From 2010 to 2018, Cartoon Network’sAdventure Timeenriched our TV schedules with thoughtful, funny, sometimes melancholic, and, of course, adventure-packed episodes. Currently available for streaming on HBO Max alongside its sequel miniseries,Adventure Time: Distant Lands, thePendleton Ward-created show paved the way for many other critically and commercially acclaimed animated series that the network would release in the following years, fromSteven UniversetoOver the Garden Wall.
A contemporary animated classic if there ever was one,Adventure Timeis fondly remembered by fans for its intricate storylines and its unique portrayal of a post-apocalyptic Earth, in which magic and science meet to create wonders and horrors beyond our imagination. It is also remembered for having some of the greatest love stories in recent animated history, with couples like Marceline and Princess Bubblegum, and Simon and Betty. And, since we’re in the month of love, why not take some time to remember the show’s greatest couples? Some were on-screen for just one or two episodes, while others had journeys that lasted through the entire series. Some are aspirational and heartwarming, while others are marked by tragedy. However, they all have one thing in common: they make for great love stories.
Here are the 10 best romances ofAdventure Time, ranked from the most mundane to the truly epic.
RELATED:How ‘Adventure Time: Distant Lands’ Evolved The Show For The Better
10. BMO & Lorraine
Season 4, Episode 17, “BMO Noire” uses Finn’s search for a lost sock to take us on a trip through the wondrous, rich world of BMO. This time, the tiny, adorable Game Boy-inspired robot sets himself off on a black-and-white investigation across the underground of Finn and Jake’s treehouse. It’s a land inhabited by no-good remote controls, corrupt cat cops, mice that are always ready to squeal, and, of course, Lorraine. BMO’s relationship with the treehouse’s femme fatale - or, rather, chicken fatale - might be in the past, but this doesn’t mean their feelings for each other are gone. But, of course, Lorraine and her probably red lipstick are not to be trusted. Their love story is just as doomed as Bebe, the remote that had its batteries removed in cold blood in broad daylight. At least they will always have their secret grown-up kissing spot…
9. Tree Trunks & Mr. Pig
There is no age limit for finding true love. After a long life full of adventures and sweet moments with various lovers, Tree Trunks found her missing half in the form of Mr. Pig. Granted, the couple didn’t have a great first encounter: instead of a meet-cute, they first bumped into each other when a bunch of evildoers threatened to have Tree Trunks, Finn, and Jake eaten alive by Mr. Pig. However, the pig’s feelings were always a lot purer than those of his partners in crime, and he soon fell head over heels forAdventure Time’s version of an elderly Southern belle. Their displays of affection do make some of the most conservative Candy People uncomfortable, and their subsequent marriage is not without problems, with Tree Trunks even coming close to filing for a divorce. But everything changes with the arrival of their demon baby, Sweet P.
8. Joshua & Margaret
Few things are more relationship goals than sharing an investigations office with your lifelong partner. Joshua and Margaret are a great couple that proves that sharing your passions with the one you love is key to keeping a relationship healthy and strong. Not only did they kick evil butts all around Ooo, they also raised three kids together, only one of which was a regular, biological son. Unfortunately, Joshua and Margaret died before the main events ofAdventure Time, and, therefore, we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them. Another issue with the couple is Joshua’s old-fashioned, macho ways, with him forcing a rivalry between his boys and wanting Margaret to retire from the PI business after giving birth.
7. Finn & Flame Princess
Phoebe, a.k.a. Flame Princess, is Finn’s first real flame after his long-lasting unrequited crush on Princess Bubblegum. For a while, they go out and have fun together, and their relationship is the epitome of young love. Alas, Finn isn’t mature enough to keep up with Phoebe’s badassery nor to truly comprehend his beloved’s traumas. And, even though Flame Princess is tough and the personification of fire itself, she is also a misunderstood young woman with trust issues derived from her years of imprisonment in her father’s castle. The couple falls apart after Finn sets his girlfriend up for a fight against the Ice King without her informed consent, breaching their trust. Phoebe eventually recovers from the betrayal and accepts Finn back as a friend, but, let’s face it, we all like him a little less because of this.
6. Jake & Lady Rainicorn
Jake and Lady Rainicorn have one of the healthiest, most mature relationships ever depicted in a children’s show. They are always there for one another, but they also know it’s important to respect your partner’s personal space. Jake and Lady Rainicorn are as certain of the love they feel for each other as they are that they are loved in return, thus, their relationship is immune to bouts of jealousy. It’s a true partnership that reminds us that Jake, even though often immature, is actually a lot older than Finn, at least in dog years. As a couple, they are as functional as it gets, and they sure would have ranked higher on this list if only Jake wasn’t kind of an absent dad to his pups.
5. BMO & Bubble
After Lorraine’s betrayal, BMO finds love once again in Season 5, Episode 17, “BMO Lost”. Carried away from the treehouse by a giant bird, BMO finds his way home through the wilderness with the help of a round, moist, and air-filled companion. Bubble is initially a defeatist that suggests they just wait around to be eaten by carnivores, but BMO gives him the courage to move on. Later, it’s Bubble’s turn to help BMO out of a funk. The two sure bring the best out of each other, and, by the end of the episode, it looks like marriage is on the way for the unusual couple. Unfortunately, Bubble is popped by Jake before he has a chance to take his betrothed to the altar. Instead of dying, however, Bubble becomes Air and tells BMO not to mourn him, for he has gone home - a sweet, if a somewhat creepy, reminder that the people we love never truly leave us.
4. Finn & Huntress Wizard
Ah, to be young and in love… While Finn’s fling with the Flame Princess has the energy of an early adolescent romance, his complex relationship with the Huntress Wizard has the urgency and the sexual tension typical of young adulthood - while keeping things PG, of course. I mean, the two of them meet while Finn is playing the flute naked, for crying out loud! Yeah, Finn, we all know what kind of spirit of the forest you two are trying to summon at night… Though he initially denies it, Finn has a crush on Huntress Wizard from the very first moment he sees her, and his confession at the end of the Season 7 episode “Flute Spell” is beautiful and heartbreaking. And even though Huntress Wizard is a weird girl, and the two of them never get to the point of going steady, they also never leave each other’s lives. Maybe this could go somewhere if Finn was a bit more mature, and Huntress Wizard, a bit more open to commitment, or maybe the relationship is already exactly where they want it to be.
3. Finn & Roselinen
One ofAdventure Time’s best episodes, Season 5’s “Puhoy” is a funny, emotional, and heartwarming tale about imaginary and real problems, and the thin line that separates them. While sulking over a misunderstanding with Flame Princess, Finn delves into Jake and BMO’s pillow fort and takes a trip to a pillow kingdom ruled by King Quilton. He becomes a local hero after slaying a fluffy dragon and ends up hitting it off with the king’s daughter, Roselinen. Finn lives a long, fulfilling life in the pillow kingdom with Roselinen and their two children, but the idea of finding his way back home never leaves his mind. The episode makes it clear that love isn’t a cure-all, but that having issues that you need to work out shouldn’t stop anyone from having a healthy, caring relationship with someone else. Finn’s life with Roselinen is the closest we get to a happy ending for our human hero, romantically speaking, but was it all even real? And does this question even matter?
2. Betty Grof & Simon Petrikov
Betty and Simon’s relationship isn’t exactly an aspirational love story, but the tragic tale of a man driven to insanity by necessity and hubris and the woman that will do everything in her power to bring him back is the kind of stuff ancient poems and fanfiction are made of. Ever since the truth about the Ice King was revealed,Adventure Timefans have spent each and every episode featuring Professor Simon Petrikov with tears in their eyes, hoping against all hope that he would find his way back to the man he once was. Few moments in the show’s history are as sad as the end of Season 5’s “Betty” in which the titular Betty is forced to turn Simon back into the horrible Ice King to save him from certain death. Their loving embrace in the show’s finale, “Come Along With Me,” is easily number two in fans’ lists of most anticipated romantic resolutions, losing only to the passionate kiss between our two winners.
1. Princess Bubblegum & Marceline, the Vampire Queen
Over the course of eight years, fans ofAdventure Timewaited patiently for the final confirmation that the much-hinted-at relationship between Bubblegum and Marceline was, indeed, canon. From Princess Bubblegum wearing Marceline’s shirt to bed to Marceline imagining a future in which she and Bubblegum grew old together in the miniseriesStakes, the pair of lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers-again already had a lot going for them, but there was still something missing. The long-anticipated kiss between the princess and the queen came at the end of the series finale - a moment worthy of many gifsets and rewatches. Both on and off-screen, the tale of Marceline and Bubblegum is definitely one for the books. The couple became a thing in the middle of an arduous battle for the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ representation in children’s media. What started as a dubious conflicted relationship that could easily be written off as a friendship gone sour slowly became one of the most beautiful romantic partnerships in the history of animated television. Bubblegum and Marceline are the cartoony proof that love can conquer all, even our own shortcomings, and last for a very, very long lifetime.
