Rick Shades is a Chameleon.
Nahhh reaaaaaally Flicker? You don’t say?? :OO
But no seriously. (Character study time! By yours truly! :))
I find it interesting that the book could’ve just simply described Rick being transformed into a plain old lizard and leave it at that. But no! It SPECIFICALLY says that he’s a chameleon of all things.
And sure, it’s mostly likely a nod to his powers of being able to mimic other people’s abilities. But I also think that in a social sense, it makes you start connecting a ton of interesting things about his character. One key idea being that specifically:
Rick is a Social Chameleon.
And his backstory most likely had an influence into making him this way.
(⚠️Prison of Plastic Spoilers obviously⚠️)
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To define a Social Chameleon: “It refers to someone who can quickly adapt their personality and behaviour to different situations. Adjusting their persona to better suit others and increase their likability.”
And if we look back to multiple scenes from Prison of Plastic, Rick consistently practices this behaviour:
………… Evidence: …………..
• The first word he wakes up to on the beach was “win.” And since he’s conditioned to equate winning = very cool/likeable/friend-worthy, he jumps to the task with zero questions asked even if he doesn’t fully get why they’re doing it. And with impressive speed too! He quickly adapts to what these 3 little girls must’ve been expecting from a winner.
• By the time they’re in Lorelai’s dream bubble, Rick has already taken a mental note that the NeoTrio love games. And what does he try attempting to do? Start a game of course!
“Whoever reaches the hovel first will be the winner!” Surely if he starts a new game AND win it at the same time, his likability score will shoot up, right? “Technically if I shoot my tongue out before we get there, I still win.”
I doubt games were common back in the Colosseum he came from. So I assume that him suddenly suggesting ideas for FUN competitive games is him trying to appeal to their interests.
• Upon approaching the Spelling Bee, this book quote pretty much confirmed it for me going forward: “Rick didn’t know what a “bee” was but given the lack of reaction from the others, he assumed they were harmless.”
This confirms that he’d been watching and observing his companions fairly intently. Social chameleons have a knack for doing this even subconsciously as a way to navigate social situations. Note that this won’t be the only time he’ll do this.
• When Feenie stands up to take the Spelling quiz, Rick asks the Bee first if him helping her would count as “cheating.” And when confirmed, he goes back into Molly’s hair without arguing. He’s learnt his lesson at the beach that Feenie can and WILL break their pact for cheating. So he adapts to her wishes to preserve their bond.
• Approaching the ScareGrow this time, Feenie and Trixie were arguing about drugs. To where Trixie apologised for not using a play frame. Note that she only mentioned the term “play frame” out loud once. Later, after the tongue and worm incident, Rick then says:
“I’m sorry, I forgot to use a play frame!” Which tells us that he’s been intently observing and listening to his companions AGAIN. (Told you it won’t be the last time). Rick admits that he doesn’t even know what the word meant, but since Feenie does, he would too. This is a common tactic by Social Chameleons. They mimic the people around them because as humans, we’re all more naturally drawn to people who act a lot like us. So mimicking their mannerisms is an attempt at winning their good favour.
• This one is basically just my previous evidence but a lot more obvious in text. While they approached the pumpkins, Feenie screamed in fear. And you know what he does? Rick pretended to ALSO be afraid of pumpkins too. In the book’s own words: he was “Attempting some kind of solidarity with her.” Despite not even knowing if there was any real danger at all.
• Rick has no backbone. Really. He never argues back and just accepts what happens next with a smile. When he misheard Molly saying “bomb’ instead of “lip balm,” he doesn’t question her. He’s just going to uncomfortably accept he was being fed a bomb. Just a “Wow! Okay, sure!”
When he asks a question and he’s given an answer, Rick doesn’t try clarifying further. He nods despite understanding nothing.
When Molly admitted she wants to enter the bubble alone, Rick flickers for a second before going: “Oh, yeah, no, sure. I get it.” He never pushes back even if it saddens him. Why would he? That would make him unlikeable!
Sure he’s pushy with befriending people, but still, he tries not to step out of line. He’s afraid of conflict that would be difficult to come back from. When he asked whether he could join the NeoTrio’s “Axolotl phrase,” he doesn’t push it when Trixie firmly said no. It was only near the end when he’s able to join them, and even then he awaited their permission first before doing so.
• There was even a bit in Chapter 8 where he sounded hesitant when describing the surface world as “livelier than he expected.” Only when Molly reassures him that it wasn’t the case outside Lori’s bubbles, Rick sounded relieved and finally released his true opinions about how this whole witch situation SUCKS. Like he was afraid to offend Molly if he ever said something negative about her surface home.
I think the only time he breaks out of this pattern is the tongue and worm incident with Feenie and Trixie. But I suspect the reason he even did that was mainly because of desperation. It’s been hours, his usual tactics aren’t working, and his proficiency is only at 1. Still weak. Time for underhanded methods! (Plus, he doesn’t even know that this isn’t standard friend behaviour.) Even then, he breaks down when his plan backfired and quickly folded to apologise the moment Feenie tells him to.
……………………………
Now idk if this concept was consciously considered when deciding to make him into a chameleon. But if it is, NEAT! :D
Because basically, what I’m pointing out here is that it aligns terrifically well with what we know about Rick and his backstory.
So, How does it align?
Being a social chameleon isn’t inherently bad. It can be a nice skill! But when it comes to a point of having a distorted sense of identity due to always having to constantly cater to everyone else? It just becomes an exhausting chore. Always adapting to different situations.
In Rick’s case, it’s the worst because his survival LITERALLY depends on how much he is liked. He needs to keep adjusting his persona, his mask, so he could keep his powers. If he can’t, he risks being at death’s door.
Rick has a very distorted view on friendship. He thinks of it as a transaction. Because that’s all it ever was in the arena. They would let him borrow their powers. And then he would mould himself to be THE “perfect opponent” in the ring. The guy who would put up a good fight but lose on purpose in the end so they can gain just enough experience points to progress.
And yet, even though he’s no longer in the colosseum anymore, this defense mechanism is still all he ever knew for the longest time. He keeps trying to offer the girls the “deal of a lifetime!” and shifting his colours to better suit their interests. Games? Winning? Play-frames? Anti-cheating? Anything his friends like, he will be! :D
…………….
Molly’s Part in this Dynamic:
But now, his usual tactics don’t work on the surface anymore. He is a fish out of water. No one here is desperate to trade for his “services.” Especially Molly. A girl who cringes at the thought of others bending over backwards to help her instead of usually the other way around. (I love their dynamic sm)
She repeatedly refuses his offers, both uninterested in his help and due to distrusting him. The only time she finally responds is when he accidentally starts being authentic. Molly is the only person in the longest time who’s actually curious about the person underneath the mask. She’s not interested in his loud facade. Or whatever persona he could shift into for her. She wants to know Odi.
And he finds it both confusing and terrifying. Why would someone pick Toidei instead of Rick? Rick could readjust himself to be anyone’s version of a perfect friend! Toidei is a dusty old book from a time long-forgotten. A near-stranger to even his own mind. He’s weaker…and more vulnerable.
Odi canonically has bad self-esteem issues:
• When his old childhood friends forget about him, he doesn’t blame them. He doesn’t consider himself memorable anyway.
• When his 3 friends from the colosseum suddenly snapped their strings, he instantly assumes they purposely planned for him to die. It’s not their fault HE must’ve been a “lousy friend.”
• When Giovanni explained how uncool it is to copy someone else’s power move word-for-word, Rick just confidently says: “Trust me. You can be very uncool and still wear these glasses!”
• He was even hesitant in revealing his real name to Molly because he believes they’ll fight one day and “he doesn’t want the real him to fight her.”
Note that he doesn’t question what sort of hypothetical reason she would have to fight him. Because it’s never a matter of “why” or “if.” It’s always been an inevitable “when.” Because Rick is so used to having the arena pit him up against his own friends that it’s no longer unheard of or “highly unlikely” to him. He’s completely convinced Molly would be the same too.
But no.
Molly swears they won’t fight. She insists in wanting to befriend Odi. Not Rick Shades. And if this is what his new friend wants, then perhaps he could try dusting off the old pages of Toidei Gourami once more.
It would take some time to break old habits, but I just love to think of my favorite ocean man rediscovering his sense of self again, independent from catering to other people all the time like a chameleon shifting colours. He and Molly can both learn to grow a backbone together, Yayy! :D
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Other Misc Stuff I noted:
This doesn’t fit anywhere with the Chameleon thing, but I’d just like to point out other aspects of Rick’s character that all most likely stemmed from his upbringing.
Has anyone else noticed how despite being established as comically pathetic in almost everything else, Rick has been consistently characterised to be impressively competent in strategising and quick-thinking?
1.) He can be sly with his wording so he can sneakily form a pact. His last effort before passing out the 2nd time on the beach was asking the NeoTrio: “We are friends, correct?” Almost guilt-tripping them. Molly has to avoid indirectly confirming it by answering: “Maybee..?”
2.) He does it again here.
3.) He planned out his own Colosseum escape. A stupid idea that regardless, still worked out in the end despite the intense difficulty. He was able to swiftly evade all the dangerous obstacles that I assume, no other prisoner has done yet.
4.) He also very quickly came up with the solution to speed back to the Hovel using Trixie’s “potion powers”
5.) He also was the one who came up with the entire plan to defeat Graham by utilising all the powers at his disposal and leading his friends to help each other.
6.) In the 5th Anniversary stream, He was a villain in the Detective AU that outsmarted Percy and Howie by acting under disguise. Later in another skit, he fooled Percy (again-) to switch bodies with him. (Though maybe it’s just that Percy isn’t too hard to convince)
Like I find it so interesting how these seem to be consistent traits in his character, even crossing over to non-canon content such as voice-acted fanworks and the 5th Anniversary Stream skits.
All these instances of Rick being a clever strategist and utilising underhanded methods make a whole lot of sense. After all, if you grew up in a harsh dog-eat-dog environment, you’ll need to work with whatever you have at your disposal to survive.
I find it very believable that he would’ve had to be very quick in planning and be highly resourceful to defeat merciless opponents that were way stronger than he is in the Colosseum.
To end this study at a light-hearted note, one of Odi’s hobbies is Arts and Crafts :))
Which again, ties back to him being a resourceful and creative dude. Good for him. Good for him ^^
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TLDR: I find it very neat how evident it is that Rick’s past experiences as an arena fighter, while very subtle in-text, have clearly shaped how he navigates himself in new situations and the decisions he makes.
