Krombopulos Michael

The character of Krombopulos Michael was created by Dominic Polcino and David Phillips for the Rick and Morty first season episode "Mortynight Run", and designed by James McDermott. In 2017's The Art of Rick and Morty, Michael is revealed to be an "upper class" Gromflomite who, like, Rick and his compatriots, is a rebel against the Galactic Federation. In 2022, he was added as a playable character to the video game ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege''. ==Fictional character biography==

Animated series In "Mortynight Run", Krombopulos Michael is introduced as Rick Sanchez's "best customer", a hitman who buys an anti-matter handgun from him for use in an upcoming assassination of his. While meeting Rick at a garage to purchase the gun, Michael introduces himself to Rick's grandson Morty, giving him a business card (listing his contact information, social media accounts, and "#KMichaelKills"), who expresses disapproval at Michael's open love of killing and general lack of morals. Later after breaking into the facility used to hold his target, a gaseous being, kissing a photo of his wife beforehand for luck, he is accidentally crushed to death by Morty, who crashes Rick's ship into him after stealing it, before completing his mission for him. Comic book series In "The Life and Death of Krombopulos Michael", the origin story of Michael is explored, from his earliest missions with the Galactic Federation (gaining the nickname "Krombopulos" from his home), to him eventually becoming a freelance assassin, meeting Rick, whose experience with romancing Unity inspires Michael to pursue romance himself, eventually meeting his future wife, Amy, the story continuing up until the moment of his death in "Mortynight Run". Following Michael's death, on being told Rick was responsible, Amy swears revenge on him in Michael's name, before returning to do so in Rick Revenge Squad as part of the titular squad. In the spin-off Rick and Morty Presents: Krombopulos Michael, another perspective of Michael's life is explored, during the events of "The Life and Death of Krombopulos Michael", displaying how his capacity for violence and connection with Rick greatly came to unnerve the latter over time. Video games In the role-playing video game Pocket Mortys, Krombopulos Michael is featured as a character skin. In the virtual reality game Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, Michael makes a cameo appearance via a message left by him to Rick (read by Clone Morty), while in 2022, Michael was added as a playable character to the online tactical shooter game ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege''. ==Merchandise==

Numerous pieces of merchandise based on Krombopulos Michael have been produced, with Beeline Creative creating themed Geeki Tiki of Michael, and a Funko Pop for the character released in 2017, a themed Mystery Mini releasing 2018. ==Reception==

The character has received a universally positive reception, being considered a breakout character and spawning numerous internet memes. Paste Magazine lauded "the enthusiastic politeness you'd expect" in Andy Daly's performance, The Boar complimenting it for "sell[ing] the giddy enthusiasm of killing [as] the kind of fun monster we can trust Rick and Morty to deliver", and Inverse calling him "one of the most charming and memorable [in] the show's history", with "Daly bring[ing] an undeniable charm to [the] character", marking him as the franchise's third-best character. Bleeding Cool praised the character's comic book depiction as having "a well-rounded personality despite his singular interest [who one would feel] genuine pity for", noting the "earnest, charming, and sometimes overbearing" nature of a character "far more charming and sympathetic than one might predict [from] the trail of bodies he leaves behind", with AIPT Comics finding the development of his friendship with Rick as "heartwarming", praising the writing for how "we commiserate with Krombopulos [Michael] even though he's a psychotic weirdo [and] feel for the guy when he's depressed and [then] actually root for him when he finds joy in murdering". ==References==