Stretchy Powers

Stretchy Powers are the powers that Jake the Dog and Cake the Cat use to change the shape of their bodies. Jake has been seen to use a variety of Stretchy Powers. Jake claims that he thought he might have gotten them by rolling around in a mud puddle (When he's still a pup), as stated in the episode, "The Witch's Garden", but on Pendleton Ward's Formspring, stated that it wasn't how he got his powers, and that Jake just "couldn't remember" (though with the many abilities that Dogs in this world all seem to possess, it is just possible he was born with them and that the "rolling in the mud" excuse was just due to not knowing fully himself or his own bad memory). Pen Ward also said that Jake doesn't know the full use of his powers because he's too lazy to use them fully unti,l "The Limit". Jake can also shrink his entire body so Finn can hold him and fit in his pocket,as is evident in "It Came from the Nightosphere". In the episode "Loyalty to the King", Jake makes an ear shield so he and Finn can get by the princesses. Also, Jake often uses a form of stretchy powers called Key Hand. It is possible that other characters have this ability. In "Beautopia," he uses a pick-axe hand to try to pop a Lub Glub.

Key Hand
Key Hand is a unique ability that is only known to be used by Jake. The Key Hand consists of Jake morphing his hand into the shape of a skeleton key. Since Jake is a magical dog, he is the only known person in the Land of Ooo who can do this. This is very helpful when trying to open doors, prison cells, gates, and other obstacles that require the use of a key. He uses his stretchy powers to use Key Hand.

Key Hand is first seen in the episode "Prisoners of Love." Jake attempts to use Key Hand to free all the princesses who were locked in Ice King's jail cell. Ice King realizes that Key Hand was a threat and quickly flash-freezes Jake.

In the episode "Dungeon," Finn tries to use Key Hand to open a locked door, but without Jake's stretchy powers, he only hurts his fingers. When he is reunited with Jake, both are trapped in a cage by the Guardian Angel. Jake morphs his hand to make Key Hand; however, Finn doesn't see any locks. So Jake morphs his other hand into Lock Hand. So far, Jake has been seen to use the Key Hand twice and failed.

In the game Legends of Ooo, Jake uses key hand so he and Finn could escape the ice dungeon after dressing up as a princess. This is the first time Jake is "seen" using key hand with a successful result. Although you do not actually see him make "key hand": he just says he can use key hand to open the jail door, and then it opens.

Trivia

 * Notably, Jake's mass appears to reduce with his size; when he is small he is lighter than normal, and when enlarged, he becomes heavier. It is unknown if this is an attentional attribute of stretchy powers (being magical in origin and design) or a slight on behalf of the producers.
 * Jake can be stretched by force as seen in "Ocean of Fear," where Finn stretched Jake's ears to avoid making contact with the ocean and in Beautopia when Susan stretches him into an oar. As well as in Hot to the Touch, where Finn was able to morph Jake's face around freely.
 * Jake's Subconscious died when Jake lost his powers, so his subconscious possibly could be the source of his powers (when he's in Jake's body.)
 * Rainicorns may have stretchy powers too, because they've been seen stretching their bodies out.
 * Jake_not_blink.jpg's unknown if it's a coincidence that Jake and Lady R. both have stretchy powers and seem to be dating (They also have the same eyes.) Though these are probably animation errors since rainicorn bodies could be very long.
 * There is an upward limit to Jake's Stretchy Powers, for if he exerts himself too much he could die, as seen in "The Limit." This is because his body stretches like a piece of bubblegum, as the more he stretches, the thinner he gets, until it becomes difficult for his organs to function. However, in "From Bad to Worse", he tells Lady Rainicorn he can stretch forever, though that could have been a lie to reassure Lady.
 * Also shown in "The Limit", if Jake stretches too far, he can't close his eyes because he stretches away any possible skin for his eyelids.
 * Stretchy powers is the most seen and used ability in the series appearing in almost every episode.
 * No one knows if Jake will use his powers to his fullest extent.
 * Jake's gender-swap version Cake also has stretchy powers.
 * He can also increase the size of his organs, such as in "Jake vs. Me-Mow" he grew his liver 51 times its normal size to filter out the poison in his body.
 * Jake also has an special power over his body as he could put all his blood and internal organs in his thumb Jake's_thumb.jpg "Evicted!" to avoid Marceline from sucking his blood.