Rick & Morty: The Strongest Version Of Jerry Is More Dangerous Than Rick

Rick and Morty fans know that Jerry is one of the most pathetic people in any reality. He’s annoying, he’s dimwitted, and he lacks any sort of self-confidence, yet somehow he is Morty’s father, Beth’s husband and Rick’s son-in-law. But despite his propensity to ruin everything, there is actually one version of Jerry who is more dangerous than Rick: the man known as Doofus Jerry.

Rick and Morty is known for its dimension-hopping adventures, using the idea of a multiverse as one of its core concepts, so it has come to be expected to see alternate versions of characters pop up from time to time. Jerry is no exception to this rule, and it just so happens that one of his alternate-dimension counterparts is basically the exact opposite of the original Jerry. Evil, sadistic, and power mad, this Jerry shows what happens when his fear of rejection pushes him to achieve.

This story takes place in Rick and Morty #21-#23 by Marc Ellerby, Kyle Starks, and CJ Cannon, which follows the original Jerry as he steals Rick’s portal gun and goes on an adventure to Dimension J19ζ7. Here, the original Jerry meets up with Doofus Rick, an alternate, idiotic version of Rick, and heads to a cat-themed amusement park known as Percy Puss Land. It is here that the alternate-universe Jerry is introduced, as he owns the park and, as is eventually revealed, is the ruler of the entirety of that dimension’s Earth. Just as Doofus Rick is the opposite of the Rick fans know, the new Jerry is actually a genius in this “Doofus” dimension, taking over his entire planet and becoming the most successful person in the universe. In fact, he is so powerful, he even has his picture in the dictionary next to the word “success.”

Doofus Jerry overhears original Jerry and Doofus Rick speaking about interdimensional travel, which leaves the power-hungry Doofus Jerry with a desire to conquer the rest of these dimensions he only just learned existed. When original Jerry and Doofus Rick refuse to help him, he violently beats up original Jerry and forces Doofus Rick to open a portal. In the next issue, Doofus Jerry finally proves that he is more dangerous than Rick as he takes on the entire Council of Ricks, taking over the Citadel of Ricks.

How is it possible that he took the entire Council of Ricks down? Due to all of the Ricks believing no Jerry could possibly overthrow them, they allow him access to their Genetic Restructurer. He then uses the machine to rewrite his genetic code in such a way that his body exudes a deadly poison that only kills Ricks. The Ricks, now left entirely unable to take on Doofus Jerry, are forced to worship the madman, erecting a giant, golden statue of Jerry in the center of the Citadel in his honor.

His reign continues on to the next issue where the original Smith family (Morty’s family) attempts to take him down alongside Doofus Rick and the original Rick. Here, it’s revealed the giant golden statue of Jerry is really a robot, leading to an all out mecha battle between Doofus Jerry and original Rick. Ultimately, Doofus Jerry wins the battle, defeating the Smith family, however, almost by pure luck, original Jerry vomits up some portal juice he accidentally consumed earlier. A giant space worm is unleashed from the portal, consuming Doofus Jerry and ending his tyranny.

While Jerry is typically too self-defeating to accomplish anything, Doofus Jerry goes to show what happens when that same man snaps, proving that if Jerry was a bit more confident, and a lot more evil, he could actually even take down not just Rick himself, but the entire Citadel of Ricks. Check out the Rick and Morty comic books for more zany adventures outside of the animated series.