The Untold Story of the Great Mushroom War (Adventure Time) 

My theory on why the writers never included a direct cause of the mushroom war is that, in literary terms, it serves highlight how ridiculous and unreasonable such a human conflict is. Whatever the reasons for the war may have been are long gone, minuscule and forgotten in the grand scheme of things while the wars consequences last for thousands of years; ultimately, our seemingly valid reasons are completely void of meaning as a result of the extreme consequences of our actions

When I first heard of the Mushroom War on the show I thought it may involved actual mushrooms or mushroom people, only later in the series did I realize the name was referring to the mushroom clouds of nuclear weaponry.

I’m sure the Fiona and Cake show will be great, but I would honestly love a prequel series focusing on Simon and Marceline during their time in the Mushroom War.

I feel…sorry. For the people who didn’t come back to this show once they got older. As a child this show is fun to watch, it’s goofy, funny, and nonsensical. But most of the shows themes and characters aren’t nonsense. I had no idea how deep this show really goes.

What i find interesting about it being post apocalyptic too is that a lot of media would've had them living in some type of ruins or the new structures would be made out of the old ones or something along those lines but all the cities in adventure time are basically not inhabited and i think thats very interesting and different for a post apocalyptic story!

I always saw the Mushroom War as having taken place sometime in the late 80s, (judging by the size of the cell phones, the VHS tapes, and the 8-Bit games,) spurred on by a proto-Lich whispering in some high-ranking ears, with the flooding being the result either whatever made that huge crater and/or the natural results of infrastructure breaking down. (There are actually a lot of cities around the world that would be swamped if not for active systems, including New York.) That being said, I do like the idea that, instead of the war being the fault of arcane forces, it's just some of our real-world chickens coming home to roost.

That's so fascinating that they didn't intend the world to be post apocalyptic at first. I wonder what their explanation for Ooo was then because Finn was the only human left in this crazy world filled with vampires, living candy etc so it only makes sense that something weird happened. I'm glad that they did end up making the mushroom war backstory because the show could've easily just stayed slice of life with just whacky adventures in an unexplained land. The lore in Adventure time is what makes the show so good, I rewatched the entire show again last week and omg I forgot how good it was! Like holy shit Simon hands down has the best story arc of any character in existence, the crowns origins are so freaking clever and sad! Just Gunther wanting to be like his master and the crown granting his wish, therefore making any future user turn into Evergreen. And Betty's disappearance getting explained, like none of this was necessary yet it's some of the best lore in any show I've ever watched. And Ice King being after princesses when it's just remnants of Simon wanting Betty back, that's just so freaking sad and I live for sad stories! And the whole story with Susan being a searcher looking for Finn and the irony with him being the one to find her! And omg Martin just not giving 2 craps about Finn, we finally discover his dad and think we're gonna find out his backstory but nope, his dad is a deadbeat, leaving us with more questions than we had before. Like after rewatching it this is easily my favorite TV show ever

"Do not try to understand the war. Instead, only try to realize the truth. "What truth?" "There was no war."

I just find it interesting that we see an old Marcy in the alternate universe where the bomb never went off. We get to see a Marcy that never became a vampire. When I first watched through the show, I didn’t know she was originally half human and half demon.

1:15 I am personally interested in what that anti-matter or anti-reality bomb was. I think it’s clear that the mushroom bomb was a Russian creation due to geography, so that other bomb must have been a US creation. Why was it made? That thing is so much worse than a Krakatoa bomb, why go so big?!?!!?

I think the mushroom war was Cold War turned hot not over land, those flooded cities were from after the war, there’s still skeletons at their desk working, meaning the city was functioning normally until the bombs dropped. Those cities were sunk due to erosion over 1000 years. There’s tanks and military equipment scattered around backgrounds meaning the USA was probably at DEFCON 1 and had military assets mobilized around the country ready for action, but the nukes took out all forces before they ever got to fight.

You are 100% correct, when Finn is shown to have a fear of water. In that episode, the old Ooo is completely flooded by 10s of metres

I would really love to see an Adventure Time spin off series or movie that talks about some details about the world before the war. Like, what caused it? Or other kind of stories like, how did Marceline's mon meet Hunson if he can just appear if is summoned? Did Marceline's mother belong to a cult?. By the way, i think that the reason the nuclear bomb released the Lich was because the bomb was fabricated with shards of the original cathalyst metheor.

What I found weird is how the ocean didn't flood that gaint hole on the Earth. You know, the one that's visual from space.

I remember when the mushroom war and the adventure time world being post-apocalyptic earth was a creepy pasta.

With people who would go into a lot of speculation of detail throughout watching the entire show having the purpose to look back and find out what started something like that which wasn’t even ever planned out by the actual writers is like them giving you the chance to imagine or create your own theory on the backstory behind events like that to make the story more interesting

I don't know how you aren't a much bigger RU-vidr. Your videos are always super entertaining and high quality.

I think adventure time is just a weird alternate reality where magic exists and the cold war never ended and it escalated until a nuke mixed with chaotic magic was dropped. probably some time around 2002-2004 since 2003 is when LCD (thin) monitors became popular enough where a company like BLE could have been using them throughout their offices. But still early enough that thicker monitors and older tech was still around like we see in the show.

I like to imagine the war happened because someone else found an magical item that led them to the lich who then instructed them to help get more followers for a cult that eventually with the lichs help infuses himself with the power of the bomb to try and destroy all life on earth which is why finn from one dimension is like lmao no lich until the bomb of that world goes off. while the lich of the our finn was most likely still gathering his strength again after going KABOOOM and meets BILLYYY in a weakened state where he is sealed and so on

While I don't think sea levels caused it, I do think it could have been AT's version of the Cold War that set this off Add in the Lich's influence stirring up trouble, and the Elementals representing magic waiting to be released.... all it took was a single bloody conflict to send everything spiraling out of control, eventually leading to the bomb drop and the Lich obtaining his fountain of power After this release of magic and the appearance of the Lich (who had been in hiding) these various nations fell apart as he moved forward with his extermination, and as magic creatures began to appear presenting new threats... by the time it was over humanity had gone nearly extinct

I think its funny because ive came back to this show in my teens after watching it as a child and now im watching it again one last time as an adult and dam let me tell you its already made me cry😂 im at season 6

I'm a little dissapointed that there werent mushroom people fighting people

From seeing the building structures and vehicles it definitely was 80s which makes leads me to believe it was their own version of the Cold War

I agree that the M.bomb contains the essence of the catalyst comet, maybe fragments of the comet was embeded in the earth, they mine it up Like any other nuclear material. And was then used in the bomb not knowing the material they put in the bomb was not your regular uranium or plutonium.

I love adventure time, I think the mushroom war takes place somewhere like 2040/50s maybe 30z because of retro futurism maybe? Big cell phones and stuff (I know it’s mainly 80s, but I have some sceptics)

This give me Planet of the Apes vibes, because both stories occur in a world that was once controlled by our society, until we destroyed it by a nuclear war, as a result, different species began taking our place as the ruling race, while in the aftermath, what was left of our civilization were ruins of various cities, destroyed vehicles like cars and trucks, broken objects like TVs and etc.

Ain't u growing up fast! Bet u will have 10k until the end of June u have great potential dude

i feel so lucky that you just uploaded another video!

I have a theory. 1st why did the lich need millions of years to come out? My hypothesis is that the comet that struck earth destroys most ancient life on earth. But the comet didn't shattered into millions of pieces. Rather hold its shape and buried in the earth. After millions of years in the future humanity found the comet rock that contain lich essence and used it for atomic bomb. During the war it was used and lich materialize. And the rest is history

A laser from space blew off a chunk of the Earth.

Fighting over land and using a weapon of mass destruction on said land doesn't make sense. It would make the land unusable defeating the entire purpose of fighting over the land.

I’m loving these videos keep it up!!

your channel is going to blow dude!

There was 2 bombs, first wake up mind and power of lish and mutated someons body into one that he is using later. And there was that one expozion? that created hole into planet and probably turn continets into one with few islands.

What I’m more curious about is the mushroom bomb itself

Who would've thought that the AT lore was created because of a frozen dude ...I like it

im so glad i came back to this show now older than i was years ago to actually understand it, def my favorite of all time

I guess this explains entire skyscrapers that were in the ocean

The unicorns and pups lived in the same planets as i remember and they were into war

Hm, how very interesting, I hope we get to learn more about this War. But most of all, I hope we get to learn where that Bomb even came from? Actually, I just now come to think of something, where were the Lich after the War before facing Billy?

Ngl, you have a pretty good background audio voice, man

What I want to know is, What are the Rabbit shaped Creatures that Emerged alongside the Lich?

Anyone else notice San Francisco in the background at 6:00?

That would explained why ooo is the only continent on earth

How did the mushroom war started: A mushroom exploded. The End.

That explains why there whas submerged citys under the sea in the epissode where Finn is afraid of the sea

Why do I think a spinoff series based on the war would be interesting?

What i think happened is something like the fallout universe, the cold war ( or something like it) happened but escalated into a worldwide conflict and war causing the use of nuclear weapons and a post apocalyptic world with mutated creatures and radiation

Paxw deserves 10k subs nowww!!

When I was young I thought This was just a show about fin and Jake fighting but now watching this I am realising how much lore goes into this and how each character has key elements

Even when we learn of the Mushroom War, we still don't learn much....

Dawg this was a kids show?

i really like the law land theory its really good actully

I can imagine the Adventure Time version of J. Robert Oppenheimer

The Mushroom War Based On The World War 3 (The Nuclear War) .

The litch LOWKEY made the world better.. my opinion I wish I lived in ooo

I dont think seeing one area flooded is enough to claim the war started because of flooding pre mushroom war.

I think the flooding thing is kind of a stretch. There's really no way to know if that area flooded before or after the war. It could have easily flooded long after the end of civilization for all we know.

I personally think that the bomb released the lich because if he’s supposed to be a representation of evil and death he would be empowered by great acts of violence and evil. And what’s more violent and evil than a nuke? Pretty much nothing. So I think they the mushroom bomb empowered the lich enough to take a much more powerful form, that’s just my personal take on how those two things are related and I think it works pretty well with this theory

That's a great reach off apocalyptic geography.

Think you could do a video about how slime princess can some how make eggs in her body? Could be an elemental thing.

In the Warhammer Fantasy world, "warpstone" is crystalized magic and is the analog element for our worlds uranium/plutonium. Maybe the "mushroom bomb" takes this analogy to level to reversing the process and de-crystalising warpstone/uranium and by vaporizing it, the magic that it consists of is spread around the world, changing it, the plants and creatures into a new magical world.

for your theory on flooding you coulda added the episode about the fear feaster when they go to the ocean floor you can see this sprawling city in the background

Great vid paxy

First we had the Great Mushroom War, then we later had the Great Gum War. Edit: if you don't remember, please do those ideas I came up with: - Finn's full story - Jake's full story - or do Finn and Jake simultaneously - Princess Bubblegum's story - Marceline's story - Community polls about the best episodes of the following (random ones, not I remember you. Good episode but there are better ones like Hall of Egress, Come Along With Me, etc) - Community polls about the worst episodes of the following - Community polls about best Distant Lands episodes - Community polls about Adventure Time characters

I dont know how I found this video, I'm new to this channel and I'm a bit confused. Are you the animator? What cartoon is this? I like this animation style.

If the fight was for land then I think it would make more sense that someone harnessed the power of the lich somehow, put it into a bomb and dropped it on those they wanted to conquer or stop from conquering them instead of a nuclear bomb awakening him. But then it hit me what if the one to do it was the lich himself? Hear me out at first i thought "oh but the radiation poisoning and mutants. Surely a nuclear bomb woke him. But no, if land is the reason then a nuclear bomb would make the already limited land resources even more limited with something no one can live on for a long time." But what if the person wasn't thinking about land, that something possessed them and influenced them telling them to build a bomb, to drop it in a certain place that'll not only give the lich his well of power, but instant super charge with death, destruction, and toxins (Think hexxus from ferngully) to spread his form of destruction.

I like this idea

the greys and the grey elves are DOPE 1:08

I just realized Ooo is shaped like a phoenix rising from the ashes

do you think a speciall about the war would be a good thing, or it would ruin the mysticality of it?

Oh boy, let me tell yaaaa 🔥

Hi, are these scenes all canon, from the distant lands series and fionna and cake? I just want to know before i see spoilers.

This show is deeeep

Interesting.

But hey, that's just a theory! A FILM THEORY! And... Cut!

Can someone tell me what those bunny looking monsters are behind the lich? They obviously have a purpose and they showed his army marching behind them but that’s all we got from them. If anyone knows pls lmk

My theory its that the creator of the bomb is get posessed by Lich like how the worm posessed by Lich and he make the material magical essence and it was the remain of green catalyst and again the green catalyst comet is the reincarnation of Lich and it is make sense to my theory, after that the creator of the bomb using a planes to create a Doom on the land of OOO

I think I don't remember what episode it was but they said that the strong stayed with the good resources and the weak had to live with the bad lands I think Jake was explaining that and maybe the country's had weaker territory and were angry about their loses so created a weapon and started rhe mushroom war I don't know just saying whats on my mind.

I wonder if the giant hole in “ooo”/earth is from a meteorite or from nuclear bombs detonating underground in their silos, like in fallout new Vegas where the great divide looks like a giant canyon because of all the ICBMs exploding while still underground

U miss the sign help in the blue hq in the roof of the house flooded

I have a head canon where other cartoons take place in the AT timelines. It's long, but basically it starts with Bob's Burgers/Archer, goes to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Steven Universe, Futurama, and then AT. Not all of them are on the same timeline, but since AT established their multiverses, I like to think they're all connected in some way, especially since there are a lot of voice actors in common and all of these shows seem to take place on the eastern seaboard.

An you talk about the lore of the stag?

A kid's show highlighting what the Cold War would've looked like if it went hot, or if World War III was to happen. Scary thing is, this is just a kid's show. Right now, we as mankind are on the brink of it and it's only a matter of time who pushes the button first.

Tbh all of that could prolly be avoided if all the elementals joined up and sealed the comet away like it's the avatar 😂

The 1990s were a wild time. It was the end of humanities reign and the rebirth of Magic and madness. So technically Adventure Time takes place in 2090s and Distant Lands/Fiona and Cake are in the 3000s

What's that episode?

2:53 DEFo a resource war and no, Adventure time takes 1000 years place after the war, 1000 years is enough to make the land of OOo look like Pangea 4:10

The real question is who sent the bomb

I hope that youre seeing some steady growth and can start making some bread before too long. You definitely earn it with every new video.

May be, Mushroom War was in world where Cold War went too far

5:30 just realised that Christianity existed before mushroom war

What happened to magic in the first place though 😂

where can u watch the great mushroom war? or atleast whats the series named? bc its definitely not on adventure time. i badly wanna watch it too :(

The scene of the minute 0:10 in witch episode appears?

Who is the big big boss like the phone guy

How the hell did moseph survive?

Weak reason for the start of the war.

I need to know why there was gum all over the place in certain scenes shown to us of Simon and Marceline back in the mushroom war. When I first saw that I my immediate assumption was shit PB is the big bad and she reset society!!! but no, as far as I can tell that was never explained

There are TANKS! 5:58