Rick & Morty: Here Are 2 Things That Will Scare the Hell Out of Rick Sanchez
Even Rick Sanchez can't resist simple human weaknesses.
Summary:
- Rick Sanchez has two mortal human fears: squirrels and pirates.
- Season 3's Morty's Mind Blowers first shows Rick terrified of squirrels, and The Rickchurian Mortydate catches him petrified of pirates.
- Despite being the mega-mind, Rick is also a normal human being with normal, rational fears that need no explanation.
In the madcap multiverse of Rick & Morty, where madness knows no bounds and the bizarre is just another day for the Smith family, genius scientist Rick Sanchez is known as the most brilliant mind. Yet, despite bending the rules of reality to his will, Rick Sanchez holds not one, but two peculiar fears.
These fears, believe it or not, are a far cry from the usual sci-fi horrors, as they're just ordinary squirrels and pirates. Yes, you read that right. The man who can conquer dimensions is genuinely uncomfortable around cute nutcrackers and not-so-cute water robbers.
Rick's peculiar fear of squirrels first comes to light in Season 3's Morty's Mind Blowers, where we discover a hidden room where Rick keeps all of Morty's erased memories. In one of these memories, Morty stumbles upon the disturbing revelation that the squirrels of their world are hyper-intelligent puppeteers manipulating global affairs from the shadows.
When Morty becomes aware of their secret control, it triggers a bizarre and alarming squirrel invasion that forces Rick not to fight them back in the usual way, but to grab Morty and flee to another dimension.
As for the fear of pirates, it appears in the same third season, but in the episode titled The Rickchurian Mortydate. After a fallout with the U.S. President, Rick and Morty find themselves caught up in a strange ceremonial event where the President, convinced he's discovered Rick's Achilles' heel in Sanchezium, prepares for a showdown.
However, in a clever twist, Rick gets the President to call off the face-off, but things take an unexpected turn when one of the generals orders the release of the pirates, and at that moment Rick's calmness crumbles as he bolts, visibly petrified by the situation.
Now, it may seem unusual for someone as intellectually formidable as Rick to be afraid of such mundane things, but irrational fears can affect anyone, and a mega genius scientist is no exception.
As for the fear of squirrels, it's somewhat rationalized in the context of that one episode where squirrels are revealed to be master puppeteers who dictate international events, orchestrate coups, influence the election of popes, exploit the Global South in collusion with corporate giants, and even employ chemtrails in Uganda.
It's a surreal tapestry of secret machinations and outrageous conspiracies that underscores the dangerous reality that squirrels are no laughing matter. But what could possibly explain Rick's strange phobia of pirates? While we may never know the full story behind his fear, a fleeting reference in Season 1's Anatomy Park adds to the intrigue.
In that episode, Rick ingeniously transforms a deceased body into an amusement park, complete with a ride called Pirates of the Pancreas. Rick seems bizarrely proud of this attraction, remarking to Morty that the pirates are "really rapey." It's most likely a mysterious hint at a past encounter in which Rick was deeply affected by the pirates.
In the topsy-turvy world of Rick & Morty, where the lines between reality and absurdity are constantly blurred, even the most brilliant minds in the universe can't escape the quirk of fear. So while Rick Sanchez may defy the laws of space and time, his phobias of squirrels and pirates stand as a testament to the quirks that can affect even the most extraordinary intellects in this bizarre and endlessly entertaining multiverse.