10 Funniest Episodes Of Adventure Time, Ranked

One of the most impressive things about Adventure Time is that the show’s funniest episodes also helped build the world of Ooo and develop the crazy characters in the show. Adventure Time has an incredibly complex lore, but that never stops the show from providing big laughs. A lot of the humor of the show comes from the bizarre characters around Ooo. Ice King, Marceline, BMO and more each have very distinct personalities which are great for comedy. But even the smallest characters can be hilarious. Some characters appear in just one episode or one scene and still have some great jokes.

Adventure Time has a very diverse palate for comedy, and its beautiful art style is often just as funny as the script. Adventure Time’s funniest quotes are great written down, but the voice cast are talented enough to add further layers to the humor. Everything about the show, the script, the visuals, and the cast, combines to make it one of the funniest cartoons out there. The show often pursues absurd premises, but the humor can still be relatable and grounded. All of Adventure Time’s funniest episodes show these elements working together in perfect harmony, and the result is comedy gold.

10 Memory Of A Memory

Season 3, Episode 3.

Finn and Jake must travel into Marceline’s mind to wake her up from a magic-induced slumber. “Memory of a Memory” provides details about Marceline’s backstory, and it shows a glimpse of Hunson Abadeer, who could be one of the show’s funniest characters overall. Despite its heavy focus on world-building, “Memory of a Memory” also packs in a lot of humor as Finn and Jake tumble through a dream-like world. “Memory of a Memory” introduces “Puncha Yo Buns,” the song which a baby Finn sings to himself. It could have been a throwaway gag, but it’s one of Adventure Time‘s best songs, and it comes back later in the series.

9 Box Prince

Season 5, Episode 37.

Finn comes across the Box Prince, a cat in an upside-down cardboard box, and decides to help him reclaim his throne in the Box Kingdom. Once they find his cardboard crown in the forest, the Box Prince is challenged to a jousting duel by his rival. “Box Prince” shows just how far Finn will go to try to be a hero. His unshakable sense of justice tells him that he must help the Box Prince, but the kingdom is just a group of cats milling around some cardboard boxes in a forest clearing. This episode shows why season five could be Adventure Time‘s best season.

8 Astral Plane

Season 6, Episode 25.

While sleeping in the forest, Finn is transported to the Astral Plane, where he floats around watching different characters from around Ooo and beyond. “Astral Plane” has a loose structure, like a sketch show, as Finn is thrown from one scene to the next. He sees Bounce House Princess as her home is invaded by a hungry porcupine, he has a brief conversation with Mr. Fox, and he sees Ice King trying to impress women at a party in the Cloud Kingdom. Each story in “Astral Plane” is funny on its own, but they contribute to a broader narrative which is useful for understanding Adventure Time‘s expansive lore.

7 Thanks For The Crabapples, Guiseppe!

Season 6, Episode 13.

Adventure Time is populated with loads of great characters, and some of the best episodes are those which put some of Ooo’s weirdest inhabitants in the spotlight. “Thanks for the Crabapples, Guiseppe!” follows Ice King and a group of misfit wizards as they head out on a road trip to start their own mystic secret society. Everything goes wrong very quickly, and their bus breaks down in the middle of a cow pasture. Ice King is usually the butt of every joke, but this episode shows him as someone who people look up to, although those people are some of the most bizarre characters in the whole show.

6 Jake The Brick

Season 6, Episode 20.

In one of Adventure Time‘s weirdest premises, Jack decides to fulfill a lifelong dream of being a brick in a shack when it comes crumbling down. He slots into place and waits there in solitude for days. He quickly realizes how boring it is to be a brick, ignoring the fact that nobody is forcing him to do this. As he narrates the life of a passing bunny to kill time, the inhabitants of Ooo listen via radio, as Finn left a walkie-talkie nearby. “Jake the Brick” manages to stay entertaining long after the novelty of Jake’s experiment wears off, although his self-inflicted boredom is always funny.

5 The Thin Yellow Line

Season 7, Episode 26.

Princess Bubblegum sends Finn and Jake undercover to infiltrate the ranks of the Banana Guards and investigate a crime. As the title suggests, “The Thin Yellow Line” parodies police dramas. The funniest twist is not that the police in question are all sentient bananas, but that they are all idiots. The episode is stuffed full of great sight gags, as the pair’s investigation uncovers weird occurrences, like a Banana Guard with a filing cabinet full of horse noises. The Banana Guards take the trope of hilariously inept law enforcement to a new level, like the Keystone Cops slipping on banana peels, except they are the banana peels.

4 Reign Of Gunters

Season 4, Episode 24.

Gunter is one of Ice King’s penguin minions, and although he doesn’t say anything, his physicality makes him one of Adventure Time‘s best characters. In “Reign of Gunters”, he grows tired of his constant mistreatment at the hands of the Ice King, and uses the demonic wishing eye to lead an army across Ooo. Any episode with Gunter at center stage is a delight. He echoes the silent cartoon shenanigans of classic characters such as Tom and Jerry, but with a supernatural angle. “Reign of Gunters” hints at Gunter’s true form, as the malevolent cosmic entity Orgalorg, eater of worlds.

3 Hitman

Season 3, Episode 4.

Ice King hires a hitman to target Finn and Jake, unaware that he is planning on doing more than just punching them in the shoulder. The comic misunderstanding leads to some great scenes with an exasperated Ice King trying to explain himself to a demonic assassin, but “Hitman” also shows how Adventure Time can cram so many great jokes into an episode that hilarious lines go almost unnoticed. Early in the episode, Finn and Jake eat some meat from an unseen character called “Meat Man.” Later, Jake stares wistfully out the window. “I had a dream about Meat Man,” he says, “I think I’m gonna stop eating Meat Man.”

2 Is That You?

Season 6, Episode 19.

One of the best episodes of Adventure Time, “Is That You?” is a prime example of how the show can deliver rich, trippy stories while still having plenty of room for humor. After Prismo’s death, Jake is sent to a strange realm outside the boundaries of time. Meanwhile, Finn deals with a strange version of Jake in the tree house who keeps reenacting fragments of his old memories. The episode manages to transition seamlessly between absurd comedy and deep, introspective philosophy. The fake Jake is a funny impostor, playing hits like the bacon pancakes song, but his presence also suggests something far more sinister is afoot.

1 Card Wars

Season 4, Episode 14.

Finn and Jake spend a quiet afternoon playing Card Wars, a card game that conjures holographic warriors to go into battle. Adventure Time often features crazy plots, with characters traveling through time and space to defeat the forces of evil, but “Card Wars” is just as entertaining, even though it all takes place in one room. “Card Wars” is surprisingly relatable, as anyone who has ever been bewildered by an unnecessarily complex tabletop game will understand. The episode lets John DiMaggio’s talents shine. He perfectly captures Jake’s building frustration, which is especially funny considering Jake directs his rage at a small imaginary pig.