Changes: BMO

Revision as of 20:25, 15 December 2014

BMO (phonetically spelled Beemo)^[2] is Finn and Jake's living video game console, portable electrical outlet, music player, roommate, camera, alarm clock, toaster, flashlight, strobe light, skateboarder, friend, soccer player, video editor, video player, tape player and Chef.

It makes its appearance in the title scene of the Theme Song of every episode of Adventure Time, just as Finn and Jake pound their fists together. BMO is characterized as a loyal, trusting, and helpful friend who is protective of Finn and Jake.

Development

When Patrick McHale was preparing a short animation for Cartoon Network, he had a robot character named Raye for that purpose, which Pendleton Ward and McHale loved.^[3]^[4] However, after Adventure Time got picked up, Raye was redesigned and became BMO.^[3]

BMO's voice was originally to be similar to a computer-synthesized voice, but as a result of a suggestion from Ward, Niki Yang's natural voice (also voiced Lady Rainicorn) with some adjustments became the voice of BMO.^[5] As a result, BMO speaks in a Korean accent. Earlier voice actors for the character included Dee Bradley Baker (Voice of Cinnamon Bun) and Thurop Van Orman (Voice of the Tree Witch.)

Appearance

BMO looks like a half-Macintosh half-Game Boy Color with Atari 2600 controllers. It also shares some traits with a Vectrex.

BMO is a medium-sized teal/blue-green handheld gaming device, sometimes appearing with one or two controllers attached to it. When it is not being played it has an 8-bit face.

BMO's front includes an arrow pad, a floppy disk slot, multiple different shape buttons, two controller sockets, and of course the face, or screen. There is also a compartment with a red button hidden underneath the yellow D-pad. His software is somewhat similar to a Macintosh computer, as seen in "Be More" with a graphical interface and drag-and-drop file manager.

On BMO's sides, the letters "BMO" are printed, indicating its name. BMO's arms emerge from the center of the "O." There are also what appear to be holes for speakers at the tops of its sides.

BMO's back contains a battery compartment which holds 2 AA batteries, first seen in "BMO Lost." Normally, the battery door is shown attached with 4 screws. However, in "BMO Lost," it is shown with a tab at the top instead. There is also a slot which can be used for playing video tapes as seen in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I."

BMO's default controllers highly resemble Atari 2600 game console controllers, as they feature a single joystick and one red button. BMO's controller in "Too Young" slightly resembles a Sega Genesis controller for its button layout and handling design. An interesting note about this is that, in reality, both the Atari 2600 and the Sega Genesis have share an identical input device. This means that both controllers can be hooked up to the same device without issue.

BMO is sometimes seen with two slots to plug in controllers and sometimes with a compartment on that spot that opens up to where controllers can be plugged in.

Inside BMO, there is a gold heart with a face, as shown in "Be More." Pinned to the heart is a gold medal. Next to the heart is a small scroll tied with a red ribbon. This is likely a reference to the gifts given to the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, symbolizing brains, courage, and heart.

Personality and character traits

According to Finn, "BMO does weird junk when no one is around." He proves this in "Five Short Graybles," where BMO talks to its reflection in the mirror, naming him Football, and pretended to be a "little living boy." In "BMO Noire," BMO acts out a film noir fantasy complete with giving names, voices and dialogue to a number of animals and an inanimate object in the house. The way it interacts with its reflection in "Five Short Graybles," as well as the animals in "BMO Noire," is evidence that BMO may suffer from dissociative identity disorder, otherwise known as a multiple personality disorder. This causes BMO to act like completely different people, and have them communicate with each other.

BMO claims to not have emotions, but this is not true. In "Donny," BMO says, "I am incapable of emotion, but you are making me chafed!" It shows signs of annoyance in "Too Young" when Jake uses BMO as an ottoman. BMO demonstrates independence when it refuses to turn down its music even after Jake tells it to. Although they are both robots, BMO refuses Neptr's request to hang out more in "BMO Noire" by saying, "No, Neptr, I am not like you." In "Davey," BMO cries while Finn shaves his head to disguise himself as Davey.

BMO is very protective of Finn and Jake. In "Incendium," BMO says, "If anyone tries to hurt Finn, I will kill them." In "Guardians of Sunshine," BMO refuses to let Finn and Jake enter the video game world saying, "No! It's a far too dangerous, incredible adventure for you! That's final!"

BMO often acts to maintain the harmony of friendship between Finn and Jake. In "Video Makers," it edits the film Finn and Jake make in a way to resolve their dispute over the film's artistic direction, even composing a song for them. In "Card Wars," it refuses to "play such games with Jake" because Jake cannot deal with losing. When Finn asks BMO for advice on Jake's attitude, it recommended that Finn play to lose.

BMO likes a number of games and even a few sports. BMO has been seen playing its video games by itself in "BMO Noire." It also has been seen skateboarding in "Card Wars" and "Time Sandwich," and it once had to be picked up from soccer in the episode "In Your Footsteps."

BMO likes scrambled eggs, as shown in "Her Parents," and hot chocolate, as shown in "Video Makers" and "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II." In "Five More Short Graybles," BMO is shown to "drink" tea while teaching Football manners. There, BMO attempts drinking the tea with its pinkie finger up, but Football does not. BMO drank again and again, resulting the electrocution of itself. All of this shows that even though BMO cannot drink things, it still tries while pretending to be real. It has never been seen actually consuming food. Despite this, BMO can cook, and makes dinner for Finn and Jake in "Little Dude." BMO reveals in "The Creeps" that it enjoys taking nice pictures. BMO also likes to dance.

BMO is shown to be ticklish. This is seen when it giggles after Princess Bubblegum plays its circuits like a keyboard in "What Was Missing." It also reacts to being tickled by a feather while sleeping in "Guardians of Sunshine" and when it laughs and wriggles as its foot is being nibbled by a bear in "In Your Footsteps."

BMO's most prized possession is its controller, as it is one of the objects the Door Lord steals in "What Was Missing." In "Furniture and Meat", BMO is shown to like pretend-sword fighting with Neptr at the start of the episode.

Gender

As a robot, BMO's gender alternates depending on who is speaking or what make-believe scenario BMO is playing out. Other characters will frequently refer to BMO using pronouns belonging to both genders. For instance, in "Conquest of Cuteness" Finn calls BMO "M'lady." In "Rainy Day Daydream," he refers to BMO using "he." In "Guardians of Sunshine," Sleepy Sam uses "he" when talking about BMO. Jake has also called BMO a "he" in "Return to the Nightosphere" as well as "The Creeps." In "Five Short Graybles," Cuber refers to BMO as a male, "BMO saw his reflection."

BMO will sometimes play pretend games in which it assumes a gender-specific role, such as calling itself a "little living boy" in "Davey. In the "Little Did You Know" DVD set, BMO's profile states that "he" is a good listener.

In "Five Short Graybles" BMO's mirrored persona, Football, claims that it was "a real baby girl" in "Five More Short Graybles." Throughout the episode "BMO Noire," BMO role-plays as a hard-boiled, male detective; though it is to note the title of the episode treats "BMO" as a feminine noun by using "noire" instead of "noir."

In "Fionna and Cake," BMO is briefly seen in the tree house with no noticeable differences in design (aside from its controller), as opposed to the other characters who have all been gender-swapped, thus supporting that BMO has no gender.

In "James Baxter the Horse," BMO sings "BMO's Pregnant Song," which supports the idea that BMO is a female. However, it is fair to say that BMO is neither unambiguously male nor unambiguously female.

Abilities

One of the many functions BMO has is the ability to send users into a video game through its main-brain-game-frame by pressing a button located under its d-pad. By doing this, users are able to play the game in a virtual reality where they can physically complete objectives with the possibility of actual death. This process can also be reversed and things within the game can be transported into the real world. BMO also possesses several attachments which allow it to perform various tasks aside from video games. This includes the ability to put up a holographic display of its screen to support a wider audience. BMO also possesses editing software for film creation, but it has personal choice regarding the footage that is actually used to make up its films.

In "Conquest of Cuteness," BMO reveals a built-in camera with the flash emerging from the top left of its head while its screen works as the lens. In "The Creeps," BMO uses a built-in flash device that helps it take pictures, as well as the ability print pictures and documents out its rear. BMO can function as an alarm clock, which is set to Finn's bath time, and is seen in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I." In this episode, BMO demonstrates that it can insert VHS tapes into its back, and display the video on its screen. In "Incendium," BMO uses its BMO Cam, which records live video feed. In "Daddy's Little Monster" and "What Was Missing," BMO is shown to be able to charge or power electronic devices such as Jake's video phone and a noodle cooker. However, this function appears to exhaust BMO, likely because it uses its own energy to charge and power the devices.

In the episode "Hug Wolf," BMO is shown to have a blinding "Strobe Light Mode." BMO is also capable of performing the devastating Combo Move from the game "Guardians of Sunshine" in real life. The episode, "In Your Footsteps," reveals that BMO plays soccer, and shows BMO wearing a red jersey, red cleats, and while covered in dirt and mud. In "Card Wars" and "Time Sandwich," BMO demonstrates its skill in skateboarding and performs various tricks and jumps. BMO is also able to perform a sneak attack known as the BMO Chop, which it states to a victim of the strike, "If this were a real attack, you would be dead." In "Burning Low," it is seen that BMO can connect with other computers or devices for live video chat.

BMO is shown to know how to use a bow and arrows in "Furniture and Meat" when it shoots the pipe of hot melted gold away from Finn and Jake, killing a guard and saving Finn and Jake.

Relationships

Finn and Jake

BMO lives in the Tree Fort along with Finn and Jake and is used as their game console and many other things. It is loyal to Finn, as it said it will kill anyone who tries to hurt Finn, as seen in "Incendium." Also seen in "Video Makers," BMO does not side with either Finn or Jake. BMO cries when Finn shaves off his hair to be "Davey," sobbing that his "beauty" is destroyed.

Marceline

It seems that Marceline and BMO have a fairly friendly relationship, as she is seen playing it in "Evicted!" and commenting on how she thinks it is cute. Also in "What Was Missing," Marceline assists BMO and proceeds to call it "baby."

Lorraine

In "BMO Noire," BMO mentions that Lorraine is "red hot like pizza supper." Furthermore, Lorraine also mentions that the loot is in their "secret grown up kissing spot" at the end of the episode, thus implying that at one point in time they had a relationship. This might be taken as an indication that BMO finds Lorraine attractive. However, the entire episode hints that the plot of "BMO Noire" is nothing but a play created by BMO's imagination. So, it is possible that their relationship exists only in BMO's fantasy. It is also possible that BMO is not attracted to Lorraine and the attraction/relationship is fictional like the detective persona that BMO created for itself.

Air (Bubble)

Air (Bubble) is a pal that BMO met in the episode "BMO Lost." After an adventure to help BMO get home through hard times with a baby named Sparkle (whom BMO had named Ricky), Bubble confesses that it is in love with BMO and proposes they get married, which BMO gladly accepts. Sadly, Jake decided to pop the bubble, making it now Air.

Sparkle

Sparkle (Ricky) appears in the episode "BMO Lost." This baby was lost and separated from his mother, so BMO decides to name the baby "Ricky" and bring him along on the adventure of all three characters, BMO, Air (Bubble), and Sparkle (Ricky), trying to find their home. Sparkle is later rediscovered by his mother and taken to his rightful home.

S5e28 Moe and BMO — BMO meets its maker.

Moe

Moe is BMO's creator, as shown in the episode "Be More." He created BMO because he wanted BMO to take care of his son, but he "never ended up dating any women." Moe created BMO so it could "Be MOre."

Neptr

It appears that Neptr and BMO have a fairly good relationship, and that Neptr is happy to be around it. In "BMO Noire," Neptr suggests that the two should "hang out more." BMO declines, saying, "I'm not like you." This suggests that it feels coldly towards Neptr, and perhaps superior, even with their similarities in that both of them are machines. In "Furniture and Meat," BMO and Neptr are seen playing "Robin Hood" together, with BMO as Robin Hood and Neptr as the Sheriff of Nottingham. When Neptr asks if he can be Friar Tuck, BMO says no, then draws on his face with a marker. Once again, this shows that BMO is not always kind to Neptr. However, in "Sad Face," they seem to be friends.

Football

Football is the name used by BMO when talking to itself in the mirror. During this scene, BMO is a "little living boy" while Football is a robot as seen in "Five Short Graybles." BMO purposefully only plays with Football when Finn and Jake are not around. In "Five More Short Graybles," Football claims to be a "real baby girl,"

S4e2 BMO looking in mirror — Football in BMO's reflection

and BMO tries to teach Football manners.

Episode appearances

Major Appearancess

Minor Appearances

Mentioned

Episodes featured

BMO makes a cameo in the episode "Evicted!" being played by Marceline while Finn and Jake are house-hunting. In "Business Time," Finn and Jake play Adventure Master and Pro Football 1861 on it. It is later seen in the episode "My Two Favorite People." In "The Witch's Garden," Finn plays a game as he asks Jake how he got his magical powers. BMO also appears in "What is Life?" when Jake throws a garbage bag of butter on Finn, and in the episode "Donny," one of its controllers is smashed in half. BMO claims to not have emotions, but Donny angers it by breaking a controller and throwing it at BMO. In "Rainy Day Daydream," it shows a bored Finn and Jake a new game, "Conversation Parade."

BMO appears again in "Slow Love" where it acts like a rebellious kid, refusing to turn down its music when Jake tells it. BMO is then hit with a newspaper and told to have a timeout at a corner. BMO was then pummeled and battered when Snorlock started dancing with lady snails while the tree house was on its back, but was apparently unharmed and returned to play music at the end of the episode when Snorlock was kissing his new girlfriend.

In "Power Animal," BMO unintentionally distracted Jake with songs. They were later eating lunch together and Jake told BMO to hold his sandwich. BMO later fixes the well overhang that leads to the gnome's underground hideout that Jake had demolished while entering.

In "Guardians of Sunshine," it is revealed BMO has a button hidden under its control pad that allows people to be transported into one of its games. However, it does not allow Finn and Jake inside it, claiming it is too dangerous of an adventure. Despite its warning, Finn and Jake trick BMO by tickling it with a feather until it presses its button while it is sleeping. BMO later appears when Finn and Jake exit the game. While trying to tear a bomba out of the game's interface, they make a hole in it. BMO is then attacked by Sleepy Sam, Hunny Bunny, and Bouncy Bee for imprisoning them in the game. After Finn performs a combo move and destroys the monsters, BMO scolds them for going into the game and starts doing the combo move on them.

In "Video Makers," BMO serves as Finn and Jake's cameraman, filming random pieces of footage around the Land of Ooo with a video camera attached to its head at Finn and Jake's request, before they decide to make a real movie and argue about what kind of movie it will be. BMO, as their cameraman, witnesses their arguments, and instead of using the footage they captured for the movie, it makes its own animation while singing a song about how Finn and Jake should forget their argument and make up. At the end of the episode, BMO says Jake's favorite line throughout the episode, "Check, please!"

In the episode "Conquest of Cuteness," Finn and Jake call BMO over to get a camera to take pictures of the Cuties, but it turns out BMO is a camera, even though in the episode "Video Makers," BMO has a video camera strapped to its head. It is possible, however, that BMO's built-in camera only takes pictures.

In the episode "Too Young," BMO asks about Finn's date with Princess Bubblegum and does not tell Jake where the key is to the Wizard Tower in the video game. When Jake is trying to cheer Finn up when Princess Bubblegum jokingly "dumped" him, Jake puts both of his feet on BMO, using it as an ottoman, which annoys BMO.

BMO makes an appearance in "Fionna and Cake" in the opening and is later seen being played by Cake. Its appearance remains the same, supporting that it has no gender.

In the episode "What Was Missing," BMO has its controller stolen by the Door Lord and serves as a musical instrument during "I'm Just Your Problem." Marceline also used it to power a stove, showing that it is also a portable electrical outlet.

In the episode "The Creeps," it was in the mystery party when Finn and Jake came in the house. Its mystery name was Professor Pants. After the light went down and returned, BMO and Jake went to the basement to get some candles, but BMO was "killed" by the "ghost." At the end of the episode, it is discovered by Finn in Lady Rainicorn's body, being in the prank with Jake and the others.

BMO appears in "Incendium" watching over Finn while Jake was looking for another love interest for Finn.

BMO reappears in "Five Short Graybles" under the "Sight" segment of the episode (see article subsection "Football" below for more info).

BMO makes another appearance in "Beyond this Earthly Realm" when it amuses Finn with its fart noises. It also plays Finn's favorite song, "Three Baby Spiders"; a seeming nursery rhyme, BMO plays the song in a futile attempt to bring Finn back from the Spirit World.

In "Card Wars," BMO warns Finn about Jake taking the game too seriously.

BMO makes an appearance in "Burning Low." First, it tells Jake that he is late for a video chat with President Porpoise, and later on Jake plays an unknown game involving a rectangle punching, kicking, and jumping.

In "BMO Noire," BMO goes undercover as a detective to search for Finn's missing sock. The episode is narrated by BMO and is in black and white, similar to a 1940s- and '50s-era crime film. This is BMO's first central role.

BMO appears in "James Baxter the Horse" singing "BMO's Pregnant Song" and helps Finn and Jake create their routine.

BMO is once again the central character in "BMO Lost," where it is abducted by an eagle and has to find its way home through a forest. During its adventure, it meets Bubble and the baby Sparkle, whom it tries to help. Bubble ends up proposing to BMO but is popped by Jake.

In "Be More," BMO's purpose as "being more" is revealed, and it reunites with its father, Moe. BMO deletes some of its files for fun, but accidentally deletes its core system drivers. Finn and Jake discover where it was created when BMO tells them that it needs new drivers. When Moe tells Finn and Jake BMO's story, CMO approaches and gives the core system to Moe, who repairs BMO without erasing its memory.

Files

Playable games

Adventure Master ("Business Time")
Pro Football 1861 ("Business Time" and "Davey")
Racing game ("My Two Favorite People")
Bug Battle ("Donny")
"Galaga" or "Space Invaders" type game ("What is Life?")
Conversation Parade ("Rainy Day Daydream")
"Ghost game" ("Slow Love")
Guardians of Sunshine ("Guardians of Sunshine")
Blok Invasion ("What is Life?")
Tower Climbing game ("Too Young")
"Excite-Bike" type game ("Incendium")
Portender Defender ("Hug Wolf")
Kompy's Kastle ("Beyond this Earthly Realm" and "Who Would Win")
"Master Chen" or "Horse vs Two Fighters Game" ("BMO Noire")
Super Good Boys ("Five More Short Graybles")
Sumo Scootz ("Earth & Water")
"Buff Guy Game" ("Issue 9")
Regression Simulator (downloaded by Jake in "The Vault")

Folder content

These are some of the file names seen during the episode "Be More," BMO hid under a box and trashed the files.

First folder

farerecognition.txt 72kb
filesourcescript.exe 7.8MB (trashed)
filesource.source.exe 85kb (trashed)
FinnStuff — (trashed)
fundament.eth.sys 1.2MB (trashed)
fundament.sys 8.8 MB (trashed)
GooberHunt.dmg 25MB (trashed)
GooberHunt.info.txt 3kb
GooberHunt.remover.exe 42kb
glyph.source.exe 2MB
farerecognition.txt 28kb

Second folder

command.electricslide.exe
command.cleanjokes.exe (trashed)
concblow.wav (trashed)
CORE SYSTEM DRIVERS.sys (accidentally trashed)
controls.bmpchop.sys (trashed)
controls.bmokick.sys (trashed)
controls.brownnote.sys (trashed)
controls.forcefild.sys
controls.frownrecognition.sys

Quotes

See: BMO/Quotes

Trivia

BMO's voice was originally much deeper. Pendleton Ward revealed this on the animatic for "Rainy Day Daydream" on the Adventure Time: The Complete First Season DVD box set, which is also heard in the animatic.^[6]
BMO can display emoticons on its screen (Such as D: and -_-), as seen in "What Was Missing."
BMO's screen can be used as a touch screen for at least one function, Jake demonstrated this in "James Baxter the Horse."
When BMO lowers its volume in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part I," it puts its volume on the lowest setting but could still talk.
Many of BMO's games are knock-offs of the games for the Atari 2600 video game platform.
According to "What Was Missing," BMO's prized possession is its controller.
In the special features section of the It Came from the Nightosphere DVD, BMO's age is shown as "VER. 2600," and its species is "110 VOLT/60 HERTZ SYSTEM." BMO is also referred to as "he."
During Pendleton Ward's interview with Hot Topic, he stated BMO is his favorite character.^[7]
BMO supposedly has "butt circuits" as mentioned in "BMO Lost."
As seen in "James Baxter the Horse and Davey," BMO can cry, and its tears are apparently triangles.
It was revealed in "Shh!" that BMO's favorite song is No Wonder I by the band LAKE.
BMO is completely the same in the Fionna and Cake version.
BMO is Moe's favorite robot.
BMO literally has a heart of gold, as seen in "Be More."
It was revealed that in the episode "In Your Footsteps" BMO plays soccer.
BMO's BMO chop memory (which originated from "Card Wars") was deleted in "Be More," implying that we may never see it again.
BMO can do a Kickflip in his skateboard as shown in "Card Wars".
BMO loves many things about weddings include weddings in general and flowers.
BMO loves love.

Cultural references

In "BMO Lost," the crack on BMO's screen can sometimes be seen separating its face into two distinctly colored halves and forming a pointed 'nose.' This is very similar to the iconic Happy Mac from Mac OS 8 and is possibly another one of BMO's many Apple references.
Its start-up sound is the same as the Apple II computer.
As seen in "Be More," BMO runs a combination of Windows and Mac operating systems.
The heart, medal, and scroll inside BMO may be a reference to the heart-shaped watch, medal of courage, and diploma presented to the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow at the end of The Wizard of Oz.
BMO's behavior when it is alone could be a reference to Isaacs Asimov's "Catch that Rabbit," in which a robot acts strangely when it thinks it is not being watched.

Storyline analysis

Even though BMO has buttons, they are rarely used to play video games. Instead, the buttons are used for various other functions, such as sucking things into BMO's mainframe or shutting off BMO's alarm. Finn and Jake mostly use controllers when playing games. In "Evicted!," Marceline seems to be trying to play a game using BMO itself, but its face is still being displayed.

Errors

In "What Was Missing," Princess Bubblegum takes off BMO's template. BMO yells, "My face!" implying that its template is its face, not the screen. However, when its screen is cracked in "BMO Lost," it also refers to that as its face.
Also, in "Video Makers," BMO is taller, its face is longer, and its body is thinner, although this might just be an animation error.

Appearances in other media

BMO hosted the Adventure Time New Year's Eve Marathon.
BMO appears in Project Exonaut, under the alias of "Beemo."
There is a BMO t-shirt in FusionFall.
In the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for 2013, a group of people each dressed as BMO helped parade the Finn and Jake balloon.
BMO is a playable character in Adventure Time Battle Party.

Gallery

The full image gallery for BMO may be viewed at BMO/Gallery.

References

↑ http://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/179576439513841635
↑ http://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/310957428101358569
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 http://twitter.com/#!/Patrick_McHale/status/111480320200675329
↑ http://twitter.com/#!/UnclePhiltweet/status/110360343116656641
↑ http://twitter.com/#!/Patrick_McHale/status/111482239711330304
↑ Rainy Day Daydream (DVD Storyboard Commentary)
↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xiLC6PV6CY

[1] ttp://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/179576439513841635

[2] ttp://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/310957428101358569

[McHaleTweet1-3] 3.0 ^3.1 http://twitter.com/#!/Patrick_McHale/status/111480320200675329

[4] ttp://twitter.com/#!/UnclePhiltweet/status/110360343116656641

[5] ttp://twitter.com/#!/Patrick_McHale/status/111482239711330304

[6] Rainy Day Daydream (DVD Storyboard Commentary)

[7] ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xiLC6PV6CY

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |image = [[File:BMO.png]]
 |name = BMO
-|sex = Sexless<ref>http://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/179576439513841635</ref> / Both
+|sex = Sexless<ref>http://new.spring.me/#!/MrMuto/q/179576439513841635</ref>
 |age = VER. 2600
 |act = Unknown