Beth is the most messed up character that Rick and Morty has ever had. The animated series is known for the outlandish antics and imaginative stories, but all of the multiverse adventures are rooted in family drama. Rick and Morty is based around Rick Sanchez, an absentee father and grandparent, reuniting with his daughter Beth after 20 years. But, Rick ends up spending most of his time hopping around the multiverse with his grandson Morty instead of spending time with Beth.
The multiple realities that Rick and Morty has explored have brought about some strange, and sometimes even disturbing, characters to the series. Viewers have been introduced to Krombopulos Michael, an alien hive mind, and also other versions of Rick and Morty - like Pickle Rick or Evil Morty. Through all of these adventures though, it is actually Rick's daughter Beth who may be the most messed up character Rick and Morty has.
The complicated nature of Beth comes from emotional baggage and unresolved childhood issues. Rick and Morty has not been shy of showing how she has a superiority complex to mask her pain and abandonment issues. While Rick does encourage some of her worse tendencies, Beth also showed some troubling signs as a child. As explored in a new Screen Rant video, she is the most messed up character on Rick and Morty.
Beth may have roles in quite a few Rick and Morty episodes, but it was finally in the penultimate episode of season 3 "The ABC's of Beth" that the show really explored her upbringing. The episode features Rick explaining to Beth that she was a scary kid and would always ask him to make the weirdest inventions. Rick built ray guns, a whip that makes people like you, invisibility handcuffs, a parent trap that looks just like a bear trap, a teddy bear with anatomically correct innards, and more for Beth.
While each of those "toys" has some troubling implications, Rick's attempts to parent Beth resulted in him creating Froopyland. The artificially created world was made so that Beth would not terrorize the neighborhood as a child. However, the new play area for Beth still had some consequences, as Beth took a childhood friend named Tommy and trapped him in Froopyland for decades. She did this out of jealousy for his relationship with his father.
Through all of this, her treatment of Morty, and possible bloodlust, the part of Beth that makes her so messed up is the lack of responsibility she takes for her actions. She blames all of her problems on Rick and how he was not around to raise her properly. Even for something like trapping Tommy in Froopyland for decades, she refused to apologize or take responsibility for what happened, even though she went there to rescue him. With Rick and Morty set to receive several new seasons, the series will hopefully show some maturity from Beth eventually.