Gravity Falls Hints at the REAL Origin of Rick & Morty’s Pickle Rick

The Pickle Rick episode of Rick and Morty is easily one of the most iconic in the series, and it seems as though the idea for this hilariously absurd transformation may have originated in Gravity Falls.

In Rick and Morty season 3, episode 3 “Pickle Rick”, the Smith family (minus Jerry) are going to therapy together, but when Morty goes into Rick’s garage to get him, Morty finds that Rick turned himself into a sentient pickle to get out of going to therapy. While something this ridiculous seems like it should be a show’s cold-open gag and nothing more, this episode takes the idea of Rick turning himself into a pickle and runs with it to its most extreme conclusion. Soon after the Smith family leaves, Pickle Rick accidentally rolls into the sewer, builds a mech-suit out of cockroach and rat corpses, infiltrates a top-secret Russian base, kills practically everyone in there, and then finally meets his family at their therapist’s office–bringing the whole chain of events around full circle.

Related: Rick & Morty’s Gravity Falls Crossover Redefines Morty’s Mind Blowers

Gravity Falls: Lost Legends–written by series creator Alex Hirsch with art by Joe Pitt, Ian Worrel, Asaf Hanuka, Dana Terrace, Jacob Chabot, Jim Campbell, Kyle Smeallie, Meredith Gran, Mike Holmes, Priscilla Tang, Serina Hernandez, Stephanie Ramirez, and Valerie Halla–is a graphic novel telling four original Gravity Falls stories that continue the adventures of the animated series. In one story titled “The Pines Boys in: The Jersey Devil’s in the Details”, Stan and Ford Pines (who are just kids in this story) are hunting the Jersey Devil, and their adventure leads them to a ‘Freak Show’ circus. In an advertisement for the show that is being shouted by the promoter from the inside of the tent, it is revealed that the ‘freaks’ people can pay to see include the Incredible One-Headed Man, Saddo, the Clown that Won’t Stop Crying, and the Human Pickle.

Rick Got the Idea for ‘Pickle Rick’ from Gravity Falls’ Ford

A long-standing fan theory suggests that Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls take place within a shared continuity, and that Ford Pines actually went on adventures with Rick during the thirty years Ford was lost in the multiverse. In fact, in a previous story within this very graphic novel, it is hinted that Rick had his memory of Gravity Falls wiped, which only adds to the theory that the two universes are connected. So, if it is to be believed that Rick and Ford did go on adventures together, then it is possible that Ford told Rick about the Human Pickle he saw as a kid. Then, after Rick got his memory erased, the lingering idea of a human pickle could have remained within Rick’s mind without Rick knowing exactly why–which leads to Rick having the ‘random idea’ to turn himself into a pickle later in life.

While there are admittedly a number of pre-existing fan theories one has to accept regarding Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls to even consider this one, this proposed origin for Pickle Rick is simply the latest hint that these two universes are secretly connected–and the idea that there are two human pickles within one shared continuity is just too weird and specific to simply be a coincidence.

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