- “Why don't I get Beth and we'll go out for ice cream?”
- —The last great idea that will ever be had in this garage.[src]
Diane Sanchez is the deceased wife of Rick Sanchez and the mother of Beth Sanchez.
Diane's death was the defining moment in Rick's life that made him into who he is. The story of Diane has been the overarching mystery of the series from season one up until season five. She was murdered by another Rick via an explosion from a futuristic bomb. The trauma from her murder caused Rick to spiral into a vengeful rampage, sending him on a journey to avenge his dead wife by finding the Rick that killed her.
Appearance
Diane Sanchez was a fair-skinned woman in what appeared to be her early-to-mid twenties. She had blonde hair and prominent lips, as well as several freckles on her face. The only outfit she's been shown in so far depicts her as wearing a pale blue blouse with white jeans.
Biography
Diane was Rick Sanchez's wife, and the mother of Beth. Not much has been revealed about what her relationship with Rick was actually like due to conflicting statements over the course of the series. However, it can be discerned that they had a happy marriage, as shown in the (only partially fabricated) flashback in "The Rickshank Rickdemption". Mr. Nimbus appears to have known Rick long enough to at least know who Diane was, although it is unclear if he actually knew her (as shown in "Mort Dinner Rick Andre").
However, Rick's marriage to Diane was tragically cut short when another Rick, annoyed at Rick's refusal to explore the universe like other Ricks, murdered Diane and an infant Beth using an explosive that destroyed Rick's house. As shown in "Rickmurai Jack", Rick spent the next several decades of his life systematically murdering various Ricks across the multiverse, trying to find the one who took his wife and child away from him. However, he was unsuccessful in his endeavor, and after founding the The Citadel he chose to settle down in a dimension where Diane was deceased and the Rick who had lived there had abandoned the family.
Rick avoids revealing much about his relationship with Diane to Morty for a good portion of the series. He even avoids telling the audience, deliberately pretending the backstory from "The Rickshank Rickdemption" is fabricated and interrupting Mr. Nimbus from establishing a "canonical backstory". After Morty finally learns in "Rickmurai Jack" due to the actions of Evil Morty and tries to sympathize, Rick brushes it off, claiming that at least "everyone can shut up about it."
Diane from the replacement dimensions
Not much is revealed about the Diane from the dimensions that Rick settled in, including the Cronenberged Dimension and Dimension C-131. The pilot episode confirms that she is at least deceased, based on Rick's remark that Beth's mother would have loved the breakfast she cooked. Comments by Rick in "Rick Potion #9" and "The Wedding Squanchers" suggest in these dimensions her marriage with Rick was considerably less happy, due to the Ricks' self-destructive attitudes: Rick characterizes it as a "failing marriage" in the former episode and remarks "I couldn't make a marriage work and I can turn a black hole into a sun" in the latter.
At the conclusion of "Auto Erotic Assimilation", Beth insists to Rick that she could never sacrifice her family's safety just to keep him in her life. At this point, Beth realizes that she sounds like her mother, suggesting that Mrs. Sanchez valued her family's safety over Rick's scientific experiments.
Episode Appearances
Season 3
- "The Rickshank Rickdemption"(flashback)
Season 4
- "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri"(flashback cameo)
Season 5
- "Mort Dinner Rick Andre" (mentioned)
- "Mortyplicity" (mentioned)
- "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort" (mentioned)
- "Rickmurai Jack" (flashback cameo)
Behind the Scenes
Until "Mort Dinner Rick Andre", the identity of Rick's wife and Beth's mother was ambiguous due to the nature of the flashback in "The Rickshank Rickdemption." The manner in which Rick denies being driven by a "totally fabricated backstory" led many to conclude the entire flashback was a ruse to fool his interrogator, indicating that the cause of Diane's passing, nay even her name, would remain ambigious. However, in "Mort Dinner Rick Andre", Diane is referenced by Mr. Nimbus, to which Rick angrily shoots it down as him establishing a canonical backstory. "Rickmurai Jack" eventually revealed the entire story was true, and the "fabricated" part was Rick coming up with the portal fluid formula.
Very little has been discussed about Diane Sanchez, even by the series' creators. Dan Harmon has said on multiple occasions that she was "unremarkable", later suggesting she was more comparable to Jerry, and that this was connected to Beth's idolization of Rick.[1][2][3]
In "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind", Rick is shown with a memory of having sex with a blonde woman, but she was confirmed to be different from Mrs. Sanchez.
Giahna Pantano, an artist who did the variant covers for Oni Press' Rick and Morty Issue 8 and Issue 9, created a character named "Bonnie Sinclair" who fills the role of Rick's wife and Beth's mother in her illustrations.[4]
Trivia
- Diane's only presence in the show (thus far) has been through references and flashbacks.
- Diane was voiced by Kari Wahlgren, the same actress who voices Jessica, the Space Cruiser and the Garage AI, among others.
- The fate of Diane in dimensions where Beth survived is unknown, although the way Beth and Rick talk about her in both the Cronenberged Dimension and in Dimension C-131 implies she is deceased.
Gallery
