Rick is known as one of the most ruthless and unpredictable characters in adult animation. We’ve
already discussed the darkest moments of Rick and Morty and covered which characters are the most
Good to Evil... But today it’s time to talk about why Rick is one of the most quoted characters in
animation. What moments did Rick have that made him such a great character?
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge and these are Rick Sanchez’s Best Deeds.
For this list we’ll be discussing the times Rick came out as either especially caring,
bada** or both. Of course, we’ll be counting down to what we consider the best at the end,
#5 Taking Out the Zigerion
Rick has taken on a number of enemies, but the Zigerion stood out as persistent and annoying.
These particular enemies were led by Prince Nebulon,
who was determined to get the recipe for concentrated dark matter from Rick.
Now this episode revealed an awesome side of Rick for a few reasons.
1- We get to see how ahead of the game Rick really is,
able to catch on before anyone else that the world around them is nothing
but a simulation. He was literally dissecting squirrels to see how flawed their makeup was.
This is great because we see how Rick is able to analyze and how sought after his intelligence is.
It helps raise the stakes for how Rick is seen by not only other Ricks but alien races in general.
2- His response when he “falls” for a deeper simulation. He gives the order to Morty to
create concentrated dark matter only for the runaway to be a fabrication. While Rick
does later express that he knew it was fake, this interaction is an important one
to point out. It is established earlier in the episode that the Zigerion can’t stand nudity,
and Rick established that the Morty shown was real because he was able to become nude.
While Rick clearly called being stuck in a deeper simulation, he showed actual shock and disgust
as the Morty being revealed as fake. It’s one of the rare moments we see just how protective
Rick is of Morty, lunging at Prince Nebulon as he shouts at them for spying on his grandson naked.
And Lastly- Seeing Rick defeat the enemy by leaving them with a bogus recipe,
having them get blown to bits by their own actions. We’re used to seeing Rick
come out on top, but that conclusion after all the stress was incredibly satisfying.
#4 Pickle Rick
We get that family therapy isn’t the most fun activity in the world,
but turning yourself into a pickle just to avoid it? That’s a bit extreme, to say the least.
Having his safety net taken away by Beth, Rick was forced to make due with his new situation.
He couldn’t have predicted being knocked off the table and almost overheated before finding his
way to the sewers, but he made it work. Going from being a helpless pickle to hunting down
enough rats to not only survive but be able to get back home in a rather badass fashion,
taking down a few people in the process and liberating a renegade.
But it’s not just Rick’s destruction of a bunch of rats that makes this adventure memorable.
Once Rick finds Beth to get his serum back, he ends up in the very office he
had been trying to avoid and expresses why he has such a distaste for therapy,
which became one of the most quoted Rick rants in the series.
#3 Taking on Toxic Rick We’ve discussed the face-off
between Toxic Rick and Healthy Rick in a previous video, but we feel it’s worth
bringing up again since it was a notable confrontation that Rick came out on top of.
This episode gave us a lot of reasons to adore Rick. Between the intense fight with scifi
tech and seeing a stand off between two capable Ricks, this episode was fun from start to finish.
Well...maybe not the official start. Seeing our favorite scifi duo break into tears was stressful.
But what followed was yet another awesome moment for Rick, able to force his Toxic self
to refuse with his Healthy half. The episode showed a vulnerable side to Rick,
showing his more moral and caring side as well as expressing that
he saw his affection for Morty as a weakness. All and all, it’s another brief moment where
we get a real glimpse into the nicer side of our favorite insane scientist.
#2 Killing Mr Jellybean
We mentioned this once in our darkest Rick and Morty moments list, but we can’t leave
it out of this ranking. This was one of the earliest moments Rick has where we
see him show how much he cares for Morty’s safety and happiness.
So while the scene is one of the most traumatic in the series- even quite possibly one of the
most traumatic in all of animated history- what follows is one of Rick’s most redeemable scenes.
First off, Rick made it clear he didn’t want to go on this adventure to start with. He
found it boring and predictable, and complained the entire time
that Morty didn’t know what he was doing and that the teen should admit defeat and let Rick control
everything. But if Morty gets his stubborn nature from anywhere, it’s from his Grandpa Rick.
When the scientist does eventually let loose and plays cards with some of the others
in the tavern they visit, he ends up not hearing Morty crying out to him for help. After Morty
re-emerges from the bathroom, begging to go home and refusing to say what made him change his mind,
Rick is seen spotting a beaten up Mr Jellybean and quickly pieces together what happened.
Rather than pressuring his grandson to talk, he decides to help Morty finish his
quest by giving up his winnings from the game, saying they can offer it to the townspeople.
This is already pretty out of character for Rick, as most of the time he insists that he sees Morty
as nothing but a pest. It’s not often we see him just goof around with Morty or just be supportive.
In this scene, he makes an extra effort to keep Morty happy and in high spirits,
telling his grandson he did something good and that the adventure was worth their time.
But the cherry on top? Rick and Morty both recognizing that the town's king is in fact
the same Jellybean that attacked Morty. When Morty quickly demands they leave,
Rick doesn’t argue and just gets out the portal gun for them to make a quick getaway. But he
makes a point to destroy the thing that hurt his grandson before disappearing for good.
While Rick can be harsh, this was an act that put him in high standing for a lot of viewers.
#1 Taking Out the Citadel
A legendary moment, Rick showing up disguised as a Council Member and revealing his intentions
after putting the Citadel in Federation space was a fun thing to watch. It became one of
the most notable moments in the series for good reason. It has disguises, explosions,
Rick using his superior intellect and some good family bonding with his grandkids.
Taking down one form of government is impressive enough. Taking down two at
once? Even more so. And saving Morty and Summer in the process-though they had believed his
bluff about not caring for their safety-was a nice touch to an already tense situation.
First off, we would expect nothing less than the method Rick used, disguising himself
as one of the Citadel members so he could get everyone scared by someone they thought they
trusted before showing who he really was. We then see Rick get the satisfaction of taking him time
taking out the Citadel members one by one as they attempt to flee and plead for mercy.
His stand off with the last member was the ultimate bluff,
making it a very appreciated moment in the series. Truly no one can bluff like Rick can,
making the other believe that Rick didn’t care about Summer being killed in the conflict.
And the fact that he had the backup plan to have Morty shoot him if there was a standoff
made it all the more impressive. Now we don’t have time to discuss Morty not actually seeing
his note in this list. We’ll likely tackle that one in a future video.
But what do you think is Rick’s best moment? Is there any deed of his that is worth mentioning?
While you’re at it, check out our Good to Evil video on Rick and Morty, where we break down
the morality of the characters. And as always, Stay Wicked!