Ice King



The Ice King (formerly Simon Petrikov) is the former main antagonist of Adventure Time. His typical crime is to kidnap a princess and force her to marry him, which Finn and Jake foil every time. As his name suggests, Ice King is also his title, announcing himself as King of Ice; the ruler of the Ice Kingdom. His magical abilities are contained in and can be controlled with his crown, and he is therefore powerless without it. His crown is also the cause of his loss of sanity, his unusual, blue skin color, his protruding, goblin-like nose, blank eyes, and stark-white beard. Some time before the Mushroom War, he discovered the Enchiridion and bought the crown during his various expeditions around the world. Ice King's gender-swapped character is the Ice Queen, as seen in "Fionna and Cake."

Despite being the show's main antagonist for most of the series, he has proven, on occasion, to be a hero and a valuable ally, as seen in the episodes "Mortal Recoil" and "Beyond this Earthly Realm."

Appearance
Ice King is a blue, elderly man with unusually pointy fingers, pointy toes, sharp teeth, and a long, goblin-like nose. He wears a dark blue tunic and has a large white beard that covers most of his body. Typically, the Ice King's weight varies in different episodes. Though the robe gives him the appearance of a fat and short man, Ice King's body is in fact exceptionally thin, with a very large and defined ribcage. Despite this, Ice King reveals that he is on a diet in "What Have You Done?" However, in "I Remember You," "Bad Little Boy," and "Princess Potluck" he is shown to be fatter than usual. Confusingly, his regular emaciated state is shown again in "Mystery Dungeon" and "A Glitch is a Glitch." Pendleton Ward explained in the commentary for "Loyalty to the King" on the Season 2 DVD set that Ice King frequently diets, but binges on food when depressed and regains weight.

Ice King is rarely seen without his crown; without it he is powerless, and he is revealed to have a tuft of white hair atop his head. The only times he has been seen in shoes was when he was working out before Slime Princess came to talk to him in "Loyalty to the King" and while playing basketball in "Simon and Marcy." Ice king has no visible ears when his beard/hair is removed in "Loyalty to the King" and "Mystery Dungeon."

Origin
Sometime before the Mushroom War, Ice King was a normal, olive-skinned, dark-hairedhuman named Simon Petrikov studying to be an antiquarian (a specialist in the knowledge of ancient artifacts). He had a young fiancée named Betty, whom he referred to as his "princess" and loved dearly, and he was Marceline's "beloved friend" and guardian before his eventual abandonment of her. In "I Remember You," it was revealed that Simon Petrikov had discovered the Enchiridion at some point in his career, with the article pictured mentioning that he was a Professor of Archaeology.

At some point in his career, he purchased a strange jeweled crown from an old dock worker in Northern Scandinavia. After bringing the crown home, he put it on his head to make Betty laugh, but the crown caused him to black out and experience odd visions. He "fought with [the visions]... shouted at them until [he] realized it wasn't real—it was the crown."

Petrikov had no recollection of what he had said or done while wearing the crown, though it was enough to frighten away his fiancée. Simon never heard or saw Betty ever again and began to record himself on VHS tape so people would know his story. As time passed, Petrikov would hear voices and continue to have disturbing visions without even putting the crown on. Over time, his skin turned light blue, his nose became pointy and long, his eyes and hair turned white, he grew a full beard, and his body temperature dwindled to an unnatural low of 30°C, or 86°F (normal human body temperature is 37°C or 98.6°F). Despite these unnatural body conditions and being in a land covered by snow, Petrikov managed to survive. As his mind and body became further twisted by the crown, Simon thought himself "too far gone" to find an escape from its influence, though he hoped that he could one day regain his sanity enough so that Betty, his "princess," would come back and love him again. He is no longer considered a human; the power of the crown not only twisted his mind, but his body as well. His species/race is now Wizard according to the writers.

During a period of the Mushroom War before Simon was completely lost, he discovered Marceline crying in the wreckage, where he gave her a stuffed toy from a toy shop destroyed in the conflict to comfort her. This toy would eventually become Marceline's precious Hambo, which she would keep and cherish until it was sold toMaja the Sky Witch by her ex-boyfriend, Ash. Marceline described Hambo to Ash as her "favorite thing in the world." She was seen alone with a worn-out version of the stuffed toy when Finn and Jake visited her memories in "Memory of a Memory," possibly several years after Simon gave it to her. In "Sky Witch," Marceline is reunited with Hambo after Princess Bubblegum managed to swap it with Maja in exchange for the shirt Marceline gave her.

Sometime when Ice King was still Simon Petrikov, he found the ancient text of heroes, the Enchiridion, during an expedition to the Hindu Kush mountain range. This is shown in a newspaper clipping[1]  that Marceline shows him in the episode "I Remember You." The newspaper heading reads, "Simon Petrikov Unearths Ancient Treasure," and was written by the journalist Bruce Guese. This newspaper clipping can be seen in an image above.

It could be implied that the crown he wore only sought to protect him. It taught him the secrets of the "ice and snow," so he would survive the Mushroom War, as it did for Farmworld Finn in "Finn the Human." However, in the same episode, Farmworld Finn mentioned the crown's "promise of power," implying the crown's seductive nature and negative influence.

As many years passed, Petrikov became disassociated from his original identity so completely that his only reaction to watching a video of his past was embarrassment at the idea of having once worn glasses. Further proof of his dissociation is shown in "What Have You Done?" when he responds to Jake's accusation of him stealing the crown with, "I didn't steal it. I made that item! Made it with the magic that I stole!" When others refer to him as "Simon" within earshot, he is generally confused or ignores it.

Personality
Though (in earlier episodes) Ice King was portrayed as disagreeable and short-tempered, he is merely a nuisance and "isn't usually a serious threat," according to Princess Bubblegum. In later episodes, he is portrayed as more easy-going and having a sense of humor, particularly due to Ice King considering Finn and Jake his "friends" after the events of "Mortal Recoil." The Ice King is misunderstood, lonely, and only hopes of marrying a princess. He has been labeled a "sociopath" by the Cosmic Owl, though his personality seems more akin to a person with narcissistic personality disorder, as he still feels humiliation and guilt. Due to his poor social skills, enduring short attention span and arrogant nature, Ice King is unable to attract any of his prisoners and often resorts to a forced marriage instead of the loving relationship he desires. However, he can be a loving and selfless person as revealed in "Princess Monster Wife." Aside from Gunter, his other penguin guards, and numerous ice creatures, Ice King has few other friends and expresses a continual zeal to spend time with anyone who will tolerate his company, especially his frenemies, Finn and Jake. In "The Eyes," he takes on the disguise of a horse to spy on Finn and Jake in an effort to learn how to be happy, but fails that as well.

Despite Ice King's more antagonistic role, he plays the part of a protagonist in "Mortal Recoil," helping Finn and Jake to defeat Princess Bubblegum by freezing her Lich-possessed body; in the mini-episode, "The Wand," he actually helps Finn and Jake regardless of the fact that Finn said to "sacrifice" himself, but unbeknownst of the fact that it also changed his face.

Ice King is harmless in nature, and only kidnaps princesses and steals out of desperation. However, in the episode "Loyalty to the King," when he does have the opportunity to marry many princesses, he secretly plots to make an elite army of wives to take over the world with. His misunderstood intentions may either be in question or may just stem from his lunacy. His crown has made him insane over the years, affecting his social skills, causing him to unintentionally do bad things. Friendship and companionship is all he really wants, though goes about it the wrong way. In "I Remember You," and "Simon & Marcy," it is shown that he was tenderhearted and overly caring for others as Simon Petrikov. He watched over Marceline when she was a child left alone in the aftermath of the Mushroom War.

Due to the insanity brought by wearing the crown, Ice King seems to have limited memory. This was first seen in "I Remember You," where he does not seem to remember his past as Simon Petrikov, even though he saw the history (after he found the crown) in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II." Later on, he does not remember who Neptr is, even though he was the one that wanted Neptr to accept as his father in Neptr's debut, "What is Life?" and even confuses him with BMO, as seen in the events of "Mystery Dungeon."

Ice King seems to find his happiness in his own Imagination Zone, and it is clear that he would rather live in his Imagination Zone than in the real world. In "Fionna and Cake," he is shown reading his gender-swapped fan fiction to Finn and Jake, based on the events and characters in the actual world. He is shown to cherish his fan fiction characters more than the real-life characters, and in "Mystery Dungeon" he tries to bring the characters to life, but he fails. In "Bad Little Boy," it is revealed that he had made ice sculptures of Fionna and Cake along with writing many other fan-fic stories.

Although Ice King is characterized by these traits, Simon's personality is completely the opposite: he was known for his intelligence, kindness, and self-sacrifice. From the information given in "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," Simon was a deeply committed and loving fiancé (to Betty). He proved to be the same way as a watchful guardian over young Marceline. Even when they were in great danger, Simon struggled to keep Marceline happy and helped her to always see the better of a horrible situation. He took on a very responsible role in Marceline's life, by not only protecting her and keeping her healthy, but also by teaching her right from wrong and keeping her spirits high (as seen in "Simon & Marcy"). Simon, as a rule, was known for being optimistic even at the worst of times and it is clearly one of Simon's most notable attributes. Even while being saddled with a great burden, Simon fought an apocalyptic world while fighting the omnipotent influence of the Ice Crown. Some of Simon's innermost thoughts and fears of his inevitable insanity were revealed in messages left to Marceline revealed in "I Remember You." Simon agonized over abandoning Marceline in a dangerous world due to his deteriorating mind. However, Simon, nearing the very end of his lucidity feared for his own life, worried that as the crown took him from Marceline, no one would be able to "save him." His vulnerability as a man was most evident just before he became the Ice King, permanently.

Abilities
When Ice King is wearing his magic crown, it gives him the power to control all forms of ice and snow. This includes, but is not limited to, throwing solid bolts of lightning made of ice, moving ice with telekinesis, creating living manifestations of ice, turning water into ice, flash freezing his enemies, and the ability to onset a wintry weather on cue. In "Thank You," the Ice King makes a full armor of ice and says that it is "invincible." However, Finn and Jake eventually chopped away the ice. Also, in the episode "Princess Potluck," it is shown that he can sense when someone is tampering with the snow/and or ice around the Ice Kingdom. However, it is not known if he can use this ability with snow outside of the Ice Kingdom.

His beard is apparently prehensile, operating much like a limb with partial shape-changing abilities, which he can wield in close combat. His beard also forms tiny wings that allow him to fly, although he must have both his beard and crown to fly. Because of his quick temper and arguably slow wit, he is unable to wield his powers as effectively as he should, but has proven himself capable of swiftly defeating Finn and Jake when amply provoked, as shown in "When Wedding Bells Thaw" and "The Eyes." In "Loyalty to the King" he spouts blue fire like energy from his hands.

Ice King can also play the drums, once demonstrating a drum solo, and owns two drum sets, one of which is a green one with "#1 Babe" across the front. The set consists of a bass drum, a floor tom, a snare, a crash cymbal, a ride cymbal and a hi-hat. His other drum set, a red one, is in terrible shape, and smashed to pieces in a corner of his castle. He can also play the keyboard fairly decently. The fact that he has so many instruments lying around his castle indicates that he has a fair amount of musical ability. Also, in "Simon & Marcy," Simon shows that he sings songs to entertain Marcy, who says his songs are "so good." His drum sticks can also been seen in the side pocket of his backpack in any post-apocalyptic flashback.

In "The Chamber of Frozen Blades," the Ice King is shown to have studied the Ice Ninja art of Fridjitzu, and that his sanctum is filled with all sorts of ninja-esque weaponry and memorabilia.

Aside from his magic, Ice King owns a pair of nunchucks that he uses during the Wizard Battle to "cheat" as opposed to using his ice powers.

Ice King also possesses a power known as "Wizard Eyes," which forces him to see certain things that normal people cannot. However, it also causes him to constantly see strange, freaky creatures. He notably used this power in "Mortal Recoil" when he witnessed the Lich take over the melted body of Princess Bubblegum. In "Mortal Recoil," as in the picture on the above-right, the camera briefly shows the viewer what the Ice King is seeing at the time. It gives the impression that the Ice King is imaginatively, completely insane. In the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets Part II," Simon Petrikov says that he saw strange visions while wearing the crown. In "Beyond this Earthly Realm," it is revealed that his Wizard Eyes allow him to see into the Spirit World, explaining that the freaky creatures surrounding him are spirits like Finn when he is transported to the Spirit World.

The Ice King also has the Demonic Wishing Eye and the Ghost pouch. The Demonic Wishing Eye's powers were shown in "Reign of Gunters" when Gunther used it to (temporarily) conquer Ooo.

In Mystery Dungeon, his powers become weaker in the presence of extreme heat/humidity. Even though the heated chamber in the dungeon had a moat of water, the humidity of the area made it impossible for the Ice King to convert any of the water or vapor into ice or frost.

As shown in "Princess Potluck," he can sense when something touches the snow surrounding that of his Ice Kingdom.

Role in the series
In the Spongebob series, the Ice King enters the stage first as a manipulated pawn in Mercurymon's long-term gambit for Arendelle. He is told to watch over the newly christened Snow Queen Elsa and guide her on her path towards becoming the Villain League's newest Harbinger, though his attempts to push her into villainy are ultimately laughable and pathetic as his own incompetence and insanity drive him to instead ask Elsa repeatedly to marry him and become his Queen of the Ice Kingdom. However, during Hans' siege of the Ice Palace, the Ice King cowardly flees for his life, sending his ineffectual penguin minions to hold off the guards while he makes a run for it.