SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants (also known as SpongeBob or Mr. SquarePants) is the titular main protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated television series of the same name, he is the primary fry cook at the Krusty Krab. He is also the main protagonist of the movie trilogy and a supporting character of the spin-off series, The Patrick Star Show. He is a yellow anthropomorphic sea sponge who lives underwater in Bikini Bottom. He is voiced by Tom Kenny, who also voiced Heffer Wolfe in Rocko's Modern Life, Dog in CatDog, Raimundo Pedrosa in Xiaolin Showdown, The Mayor and the narrator in The Powerpuff Girls, Eduardo in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, H.U.E. and Kevin Van Newton in Final Space, the Ice King in Adventure Time, Iron Man and Captain America in The Super Hero Squad Show, Commander Peepers in Wander Over Yonder and Spyro the Dragon. In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Taiki Matsuno.

History

He first appeared on television in the series' pilot episode Help Wanted on May 1, 1999. SpongeBob was created and designed by the late cartoonist, Stephen Hillenburg shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. Hillenburg intended to create a series about an over-optimistic sponge that annoys other characters.

Hillenburg compared the concept to Laurel and Hardy and Pee-wee Herman. As he drew the character, he decided that a "squeaky-clean square" (like a kitchen sponge) fits the concept. His name is derived from "Bob the Sponge", the host of Hillenburg's comic strip The Intertidal Zone that he originally drew in 1989 while studying at the California Institute of Arts.

SpongeBob has achieved popularity with both children and adults, though he has been involved in public controversy. The character appeared in a We Are Family Foundation video promoting tolerance, which was criticized by James Dobson of Focus on the Family because of the foundation's link to homosexuality. SpongeBob is an anthropomorphic kitchen-type sponge with two buck teeth, blue eyes, wears brown rectangular-like pants (probably attached to the white shirt with the red tie), black shoes, and red/blue-striped socks.

Character Biography

SpongeBob was born to Harold SquarePants and Margaret Bubblebottom. According to his driver's license, SpongeBob's birth date was on July 14, 1986, making him 35 years old in Season 13. In the first episode, he applied as the fry cook of Krusty Krab, under the employment of Mr. Krabs.

SpongeBob doesn't seem to be very bright (although he is much smarter than his starfish friend). However, he is goofy and loyal. He lives in a pineapple house in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob SquarePants was born on July 14, 1986, to Harold SquarePants and Margaret Bubble Bottom.

When he lives with his pet snail Gary in a large pineapple-shaped house on 124 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom. His next-door neighbor, Squidward Tentacles, who lives in an Easter Island head, hates SpongeBob and is constantly annoyed by his antics (although Squidward has confessed in various episodes that he "actually kinda likes" Spongebob, despite what he usually says about him). SpongeBob is oblivious to this and believes Squidward to be his friend. Beside Squidward's house is the home of SpongeBob's best friend, Patrick Star, who lives under a rock.

SpongeBob works at the Krusty Krab, Bikini Bottom's most popular restaurant, where he is a fry cook and prepares all food served at the Krusty Krab, most notably Krabby Patties. The first episode of the series depicts SpongeBob applying for and being hired for this job. He says that it has been his lifelong dream to join the Krusty Crew and that only now is he "ready." When he applies for the job, Squidward and Mr. Krabs, wanting no part of him, send him on a fool's errand for a "hydrodynamic spatula with port and starboard attachments and turbo drive." While he is out searching for one, several hundred hungry anchovies arrive and overwhelm Squidward and Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob soon returns, having found a hydrodynamic spatula, and saves their lives by feeding the anchovies, showing off his amazing cooking skills in the process.

SpongeBob's house is an orange pineapple with fully furnished windows and doors and even a gas pipe. When he first moved to Bikini Bottom, he viewed many different houses, but none seemed to his liking. Just as he was about to give up, a pineapple from a boat above the water fell into the sea and landed onto the space that was Squidward's garden. He loves the house and buys it, leaving Squidward in misery by losing his garden and having SpongeBob living next to him.

SpongeBob is not only extremely good at his job, being able to produce a Krabby Patty within seconds, but has a strong passion and an abnormal love for it; something of a workaholic, he enjoys his job more than any other activity and is saddened whenever he cannot be at work. He is also obsessed with Krabby Patties themselves; on numerous occasions, he has proclaimed them the best food in the world, and in "Just One Bite" and "Shuffle-boarding," he is shocked and horrified to see one thrown away. He is very good at his job because he is the Vice Assistant General Manager of Certain Things ("Stanley S. SquarePants"). He also has been shown making a perfect Krabby Patty on his first try when he was a baby.

SpongeBob's skills as a fry cook could accurately be described as superhuman; in episodes such as "Help Wanted" and "Employee of the Month," he is seen making them at rates of hundreds or even thousands per minute. He has won 374 consecutive Employee of the Month awards at the Krusty Krab. In "Friend or Foe," it is shown that SpongeBob, as an infant, made a perfect patty on his first attempt. In "Neptune's Spatula," he can pull the Golden Spatula from the grease, making him the "chosen one" of King Neptune. In that same episode, it is shown that the burgers made by Neptune himself are horrible compared to SpongeBob's.

Squidward, the restaurant's only other employee, runs the cashier and takes orders. Squidward is the polar opposite of SpongeBob; he hates his job (as well as the Krusty Krab itself) and performs it poorly. The employer of SpongeBob and Squidward, Eugene H. Krabs, is extremely greedy, selfish, and abusive of his employees. He pays them extremely poorly, far below legal minimum wage, and is unhealthily obsessed with money. Despite this, SpongeBob is unquestioning of Mr. Krabs and looks up to him as an authority figure.

SpongeBob attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School, where he is periodically tested for his driver's license. However, he becomes extremely nervous and reckless when behind the wheel of a boat, and has consistently failed his test countless times, often injuring Mrs. Puff and/or damaging the school and/or the entirety of Bikini Bottom in the process. According to the episode "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired," SpongeBob has failed the exam 1,258,056 times, and is the only creature in the history of the school to fail the test. Mrs. Puff describes SpongeBob as "unteachable." Despite his inability to drive a boat properly, SpongeBob can drive/ride various other things capably, including a rock, a rocket ship, a sandwich car, and a submarine. SpongeBob claims that he does know how to drive, but simply panics behind the wheel and cannot concentrate. In "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired," SpongeBob receives good training from Mrs. Puff's extremely tough military-Esque replacement and learns how to drive capably, but can only do so while blindfolded due to the teacher's strict drills and very specific teaching methods.

While not working or at school, SpongeBob spends much of his time playing with his best friend, Patrick Star. Like SpongeBob, Patrick is childish, moronic, and fun-loving. The two have known each other since early childhood, and are members of the "Best Friends Forever Club." Their usual activities include jellyfish and bubble blowing. Their antics are of constant annoyance to their neighbor, Squidward, on numerous occasions, has been put in harm's way as a direct result of their actions. Despite Squidward openly hating SpongeBob and Patrick, they are completely oblivious to this and believe they are his best friends.

Another friend of SpongeBob's is a squirrel from Texas named Sandy Cheeks, who wears a special suit and helmet to survive underwater. SpongeBob first meets Sandy when he sees her wrestling a giant clam, which he tries to help her defeat. Sandy then invites SpongeBob to her home, an airtight terrarium known as the Tree-dome, and SpongeBob, not knowing what air is, accepts. When he comes to the Tree-dome and realizes that there is no water, he begins drying up and attempts to survive without water, telling himself that he does not need it and that "Water is for quitters!" Eventually, he gives in and starts panicking. Sandy gives SpongeBob and Patrick bowls of water to wear over their heads, which they typically wear whenever they visit the Tree-dome.

Unlike Patrick, Sandy is very intelligent, both technologically and practically, but is tolerant of SpongeBob's naïvety and enjoys his company. They enjoy doing extreme sports together, most notably Karate. SpongeBob's skill in karate is shown to vary considerably between episodes. At times, he equals and even outmatches Sandy in skill, while at other times he is incompetent to the point where Sandy can send him flying a considerable distance with a single punch; in "Karate Island," Sandy openly states that her karate skills are better than SpongeBob's by "a country mile."

Personality

SpongeBob is hard-working, optimistic, hyper, fun-loving, kind-hearted, clueless, honest, naive and friendly. He works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab Restaurant in the underwater town of Bikini Bottom. He is also a leader, he loves his job very much and performs it very well, even though his greedy cheap boss Mr. Krabs pays him poorly if not rarely. He can also get very overly reacted. Like from the episode The Bully, he started getting petrified of getting his butt kicked from new student Flatts the Flounder.

But it was turned out that like a sponge, he did not get hurt much after all. SpongeBob also cares for his loyal pet snail, Gary, who only meows like a cat, and loves hanging out with his best brainless friend, Patrick Star, a friendly but dim-witted pink sea star who lives under a rock. Their middle neighbor is Squidward Tentacles, a grumpy, ill-tempered, and self-centered octopus who lives in an Easter Island Tiki head-shaped house and hates both SpongeBob and Patrick with a passion because of their annoying antics, maturity you would expect from a sponge and starfish, and them always ruining his day. However, they are both unaware of this and believe him to be their closest friend.

He is sometimes seen as Nickelodeon's mascot and is one of the most popular fictional characters distributed by Nickelodeon.

Abilities

Powers

Like many other cartoon characters, SpongeBob has been shown to have numerous extraordinary abilities and attributes throughout the series (even though physically weak).

Soft Pliable Body: Due to his soft, pliable frame, he is capable of shapeshifting, has some degree of invulnerability, being able to absorb any type of physical impact, though there are also limits which depend on the plot of episodes he featured in.
Regeneration: It is shown that he can quickly regenerate parts of his body that are injured or removed, but given that there is some instance where he shown treated in hospital, how good his regeneration depends on the plot of episodes he featured in.
Boneless: SpongeBob mostly portrayed without any bones in his body, but sometimes otherwise depends on the plot of episodes he featured in (E.G: The Splinter and I Had an Accident).
Reproductive ability: Being a Sea Sponge Spongebob has very good regeneration and on top of that, when he's split in two those 2 halves will create another SpongeBob
Absorbent: Being a sponge, he is also absorbent, and can expand his body by absorbing liquids. When he cries, he often re-absorbs his tears. Like in "The Bully" when Flats kept on hitting him, but SpongeBob just absorbed all of his blows. Although, how good his body can absorb and endure physical trauma still depends on the plot of the episodes he featured in. For instance, with a precise hit, Patrick caused SpongeBob to have bruises all over on one of his eyes.
Leadership: SpongeBob is a great natural leader for all of his friends in Bikini Bottom.
Singing and Nose Playing: SpongeBob is shown to possess a fantastic singing voice and thanks to his physiology, his nose can be used as a flute.
Fry Cooking: SpongeBob is highly skillful in cooking Krabby Patties at the Krusty Krab as a chef of the said restaurant, As He can cook Krabby Patties at a very fast pace, even faster than a machine.
Jellyfishing: He has impressive skills in Jellyfishing, and he also has a code to release the captured Jellyfishes every time he managed to capture one.
Tongue Boarding: SpongeBob's tongue can be expanded large enough to be used as the makeshift board.
Survival Skills: SpongeBob had remarkable survival skills, where he and Patrick almost ate each other to survive.
Bubble Blowing: SpongeBob can perform extraordinary moves with bubbles and even capable to create spectacular variations of bubbles includes bubbles-based constructs which, unfortunately, ridiculed by Squidward(perhaps he was the only one) due to their different views about art in general.
- Enhanced Bubble Blowing: As Invinci-Bubble, his bubble-blowing skill improved into a superhuman level, as he can conjure a destructive bubble tsunami (with help of Plank-Ton), a jet of bubbles for transportation, and bubbles that can carry objects as heavy as cannonballs.
Driving: He is capable of driving various vehicles, but never passes his driving test at Mrs. Puff's Boating School because he stresses out and crashes each time.
Karate: He trains in Karate perfectly, but he rarely mixes them up/performed them properly.
Destruction: SpongeBob has a degree of talent in destruction, but most of the cases show that he mostly performed this involuntary due to his gullible and reckless personality. In "Sandy's Rocket". Sandy mentioned that SpongeBob was responsible for the accidental death of numerous fishes when his attempt on tampering whirlybird went wrong.
Superhuman Speed: The Quickster, he can move very fast, but unfortunately lacks any proper training in mastering this ability. Although, he is certainly able to run faster than Patrick when he's about to tell Mr. Krabs in "Sailor Mouth" and Squidward when he's about to chase SpongeBob about the pizza in "Pizza Delivery".
Enhanced Strength: Spongebob has shown in many episodes to have strength beyond a normal Sea Sponge, including lifting patrick and mr Krabs, and moving heavy objects. But also has shown to a strength limit including not being able to even lift marshmallow's.
Teleportation: SpongeBob is to capable to teleport in various episodes (though merely implied since he teleported off-screen). Like in "The Wreck of the Mauna Loa" When he was chasing Patrick in a game of tag, Patrick was looking back at SpongeBob in the other direction, when he imminently bumped into SpongeBob in front of him.
Dream-walking: In "Sleepy Time", a freak accident occurred during his nightmare when he sees his supposed driving license torn by Mrs. Puff to bits resulting in his dream self being accidentally projected to the real-world and enabling him to enter the others' dreams and even interact within them, revealing that he possesses the ability of dream-walking. His friends seem to be aware of his said powers, as by the end of the said episode, they demand him not to tamper their dreams anymore.
Ghost Physiology: After he and Patrick accidentally shave Flying Dutchman's beard, the powerful ghost cursed SpongeBob and Patrick by stripping them from their flesh and blood, turned them into ghosts. This gave them various ghost powers including intangibility, flight, ectoplasm creation, and turned inanimate objects into the said object's ghost version (SpongeBob created a ghost version of his spatula by broke the original one, in which the ghost version of the said spatula materialized from its remains). Although, Flying Dutchman eventually have to restore SpongeBob and Patrick to normal due to their newfound cursed powers proved too much for them to handle (SpongeBob can't interact with the realm of the living as much as when still normal and accidentally made himself passed deeper through earth's crust when sleeping).
Climbing: SpongeBob can climb on his own house in "Party Pooper Pants".
Slide Whistle: SpongeBob can use the all-powerful slide whistle. The Slide Whistle can teleport, and control either SpongeBob or other objects. The whistle also grants SpongeBob the ability to control others slightly like what direction they walk in and other minuscule things. It cannot teleport other people, only the user. The downside of the whistle is that you need both hands to use it, and it can break. The slide whistle is the nerfed infinity gauntlet when paired with the infamous pencil.
The Pencil: The pencil grants the user god-like abilities. The user can create anything and erase anything at will.

Weaknesses

Lack of Physical Strength: Due to his physiology, SpongeBob's natural physical strength appears to be below average. One instance exaggerated this whereupon close inspection, his hand was depicted in the emaciated state as if it was only skin and bone. Although, SpongeBob can also build up his strengths to several times of what he is normally capable of by sheer force of will, with his prowess depending on the writers of the episode. and he is pretty strong in some games
Gullibility: SpongeBob's gullible personality made him prone to the manipulation of others who used him for their gain or made him unknowingly hurt others, physically and emotionally. The most controversial of this is in A Pal for Gary, where he was too gullible by Puffy Fluffy's manipulation that made him mistreat Gary and be ignorant with the fact that Puffy Fluffy was in fact, one of the most dangerous sea predators.
Cowardice: SpongeBob often lacks the willpower to stand up for himself. Even his arch-nemesis Plankton points this out in Walking Small when beachgoers were walking all over SpongeBob (ironically enough, Plankton himself was forcing SpongeBob to do his bidding in the same episode). Patrick even takes advantage of SpongeBob in Suds, Hooky, and Rock-a-bye Bivalve.
Driving: He is not good at driving because he always crashes into buildings and/or hits people with his boat, although he is able to drive other vehicles, for example he can drive the patty wagon, or even a boulder [the former in the first movie, and the latter in pizza delivery].

Relationships

Family/Relatives

Gary - Pet snail
Harold SquarePants - Father
Margaret SquarePants - Mother
Grandpa SquarePants - Grandfather
Grandma SquarePants - Grandmother
Sherm SquarePants - Uncle
Capt. Blue SquarePants - Uncle
Stanley SquarePants - Cousin
BlackJack SquarePants- Cousin
Larry SquarePants - Cousin
Todd SquarePants - Cousin
SpongeBuck SquarePants - seventh great grandfather
SpongeGar - Ancestor
Primitive Sponge - Ancestor

Enemies

Man Ray - Enemy
The Dirty Bubble - Enemy
Dennis - Enemy
Plankton - Arch-enemy, sometimes friendly rival
The Flying Dutchman - Occasional rival
King Neptune - Friendly rival

Trivia

Confirmed by his creator Stephen Hillenburg, like any actual reproductive sponge, he is asexual.
As with the rest of the main cast, SpongeBob's portrayal in post-first movie seasons (Season 4-Season 9) became increasingly negative as a result of his worst traits being exaggerated through the show's Flanderization, with his portrayal in "A Pal for Gary" where he was at his worst. Fortunately, this has since been revised following the end of Season 9 which re-earned the fans' love for the character. Worse, "Sold!" showed him believing a guy in a commercial he was watching bought his house; making it questionable how well he was educated, since he clearly had to buy his pineapple house himself.
Possibly as one of the show's numerous running gags, SpongeBob's brain has been shown an incredibly large number of times throughout the SpongeBob SquarePants series (most notably in Plankton, The Inside Job and Sponge Out Of Water, with SOTW featuring what is currently the series' most detailed close-up shot of its exterior by far), with its appearance and contents somehow managing to majorly change each time it appears; naturally, it's (presumable) hidden knowledge of the secret formula for Krabby Patties also makes it a huge invasion target for Plankton. Ironically enough, however, the series doesn't seem to have shown Sandy's brain at all yet, although Squidward's has also been treated to a few occasional appearances throughout the series (most notably in the episode Squidtastic Voyage, in which SpongeBob and Patrick accidentally manipulate it into making him slap Sandy in the face).
While Tom Kenny has always been the voice of SpongeBob, his voice became significantly more high-pitched and effeminate after the first SB movie, especially around seasons 6-8. Starting with season 9 and onwards, SpongeBob's voice has gotten slightly lower in pitch once again.
According to the late creator, Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob is neither gay nor straight, but he is indeed asexual, meaning he has no sexual desire.
- Also, because of him liked the dynamic between SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff, Hillenburg established SpongeBob never meant to be able to receive his driving license no matter what he does. Such policy proved to be a rather controversial choice, for it attributed Mrs. Puff's descent into villainy in Post First Movie Seasons (Season 4-9) of the series.
In 2009, SpongeBob appeared briefly in the music video to "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band appearing via video link on Big Chris's phone.
As noted by fans and suggested by writer/voice actor Doug Lawrence in the DVD commentary for the season one episode "Plankton!", main casts of SpongeBob SquarePants were intended to represent Seven Deadly Sins. In SpongeBob's case, he represented Lust through his craving for fame, attention, and love from everyone, a trait which, coupled with his gullibility, more than often clouded his judgment at worst.
SpongeBob's early name is "Spongeboy", which he was later later renamed "SpongeBob" in the final version due to the copyright name of the mop.
SpongeBob has been shown to have no knowledge of human medical conditions as seen in his first encounter with Team Avatar when Eliza's appendix burst.
When the Fire Nation threatened to burn the ATA Sky Base, SpongeBob showed off his aerial skills upon racing to the scene.
SpongeBob has encountered the Crystal Gems Ruby and Sapphire in the past, as mentioned in "Countdown to Vestroya".
SpongeBob uses his fry cook skills to cook food for his allies as seen in "You Only Absorb Once".
When it comes to rescuing someone and battling in a war against a main villain, SpongeBob would use his superpowered form, Invincibubble, from the "Sponge Out of Water" movie to fight.
As with the rest of the main cast, SpongeBob's portrayal in post-first movie seasons (Season 4-Season 9) became increasingly negative as a result of his worst traits being exaggerated through the show's flanderization, with his portrayal in "A Pal for Gary" where he was at his worst. Fortunately, this has since been revised following the end of Season 9 which re-earned the fans' love for the character.
An alternate SpongeBob exists in a world where Plankton was successful. Like his mainstream counterpart, he likes his career, likes promotions and gets sad when he makes an error in someone's order. The most significant difference is that he was made co-cashier by Plankton and is employed by him.
An alternate SpongeBob is mentioned in every short of the series, "What if SpongeBob was gone," without SpongeBob, Gary threw a humongous party that ended in disaster; Patrick in this universe cannot hunt jellyfish properly; Sandy gets injured when playing karate and the Krusty Krab ends in ruins and all would say except Gary, everything's better with SpongeBob.
Other SpongeBobs exist throughout non-TV media. SpongeBob also has friends from other universes as shown in the video game Nicktoons Unite and its other sequels, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots and SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom. In these games, he and Patrick befriend Timmy Turner (as well as his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda), Danny Phantom, Sam Manson, Tak, ZIM, XJ9/Jenny, Stimpy, Jimmy Neutron, Tucker Foley, Goddard, Rocko, and GIR.
He is extremely determined and will often stop at nothing to accomplish a task.
He is very kind. He is a good owner to Gary (most of the time), a good friend to Patrick, Sandy, and is nice to Squidward even though he isn't nice to him (a typical "Love Thy Neighbour" message).
He is very hard-working, enthusiastically working at his seemingly awful, low-paying job.
He comes up with good songs like "Who Am I?", "Sweet Victory", "Ripped Pants", and "The C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G Song"
He is always ready for everything and anything.
In Season 4-Season 9, he got horrendously flanderized. He went from being an optimistic, funny, somewhat childish adult to a very obnoxious, immature, unfunny, troublemaking, melodramatic, and straight-up man-child. However, he redeemed himself in the new seasons as he goes back to his original personality though he recovered from flanderization first in the 8th season.