One of the two titular protagonists in Rick And Morty, and Rick's long-term adventuring partner, Morty has seen his fair share of the universe and all of its alternate realities. When he began the series as an average, albeit incredibly nervous, teenage boy, it was clear from the start that while Morty was experiencing the wonders of the universe, he was suffering for it too.
The life of Morty, or any Morty in the case of the reality-bending series, isn't one without hardships and difficulties. Being Morty isn't all adventures into forgotten lands and meeting species viewers wouldn't even dream of, it's being responsible for the planet, the universe, and for some reason, absolutely everything else.
10 Rick Has Incredibly High Expectations For Him
While it doesn't get mentioned often due to Rick's dislike of compassionate displays, it's abundantly clear that Rick believes in Morty more than he does anybody else, but this belief only leads to him putting an unbelievable amount of pressure on the teenager.
Morty gets scolded particularly hard when he does something wrong or childish. When comparing Rick's reaction to Jerry, who does stupid things more often than not, his reaction to Morty is so overblown that it's no surprise Morty feels an intense pressure to always make Rick proud.
9 He's Holding His Family Together
When Beth and Jerry fell apart, Morty's sister Summer joined them in jumping off the deep end and participating in either reckless or nonsensical behavior. Combined with Rick being pleased that Beth was finally getting rid of Jerry, Morty was the only family member left who actively tried to help everyone despite his own struggles.
Without Morty, it's safe to say the Smith family would no longer be a family, but instead a collection of tangentially related, dysfunctional people. Even with Summer, who tends to love disobeying him because she's his sister, he shares a special bond with her that helps bring her back to the family time and time again.
8 Going Through Puberty
Yes, Morty has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, but that doesn't mean he stops dealing with the typical problems that plague every boy his age, the worst of which is puberty. With the ongoing joke that Morty's voice often cracks, it's clear he's in the midst of a big change.
Worst of all, Morty's issues with puberty can often lend themselves to disastrous results. When Morty found the Gazorpian sex robot on an outing with Rick, he didn't think twice about having sex with it, fathering Morty Jr in the process and nearly getting many innocent people killed.
7 Being Earth's Second Line Of Defense At Fifteen
Despite his issues with the government and his indifference towards this particular Earth reality, Rick is still the planet's first line of defense. The only issue with this, however, is sometimes the threats that Rick attracts to Earth are so powerful only he can defeat them... Or someone else who understands how to use his inventions.
Enter Morty, who, due to him always being present besides Rick, has gained a similar reputation despite being nothing more than an average human. If Rick isn't around, Morty isn't only looked at for guidance, but he feels guilty for not fixing the problem, even if he has no idea what fixing it would entail.
6 He's Painfully Aware Of His Own Mortality
In one of the darkest, earlier moments of the show, Morty is forced by Rick to leave his original reality and migrate to another after everyone in his original reality was Cronenberged. The only issue is, to do this Morty has to kill and bury himself, or the version of himself in the new reality, anyway.
This has a profound effect on Morty, who becomes entirely aware of his mortality. When he eventually confesses to Summer, it becomes clear that Morty is not ignorant as to how insignificant his own life is, telling her to simply enjoy herself and the simple moments they get because it could end at any time.
5 Constant Identity Crises
Rick And Morty shows viewers a whole litany of different realities, and in each of these realities is a different version of Rick and Morty. While the Rick in the show, Rick C-137, is known as The Rickest Rick, and is cemented as basically the ultimate version of himself, Morty doesn't get the same concession.
There's definitely something different about Morty C-137, but it's never explicitly told to Morty that he should set himself apart from all the others. He is constantly facing the fact there are a million versions of himself out there, and that he's simply another grain of rice.
4 Dealing With The Repercussions Of Rick's Actions
Being associated with Rick doesn't just come with perks, it comes with a whole lot of trouble and pain. Because it isn't just the people who need Rick's help who know all about Morty, it's every single one of his enemies, and there's a lot of them to deal with.
Whether it's a singular alien out for blood or a galactic invasion due to Rick's actions, Morty is always right there in the center of it. He gets pretty lucky most of the time, but sometimes he receives a genuinely horrific injury that, thankfully, science can solve, but the pain still happened.
3 He Can't Maintain Normal Relationships
Morty has essentially no friends his age in the show, nor does he spend a significant amount of time with anyone from his school. Even Summer can often be seen texting or making allusions to friends or boyfriends she's had, but clearly, Morty struggles with socializing.
The few friends he's made since Rick moved in have either been his grandpa's friends or aliens he sees only a couple of times a year maximum. Morty found it difficult enough as a normal, anxious teenage boy to make friends, and a thousand travels later don't seem to have made it any easier.
2 A Distinct Lack Of Self-Worth
Despite all the good he does and how much responsibility he carries, Morty is always in someone's shadow. His sister has more self-confidence and is well-liked, his mother and grandfather are more intelligent, and he doesn't respect his father enough to worry about him.
Not just that, even Jerry sometimes belittles Morty, and though Morty can give as good as he can receive it, that doesn't mean it isn't tiring for Morty to be constantly reminded of his inferiority compared to the majority of his family - and the multiverse - at every turn.
1 Being Seen As Rick's Weakness
Perhaps the most difficult pill to swallow for Morty is that, no matter what he does or where he goes, he will always be seen as Rick's weak spot. Not only have Rick's enemies used that against the duo multiple times, other Ricks and other Mortys do it too.
It's ironic that the one thing Morty doesn't believe when it comes to Rick, which is his love for his grandson, is the one thing that causes Morty the most problems. Of course, if Rick was better at showing his true feelings for Morty - and the rest of his family - this wouldn't be a problem for anyone.