A Look Deeper into the Character of Marceline

It is no question that Marceline is a character with depth, from her feautured episodes to the ones she shares with the Ice King, her backstory is so interesting to decipher. I myself have picked up on a few things from watching her past episodes that I wanted to really share with the Adventure Time community, so let’s dive in.

**WARNING: This may be a little bit heavy and also quite long**

In the episode “Marceline’s Closet” there is something interesting that caught my eye. It’s a framed portrait of what looks to be Mary holding a Baby Jesus.

There is also a similar portrait in her downstairs living area that is briefly shown in “Heat Signature” which I believe is a portrait of Marceline and her mother.

There is an uncanny resemblance between the two of them, which got me to thinking deeply about what meaning there might be behind the two. It’s no secret that Marceline takes things very literally, I mean, she wrote a song about fries which had the underlying meaning of feeling alone and a pleading desire for her father to love her.

First let’s look at the Mary and Jesus portrait. Mary holding a baby Jesus is a staple of the Catholic/Christian world, the biblical story behind it is that a supernatural being is born of a human (Jesus being born of Mary), His Father being otherworldly, Jesus then grows up, gathers a following and is referred to as a King, His human body is sacrificed and is then ascended into Heaven to rule eternally at the right hand side of His Father (God).

Marceline’s story isn’t that far off, her father is otherworldly and rules the Nightosphere (which can be a reference to Hell and Satan), she is born a supernatural being to a human mother, she is also a vampire, which means her human side has been sacrificed and now she can live eternally, she is also referenced as the Vampire Queen, and her father wants her to rule beside/take over the Nightosphere.

Now that you seen the basic similarities between the two stories, we can think even deeper.

Why have a portrait of Mary and a baby Jesus in her home? Does she even know the meaning or does she have it because it resembles the one of her mother and her as a baby?

Well, I think it has to do with a mixture of both. Marceline was born before the Great Mushroom War, at least 5/7 years before. I say this because from the looks of the town in “Simon and Marcy”, it doesn’t look too post apocalyptic there are still buildings and signs of life before the war, (i.e birthday cards, soupery, clambulance)

*small visual of the town; windows relatively unbroken, buildings still standing, doors locked*

Being born before the war and living in a post apocalyptic world, she might have been around humans a lot, she might have gotten basic knowledge of the religions of the time, if her mother knew her father was a demon, then why not educate her on the other side of things like angels etc. Though this might be somewhat of a stretch for a child to pick up on, the idea might’ve been planted in her head by her mother, television, even Simon and then further researched throughout the years.

She might have come across the story again in her elder years and found the amazing real life resemblance between her life and that of Jesus’s, thus explaining the Mary and baby Jesus portrait and the resemblance of her own family portrait of her mother and baby Marceline downstairs.

This goes into an even deeper meaning, how Marceline feels about herself.

It is hinted at that Marceline isn’t happy with herself or even what her father wants of her. She has openly and publicly admitted to her father and friends that she does not want to rule the Nightosphere. (gif from “Daddy’s Little Monster”)

And in her own fan fiction of Fionna and Cake she has the story give off the vibe that Marshall Lee is bad no matter what he does or who he hangs out with because of what he is, a demon, vampire king and from the Nightosphere.

It can even be inferred that Fionna isn’t really a genderbent Finn but a personification of her good side fighting with her bad side (Marshall Lee), because after all, Marceline is the one telling the story herself.

This takes us back to the episode “Marceline’s Closet”, there is a part where she is singing a song made up of a journal entry she wrote, the lyrics are:

There’s a whole lot to me and I can’t reveal Because they don’t know what it’s like to Live… for-… Ever… and for- Get who you even are and What do you even think about anything? How can anyone relate to me When they cannot see what I see? My vampire eyes see only blood… red… skies; Blood red skies make tears inside that I always hide. So, I walk alone… In… my… mental home, I can’t let on—

(SOURCE)

Vampires are often seen as lost souls who feel torn between being good or succumbing to evil. The main character of Twilight has constantly voiced that he feels like he is innately evil because of what he is and when he finally dies that he will cease to exist and not ascend to a higher plane of life because of his crimes against humanity (i.e drinking human blood / animal blood / living longer than the human life span will permit) And that nothing he will ever do make him feel or see that is is truly good.

Maybe Marceline feels the same way, as far as we know she doesn’t drink blood, she drinks the color red, so that shows she holds a value of life, maybe stemming from her human mother. As stated earlier, she does not want to rule the Nightosphere, which would require her to wear an amulet that fills her with chaotic evil, and even after being tricked to wear it by her father she still doesn’t want to rule.

(Marceline’s Upstairs Bedroom)

The portrait of Mary holding baby Jesus is also in a very interesting place, right at eye level leading to downstairs and directly in front of her bed. Marceline would be forced to look at it every time she wants to go to the first floor or when she goes to sleep and wakes up. It could be a constant reminder for her to choose good despite her make and her father’s wishes but it could also be a reminder of her own mother and the times she felt normal and even loved by someone, because in the end it’s not just a portrait of a long forgotten religion, it stands for so much more, she can look at it and remember the past before the war, the mutations, the every day struggle between good and evil, and just feel that twang of nostalgic happiness that gets her through the day.

[ Submitted by Nia (Nighttfall) ]

**Episodes Mentioned (in no particular order)**

Marceline’s Closet

Daddy’s Little Monster

Return To The Nightosphere

Bad Little Boy

Heat Signature

Simon and Marcy

**I feel the need to state that I am not saying that Marceline is a Christian/Catholic or ever was, there are always people that can appreciate/be aware of the faith/story without being a practicing member**

**I also feel the need to say that while I refer to the Catholic/Christian faith a lot in this theory I am –not– making the assumption that the Nightosphere is Hell, Hunson Abadeer is Satan or Marceline is the Anti-Christ**

**ALSO do not disprove this theory based on the small reference I made to Twilight, yes we all know that it isn’t the best series out there but its main character does personify the -emo vamp- qualities that I was talking about and it’s an easy reference to make because Twilight is so well known**

[submitted by nighttfall]