Candy Kingdom

The Candy Kingdom is a post-war state located within the Land of Ooo. It is entirely made up of candy and is primarily inhabited by the Candy People. The kingdom was founded by Princess Bubblegum hundreds of years before the events of Adventure Time and it was under her reign for a long time (except when she was too young to rule and Earl of Lemongrab was, as of "Too Young", regent) until "Hot Diggity Doom" due to losing an election to King of Ooo. She would eventually reclaim her throne after King of Ooo is rebelled against by the Candy People in "The Dark Cloud". The kingdom is one of the largest civilizations in Ooo as it is well-developed and even has interests in the affairs of the other kingdoms. In "Red Starved," Princess Bubblegum refers to the kingdom as an "eternal empire."

History

In "The Vault," the kingdom is shown while it was being built by Princess Bubblegum and the Candy People. At the time, only the kingdom's walls and central castle were under construction. A river of radioactive sludge that flowed through the kingdom was in the process of being buried under candy. This was because the sludge could easily harm or even mutate individuals who made contact with it, as was in the case of Shoko. At the time, Princess Bubblegum also established the Candy Kingdom's defenses by creating the Gumball Guardians with the help of her Amulet.

After construction was complete, the Candy Kingdom became a prosperous state under the care of Princess Bubblegum. Closer to the events of Adventure Time, the legendary hero, Billy, defeated the Lich and trapped him inside an amber prison within the top of the Candy Castle. Around this time, the Gumball Guards were deployed in the kingdom to replace the Banana Guards. Although they were efficient, the new guards were quickly destroyed when Princess Bubblegum believed that they were too violent to be of use.

In "Hot Diggity Doom", the Candy Kingdom holds an election for the title of the new princess of the kingdom. Despite her confidence that she would easily win on the basis of all her dedication to the kingdom over the years, Princess Bubblegum ends up losing the election to the King of Ooo and loses her power after centuries of being ruler. During the King of Ooo's reign as princess of the kingdom, Bubblegum took up residence in her Uncle Gumbald's cabin near Lake Butterscotch. In "The Dark Cloud", the Candy People rebelled against the King of Ooo due to his inefficiency and narcissism as a ruler, leading to the King of Ooo's deposition and replacement as princess by Crunchy. Bubblegum then regained her position as ruler with his official permission and has since moved back into her castle.

In Princess Bubblegum's flashback in "Bonnie and Neddy" Neddy is seen sucking the tree that grew into the tree in the middle of the Candy Kingdom were he still sucks it and produces the juice.

In "Bonnibel Bubblegum" it was revealed that 800 years before the main events of the series, Bonnibel Bubblegum was lonely and wanted have more family than just Neddy, as the two lived in a cabin where the central tree grew. Wanting relatives, she created Uncle Gumbald, Aunt Lolly and Cousin Chicle.

They lived peacefully and built a candy town and planted taffy trees. However, Gumbald cut down the taffy trees to build a log cabin. He revealed to his niece that he had plans to build a candy city. Bonnie however, did not like that idea so she used a butterscotch bomb to make Lake Butterscotch where Gumbald intended to build the city. This infuriated Gumbald but, he had a backup plan.

Gumbald sent Bonnibel away after creating her a boyfriend, Mr. Cream Puff. While she was away, Gumbald, Lolly, and Chicle were discussing a plan to overthrow her and build a candy city. He formulated a "happy juice" that would make Bubblegum more docile and simple-minded like Mr. Cream Puff. Gumbald tricked Lolly and Chicle into eating happy juice cupcakes, turning them into Candy People known as Manfried and Crunchy, forgetting their previous selves. Bonnibel caught this. Gumbald voiced that Bonnie tried to keep him in line but stated he was her equal as she denounced him as evil. He tried to make Bonnie have the juice,

while threatening her brother Neddy but with the help of a peashooter, she shot the beaker with the happy juice while Gumbald was holding it. The happy-juice splashed onto Gumbald's face and turned him into a talking bowl of fruit punch, and forgetting his previous self. Bonnie noticed that the trio seemed happier as candy people and decided to declare herself princess, thus beginning the Candy Kingdom.

After Lumpy Space Princess' anti-elemental lumps free Ooo from the elemental mega-spell and turning everyone into their "true form" in Skyhooks II", Princess Bubblegum's relatives were turned back into their old selves for the first time since their change 800 years before. They immediately resumed their plans on betraying their niece. By Gumbaldia", Gumbald in a seemingly short amount of time built an entire city-state he named Gumbaldia, full with an army of cake soldiers. Princess Bubblegum angered by this, prepared for war against him.

Finn and Jake went to confront Gumbald, with hopes of calling off the war. After seemingly making peace, Gumbald, Lolly, and Chicle splash Finn and Jake with some sort of liquid, but were told to give Bubblegum "a big hug." Princess Bubblegum was thrilled with a peace treaty, but disliked the smell of Finn and Jake. Peppermint Butler wiped off the liquid, and was transformed into a docile, baby-like peppermint. After this, Princess Bubblegum realized that Finn and Jake were splashed with Gumbald's Dum Dum Juice, with hopes of transforming her in a decapitation strike. Following this, Princess Bubblegum formally declared war on Gumbaldia.

In "Come Along With Me", both Gumbald and Princess Bubblegum were ready for war to fight for their respective kingdom. On the battle field, both sides have sizable armies with a number of allies each. After Princess Bubblegum sounds the war horn, Finn tries to convince her to give Gumbald one last chance to surrender before the fighting starts. She agrees after being reminded of her old friend, Shoko. As a last ditch attempt to stop the war, Jake unleashes the nightmare juice given to him and Finn by Nightmare Princess, forcing him, Finn, Princess Bubblegum, Gumbald, and Fern into a hallucinatory slumber.

Inside the dream realm, Princess Bubblegum and Gumbald continue to be hostile towards each other, but eventually Bonnie apologizes to Gumbald for not respecting his vision for the Candy Kingdom. Gumbald fake-accepts her apology and agrees to end the conflict, intending to betray her, but is tripped by Lolly and once again doused in his own happy juice solution, turning back into Punch Bowl. Lolly accepts the peace agreement in his place, and Princess Bubblegum proclaims that the two kingdoms shall live in harmony, leaving the war unfought. However, they are soon all interrupted by the sudden arrival of GOLB. Lolly led Gumbaldia in the fight against GOLB and told the army to set aside all past differences with the Candy Kingdom. GOLB was defeated in the end, with Candy Kingdom safe.

Future of the kingdom

In the ending of "Lemonhope Part 2," an elderly Lemonhope is seen roaming through the remains of a futuristic Candy Kingdom, many years after the death of Earl of Lemongrab. Since then, the Candy Kingdom has been abandoned and the large metropolis that had grown outside of the kingdom's walls lie in ruins. Much of the surrounding landscape has become cleared, such as the Cotton Candy Forest and the Rock Candy Mountains. There are signs that the Candy Kingdom experienced a catastrophic event, as abandoned vehicles and crashed planes are seen scattered around the area.

In "Graybles 1000+", set a thousand years into the future, Cuber finds himself trying to escape a desolate Ooo, where he comes across an upgraded version of the Gumball Guardian known as the Prize Ball Guardian, which appears to function as a mobile Candy Kingdom following the abandonment of the prior kingdom. The citizens of the former Candy Kingdom have apparently been kept in stasis in the Prize Ball Guardian's prize balls.

S5e51 future Lemonhope city — Lemonhope wanders the abandoned Candy Kingdom

In "High Strangeness," Princess Bubblegum predicts the catastrophe mentioned above and sends colonization missiles to other planets to grow and colonize in case something happens. It is unknown how or why the Candy Kingdom became abandoned.

The Gum War or the arrival of GOLB is not the reason why, despite BMO telling that entire story to Shermy and Beth.

Land

The land outside of the kingdom's walls is covered in cotton candy trees and, therefore, is known as the Cotton Candy Forest. Other locations within the kingdom include the Rock Candy Mountains, Lake Butterscotch and the Earldom of Lemongrab. Although most of the Candy Kingdom is edible, not all of the kingdom's territory is made out of candy. In "Burning Low," Princess Bubblegum goes to Finn and Jake's Tree Fort to collect their taxes, suggesting that the area of the Grass Lands near the fort is part of the Candy Kingdom. This is supported in "Davey," where the Banana Guards answer a call for the Grass Lands to arrest Jake (dressed like a robber), and in "Princess Potluck," where they even travel to the border of the Grass Lands near the Ice Kingdom. In "Who Would Win," when Jake boasts about his score in Kompy's Kastle, he claims it is the third highest in the Candy Kingdom; this can be seen as further evidence that the Tree Fort is within the kingdom's confines and/or that Jake and Finn are subjects of the Candy Kingdom.

Structures

Nearly everything within the Candy Kingdom is composed of some form of candy or sweet. This includes the buildings and infrastructure inside of the kingdom's walls. Even the ground in the kingdom is edible, from the peanut brittle streets shown in "Susan Strong," to the chocolate dirt shown in "Too Young."

Princess Bubblegum's Castle

The Candy Castle is the largest building in the kingdom and the palace where Princess Bubblegum resided until losing the election, along with a few other Candy People. In "The Vault," it reveals that the walls and castle of the kingdom seems to be made of cake. The frosting and decorative sweets were likely applied later on to make the kingdom appear more like confectionery.

Other Locations

Society

The Candy People make up majority of the population in the Candy Kingdom. They resemble a variety of sweets, such as candies, pastries, and fruit. Most residents of the Candy Kingdom live within the walls of the central settlement. However, some non-candy citizens, such as Lady Rainicorn, Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig reside outside in their own homes.

Although most buildings and residents of the Candy Kingdom are composed of sweets, it is shown that their main source of food is candy. The distinction between the two (as Finn explains in "Susan Strong") is that "You can't eat the ones that talk! They're special...they got aspirations." However, there seems to be little difference in the physical composition between the two as the episode "All Your Fault" shows that Candy People can be created by using the candy life formula.

There are a variety of services provided in the Candy Kingdom. Emergency services, which include firefighting and law enforcement, have been implemented by Princess Bubblegum before the completion of the Candy Kingdom. Currently, these services are primarily occupied by the Banana Guards with the exception of a few individuals such as Root Beer Guy. There are also several institutions that provide medical, educational, and residential care to the Candy People. The Candy Kingdom is also a home to several businesses which include services such as pharmacies, groceries, and taverns.

Although the majority of the Candy People are mostly harmless, some residents of the Candy Kingdom are involved in criminal activity. Some are members of small groups who are simply annoyances to the kingdom, such as the Pup Gang. However, there are other more dangerous criminals who are involved in acts such as stealing diamonds. This includes the gangs led by Jaybird and Dr. J.

Military

Main article: Candy Kingdom Military

The Candy Kingdom's army is primarily composed of the Banana Guards. The guards are usually armed with spears, the episode "Susan Strong," it is shown that the Candy Castle has an armory full of a variety of candy weapons. In addition, the Candy Kingdom is shown to have a sizable cavalry force in "The Reign of Gunters." Although the Banana Guard army primarily operates within the walls of the Candy Kingdom, they are sometimes sent out by Princess Bubblegum to deal with major threats such as Gunter or Rattleballs.

The Gumball Guardians also act as a main line of defense within the Candy Kingdom and are stationed on the kingdom's walls. They are programmed to protect the Candy People from any form of danger and to enforce the Royal Promise. They are able to detect and intercept any evil force that approach the Candy Kingdom. They are shown doing this in the episodes "Slumber Party Panic," "Mortal Recoil," "Reign of Gunters," and "The Lich."

Although melee-based weaponry is most prevalent in the Candy Kingdom, their military is shown to have access to superior technology when compared to most other kingdoms. Along with the access to advanced robotics, the kingdom is equipped with candy cane rifles and candy helicopters, as shown in "Hug Wolf" and "Princess Cookie" respectively. This, along with a large number of Banana Guards, makes the Candy Kingdom's military a formidable force in the Land of Ooo. Princess Bubblegum was confident enough that in "Bad Timing," she immediately threatens Lumpy Space Princess with a declaration of war on Lumpy Space after getting assaulted by her. The Candy Kingdom has also an arsenal of cannons as a first line of defense as seen in "Something Big."

After the sudden return of Princess Bubblegum's Uncle Gumbald, he immanently plans to destroy his niece, having her subjected to his Dum Dum Juice, as she did to him 800 year prior. Gumbald went on to form a Candy city-state known as Gumbaldia. Gumbald built an army of Cake Soldiers, who he presumably created. Concerned and angry on the matter Princess Bubblegum saw war as the only answer, despite Finn's protest.

The war was set to begin and was given the title the Gum War. The Candy Kingdom army consisted of Banana Guards and the Gumball Guardians. In addition as group of Princess Bubblegum's friends and allies were set to fight in the war as soldiers including as Finn, Jake, Marceline, Colonel Candy Corn, Lumpy Space Princess, Flame Princess, Cinnamon Bun, Lady Rainicorn, Lemongrab, Duke of Nuts, Huntress Wizard and Slime Princess. However Finn convinced PB and Gumbald to make amends and the war was unfought, though the army and allies did fight in the battle against GOLB who suddenly arrived only moments after the war was called off.

Trivia

As implied by Jake in "Susan Strong," the Candy Kingdom military is rather ineffective, only winning the battle against the Hyooman tribe by sheer luck because the Marshmallow Kids were accidentally set on fire by Jake when he sneezed into the fire.
Adam Muto has said that the Candy Kingdom is a "princessipality" since it is ruled by a princess instead of a king or queen.^{[citation needed]}
Finn nearly caused its destruction three times. First, when he opened a black hole in "The Real You." Second, when he showed Susan Strong the kingdom and she brought the other Hyooman tribe members to eat it. Third, when he released wolves in Princess Bubblegum's room in "Go With Me," endangering Princess Bubblegum's life.
Finn mentioned it had a church, signifying that there is religion in Ooo. The point was to worship "Glob." This may be the official religion of the candy kingdom if there is one.
Like in most cities, there is a "bad" part of town. It can be found behind Princess Bubblegum's castle as seen in "Apple Thief." The Candy Tavern is located there, and it is mostly full of criminals.
The Candy Kingdom is home to the Candy Kingdom Mental Hospital, where the very old and the mentally ill reside, playing games. It appears that Doctor Princess is an active staff member.
Gunter and his magic penguin army (temporarily) conquered the Candy Kingdom (and the rest of Ooo) in "Reign of Gunters."
In "All Your Fault," Finn states that Princess Bubblegum made the Candy Kingdom. This was later confirmed in The Vault. In this episode, the Candy Kingdom is still being constructed, with Bubblegum watching over everything.
The Candy Kingdom is seen burning from Ice King's window in "Another Five More Short Graybles."
In "Rattleballs," one of the Gumball Guardians is holding up a small pile of cash, showing that the Candy Kingdom may have a legal tender. It resembles the U.S. Dollar, only with a house on it.
As seen in "Hot Diggity Doom," despite the Candy Kingdom being a monarchy, they can elect their princess by voting on candidates like in a democracy (suggesting a potential elective monarchy like in parts of Eastern Europe during the Early Modern Period), however Princess Bubblegum does mention that the whole process was barely legal.
There is a running subplot in which Princess Bubblegum can seem a tyrannical leader, but she feels she is doing what she must to shephard and protect the kingdom. When she was briefly ousted as Princess, the kingdom was nearly destroyed, and only restored to stability when she basically seized power as an anti-democratic monarch again.
- In "High Strangeness", it was revealed that there is a resistance movement called the Veritas Brigade who oppose and criticizes Princess Bubblegums rule as fascist.