Marceline

Marceline Abadeer (full title: Marceline the Vampire Queen) is one of the main characters in Adventure Time and the main protagonist of the miniseries Stakes. Marceline is a fun-loving and playful 1,000-year-old vampire queen. Unlike a traditional vampire, Marceline does not need to drink blood to survive; rather, she consumes the color red, or other similar tints. Marceline is also an avid musician who plays an electric bass guitar, which she crafted 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 named Elise. Abadeer is the ruler of the Nightosphere, a Hell-like demon dimension, and subsists on the souls of sentient beings. Marceline and her mother both survived the events of the Mushroom War, a mysterious and destructive war that ravaged the earth one thousand years prior to events of the series. One of Marceline's earliest depicted childhood memories is of her living in a trailer with Elise, who recounts to her the story of how she met her father. Elise was suffering from an illness, however, attempted to keep it hidden from Marceline as not to worry her. She had her draw a map of the land to get to a secret "club house" where there was supposedly a party happening. However, as Elise's health slowly worsened further, she told Marceline to go to the hide-out on her own, where she was left alone, believing her mother had abandoned her due to her demonic powers. The hide-out had many skeletons of other humans, and their fate is most likely from the same illness Elise was suffering. During this time, Simon Petrikov—the man who would become the Ice King when 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. The two developed a caring relationship, although the crown ruined Simon's mental health, forcing him to leave Marceline alone. During this period in her life, Simon presumably somehow managed to reunite Marceline with her father (possibly by traditionally summoning him), 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 made for herself in a road side gas station after traveling with her father. In the following years, Marceline roamed the Land of Ooo. She starts to hunt down the remaining vampires of Ooo and has a dog named Schwabl. She also realizes that due to the powers she inherited from her demon father, she has the ability to suck the souls and gain the powers of the vampires she kills and absorbs. She eventually befriended a tribe of humans. These humans wore animal hats, to protect against vampire bites. At first, they were understandably fearful of Marceline, however, after following them for some time, a member of the group, Two Bread Tom, sat down and played the guitar to the few remaining members of their group. Marceline heard this, and sat down behind a bush to play the same song Tom was playing. Because of this, they viewed Marceline in a brighter light, and realized she was just trying to keep them safe. She became their guardian and ally, and she helped them kill vampires, who had taken over much of the land. The human tribe was attacked by the Vampire King while repairing a boat, and Marceline defended them. However, when she tried to fight the Vampire King herself, 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. At some point, Marceline met Princess Bubblegum, the sovereign of the Candy Kingdom. Marceline gifted her a Rock T-shirt during a music performance and they became romantically involved. The two would often avoid official royal meetings and explore the Candy Kingdom's elaborate rock candy mining complex, although as time went by and the mounting stress of running the Candy Kingdom became more and more demanding, Bubblegum started pushing Marceline away. This reached its climax when Marceline accompanied Bubblegum to the Glass Kingdom who had asked for her help defeating a dragon attacking their kingdom. However, Marceline didn't take the whole thing seriously and bugged Bubblegum for attention causing her to lash out, insult her and tell her to go home. Hurt, Marceline sung an angry song to her about how she didn't care about her or her "stupid Candy Kingdom". Marceline's song managed to defeat the dragon but this signified the end of her and Bubblegum's relationship. The animosity between them would last for many years. Later, she began a romantic relationship with a magician named Ash. How they met is still unknown. The two would move into the Tree House, but their relationship would come to an end after Ash sold Hambo, her most prized possession, to Maja the Sky Witch. Marceline eventually comes into contact with Finn and Jake when she forces them from their home. However, she returns it to them after finding the cave they found a better place for her. 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. When Marceline invites Finn over to help her record a song about how her father ate her fries, Finn decides to summon Abadeer to Ooo in hopes of them reconciling. 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. 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. 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 and who she is as a person. Some time later, Marceline enlists the help of Princess Bubblegum, and the two are able to track down Maja the 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. 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.[25] 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. In "Varmints", while chasing "varmints" that were messing with her bio-engineered pumpkins, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline come across the old Candy Kingdom crystal mines, where they finally reconcile. Having grown tired of being a vampire and wanting to "Grow up", Marceline asked Bubblegum to extract her vampiric essence, in an attempt to make her 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. After finally defeating The Vampire King, his essence is removed, however, Peppermint Butler accidentally spills it, causing an explosion that releases his essence. Marceline wanted to give up during this time, but Ice King sat down with her, and essentially called her a coward. This managed to motivate her to try, and she defeated The Vampire King with the aid of Princess Bubblegum, Finn, and Jake, but was bit once again in the process. While she was turned into a vampire again, she had come to terms with who she was, and was happy to be immortal, as she could hang out with Princess Bubblegum forever. Marceline is a half-human/half-demon, turned into a half-vampire/half-demon after killing the previous vampire king many years prior to the start of the show, which made her the eponymous Vampire Queen. Although she is 1,000 years old, she takes on the physical appearance of a teenager. Having spent centuries traversing the Land of Ooo, Marceline has evolved into a "fearless daredevil", and her fondness for mischief has turned her into something of a trickster. Consequently, in her first role, she 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 is "a radical dame who likes to play games". 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. Marceline is very independent, and in early episodes would often act without concern for Finn or his friends. However, she can be very emotional and sentimental. For example, in "What Was Missing", she was more aggressive towards Princess Bubblegum than she usually is. She was 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", but Marceline was willing to give up Hambo in order to help Simon reconnect with his fiancée, Betty Grof.. 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 sang the words to "Remember You", from the letter that Simon Petrikov wrote for her, she began to cry. Near the end of "The Dark Cloud", Marceline's personality changed slightly. She had learned how to be more mature which is proved by her accepting her immortality, by stating that she will be able to hang out with Princess Bubblegum forever. She also learned how to be more empathetic to others too. However, it is still unknown if she got over her emptiness in the end. In "Obsidian", which takes place several years after the series finale, Marceline has grown to be a much more emotionally mature person, while still retaining her playfulness. 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. Her tongue is sometimes bifurcated, like a snake's, but other times looks like a normal human's. This may stem from her shapeshifting powers, allowing her to change its appearance as she pleases. 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 which she inherited from her mother, although evidently, the phenotype associated with these genes are recessive. Her main outfit features a gray tank top, dark blue jeans, and dark red boots. 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. 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); and from The Moon, the ability to rapidly heal. Marceline is immortal, youthful, and unaging as a vampire and as long as she's not contacted by any form of typical weakness that can kill vampires, she could live both forever and eternity. Marceline is immortal, youthful, and unaging as a vampire and as long as she's not contacted by any form of typical weakness that can kill vampires, she could live both forever and eternity. She lit up all the candles in Finn and Jake's house with a wave of her fingers. She can move things using her mind. She probably obtained this power from Vampire King, but this hasn't been confirmed. Marceline can raise the undead to serve her. She can fire red energy beams from her arms that are able to restrain people. 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 release 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. 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 the color red from an object she bites, while the object itself remains physically unharmed. She has 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. 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.