Peppermint Butler

Peppermint Butler is a recurring character in the show Adventure Time. He is an inhabitant of the Candy Kingdom who is involved with dark magic and also a loyal butler to Princess Bubblegum. Even though Princess Bubblegum lost her position as ruler of the Candy Kingdom to the King of Ooo and moved away to a cabin near Lake Butterscotch, Peppermint Butler appears to still serve her as her butler.

Appearance
As is common with his occupation, Peppermint Butler is a well-dressed peppermint candy. He wears the traditional tailcoat of a butler, but opts for the less traditional blue version of the outfit. His shoes, gloves, and bow-tie are red, matching his red stripes; he also has white eyes.

Personality
Peppermint Butler is generally portrayed as a happy, even-tempered, and carefree guy, as shown by his interactions with his fellow Candy People in "Slumber Party Panic." An ever-diligent worker, Peppermint Butler serves Princess Bubblegum as well as her kingdom in various ways such as carrying Princess Bubblegum, working as a jailer, and as a chef (seen in "Ricardio the Heart Guy," "The Duke," "The Real You" and "Too Young" respectively). Though an adult, Peppermint Butler can occasionally be childish and immature as seen in his squabble with Chet over who got to be the grillmeister in "The Real You."

Peppermint Butler is a trusted member of Candy Kingdom society, but evidence suggests there is more to him than meets the eye. It is likely Peppermint Butler is more intelligent and able than he lets people believe. For example, in "Mortal Recoil," he realized that Princess Bubblegum was being possessed by the Lich, as evidenced by his hissing at the sight of her.

He seems to have a secret dark past as he has close ties with Death revealed in "Death in Bloom." This acquaintanceship saved Finn and Jake from peril, but he later claimed he would steal the flesh from their sleeping bodies as payment. Given that Finn and Jake still have their flesh this may have only been a morbid joke. There is also some controversy with him and a Goblin in the episode "The Eyes," where it looks as though he has killed the goblin, but is able to divert suspicion from himself when Finn and Jake arrive by claiming he found the goblin that way. In "Return to the Nightosphere," a picture is shown of him golfing with Hunson Abadeer as a background gag. In "You Made Me," when Finn asks to see his aura, Peppermint Butler declines, saying "You don't wanna see that," while sweating and nervously backing away from him. In "The Suitor" he summoned the demon Ogdoad to possess Cinnamon Bun. Gumball Guardian seems to know that Peppermint Butler might have had a dark past, as seen in "The Suitor" when he went to his lair and called him "Dark One" and did not question the demon he had trapped.

It is revealed in "Nemesis" that he has an evil and vindictive side, even torturing Peace Master by turning his children into demon hybrids. Although he does notice he has gone too far and lets Peace Master leave, he does not turn his children back. This episode further displays his secretive side when Princess Bubblegum seems to be unaware of anything going on. Though the Gumball Guardians have called Peppermint Butler "Dark One," other candy citizens are either unaware of or accepting of Peppermint Butler's dark side, such as when the supernatural-seeking Veritas Society, led by Starchy, defend him from Peace Master in "Nemesis," with Starchy telling Peace Master, "That's my boy Peppermint Butler you're messing with!"

In the Adventure Time Mini-Series: "Stakes", it is revealed that Peppermint Butler is quite knowledgeable about vampires and has a secret vampire hunting kit that he keeps just in case Marceline ever becomes a threat. When Marceline learns that in being cured of her vampirism, the vampires who's souls she absorbed in the past have revived, Peppermint Butler supplies Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Finn, and Jake with various vampire hunting implements from his secret kit so they can hunt down the revived Vampires. In "May I Come In?", he learns that The Hierophant is an old school vampire who cannot enter a house unless he is invited and informs Princess Bubblegum that he is searching for Marceline and helps in the vampire's defeat by informing Jake of The Hierophant's inability to enter a house unless he is invited in, which gives Jake the idea to shapeshift into a house which ends up killing the Hierophant when he is pushed through Jake's doorway by Crunchy allowing Marceline to reclaim his shapeshifting powers. In "Take Her Back", he kills The Moon by shoving a giant stake through her back and into her heart, which bypasses her self-regeneration and allows Marceline to reclaim her self-healing powers which cures her of The Hierophant's scorpion venom. In "Checkmate", he is shown to be a fan of the Vampire King and wishes to met him in person so he can get his autograph. However when he finally gets a chance to meet him, he is quite nervous and has trouble talking to him. However fortunately Vampire King reads Peppermint Butler's mind and uses his psychic powers to sign Peppermint Butler's book. After the Vampire King's essence is removed, Princess Bubblegum asks Peppermint Butler to carefully dispose of the vampire goo extracted from the Vampire King, however an accident results in the creation of a Dark Cloud Monster that threatens the Land of Ooo. In "The Dark Cloud", as a result of the explosion that created the Dark Cloud, Peppermint Butler is broken into pieces, though still alive. He refutes Princess Bubblegum claim that he once told her he enjoys being broken into pieces. After Marceline defeats the Dark Cloud and returns to being a vampire, Princess Bubblegum (having reclaimed her throne due to the overthrow of the King of Ooo) is seen rebuilding Peppermint Butler.

Abilities
As revealed in "Death in Bloom," Peppermint Butler possesses a connection to the Land of the Dead. The extent of this "connection" is unknown, but he is capable of using a spell to enter the Land of the Dead and teaching other mortals said spell, allowing them to enter. He also possesses impressive knowledge of the Land of the Dead, such as knowing not to drink the water. In "Mortal Recoil," Peppermint Butler shows he has some ability that can sense evil within another, as seen by him hissing like a cat when he realized that Princess Bubblegum was being possessed by The Lich. In "Return to the Nightosphere," a picture can be seen displaying Peppermint Butler acting as a caddie while Marceline's Dad plays golf, furthering his connection to the Land of the Dead and now the Nightosphere. He also seems to have control of dark magic when he summoned a demon into Cinnamon Bun in "The Suitor." This also revealed that the Gumball Guardians know of his dark powers referring to him as "Dark One."

In "King Worm" Peppermint Butler is shown to have to ability to somehow deliver a message to Finn while he is being controlled by the King Worm, though it is possible that due to the seemingly reality bending aspects of King Worm's hypnosis, it wasn't the real Peppermint Butler speaking to Finn.

Like a real peppermint candy, Peppermint Butler has minty, cooling abilities for those who eat any part of his body; this was seen when he cooled down the mouth of the Earl of Lemongrab after he consumed a hot potion.

Peppermint Butler can burrow, as seen in "Goliad." He can also sing as shown in "Wizard Battle," though out of tune and not very well.

His title of "Dark One" is further explored in "Nemesis," when Peace Master hunts him down due to his connections and abilities connected to the Nightosphere. Peppermint Butler uses his dark magic to form a suit of armor, matched with a flaming sword. He also has the ability to turn Peace Master's children into demon hybrids.

In "Vamps About", it is revealed that he is quite knowledgeable about vampires and their weaknesses. He also keeps a secret vampire hunting kit full of vampire hunting implements such as stakes and garlic just in case Marceline ever becomes a threat. Due to his knowledge he is shown to be a competent Vampire Hunter, able to quickly deduce that The Hierophant was an old school vampire who was incapable of enter a house unless he was invited in and knew that The Moon's self-regeneration could be bypassed by stabbing her heart through her back with a giant wooden stake.

In "Take Her Back", he uses a form of crystal therapy to treat the poison that Marceline was afflicted with. While it wasn't quick, it did seem to be at least somewhat effective.

Quotes
See Peppermint Butler/Quotes.

Major appearances

 * "Death in Bloom"
 * "Too Young "
 * "Five Short Graybles"
 * "The Suitor"
 * "Nemesis"
 * "Hot Diggity Doom"
 * "Checkmate"

Minor appearances

 * "Slumber Party Panic" (debut)
 * "Ricardio the Heart Guy"
 * "The Duke"
 * "The Eyes"
 * "Power Animal"
 * "The Real You"
 * "Susan Strong"
 * "Video Makers"
 * "Mortal Folly"
 * "Mortal Recoil"
 * "Wizard Battle"
 * "From Bad to Worse"
 * "No One Can Hear You"
 * "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II"
 * "Dream of Love"
 * "In Your Footsteps"
 * "Goliad"
 * "Princess Cookie"
 * "King Worm"
 * "You Made Me"
 * "Sky Witch"
 * "Earth & Water"
 * "The Vault" (baby)
 * "Apple Wedding"
 * "Rattleballs"
 * "Wake Up"
 * "Something Big"
 * "Ghost Fly"
 * "Jake The Brick
 * "Hoots"
 * "The Comet"
 * "Sow, Do You like Them Apples"
 * "Bonnie & Neddy"
 * "Varmints"
 * "Marceline The Vampire Queen"
 * "Vamps About"
 * "May I Come In?"
 * "Take Her Back"
 * "The Dark Cloud"
 * "The More You Moe, The Moe You Know (Part I)"

Others

 * "Return to the Nightosphere" (picture)
 * "Beautopia" (mentioned)
 * "All the Little People" (as a toy)
 * "The Party's Over, Isla de Señorita" (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Peppermint Butler has the same initials as Princess Bubblegum
 * Furthermore, he has three syllables in the first part of his name and two in the last, whereas she has two in the first and three in the last
 * He bears similarities to Princess Bubblegum in that he outwardly appears and acts benevolent but harbors dark secrets
 * In "Slumber Party Panic," his voice sounded a little higher than usual.
 * In a special feature, "Little Did You Know," it is said Peppermint Butler's species is mentha piperita.
 * Finn refers to him as "Pep-But" in the episode "King Worm."
 * Susan Strong refers to him as "Red Stripe Man."
 * Lemongrab refers to him as "Mr. Peppermint."
 * In "The Suitor," one of the Gumball Guardians refers to him as "Dark One."
 * Princess Bubblegum refers to him as "Peps" in "The Suitor."
 * In this episode it is also revealed that he uses Cinnamon Bun's body to communicate with spirits. It is also revealed that his "lair" is the amber chamber in which The Lich was previously held.
 * In "Nemesis" it is shown his dark past has affected others when the Peace Master comes back for revenge. In the same episode, he uses his dark power to turn children into demon hybrids and makes himself a suit of armor matched with a flaming sword.
 * In "Wake Up" he admits he is terrified of the Lich.
 * He has kept an emergency vampire kit in case Marceline ever goes rogue.

Appearances in other media

 * Peppermint Butler is a playable character in Adventure Time Battle Party.

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