Liam Hoofe takes a look at Rick and Morty’s most enigmatic character, Evil Morty…
Evil Morty is a big Rick and Morty fan favourite and easily the show’s most enigmatic character. The eye patch wearing, super intelligent Morty has been a source of discussion for fans ever since he made his debut in Season One, and while we still don’t know an awful lot about the character, what we can safely assume is that he has a pretty twisted past, and that he has some pretty sinister intentions.
Let’s take a look at what we know, and some of the more interesting theories that exist surrounding the character.
Warning: This Post Contains Spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 3
History in the show
Evil Morty made his first appearance in the season one episode, ‘Close Rick-counters of the Rick-Kind’ as a sidekick for what we perceived to be an evil Rick, trying to incriminate our Rick, Rick C-137 for multiple homicides. As it turned out, Evil Rick was actually just a robot being operated by his Morty and that Evil Morty was perhaps the most intelligent and evil of all the Mortys.
At the end of the episode, Evil Morty managed to get away without being detected, merging into a crowd of other Mortys, and living to fight another day.
That was all we saw of Evil Morty until the season 3 episode ‘The Ricklantis Mix-Up’ which aired this week [read my review here]. In the episode, we were gifted a look into life in the newly reformed Citadel, where a historic moment was about to happen – a Morty was about to be crowned President of the Citadel. Of course, the end of the episode revealed that President Morty was in fact Evil Morty, and the fact that he now has control over the Citadel (having killed all the influential Ricks) has some serious ramifications for the rest of the season.
What’s his story?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Evil Morty is the one surrounding his background. Every Morty has a Rick they answer to, but Evil Morty seems to be a different beast altogether. He is evidently smarter than all the other Mortys, and by the look of things, also a lot of the Ricks as well. Perhaps, in fact, Rick C-137 might be the only Rick intelligent enough to defeat him.
The biggest, and most popular fan theory on the web is that Evil Morty is in fact Rick C-137’s original Morty and that theory holds a lot of weight. Firstly, in his season one appearance, Evil Morty’s main motive appears to be taking down Rick C-137, though interestingly, when he has the chance to just kill him – he doesn’t do so.
Perhaps his motive is not to kill Rick, but rather to destroy him. He wants to set him up, and he wants to turn our Morty against him but why go to such effort? The implication of this would be that the scars run pretty deep here and that perhaps, during their time together, Rick actually experimented on, and potentially tortured Evil Morty, making him the monster he is today.
This is further reinforced by the memories Evil Morty forces Rick C-137 to watch. In them we see Rick holding a baby Morty, and then Rick electrocuting a Morty, and it’s safe to assume, considering Rick didn’t meet our Morty until he was older, that they were on his previous Morty. Rick also has a throwaway line in that episode about testing on a Morty using a jumper lead, and while he is insistent he never actually did it, his memories might suggest otherwise.
If that is the case, then this would have serious implications for the C-137 duo. If Rick has tortured a Morty in the past, what’s to stop him from doing it to our Morty? Also, it is interesting to note that Evil Morty is likely a genius due to his time spent with Rick C-137, and the show has definitely made a point of Morty’s increasing intelligence and more worryingly, his homicidal tendencies.
What’s his plan?
With Evil Morty now in charge of the Citadel, it is clear that he has a big plan in store for us, but what does it entail exactly? Given the evidence we have so far, I’m prone to believe that his plan is to turn all the Mortys on all the Ricks, creating a war between them.
The Citadel is a divided place, Ricks are disillusioned and Mortys are turning to crime. Evil Morty will have no intention of stopping this – though, he may further oppress the Mortys and give The Ricks a little bit more control. This would anger the Morty population, who slowly, through their underground network, which we saw in the most recent episode, will rise up and attempt to take down the Ricks, all with a little help from their president.
This is further reinforced by his actions in season one. During ‘Close Encounters of the Rick-Kind’ Evil Morty (operating Evil Rick) segregates all the Mortys from their Ricks, turning them almost tribal like. When they are let loose, Evil Rick (who, don’t forget is being voiced by Evil Morty) actively encourages them to kill him. Evil Morty suppresses his people and then gives them someone to blame, it’s the classic work of a dictator.
So how does Rick C-137 fit into that plan? Evil Morty’s vendetta against Rick appears to be a very personal one, and if that is the case, then he would want nothing more to have our Morty turn on Rick and kill him. It would be a devastating blow and the perfect way for him to get revenge. Is there a chance that Evil Morty has already somehow been manipulated events in the timeline to slowly turn Morty evil? Don’t rule it out.
Can he be stopped?
Whether it is in season 3, or in a later episode, Rick and Evil Morty are going to come face to face and one of them is not leaving the episode alive. With Rick being the show’s protagonist, it is highly unlikely that he is going to die so one would assume that Evil Morty will be defeated.
Who will be the one to stop him? Not Rick… Morty. Our Morty has, as I’ve already mentioned, showed increasing signs of intelligence, independent thought and violent behavior as the seasons have worn on, and chances are that will lead to him being the one to finally dethrone Evil Morty.
There will be a cost to that though, and chances are it is Morty discovering Rick’s past, changing the show’s dynamic for good. Perhaps our Morty will slowly turn evil himself, and the show will end with him being the one to kill Rick, which I guess, would mean that Evil Morty wins after all.
What are your theories on Evil Morty? Share them in the comments below, and let Liam know on Twitter @liamhoofe
