What we can learn from Finn the Human

Everyone has a hobby. Mine is watching Adventure Time.

I love watching Finn and his bombastic dog Jake go on weird and sometimes horrifying adventures.

If you don’t watch Adventure Time (and I suggest you should), it’s about a boy who is the last human in the magical land of Ooo and his quests with his friends. And while some shows only have a handful of supporting characters, Adventure Time has at least two dozen or more that help and sometimes antagonize our hero. From the innocent looking Peppermint Butler to the misunderstood Ice King, each one has a distinct personality and more than a few dark secrets that clue you in to their motives and aspirations.

For example, Ice King was not always bat-shit crazy and Peppermint Butler has affiliations with the dark side of Ooo, even once calling in a favor from the grim reaper himself, in exchange for Finn’s flesh.

Finn is no exception.

In the episode “Susan Strong”, Finn admits that when he thinks about being the only human in Ooo, he gets “all soul-searchy and weird”. This could be due to his own feelings of alienation and tells that he can get depressed easily if he thinks about it for too long.

Another example would be that Finn is a victim of his own desire. When he sees something he wants and puts his mind to it, he will stop at nothing to get it. He injured innocent creatures because of his own frustrations at not being able to find the cyclops tears, he stole the royal gems from every princess in Ooo just because his hero told him to and he even got his arm cut off because he couldn’t let go of the father that abandoned him.

He can also be quite vain and he doesn’t like being looked down on. He once went on a very embarrassing quest to obtain a set of armor because of how the other hero’s treated him, only to deny  wearing it because it was made for a woman despite the giant soul-sucking monster behind him.

But that’s not all he is.

Finn is brave and true, selflessly defending Ooo without reward (except maybe a kiss from Princess Bubblegum). He risked falling into an infinite void to cure Jake of his lumpiness. He defeated the Lich twice, defeated the demon that supposedly killed his adopted father and even jumped into a black hole (which he intentionally created under the influence of the glasses of Nerdicon) to save his friends.

All in all, Finn is not perfect. But he is the hero that Ooo needs and deserves.

 

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Finn is not super-strong or fast or smart. He can be a pain in the butt sometimes and his naivety can lead to some awkward situations but that’s okay. He’s human and for me, that’s key. He has flaws but he still strives towards doing the right thing. He lives with and acknowledges them but they only make him more beautiful, like a mosaic made of broken pieces of mirror.

And I like to think that there’s a little Finn in all of us because we too are flawed, but it’s those flaws that make us beautiful.