Rick & Morty Season 5: What Every Older Morty Looks Like

The Rick and Morty season 5 finale ages Morty up, down, and in-between, and each version has its own distinctive look. In the episode, Morty ages himself up to a 40-year-old burnout in the hopes of guilting Rick into leaving his two crows (see: “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall”) and coming home. When Rick returns, he takes Morty to the Citadel of Ricks to correct his age back to normal, but in the process, the 26 years of Morty that they remove manifest as their own individual 26-year-old Morty who’s “almost ready to sell out.” Here’s what each aged Morty looks like, and how their design factors into their characterization.

The Citadel of Ricks has been a playground for the Rick and Morty team to imagine wild and comedic variations on their two archetypal lead characters. In Citadel episodes, fans can expect to see Ricks and Mortys of innumerable genetic origins working various jobs. In “The Ricklantis Mixup,” for example, a group of orphan (Rick-less) Mortys attending school contains a lizard-Morty, ‘slick’ Morty, a Morty with glasses, and left-handed Morty. Elsewhere in the episode, we see Morty ruffians, a Morty mob boss, and the unforgettable Cowboy Morty. Mortys come in all shapes and sizes — and ages.

After episode 9, 40-year-old Morty appears to Rick in a tavern, looking like the past few decades have taken a fair toll on him. His hair is thinning, his face unshaven, and his eyelids hang heavy, as do his eye-bags. He makes middle-aged banter with the server while explaining to Rick that he’s been gone so long that the Smith family have all grown up — Jerry was even diagnosed with terminal cancer. His acts of unkemptness, though, make sense when it’s revealed the whole thing was a ruse to guilt Rick into coming back after seeing how miserable Morty looks. Later, when he’s returned to his regular age, 26-year-old Morty is revealed, with flowing hair, and a fervent-but-futile need to fight injustice and leave some kind of mark on the world.

Unlike many other Citadel episodes, the various-aged Mortys don’t come by way of alternate dimensions, but via transformation. Rick and Morty have played with transformations of members of the Smith family before: puddle Jerry in the preceding episode, big and/or inside-out Summer (and Beth) in “The Whirly-Dirly Conspiracy,” and of course the infamous Pickle Rick to name a few. “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” walks the line between the two, featuring many iterations including shrimp Rick and Morty and wasp Rick and Morty, nearly all of whom turn out to be fascists.

But being a Citadel episode, “Rickmurai Jack” certainly has plenty to offer in terms of Ricks and Mortys from alternative origins. Sewer Mortys are shown to be threatening the new Citadel order, cop and guard Mortys work at the behest of President (Evil) Morty (see: “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind”), and Red-headed-afro Rick and Morty help illustrate his dastardly plan. With the exciting ending and Evil Morty’s escape, fans will be eagerly awaiting season 6 of Rick and Morty with baited breath.

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