Rick & Morty is spectacular as a sci-fi comedy, but the show’s real power lies in its ability to discard seriousness and treat everything, including deeply emotional moments, with a sense of frivolity. The titular eccentric genius refuses to be tied down to domesticity, instead preferring to scour the universe on farfetched adventures.
Morty plays along with his grandpa’s whimsical notions, which usually involve battling aliens, robots, and a number of implausible entities. Rick Sanchez has faced countless threats over the course of his long life, even if he doesn’t win all his fights.
10 Immigration Officers At An Intergalactic Port Endure The Brunt Of Rick’s Greed
In the pilot episode, Rick and Morty try to smuggle contraband, the notorious Mega Seeds, through galactic port security. Their flimsy plan collapses when they discover that the guards have new technology that can allegedly track items hidden deep inside a person’s body.
Rick immediately goes on the offensive, launching an attack on the federation officers before they can retaliate. Morty shoots the Gromflomites to stall for time until his grandpa can get them back home safely.
9 Zigerions Looking For Concentrated Dark Matter Blow Themselves Up
The plum-hued Zigerions are an alien race smart enough to create simulations within simulations, but their science falls short of synthesizing a working solution of Concentrated Dark Matter. After a series of scuffles, Prince Zebulon overhears Rick reveal the recipe to Morty.
The Zigerions gleefully permit the two humans (and their Jerry) to return home, before proceeding to annihilate themselves with whatever explosive substance Rick tricks them into making. This episode also has a post-credits “fight” sequence where Rick drunkenly attacks Morty.
8 Rick Kills Medieval Fantasy Monarch, King Jellybean
Morty demands to go on a medieval adventure and Rick grudgingly complies. The two of them accidentally murder a Giant, an act that they are nearly punished for. Rick wants to end the trip right there, but his grandson insists on taking their experience to the next level.
Unfortunately, a greenish-grey fiend called Jellybean assaults Morty in the tavern bathroom, leaving the latter traumatized. Rick figures it out instantly and blasts Jellybean into a puddle of jelly for hurting Morty.
7 Rick Beats Up The Devil, Disguised As A Startup Founder
Summer’s new job with Satan bothers Rick immensely, so he retaliates with science. The de-curser machine puts Mr. Needful out of business, forcing him to attempt suicide.
It’s not clear if the Devil can actually take his own life, but Summer helps him recover from his losses and build a new online-only business. Needful promptly betrays her and kicks her to the curb, so Summer and Rick beat him up in the middle of his own tech meet.
6 Zeep Xanflorp In The Microverse Battery
Rick’s Microverse Battery stops functioning because a scientist in his artificial universe, Zeep Xanflorp, creates an identical device to extract limitless energy from another pocket dimension. Rick is furious that his concept has been stolen, although only Morty gets the irony of the situation.
Zeep and Rick, trapped in the Teenyverse, take their anger out on each other, constructing convoluted mecha to support them in battle. The scientists escape to the Microverse, where Rick gets the upper hand and smacks Zeep senseless.
5 Rick And Arthricia Eviscerate The Rich People On Planet Purge
Morty begs Rick to save Arthricia, an anthropomorphic cat alien from her planet’s purging ritual. However, she takes advantage of their generosity, seizing their Space Cruiser and all their weapons.
Rick instructs Summer to activate a “package” lying in the Smiths’ garage, which releases a probe containing weaponized armor and gives Rick and Morty an insurmountable edge over their opponents. Morty even tries to attack Arthricia, but Rick knocks him out and decides to help her take revenge on the wealthy overlords controlling her planet.
4 Rick Battles Federation Agents At Birdperson’s Wedding
Rick grumpily accepts the invitation to Birdperson’s wedding, half-upset that his best friend prefers a nice life of domestic bliss to roaming the universe with him. Tammy, Birdperson’s would-be wife, divulges her identity as an undercover operative at the reception and summons an armada of Federation ships to Bird World.
The resulting battle kills several of Rick’s allies, including Birdperson. Although distraught, Rick mounts an effective counter-attack and successfully slips out of the Federation’s grasp.
3 Rick C-137 Bankrupts The Galactic Federation And Destroys The Citadel Of Ricks
Rick allows himself to be imprisoned by authorities in exchange for his family’s safety and wellbeing, a wish that they are more than happy to grant. The Gromflomites underestimate Rick’s genius, though, which turns out to be their final mistake.
The “smartest mammal in the galaxy” effortlessly destroys the Federation Prison and the Citadel of Ricks by teleporting them into each other. Rick goes one step further: he undermines the political economy of the Galactic Federation by erasing the value of their universal currency.
2 Rick Kills Risotto Groupon Despite Melding Essences With Him
Rick takes Jerry to an immortality field resort, where they can safely indulge in fatal activities without actually dying. Unbeknownst to Rick, Jerry secretly makes a deal with Risotto Groupon, and his guerillas to help them kill Rick on the Whirly-Dirly.
The assassination plot fails, forcing Risotto to capture the two humans before they can return to Earth. Rick is temporarily discombobulated by a pre-flight synaptic dampener but gathers his bearings in time to kill Risotto.
1 Rick Fights His Toxic Self And Wins
Rick and Morty ease their tensions in a stress-release machine, which inadvertently extracts enough of their personality essences to create Toxic Rick and Toxic Morty. Both versions of Rick are equally intelligent but desire different things.
Toxic Rick wants to dominate the universe, while Healthy Rick would rather they recombine in order to avoid a worse outcome for everyone involved. Healthy Rick ultimately wins by threatening Toxic Morty with a nanobotic virus.
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