Ricky Pickering is a male normal. He is Jacob Portman's best and only friend back in Englewood, Florida. He goes with Jacob to Abraham Portman's house the night that Abraham is murdered by the hollowgast Malthus.
History[]
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children[]
Ricky is a minor character in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, despite being Jacob's only normal friend. In chapter one, he picks up Jacob from work in his Crown Victoria and takes him to Circle Village to check on his grandfather. Once there, the pair get lost in the village until Jacob is able to recognize various landmarks that he uses to locate his grandfather's house. Jacob has Ricky stay outside, which he does reluctantly.
Inside the house, Jacob realizes that his grandfather is gone and calls for his friend. Ricky notices that the screen door has been slashed, and comes to the conclusion that a wild animal had done it. He leaves Jacob to retrieve a .22 caliber gun from his car. Jacob takes a flashlight outside to look for his grandfather, whom he easily finds dying on the ground. Ricky locates the two and becomes frantic. Although he does not yet know that it is his peculiarity, Jacob senses the presence of a hollow and sees the face of Malthus in the bushes. He cries out, which causes Ricky to fire his gun, though he himself didn't see the hollow. Finally, Jacob falls unconscious.
Because Ricky could not see the hollow, he doesn't believe Jacob about there being a monster. He says Jacob needs a "brain-shrinker" and that he'll be "put away" and "really will be Special Ed" if he continues to talk about the creature. Jacob is insulted by the remark. He notices that Ricky is smoking and chewing tobacco at the same time, which he calls him out on, before accusing Ricky's mother of performing oral sex on truck drivers for food stamps. This remark upsets Ricky, who shoves Jacob and leaves.
Hollow City[]
Jacob has a dream of his own funeral, in which Ricky appears, asking if he could have Jacob's bike now that Jacob is dead. His green hair is 'extra spiked for the occasion.'
Description[]
Ricky is around Jacob's age, who is portrayed to be something of a delinquent. He has green hair that Jacob describes to remind him of a "punk, redneck James Dean." He is six feet and five inches tall and a smoker. He also owns a .22 caliber gun.
Relationships[]
Jacob Portman[]
Jacob and Ricky have a form of mutualism with each other, in which Jacob helps him with schoolwork in return for protection from aggressors at school. Ricky calls him "Special Ed" because he is in their school's special-education curriculum. However, their friendship is strained after Abraham Portman's death.
Franklin Portman and Maryann Portman[]
Jacob mentions that Ricky makes his parents, "uncomfortable," something he considers a bonus of their friendship.
Ricky's Mother[]
It is suggested that Ricky comes from a dysfunctional household, but at least one in which he respects his mother. Jacob accuses Ricky's mother of being a "truck stop hooker," which greatly upsets Ricky who is the "connoisseur of your-mom jokes."
Trivia[]
- He bought his Crown Victoria for "a jar of quarters" from the town dump. The car is in extremely bad condition, and Ricky makes gas money off of it by allowing people to hit it with a golf club for a dollar per swing.
- He does not make an appearance in the graphic novel adaptation of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children or Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children's film adaption.
- it is suggested that he is a bit older than Jacob Portman.