With 7 seasons worth of irreverence, pathos, and plenty of fart jokes, Adventure Time is that rare show both kids and adults can learn from and enjoy. It’s tackled everything from outliving a nuclear holocaust to deadbeat fathers, all while building up a dense and absurd mythos that stretches back thousands of years. All that backstory means there’s a lot the show has left to explore in its remaining 2 seasons.
Luckily, there are a number of comic books continuing the action of the show, and Cartoon Network has begun producing some spinoffs diving into the histories of specific characters. Last year brought us the 8-part miniseries Stakes which shone a spotlight on Marceline the Vampire Queen. The end of the month will give us Islands, a side story that follows Finn, Jake, BMO, and Susan Strong as they attempt to uncover the mystery of what happened to the humans of Ooo. As Adventure Time heads towards its conclusion, there are still a number of things we want to see happen, and a bunch of citizens of Ooo we’d love to see get their own spinoff. Here are 15 Characters So Good They Need Their Own Shows.
15. Peppermint Butler
When we first meet Peppermint “Dark One” Butler, he’s the loyal and somewhat sassy servant of Princess Bubblegum. Beneath his candy stripes and coattails, however, lurks a being much more dastardly than the nickname Pep-But would imply. Most of Peps’ shady past is only revealed to the audience, with Bubblegum and the rest of the Candy Kingdom completely unaware of his macabre proclivities—though one of the Gumball Guardians does dub him “Dark One,” meaning the beings are likely aware of his secret powers.
We first get a hint of this in “Death in Bloom,” where Peps’ relationship with Death himself saves Finn and Jake. Since then, we’ve watched him use dark magic a number of times, even turning Peace Master’s kids into demon birds. He also has a connection to Marceline’s dad, Hunson Abadeer, as the two are shown to have once played golf together when Finn and Jake travel to the Nightosphere. Peps also reveals in Stakes that he has a fair amount of knowledge regarding vampires, and is well-equipped to hunt them.
All of this means that an exploration of Peppermint Butler’s past and connection to the darkside would make for some hilarious juxtaposition to the seemingly sweet character. It would also let us learn more about the more nefarious aspects of Ooo, usually only teased in connection with Marceline.
14. Princess Bubblegum
If there’s any character that could use a Marceline-style spinoff, it’s Princess Bubblegum. Though there’s much we don’t know about her past, a handful of episodes and some outside media have given us hints. We know her and Marcy go way, way back, with the Vampire Queen being one of the few people to use her first name of Bonnibel. At some point, they had a falling out of sorts, meaning there would be plenty of material to cover just detailing their relationship. We also know she’s the reincarnation of the Candy Elemental and that she formed from a blob of pink ooze sometime after the Great Mushroom War.
Both Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward and Bonnie herself have mentioned that she has family, so watching the Bubblegums form from the ooze and interact with Simon and Marcy following the detonation of the Mushroom Bomb would be fascinating. From there, we could hop around to different points in her 800-year history and watch as she builds the Candy Kingdom, turns the original citizens to monsters, creates Lemongrab, and decides what to do with an infant Flame Princess. The whole thing could even be capped off by showing the audience the first time Peebs and Finn meet. Wouldn’t that be sweet?
13. Magic Man and Glob
Two of the most mysterious and powerful residents of Ooo (and Mars) are Magic Man (now simply Normal Man) and the four-headed deity Grob Gob Glob Grod, who’s actually Magic/Normal Man’s older brother(s). When we first meet Magic Man, he’s mostly just an impish antagonist who transforms people into gross body parts or steals magic sandwiches. We eventually learn, however, that all his jerkish behavior has a root. Originally from Mars, he once had a wife named Margles who was taken from him by the demonic GOLB. Since then, his powers were removed by Simon’s ex, Betty, and he’s begun to redeem himself as Normal Man.
Knowing there’s a heart under the man banished from Mars 200 years ago, and given his connection to the G-man, there’s a lot that could be explored about the brothers, the history of Mars (which is presided over by a giant Abraham Lincoln), and how Normal Man became a magical jerk. It’d also be amazing to get some more context for the events in the recent episode “Normal Man,” which showed him literally throwing his fellow Martians under a bus and driving on top of them.
12. Prismo
Perhaps the only character to rival Magic Man and Glob for sheer power is Prismo, the Wish Master. Besides being able to grant anyone a single wish, seemingly without limits, Prismo can simply generate various items at will using magic cubes. He also seems to be over 10,000 years old and we learn in “Wake Up” that he’s actually the dream of a sleeping old man. That long and bizarre history alone is worth exploring.
Prismo’s also shown to be good friends with the Cosmic Owl and Grob Gob Glob Grod, so watching those super powerful entities hanging out would make for a hilarious and trippy group of episodes full of celestial journeys and time-bending shenanigans.
There’s also a small tease that Prismo may have a child. Upon being awoken by the Lich, he sleepily asks if the rogue is his son. Given his long life, it wouldn’t be surprising if Prismo had sired progeny somewhere along the way, adding one more wrinkle to his already interesting story.
11. Starchy and the Citizens of the Candy Kingdom
Though not as creepy as Peppermint Butler, Starchy still seems to have a somewhat morbid backstory worth investigating. For one, he’s a gravedigger at the Candy Kingdom cemetery. He’s also a noted conspiracy theory buff, even hosting a local radio show on the subject. He’s also expressed a fondness for magic and stated once that he enjoyed eating human flesh (without revealing whether he was joking). There’s even a bit in “Graybles 1000+” which he implies he’s a clone of an original Starchy.
Along with Starchy, the Candy Kingdom is full of interesting subjects that could all be explored in a spinoff composed of various vignettes. We’ve had specific episodes focus on a number of them, but detailing their lives (exactly how long do they live?) and the earlier generations of the Candy Kingdom would make for an interesting series of episodes detailing the smaller characters that have helped make up Ooo over the years.
10. BMO
BMO has actually had a number of spotlight episodes, including a fair few that detail their creation and past. Still, there’s a lot we don’t know about the little computer. We know they’re part of a line of robots, such as AMO and DMO, which were all created by Moe. Moe appeared to be the oldest living human in Ooo before his death, though his status is slightly altered by the various cybernetic augmentations he’d given himself. Still, any BMO backstory would be made all the more fascinating by learning more about Moe, where he came from, and seeing how he was driven to create so many forms of life while isolating himself in his bunker.
In fact, many of the other MOs likely have interesting pasts that would be worth examining. Just as Stakes gave us some insight into other humans and the various vampires that once inhabited Ooo, seeing how Moe went from a human inventor to the creator of a race of sentient computers would be intriguing. Perhaps we could even see him playing with a bunch of old video games, like a Gameboy and Atari 2600, which give him the idea to create BMO for the son he never had. That could make for a real tearjerker of a miniseries.
9. The Other Princesses
Bubblegum isn’t the only monarch in the land of Ooo. Besides the King of Ooo and a handful of princes, most of the royalty consists of a mass of princesses who each reign over their own kingdoms. Exploring these different domains and the sections of Ooo and Earth that they exist in would make for excellent TV on its own. When you throw in all the knowledge we could gain about the ever-expanding roster of princesses out there, “the Princesses of Ooo” could make for an entire series.
Along with Peebs, there’s the two other Elemental Princesses, Flame and Slime. We’ve learned a bit about Flame Princess, but the Slime Kingdom’s only had one major spotlight episode. Then there’s Lumpy Space Princess, who’s not the ruler of her kingdom but still comes from what seems to be an entirely different plane of existence.
From there, we could explore the desert/library world of Turtle Princess, the tiny farm presided over by Hot Dog Princess, and then learn more about where Engagement Ring, Jungle, Muscle, Strudel, and Skeleton Princess all live. Honestly, we’d love to watch multiple seasons of a show where each episode just detailed the life of a different princess. Get on it, Pendleton!
8. Abracadaniel and the Wizards
Like princesses, Ooo is riddled with wizards. Outside of Ice King, we first meet many of the magic users of the Candy Kingdom in “Wizard Battle,” which also introduces Abracadaniel. Over his multiple appearances, we learn that he’s not much good at doing anything besides turning things into butterflies and shooting out rainbows, and he’s not super great at those either. Still, he’s a sweet and hilarious character and would offer us a window into the world of wizards in Ooo.
In the amazingly named “Thanks for the Crabapples, Giuseppe,” we see him, Ice King, and a bunch of other wizards travel around in a bus. This concept would make for a great jumping off point to detail the history behind the various wizards tagging along for the ride. They could use each episode to get into the backstory of characters like Little Dude, Ron James, Leaf Man, and Ancient Sleeping Magi of Life Giving, before finally exploring Abracadaniel’s past. Ooo seems to be lousy with magic, so getting into how it works and who has the power to wield it would provide us with a nice chunk of mythos for the world of Adventure Time.
7. Huntress Wizard
Also introduced in “Wizard Battle,” Huntress Wizard is a character we wanted to know more about long before she had a spotlight shone on her in the recent episode “Flute Spell.” Until then, she’d mostly been on the periphery of various episodes, competing in the Wizard Battle and telling off Ice King in “Reign of Gunters.” Her unique look (who else could pull of an antler hood?) and cool abilities make her rise above the other wizards we’ve met. After all, she can control nature, turn into a wolf, use arrows without needing a bow, and literally sleeps like a log!
Though it’s a bummer Maria Bamford no longer voices her, we can’t complain since Jenny Slate was the actor the show got to take over voice acting duties. With “Flute Spell,” we also got hints about her past with the Forest Spirit (played by Matthew Broderick) and saw her brief relationship with Finn. The episode also gave us insight into her character, as we learned she has a fear of growing soft and losing her fighting edge. All of these details, along with the stellar voice cast that surrounds her, makes the idea of a Huntress Wizard spinoff super appealing.
6. Ice King and Gunter
Like Marcy and Bonnie, the Ice King, formerly known as Simon Petrikov, has been around a long time. Starting out as a general villain and kidnapper of women (the show glosses over the implications of this), Ice King is later revealed to be full of nuance when we learn he was once an archaeologist named Simon before the Mushroom War. It was his acquisition of his crown that granted him longevity and his powers, but also drove him insane. Between the complex history of the crown– involving the past life of the Ice Elemental and a dinosaur named Gunter– Simon’s life before the war, including his former lover Betty, and his time with a young Marcy, there’s a lot that could be examined regarding his past.
Then there’s Gunter. We know he calls his chief penguin that thanks to the residual memories of the original Gunter who took the crown from his teacher, Ice Elemental Urgence Evergreen, and tweaked its settings. Still, learning how Ice King came to rule over the other penguins and met the main one (who’s secretly the being known as Orgalorg), would be a great way to cap off the story of Simon becoming the Ice King. His long history means an Ice King spinoff could feature Marcy, Bonnie, Betty, plus a bunch of characters who used to inhabit Ooo that we’ve yet to meet. It would also offer us the chance to explore Ooo before the Mushroom War– something that has only been briefly hinted at up to this point.
5. Tree Trunks
Tree Trunks may seem like a sweet, old Southern pygmy elephant, but there’s a lot more to her. For one, it’s been revealed that before she fell for Mr. Pig, she had 3 other husbands (Wyatt, Randy, and Danny). That and her apparent age mean there’s a decent amount of her history we don’t yet know. From there, we could explore her relationship with Mr. Pig and the two raising the reincarnated Lich, Sweet P. There’s also the huge chunk of time when she ruled over the Crystal Dimension as Quartzion the Crystal Queen.
After biting into the Crystal Apple and exploding, she’s transported to the Crystal Dimension and given immense power. Though Finn and Jake eventually rescue her, it’d be neat to go back to that period of her life and see what she was up to. Like Pep-But, it’d be a lot of fun to juxtapose the normally sweet Tree Trunks with the evil ruler Quartzion. Perhaps her past is even full of similar examples of her losing control. If nothing else, more time with Tree Trunks is always welcome.
4. Banana Man
Though Banana Man’s outward appearance means he likely didn’t exist before the Great Mushroom War, he’s one of the few residents of Ooo who understands the technology of the past. When we first meet him, he’s working on a homemade rocket ship behind his geodesic dome house. A few seasons later, he actually gets it working and saves Jake who is floating around in space. He also helped Finn, Jake, and BMO fix up their truck Hot Daniel, meaning he’s an all-around engineering buff.
Banana Man would be a charming conduit to study some of the tech and history of the Earth before Ooo, and his fascination with space (and ability to travel there) could open up all sorts of connections to Mars, the comet that strikes the Earth every thousand years, and a number of other mysteries floating around up there. Plus, we can finally get an answer to whether Banana Man and the Banana Guards are related or connected in any way, offering us a way to explore the Candy Kingdom’s hilariously inept police force.
3. Finn and Jake
The upcoming spinoff Islands looks like it will finally give us some answers about Finn’s past and what happened to the other humans. Still, there’s no shortage of time we could spend with Finn and Jake. Though a spinoff revolving around the two stars of the show would essentially just be Adventure Time as it is, we’d love to see a prequel miniseries that detailed Finn and Jake’s past, childhood, and early adventures. What happened to Finn’s mom? How did the two take the death of Jake’s parents? What was it like for them growing up together?
A spotlight on our two protagonists’ past would also let us see how far they’ve come. Unlike many cartoons, our heroes have actually aged and matured a bit since we first met them. Going back and seeing their youth and their first exploits together would be a lot of fun. It’d also let us see them encounter Ice King, Bonnie, BMO, and the Tree Fort for the first time. When it comes to Finn and Jake, you really can’t have too much of a good thing.
2. Fionna and Cake
Like Finn and Jake, there’s a lot we don’t know about Fionna and Cake. Though they only exist in Ice King’s stories, it’s fun to believe they merely operate on a different plane of existence. Because of that, they likely have equally interesting backstories, and we’ve seen even less of their past than we have of Finn’s and Jake’s youth. Did they also grow up together? Do Cake and Lord Monochromicorn have kids? Does Fionna have a deadbeat mom named Martina? There’s so many questions we’d love to have answered, and honestly, we just want more Fionna and Cake.
Even better than a miniseries, imagine Adventure Time ending only to be replaced by Adventure Time 2.0, starring Fionna and Cake. The writers and producers have clearly had a blast swapping the genders and names around when we visit their world, so a whole series would be like a non-stop nerd dream. It would also mean that we’d get the occasional episode featuring the Ice Queen’s stories about Flynn the Human Being, Jacques the Racoon, and the Ice President. From there, we could just keep going deeper and deeper until things round back to Finn and Jake.
1. The Snail
Poor Snail. It’s appeared in more episodes of Adventure Time than any other character and still doesn’t have a proper name. Running gags in TV shows are one of the great pleasures of both episodic and serialized storytelling, and Adventure Time is no different. Though you might not have noticed the little critter until it was possessed by the Lich and started dramatically popping up in the background of a number of episodes, the Snail has actually appeared in every single episode of Adventure Time. While there’s plenty of reasons to rewatch the entire series, trying to spot the Snail makes it imperative for any completist.
While there’s likely not much to the Snail, a spinoff showing where it is in a number of key episodes would be a ton of fun. Imagine seeing its smaller perspective as it sits on the sidelines of a number of hilarious and brutal moments from the history of the series. It would offer a chance to see what things were like on the periphery of Finn and Jake’s greatest triumphs, and would give us a unique perspective on the series as a whole. Even if we don’t get an entire Snail spinoff, how great would be if the final episode of the series was entirely from the character’s point-of-view? We can dream.
Which characters from Adventure Time do you hope get their own spinoff? Let us know in the comments!
