Marceline the Vampire Queen (full name: Marceline Abadeer) is a major character from the cartoon series Adventure Time. She is half-demon/half-vampire and has lived for over a thousand years. When she makes her first appearance, she is initially an enemy of Finn and Jake, but over time she becomes one of their closest friends. Her demonic father, Hunson Abadeer, is the ruler of the infernal realm known as the Nightosphere.
History[]
Marceline's earliest depicted history is of her living in a trailer with her human mother, who recounts to her the story of how she met her father. She was seven years old at the time of the Mushroom War, a conflict that left much of the Earth destroyed and led to the creation of the Land of Ooo. Following her mother's apparent death, Marceline found herself alone until she met Simon Petrikov, the man who would one day become the Ice King. Simon gave her a doll, which she eventually named Hambo, to comfort her during the war. The two travelled together through the ruins of destroyed cities for some time until Simon finally became corrupted by the magical crown he carried and eventually left Marceline for her own safety, promising to send somebody to guard her. After his departure, Simon presumably somehow managed to reunite Marceline with Hunson.
As a teenager, Marceline's relationship with her father was damaged when he ate her fries in the ruins of a diner. She later sang about this event in her "Fry Song". In "Vamps About", Marceline is shown to have spent some time after this event wandering with her pet dog Schwabl, staking vampires to protect humans and fill the void left by Simon's departure. She befriends a tribe of humans and, in an attempt to protect them, gets bitten by the Vampire King just as he is staked by her, turning her into the Vampire Queen.
Marceline first met Finn and Jake after forcing the two out of their Tree Fort home. Apparently Marceline had once lived there and had claimed the land as her own, and so Finn and Jake moved into a cave. They fix it up nicely, but then Marceline claims that the cave is also her property as she had left her seal within it. Outraged that she would take their home twice, Finn attacked Marceline and actually hurt her. Marceline was impressed by this and she allowed Finn and Jake to return to the Tree Fort.
Though Marceline claimed to be evil when she first met Finn, and even performed several seemingly monstrous acts right in front of him, her "evil" actions were merely elaborate pranks and she just enjoyed messing with Finn's mind. She would later open up to Finn, Jake and even Princess Bubblegum, showing them her gentler side. She has since joined Finn and Jake on many of their adventures.
When Marceline and PB were first shown interacting in the series, it was clear that there was some pre-existing history between them, though they initially seem hostile towards one another. Later in the series, it is revealed that Bubblegum and Marceline were quite close and there are subtle hints that their previous relationship may have been romantic. By the end of the Great Gum War, after helping to save all of Ooo from destruction, Marceline and PB rekindle their relationship and Marceline even renews her relationship with Simon, who is restored to his old self.
Personality[]
Marceline is described as a wild rocker girl. Centuries of wandering the Land of Ooo have made her a fearless daredevil. She is a lover of all things exotic and still travels across the land often. She has a mischievous personality and is rarely intimidated. Despite seeming evil in her first two appearances, Marceline is a trickster at heart, and her "evil plans" often turn out to be nothing more than elaborate jokes. She is described by Finn as "a radical dame who likes to play games." She loves to play pranks on Finn and Jake. She also occasionally has violent outbursts and claims that her moral code has been worn away over the centuries of her life.
Over the course of the series, Marceline reveals her softer side. She is shown to deeply care for the Ice King, or rather the man he used to be, and wishes to help him regain his sanity. She also cares deeply for Princess Bubblegum, having been in a romantic relationship with her centuries before she met Finn and Jake, but broke up with her due to PB's increasing focus on her royal duties. By the end of the series, Marceline and Bubblegum have rekindled their relationship and are traveling the world together.
Powers and abilities[]
Powers[]
- Levitation: She has the ability to float and even to fly with careful control and rapid speed. She can even sleep while floating.
- Pyrokinesis: She can light fire with only her mind.
- Telekinesis: She can move things using her mind.
- Invisibility: She can turn invisible.
- Necromancy: She can raise the dead.
- Rapid healing: She appears to heal quickly from injuries.
- Shape-shifting: She has the ability to shape-shift into numerous monstrous forms, including a bat, a wolf, a reptilian creature, and a large tentacled monster. She appears to be able to preserve her clothing, even after changing into large forms that would cause it to break: in many appearances, the clothing disappears until she returns to her humanoid form.
- Eating shades of red: Unlike traditional vampires, Marceline is capable of sustaining herself on "shades of red," such as the colour in strawberries, rather than being limited to surviving on blood.
Abilities[]
- Bass player: She is an expert bass player.
- Singer: She is a proficient singer.
- Basketball player: She can play basketball and perform a slam dunk without floating.
Weaknesses[]
Marceline's only confirmed weakness is exposure to direct sunlight. If not shielded from the sun's rays, she will melt into a pile of goo, though she can reconstitute herself if her remains are taken out of the sun. Marceline is capable of surviving in sunlight provided she has proper protection, such as a parasol and/or sunhat.
It is unknown if Marceline is vulnerable to any other traditional vampire weaknesses. Jake did once try to stake her in the heart, but failed. (Of course, a wooden stake through the heart would kill just about anything.) Finn once threw several cloves of garlic at Marceline which appeared to hurt, though this may have been due to the impact of the cloves rather than exposure.