Who is Rick Prime (Weird Rick) and what is his goal?

Rick Prime is the latest subject of all the buzzing discourse around the animated show ‘Rick and Morty’. The antagonistic character has had a sinister presence throughout the show but its latest installment is where his importance is felt more prominently than ever.

Rick and Morty season 6 episode 1 — “Solaricks” — throws the viewer into the canonic continuation of the events in the season 5 finale.

While one of the main antagonists up until now — Evil Morty — bids farewell to the titular duo, another one of the main antagonists enters the fray, and he’s here to stay as the series’ true big bad.

Who is Rick Prime (Weird Rick)?

Rick Prime is the version of Rick who killed the main Rick’s wife Diane Sanchez and daughter Beth Sanchez. Known until season 6 episode 1 as ‘Weird Rick’, his title as the ‘Rick Prime’ has now been made canon by creator Dan Harmon himself.

By killing the main Rick’s wife and daughter, Rick Prime gave rise to the entire narrative of Rick and Morty that viewers are all too familiar with now. It was because of his acts that the main Rick (also known as C-137 Rick) drowned himself in drinking and despair, followed by a drastic transformation into a narcissistic egomaniac who killed numerous Ricks trying to search for his family’s killer.

He searched and searched for Rick Prime but failed to get a hold of him, after which he subsided a bit. He then decided to broker peace within the countless Ricks and helped create the Citadel of Ricks.

Later on, he tracked down Rick Prime’s original universe and went there to find him absent. C-137 Rick then started living with Rick Prime’s family and grew attached to the Morty (the main Morty) of this dimension. So Rick Prime is Morty’s original grandfather.

C-137 Rick went to the Cronenberg dimension in hopes that Prime will return one day to his family, but he never did. Well, until the latest episode that is. He’s entered the storyline properly for the first time now and seems to be the most formidable nemesis Rick Sanchez has ever encountered.

Fans may remember Rick Prime as “Weird Rick” up until the season 6 premiere, as he’d always been referred to as such in the series, as well as by fans.

Why did Rick Prime kill C-137 Rick’s wife and daughter?

The entirety of adventures, missions, upheavals, and character developments that the titular duo and the Smith family have gone through, have been because of Rick Prime.

When he killed C-137 Rick’s wife and daughter, the latter spiraled into the uber cynical, nihilistic, arrogant, and egoistic person fans are familiar with.

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Moments before C-137 Rick’s Diane and Beth die from Prime’s bomb

It all started when Rick Prime went to C-137 Rick’s dimension and offered him a portal gun prototype. He refused since he loved his wife and daughter way more than he’d love a dimension-hopping sci-fi adventure that’d probably render him a lone miser.

Hurt by the refusal, or maybe in a twisted quest to turn C-137 Rick into another version of himself — free from familial attachments — Rick Prime kills the former’s wife and daughter with a bomb.

In doing so, he starts a never-ending vicious chain of bloodshed and suffering that spans countless dimensions.

Is he truly evil?

While ‘evil’ is a truly extreme qualifier to brandish anyone with it, Prime is indeed the most diabolical version of Rick out there. This is saying something since C-137 Rick is famously referred to as the “Rickest Rick” of them all, meaning that he’s not really the one deserving of that title.

The main Rick is actually an anomaly from other Ricks, an originally wholesome, loving, and caring version, who devolved into masquerading as the abominable man everyone is familiar with.

It can be argued that C-137 Rick became what he was at the start of the show as an effort to start thinking like his enemy which might help to eventually catch up to him.

So far, Rick Prime has yet to show even faint glimmers of humanity within him (other than a great knack for survival). Constant treachery, extreme detachments, and a creepy form of invincibility are all that Rick Prime has proven he’s capable of.

Rick Prime is morally bankrupt, with an enormous deficit of any emotional attachments to even his own biological family. All of the versions of Rick are morally grey characters, some more grey than others.

C-137 Rick — a.k.a. Rickest Rick — might hold that title for all the diabolical deeds he’s done in his quest for revenge for his wife and daughter’s murders. However, after the latest episode, it’s evident that he’s also possibly the only Rick who didn’t abandon his family for science.

And in that sense, Rick Prime is the true antagonist to C-137 Rick, for as the latter tells Morty in the latest episode, “he truly does not give a sh*t.” So yeah, viewers just might refer to him as the evil one.

Is Rick Prime immortal?

From all that ‘Rick and Morty’ has shown of its new series antagonist, Rick Prime always seems to look the same age, triggering speculations that he might be immortal.

In the latest episode, it’s made abundantly clear that he’s invincible to attacks like a knife cut, which even leaves a huge gash on his throat, but one which also heals in an instant.

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Rick Prime’s slit throat regenerating within seconds in s06 e01 — ‘Solaricks’

It is very plausible that his immensely powerful regenerative abilities also translate to a form of immortality and he stays the same age.

This will only add to the difficulty level C-137 Rick will have to contend with when fighting his arch-nemesis.

What is his goal?

That one is hard to tell as even this ever-elusive Rick has not had a significant screen time so far. All viewers know is that he’s back into the canon and has been cemented as the one true big bad for the show’s forthcoming continuity.

He has also gone back to his original dimension (the Cronenberged dimension). However, even he admits in the post-credits scene of season 6 premiere “Solaricks”, that he doesn’t know what he’s doing there himself.

Many speculations are up in the air right now, but a great bet can be placed on the plausibility of Rick Prime prepping up for future confrontations/battles with Rick.

C-137 Rick hasn’t been this close to him, so that fact might just spook Rick Prime a bit. However, the question regarding his overarching goal is a tough one to answer. The show hasn’t delved into his backstory even a bit so far, which is what, in due time, will answer some pressing questions regarding the sociopath.


Also Read: Rick and Morty season 6 episode 1 recap and review: Solaricks

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