Donny (episode)

 "Donny" is the twenty-first episode in season one of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
When Finn and Jake see a bullying ogre named Donny, they help him turn his life around, unaware of the ecological consequences of their action.

Plot
Finn and Jake are on safety patrol when they come across a city of House People. It looks normal at first glance, but all at once, they see a grass ogre named Donny terrorizing the House People. Finn exhausts Donny by using a head lock on him until he can no longer fight. Finn thinks Donny is similar to himself in some ways, and that he could be a good guy if he learns to stop being a jerk, so he invites Donny to their Tree Fort. When he arrives, he sits down in a chair and plays Beemo, subsequently losing the game and breaking Beemo's controller in anger. While Finn and Jake attempt to civilize Donny through singing the Empathy Song, Finn hears a scream coming from the House village and goes to investigate, leaving Jake behind to continue trying to make Donny stop being a jerk. Upon arriving back at the village, Finn sees a pair of Why-Wolves attacking the House People, and after a struggle, he manages to throw them down inside The Old Well, effectively trapping them.

The Why-Wolves explain to Finn that without Donny around to produce Obnoxygen (which is lethal to them), they are free to consume the House People until the Cosmic Owl consumes them all. Finn runs back to the tree house and finds that Donny is well-groomed, well-spoken, and more importantly, no longer a jerk. Finn and Jake forcibly drag Donny back to where the House People are being eaten by Why-Wolves. Finn tells Donny that they think his self-improvement songs are stupid, and that by trying to not be a jerk, he's being a real jerk, After being ridiculed by both the Why-Wolves and the House people, Donny reverts back to his old self, thus releasing Obnoxygen to send the Why-Wolves fleeing and unintentionally saving the House People from near death. While Donny appears to be enraged at Finn and Jake, and returns to pranking the House people, at the end of the episode, Donny watches Finn and Jake departing, and says sadly, "I'll never forget you."

Main Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Donny
 * Why-Wolves
 * House People

Minor Characters

 * Beemo
 * Snail

Music

 * 8 Glasses Song
 * Empathy Song
 * Pants Song

Trivia

 * This episode was originally titled "An Ogre Named Donny".
 * Throwing the Why-wolves down the well could be a reference to the 1954 TV series "Lassie".
 * This is the first episode where Beemo has a speaking role, revealing he too is a sentient being that can talk.
 * The title card features the same font used on U.S. dollar bills today.
 * In the title card, it is possible to see arms coming out from the houses, referring to the House People.
 * During the Why-wolf attack, Finn's pack gets damaged and remains damaged when he returns with Donny. However, when walking away with Jake, the pack is somehow repaired.
 * Finn reveals feelings in this episode of being an "outsider", which could be initial signs of his loneliness of being the "only" human in Ooo.
 * When Beemo is put back on the table, the letters on the side are BWO instead of BMO
 * At some point during the episode, Donny makes a PHIL FACE
 * The leaf Donny is "turning over" is the leaf that covered his crotch before he wore pants.
 * In the original storyboard for this episode, Finn was supposed to use an item called Steel-Toed boot of Responsibility to try and get Donny to return to the village with Little House People to go be rude to the Why-Wolves who are terrorizing the village.