Rick & Morty: 10 Things Rick Has Done That Were Surprisingly Stupid

Rick and Morty has quickly become one of the most popular animated shows, in great part thanks to the titular characters. Rick Sanchez is deeply flawed, yet he’s brilliant and one of the smartest beings in the entire universe.

Despite appearing to be very intelligent, Rick makes many questionable choices and loves to get intoxicated. Indeed, he doesn’t always come across as being smart. Rick often makes terrible choices that threaten the existence of humanity, jeopardizes the galaxy, and endangers his family. He’s done some of the stupidest things in the universe – quite literally.

10 Rick Takes His Grandson On Dangerous Adventures

Rick Sanchez is the smartest man in the cosmos. Indeed, he goes on several dangerous adventures throughout infinite universes. However, he frequently needs his teenage grandson Morty to accompany him on these wild journeys. But taking his grandson with him doesn’t seem like such a great idea.

Rick could take anyone with him but instead chooses to take a kid. He also doesn’t care that Morty misses school and often yells at Morty for annoying him. He even claims that Morty slows him down and holds him back. So what’s the point of bringing him along?

9 Threw An Intergalactic House Party And Froze Time

Rick usually acts more like a kid than a grandfather. In the season one finale, “Ricksy Business,” Rick decides to throw a massive intergalactic house party. Jerry and Beth go on a trip and assume the grandfather will be responsible.

After the party, Rick freezes time for six months, which ends up threatening the universe. Rick, Morty, and Summer get caught in several different timelines. Rick’s decision to throw a party and freeze time risks his grandkid’s lives, creates a series of disasters, and nearly destroys multiple universes.

8 He bought Morty A Dragon And Then Bonded With Its Soul

Morty Smith is a pushover that rarely stands up for himself. He’s nervous and lacks confidence. However, he does show moments of brilliance. At the same time, Rick seems to have a soft spot for Morty, but can sometimes lead to disastrous results.

For instance, Rick once promised Morty a dragon to assist him on a mission in the season 4 episode “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty.” Rick’s against the idea but eventually gives in and gets Morty a dragon, Balthromaw. Morty’s dragon runs wild and destroys everything in its path. Despite being Morty’s dragon, Balthromaw and Rick bond souls, which creates even more problems.

7 Left His Dangerous Intern Glootie With Jerry

Rick makes decisions that he knows will end badly. For instance, he got himself an adorable-looking intern, Glootie, to assist him. Of course, Glootie isn’t as adorable as he seems. Indeed, Rick tattoos the phrase “Do Not Develop My App” on Glootie’s forehead.

He then leaves Glootie with the family and goes to his private bathroom. Rick should know it’s not a good idea to leave an intelligent alien with the easily influenced Jerry. Glootie then convinces Jerry to develop his app, which nearly destroys the world. It seems like a bad idea to leave such a dangerous creature with Jerry.

6 Created An Imaginary World For Beth

Rick has always had a complicated relationship with his daughter Beth. It’s hard being a good father when he’s traveling the universe and creating all kinds of gadgets. However, Rick did try to give Beth everything. He even made an imaginary world, Froopyland, for her to play in as a child.

Beth always thought it wasn’t a real place until she was older. It turns out that Beth left her childhood friend Tommy in Froopyland. Tommy’s been missing for years, and his father went on trial for his supposed death. Rick’s actions severely traumatized Beth.

5 Destroyed His Orignal World

In the season 2 episode, “Rick Potion #9”, Rick creates a love potion for Morty to use on his crush Jessica. Of course, the potion has dire consequences, but Rick often doesn’t think things through. The potion backfires when it mixes with the common flu.

Rick and Morty’s actions result in characters turning into mutants and the destruction of their world. Therefore, Rick and Morty leave and assume an alternate Rick and Morty’s identities in another dimension. They leave behind Beth, Jerry, and Summer in their original universe. The event traumatizes Morty for the rest of his life. Rick might be the smartest man in the galaxy, but he’s also the most irresponsible.

4 Hid An Alien Under The House & Other Dangerous Devices The Family Finds

Most brilliant scientist do their best work in a high-tech lab. However, Rick works out of his daughter’s garage. He doesn’t have a security system or anything protecting his dangerous devices. Therefore, his family often stumbles upon bizarre creatures and deadly machines.

For instance, Beth and Jerry discover Rick hid an alien under their house. In the episode “The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy,” Summer uses a device that turns her into a giant. Rick is often going on adventures that take him across the galaxy and into other worlds. He’s gone for long periods, so it would make sense to protect his gadgets better.

3 Toxic Relationships

Rick frequently makes mistakes when it comes to relationships. He might be smart when it comes to science, but he knows nothing about dating. Rick gets involved in situations that end up having significant consequences.

Of course, he makes every situation worse by avoiding responsibility. Indeed, he’s been in two serious relationships with Unity and Gaia. In both cases, he made the relationship toxic and seemed not to care. However, his actions usually resulted in a broken heart or the near extinction of humanity.

2 Turned Himself Into A Pickle To Avoid Family Therapy

The season 3 episode “Pickle Rick” is one of the most popular in the series. The critically acclaimed episode features Rick turning himself into a pickle to avoid family therapy. Despite being a classic episode, Rick’s plan has many flaws. Indeed, those flaws are exposed as he goes on a wild adventure.

He could have turned into any animal or object he wanted. Instead, he chose a pickle and encountered several obstacles. Of course, he overcame his situation, but there were several better options.

1 He made A Clone Of His Daughter & Sent One Of Them To Space

Rick wasn’t always a good father but did try his best. He realizes that Beth wasn’t sure if she made the right choices in life. Rick offers to make a clone version of his daughter. The clone would stay with the family while the real Beth travels the galaxy.

However, Rick purposely mixed up the clone and the real Beth. Therefore, he doesn’t know if the real Beth stayed with the family or the clone. Rick made an awful choice that hurt several lives in his family. Eventually, Rick realizes that he’s not a good father and made a terrible decision.