Rick

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Rick (瑞克)
Alias(es)	Grandpa; P850 Rick Sanchez (an assumed identity) 2 596
Species/Race	Human, extensively augmented with Rick-style technology 318
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Smith family; Mirror City
Occupation/Role	Inventor, interdimensional adventurer, strategist
Status	Alive 618
First Appearance	Chapter 2: I've Got My Eye on You

Background

Rick returns to the Smith family after twenty years and recruits Morty for interdimensional adventures, immediately taking him through a Portal Gun into an upside-down city. His recruitment is driven by both his appetite for adventure and a desire for family connection 2.

During the Citadel conflict, Rick is apparently dead while his corpse remains at home, yet continues acting in a soul-like state. He erases the Citadel Strike Team's memories and replaces a rebellious AI core with a backup 63. He later admits that Mirror City was built largely on a whim, though he also acknowledges that its design copied Dimension 167's prototype 100 102.

Rick's experiments with the Bad Status Removal Machine lead him to identify it as a technology similar to the Reality Instrument. After restoring his intelligence, he intends to install it on Mirror City and use the resulting network to reshape the world 196 201. His plans repeatedly involve time reversal, the Shadow Group, the Central Finite Curve, and attempts to alter or preserve the people closest to him, especially Beth and Morty 305 611 612.

His identity as “P850 Rick Sanchez” is eventually exposed as fabricated: records show that the original P850 Rick was a different man who favored denim shirts and worked with nuclear energy 596. Rick later tells Morty that their world exists within a book and directs him toward Book City 618.

Appearance

Rick is an elderly man most often seen in a white, knee-length lab coat. He commonly carries liquor and uses cigarettes, although his body conceals extensive technological modifications and weapons 41 80 318.

• White lab coat
• Elderly appearance
• Frequently carries a flask or bottle of liquor
• Conceals gadgets and weapons within his clothing
• Uses nanobots and mechanical augmentations in combat 149 474

Personality

Rick is intensely intelligent, controlling, and suspicious. He prefers elaborate preparation, layered contingencies, and manipulation over direct confrontation; even his combat philosophy treats stalling, deception, and verbal pressure as legitimate weapons 205 338.

He is also reckless and emotionally volatile. He can dismiss others' safety when pursuing a goal—using Morty as bait in Hermussel, for example—yet becomes visibly protective when Morty faces genuine danger 176 277. His relationship with Morty is defined by this contradiction: Rick trains him toward independence, but repeatedly withholds information and tries to control the outcome.

Despite his cynicism, Rick retains attachments he cannot easily dismiss. He keeps photographs of Diane and infant Beth, considers reversing time to restore Beth, and experiences guilt after betraying Fatty Boss 150 305 545.

Abilities & Skills

Scientific Genius

Rick can reverse-engineer unfamiliar devices, build or modify advanced weapons, and turn crude materials into high-level technology.

• Dismantles and reconstructs the Bad Status Removal Machine's mechanism mentally, identifying its similarity to the Reality Instrument 196.
• Maintains a secret armory containing weapons from numerous eras and dimensions 149.
• Built Mirror City and can transform it into a giant electromagnetic cannon 209.
• Admits that his strength lies more in modification and adaptation than in creating wholly original technology 411.

Portal and Spacetime Technology

Rick routinely travels between universes with a handheld Portal Gun and possesses technology capable of manipulating time and spatial movement.

• Opens stable, man-sized portals almost instantly 2.
• Uses Spatial Deceleration Technology and time reversal as parts of traps against other Ricks 48 49 55.
• Operates a time-reversal device within Mirror City 295 305.
• Must account for anti-Portal Gun countermeasures and higher-dimensional Braised Lion Heads that oppose drastic timeline changes 49 305.

Tactical Combat

Rick avoids straightforward fights when possible, instead forcing opponents into traps, decoys, and unfavorable decisions.

• Activates Mirror City's defenses and uses layered dummy tactics to delay and outmaneuver Dimension 167 over three days 205.
• Defeats Tzeentch, Khorne, and Nurgle within ten minutes while protecting Morty 208.
• Uses sniper weapons, energy shields, crystal-tipped tools, and battlefield deception 205 208.
• Integrates nanobots into his body to form armor, thrusters, and hand cannons 474.

Intelligence Locks

Rick can suppress or restore portions of his own intelligence through “Intelligence Locks.”

• Re-unlocks his intelligence with serum, regaining memories and recognizing the implications of his earlier actions 196.
• Fully unlocking the system exhausts him severely enough that he retreats to recover afterward 447.
• His true number of Intelligence Locks is unclear; C-137 suggests Rick has concealed a final lock beyond the four he publicly acknowledges 591.

Equipment

• Portal Gun — handheld interdimensional transport device 2.
• Mirror City — mechanical city, defensive fortress, surveillance platform, and electromagnetic cannon 102 209.
• Antimatter Annihilation Cannon — high-output energy weapon used against major threats 131 276.
• Secret armory — portal-accessible stockpile of conventional and exotic weapons 149.
• Memory Extractor — used to remove the Citadel Strike Team's memories 63.
• Nanobots — form armor, weapons, and mobility systems around or within his body 474.
• Cthulhu World Emergency Kit — specialized equipment prepared for confronting Azathoth-related threats 467.

Relationships

• Morty Smith — Grandson, adventure partner, student, and frequent target of Rick's manipulation. Rick pushes Morty toward independence but repeatedly conceals plans from him or uses him as bait 2 176 209.
• Beth Smith — Daughter. Rick keeps photographs of her as a newborn and considers using time reversal to bring her back to life 150 305.
• Diane — Rick's wife. His memories of Diane remain emotionally significant, and their reunion after time reversal reveals his lingering affection 150 303.
• Summer Smith — Granddaughter and strategic pupil. Rick teaches her the principles of battles of wits and includes her in operations against Suit Rick 417 418.
• Jerry Smith — Son-in-law and recurring source of frustration. Rick considers Jerry dangerously capable of causing disasters, but also exploits his unusual bad luck and disruptive potential 356 394.
• Dimension C-137 — Rival, occasional ally, and benchmark for Rick's own power. Their relationship is built on mutual hostility, competition, and temporary cooperation against larger threats 173 308.
• Dimension 167 — Former adversary whose technologies and methods influence Rick's own work. Their conflict becomes a reluctant strategic discussion after Morty's intervention 102 205 208.
• Fatty Boss — A valued friend connected to Rick's love of liquor. Rick's betrayal of him causes lasting guilt and depression 545 549.

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Morty's recruitment — Returns to the Smith household and begins taking Morty across bizarre universes 2.
• Citadel Strike Team trap — Leaves a Portal Gun coordinate that lures a Strike Team and Morty into a universe-wide Spatial Deceleration trap designed to give Morty an advantage over Ricks 48 49.
• Mirror City and the Shadow Group — Builds and develops Mirror City while pursuing the Shadow Group and preparing for conflict with Dimension C-137 100 102 205.
• Bad Status Removal incident — Acquires the fishman's machine through murder, restores his intelligence, and seeks to connect the technology to Mirror City 192 196.
• Hermussel operation — Manipulates Morty into acting as bait while pursuing objectives in the Galactic Empire 176.
• Suit Rick conflict — Works to recover Morty from Suit Rick's reality-show operation and wages a multiversal campaign against Suit Rick's Syndicate 396 410 418.
• Cthulhu World crisis — Attempts to restrain Morty after his suppressed abilities erupt and Morty tries to merge with Azathoth through unstable dark matter 474 475 476.
• Citadel and time crimes — Navigates the Citadel's political turmoil, hidden identity records, and arrest by the Braised Lion Heads for timeline manipulation 596 611 612.
• Book City revelation — Explains to Morty that their reality is part of a book and begins pursuing what lies beyond it 618.

Notable Quotes

“Verbal tactics are also a branch of combat.” 205

“If anyone asks about this later, make sure you say it was my idea.” 338