How Does ‘Side Quests’ Fit Into the ‘Adventure Time’ Universe?

Oh my…GLOB. It’s another Adventure Time show!

Nearly a decade after fans said a tearful goodbye to Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) and Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio), the Land of Ooo continues to grow. The newly announced Adventure Time: Side Quests serves as a prequel of sorts, focusing on untold standalone adventures from Finn’s younger years, expanding on stories that happened between the episodes fans already know and love.

But where exactly does it fit in the larger Adventure Time chronology? Don’t worry. We’ve put together a very helpful timeline to guide you through Ooo’s ever-expanding lore. (And the universe isn’t slowing down anytime soon. HBO also recently announced Adventure Time: Bubblegum and Marceline, a new series currently in development that will further expand the franchise’s growing mythology.)

Adventure Time (2010-2018)

Cartoon Network / Courtesy: Everett Collection

The foundation on which we will build our very math timeline. It was here that the human race first met Finn the Human and Jake the Dog, setting up the mythos that would become both their backstory and the lore for Ooo.

When we first meet our heroes, Finn is 12 years old, and Jake is about 28 years old in “magical dog years.” While Finn ages in real-time and reaches 17 by the end of the series, Jake’s magical biology means his age is often more loosey-goosey. Because they were raised together as adoptive brothers, their chronological ages are much closer, with Jake aging at a faster rate.

Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020-2021)

HBO Max / Courtesy Everett Collection

This four-part animated miniseries and spin-off of the original Adventure Time series features tales from various parts of the timeline. Here is a breakdown of where those tiny tales fit in the large scheme of the Adventure Time lore:

• “BMO”: Finn and Jake’s little buddy BMO’s (Niki Yang) solo adventure before he met them, so the episode ends just before the events of the first season of Adventure Time 
• “Obsidian”: Finn is in his early to mid-20s in this story that centers on Marceline (Olivia Olson) and Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch) and the tale of what fractured their relationship.
• “Together Again”: The end of the road. Decades after the original series finale, Finn dies an old, old man and ventures into the afterlife, where he is reunited with ghost Jake.
• “Wizard City”: This Peppermind Butler (Steve Little) episode takes place about 10 years after the events of the original Adventure Time series finale.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (2023-present)

HBO Max / Courtesy Everett Collection

This is not your kiddos’ Adventure Time. Filled with sexual innuendo, adult fun, and occasional kissing, Fionna and Cake are the gender-swapped versions of Finn and Jake that were willed into existence from an experiment created by Prismo (Sean Rohani and Kumail Nanjiani), a cosmic Wishmaster who resides in the Time Room at the center of the multiverse. As creating an alternate, unauthorized reality for his own amusement was a strict no-no, he had to hide his little universe in the head of the Ice King (Tom Kenny), disguised as fan fiction, or else he would invoke the wrath of the cosmic auditors.

When the Ice King was reverted to Simon Petrikov (still Kenny), Cake and Fionna’s magical connection, powering their reality, was severed, turning their universe (still in Simon’s head) into an ordinary, magic-less world.

Twelve years later, they were still trapped there. Meanwhile, Adult Finn the Human is 29 years old at this point. Though they were able to release the magic and live in a land filled with cool stuff again, Fionna and Finn live as separate entities and have yet to meet each other in the physical realm.

Adventure Time: Side Quests (2026)

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A prequel of sorts, the series explores an earlier era of the original show, focusing on untold standalone adventures from Finn (Sasha Knight)  and Jake’s (DiMaggio, who returns to the role) younger years during Seasons 1 and 2, when they were just 12 and 28 years old. Set within the timeline of Adventure Time‘s earliest seasons, it serves as a supplementary companion piece, expanding on Finn’s formative adventures across the Land of Ooo before many of the series’ most significant events unfolded.

Before the mechanical arm and the complicated romances, when Finn just wanted to be a cool hero who chucked outhouses for fun and hung out with Jake in their tree house, back when their biggest issue was the Ice King, a lonely schlub who constantly misread the attention of princesses, these were the kinds of adventures that filled his days. Adventure Time: Side Quests is a delightful throwback to the series’ earliest years and a welcome return to the simpler era that many longtime fans fell in love with.

Adventure Time: Side Quests, Series Premiere, June 29, Disney+ and Hulu.