Rick And Morty’s Best Character Was Created Out Of Boredom
In a Reddit AMA, Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland explains that he got bored in the writer's room, then screamed "I'm Mr. Meeseeks," and a character was born.
Remember Mr. Meeseeks, and his pals Mr. Meeseeks and Mr. Meeseeks? The cheerful blue character who can be summoned from a box to solve one (and only one) of your problems is a fan-favorite for Rick and Morty enthusiasts, with appearances from season 1 through season 6 of the celebrated animated dark comedy. From his single-minded goal of resolving whatever task you give him, to his willingness to resort to unexpectedly desperate means to reach his goal and end his own painful existence, Mr. Meeseeks is one of the most iconic characters in the series outside of the main cast. According to series co-creator Justin Roiland, he created the character because he was bored out of his mind.
This revelation came from a Reddit AMA thread featuring Rick and Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. One of the commenters asked the creators where the inspiration for Mr. Meeseeks came from, and Roiland spilled the beans.
According to Roiland, he got the idea when Dan Harmon wasn’t working on Rick and Morty, since he was on the road for his animated Dungeons & Dragons show HarmonQuest. Roiland stated that he and the crew were “breaking a story that sucked and I hated,” and that he was “sick of these boring complex stories.” He would rather just do something that was straight-up dumb fun, so, in a moment that could be considered both genius and a possible sign of manic personality disorder, he just started screaming “I’m Mister Meeseeks!”
Rather than seek professional help, Roiland decided to transform the outburst into a new storyline for Rick and Morty. He immediately came up with the idea of a box that creates Mr. Meeseeks, though his original story was apparently very different from the final draft. After Dan Harmon returned, they hammered out the final version, which revolves around Beth, Summer, and Jerry using Mr. Meeseeks to complete a task for them.
The main conflict of the story surrounds Jerry’s seemingly simple task: he asks Mr. Meeseeks to help him shave two strokes off his golf game. Despite Mr. Meeseeks’s best efforts, Jerry just does not improve. This drives Mr. Meeseeks into a panic as he summons more Mr. Meeseeks to (fruitlessly) try to coach Jerry. It all culminates into pure, ridiculous, violent chaos, resulting in one of the most-loved Rick and Morty episodes even to this day.
Since that first episode, Mr. Meeseeks has reappeared time and time again throughout Rick and Morty, though usually as a cameo. The only exception is the season 4 episode “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat”, when Morty uses Mr. Meeseeks to go on a violent rampage for… reasons that are difficult to fully explain in a short article.
Rick and Morty season 6 ended on December 11, 2022, with an episode revolving around accidentally dropping a lightsaber vertically and trying to stop it before it hits the earth’s core and explodes the world. There’s very little doubt that a seventh season is on the way, though its release date has not been revealed.
