Marceline (full title: Marceline the Vampire Queen) is one of the main characters in Adventure Time. Marceline is a fun-loving 1,000-year-old vampire queen. Unlike a traditional vampire, Marceline does not need to drink blood to survive; rather, she eats the color red. Marceline is also an avid musician who plays an electric bass that she made from her family's heirloom battle-axe.
Roughly a thousand years prior to the events of the series, Marceline was born to a demon lord named Hunson Abadeer and a human woman.[5] Abadeer is the ruler of the Nightosphere —a Hell-like demon dimension—and subsists on the souls of sentient beings.[6] Marceline's earliest depicted childhood memory is of her living in a trailer with her human mother, who recounts to her the story of how she met her father.[5]
For some reason, Marceline was left abandoned on Earth in events during the Mushroom War, a mysterious war that ravaged the earth one thousand years prior to events of the series. During this time, Simon Petrikov—the name of the Ice King before he was overcome by the power of his crown—found Marceline in the ruins of a city and gave her a stuffed animal named Hambo to cheer her up; by the events of this episode, she is apparently 7 years old, as stated by Simon.[7][8] The two developed a caring relationship, although the crown took a toll on Simon's mental health, forcing him to leave Marceline alone.[9][5] During this period in her life, Simon presumably somehow managed to reunite Marceline with her father,[10] only to be disgusted by his cold and heartless ways. Although she attempted to tolerate his evil and selfish antics, she eventually severed all ties with Abadeer after she discovered him eating fries that she had bought for herself.[11][12]
Becoming the Vampire Queen
In the following years, Marceline roamed the land of Ooo and eventually befriended a tribe of humans. She became their guardian and ally, and she helped them kill vampires, who had taken over much of the land. Marceline soon discovered that, upon killing a vampire, she was able to acquire their unique abilities thanks to her demonic power to absorb souls.[5] However, when she tried to fight the Vampire King himself, he pinned her down and bit her. Although she eventually managed to slay him, she was turned in the process, becoming the last vampire in Ooo.[13]
Roaming the Land
At some point, she began a romantic relationship with a magician named Ash. The two would move into the Tree Fort, but their relationship would come to an end after Ash sold Hambo, her most prized possession, to Maja the Sky Witch.[11][14] Presumably, around this time, Marceline befriended Princess Bubblegum, the sovereign of the Candy Kingdom; the two would often avoid official royal meetings and explore the Candy Kingdom's elaborate rock candy mining complex.[15] Eventually, due largely to the mounting stress of running her kingdom, Bubblegum pushed Marceline away, leading to a rift between the two that lasted for a while.[15][16][17]
Marceline eventually comes into contact with Finn and Jake when she forces them from their home.[18][19] Following this, Marceline tricks Finn into becoming her accomplice. However, Finn soon discovers that Marceline is not evil, but rather fond of mischief and pranks. Soon thereafter, the two develop a friendship.[20][21]
Her father, Abadeer is accidentally summoned to Ooo by Finn. While Abadeer ravages the land, Finn discovers that there is animosity between Marceline and her father. Finn manages to distract Abadeer by playing a recording of Marceline's "Fry Song", which leads to a brief moment of reconciliation between the two before Finn sends him back to the Nightosphere.[6]
Marceline's ex-boyfriend Ash attempts to rekindle his former relationship with Marceline via trickery. Disguised as Marceline's "spirit animal", he tricks Finn and Jake into believing that Marceline has fallen asleep due to a sleep spell that has been self-inflicted. Following Ash's advice, the two enter into Marceline's mind to retrieve the "memory core" in an attempt to wake her up. Along the way, they encounter various memories of her as a child in the aftermath of the Mushroom War. However, the duo soon learn that it was an elaborate trick by Ash; Finn and Jake actually removed Marceline's memory of their break-up. In the end, Finn is able to convince Marceline, and she promptly attacks her chauvinistic ex-boyfriend.[14][11]
Marceline's dad eventually returns and gives her an amulet that causes her to become the demonic and evil overlord of the Nightosphere. After an ordeal, Finn saves Marceline from the amulet. Marceline admits that all she wants is for her father to understand her.[22][23]
Eventually Marceline enlists the help of Princess Bubblegum, and the two are able to track down Maja, the titular Sky Witch. It is revealed that Ash sold Hambo to Maja. Only when Bubblegum trades her beloved rock shirt—which was given to her by Marceline—is Hambo able to be reunited with Marceline.[17]
After being contacted by Simon Petrikov, the Ice King's original persona who resurfaced after he lost his powers, Marceline sacrifices Hambo so that he can open a portal into time so that Simon can reconcile with his estranged fiancee Betty.[24] Although the two are reunited, due to the rush of events, Marceline and Simon are unable to fully catch up before Simon reverts back to the Ice King. With that being said, the two manage to more fully reunite, and as such, manage to affirm how much they care for one another.[25]
Having grown tired of being a vampire, Marceline allowed her friend Bonnibel Bubblegum to extract Marceline’s vampiric essence, in an attempt to make Marceline mortal once again. Unfortunately, this leads to the reemergence of five of Marceline’s most powerful vampiric foes: the Fool, the Empress, the Hierophant, the Moon, and the Vampire King himself. The reappearance of these vampires forces Marceline, Bubblegum, Finn, Jake, and Peppermint Butler to stake them one-by-one (although the Vampire King is neutralized through a scientific process that removes the vampiric essence from his body); in the ensuing action, Marceline is once again turned into a vampire, but comes to terms with her immortal fate.[26]
"Marshmaline".
Marceline is then temporarily transformed by elemental magic into "Marshmaline the Campfire Queen," a sentient marshmallow creature. In her candy form, Marceline is gregarious and playful, but a bit naive about the nature of the new world around her; for instance, when an enraged Flame Princess attacks her, Marceline mistakes the assault for "wrasslin." Marceline is inevitably returned to her usual self. Marceline later details her recollection of these events via highly allegorical language to BMO.[27]
Marceline's father returns to Ooo and attends one of her concerts. While he initially embarrasses his daughter and eventually causes a ghost fight to break out, by the end of the episode, Marceline is touched that her father was willing to support her.[28]
Marceline fights for Princess Bubblegum during the "Great Gum War", and when the chaos deity GOLB is accidentally brought into Ooo, she refuses to abandon her friend. After one of GOLB's monstrosities very nearly kills the princess, Marceline rushes to her side, and after a tender moment, the two affirm that they care for one another and then kiss. During the episode's epilogue, Marceline and Bubblegum are shown sitting together on a couch under a blanket, and they both touch heads.[29][30]
Characteristics
Marceline is a half-human/half-demon, turned into a half-vampire/half-demon after being bitten, and the eponymous Vampire Queen, after having killed the previous Vampire King many years prior to the start of the show.[5][13] Although she is 1,000 years old, she takes on the physical appearance of a teenager.
Unlike traditional Western vampires, Marceline subsists not off blood, but rather the color red (including "low-grade" shades such as pink).[18][31] Since she is only sated by the color itself, blood is appealing simply due to its hue (although Ward noted on his Formspring that she "drinks blood sometimes").[18][32] When Marceline is deprived of red, she enters into a "feral" state, and will instinctively try to kill others and drink their blood.[31] Like traditional Western vampires, she is vulnerable to sunlight and is capable of turning into a bat of varying size.[21][33]
Personality
Marceline's teddy bear Hambo.
“
I'm not mean. I'm a thousand years old, and I just lost track of my moral code.
”
—Marceline describing her personality in the "House Hunting Song" from "Evicted!"
Having spent centuries traversing the Land of Ooo, she has evolved into a "fearless daredevil",[34] and her fondness for mischief has turned her into something of a trickster. Consequently, in her first role, Marceline functions as the antagonist of the story, forcing Finn and Jake from their home. However, she eventually becomes their close friend once Finn recognizes that she is "a radical dame who likes to play games".[21]
It is implied that some of her more malevolent traits are solely based on her vampire instincts. In "Red Starved", Marceline slowly becomes vicious and sinister after having been deprived of food, trying to tempt Jake so that she could eat him. In "Vamps About", Marceline was fine with Peppermint Butler creating weapons meant to kill her as a contingency, stating that she could have snapped and killed everyone at any given time.
She can also be sentimental. She was very emotionally attached to her teddy bear Hambo, which was given to her by Simon Petrikov; after Ash sold it to Maja, she was furious and broke up with him. Later, Princess Bubblegum got Hambo back in the episode "Sky Witch".
Marceline seems to be very emotional. For example, in "What Was Missing", she seemed to be more aggressive towards Princess Bubblegum than she usually is. She is also very independent, and in early episodes would often act without concern for Finn or his friends. It is easier for Marceline to express her feelings through music, as seen in the "Fry Song" and "I'm Just Your Problem," but has trouble expressing them otherwise. She keeps a diary that she uses for inspiration for songs as seen in "Marceline's Closet." When Marceline read the lyrics to "Remember You", the song that Simon Petrikov wrote for her, she began to cry.
Near the end of "The Dark Cloud", her personality changed slightly. Marceline had learned how to be more mature which is proved by her saying that she will be able to hang out with Princess Bubblegum "forever". She also said the learned how to be more empathetic to others too. Yet, it is still unknown if she got over her emptiness in the end.
Physical appearance
Marceline has light blue-gray skin, crooked fangs, and long, midnight black hair that reaches to her feet. She also sports two marks on her neck, which are the marks of the bite that turned her into a vampire. She also has a tongue that is forked sometimes and is also normal, like a human's, sometimes. her tongue looks normal. It might be part of her powers since she has shapeshifting powers, she may be able to make her tongue look forked or normal.
In the episode "Go With Me", her hair is shaved into an undercut, which reveals that she has pointy ears. She is very thin and sometimes appears to be thinner than Princess Bubblegum; however, her shape can vary slightly depending on who is drawing her.[35][36] She is usually floating in the air but when she stands next to the other main characters she is taller than them; however in "I Remember You", she was just at Ice King's size (or slightly shorter), when she was young, she had a red shirt with a blue overall dress with white tube socks and red Mary Jane shoes. In most of her transformations, she is shown to have green eyes.
Marceline's general appearance, particularly her blue-gray skin, fangs, and pointy ears, is an apparent result of her demonic heritage, and she shares all of these characteristics with her father. From Marceline's maternal side, the episode "Everything Stays" revealed that she possesses genes from a dark-skinned race, although evidently, the phenotype associated with these genes are recessive.
Her main outfit features a dark gray tank top, dark blue pants, and red boots.
Marceline wears different outfits in most of her episode appearances. For example, in "Henchman," she wears a dark violet strapless dress with a dull pink sash, lilac-purple stockings with dark purple stripes and pink heels. For more information, see Marceline/Gallery.
Powers and abilities
From her demonic father, Marceline inherited the power to absorb people's souls and minor control over fire as shown in evicted's first look at the fire kingdom and her use on candles.[37] It was also implied by her Farmworld counterpart that her half-demon nature extended her natural lifespan, as Farmworld Marceline was able to survive for at least 1000 years, albeit old and withered.
After absorbing the essence of several powerful vampires, Marceline gained several supernatural powers. From The Fool she gained the power to fly; from The Empress the ability to turn invisible; from The Hierophant she gained the power to shape-shift (e.g. taking the form of a bat, a wolf, a reptilian creature, a large tentacled monster and she can even copy the form of other creatures if she has time to study them)[38]; and from The Moon, the ability to rapidly heal.
Marceline is immortal and unaging as a vampire.
She lit up all the candles in Finn and Jake's house with a wave of her fingers.[18]
She can move things using her mind.[18][23] She probably obtained this power from Vampire King, but this hasn't been confirmed.
As a result of absorbing the Vampire King's dark cloud half, she can now communicate with a miniature mental projection of him. During the turmoil of the Gum War, Marceline was able to releases the vampiric essence she absorbed from the Vampire King, transforming into a similar black, cloud-like form. In this state she was powerful enough to defeat one of the creatures created by GOLB.
According to Ward, she is ambidextrous, which explains her ability to play bass with both hands.[39]
Marceline is a very talented musician and songwriter, and is proficient at singing and playing her basses.
The Nightosphere Amulet: When worn the wearer gains the ability to shoot green lasers which either vaporize or transform whatever they hit. They can also create or transform into a large cloud of blood mist.
Marceline is capable of consuming color from any object she bites, while the object itself remains physically unharmed. Her preference is objects that are red in color.
Weaknesses
Typical vampiric weaknesses. It is worth noting that while vulnerable to sunlight, as is common in vampire lore, she does not dissolve right away. The nuance to this in the Adventure Time world is that vampires are vulnerable specifically to direct sunlight. Marceline is capable of unrestricted movement on a bright sunny day provided that she shields herself sufficiently, which she usually accomplishes with a combination of a parasol and a large sunhat, sometimes with the addition of full-length gloves to cover her arms. According to Marceline, moving around on a bright day still hurts mildly, comparable to scraping her knee, but she can bear it.
Like typical vampires, Marceline cannot see her own reflection in a mirror.
She has revealed that she cannot digest syrup.[40]
Whenever she doesn’t consume enough red-colored objects, Marceline goes into "feral mode", a state in which she becomes ravenous out of hunger. This rabid state subsides once Marceline consumes a sufficient amount of red.
Marceline is almost always seen wearing a tank top or some sort of shirt that exposes her arms and shoulders
Marceline does not appear in the Pilot episode with most of the other main characters, although she is still considered one. This is because she did not exist at the time the pilot was made.
In "Evicted!," Marceline appears in the realm of fire without burning herself, probably due to being undead.
Despite being a skilled bass player, she does not know what a quaver is.
Marceline plays the bass guitar with both hands, often switching hand positions while floating depending where she is in the air. She most often plays with her right hand.
Her bass is strung and strapped for a right-handed individual. When Marceline plays left-handed, she's playing the bass upside-down. However, the animators are inconsistent with which handedness the bass is made for.
Marceline's name is based on Pendleton Ward's friend, Marie, whose middle name is Marceline. Pen described Marie as someone who likes the horror movie Psycho and dark clothing.[citation needed]
Marceline has a genderbent counterpart named Marshall Lee.
Marceline's last name may constitute as an homage to the real-life city Aberdeen, Washington which is known for being a "tough" town and the hometown of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain.
According to the note she left on her door in "Marceline's Closet", she gets lucid dreams when she eats tomatoes.
In "Princess Day," it is shown that sunblock can protect Marceline from the sun. In "Marceline the Vampire Queen (episode)" it is shown that she uses "Spf 10,000,000."
In the Art of Ooo book, it is confirmed that Marceline is older than Princess Bubblegum (who is 827 years old, according to Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DONT KNOW!).[41]
In the episode "Skyhooks," Marceline has a candy form called Marshmaline the Campfire Queen
Marceline has retrieved most of her powers from consuming the souls of previously slain vampires.
In the miniseries "Stakes," Marceline has several flashbacks that show her encounters with the Ultra Vampires she continues to slay. Both The Hierophant and the Vampire King remind her of a price she must pay for her powers, or there would be grand consequences. The price is obviously renouncing the ability to live in the sun, but the consequence for not paying the said price is heavily implied to be the side effect of Magic: Madness, and Sadness, a concept researched by Betty Grof.
Magic, Madness, and Sadness is the concept of an emotional complexity concept (possibly disorder) inside nearly every Wizard/Magical Being. It is seen as the "consequence" of having magical power in the present day of Ooo.
Despite Marceline taking The Moon's powers, which allowed her to survive in sunlight, Marceline can still be burned by the sun. This is similar to her taking the power of invisibility from The Empress, but not her hypnosis, as well as her receiving no notable powers from the Vampire King.
In Be Sweet, it is revealed that insects hide in Marceline's belly button.
Marceline is bisexual, as Princess Bubblegum is her girlfriend and she dated Ash before.
Marceline is a playable character in the video game LEGO Dimensions.
ARDIPITHECUS album by Willow Smith features 2 experimental pop songs: Marceline, and Marceline Pt. 2, about the vampire queen.
Marceline appears as a playable character in the MOBA game FusionFall Heroes, alongside Finn and Fionna. She has 6 skins (including the original one) that can be acquired through the EGGs sold in the game store.
On 2017, Mondo has released two 9-inch statues of Marceline The Vampire Queen exclusively available on their website. It features her floating in the air, playing her Axe Bass. On the floor are some of her favorite snacks: strawberries with half of their reds eaten and fries, and it comes with a mini copy of the hit film Heat Signature. Her pedestal features a replica of the wooden floorboards of her cave house and her father, Hunson Abadeer. Mondo has also released a Mondo Exclusive version which comes with all of the same accessories made available on the regular version plus Hambo.
↑Adventure Time: 2015 Spoooktacular. Marceline: "You know what...? It's kinda nice having to someone to talk to. I mean... someone who's not just gonna abandon me and leave me with my ding-dong dad."
