the animated series rick and morty is preparing to premiere its sixth season, and it is clear that its bases are deeply rooted in science fiction, so it might seem strange that it has some kind of connection with a manga series like it is dragon ballas this one is about mystical powers, entities from another world and magical orbs that grant wishes.
Even so, there is a strange connection between the two, since Rick and Morty apparently stole one of the most iconic Dragon Ball stories, this happened within season 3, during episode 6 “Rest and Ricklaxation”where the protagonists go to a relaxing alien spa after surviving a particularly terrifying and life-threatening mission.
It is there, where in one of the treatments at that spa he stripped Rick and Morty of the toxins in their bodies, including their most toxic traits, so as they left the spa feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, the toxicity they got rid of their bodies actually came to life and became the living embodiment of the darker sides of Rick and Morty, so when Toxic Rick Y Toxic Morty breaking free from the spa prison they were born in, the two try to corrupt the Earth and make everyone like them.
This connection brings us to chapter 164 of the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyamawhere Goku seek Kamisama, the God of Earth, to ask the deity if he can revive shenlong and restore the magic of the Dragon Balls, after Piccolo killed the Eternal Dragon in a previous chapter, to which he agrees to bring him back to life as he felt responsible for the Dragon’s death due to his strange relationship with Piccolo.
Since as he explains and Piccolo were once a single being, but why Kamisama rise to the position of god, he needed to remove all traces of toxicity and evil from his body, and this process resulted in the birth of the villainous Piccolo, who went on to try to conquer Earth.
Now, these similarities between these two stories coincide on almost every level, so just as Kamisama rid his body of the more sinister aspects of his personality, Rick and Morty also cleansed themselves of their toxicity, and in both circumstances, those parts darkest of themselves took on a life of their own, moreover, each of these characters’ evil counterparts tries not only to conquer the world, but also to make the world exactly like them: demonic and evil.