Her purple dress. Her licorice hair. Her peppermint eyes. We’re discussing Candy Wife from Cartoon Network’s “The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack,” of course.
The wife of Peppermint Larry, the owner of The Candy Barrel, she has been a consistent staple to the series from the beginning.
But, is she even alive?
She certainly is depicted as such. Peppermint Larry often holds conversations with her, though she does not respond to him, or anyone for that matter. The other characters treat her as a living being, especially Captain K’nuckles, who romantically admires her.
But, besides this, she does not display any actual signs of living.
Peppermint Larry is the only character who can understand what she is “saying” and she even earns the title of “the laziest person in all of Stormalong,” since she literally does nothing. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t talk.
Theoretically, Candy Wife isn’t alive.
First, Peppermint Larry, again, is the only other character that communicates with her.
He seems relatively unstable, and it is not necessarily a farfetched idea that the rest of Stormalong, because Peppermint Larry is the proprietor of the only “bar,” would want to stay on his good side and humor his fantasy.
He is unhealthily attached to Candy Wife, losing his composure even at the thought of her leaving. It would make sense that his attachment to Candy Wife also represents his attachment to his sanity. Without her, he would be nothing.
As for Captain K’nuckles’ infatuation with Candy Wife, is it no secret that K’nuckles is an alcoholic. Of course, this can’t be explicitly said in a children’s cartoon, but for adult viewers, it is plainly obvious. His sense of reality is skewed, as well as his morals, but that is another topic.
Believing that Candy Wife is real is not an odd attribute for the alcoholic captain.
It is assumed that Flapjack is a newcomer to Stormalong, though it is not explicitly said. He is unfamiliar with annual holidays and events, so slipping into the fantasy of Candy Wife along with the array of strange events is not hard to believe. Also, Flapjack is a fun loving child. Of course, he believes that Candy Wife is real.
When Peppermint Larry in “Candy Casanova” leaves The Candy Barrel and Candy Wife in Flapjack’s care, Flapjack gets one on one experience with Candy Wife, and we see her interact with another character besides Peppermint Larry. Flapjack has to control her movements and he consistently tries to talk to her, while she, of course, says nothing back.
This is the first moment that Candy Wife interacts with a character that isn’t convinced that she is alive, and it demonstrates her true self.
Another theory, though, is that she is a being from Candy Island that Peppermint Larry retrieved. Viewers never learn her origin, but it certainly is a plausible explanation. It would also explain how a candy selling entrepreneur and a candy obsessed captain would be able to communicate with her and understand her.
Of course, there is no evidence of this and the details of her existence as this character are foggy. It is a theory that shouldn’t be ruled out, though.
This theory would really be the only explanation that includes living attributes but can account for her lack of communication and motion among other characters that do not have as strong of a bond to candy as she, K’nuckles, and Peppermint Larry do.
Candy Wife is a staple character to the show, no doubt. Whether she is alive of not, “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack” would not be the same without her.
