influence over his family. Jerry used to work at a low-level advertising agency until he was fired for incompetence. Generally insecure, he is frequently led into conflicts stemming from opportunistic posturing, while his marriage is sometimes jeopardized by his wife's reactions to his poor relationship with Rick. Beth views Jerry as meek under his boasts, ultimately fearful of confrontation. However, it is strongly suggested that in spite of their problems, they are emotionally codependent. The episode "Mortynight Run" reveals that one of the Ricks, keenly aware that every Jerry is incapable of surviving off of Earth, created a daycare where every Jerry is dropped off by their Rick and Morty during adventures should he attempt to accompany them; in "Solaricks", it is revealed that Jerry was switched in the Jerryboree, with the main character Jerry of the series having been introduced in "Mortynight Run". It is revealed in the same episode that in some dimensions, Beth has left Jerry and remarried. By the end of "The Wedding Squanchers", having attempted to talk his family into selling Rick out, Jerry becomes the only member of the family to benefit from the Earth joining the Galactic Federation. After the federation collapses, Jerry puts his foot down and tells Beth it is him or Rick, but Beth chooses her father and tells Rick that she and Jerry are getting a divorce. Rick later claims to Morty in a rant that he planned this because Jerry had planned to betray him. As Jerry leaves, Summer ignores him and Rick waits for him to leave. Summer comes to terms with the separation and reconciles with him. In "The Rickchurian Mortydate", Jerry and Beth reconnect and she calls off the divorce, and they later establish a throuple with Beth's clone, Space Beth.
Beth Smith.
Beth Smith (née Sanchez) (voiced by Sarah Chalke) is Rick's daughter, Summer and Morty's mother, and Jerry's wife. She is a veterinarian who specializes in horse surgery, a job she internally feels to be beneath her and is often defensive when her career is compared to human medicine. Several episodes have dealt with Beth's deep dissatisfaction with her life, stemming from her belief that she has "settled" in her marriage, family, and job. She wanted to become a "real" surgeon but became pregnant with Summer at 17. She is an assertive force in her household, while also displaying traits of selfishness, humor, and intelligence. She, from childhood, views Rick more favorably than her mother due to the parental separation. Harmon expanded upon this origin in an interview: "Kids can sometimes idolize their worst parent and blame their supportive parent for chasing off the dad with the guts to leave. ... She believes that Rick, as crazy as he is, is the better of her two parents even though she was raised by her mother and she blames her mother's unremarkability on her father's departure and will do anything to keep her father back in her life." In "The Rickshank Rickdemption", Beth is heartbroken that Rick abandoned her again and is unhappy with the federation's new conditions as the medicine they provide makes horses healthier than ever, which affects her job. She is glad when Rick comes back home again, but Jerry, sick of Rick, forces her to choose between Rick and himself. Beth chooses Rick over Jerry, leading to their implied divorce. In "The ABC's of Beth", it is revealed that Beth shares the same sociopathic tendencies as her father. Rick offers to make Beth a clone of herself to tend to her family while she can explore the multiverse. In "The Rickchurian Mortydate", she begins to believe that she herself is the clone and goes to Jerry for help. Beth realizes that she loves Jerry and calls off the divorce, renewing her bond with her family and no longer insecure about Rick abandoning her again.
Summer Smith.
Summer Smith (voiced by Spencer Grammer) is Morty's 17-year-old older sister, a more conventional and often superficial teenager, who is obsessed with improving her status among her peers. Summer is generally similar to her mother, and she is often shown to be very smart and humorous, but she has also shown elements of Jerry's approval-seeking. She occasionally expresses jealousy that Morty gets to accompany Rick on his inter-dimensional adventures. In the second season, she accompanies Rick and Morty on adventures more frequently and sometimes will even prove herself to be more competent than Morty, especially when emotional nuance is required. Summer has, on occasion, been shown to think similarly to Rick, such as quickly figuring out a way to save herself and Rick from execution and correctly deducing that dead flies in Rick's garage were more than they appeared. Summer cares about Rick and sees him as a hero, though he is often contemptuous and dismissive of her teenaged life perspective and values. In "The Rickshank Rickdemption", she is the only member of the family who wants to rescue Rick, despite the pleas of her brother that Rick is nothing more than a selfish jerk. When their parents agree on a divorce, Summer begins resenting her father and starts showing her dark side until she reconciles with him.
Prime Smith family.
The Prime Smith family, consisting of Jerry, Beth, and Summer (voiced by Parnell, Chalke, and Grammer), were the main characters when "Rick and Morty" began, and as such were identical to the "current" Smith family. In "Rick Potion #9", they are left behind as Rick C-137 takes Morty to a new dimension to live after he irreparably turns everyone besides them into body horror mutants referred to as "Cronenbergs". By the time Morty Prime and the Summer return to his original dimension in the season 3 premiere, "The Rickshank Rickdemption", the sanity of the original Smiths seems to have eroded, as they attempt to kill Summer and hold Morty captive because of their association with Rick. On thawing out, having regained a semblance of sanity in the comic arc "Look Who's Cronenberging Now", Summer Prime sacrifices herself to stop the plans of an invading Coalition of Ricks. In the season 5 finale, Beth Prime is briefly seen in a Rick's 'crybaby backstory' as he crashes into their garage in his ship; in the season 6 premiere, "Solaricks", it is revealed that Beth Prime has also since died, leaving Jerry (now dubbed Apocalypse Jerry) alone. Having regained his humanity, Jerry spent his days reading and scavenging, rejecting Morty on his brief return and berating him for "leaving us to freeze", their residual injuries from having been frozen having been what led to Summer's sacrifice play (attributed to not having "thawed right") and Beth's death, until being killed by Rick Prime: the original Rick of the reality, with Rick C-137 having initially elected to live with the Prime Smith family and surrounding timelines out of a wish to track down Prime and kill him for having killed C-137's Diane and Beth (the latter as a child).
Secondary characters.
Alternate-universe versions of the main characters.
Different versions of the main characters inhabit other realities and dimensions. Other Ricks are mostly similar to the "main" Rick, though some have unique features which set them apart. Most other Mortys seen in the show are far more timid and weak-willed than the main Morty, an exception being Evil Morty.
Characters seen on inter-dimensional cable.
The