

"The Enchiridion!" is the fifth episode in the first season of Adventure Time. It is the fifth episode overall.


To prove their skill as adventurers, Finn and Jake undertake a quest given by Princess Bubblegum to retrieve the Enchiridion, a legendary hero's handbook in which they must endure many trials to receive it.


In the Candy Kingdom, Finn, Jake, and the Candy People are having a party. Then, Cinnamon Bun tries to take the spotlight by doing a flip, he crashes into the tower Princess Bubblegum is dancing in, causing it to crack and fall. Princess Bubblegum almost falls to her death, but luckily Finn rescues her. Princess Bubblegum thanks Finn and says that he is now her hero. Then she thinks over the word then takes Finn through a secret entrance in a tower and shows him a magic globe that shows a book called The Enchiridion, which is destined for only a true hero of righteous power.

Finn and Jake head to Mount Cragdor and meet the Key-per who gives Finn and Jake the first riddle. Finn finds it out by putting the Key-per in the lock, saying he thought that the Key-per would look cute stuffed in the lock rather than considering the riddle extensively. The Key-per warns Finn and Jake of the many trials that will come to them. As Finn and Jake travel, they hear shouts of help and find three Gnomes trapped in a lava pit. Finn and Jake save the gnomes, and in turn, the gnomes said that they will kill old women. The gnomes immediately begin killing old women, and this causes Finn to run away. Jake grabs the gnomes and shoves them back into the pit and tells Finn it was just an illusion, that it is a test to show his heroic attributes, cheering up Finn.

Suddenly, Jake gets eaten by a giant Ogre, who then says that Jake is now dead. Enraged, Finn takes the ogre's dollar and uses it as a hang-glider to kick his stomach and make the ogre regurgitate Jake. Soon they arrive at the castle where the Enchiridion is held, as the Ogre threatens to have Finn arrested for stealing his dollar. Feeling bad, Finn gives the ogre's dollar back.

Once inside the tower, Finn and Jake meet the Dark Magician, who takes Finn into another world; his "brain world." He makes Finn fight an evil Heart Beast and then tells him to smash an ant. But Finn refuses because the ant is "neutral" instead of evil and kicks the Magician in the crotch, slaying him. He then accidentally beats up Key-per when he sees him in devil pajamas. Mannish Man the Minotaur runs in saying that Finn has made it to the book and asks him to follow him. He leads Finn and Jake to the Enchiridion.

He gives the book to Finn when they, along with two old women and the Key-per, have a small picnic. The Key-per and Mannish explain to Finn that he deserves it for being the most righteous hero he ever met. Finn begins to read chapter five, entitled "How to Kiss a Princess." Princess Bubblegum then appears on Mannish's magical globe wondering what he is reading. And to celebrate his success of finding the book he jumps into the air screaming "Aw Yeaaahhh!"

Original synopsis

The following is a synopsis of "The Enchiridion" storyboard v.1.0, an earlier version of the story which Frederator Studios posted on their website:

The story begins when Finn and Jake are talking about their emotions at the candy party. Then they see Princess Bubblegum giving a speech. She then commands Finn and Jake to show the Candy People their dance moves. Everyone is in awe until Cinnamon Bun tries to take the spotlight. He tells everyone that he is going to do a flip. His plan fails and he bumps into the tower in which Princess Bubblegum is partying in. The tower cracks and the princess falls to the ground. Luckily, Finn caught her just in time and saved Princess Bubblegum from her death. Then she tells the Candy People that she and Finn are going to have a "secret conference." Once inside the castle, she tells Finn about a hero who has been guarding the Enchiridion for decades, a Minotaur named Mannish Man. Mannish protects the Enchiridion from everyone who are not righteous and want to steal it and use it to take over the Land of Ooo.

After that, Finn and Jake go to Mt. Cragdor, the place in which the Enchiridion is held. They are greeted by Key-per, the keeper of the key to unlock the door blocking the path to the other trials. Then Finn stuffs Key-per into the lock, thus unlocking the door. Key-per then warns them that there are many more trials ahead of them. Soon after they pass the gate, Jake is eaten by a giant ogre. Finn climbs up the ogre's leg and grabs a dollar from the ogre's wallet and uses it as a hang glider. The ogre tells Finn that he killed Jake. In rage, Finn rips the ogre's dollar and throws it into a giant pit. Jake escapes the ogre and lands on top of a tree. Finn sees Jake and insists to go look for the Enchiridion.

Then they see Choose Goose and they ask him if he has seen a big, brown book. The goose instead asks them to buy some juice. Suddenly, Finn and Jake hear screaming. They discover that some gnomes are stuck in a pit of lava. Finn helps the gnomes escape and then the gnomes demand Finn and Jake to give them all their gold. Jake grabs the gnomes and throws them back into the lava. Unhappy that the gnomes tried to steal from him after he had helped them, Finn sits down near a lake and has a heart-to-heart conversation with Jake. Jake cheers Finn up by explaining to him that these are all just trials to test Finn's righteousness, and the only way to lose is never to try. Feeling better, Finn and Jake continue on their quest.

They then hear crying coming from inside a cave. They see a giant bat with a gnome stuck in her foot. Finn throws the gnome on to the ground and kills it. Then the bat lets Finn and Jake ride on her back so they can find the Enchiridion. Then they see a creature dancing happily inside the cave. The creature demands Finn and Jake to dance with her but instead they just ignore the creature and go search for the Enchiridion. Finally they land and see a Dark Magician. He wants Finn to join his side but instead Finn kills him instantly with one kick of his foot.

Then they are greeted by the Choose Goose and Mannish Man, who gives the Enchiridion to Finn. They return to the Candy Kingdom party, and Mannish starts dancing with the candy people. Princess Bubblegum kisses Finn, then he runs off to fight a ghost in a nearby belfry.


Major characters

Minor characters


  • This is the first Adventure Time episode that has the title ending with an exclamation mark.
  • When the "Adventure Time" logo appears at the end, one can hear gunfire and yelling. Adam Muto later explained on his Spring that Pen Ward was just attempting to make the ending sound crazier.[1]
  • This episode reveals that there are banknote currencies in Ooo, although the currency shown is a giant dollar used by the Giant Ogre.
  • After Finn defeats the Dark Magician, he becomes enraged and his nose can be seen for the first time.
  • The brambles that Finn jumps over appear in the game Righteous Quest 2, and they can be cut through once one unlocks the "rusty sword."
  • When Jake smells for the Enchiridion, he mispronounces it and calls it the "Anchor-idion."
  • A clip from this episode is also seen in the We Bare Bears episode "My Clique."
  • This episode and "Mortal Folly" are featured in the Lego Dimension Adventure Time Level Pack.

Cultural references

  • The numbers 8, 13, and 21 can be seen on the back of the book Finn is reading, so it is a nod towards the actual Enchiridion book, the cover numbers of which are part of the Fibonacci sequence, or possibly when the Enchiridion was published.
  • When Finn kicks the Dark Magician, he seemingly disappears and his robe falls to the floor. This is similar to the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, when Obi-Wan was killed.


  • As Finn and Jake are dancing in the Candy Kingdom, Jake's eyes are uncolored for a frame.
  • When Princess Bubblegum shows the Enchiridion to Finn, the Enchiridion has nothing on the edges; only the skull, sword, and bird are seen. In the next flashback, however, the Enchiridion seems normal.
  • When Finn and Jake are talking to the Key-per, he has three fingers, but when he is shown close-up talking to Finn, he has four.
  • After Finn exits the Dark Magician's Brain World, Jake does not say anything and is not even in the scene until he just ends up next to Finn when Mannish Man arrives.
  • When Finn runs to save Princess Bubblegum, Gingerbread Muto only has two buttons, and one is green instead of red.
  • At the picnic table, two old women who were zapped away by the winged Gnomes appear then disappear.
  • Cinnamon Bun's name is misspelled as "Cinnemon Bun" in the credits.
  • In the hall where the Dark Magician is waiting, the wall behind him has no door on it. However, once Finn destroys the Magician, a door suddenly appears.

Production notes

  • This is the first episode to be produced in the series.
    • The character voices are slightly different from the rest of the episodes, given this was the first produced episode.
      • Cinnamon Bun's voice is higher than his voice in the other episodes.
  • This was originally the first episode of the series, so season one would begin with Finn receiving the hero book (this episode) and end with him meeting his hero, Billy ("His Hero").
  • This episode was originally twice as long, but many scenes and trials had to be cut for time. There were originally twelve trials that ended with Finn and Jake flying to the mountaintop on the bat. The production staff changed it so that Finn and Jake simply glided over the rest of the trials on the ogre's dollar.[2] The cut scenes included:
    • The introduction of Choose Goose.
    • Saving a bat from a gnome and riding it.
    • Finding out that one of the Gumdrop Girls is a hunchbacked wizard.
    • Going through a series of skeletons.
  • The part when Finn says "This party is so crazy!" was put into the Adventure Time variant of the current Cartoon Network Studios logo.
  • On TV listings on some cable providers, notably DirecTV and Dish Network, the name was misspelled and had both the "The" and the exclamation point excluded, reading "Enchridion" instead of "The Enchiridion!"
  • The original title card had Finn holding a dagger over Jake, but Cartoon Network standers changed it to a French loaf.


This episode was censored on Cartoon Network Australia. See Censorship of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network Australia for more information.


Official art

Background art

Title card development


Storyboard panels

First storyboard:

See Full Storyboard

Final storyboard:

See Full Storyboard


  2. The Enchiridion! (DVD Storyboard Commentary)

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