Land of Ooo

The Land of Ooo is the main setting of Adventure Time, and is the home of Finn and Jake, along with all of their friends and foes. It is divided into different kingdoms, of which the most prominent are the Ice Kingdom, Candy Kingdom, Slime Kingdom, Hot Dog Kingdom, Wildberry Kingdom, Lumpy Space, Fire Kingdom, Breakfast Kingdom, Goblin Kingdom and Cloud Kingdom. There are also many geographical areas not known to be part of any kingdom, such as the Evil Forest and the Bad Lands. Pendleton Ward has confirmed that the Land of Ooo is a continent.

Map
Two different official maps of the Land of Ooo were released by Frederator Studios along with the original Adventure Time pitch documents: the ' seen in the infobox to the right and a ' seen in the gallery below. Of these, the black-and-white one drawn by Ghostshrimp is probably more accurate for several reasons:
 * 1) Its general shape matches the aerial view of Ooo seen in "Business Time" (see picture in gallery below.)
 * 2) A slightly modified version of this map appeared on Princess Bubblegum's hologram map in "The Other Tarts."
 * 3) On the black-and-white map, the names of certain places match up with the names used in the show and by its creators, while some of the names on the color map do not.

Map-only locations
The two official maps show many locations that have never been mentioned or seen on the show. It is unknown if these locations are canonical, and nothing is known about them other than what appears on the maps.

On the color map, a Mystery Temple appears on an island off the east coast of Ooo. It resembles a real world Mayan temple. Also on the color map, the Fire Kingdom is labeled "Burning Lands" and the Grass Lands are called the "Verdant Plains." An area called "Red Rock Cliffs" might correspond to Red Rock Pass, and a note indicates that Marceline's cave is located there.

On the black-and-white map, there are many places that have never been seen in the show. To the North of Ooo is the Sea of Something, which contains a small island chain called The Shiney Isles, which appear to have crystals on them. On a northern peninsula near the Ice Kingdom are The Unknown Lands. Nothing is known about them.In the comic this place seems to have a purple hue. A cloud or island in the northwest corner of the map is called the Cloud Forest, which appears to be covered in clouds with trees on top of them.

The Sea of Sure Death is off the southwest coast of Ooo, near the Lost Cliffs. The map shows a dragon in the sea near there. The Isle of Steam appears off the coast of Ooo next to the Fire Kingdom. Just to the south of it is the mysterious Chicken Blood Cove. The Squid Ink Sea is to the southeast of Ooo, and features several unidentified islands. In the ocean near there is a Whirlpool of Sharks. The Floating Gems appear to be actual large gems floating in the sea on the easternmost edge of the Land of Ooo.

The Haunted Swamp is just east of the Grass Lands and north of the Spooky Forest. Strangely, in the hologram map that appeared in "The Other Tarts," its name was changed to "The Haunted Swan." The Hole Near the Center of the World is, as its name suggests, a hole near the middle of Ooo. Its nature and size are unknown.

Government
Ooo exhibits a mix of democracy, dictatorship (in some kingdoms), and feudalism as well as what appears to be monarchy. Most kingdoms are ruled by a Princess(es) or a King such as the Ice Kingdom and Fire Kingdom. In the episode "Paper Pete" Mildwin is the democratically elected leader of the Moldos.The meeting of Ooo royalty acts like modern day Congress, in which all heads of state come together. Dictatorship has only been exhibited in "The Silent King" and "Too Young" where Xergiok and Earl of Lemongrab abuse their power. Party Pat is the chief of the Bears, but it is unknown how he was elected. He did not appear to be a dictator or force things on his people, because Cubby said, "If you can convince him to leave, all will follow" instead of "He can make everyone leave." It is not known if there are any rules that apply across kingdoms have, but there is apparently a kingdom law mentioned by Princess Bubblegum in Too Young. It also appears there are villages and towns that have their own society like the Spikey Village and the town from "The Monster."

Religion
One of the primary deities worshiped in Ooo is Grob Gob Glob Grod. The Cosmic Owl apparently is also known as some kind of spiritual entity that appears in Croak Dreams. The show's creators have stated that Abraham Lincoln is a religious figure, although this has not been stated within the show. Ooo seems to have a number of other potentially godlike beings such as Party God and Death.

It is unknown whether anyone remembers Pre-Mushroom War religions. But in "Holly Jolly Secrets" many Christmas-themed items appear, but none of the characters show knowledge of the holiday itself (instead of Christmas, the holiday is called a day for wearing sweaters and watching secret tapes). Natasha Allegri has stated that the picture of a mother and child in Marceline's house is Mary and baby Jesus. However, there's no direct evidence that Marceline actually holds religious beliefs, and the significance of the picture has never been addressed by the characters. However, since Marceline is over 1000 (and is shown in Memory of a Memory as having lived through some massively destructive war, if anyone remembers it would presuably be her).

In the episode, "Marceline's Closet" just before Jake and Finn play 'cloud hunt', Jake mentions a central Buddhist theme. When asked what he is doing, Jake responds by saying that he is, "Just eliminating desire from my heart. It helps to pass the time." Which is the ultimate goal of the Eight-Fold path and a central idea behind the four noble truths. However, this could merely be the lingering influence of Buddhist and Christian thought, with Jake's goal being some sort of communion with "Glob".

Currency
The only currency shown in the series is dollar bills, although some store owners (Choose Goose) prefer to trade. The dollar is made in at least 2 sizes (regular and giant). The dollar was first shown in The Enchiridion! when Finn stole a giant dollar from an Ogre. The dollar was also seen in To Cut A Woman's Hair, when Finn payed Simon to play for him on his violin. The dollar probably doesn't come in tiny size, because then Finn would've used a tiny dollar to pay Simon. Also, in the episode " Hitman", the Ice king tried to pay Scorcher not to kill Finn and Jake.

Languages
Although English is seemingly the main language spoken in Ooo, Korean and German are also spoken. The Rainicorns shown speak Korean, and Jake can understand it. In What Have You Done?, Princess Bubblegum spoke some German. Also, as shown in Incendium, French could be a surviving language because the Flame King speaks some when talking to Jake.

Post-apocalyptic setting
Pendleton Ward, the creator of Adventure Time, has stated in an interview that the Land of Ooo is actually a post-apocalyptic world, the result of a global disaster called the Mushroom War, hence the ruined pieces of modern technology scattered across the land.


 * For a full list of scenes involving post-apocalyptic relics and technology, see: Mushroom War

Humans
It is also possible that Finn may be the sole human being left in Ooo (besides Susan Strong, whose species remains unknown), although it's unknown whether the Mushroom War was responsible for killing off most other humans. It's presumed that most of the other humans mutated into something, died or mixed with mutants.

For more information on Finn as the last human, see the "Status as the last human" section on Finn's article.

Trivia

 * In Jake's croak dream, the Earth in the background did not have a big "chip" missing. However, this could just be one of the Banana Man's astronomy instruments (such as the Saturn in the background was one of the Banana Man's tools when Jake, Finn, and the Banana Man were all in the lake).
 * While Pendleton Ward says the Land of Ooo is a continent, Adam Muto says it is the size of a smallish island nation.
 * The map of Ooo vaguely resembles an eagle or phoenix.