Why Is Rick's Drool Always Green On Rick And Morty?
A tortured soul who also happens to be the most intelligent being in the entire multiverse, Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) of Adult Swim's "Rick and Morty" has a lot on his mind at any given moment — and chooses to dull his pain and immense brain power through the classic human pitfall of alcohol abuse. Indeed the very first episode of "Rick and Morty" begins with Rick, blackout drunk, threatening to blow up the earth with a hastily assembled neutrino bomb, and since then, we've watched him belch and slur his way through numerous adventures across the infinite multiverse.
On top of the iconic burping (which often occurs in the middle of Rick's sentences), another sign of Rick's drunken state is a telltale smear of green drool that drips down his chin – which has confused fans of the series since the very first episode, as there's never any explanation as to why Rick's saliva is green. On the surface, it seems easy to chalk this green drool up to an animator's decision, or perhaps that his favorite alcohol just happens to be green, or even that the liquid is actually puke. However, because it's never explicitly stated what this substance is, many fans on Reddit have proposed theories about what it might be –- with the most popular suggestion being a residue leftover from the "Mega Seeds" in Episode 1.
A popular theory suggests Mega Seeds are to blame
Fans of "Rick and Morty" will remember that the show's iconic pilot episode focuses on the titular duo's attempts to smuggle Mega Seeds through intergalactic security, which involves shoving those seeds into the butt of Morty Smith (Justin Roiland). The seeds in Morty's butt temporarily grant him superhuman intelligence. However, when the effects wear off, he loses all motor control and drools the same green substance that constantly drips from Rick's lips — leading some fans to theorize that Rick is eating these seeds regularly to maintain his intelligence.
As pointed out by u/gabeamccoy, one bit of evidence to support this theory includes the "Slow Rick" introduced in Season 3, who drools normal blue saliva from his mouth, unlike his more intelligent counterparts. Another, per u/aberrasian, is that the so-called "Citadel of Ricks" is shown to contain an enormous farm of Mega Seeds — which could supply the entire population of Ricks with the intelligence they need. U/RJC2506 even suggested that the drool coming out when he's drunk means that Rick is mixing the seeds with his alcohol.
There are a few flaws in this theory, one being the fact that we've never seen Rick lose motor control like Morty, nor have we seen him consume these seeds at any point in the past six seasons – though it certainly provides an interesting backstory for the odd green drool seen so frequently on his lips. In any case, it's still currently unconfirmed exactly where this green drool comes from, even though it's now become an iconic staple of Rick's character.