In this article, we will be discussing Rick and his depression, how depression is like in the elderly, how Rick is like and we will answer frequently asked questions about the subject. You will also see a few lines from the episodes of Rick and Morty that prove Rick has depression.

Is Rick from Rick and Morty Depressed? 

Yes, Rick is depressed. Despite Rick’s brilliance, he has a negative and meaningless view of life and the world which affects their family dynamics especially his relationship with Morty, his grandson. Rick also shows signs and symptoms of depression such as irritability and substance use. These are not the typical symptoms, however, signs of depression manifested among the elderly. 

Who is Rick?

Richard Sanchez also known as “Rick” or Rick C-137 is the main self-antagonist also and titular main protagonist of Rick and Morty. Rick is a genius scientist whose reckless, nihilistic behavior and alcoholism are a source of concern for Beth’s family (his daughter) and the safety of her son, Morty, who is usually with him with his hobbies related to science. Rick’s character is voiced by Justin Roiland.

His character was created by the one who voiced Rick himself, Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon who met during the early 2000’s.

Rick lives in the Smith’s house together with his daughter, Beth, and her family. The members of Rick’s family are:

·        Morty – Rick’s grandson, assistant, sidekick and protege

·        Summer  – His granddaughter.

·        Beth – Rick’s daughter

·        Jerry – Rick’s son-in-law with Beth

How is depression like for the elderly?

Depression in the elderly might show differently or manifest or bring about by other medical conditions. Aside from the typical signs and symptoms of depression, here are other factors affecting or causing depression among older people:  

• Combination of medicines
• Disrupted body image (from cancer surgery, amputation,  or heart attack)
• history of major depressive disorder
• Fear of death
• social isolation
• Other illnesses
• Presence of chronic or severe pain
• Previous history of depression
• Past suicide attempt or attempts
• Loss or death of a loved one due to accidents, suicide or natural death
• Substance abuse
• Drinking alcohol

Other medical conditions like dementia, hypertension, stroke, cancer, chronic pain, fibrillation and diabetes may also increase risk of depression.

They may also show:

–          Trouble sleeping

–          Grumpiness

–          Irritable

–          Confused

–          Have problems focusing

–          Feelings of hopelessness, guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness

Altho not many physical conditions are exhibited by Rick, there are evidence of substance use and irritability.  

Who created Rick?

The creators of Rick are Justin Roiland and Dan Horman. Horman expressed how he is relatable with Rick:

“When you’re standing in line at that bank sometimes, you always feel like, none of these people understand what a hurry I’m in, how much crap I have to do today, what I’m up against. We’ve all been Rick”.

If you have watched episodes of the Rick and Morty show, you have witnessed how Rick seems to be omnipotent and brilliant when it comes to science. He creates inventions that are out of this world, thinks differently compared to other members of his family in so many ways, and has the tendency to create and destroy. However, with all these powerful traits, he is still miserable.  

His misery can be seen from his frequent drinking and peculiar view of the world. His lines are witty, sarcastic yet dark.

Rick’s bold traits mask his depression because he has the tendency to be truthful in ways we sometimes can relate with him. Life is indeed a roller-coaster ride and it places us in states and dispositions we feel most joyful, and others might view us how colorful and bright our life is. Yet, at some point in our lives, we experience the lowest of low.

Ricks’s Appearance

Rick is a 70-year-old tall old man who wears a white lab coat, yellow buckle, black shoes, light blue undershirt and brown pants. He is skinny and has long arms and legs. Rick also has an ashy complexion that makes him appear as pale and has a gray-blue colored hair with a hairless spot on the back of his head and has a unibrow.

He lives in his room in the Smith’s house and uses the garage for his science works and inventions. Together with Morty and sometimes Summer, they travel through space and time, to other dimensions, build robots, and sometimes cause chaos in the different regions of the universe, be it in planets, dimensions or alternate realities.

Rick speaks in a stammering and rambling manner sometimes interrupted by gagging and belching caused by drinking alcohol. On rare occasions, he throws up. On some occasions, some green spill is seen on his mouth displaying signs of his drunkenness.

What is Rick’s personality like?

Rick is a genius scientist who is capable of traveling through space and time and other dimensions. He invents the most amazing tools and even potions and uses them either by nurturing or destroying people or planets.

His genius is muddled by the effects of drinking alcohol. He easily gets bored and does not do well with routines. He has the tendency to be hostile, unforgiving and diabolic in so many ways. He is willing to be brutal to others and even to his own family members in order to get what he wants such as causing the races in the Miniverse to disappear just to provide energy for his spaceship.

He is usually deemed as homicidal and murderous, and wherever he goes, the situations he is in puts him, Morty and sometimes his family in danger.

However, contrary to the belief of the many, Rick is not nihilistic. It can be seen in some episodes how Rick loved his family. They include them, especially Morty to his adventures. His love for Beth, his daughter was revealed in the episode of “Auto Erotic Assimilation”. Rick holds and shows a high volume to his loved ones, especially his family and cares about maintaining relationships with others.

Substance Abuse

Rick is often seen wasted, often carrying alcohol with them and drinking them in between scenes. BirdPerson, one of his friends, claims that his wacky catchphrase “wubba lubba dub dub” means “I am in great pain. Please help me.” Although, Rick’s alcohol use was initially presented as a comedic viewpoint but only revealed he is in great pain in the season 1 finale.

It was theorized that his consumption and abuse of substances such as drugs and drinking alcohol is due to the traumatizing effects of going on adventures in the past and present, his intelligence and nihilism. He explains that one of the best ways to cope and deal with the horrifying events outcomes and events is “to not think about it”. And use of drugs and alcohol is commonly known to be few ways of numbing feelings, emotions and troubles.  

Criminal Record

·        Assault: Rick did beat up a member of the Galactic Federation, slapped in the face a bystander alien causing the alien to cry

·        Bioterrorism: He created a dysfunctional love potion that spread virus around the world. He tried to fix it by making another potion but ended up leaving the affected and mutated people behind with their conditions.

·        Breaking and Entering (Burglary): Rick and Morty snuck into the house of Mr. Goldenfold while he was asleep.

·        Cable Piracy: Rick used an interdimensional cable box to stream to his own television infinite amount of TV channels even from a television in an intergalactic hospital.

·        Child Abuse: Rick often tags along with him Morty, his grandson to all his adventures sometimes against his will. Morty’s life is often endangered leaving him traumatized.

·        Corpse Mutilation: Rick ripped apart rats and cockroaches’ bodies and recreated them into a suit.

·        Driving Under Influence: In most episodes, Rick is seen drinking or under the influence of alcohol. He drives while drinking as well like in the pilot episode, where he was apparently intoxicated while flying the space cruiser with Morty

·        Felony Murder: Many people have died during the course of his adventures with Morty due to his choice of actions. Rick also influenced Morty to kill people for him like making him shoot the security guards to aid their escape in the first episode.

·        Genocide: Rick smashed the Miniverse which had two races who lives in it in order to provide power for his spaceship. This wiped off their existence.

·        Human Cloning: Rick cloned versions of himslelf in his bunker he left under the Smith’s house.

·        Illegal Arms Dealing: Rick has been selling weapons to a hitman as revealed in the episode “Mortynight Run” for a long time and possibly hired him to kill living beings.

·        Kidnapping and False Imprisonment: For a long time, Rick imprisoned an alien against his will so he can run and perform tests on him.

·        Murder: Aside from hostile aliens Rick has killed, he murdered innocent beings as well. In the episode Big Trouble In Little Sanchez, with an axe, he was running around and killed several living versions of himself at different ages, including a baby, a young child, a young adult, and a full adult.

·        Prison Escape – He escaped from a prison breakout and murdered guards, blew up the place causing other prisoners to escape. Assuming some of them survived the explosion.

·        Slavery: Rick deceived a whole planet of people and eventually induced fear on them in order to generate power for his spaceship. He found out that energy for his vehicle can be sourced from that planet.

·         Smuggling: He smuggled Mega Seed and attempted to pass through a security machine with Morty.

·        Time Manipulation:  Rick froze time for six months which caused time to become intermittent for him, Summer and Morty as a consequence of modifying time by themselves. It started splitting and dividing numerous times.

·         Vandalism/Arson: Rick doused gasoline in a store he got bored of while people were still in it in the episode “Something Ricked This Way Comes”

·         Treason/Rebellion: Prior to the start of the series, Rick was part of an organization that attempted to overthrow and destroy the Galactic Federation, Along with Rick’s old comrades Squanchy and Birdperson, he attempted to destroy the Galactic Federation prior to the start of the series.

Rick’s lines that prove he has depression

–          “No. Weddings are basically funerals with cake.”

–          “There is no god, Summer; gotta rip that band-aid off now, you’ll thank me later.”

–          “I don’t like it here Morty. I can’t abide bureaucracy. I don’t like being told where to go and what to do. I consider it a violation!…”

–          “Wubba lubba dub dub! (I’m in great pain, please help me).”

–          ” Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV.”

–          “God? God’s turning people into insect monsters, Beth. I’m the one beating them to death. Thank me.”

–          “I’m sorry, Summer. Your opinion means very little to me.”

–          “What People Call “Love” Is Just A Chemical Reaction..

–          “What, So Everyone’s Supposed To Sleep Every Single Night Now?”

–          “Existence Is Pain!”

–          “It’s Your Choice To Take This Personally.”

–          On School: “It’s Not A Place For Smart People.”

–          “I Thought The Whole Point Of Having A Dog Was To Feel Superior.”

–          “You’re growing up fast, Morty. You’re growing into a real big thorn straight up into my ass.”

FAQs: Rick and His Depression

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed Rick and his depression, how depression is like in the elderly, how Rick is like and we answered frequently asked questions about the subject. You also read a few lines from the episodes of Rick and Morty that prove Rick has depression.

If you’ve enjoyed the Rick and His Depression mentioned above, I would recommend you to take a look at BoJack depression and ProJared depression too.

References

https://culturacolectiva.com/movies/rick-morty-nihilism-quotes

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/depression-and-older-adults

https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Rick_Sanchez