Nothing Red is Safe from Marceline the Vampire Queen
Tune your guitar and get ready to feel stuff—we’re traveling to the Land of Ooo to learn all about Marceline the Vampire Queen.
Like all the residents of Ooo, Marceline the Vampire Queen is a delightful, one-of-a-kind character. She seems scary at first, but she’s just a tender-hearted musician with a mischievous side. Over the course of her Adventure Time story arc, Marceline overcomes trauma from her past and learns to accept herself. And as she does so, she gives us some of the show’s best musical moments.
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Who is Marceline?
The Vampire Queen Marceline is an Adventure Time character who is, well, a vampire! But instead of living on blood, she drinks the color red! Which blood also is. Ergo, vampire. And while her fangs and whole vibe are intimidating, Marcy is more mischievous than malevolent. She’s also got a tender heart, and she expresses her feelings through her music. She plays a bass guitar she crafted from a battle axe that has been in her family for generations.
Marcy’s personality is very playful. Her pranks are mostly intended to be harmless, but she can forget to be considerate of the feelings of others. She does, however, feel very deeply. Over the course of her story, Marceline matures a good deal.
Being a vampire, Marcy has a lot of really cool powers. Other than being able to radically change the color palette of any Stanley Kubrick film using only her teeth, Marcy is immortal. She can fly, go invisible, shapeshift, and has healing abilities—all gained by absorbing the essences of other vampires. She’s illustrated telekinetic abilities and can raise an army of undead servants to serve her. Marcy is also ambidextrous—which probably helps her shred the bass.
Marceline the Vampire Queen is primarily voiced by Olivia Olson. The younger version of Marcy is voiced by Audrey Bennett, and the older version by Cloris Leachman.
After the Mushroom War
The earliest bit of Marceline’s life that we see comes from when she’s seven years old. She and her mother Elise are traveling through the wasteland left behind after the Mushroom War. The two are searching for a “secret clubhouse” where a “party” would be happening. Elise does her best to make the trek an adventurous experience for Marcy, but unfortunately Elise is ill. As the two get closer to the clubhouse, Elise is too sick to keep going.
She makes the devastating decision to convince Marceline to abandon her and find the clubhouse alone. She does this by pretending to be disgusted by Marcy’s demon side, a trait she inherited from her father (more on him later.)
Marcy eventually finds the clubhouse, but everyone in it has died. So she uses the clubhouse as a hideout. She eventually meets Simon Petrikov, who will one day become the Ice King. He gives her a stuffed animal named Hambo and the two form a close relationship for a time.
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Hambo stays near and dear to Marceline’s heart. She eventually offers to sacrifice Hambo in order to reconnect Simon and his fiancé Betty Grof.
Marceline the Vampire Queen
As she grew up, Marceline explored the land of Ooo. She began fighting off other vampires and eventually discovered that she could absorb their essence when she defeated them. This is a big part of how Marcy got her powers! She also earned the trust of a tribe of humans, protecting them from more vampires. When the Vampire King attacked her, Marceline was able to defeat him—which made her the Vampire Queen (and the last vampire in Ooo).
“Daddy, Why Did You Eat My Fries?”
Marcy has a complicated relationship with her father. Hunson Abadeer is a demon that rules the Nightosphere, and when we meet him, he prides himself on being a real evil dude. When Marceline grows up, she spends some time with her dad. But when he eats some french fries that Marcy made for herself, those potats were the final straw.
With the help of Jake, Marceline is able to reconcile with her dad. But not before Abadeer does some serious damage to Ooo. Finn plays their recording of the song Marcy wrote about his betrayal, and on hearing her music, the two are able to make up.
It’s not the last time Abadeer tries to steer his daughter toward ruling his big evil demonic domain. As an eternally teenage character, it seems that Marcy just wants her dad to see and respect her for who she really is.
Marceline and Bubblegum
And now for one of the most beloved ‘ships the internet has ever seen! “Bubbline,” as they’re known on Tumblr, is happily a part of Adventure Time canon. Their relationship began when Marceline gave Princess Bubblegum a rock band t-shirt at a gig she was playing. Bonnie keeps the shirt and it’s one of her most prized possessions. It’s given at this point that the girls become romantically involved.
But eventually, a rift grows between them. PB feels a lot of pressure in her role as the leader of the Candy Kingdom. Marceline felt like she was being cast aside, and the conflict resulted in the two breaking up.
How to Play Marceline in RPGs
Playing Marceline in any kind of RPG would be a whole lotta fun. And you wouldn’t be the first person to have the idea—in fact, there’s a whole Adventure Time RPG! It’s even D&D 5E compatible! The game applies the rules of D&D to the Land of Ooo and all its incredible inhabitants.
READ MORE: Let’s Play D&D With Finn and Jake from ‘Adventure Time’
If you’re looking for a good refresher before you bring the bass to the playing table, you can binge Marcy’s story in completion.
