TV & Movies

Rick and Morty: Why is Evil Morty “evil”?

Daisy Phillipson
Evil Morty in Season 1 of Rick and MortyAdult Swim

With Rick and Morty Season 7 well underway, you might be wondering: why exactly is Evil Morty considered evil? 

Evil Morty is widely considered to be the best Rick and Morty villain – and for some, the best villain period. Wherever you stand on the scale, there’s no denying the impact his character has had on the overarching storyline of the beloved animated series. 

And if you say the closing sequence of Season 1’s ‘Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind’ doesn’t give you goosebumps, you’re lying: 

While Season 7 has led to even more revelations about the arc of the titular characters – as well as some sinister adventures – let’s take a look at Evil Morty and why he earned his moniker. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Rick and Morty: Why is Evil Morty “evil”?

In the Season 5 finale, Evil Morty claims he is “evil” because he wanted to leave the Central Finite Curve – and, ultimately, leave his grandfather. Gesturing at Rick, he says: “That’s what makes me evil. Being sick of him. If you’ve ever been sick of him, you’ve been evil too.” 

However, there’s the small matter of mass murder, having killed many Ricks and Mortys in his time. He also tortured countless Mortys in Season 1, used Evil Rick Sanchez as his deadly puppet, framed Rick C-137, and turned himself into the dictator of the Citadel.

But as is the case with all villains, there’s always a reason for their evil. You see, in Season 5 episode ‘Rickmurai Jack’, Evil Morty explains: “Do you know what the Central Finite Curve is? They built a wall around infinity, separated all the infinite universes from all the infinite universes where he’s [Rick] the smartest man in the universe. Every version of us has spent every version of all of our lives in one infinite crib, built around an infinite f*cking baby.”

As stated by Rick and Morty Wiki, it’s assumed Rick C-137 was involved in the creation of the Curve “to lock up Rick Prime, which he failed. Rick himself oversaw the construction process, but he soon left after it was built due to how the other Ricks wanted to run it, leaving it to be run by the Council of Ricks.”

Now, Evil Morty essentially took control of the Citadel to destroy it, as it’s a place where all Mortys are cloned and mass-produced as the Ricks’ sidekicks. While many of them are “bred for forgiveness,” Evil Morty wasn’t subservient and wanted out. He managed to escape the Central Finite Curve and destroy most of the Citadel.

He killed a lot of Ricks and Mortys to do so, making him technically evil – but there’s also a motive. In essence, his story may have not followed this arc had he been born free. As is revealed in the latest Season 7 Episode 5, ‘Unmortricken’, Evil Morty grew sick of his Rick using him and dragging him on adventures. 

The opening sequence shows him building a device – the infamous eye patch – before killing his Rick and installing the device to create Evil Rick Sanchez, who becomes his puppet. Later on, we find out that all he wants is to be left alone, hence why he helps Rick C-137 and Morty to capture Rick Prime and allow Rick to enact his revenge. 

While Evil Morty is snarky throughout, clearly he’s not being evil for evil’s sake – even when he makes away with the Omega Device, which can wipe out all versions of the person it targets, he decides not to use it. 

After pointing out that he can “end the Rick experiment anytime I want,” Morty asks why he doesn’t, to which he replies: “Because using a weapon like this doesn’t get you left alone. Think I want a bunch of vengeful Summers coming after me?” 

In short, this fella just wants to be left in peace – but this could all change down the line. After all, with Rick Prime now dead, who else is going to stand in as the overarching villain?

Rick and Morty Season 7 Episodes 1-5 are available on Adult Swim now, with Episode 6 arriving on November 19. You can check out more of our coverage below:

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