Princess Bubblegum

Princess Bubblegum (full name Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, often called PB and on occasion Peebles or Poibles) is a main character on the series Adventure Time that first appeared in the Animated Short. She is the benevolent ruler of the Candy Kingdom, and is Finn's former crush. She is also Ice King's most often-targeted princess. Marceline calls her by her first name, Bonnibel. At the end of "Mortal Recoil," she was transformed into a 13-year-old, but returned to her normal biological age of 18 years in "Too Young."

Biography
Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum is the beloved ruler of the Candy Kingdom. Though not much is said about her past, there are some allusions to her relatives (e.g. Uncle Gumbald, mentioned in "Susan Strong"). It is implied that Finn has saved Princess Bubblegum many times, though she winds up saving him in the episodes "Dungeon" and "Lady & Peebles." It also seems that she has had previous run-ins with Marceline, the vampire queen. In the past she created Lemongrab (the first one of her experiments gone wrong), then sent him away to live a sheltered life inside his own castle. Princess Bubblegum also performs other science experiments which vary from very successful to catastrophic.

In the second season's two-part finale, "Mortal Folly" and "Mortal Recoil," she sends Finn and Jake on a quest to stop the Lich from killing everyone in Ooo. She gives Finn the Gauntlet of the Hero Billy, as it is the only known weapon that can harm the Lich, and a sweater she made herself. The Ice King captures Princess Bubblegum and chases after Finn and Jake to get their blessing to marry her, but he accidentally drops the princess into a pit of green liquid. She is soon melted into a pile of pink-brown goo and is rushed to the hospital.

It is soon revealed that the spirit of the Lich possessed the princess earlier and eventually warps her into a giant monster that nearly tears apart the Candy Kingdom. Finn enlists the power of Ice King to immobilize her with ice. Unfortunately, the frozen princess topples over and breaks to pieces. The doctors reassemble her but lack all the necessary pieces, reducing her age to 13 (the same age as Finn at the time). According to Adam Muto, her body was composed of only enough reclaimed biomass to be an adolescent, and therefore she turned into one.

As a 13-year-old, Princess Bubblegum is technically younger than the Earl of Lemongrab and he claims his right to the throne until she turns 18 again. Princess Bubblegum is forced to restore herself to her 18-year-old form with the contribution of biomass (candy) from the Candy People and a hug (and kiss) from Finn. After reverting to her proper age and size in "Too Young," she jokingly acts as if the events that happened earlier that same day (while she was 13) actually happened five years ago.

Personality and traits
Princess Bubblegum is an extremely intelligent, amiable and nice ruler. She loves (most of) her subjects and has been known to defend them tirelessly when trouble brews. In "Princess Cookie," her dedication to her Kingdom is shown when she visits a Candy Orphanage and spends some time cheering up the children.

Princess Bubblegum has a strong sense of morality and participates in politics outside the Candy Kingdom. She is very noble and intelligent, perhaps the most intelligent being in Candy Kingdom.

Princess Bubblegum is a highly cultured and educated ruler with an undying passion for science. In "Slumber Party Panic," she attempts to revive the dead Candy People, accidentally creating a horde of zombie Candy People instead. In her dedication, she sometimes drives herself to exhaustion with her experiments such as the perfect sandwich in "Five Short Graybles" and the eponymous character in "Goliad."

Though ordinarily sweet and good-natured, Princess Bubblegum shows a malicious aspect of her personality whenever she is crossed, as toward the Duke of Nuts for eating all of the royal pudding and supposedly ruining her appearance. Even with her kind disposition, her moral code is not as strict as Finn's. She sometimes says morbid or inappropriate things, such as when Finn picks up a paralysis poison and she says, "That's paralyzing potion, Finn! Don't touch it, or it'll paralyze you forever!" and then giggles. Many darker things are briefly shown in several episodes such as skeletons cuffed to the walls in hidden chambers as shown in "Ricardio the Heart Guy." Also, in "What Have You Done?," she displays a non-hesitant willingness to torture Ice King.

When she is 13 years old in "Too Young," she exhibits a playful attitude and a willingness to perform pranks with Finn. Just before Princess Bubblegum is returned to her normal age she mentions that she enjoyed temporarily being 13 because she was free from the responsibilities that came with being ruler of the Candy Kingdom and that she could act like a kid again. In Princess Bubblegum's own words, being thirteen was "bloobalooby."

Princess Bubblegum acts noticeably more child-like when she is not in her role as the princess. She dresses and talks more casually when she isn't busy with her work, as seen in "Video Makers" and "What Was Missing." As a princess, she is prim, poised, and straight-laced, but is quite capable of loosening up and dressing/acting like a regular teenager with her friends.

She regularly organizes and attends events and showpieces such as scientific conferences, parties, and talent shows.

After the events in "Mortal Recoil," Princess Bubblegum is afraid of her own mortality. She worries what would become of the Candy Kingdom should she die, as pointed out in the episode "Goliad" (no reference is made to the Earl of Lemongrab returning). She considers the possibility of living forever is not scientifically possible yet so she creates an heir in the form of Goliad.

As shown in "You Made Me!," Princess Bubblegum is willing to sacrifice the privacy of her citizens for their safety. Each of the Candy People's homes has a surveillance system which is monitored by Banana Guards, even while they sleep. This also includes an intercom which allows someone to speak directly to individual homes.

Abilities
Princess Bubblegum has a degree in Glycomics. She has spoken German in "What Have You Done?," "Go With Me," and "Slumber Party Panic," and is capable of understanding Lady Rainicorn, who speaks Korean. In "What Was Missing" she was able to play BMO as a high-tech instrument, and in "Dream of Love," she combined her scientific abilities with her musical talents at her concert. She is a good whistler and participated in a Whistling Choir Death Match Championship. She is also an ambidextrous writer as she wrote with her left hand in "Slumber Party Panic" and "Goliad" and her right hand in "Five Short Graybles" and "Burning Low."

Princess Bubblegum's scientific aptitude is shown in "Slumber Party Panic" where she concocts a potion to reanimate dead Candy People and "Five Short Graybles" when she creates the most perfect sandwich that has ever existed. She also created Lemongrab, Goliad, and Stormo in her lab.

In "Lady & Peebles," she shows her capabilities in fighting when she fought in hand-to-hand combat with Ricardio. She also demonstrated her strength when she carried an injured Lady Rainicorn, as well as healing and rescuing Finn, Jake, and the Ice King when she brought them to the Candy Kingdom.

Her crown and matching earrings are capable of blocking the wearer's mind from The Lich's influence, as she reveals in "Mortal Folly."

Finn
Princess Bubblegum was the former crush of Finn, although it wasn't clear whether or not the feeling was mutual. She often rolled her eyes at his advances, but at other times seemed genuinely flattered. Princess Bubblegum cites the hero as a great friend and will never hesitate to call on him for aid in royal matters. Finn and Princess Bubblegum share the same moralistic nature and often work together to right any wrongs in the Land of Ooo.

In Slumber Party Panic she called Finn "adorable." The princess sees Finn as her "flawless champion," as said in "The Duke." It is also shown that there is a picture of Finn on her wall. Still in the same episode Princess Bubblegum reveals she could never hold a grudge against Finn. In "To Cut a Woman's Hair," she says explicitly that she likes Finn, although she could have meant as a friend or in a motherly way. In "The Real You," she gives Finn a kiss on the cheek for saving the Candy Kingdom from the black hole he created and making her Science Barbecue a huge success. In "Go With Me," she exiles Finn from the Candy Kingdom after he releases a pack of wolves into her room, but her feelings are only temporary as Princess Bubblegum appears to have forgiven Finn by her next appearance.

In "Mortal Folly," she said to Finn, "I care about you," and gives him a pink sweater with a white heart stitch to the left that she made with the power of "liking someone a lot" which ended up helping Finn defeat the Lich. In "Mortal Recoil," Princess Bubblegum ages down to 13.

In "Too Young," Princess Bubblegum acts very loving and affectionate toward Finn during the time she is 13, even going on a "date" with him, leaning on his shoulder, and holding his hand. Finn's former feelings for her might have been reciprocated while she was 13 and this may have been Bubblegum's true feelings for him. She expresses some regret when she has to turn back to 18 because she never gets to "act like a kid." She also says to Finn that she would rather "stay like this, with you." During the transformation of her being back to 18, they share a hug and she kisses Finn on the lips. When she changes back to 18, she returns to her normal personality, but without the same kind of affection for Finn. When Finn asks whether they could "hug some more," she replies by saying, "That was like 5 years ago. You really gotta move on." She makes this remark with a smile and mutters something about him being a "silly boy" as she walks back into the castle.

In "Wizard Battle," she forgives Finn for cheating in the contest, then they share a quick kiss on the lips and she slaps him on the cheek for cheating.

In "What Was Missing," it was revealed that Finn keeps a clump of Princess Bubblegum's hair that he got in "To Cut A Woman's Hair" as a prized possession. It was seen again in "Incendium," but it is unknown if it will ever be seen again, since Finn no longer has a crush on her.

Finn has a few nicknames for her, such as PB, Princess, Bubblegum, and Peebles.

In "Incendium," Jake says that Princess Bubblegum is too old for him. This might also be the reason she keeps pushing him away, because when she turned thirteen she showed how much she really liked Finn.

In "In Your Footsteps," Jake refers to Princess Bubblegum as Finn's "ex-girlfriend" and Finn responds by saying "She's not my... We never went steady."

In "Burning Low," Princess Bubblegum becomes interested when the news comes up that Finn is hanging out with another girl, but then she acts distraught when she finds out Finn has been hanging with Flame Princess. She attempts to explain to Finn and Jake why he shouldn't date her through complicated scientific facts, though Finn leaves to meet Flame Princess and Jake falls asleep. Jake comes to the conclusion that Princess Bubblegum must have been jealous of Flame Princess and shares this with Finn, implanting the belief onto him. She confronts Finn the next day and attempts to console him, believing that he knew about the situation. However, when she starts talking about responsibility demanding sacrifice, Finn misinterprets this as her displaying jealousy for his relationship and shouts to her about his past feelings towards her. We later find out that she was the one who had Flame Princess locked up so she does not fall in love and destroy the earth from the inside, though Finn remains unaware of this.

One of her metaphors indicated that when one loves someone enough to kiss them, one has to make sacrifices for the greater good. She was implying this to Finn kissing Flame Princess, resulting in the destruction of the earth, although Finn took it the wrong way.

In "Lady & Peebles" she struggled to find Finn and Jake, she found out that they were both captured by Ricardio, she saved them and treated them back in the Candy Kingdom.

In "You Made Me!" Lemongrab attempts to hit Princess Bubblegum with a blast from his Sound Sword, but Finn dives in front of her and takes the hit instead.

Lady Rainicorn
Lady Rainicorn is Princess Bubblegum's best friend and trusty steed. Lady Rainicorn is one of four creatures she uses for transportation; the others are her swan, Jelly Horse, and the Morrow. She and Princess Bubblegum appear to be very close, similar to Finn and Jake. Princess Bubblegum understands Korean (though, she never speaks it) and converses to Lady Rainicorn in "Video Makers" and "Lady & Peebles." Also in "Lady & Peebles," Princess Bubblegum shows to be loyal to Lady Rainicorn and would not give up on her, even when she was injured. Princess Bubblegum was the first to find out that Lady Rainicorn was pregnant.

The Earl of Lemongrab
Princess Bubblegum created the Earl of Lemongrab for the purpose of ruling the kingdom if she ever became unable to do so. However, being the first of her "experiments gone wrong," her creation is exceedingly temperamental, and a terribly inexperienced ruler. Princess Bubblegum and The Earl of Lemongrab dislike each other, and Princess Bubblegum calls the Earl a "butt." According to Princess Bubblegum, "it's complicated." While in power, Lemongrab is intent on sending everyone, including Princess Bubblegum, to the dungeon for conflicting with his rigid agenda. However, when the Princess returns to the age of 18, she fires the earl by shouting "Yo, Earl! Hey! You're fired! Ya butt!" Princess Bubblegum is treated with the same rudeness, obnoxiousness, and sense of entitlement as Lemongrab treats everyone else. Though, he does think of her as his creator he also blames her for the difficulties in his life. In You Made Me!, Princess Bubblegum is much kinder to Lemongrab when he articulates that he is lonely. Although he is hostile and threatening towards her, and reacts with fear, she continues to help him, and eventually makes him a Lemongrab clone to be his friend. By the end of the episode, the two Lemongrabs and Princess Bubblegum are on good terms. Princess Bubblegum says "Take care, boys!" to them, and they respond by requesting she visit them.

Marceline
In the original pitch documents, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline are shown to be friendly rivals. Though having been in the same place at the same time in several occasions, nothing of their relationship with one another was known until "Go With Me," where we see Marceline trying to be civil towards Princess Bubblegum while the princess shows displeasure in being around her. Bubblegum's perspective makes her see Marceline as wild to the point of corrupting Finn into being exiled out of her kingdom, showing that she tries to avoid contact with her as best as possible. Marceline is the first and only character to call Princess Bubblegum by her first name (Bonnibel) and usually shortens it to Bonnie.

Marceline sees Princess Bubblegum as boring and stiff. Princess Bubblegum is generally a woman of grace and poise, but in Marceline's presence she is less refined. In "What Was Missing," when Princess Bubblegum miscalculates the music needed to open the door, Marceline says, "Looks like you aren't as perfect as you thought! Guess you can't judge me anymore." Princess Bubblegum angrily replies, "I never said you had to be perfect," hinting that whatever previous relationship the two had ended on bad terms. However, in the same episode it is revealed that the item stolen from Princess Bubblegum was a t-shirt Marceline had given her, and that it means a lot to her. This admission causes Marceline to blush for the second time in the series. This resulted in much fan speculation about the nature of their relationship, which was later boosted by the controversial web video by Mathematical!.

Princess Bubblegum and Marceline's past friendship will be further explored in the comic, Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens, where they form a band.

Jake
Princess Bubblegum and Jake have a rather strange relationship, with Jake being well aware of Finn's former crush on her, possibly making Jake uncomfortable. Despite this, they seem to maintain a healthy friendship with Princess Bubblegum even calling Jake "puppy" and allowing him to rest his head on her lap in "Incendium." It was revealed in "Mortal Recoil" by Jake that Princess Bubblegum likes it when Jake plays songs.

Even though they are good friends, in "Princess Cookie," Princess Bubblegum wanted her guards to arrest Jake after he helped Baby-Snaps, and in that same episode Jake pretended he hated her, saying that he hated her because she made him be a milkman instead of a mailman, as he went undercover to stop Baby-Snaps.

In "Burning Low," Princess Bubblegum seemed content to speak with Jake about the possibility of Finn having a girlfriend. However, when Jake becomes under the impression that Princess Bubblegum is jealous, he becomes angry with her, for hurting Finn. However, when the princess clears up the misunderstanding, Jake is more than willing to help. At the end of the episode, Jake teases Princess Bubblegum by calling her "jealous," to which she responds with a deadpan, "Shut up."

Lumpy Space Princess
Lumpy Space Princess is one of Princess Bubblegum's best friends. Despite their drastically different personalities, the two are often together and Lumpy Space Princess is a frequent visitor to the Candy Kingdom during many of its parties and ceremonies.

Duke of Nuts
Princess Bubblegum is shown to have an outright hatred for the Duke of Nuts. Though this is all explained to be a misunderstanding between the two in "The Duke," Princess Bubblegum still loathes the Duke and distrusts him because he eats all the royal pudding. However, Andy Ristaino has stated on his Formspring (with regard to Princess Bubblegum possibly lessening her hatred towards the Duke) that, "Hatred dwindles over time."

Ice King


Ice King spends a great deal of his time obsessing over capturing princesses. His most targeted princess is Bubblegum, who is annoyed with the Ice King's actions but generally seems to put up with them. This is mostly due to having Finn to rescue her whenever the Ice King comes around. One of the few times that Bubblegum shows particular anger towards Ice King is in the episode "What Have You Done?" When Ice King's attempt at a kind gesture (making it snow) ends up making nearly the entire kingdom sick. When the Ice King selfishly neglects to acknowledge Princess Bubblegum's purpose in asking him to help, she becomes frustrated with him, ultimately forcing Princess Bubblegum to order Finn and Jake to capture the Ice King at all costs without telling them why she wants him imprisoned.

In "Mortal Folly," Ice King's obsession with Bubblegum nearly leads to the destruction of Ooo. As Finn is fighting the Lich, the Ice King captures her, intending to marry her. After the Lich is defeated, Ice King accidentally drops the princess into the Lich's evil power source, corrupting her. However, he is still loyal enough towards her to help save her life after her broken body was possessed by the Lich to destroy Ooo. Regardless of Princess Bubblegum's feelings on the situation, the Ice King really does care for her. Ice King cries hysterically when she is hospitalized in the episode. By the end of "Mortal Recoil," Ice King becomes uninterested in her. Once Princess Bubblegum is revealed to have turned thirteen, he says, "Ah, dang it! Well, I'm out of here. Goodbye, everyone!" and leaves through the window. Since her return to the age of 18, he is once again interested, as seen in "Wizard Battle."

Despite the awkward nature of their relationship, they are capable of being civil and even hanging out. This is shown in the ending of "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II" when the Ice King and Princess Bubblegum sat next to each other drinking hot cocoa. Although the Ice King was annoyed by Princess Bubblegum also being close to Finn, she didn't seem to mind the Ice King being so near her. This indicates that perhaps he has learned some restraint, and Princess Bubblegum does not dislike his company as much as she used to.

She likely still strongly dislikes the Ice King after he stole part of her head in "Princess Monster Wife." However, she describes the Ice King, in "Lady & Peebles," as not usually being "a serious threat." She saves the Ice King at the end of the episode, giving him a new heart after she defeated Ricardio. She didn't appear to show malice towards him, and said "please" before asking him to stop being annoying and to leave.

Mr. Cream Puff
She and Mr. Cream Puff have dated before as mentioned in "Slumber Party Panic." Princess Bubblegum may still have some feelings for him because he was the first Candy Person she used the Decorpsinator Serum on.

Flame Princess
In "Burning Low," Princess Bubblegum reveals that she had Flame King contain his daughter, Flame Princess, in a lantern because she is physically unstable; if she were to experience extreme romance she could cause a catastrophic meltdown of the planet. While Flame Princess is in stable condition, Princess Bubblegum seems to be civil with her, as she respects the idea of Finn having a girlfriend. When Finn and Flame Princess smile at each other, Princess Bubblegum seems to be okay with their relationship, although she feels sorry for them both.

Appearance
Princess Bubblegum dresses as a traditional princess in a flowing pink gown and a golden tiara with a turquoise gem at the top. Her skin is usually colored light pink. She has long pink bubblegum hair which covers her ears and is actually made of bubblegum, as shown in "To Cut a Woman's Hair" when Finn gives the Tree Witch the piece of it. Her hair can be shortened by eating the "Princess Plant" as shown in the episode "Death in Bloom." When Princess Bubblegum ate the flower bulb, it changed her hairstyle from being straight and knee-length to being a short, wavy bob. She wears purple shoes as seen in "Burning Low." She has a large posterior according to Natasha Allegri. Princess Bubblegum is said to have a "pretty pink face" according to Marceline while she was singing the song "I'm Just Your Problem" featured in the episode of "What Was Missing." A scientist at heart, Princess Bubblegum is often seen wearing a white lab coat and goggles when she is performing experiments or solving equations. Princess Bubblegum has at least fifteen outfits. These outfits range in color and style from an orange T-shirt and white shorts to a fluffy, powder-blue dress and pink cardigan. She apparently wears a black T-shirt that Marceline gave her as pajamas, though in the episode "Go With Me," she is shown wearing a yellow polka dotted dress when Finn releases wolves into her room. In the episode "Goliad," she wears glasses and has her hair in a pony tail. In "Lady and Peebles" she is wearing a coat for most of the episode

As a thirteen-year-old, in "Too Young," Princess Bubblegum wears a pink V-neck dotted with white top with puffed sleeves, a ballgown bottom with a big, purple ribbon around her waist, and no shoes. Her hair is shorter and curls at the bottom. When she turns back to eighteen, her outfit also changes back to her original one, and her hair grows back to its original length.

Quotes
​See Princess Bubblegum/Quotes

Major appearances

 * Animated Short
 * "Slumber Party Panic"
 * "The Enchiridion!"
 * "Ricardio the Heart Guy"
 * "The Duke"
 * "What Have You Done?"
 * "The Other Tarts"
 * "The Real You"
 * "Go With Me"
 * "Mortal Folly"
 * "Mortal Recoil"
 * "Too Young"
 * "Wizard Battle"
 * "What Was Missing"
 * "The Creeps"
 * "From Bad to Worse"
 * "Five Short Graybles"
 * "Goliad"
 * "Princess Cookie"
 * "Burning Low"
 * "Lady & Peebles"
 * "You Made Me"

Minor appearances

 * "Trouble in Lumpy Space"
 * "Dungeon"
 * "Power Animal"
 * "To Cut a Woman's Hair"
 * "Death in Bloom"
 * "Susan Strong"
 * "Video Makers"
 * "No One Can Hear You"
 * "Holly Jolly Secrets Part One"
 * "Holly Jolly Secrets Part Two"
 * "Incendium"
 * "Dream of Love"
 * "In Your Footsteps"
 * "Hug Wolf"
 * "Princess Monster Wife"
 * "King Worm"

Mentioned

 * "Business Time"
 * "Still"
 * "Apple Thief"
 * "Marceline's Closet"
 * "Hot to the Touch"
 * "Gotcha!"

Trivia

 * Princess Bubblegum's birthday is June 18, the same as Natasha Allegri, Finn, and former Beatle, Paul McCartney.
 * Her original name was Bettie, but Pendleton Ward changed it to Bonnibel because Bettie is his mother's name.
 * Princess Bubblegum loves pink as stated in "The Real You."
 * In "To Cut a Woman's Hair," she reveals that she loves spaghetti. She has since been seen eating it in multiple episodes.
 * As seen in "Mortal Folly" and "The Creeps," Princess Bubblegum wears earrings but does not appear to have ears.
 * Princess Bubblegum's gender-swapped character is Prince Gumball.
 * Princess Bubblegum has a bio suit in Project Exonaut.
 * In the Animated Short, the gem in her crown is magenta, but in the series it is turquoise.
 * In "Video Makers" and "Mortal Folly," she consumes other Candy People. According to Adam Muto, this is to replace lost candy biomass.
 * In the episode "Susan Strong," there is a portrait of Princess Bubblegum and an old lady is in the top left corner of her room. In the same episode she mentions a great uncle named Uncle Gumbald.
 * She makes a cameo appearance in "Hug Wolf" in the background of the Candy Kingdom chasing after a black or dark gray cat. She was wearing the same clothes as in "The Real You."
 * Her name in Spain is Princesa Chicle, which translates exactly to Princess Bubblegum.
 * Her name in Latin America is la Dulce Princesa, which means the Sweet Princess.
 * Her name in Brazil is Princesa Jujuba, which means Jellybean Princess.
 * In the German dub of Adventure Time, Princess Bubblegum speaks German and Turkish.

Appearance in other media

 * There is a licensed Halloween costume of Finn.