What's the Deal with Magic in Adventure Time?

MMS (magic, madness, and sadness) runs through all magic users, although what constitutes magic in the Adventure Time universe can be tricky to define. We know magic has existed (at least) since the start of life on Earth, but the actual origins, mechanics, and reasons for its fluctuations through time remain a mystery. This video explores the lore behind magic in the AT world, and speculates on how the word transitioned from non-magical to magical after the Mushroom War. Wazoop!

Music:
Sections from "Chamber of Frozen Blades" - Adventure Time OST
"Rank 08-Shinobu2" - No More Heroes OST
"Theater of a Witch" - Puella Magi Madoka Magica OST
"Kyubey's Theme" - Puella Magi Madoka Magica OST

[djemotiondagoat]

Did you ever notice how the ice elemental were always crazy about preserving themself and did not care that the element would continue on

[ShurekHam]

"Before the series end, "
That was harsh to hear, I already miss it

[minnion]

Well if magic is born/fueled by madness and sadness, then perhaps a great cataclysm like the mushroom war simply caused a lot of madness and sadness... (As any post apocalyptic anything tends to imply, desperation breads madness, and loss is a known cause of sadness.)

[christopherjohnson]

I like to think that it's because the bomb caused so much sadness and madness, and that sadness and madness made magic stronger.

[christopheraaron]

No only did Patience freeze herself, she made ice sink.

[ConnerCanMinecraft]

"He turned all the water into hair, and we were so thirsty we drink it, then we all went bald."
*Scribbles a picture of what Glob said*

[ultraguy]

Pendleton Ward was actually asked about Finn and Jake's magic from when they were training under that frog wizard and he said their powers were all contained in the training robes, and the robes were destroyed. So that's at least why they don't have that magic anymore.

[CoolCrimsonJaguar]

Maybe the reason Finn and Jake can't use the magic they learned is because they don't have enough sadness/madness.

[Babbleplay]

Dark theory : There is only so much magic, and everyone gets a tiny bit. When the bomb wiped out so many, there was plenty of magic for the remaining peoples.

[sebastianw.]

I like how PB literally sponsors a wizard battle royale, and then in a later season doesn't believe magic is real an actively tries to disprove it.

[brandonisthetrivium]

"Hopefully we'll find out before the series ends"

guess we'll never know

[Zeracan]

I always thought it was implied the Mushroom Bomb of Adventure Time was made from the catalyst comet which contained the lich. So not only did it go full nuclear but it also spread mutagenic magical energy.
Kinda showing what PB says that magic and advanced technology are the same. Nuclear bomb material, magical comet containing death incarnate.

[CaptPanOfSteel]

I find it interesting that the "mushroom bomb" is never specified as nuclear, which might suggest that the bomb itself was a utilisation of magic power in a non-magic world.

[emptank]

Theory: all magic is derived from golb which is why it drives everyone who uses it insane to some degree. Magic is channeled through some medium to give it some degree of separation from golb and make it safer to use, which is why all wizards are themed around some element or idea except for magic man who wielded the closest thing to pure magic and thus was exceptionally crazy. The crown should also wield pure magic which is why it also makes people extra crazy but it was corrupted by its first wish to make whoever uses it into a copy of the original ice elemental.

After the mushroom war the litch who was a scholar of golb was released into the world which might have increased people's access to magic.

Finn and Jake lost their magic powers because they had both been given their powers from outside sources, in season one that power came from the school they joined so they lost their power when they quit in season two their powers might have been stolen from the ice king who in his desire to make ice ninja into a thing had created a way for others to copy his power for a time. Then they would've lost their powers when the ice king got bord with the idea.

[discobiscuit]

So what I’m hearing is that in the show’s canon, Magic is a scientific concept that was harshly stigmatized because dabbling in it often lead to cognitive decline. Then, a sequence of events called the mushroom wars, lead to the wide spread normalization of magic use. I’m coming to some conclusions here. Something to do with magic and mushrooms 🤔

[Brastius]

There was a role playing game in the 90's called Rifts that had a similar situation. A nuclear war killed off most of the population, and magic had returned. IIRC the life energy from all those people dying energized dormant ley lines, opening up inter-dimensional rifts and bringing in strange creatures and technologies.

[RV]

From what I understand the mushroom war is that time's version of the catalyst comet. The same way Finn used to be a butterfly, the comet was a nuke bomb once.

[Tonatiub]

the magic is actually quite consistent, in the the two cases you mentioned Finn and Jake just simply borrowed magic from Bufo and Ice King respectively, and to me its workings are quite simple, magic in AT is inherently linked to defiance of reality (most commonly found in madness), thus a time in which the majority of sapient beings are logic-driven diminishes its power, my guess is that the reason why the crown is still extremely powerful regardless its because its wish magic which the elementals stressed it so powerful it can threaten reality itself

also I think your theory about the bomb that spawned the Lich having portions of a catalyst comet is semi-confirmed, remember the comet that killed the dinosaurs was green and had horn-shaped flames, it heavily implies this is how the Lich originally arrived Earth

[mikkelnpetersen]

"Magic is just science I haven't figured out yet" - Tony Stark

[nobodyjustacreep]

Seeing alot of these theories and alot of the re visited locations and how dark the series can get it really makes me want a elder scrolls/fallout like rpg in the adventure time universe