Ice King

"I am the king! I am the king of c-c-cool!"- The Ice King

The Ice King (real name Simon Petrikov) is the main antagonist (often unintentionally) of Adventure Time. His typical misdeed 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. He rules the Ice Kingdom. His Ice Powers are contained in his crown, and he is therefore powerless without it. His crown is also the cause of his loss of sanity, his unusual skin color, goblin-like nose, white eyes and beard.

Appearance
Ice King is a short, blue, elderly man with unusually tiny fingers, pointy toes, and a long hooked nose. He wears a dark blue tunic and has a large beard that covers most of his body. Though the robe gives him the appearance of a larger man, Ice King's body is in fact exceptionally thin. 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."

Origin
thumb|right|305px|Video depicting the creation of the Ice King Sometime before the Mushroom War, Ice King was a normal, 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. At some point in his career he purchased a strange jeweled crown from an old dock worker in Northern Scandinavia, which is Northern Europe. 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.

Petrikov had no recollection of what he had 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. Even during the first clip, comparing him to his picture, his eyes already began to look as they do as the Ice King. His skin turned light blue, his nose became pointy and long, his hair turned white and his body temperature dwindled to an unnatural low of 30°C. Despite being human, having a body temperature of 30°C, and being in a land covered by snow, Petrikov manages to survive. This is perhaps what is meant when the crown ‘tells’ him that “the power of the crown will save [him] with its frost”.

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. He also added that if he cannot control the new impulses the crown gave him and hurt anyone to please forgive him.

As many years (likely centuries) rolled by, the effects of the crown, possibly encouraged by isolation, caused a disassociation from his original identity so complete that his only reaction to watching a video of his past was embarrassment at the idea of having once worn glasses. However, Petrikov's influence may still remain in the Ice King's strange and desperate desire to marry a "Princess". Seeing the video of Simon Petrikov is what caused what Shelby (the worm who lives in Jake's viola) described as the one time Finn and Jake had "a fleeting moment of empathy for the biggest weirdo in Ooo."

Ice King is no longer 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.

Personality
Ice King is normally portrayed as disagreeable and short-tempered. A genuinely lonely character, Ice King spends most of his time kidnapping and imprisoning the various princesses of Ooo, in hopes of someday marrying one. Due to his poor social skills and arrogant nature, Ice King is unable to woo any of his prisoners and learns to resort to a forced marriage instead of the loving relationship he craves. With no companions or friends aside from Gunter, his other penguin guards, and numerous ice creatures, Ice King expresses a continual zeal to spend time with anyone who will tolerate his company, especially his archenemies 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. He has been labeled a "sociopath" by the Cosmic Owl.

He is generally unliked by Finn and Jake, but in the episode, "When Wedding Bells Thaw," Finn and Jake become a little more accepting of him, evidenced when Finn says, "I'm kinda happy for him." In that same episode, Ice King asks Finn and Jake to throw him a "Manlorette Party." However, this acceptance soon wilts when Finn and Jake discover the Ice King's diabolical hypnosis of his would-be wife. In the episode "What Have You Done?," he calls Finn his "bosom" when they release him free from jail after Finn learns that Ice King had committed no recent crime. Although after Finn's "death," Ice King howls in pain for ten seconds, he subsequently drops his "corpse" to the ground, which Finn declares mean and cruel. In "Still ", Finn and Jake declared that they and the Ice King are friends. Ice King writes fan fiction about Finn and Jake. (Fionna and Cake)

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 Dr. Princess, even though "Princess" is merely her surname. Despite Ice King's more common 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, "Let's Work Together," 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.

While Ice King comes off evil, doing mostly bad things like kidnapping princesses and stealing, it can be said that his behavior is because he is lonely, and desperate for companionship and attention. His crown and the effects of his Wizard Eyes have made him insane over the years, affecting his social skills and causing him to do things that most people wouldn't. Friendship and companionship is all he really wants, but it always goes the wrong way.

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, 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. In "What Have You Done?," it is revealed that the crown was infused with stolen magic. Due to the Ice King's incompetence, he doesn't have a great deal of control over the manifestations of ice he can create. This is shown not only with the Ice-o-pede in "What is Life?" but also the snowmen in "Holly Jolly Secrets I & II"

His beard is apparently animated, 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 be wearing both his beard and crown to fly. Because of his quick temper and arguably slow wit, he isn't able to wield his powers as effectively as he should, but has proven himself capable of defeating Finn and Jake when amply provoked.

Ice King can also play the drums, though with debatable skill, and on a drumset with "#1 Babe" across the front. The set consists of a bass drum, a floor tom, a snare, two ride cymbals and a hi-hat. In "The Chamber of Frozen Blades" the Ice King is shown to have studied the Ice Ninja art of fridjitzu.

Aside from his magic, Ice King owns a pair of nun-chucks that uses during the Wizard Battle to "cheat" as opposed to using his ice powers. The Ice King's powers could be much more dangerous and controlled if he wasn't insane.



Main Article: Wizard Eyes

Ice King also possesses a power known as "Wizard Eyes", which allow him to see certain things that normal people can't. 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. These freaky creatures are caused by the lack of control the Ice King has over his wizard eyes.

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.

Horse
In "The Eyes," Ice King spies on Finn and Jake, disguised as a creepy horse. The horse 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 "whacked-out poo brain." 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.

Quotes
See Ice King/Quotes

Major Appearances

 * 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
 * Let's Work Together
 * Hitman
 * Still
 * Wizard Battle
 * Thank You
 * Holly Jolly Secrets Part I
 * Holly Jolly Secrets Part II

Minor Appearances

 * Evicted!
 * It Came from the Nightosphere
 * Conquest of Cuteness
 * Fionna and Cake

Trivia

 * Ice King has a tattoo of a penguin on his butt, as seen in the episode "Prisoners of Love " during his dream sequence.
 * His cut-out has Ricardio sticking out under the beard.
 * In the episode "When Wedding Bells Thaw" Ice King, without realizing it, marries Jake. However, their marriage was annulled soon after. According to Adam Muto, "At the end of the episode, Ice King came around looking to celebrate not being married to Jake."
 * 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, seen in "The Chamber of Frozen Blades."
 * According to Natasha's formspring, the Ice King's species is Wizard.
 * However, as seen in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II", the Ice King is (or once was) human. This could mean that the crown not only warped the Ice King's mind, but made him inhuman.
 * As revealed on Mr. Muto's formspring, one of the gems on Ice King's crown provides the same effects as the magic gems used by Princess Bubblegum, protecting him from The Lich's mind control effects.
 * According to Pendleton Ward's formspring, Ice King is around 600 years old. However, this statement was made long before "Holly Jolly Secrets" was written, and the show's creators may have decided to change the character's background.
 * The Ice King may not know that he is old or even how old he actually is, hinted in Mortal Recoil, when he states, "I'm not old." He could also be in denial over his age, of course.
 * According to Pen Ward's Formspring, Ice King's favorite videogame is Battle Babe, most likely the one he played in "What is Life?"
 * In "Mortal Folly" when Ice King tried to lift the latch on the on a window to get to see Princess Bubblegum he used a small card that has the word Wizard printed on it.
 * In "Hitman", Ice King states that Lumpy Space Princess and Ghost Princess are his least favorite princesses. This is due to the fact that he cannot hold Ghost Princess with his "love mitts."
 * He sometimes falls asleep with his eyes open as seen in "Still."
 * According to Natasha Allegri, the Ice King thinks he's fat (in his imagination zone).
 * It is possible that he might be ambidextrous because in "Hitman" he signs Scorcher's note with his right hand and the second time he signs it with his left hand.
 * Natasha Allegri has joked that Ice King's character is based off Pendleton Ward.
 * It is possible that Ice King is actually based off the character "Winter Warlock" from the 1970s Christmas film "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" due to striking similarities including his white beard, pointed teeth, long nose, and magical command over ice and snow.
 * As Simon Petrikov, a Scientific Parasite is visible in his coat pocket.
 * In "What Have You Done?," Ice King states that he made his crown with the magic he stole, but in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," he bought the crown when he was human.
 * In "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," it is revealed that Ice King wears a gold, circular locket with Finn's and Jake's pictures inside.
 * The Ice King's given name 'Simon Petrikov' is defined as: 'Simon' is a Greek adapted Hebrew name meaning 'to hear', 'he has heard' or 'to be heard'. 'Petrikov' is a Russian Jewish name of unknown origin.
 * The Ice King has apparently tried to kill Finn and Jake four times, stated by Jake in the episode "Still".
 * Ice King has a female counterpart: Ice Queen

Appearances in other media

 * Ice King is a character in FusionFall.
 * On New Year's Eve 2010, there was an Adventure Time marathon, and it featured bumpers with the Ice King.
 * He appeared in 2 Hole in the Wall bumpers, in which he is a contestant. He tries to freeze the wall, or runs away in fear. A third bumper features Rath from "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien" attacking the wall head-on. Coincidentially, Rath is voiced by John DiMaggio, who voices Jake.
 * In Regular Show's "See You There", one person is dressed like the Ice King. He is seen many times.
 * He appears in the CN TV show "MAD" in the episode "Avenger Time." He is called by the same name, but he has a much shorter beard and hunches over.
 * The Ice King is an Exosuit in the game Project Exonaut.