Furthermore, when she was a child, the cataclysmic Mushroom War occurred, and soon after, she developed a father-daughter-like bond with Simon Petrikov (voiced by Tom Kenny), who would one day turn into the Ice King.

The relationship was also the subject of the second episode of Adventure Time: Distant Lands, "Obsidian," which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.

[8] When Rebecca Sugar joined the production crew and began working on Marceline episodes, the show's creative team encouraged her to put her "own life experiences into the character".

[12] Olivia Olson, the voice actress who plays Marceline, was impressed by her character's fashion design stating, "she has really cool style ...

Rynda later called this "one of the coolest parts" about the character's animation due to the fact that "every artist leaves a little bit of their own taste and sensibilities in what they draw.

When production on Adventure Time began, Ward contacted his friend Martin Olson, who was a writer on the animated Disney series Phineas and Ferb, and asked if he knew who played the character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz on Phineas and Ferb, as he wanted "her as a voice" on his show; reportedly, Ward was unaware that the actress was actually Martin Olson's daughter.

[13] Because Ward knew that he wanted Olivia on his show, Martin Olson later joked that her audition was simply a "sham" to please network executives.

[18] In the fifth season episodes "Finn the Human" / "Jake the Dog", an older, alternate universe version of the character is voiced by Cloris Leachman.

Although she attempted to tolerate his evil and selfish antics, she eventually severed all ties with Abadeer after she discovered him eating fries that she had made for herself.

[37] Eventually, due largely to the mounting stress of running her kingdom, Bubblegum pushed Marceline away, leading to a rift between the two that lasted for a while.

She appears in the episode as a frail and aged half-demon, who was killed when a "mutagenic bomb" that was frozen in ice by Simon Petrikov detonates.

[39] After the events of "Sky Witch", Bubblegum and Marceline are on much friendlier ground, and their friendship is reaffirmed in the episodes "Varmints" and "Broke His Crown", from the seventh and eighth seasons, respectively.

While he initially embarrasses his daughter and eventually causes a ghost fight to break out, by the end of the episode, Marceline is touched that her father was willing to support her.

[61][62] A six issue spin-off comic miniseries titled Marceline and the Scream Queens, written by Meredith Gran of Octopus Pie, debuted in July 2012.

[75] Having spent centuries traversing the Land of Ooo, she has evolved into a "fearless daredevil",[5][76] and her fondness for mischief has turned her into something of a trickster.

In the episode, Marceline's song "I'm Just Your Problem" and the dialogue between her and Bubblegum implied that they may have had some sort of romance in the past, although the exact nature of their relationship was not yet explicated.

[86][87][88] However, after the events of "What Was Missing", Marceline and Bubblegum's relationship seems to have gotten better, as the two spend quality time together in "Sky Witch", "Varmints", Stakes, and "Broke His Crown" and are seen having a strong bond.

[39][89] In the series finale, "Come Along with Me", Marceline and Bubblegum express their romantic feelings for one another and kiss, and the episode's epilogue shows the two seemingly as a happy couple.

In the episode "I Remember You," it is revealed that the Ice King—then the human man named Simon Petrikov—discovered her crying in the ruins of a city destroyed by the Mushroom Wars.

"[31] He later wrote that her addition "was a major turning point for the series, introducing a hip, adventure-loving female to the cast who can hold her own against Finn and Jake and also has a strong connection to Ooo's past.

[4] The Guardian called Marceline the best character in Adventure Time in a DVD review of the series, noting in particular that "she's ... responsible for some of the show's best songs.

[98] Lauren Rearick of Teen Vogue argued that Marceline is important in a discussion of on-screen representation, as she is from "a non-traditional family [whose] emotions ... sometimes mirrored depression".

"[99] Petrana Radulovic of Polygon said that Adventure Time could have easily reduced its central female characters to outdated tropes, but instead, creator Pendleton Ward and his team broke the mold with Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.

He further said that the two women have a "clear, distinct personalities unrelated to their own femininity, but they also share a meaningful and surprisingly complex relationship", and "the two were originally supposed to have a simple friendly rivalry, but writers on the show pushed for that to evolve into a yearning, centuries-spanning romance.

[102] Marceline is also popular with cosplayers, or performance artists who wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent characters from the Adventure Time universe.

In fact, the official press release for the Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens companion comic book referred to the character as a "fan-favorite".

For instance, American singer Willow Smith dedicated two tracks of her debut album Ardipithecus (2015) to the character, which were eponymously named after her.

[86][87] The controversy largely began after an accompanying "Mathematical" recap—a studio-endorsed behind the scenes video series implied that there were lesbian relations between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline and that the writing staff actively seeks input from fans.

[87] Seibert's decision to remove the video also proved controversial; Bitch magazine later wrote an article about how the episode "handled female desire—female queer desire at that—in a subtle but complex way", and that the removal of the recap and the studio's perceived treatment of the controversy was detrimental towards the acceptance of queer romance in children's television.

[86] Ward later addressed the issue and gave a more neutral view; he said that, because there were "so many extreme positions taken on it all over the Internet", he did not "really want to comment on it [because] it was a big hullaballoo.