| “ | I was Zuckerberging people before Zuckerberg's balls dropped. I'm the Devil, biatch! WAIT WHAT?! |
| — to Summer when he kicks her out of his business., Something Ricked This Way Comes |
Mr. Lucius Needful, also known as the Devil, is the main antagonist of Something Ricked This Way Comes. Lucius is an eccentric gentleman who runs a vintage antique shop called Needful Things. He hires Summer to help work around the shop, which sells cursed merchandise.
Personality[]
Mr. Needful is shown to be dark and menacing, but treats Summer with respect. He receives joy in giving unsuspecting customers cursed items, and does his best to ensure he runs a successful business.
Examples of his products include:
- Aftershave that attracts women but makes the user impotent.
- A microscope that will show the user knowledge beyond comprehension but will also make them retarded.
- A typewriter that writes bestselling murder mysteries but also makes the stories occur in real life.
- Skin cream that makes women prettier but also blinds them.
- Running shoes that allow the wearer to run fast but also makes them run until they die.
- Boxing gloves that will make the wearer the national boxing champion... in 1936 where they would be trapped in a time loop, winning the same fight over and over again for eternity.
It's later revealed that he is, in fact, the Devil. While his relationship with Summer starts off strong, he eventually would toss her aside when his next business n33dful.com would take off.
Mr. Needful and Rick quickly developed a dislike for each other, and Rick took great joy in ruining Mr. Needful's shop by creating the anti-cursing business Curse Purge Plus!.
Appearances[]
Season 1[]
Other Media[]
Trivia[]
- Mr. Needful and his shop, Needful Things, is a parody of the novel "Needful Things" by Stephen King.
- Mr. Needful's design is based on Mr. Dark from the 1983 Disney adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.
- The black turtleneck he wears after becoming successful is a reference to Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple.
- After he "Zuckerbergs" Summer, he picks up a fiddle and begins playing it, a possible allusion to the Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 hit, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".
- Summer refers to his betrayal of her as a "Zuckerburging", which is a reference to when Mark Zuckerburg screwed over his partner, and co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin by diluting his shares.
- In the Rick and Morty Rickstaverse game, the discarded manuals to multiple N33dful.com products can be seen.
- Mr. Needful "Zuckerberging" Summer might be the result of her use of a monkeys paw, as it was the one item left that was still cursed.
- The paw was based off the exact same item in the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, in which a monkey's paw can grant the owner three wishes, but at hellish consequences for tampering with fate, further proving that Summer being "Zuckerberged" was very likely a negative drawback from using the paw.
Gallery[]
