‘Rick And Morty’ Proves All Other Characters Are NPCs
by Frank Martin
It’s hard not to acknowledge that storytelling is a contrived activity. Nothing is being generated randomly. It’s all an orchestrated dance that comes directly from a writer’s mind. The main characters are the focus of their attention, and so these characters are the ones constantly being depicted in the story. But then it begs the question as to what role supporting characters play? They can be given arcs of their own, but they will never become main characters as doing so would eliminate their supporting status by definition. So anything that occurs with them is fodder. No show demonstrates this more than Rick and Morty.
Giving Rick’s (Ian Cardoni) narcissism, it’s obvious that he views himself as a main character in his own story. And for one reason or another — which the show touches upon a lot — he considers Morty (Harry Belden) in that sphere of being a main character. After all, both of their names are in the title. Thus, Rick refers to everybody else as non-player characters (NPCs) because they don’t matter in his mind. This corresponds with his philosophy that in an infinite multiverse where everything is possible even family can be replaced. The series sets this tone immediately as right from the beginning everyone they know and love dies and Rick and Morty take the place of another Rick and Morty duo who died in a different universe.
That doesn’t mean the other characters aren’t important. Almost all of their family members, and even some friends, go through important story arcs. A great example of this is Summer (Spencer Grammer), who Rick actually goes on adventures with when Morty is unavailable. Summer might be as close to a main character in the show as possible, but she’s not. At any moment she can undergo a catastrophic character change that completely eliminates her from the show entirely. And that’s kind of the point. Rick and Morty thrives on chaos and exploring the unexpected. Nothing accomplishes this more than viewing every auxiliary character as expendable. And in reality, almost every show is like that too.
Rick and Morty is now streaming on Max.
