5 - Non-Stereotypical Female Characters

     Adventure Time, as we all know, is filled with a wide array of diverse characters; majority of which are female. Most of the female characters are princesses, like Lumpy Space Princess (LSP for short), Flame Princess, and the well-known Princess Bubblegum, but we also have others like Marceline, the vampire queen, Fionna, the gender-bent version of Finn, Cake, the gender-bent version of Jake, and many more. If you aren't aware of all the princesses that exist on the show then you can check out this link for the list of all of Adventure Time's princesses, including some mentioned in the comics.

     Now, if there's one thing to take note of, it's that these female characters are not the stereotypes. Most of the time, they are very genuine and have quite realistic personalities. Though at some times, the princesses may become damsels-in-distress whenever the Ice King kidnaps them, there are other times when they get to fight for themselves. Like, for example, in the episode Lady and Peebles, Finn and Jake are kept as prisoners by Ricardio, the Ice King's former heart, and it was up to Princess Bubblegum and Lady Rainicorn, a half unicorn and half rainbow creature who's Jake's girlfriend, to save the day. Giving the women in the show these kinds of opportunities is actually pretty great since it doesn't stereotype them in the process, and the women who watch the show can actually learn to appreciate it since it won't seem like a bunch of clichés.

     In this one article, that I found in my research, entitled Pendleton Ward explains how he’s keeping Adventure Time weird which was written by Charlie Jane Anders, Ward states that 

it's hard creating cool female characters, like Princess Bubblegum, because "there's so many stereotypical girl characters, and the easiest thing to do is the opposite: girl power, making them extremely intelligent or extremely tough. I just want to make girls that are normal, just like Finn is normal." He likes writing Princess Bubblegum because she's not just great at science, she's also kind of a "goofball, and her experiments are wacky. She's not the smartest person in the universe."

 So, thanks to Mr. Ward, we get to enjoy watching all these characters who aren't those typical girls that you could find in other cartoons. Like, Marceline who loves rock music and fights for herself when she needs to. For example, the episode Memory of a Memory, Marceline's ex-boyfriend stereotypes her, like ordering her to make him a sandwich, but after finding out that he tricked her, she breaks up with him. 

     I also came across another article on the same topic. It was entitled Why I Love 'Adventure Time' which was written by Myrna Waldron who is a feminist writer/blogger. She explained the things which she liked about the show; mainly how the female characters are depicted. Here is a statement she made in one part of the article,

I also practically exploded with joy at the final scene where Fionna talks about how she has lots of guy friends, but isn’t interested in/isn’t ready to date them, and that there’s nothing wrong with that. THANK YOU. It’s incredibly frustrating how many people think that somehow something is missing if you don’t have an official romantic partner, or that men and women can’t have a platonic friendship. Shippers could do well to remember this - you can like someone without wanting to bang them.

This is also one thing to admire in the show. It makes Fionna seem even more independent and that's good since it would inspire little girls, who have seen this episode, that romance isn't the most important thing to accomplish. These kinds of things do take time, so at the moment, they should just have fun. Also, I feel like, by doing this, it interests the viewers even more; making them want to watch just to see how Fionna's relationship with her guy friends will ever develop into. 

     The fact that Adventure Time creates female characters who are not stereotypical, unlike in some cartoons, actually attracts a lot of female adult viewers; another factor to add to the list.