There are many iconic and beloved characters in the Cartoon Network hit, Adventure Time. Among those is BMO (Niki Yang), a sentient robot designed to play video games, CDs, videotapes, and more. He lives with Finn the Human (Jeremy Shada) and Jake the Dog (John DiMaggio), and often accompany them on adventures.
BMO is beloved for his child-like personality, and as the show went on, he was given more screen time and episodes focusing on him. Many of his best episodes focus on maturing as BMO is forced to come to terms with the complexities of life and relationships.
10 "Shh!"
Season 5, Episode 20, 2013
Finn and Jake decide to see who can go the longest without talking. Unfortunately, they didn't tell BMO beforehand, so he thinks they are impostors. Finn and Jake try to explain the situation to him, but BMO hides in the tree and unleashes Bikini Babes on them.
While the focus of the episode is on Finn and Jake's game, BMO's reactions are treated with the utmost seriousness. His hiding and playing his favorite song mirrors the coping mechanisms of real children faced with difficult situations. While Finn and Jake don't break their game to explain things, the audience sees through the efforts they do make that they love BMO and want to prioritize his happiness.
9 "Angel Face"
Season 7, Episode 17, 2016
Using his special sentient sandwiches as bribes, BMO convinces Finn and Jake to help him act out a cowboy fantasy. With Jake as his steed, BMO dons the title of Angel Face and sets off into the desert to capture the villain Jack Rabbit Johnson (Finn). Unfortunately, the assassin Me-Mow (Kyla Rae Kowalewski) thinks there's a real bounty on Finn, and aims to collect it.
"Angel Face," is a cute look into BMO's ability to play pretend and come up with silly adventures. Sometimes BMO takes it too far, especially when he kicks his spurs into Jake constantly, but his enthusiasm is so infectious. The return of Me-Mow, who debuted in season three "Jake vs. Me-Mow", is a welcome one, and the showdown between her and BMO is pretty funny.
8 "Always BMO Closing"
Season 10, Episode 2, 2017
Wanting to get a job, BMO teams up with the Ice King (Tom Kenny) to work as a door-to-door salesman. Their selection items range from balls of lint and broken tree branches to Finn's baby teeth. That last item in particular gets them paid in silver from the mysterious Uncle Gumbald (Fred Melamed).
BMO and Ice King's partnership is adorable. They play off one another great thanks to their similar personalities, and seeing Ice King fumble around while pretending to be BMO's body leads to great physical comedy. The silver goblet they received from Gumbald comes back in a later episode and leads to an explanation for his connection to Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch).
7 "Football"
Season 7, Episode 5, 2015
BMO has a friend, named Football, who lives in the bathroom mirror. When Football laments that she would love to see the outside world, BMO suggests they swap places for the day. However, Football comes to love the real world so much that she refuses to go back to the mirror.
This episode is a pretty good one that showcases BMO's character. He feels empathy for others and is willing to help Football experience the world, but when she abuses that trust, he is relentless in stalking her through reflective surfaces until they switch back. Still, he doesn't hold a grudge and forgives Football because he knows how lonely her life was in the mirror.
6 "Ketchup"
Season 9, Episode 11, 2017
BMO arrives at Marceline's (Olivia Olsen) house ready to fight vampires, only to learn they were defeated months ago. Instead, Marceline asks him to help her view an old USB drive. While they wait, the two swap exaggerated stories about their recent adventures.
"Ketchup" is a humorous way to remind audiences of what happened in the "Island" and "Elemental" miniseries. Marceline's story is particularly valuable, as it explains how she became a candy elemental. It ends on a very touching and sentimental note, as the contents of the USB are photos of Marceline with her mother, and BMO makes a touching story about them.
5 "Islands Part 4: Imaginary Resources"
Season 8, Episode 23, 2017
During their odyssey to find the other humans, Finn and Jake get separated from BMO and their friend, Susan Strong (Jackie Buscarino). They find BMO wearing a pair of virtual reality goggles, which they can't take off. They decide to enter the virtual world as well and find that BMO has been made a moderator of a chatroom.
This episode has some interesting things to say regarding virtual reality. It shows the values and downsides of both ways of living, such as how virtual reality can allow people to be whatever they want, but overdependence leaves the recipients pathetic at navigating the real world. BMO has a similar dilemma: in the VR world, he is well respected and a leader, but realizes that he can't replace his friendship with Finn and Jake with AI duplicates.
4 "Be More"
Season 5, Episode 28, 2013
When BMO accidentally deletes some important files, he needs to go to MO Corp. to install new core system drivers. Unfortunately, there is a chance that BMO's personality will get reset as well. To prevent this, Finn and Jake disguise themselves as MOs and infiltrate the factory.
The episode is a fun and silly infiltration mission, but the ending is what makes it really special. The trio meets Moe (Chuck McCann), the man who created BMO, who explains that he made BMO to understand fun and be more than his other creations. It's a sweet moment that reinforces BMO's uniqueness and gives him a father figure.
3 "BMO Lost"
Season 5, Episode 17, 2013
While showing off his dancing skills, BMO is snatched up by a giant eagle and taken to its nest. He escapes and meets a friendly Bubble (LeVar Burton) who is also lost. Alongside a giant pink baby, they make their way through the woods to get back to Finn and Jake.
"BMO Lost" is a fun low-stakes adventure where BMO has to take charge. He gets to showcase a lot of the skills he's learned from Finn and Jake, but as shown by how he handles the baby, there's still room for improvement. His relationship with Bubble is also touching as the two bond over their predicament, which leads to a hilariously tragic ending.
2 "BMO Noire"
Season 4, Episode 17, 2012
As Finn and Jake head off to the Princess Potluck, Finn laments that he can't find one of his socks. The colours fade to black and white as BMO begins narrating like a detective in a film noir. He begins his own investigation by talking to a colorful cast of suspects, including Ronnie the mouse and the fem-fatal chicken, Loraine.
This is BMO's first dedicated episode, and the writers did a fantastic job. They blend classic noir tropes with BMO's youthful imagination, resulting in hilarious characters and over-the-top scenarios. There's even a trippy dream sequence that shows BMO's imagination in action.
1 "The More You Moe, the Moe You Know"
Season 7, Episodes 14 & 15, 2015
It's BMOs birthday, and he's excited for Moe to come to the tree house and visit. He shows up in the body of a MO and gives BMO a quest to travel to the MO Factory in order to become a grown-up. Meanwhile, Moe remains with Finn and Jake and bothers them with how needy he is.
This episode sees BMO struggle with the concept of maturing, which is very relatable to the show's demographic. While there is excitement about having more independence, there's also fear regarding how much of his personality might change. There are also some shocking twists regarding Moe's actions, which culminate in a showdown on an icy cliff.
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