Adult Swim’s hit sci-fi cartoon Rick and Morty is currently in its sixth season, and the show is stronger than ever with a bigger universe, a bigger ensemble, and even more experimental storytelling. From Rick and Morty themselves to Summer, Beth, and Jerry to fan-favorite supporting players like Squanchy and Birdperson, the first season introduced plenty of lovable characters.
But some of Rick and Morty’s best characters, from Space Beth to Mr. Nimbus to the talking cat voiced by Matthew Broderick, didn’t join the show until later seasons.
10/10 Mr. Poopybutthole
One of the Smiths’ closest loved ones, Mr. Poopybutthole, was introduced in season 2’s “Total Rickall.” The episode offers a unique take on a clip show in which all the flashbacks are memories implanted by a parasitic alien. When the last of the parasites have been wiped out and everybody sits down to dinner, Beth becomes suspicious of Mr. Poopybutthole and shoots him.
But, as it turns out, he’s all too real and instead of turning back into an alien, he bleeds out all over the floor. Mr. Poopybutthole has occasionally reappeared in the years since, usually to break the fourth wall and tease future events for the series.
9/10 The President
Rick shares a love-hate relationship with the President of the United States in the Rick and Morty universe. Voiced by Keith David, the President was introduced in season 2’s “Get Schwifty” when he asked Rick to write a song for an intergalactic version of Eurovision.
Summer believes that Rick’s rivalry with the President is just a cover for simmering sexual tension and constantly tells them to “just f*** and get it over with.”
8/10 Dr. Wong
The Smiths finally faced their glaring issues in season 3’s “Pickle Rick” when they hired family therapist Dr. Wong to interrogate their interpersonal difficulties. Played by screen legend Susan Sarandon, Dr. Wong is a great tool for the writers to point out the family’s dysfunctions head-on.
Dr. Wong uses blunt language to describe the family’s deep-rooted issues, delivered in a brilliantly deadpan style.
7/10 Talking Cat
Matthew Broderick guest-starred as a mysterious talking cat in season 4’s “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty.” The unnamed cat is even more compelling than the dragon featured in the same episode. He seems to just be an ordinary gray tabby who happens to be able to speak. Jerry finds the cat in his bedroom and goes on some mild escapades with it before using one of Rick’s gadgets to see the cat’s memories.
The audience doesn’t get to see what Rick and Jerry see, but maybe that’s for the best because they desperately want to unsee it and can’t. Maybe the cat is a Morty, maybe it’s a cosmic being that has committed unspeakable atrocities, or maybe the whole character was conceived as a message from the writers telling their audience not to overthink everything.
6/10 Planetina
In season 5’s “A Rickconvenient Mort,” Alison Brie played a parody of Captain Planet named Planetina. Powered on the four elements – fire, water, dirt, and air – Planetina is brought to life by her Tina-Teers’ magical rings. The Tina-Teers teamed up in the 1990s when they were all young adults; now, they’re all middle-aged and bitter.
Throughout the episode, Morty falls for Planetina but finds that the Tina-Teers aren’t ready to share their elemental superheroine with another kid.
5/10 Krombopulos Michael
Introduced in season 2’s “Mortynight Run,” Krombopulos Michael is an alien assassin voiced by Andy Daly who buys his deadly weapons from Rick. Krombopulos Michael is surprisingly friendly for a contract killer.
Daly’s warm, non-threatening performance creates a hilarious juxtaposition with the role of a ruthless monster who kills for a living.
4/10 Jaguar
The most memorable character introduced in season 3’s “Pickle Rick” is, of course, the pickle version of Rick. But his sidekick Jaguar, played by guest star Danny Trejo, is a close second. Jaguar is a merciless freedom fighter who accepts the job of assassinating Pickle Rick in exchange for his daughter’s freedom.
But Rick manages to talk Jaguar into joining forces with him. Considering he’s just a one-off character, Jaguar has a surprising amount of depth.
3/10 Mr. Nimbus
Season 5’s “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” introduced fans to Rick’s long-time arch-nemesis, Mr. Nimbus. The character is a satirical portrait of Marvel Comics’ Namor. He’s not a diabolical maniac like Rick Prime or Evil Morty; he’s just annoying.
Voiced by series co-creator Dan Harmon, Mr. Nimbus is the King of Atlantis who also inexplicably controls the police.
2/10 Chans
Season 6’s “Rick: A Mort Well Lived” offered up the most self-aware Die Hard spoof of all time. When Blips and Chitz is invaded by a band of terrorists led by Peter Dinklage as “Chans,” an extraterrestrial version of Hans Gruber, Rick tells Summer to “do a Die Hard.”
Chans and his cohorts prey upon the fact that every terrestrial lifeform has their own version of the Die Hard myth, while Summer outsmarts them by using the fact she’s never seen the movie to her advantage.
1/10 Space Beth
Introduced in season 3’s “The ABC’s of Beth,” Space Beth is a clone of Beth who goes on awesome space adventures. Rick initially kept the badass space warrior clone version of Beth at arm’s length, both emotionally and physically, but she’s since become an integral member of the family who comes along for their adventures.
The writers have had plenty of fun coming up with clone storylines. In the season 6 episode “Bethic Twinstinct,” Beth and her clone fell for each other and started an affair.
