User blog:Doomsdaynger/Finn's episode guide to heroism

Hayo everybody. So I've decided to go through every single episode that Finn is one of the protagonists in, rewatch it, and describe how Finn grows, learns, or proves something that aids him on his quest to be a hero. I always think so deeply through every character or moment of history in Adventure Time but I never think enough through the seemingly random episodes and how much they have to do with Finn's growth. Puhoy is probably the biggest one. Anywys, this will of course take awhile and I only have about an hour and a half right now so I will be doing this over a series of updates (WARNING: This will be very long). Hope you enjoy!

The Hero's Journey
So I just want to assess Finn's relation to this before we start.

Call to Adventure:
How does this relate to Finn? We're not exactly sure what calls him to adventure. Perhaps he wants to find fun and beauty in the bleak destruction of his world, where he never even knew what it was like for his world to be unbroken. Perhaps it's the death of his parents (as in Jake's parents not as in his human parents) but that'd be a cliché. Who knows? What do you think?

Supernatural Aid:
This is pretty obvious: Jake

Now, these are just the starting pieces. I'll get to the other parts as we progress through Finn's story.

Slumber Party Panic
I think the biggest thing to cite from this episode is Finn actually learning something about reponsibility. While the thing he learns doesn't necessarily have to do with being a hero, I think it's great to have as the first episode because it almost starts Finn on his journey. He may not be some perfect ruler who must make tough decisions for the people of his kingdom like PB is, but he needs to be able to take responsibility for the people of the world he lives in and perhaps even the universe...or all of them! He also learns that Mr. Cupcake is chocolate xD

Trouble in Lumpy Space
Here, Finn has to deal with the possibility of losing someone he loves. This is something he must get used to early on if he is going to be a true hero. He can't save everyone including the people closest to him or even himself. While in this episode, it was only a symbolic death of Jake completely losing all the attributes that make him Jake, he still may have to deal with a real death in the future.

Prisoners
I'd say this episode is important because it's the first canon account we have of Finn dealing with a psychopathic villain like the Ice King. That's kinda all I have to say about the episode.

Tree Trunks
This continues from my Trouble in Lumpy Space analysis. Finn mentions that he would feel terrible if Tree Trunks died because he couldn't save her. He can't handle the idea of anyone dying on his account. He feels that he has to save everyone and he may actually have to someday but people are going to die and he can't accept this yet. This is more of an episode of him proving that he's not fully a hero yet, rather than proving his worth.

The Enchiridion!
This episode is wildly important to Finn's story and could one even argue that this is his threshold? Is Mount Cragdor the beginning of his transformation into a true hero now that he's received the ultimate guide? Is manish man the threshold guardian? I think that the creators could actually be following the chart of the Hero's Journey the way Tolkien did with the Hobbit. After Bilbo got through the threshold guardians, he received the sword. After Finn gets through his, he receives the book. It's a perfect analogy. So I think this is Finn's threshold and the beginning of his transformation.

The Jiggler
This is the first episode where Finn must actually part with something for the sake of responsibility. This relates, yet again to the idea that Finn may have to part with someone or something, someday. Could it even be foreshadowing?

Ricardio, the Heart Guy
Finn has to deal with some inner emotions in this episode. He also shows some of his immaturity when he proves he doesn't have the capacity to feel empathy for certain people, based on their alignment, like the Ice King.

Business Time
Here's another episode that revolves more around why Finn isn't a perfect hero. He can be lazy but he learns at the end that responsibility comes first.

I'm gonna end her for today but I will be back later so hang in there :D