Rick and Morty: Who Is Kyle?

So many movies and TV shows are driven by a duo of characters — either two equals, or a hero and a sidekick. There’s Batman and Robin, Harold and Kumar, Han and Chewie, and so many more. The same goes for Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, whose story is driven by, that’s right, Rick and his grandson Morty.

For seven seasons now, Rick and Morty have trekked across the galaxy, going on adventures that span from saving the universe, to experiencing the best arcade games at the iconic Blips and Chitz. But Rick hadn’t appointed Morty as his sidekick until he was fourteen years old. So, what was Rick doing in those years before he crash-landed in the Smith’s garage?

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In recent seasons of Rick and Morty, there have been select hints at Rick actually having a sidekick before Morty, and his name was Kyle. Who knows if Kyle was a human or an alien, or if he’s even still alive. While the season 5 finale gave viewers a glimpse into Rick’s past, it definitely left out some information about Rick’s former partners.

Who Is Kyle in Rick and Morty?

Kyle was apparently Rick’s sidekick before he crashed on Earth C-137, and started bringing Morty on his adventures. The season 5 finale, “Rickmurai Jack”, finally revealed a lot of questions that fans of the show had for years: did Diane — Rick’s wife — actually die? Why was Rick away from home all these years? What was he up to? And why is he the self-proclaimed “Rickest Rick”? All of these questions were answered, and more.

But one question that wasn’t answered was, who is Kyle? The season 5 premiere, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre”, was the first time Kyle, Rick’s apparent former sidekick, was ever mentioned. In the episode, Rick is visited by his ocean-dwelling, king of the ocean arch-nemesis, Mr. Nimbus, after Morty crashes their Space Cruiser into the ocean on Earth. This apparently broke some sort of treaty between Rick and Mr. Nimbus that stated Rick couldn’t interfere with the ocean. As a repercussion, Rick had to host a dinner with Nimbus, having Morty run back and forth to another dimension to fetch bottles of wine for the fish-like nemesis.

However, Morty is, at the same time, trying to bring a bottle of wine to his forever crush Jessica, who finally agrees to go out with him. And so, this kind of delays Mr. Nimbus from enjoying his drink, which he guzzles in two seconds every time Morty brings over a new bottle. Nimbus critiques Morty’s lack of punctuality, saying to Rick:

Morty fires back with a stern, “What?!” to which Rick shuts down immediately, saying, “Nothing!”. Clearly, Rick acknowledges Kyle’s existence, but that’s the extent in which he’s willing to explain himself. Later in season 5, in episode 9, “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall”, Rick spins the Wheel of Better Things Than Morty for a bit where he chooses a new sidekick to replace Morty. On the wheel, in addition to Garbage Goober and Half of Paul Giamatti, one option is “Kyle 2.0”.

There’s a quick shot where viewers can see the full wheel, but these are the only two times Kyle is referenced in the entire show…so far.

Is There More Than One Kyle in Rick and Morty?

Although Kyle was first referenced as Rick’s former sidekick in season 5, there was actually another Kyle who played a minor role all the way back in season 2. In the episode, “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” (season 2, episode 6), Rick and Morty travel into the Space Cruiser’s battery to inspect why it stopped working. It’s revealed that the battery contains an entire universe — what Rick coins as a “microverse” — where a whole civilization of people produce power for the battery via a contraption Rick invented called the gooblebox.

However, Rick discovers that a scientist from his microverse, Zeep Xanflorp, developed a similar method of power production, creating his own “miniverse” where the people of that universe create electricity via the flooblecrank. The conspiracy goes even deeper when Zeep experiences the same dilemma, as his miniverse also has a scientist who has developed his own “teenyverse” where the people create power using the bloobleyank. The name of the scientist from the miniverse? Kyle.

While it’s unclear, and unlikely, that this Kyle is the same as the Kyle who was Rick’s former sidekick, it’s still interesting that Dan Harmon and the writers of Rick and Morty would use the same name three seasons later for a character that potentially plays a much larger role in the over-arching story. However, some fans do theorize that we maybe did meet Kyle, but didn’t know it was actually him.

In the same episode as the Wheel of Better Things Than Morty (season 5, episode 9, “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall”), Morty befriends a person in a mental health facility named Nick, who claims he attempted to steal Rick’s portal gun at a bar and accidentally leaked some of the portal fluid onto his thigh. But Morty soon finds out that Nick has a vendetta against Rick, as he is constantly urging Morty to break away from being his sidekick and to team up with him instead, so they can take down Rick together.

It’s very possible that he lied about his identity, and is in fact the elusive Kyle from Rick’s past. But, by the end of the episode, Morty kills Nick, so will fans ever find out the truth about Kyle, Rick’s former partner in crime? Only time will tell.

Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty is an animated sci-fi comedy that follows the outrageous interplanetary and multidimensional adventures of Rick Sanchez and his grandson, Morty. Airing on Adult Swim, Rick and Morty has become one of the most popular animated shows on television, blending humor, action, and genuine emotion.

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