Highlights
- Birdperson is a wise, calm, and loyal friend to Rick, offering him advice and support throughout the series.
- Birdperson's past with Rick is explored in season 2, revealing their close friendship and shared experiences.
- Birdperson's death and subsequent resurrection as Phoenixperson caused tension between him and Rick, but they eventually reconciled and Birdperson is set to return in season 7.
When it comes to Rick and Morty, it’s not just the titular characters that steal the spotlight. One of the series’ most popular elements is its wide array of wacky side characters, each of them adding more personality to the series’ already bizarre mix of science fiction and dark humor. Among them stands Birdperson, who instantly became a fan-favorite character. Throughout the course of the series, Birdperson has undergone a big transformation and fans have gotten to witness many important moments in his life.
As his name suggests, Birdperson is a bird-like humanoid, and Rick’s best friend. He is a wise and calm creature, always willing to offer well-meaning advice, which contrasts with Rick’s impulsiveness and cynicism. Throughout the course of Rick and Morty, Rick’s backstory in the war against the Galactic Federation is explored. Birdperson fought alongside him, and despite their different personalities, have remained close friends since.
Which Rick and Morty Episode Introduces Birdperson?
Birdperson is introduced in the season 1 finale, “Ricksy Business.” The episode begins with Beth and Jerry going on a trip that recreates the Titanic experience, leaving Morty and Summer home under Rick’s care. Summer and Rick decide to throw a house party, which spirals out of control as the scientist invites multiple wacky and eccentric characters, such as Glip Glops, Squanchy, Gearhead, Abradolf Lincler, and Birdperson. Rick is excited to see Birdperson arrive at his party, and hints that they have been friends for a long time. During the party, Birdperson meets Tammy, Summer’s friend from school, and they quickly develop a romantic connection.
After the house is trashed, Morty, upset at Rick’s irresponsible behavior, ends the party and kicks everyone out of the house. Birdperson offers to help Morty clean up and explains to him that, in his people’s tongue, Rick's catchphrase “Wubba lubba dub dub” means he is in great pain and in need of help, which is why he constantly tries to numb himself. As he leaves the house with Tammy, Birdperson shows himself to be a great friend to Rick, and encourages Morty to make a decision about whether he wants to continue their adventures or be free from Rick forever. This makes Morty realize that he likes going on adventures with his grandpa and wants to keep doing it.
Birdperson’s Friendship With Rick
Season 2 episode 5, “Get Schwifty” shows a brief glimpse of Birdperson and Rick’s past. When he saves Morty after he takes Rick’s portal gun and travels to a dangerous dimension. Birdperson takes the teenager to his house on his home planet, where he has several pictures of him and Rick during their youth on his wall, including one of them in a band, one of them next to an aircraft, and one of Rick holding Morty as a baby. Birdperson mentions that he would be dead if it wasn’t for Rick, and later sends Morty back to Earth. In the episode “The Wedding Squanchers,” Birdperson tells Beth that he and Rick are wanted and considered terrorists for their crimes against the Galactic Federation.
A pig part of “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort,” the eight episode of the fifth season, takes place inside Birdperson’s mind, and shows several important moments of his life, including some about his past with Rick. When Rick arrives in Birdperson’s subconscious, he encounters a memory of when they first met. It reveals that they met an alien music festival, where they first bonded over hallucinogens. Rick, Birdperson, and Squanchy then developed a close friendship and formed a band together. Another memory shows that Birdperson helped Rick during a fight against multiple evil versions of Rick, and Rick helped him in some of his battles too.
Together, along with Squanchy and others, they formed the Ragtag Resistance Group against the Galactic Federation. After winning a war against the Federation and saving Birdperson’s home planet, Rick allowed himself to be vulnerable, and asked Birdperson to join him on his adventures and take to whatever reality he wants to, expressing his deep care for him. Birdperson, however, turned him down, stating that it is not worth his integrity, and instead gives Rick a beacon should he need any assistance in the future. Even though Rick was very hurt by his friend, they continued to be very close throughout the years, with Birdperson even being there when Morty was born.
Birdperson’s Death and Rebirth
Throughout season 2, Birdperson and Tammy’s relationship grows. In the final episode of the season, “The Wedding Squanchers,” the couple get married on Planet Squanch. Rick, the Smiths, and many of their friends attend the wedding. However, during the reception, Tammy reveals herself to be an undercover agent for the Galactic Federation, and announces that everyone present was under arrest. Chaos emerges at the wedding, and Tammy shoots Birdperson multiple times, killing him. This deeply hurts Rick, and he and Squanchy take down multiple agents.
Death, though, was not the end for Birdperson. In the post-credits scene of the third season’s first episode “The Rickshank Rickdemption,” Tammy and other Federation agents reveal to have modified Birdperson’s corpse with cybernetic parts, and they resurrect him. He wakes up and reveals that his name is now Phoenixperson, and flies off with Tammy. Phoenixperson isn’t seen again until the season 4 finale, “Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri,” where Rick learns that his best friend is technically still alive. When the two meet face to face for the first time since Birdperson’s death, Rick tells him that he killed Tammy, which angers Phoenixperson and causes him to fight Rick to the death, also telling the scientist that he was always a bad friend. Rick is rescued by Beth, Jerry, and Space Beth, who turns off a switch in the back of the cyborg Phoenix, causing him to shut down. In the end of the episode, it is revealed that Rick is keeping Phoenixperson’s body in his garage.
In “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort,” a parody of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Rick finally decides to bring Birdperson back to life, restoring his body and entering his mind in order to wake him up. This is when the scientist encounters all the previously mentioned memories from their past together. Some of the other memories he encounters center around his early relationship with Tammy. When Rick finds Birdperson inside his subconscious, the bird tells him that he has no interest in coming back and prefers to stay in his memories.
After Rick reveals to his best friend that he learned Tammy had secretly given birth to Birdperson’s child, Birdperson decides to live, since he now has a reason to live. He and Rick escape his memories, and they both wake up. Rick is excited to hang out with his best friend again like old times, but Birdperson is upset that the scientist didn’t tell him about his child, confronts him, and leaves. It is later revealed that his daughter is being held in a maximum security prison by the Federation. After this, Birdperson isn’t seen again until the trailer for Rick and Morty season 7, which confirms his return to the series.