Unity is a collective hivemind and Rick Sanchez's former lover. It is a powerful entity that can control minds, and form alliances. It takes the forms of multiple genders, races, and likely species, but uses both male and female avatars, including around Rick. Unity first appeared in "Auto Erotic Assimilation", where it briefly gets back together with Rick, only for them to separate again at the end of the episode.
Biography
Unity makes its first appearance on a space ship where it assimilates the remainder of the planet it currently occupies. Rick, Morty, and Summer follow a distress signal coming from a seemingly 'abandoned' ship. A group of normal aliens asks for Rick's help to defeat the evil entity that's taking over their minds. Unity takes control of the group's minds, and it recognizes Rick. Rick introduces it to his grandkids, Morty and Summer. Rick explains that Unity and he used to date.
Unity communicates with Rick through the alien citizens, sometimes switching between male or female avatars mid-conversation. It tells Rick its plans to manage an organization efficient enough to merge with the Galactic Federation, where it will have access to countless other worlds for it to assimilate until it becomes "what the single-minded once called a god". Rick is impressed by this and the two quickly rekindle their relationship as lovers.
Unity has so much fun reconnecting with Rick and performing crazy stunts to impress him that it gradually loses control of the citizens it is possessing. Its citizens start a race war after becoming more free-willed, chasing after Morty and Summer. Unity controls a SWAT team to come and rescue them. Summer and Morty, traumatized, insist to be taken home. Summer explains that Rick has an unhealthy impact on Unity and expresses her disapproval toward their relationship.
Rick decides to stay, but Unity writes breakup letters that spread across the alien planet. It confesses its love for Rick, but ultimately concedes that they cannot be together. Rick returns home and attempts suicide, but narrowly fails.
Abilities
Unity assimilates minds by making one of its hosts vomit into another individual's mouth in a terrifying and disgusting fashion, effectively assimilating the individual into the hivemind. Unity's hosts also seem to act animalistic while spreading, making them screech and point at unassimilated individuals, although Unity can imitate natural 'humanoid' behavior as well while in a passive, controlled state. It has individual control of every body it assimilates.
All of Unity's avatars seem to possess the same brain when being controlled by it, moving and speaking transitionally through entire civilizations of people.
Appearances
Season 2
Trivia
- Though it uses a number of forms around Rick, including multiple genders, during the second half of the episode it mostly seems to focus from a purple-haired female form, voiced by actress Christina Hendricks. This form also may have been the leader of the planet before Unity took over because it was surrounded by body guards while speaking to Rick in the beginning of Auto Erotic Assimilation.
- In the commentary of "Auto Erotic Assimilation", Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland describe Unity as a genderless character.
- The form mentioned above also appeared in the Rickstaverse game, on a screen inside an abandoned spaceship, with a delete history tab next to it.
- It was revealed in the commentary for the episode, "Auto Erotic Assimilation", that Unity's primary form has flat concentric nipple rings.
- Unity was originally going to appear in Season 1, during an alien comic-con, but the idea was scrapped and reused for the Season 2 episode "Auto Erotic Assimilation".
- A lot of the people Unity assimilated on the alien planet highly resemble background characters from Earth..
- Unity is only referred to as 'it', omitting the use of gender-specific pronouns.
- "I want to talk to Unity, Beta Seven. I know it's in there." -- Rick
- "Actually, no. I think Unity's great and you're a horrible influence on it." -- Summer
- Unity is the name of a similar Alien parasite in Superman: The Animated Series that also aims to mind control entire worlds by entering through their mouths.
- Unity stated that it was the population of a small town when it met Rick.
- Unity's origins are completely unknown.
- Unity's original plans were for the planet it assimilated to join the Galactic Federation and assimilate the entire Federation, but its current plans are unknown due to the destruction of the Federation in "The Rickshank Rickdemption".
- It calls any non-hive minds "single-minded".