Created by Stephen Sandoval and Ryan Ridley, and voiced by Justin Roiland for the first five seasons of the series,[1] followed by Harry Belden beginning with the seventh season, Evil Morty is an inter-dimensional traveller and an alternate version of Morty Smith Prime (created by Rolland and Dan Harmon) from another dimension in the multiverse, where-in sick of the adventures his grandfather Rick Sanchez 79⊢⊇V would force him to endure, he had developed a mind control eyepatch to control his Rick, aiming to find a way to break free of the Central Finite Curve and the influence of the Ricks residing on it.
The character has received a universally positive critical reception, praised for his iconic mind control eyepatch, theme song, and outwardly calm and understanding, yet inwardly cunning and ruthless demeanor.
[5] Discussing Evil Morty's team-up with Rick C-137 and Morty Prime against Rick Prime in "Unmortricken" that November, Harmon called it "a great idea to lean into [that] gave me vibes of 'The Wire' — learning throughout the first season that there’s different flavors of bad guy, and then you get that satisfaction of watching your favorite drug dealers against the one that had absolutely proven himself to be a merciless sociopath.
Let’s go after the guy with black hat.’", in describing how the episode gives "the audience does [a] chance to learn more about his psychology just as he's poised to take on an even more prominent role in the series' canon".
[6] In February 2024, Rick and Morty showrunner Scott Marder confirmed the character would return in future seasons, stating that the creatives to "have plans and grand designs with him" in the works.
In the episode, it is revealed that—bitter about the continuous replacement and exploitation of versions of himself and disgusted by Rick's narcissism—President Morty—ironically dubbed "Evil Morty" by Morty Prime—seeks to break free of the Rick-centered, "Central Finite Curve" and into the wider multiverse where Ricks don't control the outcome of the Smith family (i.e. using certain techniques that lead to Jerry and Beth Smith having children), and aren't necessarily the smartest.
[10] Evil Morty returns in "Unmortricken", where in an extended flashback opening sequence, he is revealed to be from Dimension 79⊢⊇V; after his Rick had challenged him to "quit" after an adventure-gone-wrong, he had gotten him drunk and taken him over with a mind control eyepatch, leading into his actions throughout the series.
[11] Another "Evil Morty" also appears in the series, living in a small cage next to a skull candle, and wearing a black turtleneck sweater while twirling his handlebar moustache.
[23] In November 2021, Evil Morty was added as a playable character in the role-playing video game Pocket Mortys, with his design based on his appearance in "Rickmurai Jack", after having been playable as the "Evil Rick" whose actions and dialogue he remotely controlled in "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind" since the game's launch in January 2016.
[27] Vulture praised "the blissed-out sexy indie [theme] music" of the newly-dubbed President (Evil) Morty and their initially "adorable and non[-]threatening" appearance in "The Ricklantis Mixup", in addition to expressing interest in the various fan theories around the character.
"[30] Paste referred to "the mo[st] sobering aspect of Evil Morty's return [a]s the realization that he’s…not so different from the Patrick Bate-Morty we met in "Rest and Ricklaxation" two weeks ago.
[31] The Mary Sue praised the initial character concept as "generator of a million theories, wisely held back by the writers for moments of maximum punch", describing their reintroduction as "the perfect way to force the issue of our Morty’s increased instability and keep things from reverting to the status quo."
before concluding that:[32] "[Justin] Roiland sells the gravitas and magnetism of Eyepatch Morty well—it’s easy to forget that this is a character we know very little about, beyond what could be extrapolated through the Rick he was controlling.
It’s a fantastic setup, effectively deploying the return of the now infamous “For the Damaged [Coda]” backing track without feeling forced.