Gerald Richard "Jerry" Smith is a supporting character in Rick and Morty. He is Morty's insecure father, who strongly disapproves of Rick's influence over his son. Along with this is his jeopardized marriage to his wife, Beth, whom he finds himself struggling to keep a hold of due to her close relationship with her father. He works at a low-level advertising agency and finds himself in constant unemployment.
Personality[]
Jerry always tries to think of the best interest of the family, but his attempt to be the patriarch of the family can often be misguided by his self-centered nature. This causes him a great deal of confliction with Rick, as his father-in-law clearly has no respect for him whatsoever.
Jerry can sometimes become misguided by his insecurities. He attempts to ship Rick off to a nursing home in the first episode. In the episode "Anatomy Park", Jerry has difficulty overcoming his uncomfortable feelings about his parents' relationship with Jacob, despite their happiness. Jerry frequently battles with bouts of jealousy, being constantly reminded that his marriage is on rocky terms. He tells Beth that if she ever cheats on him he will "blow his brains out" over their naked bodies.
In the episode "Something Ricked This Way Comes", Jerry's insecurities lead to helping Morty on a science project, to which he refuses to concede that Pluto is no longer a planet. This results in him and Morty being abducted to Pluto. Once on Pluto they are greeted by King Flippy Nips and other Plutonians who hail Jerry as a 'confirmation-bias' scientist. Jerry's popularity on Pluto quickly goes to his head, giving him an inflated ego but ultimately he tells them that Pluto is not a planet after being pressured by Morty to save their dwarf planet.
Despite Jerry's weaknesses, he has the ability to channel the inner strength to face his fears, such as directly confronting the army of Mr. Meeseeks, fighting off the mutated Cronenbergs, and destroying his and Beth's Mytholog's. He is also a film/tv shows geek ("Mortynight Run")
Trivia[]
- Jerry majored in Civics in college.
- He has an "antique" coin collection that pictures R2-D2 instead of George Washington. He claims that Beth hates him for buying the coins in "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind."
- In "Ricksy Business", it is heavily implied that Jerry was sexually assaulted earlier in life.
- Jerry is a big Titanic fan, as he goes on a Titanic-themed romantic getaway with Beth in "Ricksy Business", and has a picture of the Titanic on his study wall in "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind".
- He appears to be left-handed.
- Jerry's car is a green 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon.
