Despite his insistence that he hates dragons and magic in the latest episode of Rick and Morty, there is ample evidence that Rick Sanchez loves the fantasy genre. Indeed, this latest episode comes hot on the heels of the latest in a line of crossovers between the show and Dungeons and Dragons, which confirmed Rick’s status as an original gamer.
The plot of Rick and Morty season 4, episode 4, “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty”, saw Rick having to make good on his promise to get Morty a pet dragon in exchange for his continued help with Rick’s experiments. Predictably, the responsibilities of dragon ownership proved to be too much for Morty, who had thought only about how fun it would be to fly on Falkor in The Neverending Story and not about how difficult it would be to have his soul magically bonded to a being that wanted to bring about the fall of mankind. Throw in the complications brought about by Rick’s accidentally soul-bonding with Morty’s dragon and the secret cruelty of the wizards running the dragon-selling business, and the reality of his wish left Morty feeling incredibly unclean even before he learned the erotic side-effects of soul-bonding. It was nothing at all like How To Train Your Dragon.
This resulted in Rick, Morty, and Summer having to go on a fantastic quest into a world where Rick’s inventions didn’t work and the rules of magic were supreme, to save Morty’s dragon before its execution killed Rick. Unsurprisingly, Rick was less than thrilled about this, telling Morty (who had been given a book of simple spells along with his dragon) to stop “trying to pretend like magic involves skill or thought.” While one might expect the science-minded Rick to dislike the idea of magic (viewing it as a cheap shortcut for what a genius inventor can accomplish) this flew in the fact of previously established characterization. It turns out that, in fact, Rick loves dragons, dungeons, and magic.
Last year saw the release of a Rick & Morty Vs. Dungeons & Dragons comic book miniseries, centered around the idea of Rick teaching Morty all about his favorite hobby; fantasy role-playing games. While Morty’s interest in the game was largely limited to how he could use it to blend in with all the popular kids playing D&D, he proved an apt pupil. Surprisingly, the series revealed that Rick’s favorite class in the game was Wizards, though this was largely due to them having the most power at high levels. Naturally, Rick wanted to have as much power as possible, when he wasn’t filling the Dungeon Master role and playing God with his players.
Rick’s fondness of fantasy and magic is also the foundation of the recently released Dungeons & Dragons vs. Rick and Morty Box Set. Loosely based upon the aforementioned comic book and utilizing the rules for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, the kit contains everything needed to run a D&D adventure, including dice, character sheets (based on the Smith family’s characters from the comic), a dungeon master screen, and The Lost Dungeon of Rickedness; a dungeon-crawl module written by the Rick Sanchez of Dimension C-141, where Rick is a legendary game designer as well as a super-scientist. The kit also comes with a player’s handbook that has been enhanced by Rick’s notes, such as the chapter on Spellcasting where Rick once again touts the superiority of wizards. (“Do you see a section in this book about fighter powers? You suuuure don’t.”)
It was previously established that the Rick and Morty show and comics are set in separate dimensions. And those Dungeon and Dragons players worried about being slighted by the show can rest assured that Rick (or at least one version of him) is still a wannabe wizard with a Doctor Strange jacket. Just don’t try and tell him your awesome character stories, don’t take one of his Mountain Dews, and don’t try and play a bard at his table.
Next: Rick & Morty Season 4 Gave Rick Some Genuine (& Personal) Character Development
