| “ | Rick, the Vindicators only call when the universe itself is at stake. They're the first line of defense against evil. They're the guardians of the unguarded! |
| — Morty Smith, Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender |
The Vindicators were a superhero team who made their first appearance in Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender. The team's arch-nemesis was Worldender. They recruited Rick and Morty to help them once before, but later neglected to summon them for the second adventure due to "personality conflicts". This resulted in them destroying a planet in order to defeat an enemy known as Doom-Nomitron, a situation Rick could have prevented if he were there. Nearly all of them were killed when Rick, in a fit of drunken jealousy and contempt, set up a Saw-style gauntlet to prove the team was nothing but a bunch of hacks who aren't as unique or great as they thought they were. This caused most of the team to die to Rick's traps or kill each other when tensions and inner turmoil turn them against each other. Supernova and Noob-Noob are currently the only members alive.
In Vindicators 2, which shows the events leading to Doom-Nomitron's death, more details about the actual events of the incident are revealed. Not only did Supernova destroy Dorian 5 by accident during her miscarriage, but she also killed the members who allegedly died fighting Doom-Nomitron in a drunken stupor. It is also revealed that The Vindicators had abandoned earth to avoid Doom-Nomitron, only for it to be killed by one of Rick's inventions without his knowing, allowing them to still take credit for its defeat.
Members[]
- Supernova - De Facto Leader
- Vance Maximus - De Facto Ex-Leader, Deceased
- Alan Rails - Deceased
- Crocubot - Deceased
- Million Ants - Deceased
- Rick Sanchez - Resigned
- Morty Smith - Resigned
- Lady Katana - Deceased
- Calypso - Deceased
- Diablo Verde - Deceased
- Noob-Noob - Intern/Janitor
Enemies[]
- Doom-Nomitron - Deceased
- Worldender - Deceased
- Drunk Rick - Formerly, Now Sober
Trivia[]
- The Vindicators are a parody of various superhero teams, including the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Justice League and Teen Titans.
- Vindicators 2 shows them to be more similar to The Seven from The Boys, as they care more for their public image then they do actually saving lives.
- Many of the team members also directly parody existing heroes or superhero tropes:
- Vance Maximus' leather jacket and rocket boots appear to be based on Star Lord, whilst his habit of "cool" drinking appears to be taken from Iron Man's alcoholism in the comics.
- Crocubot is extremely similar to DC Comics' Cyborg, albeit with his organic parts being reptilian than human.
- Supernova's appearance and powers are seemingly based on DC Comics' Dr. Manhattan.
- Lady Katana appears to be a direct reference to Katana from DC Comics.
- Diablo Verde could be seen as a mixture of several bulky, green characters from Marvel Comics, namely The Hulk and Drax the Destroyer. His name and tattoos are also somewhat similar to El Diablo from DC Comics.
- Million Ants and Alan Rails are seemingly unique as they don't appear to be direct parodies or references. Although one could argue Million Ants' anatomy references several insect-themed superheroes, including Marvel's Ant-Man. Alan Rails could possibly be compared to heroes such as Marvel's Ghost Rider, whose powers focus on the paranormal rather than a traditional superpower.
- Their logo is a vertically inverted Avengers Logo with cross-hairs around it, creating a V rather than an A.
- As an intergalactic team, they appear to be unconcerned with Earth, as Supernova had not heard of Israel until Drunk Rick ranted about it.
- An additional member was planned for The Vindicators called "Arrowgirl"/"Quiver" and to star in the b-plot of the episode, but was cut along with the b-plot.[1]
- It is likely that the character Ventriloquiver, who is a female archer and dummy supplemented this scrapped character in One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty.
- Given the name of the cut hero, she was likely going to be a parody of Marvel Comics hero Kate Bishop.
- More scrapped members include: Dr. Reach, man with stretching powers; conjoined twins, where one was very fit and attractive, and the other one wasn't; and a knitting grandma.
- A spin-off starring the Vindicators, Vindicators 2, was released on Adult Swim's YouTube channel on July 23, 2022 which served as a prequel to their debut episode.
References
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