SpongeBob SquarePants (character)

"I'm ready!"

- SpongeBob's catchphrase

SpongeBob SquarePants is the eponymous protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name. Created and designed by the show's creator Stephen Hillenburg, he is characterized as a a childish and joyful yellow sea sponge who lives in a pineapple house. He is often seen hanging out with his best friend Patrick Star, as a fry cook at the fast food restaurant The Krusty Krab alongside his neighbor Squidward Tentacles, and attending Mrs. Puff's Boating School, owned by Mrs. Puff. The character is derived from on Bob the Sponge, a character Hillenburg had created for his unpublished educational book The Intertidal Zone in the late 1980s.

SpongeBob is voiced by Tom Kenny. Having appeared in most episodes of the series, as well as its spin-offs Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years and The Patrick Star Show and film adaptations, he is widely considered the most popular Nickelodeon character, and is considered by some fans as its unofficial mascot.

Physical appearance
SpongeBob is a porous yellow sponge with large blue eyes, a mouth with prominent front teeth, dimples and freckles. He resembles a kitchen sponge more than a sea sponge, as when the show was only a rough idea, Stephen Hillenburg decided that he looked funnier as an ordinary kitchen sponge. SpongeBob can morph into other shapes at will, and can grow back pieces that fall off of him. His limbs can become variable in length and shape at will and are retractable as well as detachable. In the episode, Graveyard Shift, it is revealed that SpongeBob's limbs can seemingly regenerate instantaneously. Also, they are somewhat edible, as SpongeBob was seen munching on a barrel of them whilst listening to Squidward's tale of the Hash-Slinging Slasher. He is 22, and likes to drive Squidward crazy.

SpongeBob typically wears shiny black shoes that squeak when he walks, with an almost spheric bulge at the front (although still a part of the shoe proper, unlike the balls of clown shoes). He usually wears a pair of white underwear underneath his pants, although he has been seen wearing blue, green, and red underwear with hearts on them (all at the same time, nonetheless) and even pink to honor his best friend, Patrick. At night, he sometimes wears a green bathrobe, but mostly goes to sleep with his underwear, socks and shoes. When he goes swimming at the Goo Lagoon, he wears a pair of blue swimming trunks (although he still wears his underpants, socks and shoes). He also wears a red bow tie in exchange for his necktie on special occasions.

Although sponges are invertebrates, SpongeBob has been shown to have bones in several episodes.

Biography
SpongeBob SquarePants was born on July 14, 1986 to Margaret and Harold SquarePants. He lives in a large pineapple-shaped house with his pet sea snail Gary. The house is beside Squidward's house (a moai) and is also near Patrick's house (a rock). As a kid, SpongeBob attended Kamp Koral with his friends.

SpongeBob works as the fry cook at the Krusty Krab, the most popular restaurant in Bikini Bottom. He cooks and makes Krabby Patties. During his spare time, he plays with his best friend Patrick Star. He is also a student at Mrs. Puff's Boating School, a driving school owned by Mrs. Puff. Having failed 1,258,056 times, he is the only creature in the school's history to fail the test.

Personality
SpongeBob is a fun-loving, hyperactive, clueless, childish, and accident-prone sea sponge with a happy-go-lucky personality. Despite being portrayed this way, he is relatively smart and knows about what is right, an example being telling Patrick angrily not to draw his picture of calling Mrs. Puff a "big, fat, meanie" because she's a teacher. He is extremely determined and will often stop at nothing to accomplish a task. He is also somewhat dramatic to the people who are kind to him: for example, to the mailfish. He is also over-confident. Sometimes, though, he shows his devious side when trying to get Mr. Krabs and Plankton to work together. He sometimes makes mountains out of molehills, such as losing his name tag. It is also suggested that he deceived the Tattletale Strangler in an elaborate plot to get him back to jail.

SpongeBob is very kind-hearted and innocent, and very rarely acts openly mean to anyone, even those who find him an annoyance and act cruelly to him. He is a very selfless and loyal person, especially towards those close to him. His selfless nature is most notably shown in "Best Day Ever", where he sacrifices his "perfect day" to help his friends. Despite his well-meaning intentions, SpongeBob's actions often annoy and cause trouble for those around him, most notably his next-door neighbor, Squidward Tentacles.

SpongeBob can become scared easily and usually panics when frightened. He is afraid of the dark and clowns. He also hates hot sauce. Occasionally, SpongeBob is too ignorant to notice impending danger and his unworldly thinking may put himself or others in peril. He also cannot detect lies or malice as easily as the other characters, mainly due to his naïve nature. In "A Pal for Gary", when Gary is being violently attacked and nearly eaten by Puffy Fluffy, SpongeBob takes no action and instead accuses Gary of harassing Puffy. Another example is "Home Sweet Rubble", when it takes SpongeBob a few moments to realize that his house is in serious need or repair.

Furthermore, SpongeBob also goes to great lengths to impress others and achieve his goals as seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II", where SpongeBob wrongly attacks an innocent Atomic Flounder to impress Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. SpongeBob attempts to steal Patrick's box in "The Secret Box." He also tries to steal Betsy Krabs' underwear along with Patrick and Mr. Krabs in "Mid-Life Crustacean". In "Doing Time", SpongeBob and Patrick force the receptionist of the local bank to give them all his money. This was done in an attempt to get arrested and free Mrs. Puff from jail. In "Hall Monitor", SpongeBob enters the window of a couple's house and disturbs them while on hall monitor duties. In "The Thing", SpongeBob and Patrick break into the zoo at night to free "Smelly" from his cage. In "Safe Deposit Krabs", he and Patrick break into the local bank at night to free Mr. Krabs from the safe vault. In "The Great Snail Race", SpongeBob overexerts Gary as a preparation method for the following snail race. This causes extreme discomfort to Gary and eventually results in him collapsing on his way to the finish line; however, SpongeBob eventually noticed the error in his ways. In "Employee of the Month", SpongeBob sets up many traps on Squidward in an attempt to sabotage his Employee of the Month Award. In "Just One Bite", SpongeBob handcuffs himself to Squidward, forcing him to eat a Krabby Patty. In "Shuffleboarding", he and Patrick, while dressed as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy respectively, go around arresting citizens for actions that do not count as crimes, such as chewing gum too loudly and being too old. In "SpongeBob's Last Stand", SpongeBob and Patrick resist the government-sanctioned construction of the Shelly Superhighway and encourage the rest of the town to join their protest through a song. The police eventually notice the boys rebelling against the government's authority and imprison them in the middle of nowhere. However, on SpongeBob's part, his arrest was for playing the sitar without a license.

SpongeBob also feels the need to impress Mr. Krabs and to protect the Krusty Krab and the Krabby Patty secret formula at all costs. In "Call the Cops", SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs impersonate police officers in hopes of retrieving the secret formula. He also likes to impress his boating teacher, Mrs. Puff, despite his reckless driving. Beginning with "Boating School", an ongoing plot point is SpongeBob failing his driver's test due to his inability to drive safely. His poor driving skills have caused him to run over pedestrians, rapidly switch lanes, drive on the sidewalk, crashing into buildings and property, harm his passengers, and lastly damage his vehicle. Despite all the damage he causes, SpongeBob is never arrested or charged for his dangerous driving; instead, Mrs. Puff is, who the authorities believe is failing to educate him.

These actions can often lead to SpongeBob entering by trespassing. SpongeBob and Patrick have a frequent tendency to enter Squidward's house without his consent, which reaches its epitome in "Good Neighbors" and becomes a plot point of the said episode. Additionally, in "Survival of the Idiots", he and Patrick invade Sandy's treedome during the winter with little regard to the "Keep Out" sign on her door. In "The Thing", after getting caught by the SWAT Team, SpongeBob and Patrick hide from them by trespassing into the sewers. SpongeBob also invades the sewers with Squidward in "The Sewers of Bikini Bottom", although they did it to retrieve the safe, so this can be justified. In "Toy Store of Doom", SpongeBob and Patrick stay in Toy Barrel past its open hours and hide in a dollhouse so as not to be caught by the security guard.

SpongeBob's personality trait of wanting to impress others and achieve his goals has to lead to him having a history. However, due to his naïvety and gullibility, a lot of these crimes have been committed unintentionally or through the manipulation of others, mainly Squidward, Plankton, Karen, or Mr. Krabs. He has been arrested a total of seven times: for "stealing" a balloon in "Life of Crime", attempting to rob a bank in "Doing Time", failing to invite the police to his party in "Party Pooper Pants", littering Patrick's driver's license in "Driven to Tears", playing sitar without a license in "SpongeBob's Last Stand", falsely accused public disturbance in "Cave Dwelling Sponge", and unintentionally terrorizing a majority of Bubbletown in the episode of the same name.

SpongeBob's innocence also makes him overly trusting and very gullible, easily manipulated by people who intend to use and/or harm him, such as Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton, and he is clumsy. In "Walking Small", SpongeBob assists Plankton in driving the attendants at Goo Lagoon away to make an unauthorized development to its property. However, this was done out of manipulation, and SpongeBob regrets his actions after learning Plankton's motive, therefore returning the beach to its previous state. In "Sandy's Rocket", SpongeBob and Patrick go around capturing everyone in Bikini Bottom and trapping them in the spaceship, believing that the entire population is formed of aliens. Even though he is generally good-natured and easygoing, SpongeBob can get angered easily. When frustrated and angered, SpongeBob can be sarcastic, rude, and condescending to his friends, even Mr. Krabs, whom he treats as a father figure. Squidward is the only character whom SpongeBob never insults when he is angry, except for the episodes "Can You Spare a Dime?" and "Breath of Fresh Squidward."

In "Hooky", SpongeBob is encouraged by Patrick to ditch work during his shift, which causes the unsupervised grill to produce mass amounts of smoke. In "Hall Monitor", he lets his rank of hall monitor go to his head and becomes known as the maniac for his destruction of the city before receiving a scolding from his teacher who was arrested for it. During "Ditchin'", SpongeBob ditches boating school to attend the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy meet and greet, which affects his driver's education and eventually gets Mrs. Puff arrested. He believed King Neptune's trident was his spatula and decided to help all of Bikini Bottom when he was destroying the town after going mad with power in "Trident Trouble." Even Santa stated in Goons on the Moon, that he is a menace despite his good nature.

Despite his overall kindness, SpongeBob occasionally shows a lack of empathy for others and forces people into situations against their will. In the episode "Rodeo Daze", he kidnaps the Bikini Bottomites with bubbles in persuasion for them to save from a rodeo. Additionally, in the episode "A SquarePants Family Vacation", he sends his friends letters promising that everything they love will be at his house, only for it to be a hoax and a plea for them to view his slideshow.

Although SpongeBob has several friends, and many of the citizens of Bikini Bottom often treat him quite friendly, most, if not all, citizens of the city have been shown to have some degree of dislike for him. In the episode "Gone", it is shown that a holiday called "National No SpongeBob Day" has been started by the citizens of Bikini Bottom. As its name suggests, it is an entire day dedicated to getting away from SpongeBob, where the people leave Bikini Bottom for the day. Even goes, stating that everyone needs at least one day away from SpongeBob's laughter. In the ceremony, they build a giant wooden effigy of SpongeBob, burn it down, dance on the ashes, and depart Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is more honored than insulted by this, as he was the "inspiration" for the holiday.

SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob is a good-natured, naive, and enthusiastic sea sponge. In The SpongeBob Musical, his exact species of animal is identified: Aplysina fistularis, a yellow tube sponge that is common in open waters. He resides in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom with other anthropomorphic aquatic creatures. He works as a fry cook at a local fast food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, to which he is obsessively attached, showing devotion to it above other restaurants. His boss is Eugene Krabs, a greedy crab who nonetheless treats SpongeBob like a son. Squidward Tentacles, an octopus, and SpongeBob's ill-tempered, snobbish neighbor, works as the restaurant's cashier. SpongeBob's hobbies include fishing for jellyfish, practicing karate with his friend Sandy Cheeks (a squirrel from Texas), and blowing bubbles.

SpongeBob is often seen hanging around with his best friend, starfish Patrick Star, one of his neighbors. SpongeBob lives in a submerged pineapple with his pet snail, Gary. His unlimited optimistic cheer often leads him to perceive the outcome of numerous endeavors and the personalities of those around him as happier than they really are. He believes, for instance, that Squidward Tentacles enjoys his company even though he clearly harbors an intense dislike for him (though they have been shown to get along on rare occasions). SpongeBob's greatest goal in life is to obtain his driver's license from Mrs. Puff's boating school, but he often panics and crashes when driving a boat.

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
SpongeBob also appears in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, as a 10-year-old camper who spends his summer at a camp named Kamp Koral.