Mad Scientist: Rick Sanchez

The Mad Scientist

(Rick holding one of Morty's memories)

Over the years many different forms of mad scientists have popped up in either pop culture, in literature, etc. However a more recent addition to the group of "Mad Scientists" is a man named Rick Sanchez. He once turned himself into a pickle to get out of going to family therapy. Another instance of Rick's limitless intelligence, one that is more dark in nature, is when he takes the memories of past adventures that did not end well from his grandson Morty's mind and puts those experiences into vials which he calls Morty's Mind Blowers. This means that Rick, for better or for worse, is able to take away a person's memories which can be interpreted as very unethical. Rick embodies a mad scientist almost perfectly with his appearance, his creations, and his moral viewpoints.

Rick Sanchez is an older gentleman who is a heavy drinker and throughout most of the show is drunk, or at the very least under the some manner of influence for a fair part of the show. He is always wearing a white lab coat that is unbuttoned with a light blue shirt and brown pants. He is also constantly drooling and belching while he talks which makes everyone wonder if he is so intelligent then why does he do half the things he does, weather it be turning into a pickle, stealing the memories of his grandson, or even dooming an entire universe and simply hopping over the to another one instead of fixing his mess.

(Rick using his portal gun)

The biggest achievement that Rick Sanchez achieved, and could be argued was his downfall, was his interdenominational portal gun. this allows rick to travel between universes to any conceivable reality, which means he can both do, and go, anywhere he wishes. With this tool at his disposal, Rick then takes on a nihilistic approach to life and doesn't care about anyone since he has come to the ultimate conclusion of "Nothing Matters". Which is a big factor in how he treats and interacts with others, simply put, Rick does not care about anything, even his own family's well being. Wherever Rick goes he is the smartest person there and he constantly puts down any notion of anything good, evil, right, or wrong and that it simply doesn't matter. Another uneasy aspect about Rick is that he doesn't care even if his own family's well being, this can be seen in the 9th episode of season 3 when he offers to make his daughter Beth a perfect clone of herself to take her place with the family while she could take off and leave her family behind to pursue her own life, and not thinking about how it could affect his grandchildren Morty and Summer.

When it concerns Rick's morality, it is easy to simply assume that he doesn't have it. Everything that rick does is calculated and within his control. He doesn't believe in any higher power or existence and that the only thing that matters is the here and now. When concerning how much of a mad scientist Rick is, all we need to look at is his portal gun, because of this device, Rick was, and is, capable of going and doing anything he can imagine, like turning himself into a pickle. This basically means that anything is possible and that nothing anyone does means anything and Rick knows this, which is why he uses a phrase called "wubalubadubdub" with enthusiasm as his catchphrase which later in the show is discovered to mean "I am in great pain, someone please help me". In a way he still wants to be like everyone else, but because of his vast intelligence he knows that it is pointless to feel any kind of emotion, since he can go wherever, do whatever, and experience whatever he wants, but deep down he is suffering from the hard fact of life he knows all too well, that it simply doesn't matter.

Rick Attempting Suicide