This Rick and Morty Twist Makes Morty's Off-Screen Mermaid Hook-Up Way Funnier

Summary Morty didn't lose his virginity to a mermaid in Rick and Morty season 3 - it was actually an angler fish lure.

Morty's romantic history is full of failures, from missing opportunities to falling for predators.

The latest Rick and Morty comic reveals Morty's 'mermaid' encounter was just a funny twist.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Rick and Morty 10th Anniversary Special!Morty reached a major milestone in Rick and Morty season 3, as it’s revealed that he lost his virginity to a mermaid when he and Rick went to Atlantis. This trip was referenced again in season 5 by Mr. Nimbus, further confirming this huge step in Morty’s life. However, in Rick and Morty’s latest adventure, it’s revealed that this moment actually wasn’t as significant as fans originally thought - but it’s way funnier.

In Rick and Morty 10th Anniversary Special by Alex Firer, Fred C. Stresing, and Dean Rankine, Rick has decided to finally move out of his iconic garage and into a nursing home. Morty and Summer help Rick pack up his valuables, giving fans a number of awesome easter eggs and callbacks to some of the most memorable episodes in the series. However, it isn’t until a bit later in the story that the major cameos kick off, as practically every side character in Rick and Morty lore stops by to give Rick a proper sendoff - including Mr. Nimbus.

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When Mr. Nimbus - Rick's ultimate nemesis - showed up, he brought with him his entire Atlantean Court, which included the mermaid Morty hooked up with back in season 3. Morty spots his former fling and starts acting bashful, giving her a shy wave while his face turns red from blushing. But then, Rick points out that the ‘mermaid’ Morty’s waving to is actually a giant angler fish using a fake mermaid to lure in its prey.

Morty Never Hooked Up with a Mermaid in Rick and Morty, & It Nearly Killed Him

Just as a regular angler fish uses light emitted from the end of a tendril hanging in front of its face to lure its prey, this giant angler fish uses a fake mermaid as bait - and it worked on Morty. Not only does Morty admit that he has a crush on this angler fish’s ‘mermaid’, but this issue implies that Morty fell for this trick during his first trip to Atlantis in season 3. It seems Morty never lost his virginity to a mermaid, but rather hooked up with an angler fish, and Rick just let his grandson have the win.

While it is certainly disappointing for Morty that perhaps the most significant moment in his sexual maturity was a complete lie, it also nearly cost him his life. Morty was intimate with the lure of an angler fish, believing it to be a real mermaid. Morty fell for the bait just as the angler fish intended, meaning he not only didn’t hook up with a mermaid, he nearly got eaten, and he’s lucky that - for one reason or another - that angler fish didn’t finish Morty off.

Morty’s ‘Mermaid Fail’ in Rick and Morty is the Latest in a Long History

Morty seemingly missed his chance to hook up with a real mermaid by unwittingly doing so with an angler fish, and that’s not the first time Morty has experienced this level of romantic failure. Morty missed his shot with Jessica after she became a Time God, he had his entire history with his girlfriend from “The Vat of Acid Episode” erased, and his relationship with Planetina fell apart. Morty has not been lucky in love throughout his Rick and Morty history, and this revelation about the ‘mermaid’ he hooked up with is just the latest example.

Of course, there’s still a chance that Morty did lose his virginity to a mermaid upon his first journey to Atlantis, as it’s only implied that he hooked up with an angler fish in this issue. But, with his other romantic failures added to what fans see in this Rick and Morty comic, it’s a safe bet that Morty’s sexual encounter with a mermaid was nothing more than unnatural relations with a predator that wanted to eat him, which is a twist that makes Morty’s off-screen mermaid hook-up way funnier.

Rick and Morty 10th Anniversary Special by Oni Press is available now.