Susan Strong (character)

Susan Strong (Birth name Kara, cybernetically known as X-J-7-7 Strong) is a recurring character in Adventure Time who first appears in the episode of the same name. Susan Strong lives underground with the members of the Hyooman tribe, whom she leads in an attack against the Candy Kingdom. At first, she cannot speak much English and is afraid of many things, but Finn and Jake teach her about the ways of Ooo.

Susan returns in the season three episode "Beautopia." She asks for Finn's help to reclaim the Hyoomans' old home, the underground city of Beautopia. Susan, Finn, and Jake use fire to fight off the Lub Glubs, scary monsters that take the form of pool floats, allowing the Hyooman tribe to return to their city. At the end of the episode, Susan allows Finn to feel under her hat, letting Finn know if she is human or not; however, Finn's reaction does not reveal the truth to the viewer.

However, three seasons later, In the episode "Dark Purple," Susan rips off her hat to reveal that she is indeed a human, but appears to have some sort of cybernetic implant on the left side of her head which means she is a cyborg.

It is revealed in the episode "Preboot" that Susan's implant has something to do with Dr. Gross, and that until this point, was deactivated. When it becomes activated due to electricity in "Reboot," she speaks in a robotic-sounding voice and attempts to take Finn to the edge of the ocean, claiming he is her "objective." While in this state, she is able to absorb the blast from a Gumball Guardian and make herself larger. At the end of the episode, Finn destroys the cybernetic implant and Susan returns to her former self, becoming wholly human in the process.

Appearance
Susan is a female human. She is a very large and muscular woman, towering over Finn and Jake. Also, her skin seems tanner than Finn's skin. She also has long blond hair, seen down her back, and green eyes. Part of her hair is shown to be shaved off around the implant on her head. She wears a ragged, short dark-indigo dress and a dark-grey hat made to look like a head and body of a cat with long whiskers and tail. It is later learned that this hat is part of a uniform that designates her as a 'Seeker.' True to her name, she is physically incredibly strong, being able to crush boulders and fight off monsters by herself. She doesn't appear to own shoes, so she is seen mostly walking barefoot.

In the episode "Dark Purple," she wears torn, dark purple shorts and a tank top the same color as her dress.

Language
Initially, Susan does not speak English like Finn and Jake, but instead speaks the Hyooman language.

Throughout the episode "Susan Strong," Finn and Jake teach Susan about objects in the surface world and their English names. By the time they visit the Candy Kingdom, Susan has a decent grasp on the English language and can form simple sentences. In "Beautopia," her English improves dramatically, and she is able to speak in clear, slow sentences. Some of her speech is still grammatically incorrect, however.

In the episode "Susan Strong," Susan receives her name when Finn misunderstands Susan's repeated attempts to say the word "sun." She clearly knows the English word "sun" and recognizes what it means. This fact coupled along with her rapid absorption of English indicates that she may have spoken English at one time in her life but forgotten it.

However, in "Hide and Seek," it was revealed that she used to speak coherent English like other humans before speaking the Hyooman language. In "Min and Marty," she has regained the ability to speak coherent English. She also mentions how good it feels to use big words again.

Quotes
See Susan Strong (character)/Quotes

Major Appearances

 * "Susan Strong" (debut)
 * "Beautopia"
 * "Dark Purple"
 * "Preboot"
 * "Reboot"
 * "The Invitation"
 * "Whipple The Happy Dragon"
 * "Hide and Seek"
 * "The Light Cloud"

Minor Appearances

 * "The Music Hole"
 * "Two Swords"
 * "Do No Harm"
 * "Min and Marty"
 * "Helpers"

Mentioned and/or Pictured

 * "Mysterious Island"
 * "Imaginary Resources"

Trivia

 * Susan received her name by Finn misinterpreting her attempt at saying the word "sun" twice as being "Susan." Despite this misinterpretation, she refers to herself as Susan now, as seen in "Beautopia."
 * The character was inspired by a character Pendleton Ward had in Blade Mistress, an old MMORPG in which all player characters were "buff women with huge swords."
 * Her eyes appear to be the color green when enlarged. They also seem to glow in the dark like a cat's, though this may have simply been an artistic enhancement.
 * Susan appears as a non-playable character in Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!.
 * She is shown to be a great singer in "The Music Hole."

Cultural references

 * She described fire as "red flower" in "Beautopia." Mowgli and the other animals in The Jungle Book also refer to fire as "red flower."

Production notes

 * In the "Blood Under the Skin" storyboard, when Finn receives the Armor of Zeldron, Jake lists off some of the "hero ladies" he knows; including Sheila the Great, Bertha the Barbarian, and Susan the Strong. Note that this was not included in the actual episode when it aired.