Joshua the Dog is the father of brothers Jake, Finn, and Jermaine. He and his wife, Margaret, adopted Finn as a baby. He speaks in a 1940s Mid-Atlantic accent. Joshua's personality is demonstrated as an old-fashioned manly dog who is willing to push his sons to fight, particularly when they need to.
History
Joshua first appeared with his wife in one of Finn's flashbacks in the episode "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain." They find Finn after he has soiled himself causing him to be stuck to a leaf. Finn claims to have cried for a whole day before anyone helped him. They are the second to stop, after a ladybug mum and daughter, and help the seemingly abandoned baby Finn. They take him to what is presumably their house and raise him as their own.
Joshua returns in "Crystals Have Power," where his ghost appears from beyond the grave encouraging Jake to fight back against the Crystal Guardians of the Crystal Dimension after Jake takes a vow of non-violence. Jake became upset when he remembered Joshua telling him that "Jake would hurt everyone." Jake also sees his brother Jermaine in his flashback. It should be noted that Joshua was trying to tell Jake that "Jake would hurt everyone... who is evil. Let me finish next time."
During "Crystals Have Power," Jake says "stupid ghost dad" when talking to himself out of frustration after Joshua says "Come on, punch them Jake. Punch everybody. Why not? Come on, why not!" Also, when Joshua brings Jermaine to see Jake, Jake asks him if he is dead, implying that Joshua is already dead (Jermaine was not dead, he and Jake were just dreaming at the same time).
In "Dad's Dungeon," Joshua makes Finn and Jake (through pre-recorded Holo-message player cartridges) explore a dungeon he made. The dungeon is filled with traps and monsters to toughen up Finn. Joshua puts Jake's family sword at the end of it as incentive to go through its trials.
In "Jake the Dog," Jake states that during his childhood, Joshua enjoyed making pickles and giving them to him. Also, Jake wears Joshua's hat while caring for his own children. It is assumed that he kept it as a memory of him after his disappearance or death.
In "The Pit," Finn and Lady watched videos of Joshua finding and imprisoning Kee-Oth the Demon. Joshua also mentioned a chart in the video: "refer to my chart... ..."
In "Billy's Bucket List", it was revealed that Finn and Jake buried him themselves. The location is apparently behind something, but Finn is cut off by Billy's constellation before he can reveal exactly where.
Death
Joshua is confirmed as deceased by Finn.[1] He, as well as his wife Margaret have probably passed away prior to the events of Adventure Time. The cause of death is unknown. In "Dad's Dungeon," the hologram video shows Joshua being attacked by an Evil Monster, this may have happened while Jake was still a baby, since the last hologram shows him telling Finn he finished the dungeon. In addition, Finn and Jake did not know about the dungeon until that episode, and Finn mentions burying Joshua with Jake's help in "Billy's Bucket List," indicating that Joshua escaped the monster and died at some later date.
Furthermore, in the beginning of "Dad's Dungeon," Joshua says, "If you're hearing this prerecorded message, it means I've passed on, and my spirit sparkles guided you to its secret hiding place," which adds to the evidence that he is dead but able to send signals using his spirit.
Abilities
Although Joshua did not possess stretching abilities like Jake, he was still a tough dog who created a reputation for himself in Ooo prior to his death. It can be assumed that he is a very capable warrior or extremely stealthy, as demonstrated by the fact that he was able to outsmart and break a piece of horn off Kee-Oth. Joshua was also able to capture various monsters, including the Evil Monster and put them into his dungeon.
Joshua is also proficient in other things such as knitting, which was shown in "King Worm." However, this may not be true he was only seen doing this in a dream. Joshua knows of at least one incantation, used to slough Kee-Oth the Demon whose blood is present in the Demon Sword. In "Dad's Dungeon," he seems to create "spirit sparkles." It is unknown if this is a unique attribute or if Joshua even created them at all. He apparently knows how to make pickles.
Appearance
Joshua looks very similar to Jake except his fur is a darker yellow color when compared to his son's. He also wears a grey hat that resembles a fedora to hide a scar on his head that he got when he "gave birth" to Jake.
In "Joshua and Margaret Investigations", he wears a navy blue tie.
Quotes
Episodes appearances
Major appearances
Minor appearances
- "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain" (flashback; debut)
- "King Worm" (dream cameo)
Mentioned or pictured
- "Memory of a Memory" (photograph)
- "Beautopia"
- "Jake the Dog"
- "Play Date"
- "Billy's Bucket List"
- "Everything's Jake"
Trivia
- Unlike Jake, he cannot change his size.[2]
- Joshua is right handed.
- When Susan draws a picture of a Lub Glub, Jake says, "That looks like my father."
- Joshua's appearance is similar to Jake; however, Jake is a lighter color of yellow.
- Joshua appeared in "King Worm," where he is seen knitting with green yarn.
- Joshua has grandchildren named T.V., Kim Kil Whan, Viola, Jake Jr., and Charlie, who are born in the episode "Jake the Dad."
- Joshua appears briefly in issue #22 of the Adventure Time comic book reading young Finn and Jake a story about Billy.
- Joshua and Margaret seem to have contradicting personalities; Margaret is overprotective, whereas Joshua pushes his kids to fight.
- In the episode "Jake the Dad," Jake wears the same hat as Joshua's.
- Jake wears this hat again in "Root Beer Guy."
Gallery
