Pickle Rick has fast become the most beloved incarnation of Rick in the smash hit tv show Rick and Morty, the only show on television where an episode that revolves around the main character turning himself into pickle is seen as completely normal. And what an episode it was. It’s less Veggie Tales and more Die Hard in the way the episode plays out. Which begs one simple question…..how the hell did Rick turn himself into a Pickle? Let’s find out….
Rick’s ability to turn himself into a Pickle is clearly some form of advanced shapeshifting or metamorphosis. Granted this form of shapeshifting is firmly grounded in science fiction rather than in reality, but it’s not complete fiction. Let me explain.
Shapeshifting is an area that scientists have been researching for decades. In 1972 scientists discovered that they could deliver the DNA of one organism into the nucleus of another with the help of plasmids, small packets of DNA found within bacteria. This meant that two organisms, no matter how distinct they are in their genetic structures, could share DNA.
Subsequently, the very next year in 1973, the first genetically modified organism was created, an e-coli bacterium that expressed the salmonella gene, because e-coli isn’t scary enough on its own. Since then scientists have created bacteria that creates insulin, cabbage with scorpion venom, cats that glow in the dark and all manners of weird creatures that go to show that scientists probably need to relax. Scientists are getting better and better at finding and altering single genes, however this is about the point where we reach the limitations of what we can achieve today.
This is where modern technology in the form of a chromallocyte enters into the picture. A chromallocyte is a nanorobot that rewrites DNA faster and more efficiently than it can be done in nature by bacteria and viruses. Since it’s a type of nanorobot it’s tiny...really tiny. A chromallocyte has already been designed by Robert Freitas, a Senior Research Fellow at the nonprofit foundation Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, that’s small enough to fit inside the nucleus of a cell.
This nanorobot has yet to be built given the current limitations of our technology, but given the speed of technological progress it is likely these will exist sooner rather than later. Eventually we will be able to manufacture nanorobots that can move freely around our bodies within our cytoplasm, rewriting DNA in the process. And if scientists are able to conceptualise something that can achieve this, you can bet that Rick would be able to design and build them himself. It is entirely possible that Rick has developed nanorobots that move through his bloodstream, realtering his DNA to turn him into a pickle, with the notable exception of leaving his eyes, mouth and some brain function in tact. This may also explain what exactly is in the syringe - it is a liquid substance containing these nanorobots, with the liquid acting as a medium in which the nanorobots can move to realter Rick’s DNA between that of a human and a pickle.
The use of nanorobots may explain how Rick transformed himself from a human into a pickle. But hang on, we’re not there yet. This is where the laws of physics come into play. Assuming that Rick can rewrite his DNA, change his shape and become a pickle there is still a problem...during this process of pickleification Rick’s mass cannot be altered. Rick’s mass, the matter that he’s made up of, cannot change due to the Law of the Conservation of Mass, which states that mass cannot be created or destroyed, merely rearranged from one form to another. This means that despite Rick looking like a Pickle, he wouldn’t be the same as a Pickle. He’d be dense….very dense.
His entire weight, which we’ll estimate to be around 140 pounds, would be condensed into the size of a pickle. This would have some very interesting effects. Having all of this mass concentrated into such a small area would make Pickle Rick incredibly powerful if he were to come into contact with someone or something. Imagine the entire weight of a person condensed down that small hitting you - the force behind the hits would be immense, given he was able to move himself in the first place.
This does raise some questions about how the suit he used to escape the sewers supported his weight. It seems unlikely that some repurposed rat legs would be able to support all of that weight. But then again the issue of mass conservation may not even be a problem. Given that this is Rick we’re talking about we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s managed to circumvent the Law of the Conservation of Mass, being the smartest mammal in the galaxy. Beyond that even, as Morty once remarked, he’s like some kind of messed up God, a God that can ignore the laws of physics. And if he is a God then I think we can agree….ALL HAIL PICKLE RICK.