Rico typically doesn’t think things through. While he is not stupid he’s far more comfortable taking orders and being the muscle of the team. When he loses self-control, Skipper often shows concern that he might hurt himself more than others, and also seems aware that when used properly, Rico’s unpredictable nature becomes his greatest strength.
Rico has a psychotic love for violence and destruction, looking on to such scenes – whether programs or real life – with a vacant expression of amusement. He enjoyed a nature documentary that had penguins being eaten by Orcas and Leopard seals and ate popcorn while the others had to vomit into paper bags. He also thinks about fish a lot.
Generally referred to by Skipper as a world-class psychopath, Rico has an appetite for destruction that has an unfortunate tendency to cause as much trouble as Kowalski’s mad inventions. The Penguins say that he needs to be kept tightly reigned in, to only use explosives when strictly necessary, but to some extent, this could be a concern that others might manipulate him. This is shown effectively in Kaboom and Kabust, when he completely leveled the Lemur Habitat – mostly because King Julien recklessly took advantage of Rico’s fondness for destruction and ability to choke up explosives.
“Kaboom?”
“Don’t mess the penguins or you mess with Rico”