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What Is The 'Adventure Time Coma Theory?' The Viral 'Terrible Truth Behind Adventure Time' Memes Explained
An old fan theory about the animated series Adventure Time is going viral again thanks to a growing redraw meme on X / Twitter.
The theory is known as the "Adventure Time Coma Theory" and follows the template of countless other coma fan theories across social media.
But what exactly is the Adventure Time coma theory, and why is it going viral right now? Here's what you need to know.
What Is The 'Adventure Time Coma Theory?'
One of the most cliché types of fan theories online is known as the coma theory. These theories claim, often with very little concrete evidence, that the characters of any given show, movie, video game, etc., are just the products of the protagonist's coma dream.
In the case of Adventure Time, the claim is that the protagonist, Finn, was put in a coma, and the show depicts him dreaming about going on adventures with his dog Jake.
Some of the earliest versions of the theory date back to 2012 on the creepypasta wiki, although one of the most popular versions of the story, which claims that Finn was put in a coma after trying to end his own life due to the death of his dog, has been deleted.
That year, though, a piece of art was uploaded online visualizing a version of the theory, which shows Finn in bed with Jake sitting beside him, waiting for him to wake up. Now, this image is becoming an exploitable meme.
How Is 'Adventure Time Coma Theory' Used In Memes?
The artwork visualizing the theory has been posted online numerous times throughout the 2010s and 2020s.
In 2023, the art inspired its first known redraw, which replaces Finn with Walter White from Breaking Bad and Jake with Jesse. The art is meant as a parody of coma fan theories and their absurdity in general.
Recently, an X user reposted the Adventure Time fan art with the caption, "what are some of your favorite and least fave fan theories?"
This inspired a whole lot of discourse, including a growing stack of redraws further replacing the characters to reference other fandoms.
What Are Some More 'Adventure Time Coma Theory' Memes?
For the full history of the Adventure Time Coma Theory, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.