The long awaited and highly anticipated season three of Rick and Morty officially premieres on Sunday to answer the burning question of whether or not Rick is able to escape from The Galactic Federation acquire more McDonald’s discontinued Mulan-themed Szechuan sauce. As we head into the third season, we can expect a whole slew of new characters, voiced by announced new and returning guest stars Thomas Middleditch, Susan Sarandon, Danny Trejo, Christian Slater, Joel McHale, Peter Serafinowicz, Gillian Jacobs, Keith David, and Tom Kenney, among others.
So what better time to take a look back at the 25 best characters from the series up until now (not including the core cast of Rick, Morty, Summer, Beth, and Jerry) before we’re yelling “Pickle Rick!” all the time.
#25. Gearhead (a.k.a his real name, “Revolio Clockberg Jr.”)
Gearhead lands squarely on the last spot on this list, just because he demonstrates that being the worst guy at the party to talk to isn’t limited to the human Earth plane of existence. Also, by betraying Rick, he forgot that the phrase “look out for number one” solely applies to Rick Sanchez and not himself.
#24. Jerryboree Employee
If you think about it, the Jerryboree employee, who runs the “Jerry daycare” where Rick and Morty leave Jerry in the episode “Mortynight Run,” actually has one of the most important jobs in the multiverse.
#23. Kyle of the Teenyverse
https://youtu.be/tKwqDJ9D-F4
Of all of the characters in the Rick and Morty universe that suffer at the hands of Rick, Kyle is one of the most tragic. Poor guy missed his own father’s funeral because he was working on his own miniature universe, and when faced with the existential crisis that was his life, promptly crashed his ship into the side of a mountain. Dammit, Kyle.
#22. Mr. Goldenfold
https://youtu.be/0_3fDHZNjYk
Mr. Goldenfold pops up frequently throughout the first and second seasons as Morty’s math teacher who has an affinity for Mrs. Pancakes, Jamba Juice, and cursed items that you don’t have to pay for with money.
#21. Prince Nebulon
https://youtu.be/u1sUU24y_wE
Because you should have some respect for the dummies of the universe. If only Prince Nebulon was as good at running simulation schemes to get the recipe for dark matter as he was about remembering to schedule a doctor’s appointment to examine the discolorations on his butthole flaps.
#20. King Jelly Bean
King Jelly Bean might be the darkest and most horrifying character in a dark and often horrifying series (“just let this happen!”), but in his death, the people would go on to get more “from the idea he represented, not the Jelly Bean he actually was.”
#19. Dr. Xenon Bloom
Voiced by the always delightful John Oliver, Dr. Xenon Bloom helped Rick create Anatomy Park inside the body of a dying homeless man but eventually sacrificed himself to be killed by the E. coli bacteria to save Morty and his friend Annie, which makes him a pretty good amoeba in our book.
#18. Water-T
In the episode “Get Schwifty,” the famous rapper and actor Ice-T is incredibly revealed to actually be an ancient alien from the dawn of time who was previously exiled from his home planet of Alphabetrium. After sacrificing himself to save the planet Earth, Ice-T returned to Alphabetrium where his exile was lifted and he was permitted to once again take his natural form of Water-T.
#17. Krombopulos Michael
Skilled assassin and Gromflomite Krombopulos Michael (voiced by Andy Daly) only very briefly appeared in the episode “Mortynight Run” before being quickly killed off, but made a very memorable impression with the line, “I’m very discreet. I have no code of ethics. I will kill anyone, anywhere. Children, animals, old people, doesn’t matter. I just love killing!”
But is he dead? Maybe not. #KMichaelKills
#16. Sleepy Gary
Honestly, you could do an entire list of the best characters just from the second season episode “Total Rickall,” in which an alien parasite feeds off the brain of Rick and the Smith family, forcing them to “remember” a host of characters including an Uncle Steve, Cousin Nicky, family butler Mr. Beauregard, Frankenstein, “Pecilvestyr,” “Photography Raptor,” a ghost in a jar, and a flying unicorn named “Tinkles,” among others. But to pick one, I’m gonna have to go with Sleepy Gary (who was planted in memories by the aforementioned Mr. Beauregard) only because he forced Jerry to question his sexuality and overall existence in general.
#15. Fart
Sure Fart, or “the fart that pooped gold” and friend to Morty, wanted to cleanse mankind, but at least it would lull everytone into complacency with its soothing melodies (voiced by Jemaine Clement) while it did so — so how bad would that have been, anyway?
#14. Abradolf Lincler
https://youtu.be/j2nXDDpuoi8
By combining the DNA of Abraham Lincoln and Adolf Hitler, Rick had attempted to create a morally neutral super leader, but instead ended up with the glass case of emotion that was Abradolf Lincler. Lincler tragically sacrificed himself to save Morty and finally earn the respect of Rick, whom he considered a father, but his actions were sadly in vain. Something tells us this isn’t the last we’ll see of Rick’s creation, however.
#13. The Devil
https://youtu.be/UtwqUO_oljI
When Mr. Lucius Needful, a.k.a., literally the Devil, opened a shop that gave away free cursed items and hired Summer as an employee, he probably wasn’t expecting her uncle to open a rival business across the street, an anti-cursing business called “Curse Purge Plus.” On the plus side, Mr. Needful made the perfect comic foil for Rick, even if it was sadly only one episode.
#12. Evil Morty
https://youtu.be/fEw_IFuOZEw
Evil Morty might be the most diabolical character we’ve seen in the Rick and Morty universe. Shown in the episode “Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind” to be controlling the Evil Rick who was in turn kidnapping the multiverse’s various Mortys and horribly torturing them, Evil Morty was last seen crushing his hidden electronic device under his heel and escaping without anyone learning of his identity.
Dan Harmon recently refused to confirm or deny the return of Evil Morty to us, but it seems inevitable that he’ll turn back up to make trouble for Rick.
#11. Gazorpazorpfield
Gazorpazorpfield is the star of the show of the same name about a Gazorpazorpian cat who loves enchiladas from the planet Gazorpazorp, home of the sex robot Morty previously copulated with. His catchphrase, “I don’t give a f*ck, I’m Gazorpazorp-f*cking-field, b*tch, now give me my f*cking enchiladas,” is pretty wonderful.
#10. Rick #J19Z7 (a.k.a. Doofus Rick)
Pros: Kindest Rick in the universe, friend to Jerry. Cons: Eats his own poop.
#9. Shrimply Pibbles
As the galaxy’s most influential civil rights leader, Shrimply Pibbles was fighting for his life in the episode “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate” until it was revealed that his heart was almost the exact same size, shape, and makeup as Jerry’s penis. Shrimply Pibbles deserves a spot on this list for no other reason than being voiced by Werner Herzog while explaining the intricacies of dick humor.
#8. Mr. Birdperson
Voiced by Dan Harmon, Mr. Birdperson is one of Rick’s oldest friends and co-conspirators. He was killed at his own wedding by his bride Tammy shortly after she revealed herself to be an undercover member of the Galactic Federation. We didn’t have to miss Birdperson for very long, however, because at the end of season three, episode one, he was shown to have been reanimated by Tammy as “Phoenixperson” as the two fly off together to ostensibly once again wreak havoc for Rick.
#7. Snuffles / Snowball
Snowball (nee Snuffles) appears in only the second episode of Rick and Morty, “Lawnmower Dog,” as Morty’s dog who becomes self-aware after Rick gives him a helmet to make him intelligent enough to stop peeing on the floor. After assembling an army of likewise self-aware dogs, Snowball decides to leave the human race intact (as in, with its testicles) and move to another planet inhabited by intelligent dogs (where pet insurance is mandatory).
#6. Scary Terry
From the other plot of “Lawnmower Dog” and based off of the character Freddy Krueger (or, a “legally-safe knockoff of an ’80s horror character with miniature swords for fingers instead of knives”), deep down Scary Terry had a heart of gold and all he really needed was some validation. In the end, he was actually not all that bad of a guy. (B*tch.)
#5. Butter-Passing Robot
Rick’s creation from the episode “Something Ricked This Way Comes” was so popular that it has since even inspired real-life creations. It’s unknown if those creations also come complete with an existential crisis, but if you need butter passed, they should do the trick.
#4. Squanchy
Squanchy is a cat-like creature who first showed up as a guest to Rick and Summer’s party in the episode “Ricksy Business,” who comes from the planet Squanch and uses a variation of the word “squanch” interchangeably for most other words, similar to the Smurfs. Squanchy’s skills are auto-erotic asphyxiation and turning into a Hulked-out version of himself when sh*t goes down.
He was last seen fighting Tammy at the end of “The Rickshank Rickdemption,” and it is still unclear whether or not he survived or perished in the battle.
#3. Mr. Meseeks
The character of Mr. Meseeks has always been a fan favorite, thanks in part to his ubiquitous catchphrase, “I’m Mr. Meeseeks! Look at me!” First appearing in the season one episode, “Meeseeks and Destroy,” Meseeks later made cameos in the season two episode “Mortynight Run” at the Blips and Chitz arcade, in addition to video games and his own (nearly impossible to find) board game: Mr. Meeseeks’ Box O’ Fun.
#2. Tiny Rick
Tiny Rick may have been adult Rick trapped inside a teenager’s body while his old man body withered away, but on the plus side he had a great catchphrase and was hands down the coolest kid in school. RIP, Tiny Rick.
#1. Mr. Poopy Butthole
Originally thought to be shot and possibly killed by Beth, it was later revealed that Mr. Poopy Butthole survived his injuries from the episode “Total Rickall,” as the sole member of the Smith family who was not, in fact, an alien parasite. The injuries Poopy Butthole sustained were especially tragic given the fact that Beth only shot him because “they never had any bad memories of him.” He was later seen at the end of season two, still recovering from his bullet wound, and possibly also addicted to pain medication.
Have we seen the last of Mr. Poopy Butthole or will he return to get his revenge make amends with the Smith family? Or as the internet has theorized, did he live with the Smiths in a separate non C-137 timeline all along? We’ll just have to wait and find out.
