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Rico Suave Jr. is the main antagonist of the 2006-2011 Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.
He is the manager of Rico’s Surf Shop, a beachside concession stand at which Jackson Stewart works. Rico constantly antagonizes Jackson, and to a lesser extent his sister Miley and her friends. He is notably the only main character to not know Miley is Hannah Montana.
Rico is the son of a billionaire who owns Rico’s Surf Shop in Malibu. Perhaps because of his upbringing, Rico is extremely obnoxious, constantly picking on people for no discernible reason, and has a stereotypical evil laugh. He is also greedy, going to great lengths to make and save money. His character becomes progressively more antagonistic each season.
Rico is constantly hitting on women older than him, believing that doing so will elevate his social status because he has always been picked on for his size. He has crushes on both Miley and Hannah, unaware they are the same person. However, this does not stop him from harassing Miley along with her brother.
Despite his unpleasant personality, Rico is extraordinarily smart, especially for his age. He has a photographic memory and is suggested to be the smartest person in his class. His intelligence has resulted in him skipping middle school and entering the freshman class with Miley, Lilly, and Oliver. He does not like having his intelligence challenged, questioning his sanity upon learning Miley was Hannah Montana; he was perhaps the most shocked out of everyone, as he had previously deduced that this was the case before dismissing it after deeming Miley too stupid to pull off such a scheme.
Though he hates admitting it, Rico does consider Jackson his best friend, but feels a compulsion to pick on him, culminating with him firing Jackson and calling in a favor to get him a better job.
History[]
Rico first appears as a recurring character in season 1, having roles in several episodes’ subplots. These typically involve him harassing or humiliating Jackson.
His first major role in an episode’s main plot is “We Are Family… Now Get Me Some Water”, in which he is established as Jackson’s boss. After being denied a raise from Rico, Miley attempts to get him a raise, but her plan backfires and Rico fires Jackson in retaliation. Miley hires Jackson as Hannah’s personal assistant. He fails spectacularly, and by the end of the episode Rico agrees to give Jackson his job back on the condition that Miley be his partner in a Latin dance competition.
Rico was added to the series’ main cast from the second season onwards, with the season premiere revolving around him starting high school the same day as Miley, having skipped a few grades. Before school, Miley receives a text that someone “knows her secret” and assumes someone has figured out her identity as Hannah Montana. Upon entering class, Rico reveals he was the culprit, and threatens to tell everyone at lunch unless she agrees to be his girlfriend. He ultimately reveals that the “secret” he knows is the fact that Miley brought her teddy bear to school. Rico reveals his insecurities about his size to Miley, who agrees to kiss him on the cheek out of pity. However, he turns his head and kisses her on the lips before fleeing. The monkey in Rico’s locker trips Miley, allowing Rico to escape.
In another episode, a pair of sunglasses are stolen from Rico’s and he installs an expensive security system to find the culprit. Jackson himself falls victim to it, at which point Rico makes him sign some release forms absolving Rico of any responsibility for Jackson’s injuries. It is then that they learn that the thief is a raccoon.
In the season 2 finale, Hannah takes part in a charity auction, one of the prizes of which is a dinner date with her. Rico bids $10000, but is outbid by Miley’s old crush Johnny. Rico matches Johnny’s bid, turning it into a 3-way date. During the week preceding the dinner, Rico obnoxiously tries out new colognes. After Lilly and Oliver both get the flu, they try to get Rico sick to force him out of the date, culminating with Lilly kissing him on the lips. This successfully gets him sick, but he is undeterred and goes on the date anyway. Miley is hostile towards Rico during the date, which Johnny does not understand because he does not know Rico’s true nature. The date ends with Miley accidentally launching Rico into the restaurant’s lobster tank, which causes Johnny to leave.
Rico is later sent to stay with the Stewarts while his parents are out of town. He torments Jackson by deliberately being as disgusting as possible, going as far as making Jackson’s latest girlfriend break up with him. An enraged Jackson, tired of Rico’s abuse, ends their “friendship”. Rico then sadly calls his mother begging her to come home early because Jackson doesn’t want him anymore. Jackson apologizes to Rico’s infuriated mother and decides to make amends with Rico. However, after he has left, Rico and his mother reveal that they were simply both manipulating Jackson.
Rico later hires Sarah, Miley’s overly politically correct classmate, who has an obsessive crush on Jackson. Her environmentally friendly business practices make the customers unhappy and she annoys Jackson, who begs Rico to fire her. He tries to but cannot bring himself to do so after seeing how miserable she makes Jackson, so he promotes her instead.
In the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie, Rico plays a minor non-antagonistic role. He and Oliver both only appear briefly, tasked with preparing the cake at Lilly’s sweet 16 birthday party. Oliver questions the hole on top of the cake, to which Rico explains that he has rigged the cake to set off a confetti explosion as a “Happy Birthday Lilly” banner pops out the top, deeming himself a genius for coming up with the idea. Miley is followed by the paparazzi and forced to arrive at the party as Hannah, stealing Lilly’s thunder. Robby tells Oliver to set off the cake to prevent Lilly from leaving, but Oliver fails to hear Rico say he isn’t ready and sets off the explosives too early. This causes the cake to explode, ruining the party; Rico attempts to salvage the mess by manually unraveling the banner. During the end credits, he and Oliver both appear dancing to “Hoedown Throwdown”.
The season 3 finale sees Jackson moving into a poorly-maintained apartment. He calls the landlord for repairs and is shocked to learn that it is Rico. Rather than fixing anything, Rico and his handymen simply make shoddy quick fixes and mock Jackson. The problem escalates until Jackson’s father gets him out of his lease so he can move back in with his family. Rico ultimately gets his comeuppance when the ceiling caves in, causing the rock band in the apartment above to fall through and cover him in plaster.
By the last season, Rico learns that Jackson finally has a long-term girlfriend, Siena, and deduces that she has only stayed with him because she doesn’t know he is a bad kisser. He remains convinced of this and gaslights Jackson until he sneaks into the Stewart’s’ new backyard and sees them kissing in the window. He later plans to move his business to the Santa Monica Pier with the intention of buying out an arcade and attached pizza parlor. The owner says he will only talk to Rico’s father, who is out of town, so Rico enlists Jackson to pose as his father for $2000. The owner is not fooled but willingly sells Rico the business because he is impressed by his tactics.
After Miley reveals the Hannah secret to the world, Rico loses his mind and sits blankly at the pier, upset at himself for having never figured it out. He becomes even more depressed upon realizing Lilly was Hannah’s friend Lola. Jackson and Lilly ultimately take pity on him and have a choir list famous people who did not figure out the secret.
In the series finale, Siena buys Jackson a car, leaving him depressed that he is unable to buy expensive things for her. He tries to work for Rico again but this only further damages his self esteem. Rico, having recently graduated and about to leave town for college, realizes that he is not finding pleasure in Jackson being this miserable and is worried about him. He fires Jackson for good to force him to get a real job because he will never feel good about himself otherwise. Rico calls in a favor and gets Jackson a career as a video game tester. He and Jackson finally admit that they are best friends, but because the idea of them getting along is foreign to them both, they immediately go back to calling each other names.
Quotes[]
“
Rico: Heyoooo, it's Rrrrrico!!! Jackson: Rico, my car broke down. I'm gonna be late for work. Rico: Sure, these things happen. I totally understand. Jackson: Gee, thanks man! Rico: Of course, if you’re not here in five minutes, YOU'RE FIRED! Jackson: Aw come on, have a heart! Rico: 4:58, 4:57, tick-tock tick-tock. Jackson: Wait a minute, wait a minute, what if I get somebody to cover my shift? Rico: Is it somebody like you, or someone with a brain?
„
~ Rico threatens to wrongfully fire Jackson.
“
Rico: Hey, Chipmunk Cheeks! Which one of these colognes do you think will drive Hannah Montana crazy? Miley: Just be yourself. That should do it. Rico: You’re right. How can I do better than my own Rrrrico—rrroma? Oh yes, she will be mine.
„
~ Rico harassing Miley.
“
(Enters Jackson’s apartment) Rico: Heyooo! Jackson: What are you doing here?! I live here! What?! Stop that! Rico:(simultaneously) What are you doing here?! I own this place! What?! Stop that! Jackson: You own this place?! Rico: I own the whole block! Jackson: This apartment is falling apart! Rico: I know! I was gonna use it for storage until I found out someone actually rented it?! I coulda’t figure out who could be so stupid. Now it all makes sense. Jackson: You know, I would insult you back but I am a mature adult with my own apartment. Rico: You don’t have a comeback, do you? Jackson: No! I’m mature, now fix my stuff!
„
~ Jackson finds out Rico is his new landlord.
“
Jackson: Who’s the dumbest guy on this pier? Rico: I am. Jackson: Who got fooled by a family of backwood bubbas? Rico: I did. Jackson: What’s 2+2? Rico: I think it’s 4. (sobs) But it might be 3 with a wig on!
„
~ Rico’s villainous breakdown, after learning Miley was Hannah Montana.
“
Rico: Jackson! …You’re fired. Jackson: What?! Just because I insulted you? That’s our thing! That’s what makes us, us! Rico: No, I’m firing you because until you get a real job, you’re never going to feel good about yourself. Jackson: Which should make you feel terrific. Rico: I know! But I don’t! It’s weird, right? Maybe it’s because I’m leaving for college and all of a sudden… I’m worried about you? I’m hhhe-… he—hhhelping you. I called in a favor and I got you a great job. Jackson: What? Rico Well I thought about your marketable skills. And then when I realized you didn’t have any, I dug deeper. And then it hit me: you have the attention span of a gnat, have the tiny little hands of a six-year-old boy, and you can sit on the couch longer than anyone I’ve ever met. Jackson: A video game tester?! Rico: You’ll evaluate new games, give input on software design and playability, with the opportunity to move up into game creation and development. (beat) …Okay, you start on Monday. Jackson: I can’t believe you’d do this for me! Rico: Neither can I! But I guess when I look underneath my disgust, disdain, and utter lack of respect for you, you’re my best fr-fr-fr… frien— Jackson: It’s okay, you don’t have to say it.
„
~ Rico redeems himself by fully befriending Jackson and getting him a dream job.
