The Duality of Finn and Fern Mertens | Adventure Time Analysis

The first video of 2024 and it's on a character long requested - Fern! I've been getting into the Fern brainrot bag myself over the past week or so, so I wanted to give a fair shot at analyzing him before I get into the REAL trauma that comes with this character. This video could be considered a sort of prelude to me talking about him more in depth later down the line, but I enjoyed this train of thought enough to make it it's own thing.
Anyway, the episode "Do No Harm" is super great at setting up the duality between Finn and Fern so I wanted to talk about it! I just love the connection these two have with one another and I find it rare a show is able to tackle something like this with such an interesting vehicle.
The Adventure Time spinoff / sequel series, Fionna and Cake was a masterpiece so I started gushing about it. Now I talk about the original show too.
Music - Egress from Ambient Time
• OSC - Adventure Time I...
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Avatar art done by my friend Elon!
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Keywords
#AdventureTime #FionnaAndCake #Cartoons
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I do not own Adventure Time. I do not own any of these images
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Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use'

[@osblarg]

My favorite quote about Fern comes from the comics, it goes "I had a brother...I don't really know what he was. And neither did he. He wanted to be a hero, like me. Really, he wanted to be me. But he already was me, kinda. And he lived in a world that had a me. So he didn't know what he should be, what he could be. I think...he died before he could find out." There's not a single time I read this quote and without it hitting hard. Adventure Time was full of tragic characters, hell I would argue that there's wasn't a single established character that wasn't is some way tragic, but I think it was very brave to have Fern not be able to conquer the tragedy of his life like other characters like Finn, Jake, Bonnie, Marceline or even Simon did. Fern just had to accept it.

[@Kev-D-OG]

The Season 11 scene! I just recently read this for the first time and I’m considering doing a video on it. The comics have a lot of potential and I don’t think many people talk about them.

[@a_literalrat1096]

@@Kev-D-OG I’ve never read the comics but id love you to review em!!! Adventure time is a timeless piece of art fr

[@CamCommand99]

I never expected to cry when Fern dies, but I still do every time I even think about it

[@Kev-D-OG]

It hits so hard 😔

[@kuma878]

I love the visual parallel between Fern punching his creator and Finn punching his dad in "The tower"

[@Kev-D-OG]

Yes! This was such a great moment for his character

[@andrewsanusi8462]

Finn and Fern’s dynamic have always reminded me of Kitana and Mileena from MK1, it makes me wish Fern had the chance to grow up too when he finally got redeemed.

[@Kev-D-OG]

Ooo! That’s a great example because Mileena was originally a clone too! Obviously Fern isn’t a clone but that sense of being “the lesser one” is a huge element in both pairs.

[@Malevolence460]

I love fern, kinda wish we got to see him versus Jake at some point, but I’m happy with what we’ve got

[@Kev-D-OG]

That would’ve been crazy for sure, but I think the silent awkwardness Jake has is so great. He doesn’t really know how to deal with Fern since he basically is Finn, so him trying to push it to the side, like many of his worries, is very in character for him.

[@orraklbenedict1832]

I like how the title card has Finn wielding a pen while Fern uses a sword. could be just a coincidence but I reckon that its an allusion to the phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword." P.S. Happy New Year! not even half a week in a we're already graced with AT content. NOICE!

[@Kev-D-OG]

That’s a great point! It also could show the idea of Finn in a different scenario and Fern in a familiar one, but something is just off. It also helps that both fail at the end of it.

[@itsasupacool]

Fern has always been one of my favorite characters because he's such an interesting question: what if everyone around you said u weren't who you thought u were? ynow I just think it's interesting.

[@finnycomet]

ty for the fern content i was starved

[@Kev-D-OG]

Glad I could help! I’m planning on making some other vids on him down the line for sure now that the brainrot is setting in.

[@finnycomet]

@@Kev-D-OG that’d be great ive been having fern brainrot for the past five months since watching adventure time lol i think he needs more recognition

[@justsomeguyfrom-redacted-]

So idk know if many others share the sentiment as I have yet to see it, but I see fern as the most if not one of the most tragic characters being actual fin from the events before we got prizmo back. (This being technically a past version of himself before he was turned into a sword) his final moments before being in a “prison” (as showing how he litterally lived in the gem of the Finn sword) was worried about his own brothers health as he was put into the prison. You then get to him having to observe as a prisoner to another version of you playing with your cell as a tow as you get to watch him live your life right before your eyes, then the grass demon screws him over as he’s now double imprisoned as he is literally tortured and violated on such a deep level as his fears and cries for help lie on deaf ears. By time he gets a body he’s come to realize that the world that you protected and loved including your own brother (that before becoming a sword) likely didn’t get to know what happened to him- let alone his loved ones and friends also saying he isn’t him. Both dejected and in a way brainwashed by people who don’t know better he is now forced to accept being an outcast from a life he was literally living maybe only a few months ago as he is preyed upon by the grass demon. I feel the way he turned out was so spot on as I couldn’t imagine being shackled to a life excluding from my own life I lived through. Like Simon, Fern pulled so hard at my heartstrings as they both had something completely unseen and unexpected just ruin the life they had. Simon got his fix over time while fern never got that chunk of himself or his life back.

[@ShinesparkDiscoKing]

Another great analysis dude!!! also me when Betty Mention OoO lol

[@Kev-D-OG]

Thanks so much!

[@TheMightyN]

See, something mentioned there is doubtful. Fern faced an existential crisis formed by the Land of Ooo's everlasting admiration towards Finn. Even though, he didn't show much smarts in leadership, his confidence, kindness, and valiance merited this respect. The irony here is Fern didn't transforme into the "monster" he was because he surrounded himself among bad people... Finn and his friends never give him the closure needed to find his own identity--and that's what ruined him. 7:40

[@rickybartlett8835]

My favorite part of Fern’s character is the way he got his voice, the voice actor literally took bong rips in a closet and recorded the lines 😂

[@Kev-D-OG]

Definitely gonna have to look this up 😭

[@SSJ8CODY6942O]

You really bring this series into a new light!

[@Kev-D-OG]

Thanks so much! That means a lot to hear 😭

[@PaintedFreddie]

I'm really enjoying your deep dives into these characters. Also side note seeing my comment in the opening of this video was a but surreal lol

[@cjss3409]

Honestly, I kinda suffer the same way as Fern. When he said: “You’ll never understand what it’s like to be me. I’m tormented!!”, the same feeling I used to have in the past. I’m 13 and around March-May, I started to have suicidal thoughts and was really depressed. The reason why was because of stress, anxiety, pressure, and struggling on how to balance out life. Honestly, I need help. I’m gonna be taking counseling nowadays.

[@FIGUBLET]

you continue to be the most insightful and introspective adventure time ruminator ever

[@Kev-D-OG]

Thanks so much 😭

[@The_Odd_Beetle]

It’s not even like fern js past Finn I mean technically he is buts almost less than a five minute different between Finns and Ferns timelines which make it worse I think I like fern this much because of his lore and his tiny details like how he crawls and the hand thing while he sleeps and how he has the dino esc feet he has because how he turned into a dino while Finn turned into a butterfly, I love the contrast they give the characters even though there the same and I like how it fern who’s the Dino because of the more volatile nature of fern I also think ferns out burst makes him who he is and I wouldn’t change that

[@gabrielt4305]

I love your analysis on the series ❤. I'm currently rewatching Adventure time uncensored, since it was heavily censored in Latin America. Have you considered using mbti and eneagram also for these types of videos? For example Finn and Fern have different trytipes personalities, Finn is ESFP 8w7 so/sx while Fern is ISFP 4w3 sx/so

[@Kev-D-OG]

That’s really interesting how it got censored. I had no idea that it was censored, so I’m curious to see what they’d change. Also, I’m pretty new to personality type stuff outside of the four letters, so I’ll have to take a look into it.

[@LeonGeht]

So some people think the sword was Fern but that’s not true it was an octopus demon. Fern was created when the demon and Finn (in the Finn sword) were together because some thinks that this sword was fern but it is not. Fern is just more evil then fern because of the demon it is actually just normal Finn

[@20000dino]

I was initially hesitant to click on this video due to how most of the AT discourse on KZbin is dominated by the same cishet normie creators (with a few exceptions like Uncivilized Elk), but then I realized you were the same person who did that fantastic analysis on Princess Bubblegum a few months ago (I also left a comment there!). What a great video this was (and about Fern no less, one of my favorite characters in the show). I'll definitely check your other stuff! I do disagree that Finn and Fern are, at their core, the same person. I do not think their differences solely boil down to their circumstances and how one of them is forced into a role which doesn't fit them - they just seem to have different personalities, even they're fundamentally very similar. Despite his heroism, bravado, determination, empathy, and emotional depth, Fern is also self-serving, reserved, resentful, morally questionable, and socially unaware in a way which cannot be fully explained by anything other than just a different personality. In my view, Finn is sort of the foundation, the solvent substance for the solution that is Fern's personality, while the Grass Demon is the solute substance being mixed in. The reason Fern dies is because he quite literally kills his own literal inner demon - but, by doing so, he is ridding himself of a fundamental part of him. This is, to me, where the show stumbles a little. When killing the Grass Demon, Fern should've been aware of what this would entail. Perhaps he'd come to the resolve that he would never be able to find peace and fulfillment as his own being (whether this was true or not), or perhaps he was afraid of what he might've become if he kept straying away from the "Finn path" - so he chose to end his suffering at his own terms. It would've made for a more tragic and beautiful ending to his character.

[@Kev-D-OG]

Thanks so much for checking out the video! I really enjoyed reading your critique and how you think Fern is different from Finn. The idea of the personality of Fern being a fusion of both Finn and the Grass Demon is interesting for sure.

[@blessedbe2222]

As a twin, Fern is very relatable

[@Kev-D-OG]

I never thought about it with that angle, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind! I can see the connection for sure.