Ice King

The Ice King (formerly Simon Petrikov and also referred to as IK) is the former main antagonist of Adventure Time. His typical crime is to kidnap a princess and force her to marry him, which Finn and Jake foil every time. As his name suggests, Ice King is also his title, announcing himself as King of Ice; the ruler of the Ice Kingdom. His magical abilities are contained and can be controlled with his crown, and he is therefore powerless without it. His crown is also the cause of his loss of sanity, his unusual blue skin color, his protruded goblin-like nose, blank eyes, and stark-white beard. Some time before the Mushroom War, he discovered the Enchiridion and bought the crown during his various expeditions around the world. Ice King's gender swapped character is the Ice Queen, as seen in "Fionna and Cake."

Despite being the show's main antagonist for most of the series, he can turn into a tragic hero and prove to be a valuable ally, as seen in the episodes "Mortal Recoil" and "Beyond this Earthly Realm."

Appearance
Ice King is a blue, elderly man with unusually pointy fingers, pointy toes, sharp teeth, and a long goblin-like nose. He wears a dark blue tunic and has a large white beard that covers most of his body. Typically, the Ice King's weight varies in different episodes. Though the robe gives him the appearance of a fat and short man, Ice King's body is in fact exceptionally thin, with a very large and defined ribcage. Despite this, Ice King reveals that he is on a diet in "What Have You Done?" However, in "I Remember You," "Bad Little Boy," and "Princess Potluck" he is shown to be fatter than usual. Confusingly, his regular emaciated state is shown again in "Mystery Dungeon," and "A Glitch is a Glitch." Ice King is rarely seen without his crown; without it he is powerless and he is revealed to have a short length of white hair atop his head. The only time he has been seen in shoes was when he was working out before Slime Princess came to talk to him in "Loyalty to the King." Ice king has no visible ears when his beard/hair was removed in "Loyalty to the King" and "Mystery Dungeon."

Origin
Sometime before the Mushroom War, Ice King was a normal, olive-skinned, dark-haired, glasses-wearing human named Simon Petrikov studying to be an antiquarian (a specialist in the knowledge of ancient artifacts). He had a young fiancée named Betty, whom he referred to as his "princess" and loved dearly, and was Marceline's "beloved friend" and guardian before his eventual abandonment of her. In "I Remember You," it was revealed that Simon Petrikov had discovered The Enchiridion at some point in his career, with the article pictured mentioning he was a Professor of Archaeology. It can also be inferred that Simon possibly lived in or made his way to the state of California, due to both the background images and the wreckage of the area surrounding the exit in "I Remember You."

At some point in his career, he purchased a strange jeweled crown from an old dock worker in Northern. After bringing the crown home, he put it on his head to make Betty laugh, but the crown caused him to black out and experience odd visions. He "shouted at the visions, fought with them until he realized it wasn't real; it was the crown."

Petrikov had no recollection of what he had said or done while wearing the crown, though it was enough to frighten away his fiancée. Simon never heard or saw Betty ever again and began to record himself on VHS tape so people would know his story. As time passed, Petrikov would hear voices and continued having disturbing visions without even putting the crown on. Over time, his skin turned light blue, his nose became pointy and long, his eyes and hair turned white, he grew a full beard, and his body temperature dwindled to an unnatural low of 30°C, or 86°F (normal human body temperature is 37°C or 98.6°F). Despite these unnatural body conditions and being in a land covered by snow, Petrikov managed to survive.

As his mind and body became further twisted by the crown, Simon thought himself "too far gone" to find an escape from its influence, though he hoped that he could one day regain his sanity enough so that Betty, his "princess," would come back and love him again.

During a period of the Mushroom War before Simon was completely lost, he discovered Marceline crying in the wreckage, where he gave her a stuffed toy from a toy shop destroyed in the conflict to comfort her. This toy would eventually become Marceline's precious Hambo, which she would keep and cherish until it was sold to Maja the Sky Witch by her ex-boyfriend, Ash. Marceline described Hambo to Ash as her "favorite thing in the world." She was seen alone with a worn-out version of the stuffed toy when Finn and Jake visited her memories, possibly several years after Simon gave it to her.

Sometime when Ice King was still Simon Petrikov, he found the ancient text of heroes, the Enchiridion, during an expedition to the mountain range. This is shown in a newspaper clipping that Marceline shows him in the episode "I Remember You." The newspaper heading reads, "Simon Petrikov Unearths Ancient Treasure," and was written by the journalist Bruce Guese. This newspaper clipping can be seen in an image above.

It could be implied that the crown he wore only sought to protect him. It taught him the secrets of the "ice and snow," so he would survive the Mushroom War, as it did for Farmworld Finn in "Finn the Human." However, in the same episode, Farmworld Finn mentioned the crown's "promise of power," implying the crown's seductive nature and negative influence.

As many years passed, Petrikov became disassociated from his original identity so completely that his only reaction to watching a video of his past was embarrassment at the idea of having once worn glasses. Further proof of his dissociation is shown in "What Have You Done?" when he responds to Jake's accusation of him stealing the crown with, "I didn't steal it. I made that item! Made it with the magic that I stole!" When others refer to him as "Simon" in his hearing, he is generally confused or ignores it (at one point even responding "What-mon?"). If Petrikov is still present at all, he has either been totally suppressed by the magic of the crown or his psyche is too far deep within the Labyrinth of his greatly-fractured mind.

He is no longer considered a human; the power of the crown not only twisted his mind, but his body as well. His species/race is now Wizard according to the writers.

In "Mortal Recoil," when Princess Bubblegum was at a risk of dying, Ice King mentioned something about if she dies, he would be lost in his own labyrinth of emotions, similar to what Petrikov says in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II."

Personality
Though (in earlier episodes) Ice King was portrayed as disagreeable and short-tempered, he is merely a nuisance and "isn't usually a serious threat," according to Princess Bubblegum. In later episodes, he is portrayed as more easy-going and having a sense of humor, particularly due to Ice King considering Finn and Jake his "friends" after the events of "Mortal Recoil." The Ice King is misunderstood, lonely, and only hopes of marrying a princess. He has been labeled a "sociopath" by the Cosmic Owl, though his personality seems more akin to a person with narcissistic personality disorder, as he still feels humiliation and guilt. Due to his poor social skills, enduring short attention span and arrogant nature, Ice King is unable to attract any of his prisoners and often resorts to a forced marriage instead of the loving relationship he desires. However, he can be a loving and selfless person as revealed in "Princess Monster Wife." Aside from Gunter, his other penguin guards, and numerous ice creatures, Ice King has few other friends and expresses a continual zeal to spend time with anyone who will tolerate his company, especially his, Finn and Jake. In "The Eyes," he takes on the disguise of a horse to spy on Finn and Jake in an effort to learn how to be happy, but fails that as well.

Despite Ice King's more antagonistic role, he plays the part of a protagonist in "Mortal Recoil," helping Finn and Jake to defeat Princess Bubblegum by freezing her Lich-possessed body; in the mini-episode, "The Wand," he actually helps Finn and Jake regardless of the fact that Finn said to "sacrifice" himself, but unbeknownst of the fact that it also changed his face.

Ice King is harmless in nature, and only kidnaps princesses and steals out of desperation. However, in the episode "Loyalty to the King," when he does have the opportunity to marry many princesses, he secretly plots to make an elite army of wives to take over the world with. His misunderstood intentions may either be in question or may just stem from his lunacy. His crown has made him insane over the years, affecting his social skills, causing him to unintentionally do bad things. Friendship and companionship is all he really wants, though goes about it the wrong way. In "I Remember You," and "Simon & Marcy," it is shown that he was tenderhearted and overly caring for others as Simon Petrikov. He watched over Marceline when she was a child left alone in the aftermath of the Mushroom War.

Due to the insanity brought by wearing the crown, Ice King seems to have limited memory. This was first seen in "I Remember You," where he does not seem to remember his past as Simon Petrikov, even though he saw the history (after he found the crown) in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II." Later on, he does not remember who Neptr is, even though he was the one that wanted Neptr to accept as his father in Neptr's debut, "What is Life?" and even confuses him with BMO, as seen in the events of "Mystery Dungeon."

Ice King seems to find his happiness in his own Imagination Zone, and it is clear that he would rather live in his Imagination Zone than in the real world. In "Fionna and Cake," he is shown reading his gender-swapped fan fiction to Finn and Jake, based on the events and characters in the actual world. He is shown to cherish his fan fiction characters more than the real-life characters, and in "Mystery Dungeon" he tries to bring the characters to life, but he fails. In "Bad Little Boy," it is revealed that he had made ice sculptures of Fionna and Cake along with writing many other fan-fic stories.

Although Ice King is characterized by these traits, Simon's personality is completely the opposite: he was known for his intelligence, kindness, and self-sacrifice. From the information given in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," Simon was a deeply committed and loving fiancé (to Betty). He proved to be the same way as a watchful guardian over young Marceline. Even when they were in great danger, Simon struggled to keep Marceline happy and helped her to always see the better of a horrible situation. He took on a very responsible role in Marceline's life, by not only protecting her and keeping her healthy, but also by teaching her right from wrong and keeping her spirits high (as seen in "Simon & Marcy"). Simon, as a rule, was known for being optimistic even at the worst of times and it is clearly one of Simon's most notable attributes. Even while being saddled with a great burden, Simon fought an apocalyptic world while fighting the omnipotent influence of the Ice Crown. Some of Simon's innermost thoughts and fears of his inevitable insanity were revealed in messages left to Marceline revealed in "I Remember You." Simon agonized over abandoning Marceline in a dangerous world due to his deteriorating mind. However, Simon, nearing the very end of his lucidity feared for his own life, worried that as the crown took him from Marceline, no one would be able to "save him." His vulnerability as a man was most evident just before he became the Ice King, permanently.

Abilities


When Ice King is wearing his magic crown, it gives him the power to control all forms of ice and snow. This includes, but is not limited to, throwing ice lightning, moving ice with telekinesis, creating living manifestations of ice, turning water into ice, flash freezing his enemies, and the ability to onset wintry weather on cue. In "Thank You," the Ice King makes a full armor of ice and says that it is "invincible." However, Finn and Jake eventually chopped away the ice. Also, in the episode "Princess Potluck," it is shown that he can sense when someone is tampering with the snow/and or ice around the Ice Kingdom. However, it is not known if he can use this ability with snow outside of the Ice Kingdom.

His beard is apparently prehensile, operating much like a limb with partial shape-changing abilities, which he can wield in close combat. His beard also forms tiny wings that allow him to fly, although he must have both his beard and crown to fly. Because of his quick temper and arguably slow wit, he is unable to wield his powers as effectively as he should, but has proven himself capable of swiftly defeating Finn and Jake when amply provoked, as shown in "When Wedding Bells Thaw" and "The Eyes." In "Loyalty to the King" he spouts blue fire like energy from his hands.

Ice King can also play the drums, once demonstrating a drum solo, and owns two drum sets, one of which is a green one with "#1 Babe" across the front. The set consists of a bass drum, a floor tom, a snare, a crash cymbal, a ride cymbal and a hi-hat. His other drum set, a red one, is in terrible shape, and smashed to pieces in a corner of his castle. He can also play the keyboard fairly decently. The fact that he has so many instruments lying around his castle indicates that he has a fair amount of musical ability. Also, in "Simon & Marcy," Simon shows that he sings songs to entertain Marcy, who says his songs are "so good." His drum sticks can also been seen in the side pocket of his backpack in any post-apocalyptic flashback.

In "The Chamber of Frozen Blades," the Ice King is shown to have studied the Ice Ninja art of Fridjitzu, and that his sanctum is filled with all sorts of ninja-esque weaponry and memorabilia.

Aside from his magic, Ice King owns a pair of nunchucks that he uses during the Wizard Battle to "cheat" as opposed to using his ice powers.



Ice King also possesses a power known as "Wizard Eyes," which forces him to see certain things that normal people cannot. However, it also causes him to constantly see strange, freaky creatures. He notably used this power in "Mortal Recoil" when he witnessed the Lich take over the melted body of Princess Bubblegum. In "Mortal Recoil," as in the picture on the above-right, the camera briefly shows the viewer what the Ice King is seeing at the time. It gives the impression that the Ice King is imaginatively, completely insane'. 'In the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," Simon Petrikov says that he saw strange visions while wearing the crown. In "Beyond this Earthly Realm," it is revealed that his Wizard Eyes allow him to see into the Spirit World, explaining that the freaky creatures surrounding him are spirits like Finn when he is transported to the Spirit World.

The Ice King also has the Demonic Wishing Eye and the Ghost Pouch. The Demonic Wishing Eye's powers were shown in "Reign of Gunters" when Gunther used it to (temporarily) conquer Ooo.

In Mystery Dungeon, his powers become weaker in the presence of extreme heat/humidity. Even though the heated chamber in the dungeon had a moat of water, the humidity of the area made it impossible for the Ice King to convert any of the water or vapor into ice or frost.

As shown in "Princess Potluck," he can sense when something touches the snow surrounding that of his Ice Kingdom.

Nice King
Nice King is the beardless alter ego of the Ice King, who appears in "Loyalty to the King." The reason for his existence was the Ice King's choosing to shave his beard, in hopes that it would make him more attractive to princesses after innumerable failed captures. When going out in public in his beardless form, a misinterpretation by Slime Princess when introducing himself ("a nice king," instead of "an ice king") ultimately leads to the princesses trying to court him. He also dubs Finn and Jake his loyal "Nice Knights," commanding them to interview his prospective princesses auditioning for a date.

The "Poo-Brained" Horse
In "The Eyes," Ice King spies on Finn and Jake, disguised as an odd-looking horse. It has a very "un-horse-like" face with ever-staring eyes and a protruding tongue. Its vacuous expression leads Jake to suspect it has a case of being "whacked-out with poo brain." Finn and Jake try various approaches in order to get rid of him. When Finn finally kicks it, Ice King pops out of the inflatable horse costume. According to the Frederator Blog, the design for this horse was inspired by Kate Beaton's ''Hark! A Vagrant'' comics, which features a similar Fat Pony character.

Ice King as Finn
In "Still," The Ice King freezes Finn and Jake with "Freezing Potion A" so that they can bond. One of his bonding activities is better understanding each other's perspectives by dressing up like each other. He knots his robe so that it is the same length as a t-shirt and colors his feet black with a marker to make his clothes look like Finn's. He then wraps his beard around the top of his head and pulls two tufts out of the top to mimic Finn's hat. As the finishing touch, he creates a backpack out of ice to look like Finn's pack.

Ice King as Mr. Garamblington
Main article: Princess Potluck

In "Princess Potluck," Ice King tries to get the Banana Guards to stop Princess Bubblegum's potluck. The Banana Guards say they hate him when he calls and introduces himself as Ice King. He calls again and says that he is Mr. Garamblington. He wears a hard hat to help him improve the personality he uses.

Quotes
See Ice King/Quotes

Major appearances

 * "Adventure Time"
 * "Prisoners of Love"
 * "Ricardio the Heart Guy"
 * "What is Life?"
 * "When Wedding Bells Thaw"
 * "What Have You Done?"
 * "The Eyes"
 * "Loyalty to the King"
 * "The Chamber of Frozen Blades"
 * "Mortal Folly"
 * "Mortal Recoil"
 * "The Wand"
 * "Hitman"
 * "Still"
 * "Wizard Battle"
 * "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I"
 * "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II"
 * "Five Short Graybles"
 * "Princess Monster Wife"
 * "Beyond this Earthly Realm"
 * "Reign of Gunters"
 * "I Remember You"
 * "Five More Short Graybles"
 * "Mystery Dungeon"
 * "Bad Little Boy"
 * "Simon & Marcy"
 * "A Glitch is a Glitch"
 * "Princess Potluck"
 * "The Party's Over, Isla de Señorita"
 * "Frost & Fire"

Minor appearances

 * "Evicted!"
 * "It Came from the Nightosphere"
 * "Conquest of Cuteness"
 * "Fionna and Cake"
 * "Thank You"
 * "King Worm"
 * "Lady & Peebles"
 * "The Lich"
 * "Finn the Human" (Farmworld Simon Petrikov)
 * "Jake the Dog"
 * "All the Little People" (as a toy)
 * "Another Five More Short Graybles"
 * "Wizards Only, Fools"
 * "Jake Suit"
 * "Earth & Water"
 * "Love Games"

Mentioned

 * "Business Time"
 * "Little Dude"
 * "Time Sandwich"

Trivia

 * Ice King has a tattoo of a penguin on his right buttock, as seen in the episode "Prisoners of Love" during his dream sequence. IKBUTTYAY.jpg
 * His cut-out has Ricardio sticking out under his beard.
 * Ice King has a computer which he uses to play video games, as seen in "What is Life?" and to make rudimentary drawings of himself with princesses, as seen in "The Chamber of Frozen Blades." In "A Glitch is a Glitch," he uses his computer to create a virus to delete the entire universe, save him and Princess Bubblegum.
 * In "Mortal Folly," when Ice King tried to lift the latch on a window in order to see Princess Bubblegum, he used a small card that has the word "Wizard" printed on it.
 * He sometimes falls asleep with his eyes open, as seen in "Still."
 * As Simon Petrikov, a Scientific Parasite is visible in his coat pocket. This had led fans to believe that Simon may perhaps be brilliant in his profession of Archaeology.
 * Ice King is older than Marceline by precisely forty years, as seen in the episode "I Remember You" and clarified further in "Simon & Marcy."
 * Ice King loves filling his bathtub up with milk and sitting in it like he is a magic angel. This is revealed in a slowed portion of Ice King's tapes in the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I."
 * It seems that the Ice King will steal any adult female so long as she has the word "Princess" in her name. This is shown in "The Chamber of Frozen Blades," in which he steals Doctor Princess, even though "Princess" is merely her surname.
 * Ice King's favorite princesses, as he revealed in "Princess Monster Wife," are Princess Bubblegum, Muscle Princess, Skeleton Princess, Turtle Princess, Hot Dog Princess, Wildberry Princess, Elbow Princess, Slime Princess, and (not an actual princess) Doctor Princess.
 * It is revealed in "Little Dude" that Ice King sometimes sleeps on Finn and Jake's roof.
 * Simon may have been a fan of the classic TV show Cheers, as he reenacted the iconic "Norm!" greeting in "Simon &amp; Marcy" and even sang an abridged version of the theme song.
 * Ice King is similar to the Teen Titans' character, Mumbo Jumbo. They both have blue skin and white hair. They are both voiced by Tom Kenny. Also, they are both magic users and have similar origin.
 * He is an avid fan of Marceline's music. His favorite song may be Fry Song because he did a cover twice.
 * Ice King can hide items under his beard, as seen in "Hitman" and "I Remember You."
 * Ice King is slightly similar to Gollum in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Ice King refers to Betty as "princess," whereas Gollum refers to his ring as "precious." The crown which he purchased made him insane while the One Ring had corrupted Gollum. Also, his past from when he was Simon Petrikov is similar to Gollum's from when he was known as a Hobbit by the name of Smeagol.
 * It was stated by Pen Ward that the Ice King's weight fluctuates with his mood changes, and that he might fast over a weekend and loose a lot of weight, then become depressed, eat a great deal of snacks, and gain a considerable amount of weight.
 * The town of Petrikov, or as it is truly known, is located within the Homiel Voblast region of Belarus. Ironically enough, it had suffered major irradiation during the Chernobyl meltdown incident and many of its citizens were forced to evacuate. Whether or not that Simon Petrikov himself was either a Belarusian immigrant or simply descended from Belarusian parentage, is hotly debated amongst fans.
 * Simon Petrikov's design and characteristics share many similarities with those of Milo Thatch from "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." Both Simon and Milo are intellectuals fascinated with artifacts and history and both are driven to achieve their goals for the sake of knowledge. It is assumed that Simon Petrikov was enthused by his career choices (Archaeology and Anthropology) while Milo specialized proudly in Cartography and Linguistics. Simon's red bowtie and yellow undershirt are almost identical to Milo's bowtie and shirt at the start of "Atlantis." They both wear glasses (although Milo's are large and clear-lensed and Simon's are small and blue-lensed) and both undertake trips to foreign lands that change their lives forever. Even the discovery and significance of Enchiridion (for Simon) and the Shepherd's Journal (for Milo) draw shocking parallels.
 * Ricardio seems to know about Ice King's previous life, being his former heart, and this seems to be true because in the episode "Lady & Peebles" when Ice King asks for a hug, Ricardio steps on him and says "Quiet, Simon!"

Storyline analysis

 * In "Fionna and Cake," when Cake put on the Ice Queen's tiara, Fionna knocks it off, yelling, "Take that off! You might catch her crazy!" As "Holly Jolly Secrets" has revealed, the power of the Ice King's crown caused him to lose his sanity. Since Fionna and Cake and their universe are fan fiction written by the Ice King, this shows he knows to some extent, at least subconsciously, that the crown can endanger its wearer's sanity.
 * In "I Remember You," on the newspaper clipping that Marceline shows the Ice King, we can see Simon getting out of what appears to be an old black Plymouth 4-door, holding the Enchiridion underneath his arm: this story reports that he was the archaeologist who found the legendary book. Betty can be seen sitting in the occupant's side.
 * Over the same newspaper clipping, there are written lyrics to "Oh, Bubblegum." Ice King stated he wrote the lyrics down on that paper. In a parallel of this, the picture of young Marceline has the notes that became the lyrics of the song "Remember You" on the back, suggesting Simon wrote those just before he lost his identity, to apologize to Marceline when she would read them in the future.
 * Even though he has been changed by the crown, Ice King still shows signs that some vestiges of his former self remain. This can be seen in certain things he says and does. For example, in "I Remember You" when he finds his old scrap book filled with poignant reminders of the man he once was and his shared past with Marceline, he absentmindedly describes the pages as "wet with tears." The implication is that during a recent moment of lucidity he was crying over them and has since forgotten doing so. He brings the diary entries with him as inspirational material for the song he wants Marceline to help him compose.
 * He does not seem to remember his past as Simon Petrikov, even though he saw the history (after he found the crown) in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II"; his only reaction to the tapes was shame at the fact that he previously wore glasses. This may suggest that the crown tries to suppress all living memory of Simon Petrikrov in Ice King's mind.
 * Ice King seems to act more contemplative, reasonable and conscious to others when he removes his crown for a long period of time in this episode. His clearer thinking could be due to an absence of the crown's influence. Similarly, in the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I," Ice King is shown (in his secret tapes) without his crown on, looking sad and more serious than normal, talking about his "innermost thoughts." He begins to say "As you can see, I'm not wearing my -" several times before being interrupted by his penguin. It can be assumed he was referring to his missing crown, and he says that he is more contemplative than normal.
 * In the episode "What Have You Done?," he said that he got his crown through the magic that he stole. Later on in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" it is revealed that he purchased the crown in Scandinavia. This may be a fact that the Ice King is insane and has no true memory of his past, or may be related to the true origins of the cursed crown and its creation.
 * In "Mortal Recoil," Ice King exits the scene when Bubblegum is reduced from 18 to 13 years old. In "I Remember You," Ice King states in his song "Oh, Bubblegum" that he thinks Flame Princess (who is 14) is merely "okay." This indicates a lack of interest in younger-aged princesses.

Appearances in other media

 * Ice King is a quest-objective character in FusionFall, and his crown is a wearable item.
 * On New Year's Eve 2010, there was an Adventure Time marathon, and it featured bumpers with the Ice King.
 * He appeared in two Hole in the Wall bumpers in which he is a contestant. He tries to freeze the wall, or runs away due to the fact that he cannot not fit in either one of the holes.
 * In Regular Show episode "See You There," one person is dressed like the Ice King but with the crown in a different Ice king regular show XD.png format. He is seen many times throughout the episode.
 * He appears in the Cartoon Network TV show MAD in the episode "Avenger Time." He is called by the same name and voiced by Tom Kenny, but he has a much shorter beard and hunches over.
 * There is a licensed Halloween costume of Ice King.
 * Ice King is the main antagonist and one of the bosses in the video game, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?!!
 * The Ice King's head was used in Cartoon Network's booth for 2013.