List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters
The characters in the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants were created by artist, animator, and former marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. The series chronicles the adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Most characters are anthropomorphic sea creatures based on real-life species. Many of the characters' designs originated in an educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in the 1980s.
SpongeBob SquarePants features the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan. Most one-off and background characters are voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Sirena Irwin, Bob Joles, Mark Fite and Thomas F. Wilson. In addition to the series' regular cast, various celebrities from a wide range of professions have voiced guest characters and recurring roles.
The show's characters have received positive critical reception and attention from celebrities. They have made frequent appearances in media outside of the television show, including a theatrical film series, many video games, and two spin-off series. The characters have also been referenced and parodied throughout popular culture. The title character SpongeBob became a merchandising icon during the height of the show's second season and has seen continued commercial popularity.
Creation and conception
Stephen Hillenburg originally conceived early versions of the SpongeBob SquarePants characters in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point, California. During this period, Hillenburg became fascinated with animation, and wrote a comic book titled The Intertidal Zone starring various anthropomorphic forms of sea creatures, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob SquarePants characters, including "Bob the Sponge", who was the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual sea sponge as opposed to SpongeBob. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator.Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Pearl, and Squidward were the first other characters Hillenburg created for the show. Many of their characteristics were based on Hillenburg's experiences during his time at the Ocean Institute or inspired by the traits of their species. Patrick's personality embodies the nature of the starfish; according to Hillenburg, they look "dumb and slow" but are "very active and aggressive" in reality, like Patrick. Hillenburg drew inspiration from his former manager at a seafood restaurant while creating Mr. Krabs. According to him, this manager was redheaded, muscular, and a former army cook; these traits were all adapted into Krabs' character. His decision to design Pearl was influenced by his regular supervision of whale watches at the Ocean Institute, as well as by a cetacean skeleton at the institute. He drew Pearl with an oversized, almost geometric head as a reference to sperm whales having the largest brain size of any extant animal on Earth. He designed Squidward as an octopus because of the species' bulbous mantle; the octopus, he said, has "such a large bulbous head and Squidward thinks he's an intellectual, so of course he's gonna have ". Hillenburg drew Squidward with six tentacles because "it was really just simpler for animation to draw him with six legs instead of eight".
Several additions were made to the series' main cast before and after Hillenburg pitched the series to Nickelodeon; in his series bible, he added Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel clad in a diving suit, as a new friend of SpongeBob. Plankton and Karen were included in his bible but were not meant to make regular appearances; Plankton's voice actor Mr. Lawrence said that he "was only supposed to be in one or two episodes, but I was a writer on the show and I really liked this character". Following his first voice recording, Lawrence drafted some of his own ideas, hoping to "prove Plankton could survive as more than a one-note character". From then on, Plankton and Karen's roles in the series grew as Lawrence wrote ideas to give them more personality; notably, he decided to write Karen as Plankton's wife, rather than just his computer as was originally intended. They were both officially promoted to main cast members in the credits of the 2004 theatrical film, in which they play central roles.
Hillenburg added Mrs. Puff in response to a request by Nickelodeon that SpongeBob attend school. Nickelodeon executives initially wanted to make SpongeBob a child since their most successful cartoons at the time focused on young, school-age characters. Hillenburg stated that the network wanted SpongeBob to be like "Arnold under the sea," but he told them, "No, that's not the show." As a compromise, he decided to put SpongeBob in a boat-driving school, allowing him to keep writing SpongeBob as an adult while also using the school as a main plot element. Showrunner Vincent Waller suggested that if Nickelodeon had creative control over SpongeBob, almost every episode would take place at Mrs. Puff's school, rather than at a variety of locations. The choice to make Mrs. Puff a pufferfish, who inflates into a ball when SpongeBob crashes, was made to evoke the appearance of car airbags.
Main characters
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an anthropomorphic and energetic yellow sea sponge who usually wears brown short pants, a white collared shirt, and a red tie. Like real sea sponges, he can filter-feed and reproduce by budding. He lives in a pineapple house and is employed as a fry cook at a fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab. He diligently attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School but has never passed the test; throughout the series, he tries his hardest on the exams, but remains an unintentionally reckless boat driver and often causes accidents. He is relentlessly optimistic and enthusiastic toward his job and his friends. SpongeBob's hobbies include catching jellyfish, blowing bubbles, playing with his best friend Patrick, and unintentionally irritating his bad-tempered neighbor Squidward. He first appears in "Help Wanted".Patrick Star
Patrick Star is a pink starfish who lives under a rock and wears flowered swim trunks. His most prominent character trait is his extremely low intelligence. He is best friends with SpongeBob and often unknowingly encourages activities that could get the two into lots of trouble. While typically unemployed throughout the series, Patrick holds various short-term jobs as the storyline of each episode requires, particularly with various stints at the Krusty Krab. He is generally slow and even-tempered, but can sometimes get very aggressive, much like real starfish, and occasionally performs feats of great strength.Squidward Tentacles
Squidward Tentacles is a turquoise bad-tempered Giant Pacific octopus with a large nose who works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab, but despises his job and desires a much better life. He is SpongeBob's next-door neighbor with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. His house is between SpongeBob's and Patrick's houses. He believes himself to be a talented artist and musician, but nobody else recognizes his abilities. He plays the clarinet and often paints self-portraits in different styles, which he hangs up around his moai house. Squidward frequently voices his great frustration with SpongeBob, but he genuinely cares for him deep down and will occasionally stick up for him. This has been revealed in the form of sudden confessions when Squidward is in a dire situation or when SpongeBob is severely treated unfairly.Mr. Krabs
Eugene Krabs is a red crab who lives in an anchor-shaped house with his daughter Pearl, who is a whale. He dislikes spending money but will go to great lengths to make Pearl very happy. Mr. Krabs owns and operates the Krusty Krab restaurant where SpongeBob and Squidward work. He is self-content, cunning, and very obsessed with the value and essence of money. He tends to worry much more about his riches than about the needs of his employees. Having served in the navy, he speaks like a stereotypical pirate and loves sailing, whales, sea shanties.Plankton and Karen
Sheldon Plankton and Karen Plankton are the owners of the Chum Bucket, an unsuccessful restaurant located across the street from the Krusty Krab. Their business is a commercial failure because they sell mostly inedible foods made from chum. Plankton is a small dark green planktonic copepod and the self-proclaimed archenemy of Mr. Krabs. His ultimate goal is to steal Krabs' secret formula for Krabby Patties, run the Krusty Krab out of business, and take over the world, but he never permanently succeeds, usually due to either SpongeBob and/or Krabs' efforts, his own incompetence and immaturity, or his own small size. Plankton is a skilled inventor and possesses a Napoleon complex due to his short stature. Karen is Plankton's own invention, a waterproof supercomputer who is more competent than Plankton, being the brains behind most of his evil plans to steal Krabs' secret recipe. She is married to Plankton and usually takes residence in the Chum Bucket laboratory. Karen speaks with a pronounced Midwestern American accent.Sandy Cheeks
Sandy Cheeks is a brown squirrel from Texas who lives in an air-filled glass dome and wears a diving suit to be able to breathe underwater. When aquatic creatures enter her home, they wear helmets of water to survive. Sandy speaks with a Southern drawl and often uses Texas slang. Her hobbies include extreme sports, science experiments, and karate. Sandy is also a member of the Gal Pals, a friend group with Karen, Mrs. Puff, and Pearl.Mrs. Puff
Mrs. Puff is a paranoid pufferfish who is SpongeBob's teacher at boating school, an underwater driver's education facility where students drive boats like cars. She wears a sailor suit and her school is a lighthouse. SpongeBob is Mrs. Puff's most dedicated student and knows the answer to every question on her written and oral exams, but always panics and crashes when he actually tries to drive. She puffs up into a ball when she is scared or injured. As a running gag, she is frequently arrested by the police, usually due to her being responsible for SpongeBob when he unintentionally causes destruction around Bikini Bottom during his boating tests.Pearl Krabs
Pearl Krabs is a teenage sperm whale and Mr. Krabs' daughter. She wants to fit in with her fish peers, but finds this impossible to do because of the large size inherent to her species. She will inherit the Krusty Krab from her father when she grows older, but is still in high school and does not yet have a job at the family business. Pearl's favorite activities are working at the Bikini Bottom Mall, using her father's credit card to buy anything that is in style, and listening to pop music.Gary the Snail
Gary the Snail is SpongeBob's pet sea snail who lives with him in their pineapple home and vocalizes like a cat. Other snails and SpongeBob can understand and talk to him. Depicted as a level-headed, wise, and sophisticated character, Gary often serves as a voice of reason and a foil to SpongeBob and helps solve problems that his owner cannot solve by himself. He has a pink shell that is impossibly spacious on the inside.Supporting characters
Patchy the Pirate
Patchy the Pirate is the host of the series' special episodes. He is a live-action pirate and the president of the fictional SpongeBob fan club. He lives in an unnamed suburb of Encino, Los Angeles, California, and segments hosted by him are often presented in a dual narrative with the animated stories.Patchy has interacted with SpongeBob in "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" where he sent his head to SpongeBob as a gift.
In "SpongeBob's Road to Christmas", Patchy was seen in animated form when SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton stumbled upon his Christmas theme park side hustle that had him operating as Santa Claus. He does provide them with a map to the North Pole.
Patchy made a special guest star appearance on Big Time Rush in the episode "Big Time Beach Party" where he interacted with Carlos Pena Jr. and Logan Henderson.
Potty the Parrot
Potty the Parrot is Patchy's green pet parrot, depicted as a crudely made puppet with googly eyes. The character's name is a reference to "Polly wants a cracker," a phrase often used for parrots to vocally mimic. Potty is quite obnoxious and often annoys or talks back to Patchy while he is trying to host an episode.French Narrator
The French Narrator is an oceanographer who films SpongeBob's world using a camera. He often introduces episodes from off-screen or narrates the intertitles as if the series were a nature documentary about the ocean. He has a thick French accent as a reference to the distinctive speaking style of oceanographer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau. He is normally only heard, but physically appears three times. In "No Free Rides", after being accidentally hit by SpongeBob during a driving test, his legs, which are wearing scuba diving fins, are visible. In "Feral Friends" and "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout", he is shown in live action as a hard hat diver with his face obscured by his helmet and a red beanie hat on top, referencing the beanie hat Cousteau was widely known for wearing. In "Mimic Madness", SpongeBob impersonates him by imitating his voice and wearing a beanie and beard, once again referencing Cousteau.Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
Mermaid Man and his sidekick Barnacle Boy are two elderly, semi-retired superheroes who live in Shady Shoals, a retirement home, and are stars of SpongeBob and Patrick's favorite television show. Mermaid Man is a stereotypically senile senior citizen who dramatically yells "Evil!" whenever he hears the word, while Barnacle Boy is shown to be the smarter, more sensible, and more irritable of the two. Besides being able to breathe underwater and talk to sea creatures, both men can throw water balls and telepathically summon sea creatures to help them fight against crime. "Mermaid Man Begins" confirms that their given first names are Ernie and Tim, referencing the first names of their respective voice actors. Aquaman artist Ramona Fradon drew the characters' comic book adventures. A series of SpongeBob SquarePants official collectors' trading cards published by Topps gives their last names as Huckler and Strangler.Since Borgnine and Conway's deaths in 2012 and 2019, respectively, both characters have been limited to cameo appearances without dialogue, as the showrunners chose not to recast their voices.
The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman is an irritable, mischievous pirate ghost who glows green. He is named after the ghost ship of the same name. He haunts the seven seas because his unburied corpse was used as a window display. He collects souls as a Satan-like character and resides in a cavern containing Davy Jones' Locker, a literal locker stuffed with very smelly socks that belong to Monkees singer Davy Jones, which within the series is analogous to Hell and occasionally mentioned as a curse word.King Neptune
King Neptune is a very powerful, trident-wielding merman god who rules the sea, based on the Roman mythological deity of the same name. In the series, Neptune lives in a palace in Atlantis with his wife Amphitrite and son Triton. He is usually portrayed as very arrogant and selfish, showing little sympathy for the sea's fish populace. Neptune has a mostly teal color scheme with a long auburn beard and hair. He wears gold wrist bands and a matching crown decorated with a scallop ornament, plus a gold belt bearing a seahorse emblem. This version was also known as Neptune XIV as seen when his portrait is shown in Squidward's briefly redecorated room as seen in "Krusty Towers".A different King Neptune is featured in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. In the film, he resides near Bikini Bottom with his daughter Mindy and resembles a light green-skinned king with a robe, a shorter beard and hair, a domed crown to cover his bald spot, and powers limited to what can be exercised through his trident.
In The Patrick Star Show episode "Neptune's Ball", the King Neptune seen in the main series holds the titular ball that the Star family thought they were invited to when Patrick got a hold of Lady Upturn's invitation to it. When King Neptune arrives after the Star family was caught by the guards trespassing, King Neptune recognizes Patrick and has them released since he is a big fan of Patrick's show. Through Patrick's suggestion, King Neptune moves the party to the Star family's house.
Larry the Lobster
Larry the Lobster is a strong lobster lifeguard and bodybuilder who thoroughly enjoys exercising, especially if it involves lifting heavy weights. He is usually seen at Goo Lagoon alongside Scooter. He first appears in "Ripped Pants" and reappears in the spinoff Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years.Harold and Margaret SquarePants
Mr. Harold SquarePants and Mrs. Margaret SquarePants are SpongeBob's parents, who more closely resemble round sea sponges than SpongeBob. Harold is dark brown with glasses and a moustache, while Margaret is dark orange. They seem to live outside of Bikini Bottom, but still take the time to visit their son on occasion. They are proud of SpongeBob, but embarrassed that he still does not have a driver's license.Realistic Fish Head
The Realistic Fish head is an announcer and news anchor fish, resembling a cut-out of a live-action tuna. He also appears in the series' title sequence, lip-syncing part of the song. He has been given various different names throughout the series and tie-in media; it is Mister Fish in SpongeBob's Nicktoon Summer Splash, Elaine in "The Great Patty Caper", Johnny in Battle for Bikini Bottom and SpongeBob SquarePants: [Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated|Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated], and "T. McTrout" in Toonz2Nite commercials for Nicktoons UK.Perch Perkins
Perch Perkins is a perch who works as a famous field news reporter. While the Realistic Fish Head only reports on television news programs, Perch makes physical appearances reporting about events that occur. He is normally purple with a dark purple coat with a black wig and headphones, although some episodes and Nicktoons MLB show him with an orange color scheme and a red coat.Bubble Bass
Bubble Bass is an overweight green bass fish that first appeared in season 1. He is a nemesis of SpongeBob and is very picky about his food. Although initially dormant after season 1, he began to appear far more frequently as a supporting character in season 9, and he has even had a notable share of episodes focused on him in both protagonist and antagonist roles in the series, such as "Swamp Mates".Nosferatu
Nosferatu is a non-speaking vampire from Transylvania, animated by static photo cutouts of Max Schreck's portrayal of the character from the 1922 silent film. He was originally planned to be a one-time guest who makes a cameo at the ending of "Graveyard Shift" for a quick gag, repeatedly switching the lights on and off inside the Krusty Krab late at night as a prank to scare SpongeBob and Squidward. However, he becomes a minor recurring character from Season 11 onwards. He is shown to work as a late night shift manager for the Krusty Krab.Slappy Laslo
Slappy Laslo is a fish whose voice, appearance, and mannerisms are modeled after Peter Lorre. After appearing in "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout", Slappy was shown to work as a butler for Nosferatu in "Squidferatu", "Slappy Daze", and "FunBelievable". Slappy also recurred on The Patrick Star Show as a big fan of the titular show.Old Man Jenkins
Old Man Jenkins is an elderly townsperson who lives at the Shady Shoals retirement home and is a common patron of the Krusty Krab. His appearance and job changed often throughout the first ten seasons. A country style banjo music usually plays whenever he appears. This music was confirmed as a theme song in the episode 'Friend or Foe' when elementary age Eugene Krabs states, "I'd know that theme song anywhere, it's Old Man Jenkins!"In season 11, the series' staff decided on a finite design for Old Man Jenkins, and the actor John Gegenhuber began to consistently voice him. In the stage musical, Old Man Jenkins stirs up hysteria by blaming the impending volcanic eruption on Sandy.
Jellyfish
The jellyfish are wild animals who reside in Jellyfish Fields, a meadow in Bikini Bottom, and have a very strong affinity for music. Within the series, jellyfish behave like sentient insects, squirt jelly, buzz and swarm like bees, and can sting their enemies with electric shocks that leave very painful welts.Incidentals
The incidentals are a large variety of characters who function as the main background characters of the show. They are all each referred as "Incidental" followed by their given model number. Their names, jobs, personalities, relationships, ages, and sometimes gender are inconsistent and tend to differ from each episode. There is an estimated of over 300 incidental characters. These characters can usually be portrayed as customers at the Krusty Krab, beachgoers at Goo Lagoon, police officers, paramedics, or characters making up a large crowd or audience, although they also commonly make supporting and/or speaking roles. Different voice actors have voiced the incidentals throughout the franchise: Charlie Adler, Lori Alan, Dee Bradley Baker, Susan Boyajian, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Mark Fite, John Gegenhuber, Kate Higgins, Sirena Irwin, Rhys Parry Jones, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, Kent Osborne, Sara Paxton, Kevin Michael Richardson, Dana Snyder, Cree Summer, Jill Talley, James Arnold Taylor, Paul Tibbitt, and Thomas F. Wilson.While the majority of them do not have consistently used names, there are however a few that do have consistent names:Fred/Incidental 1 is a brown grouper who is one of the most commonly used incidentals. He is usually known for yelling "My leg!" during disastrous situations. He even has an episode that revolves around him that is known as "My Leg!"Tom/Incidental 6 is a brown trout and "inbetween"-type incidental that makes many background and supporting appearances. He is also known for his role in the episode "Chocolate with Nuts" where he angrily screams "Chocolate!" throughout nearly the entire episode.Suzy/Incidental 7 is a gray minnow and "hotdog"-type incidentlal who makes several background and supporting appearances. She is also sometimes portrayed as a friend of Pearl in a few episodes.Don the Whale/Incidental 32 is a strong and muscular orca whale who makes slightly uncommon appearances throughout the series. He is usually portrayed to be a bodybuilder at Goo Lagoon and can usually be seen among other strong and muscular characters such as Larry the Lobster.Morty/Incidental 37B is a purple fish with a green cap that makes many background and supporting appearances. He has also occasionally been portrayed as a young paperboy that is known as the "newsie" and is a "hotdog"-type incidental.Scooter/Incidental 38 is a lavender fish that makes semi-common background and supporting appearances. He can usually be seen at Goo Lagoon as a beachgoer and is also well known for his high pitched shaky voice as well as commonly speaking in a surfer lingo.Lou/Incidental 39 is an orange fish that is usually portrayed as a vendor and other occupations throughout the series like working as a vendor, a cashier at Barg-N Mart, a diner chef in "Missing Identity", a whoopee cushion truck driver in "Funny Pants", a torch salesman in "Sing a Song of Patrick", a baker in "Mooncation", or a sailor for Captain Scarfish's crew in "Pull Up a Barrel". He tends to make more supporting roles over background roles.Harold/Incidental 40 is a cyan dogfish and "hotdog"-type incidental sporting a white T-shirt and red shorts who is one of the most commonly used incidentals. He is known for having an aggressive personality throughout the series.Judy/Incidental 45 is a pink fish that makes many background and supporting appearances. She has also been portrayed as a teenager in some of her appearances, as well as being a friend of Pearl.Old Man Jenkins/Incidental 80 is an elderly gray fish that regularly sits in a hospital bed. He is not a too commonly used incidental, but is known for his role in "The Sponge Who Could Fly" as the farmer/sailor/stuntman who constantly claims his dislike towards SpongeBob's "flying machines" throughout the episode.Old Man Walker/Incidental 83 is a green elderly fish that makes many background and supporting appearances throughout the series. He can commonly be used as a side gag where he is used as an inanimate object by other characters or when they tend to easily take advantage of him. He had an episode that revolves around him that is known as "We Heart Hoops."Old Man Jenkins/Incidental 86 is a yellow elderly fish that makes uncommon appearances throughout the series. He is usually found sitting in a wheelchair.Mary/Incidental 87 is an elderly lady fish that makes somewhat common appearances throughout the series. She is known for having an ancient mother named "Baby Prunes" that can be seen aside her in a few episodes.Steve/Incidental 107 is an olive green salmonidae that is one of the most commonly used incidental characters in the show. He has had many different identities and occupations throughout the series like most incidentals do. While he wasn’t necessarily as commonly used in the first four seasons, in season 5 and onwards, he tends to make a speaking or supporting role in nearly every episode he appears in. The "Blackened Sponge" episode featured a female version of Steve.Officer Nancy/Incidental 118B is a lavender police officer fish who makes uncommon appearances throughout the series. She usually makes supporting roles and hardly almost ever makes background roles.Mr. Mailman/Incidental 154 is a tan fish that is regularly portrayed to be a mail man. He usually makes more supporting roles over background roles. He also commonly appears to have an annoyance towards SpongeBob in many episodes, much like Squidward.Sandals/Incidental 156 is an olive fish that makes many background and supporting roles throughout the series. In many of his appearances, he is usually portrayed to be a somewhat meek and easy going character. He is regularly voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, but has had other voice actors as well.Helen the Felon/Incidental 173 is a young pink girl fish that makes somewhat uncommon appearances throughout the series, although she is one of the more newer incidentals that was introduced in season 11. She is portrayed to be a notorious criminal that takes the appearance of an innocent little girl. In the episode "Delivery of Doom," she is revealed to be a supervillain that is part of the latest incarnation of E.V.I.L.
Other characters
Recurring and guest characters
' is the owner of Grandma's Apron, the store where Pearl goes to work in "Mall Girl Pearl". An older woman, Beatrice convinces Pearl not to let her teenage friends make fun of her job.- '
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy enemies
In Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's show within a show and real-life, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have fought an assortment of villains where some of them have encountered SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star before. Some of them are shown to be members of the B.G.A.T.F.B.C. in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains. On occasion, some of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's enemies come together as E.V.I.L..Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's rogues gallery consists of:' is a villain against Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. He is a giant brown bubble with a face that is vulnerable to pointy items. The Dirty Bubble was one of the founders of the evil organization E.V.I.L. in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" and was part of the group again in "Captain Pipsqueak" and "Delivery of Doom". He is also shown to be a member of the B.G.A.T.F.B.C.
- '
International Justice League of Super Acquaintances
The International Justice League of Super Acquaintances are a group of the ocean's greatest superheroes that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are associated with. An earlier version of the group was called the International Justice Lodge of Super Acquaintances as seen in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains".In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V", SpongeBob and his friends had to pose as some of its members to help Mermaid Man fight E.V.I.L. In "The Bad Guy Club for Villains", it was shown that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's enemies were not familiar with them at first.Quickster - A superhero and member of the IJLSA with super-speed. SpongeBob SquarePants once operated as him.Captain Magma - A superhero with a volcano on his head and member of the IJLSA that can shoot lava when "Krakatoa" is shouted. Squidward Tentacles once operated as him.Professor Magma - A magma-themed superhero and member of the IJLSA that was seen in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains".Elastic Waistband - An elastic superhero and member of the IJLSA. In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V", Elastic Waistband is shown to have elasticity where Patrick Star once operated as him. In "The Bad Guy Club for Villains", Elastic Waistband was redesigned where his torso can inflate to ball shape when he unbuckles his waistband.Miss Appear is a superhero with invisibility and member of the IJLSA. In "The Bad Guy Club for Villains", Miss Appear was redesigned to resemble a parody of Wonder Woman.Pyrite Ponderer is a pyrite-themed superhero and member of the IJLSA who wields the Hairnet of Knowledge that can do other things. He is known for giving advice and making comments like "Do we really exist" and "violence resolves nothing".
Film characters
' is King Neptune's daughter. She is Patrick's love interest. She is a motherly and friendly person and a very good friend of SpongeBob and Patrick. She appears in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. She isn't mentioned in the TV series, but does appear in the special "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout".- '
Spin-off characters
' and ' are characters in the spin-off series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years. They are a pair of hillbilly narwhals who live in the Kelp Forest. The narwhal siblings have crossed over into the main series on different occasions: the episodes "Something Narwhal This Way Comes", "Upturn Girls", "Sandy, Help Us!" and "In the Mood to Feud". In the main series, Nobby is shown to be larger and muscular while Narlene was just taller.- The ' is a sea monster in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years that was seen living in the lake at Kamp Koral where he is shown to have a comedic side. He later crossed over into the main series where he appeared at the end of "Abandon Twits".
- ' and ' are Patrick's parents in the spin-off series The Patrick Star Show. Cecil works at the Undersea Space Center while Bunny works from home. Cecil later appeared in the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years episode "Help Not Wanted" where he visits his son and was revealed to have been a former camper at Kamp Koral as well as made cameos in the main series.
- ' is a purple squid. She was first introduced in "Goons on the Moon" as a teenage friend of Pearl. In the spin-off The Patrick Star Show, Squidina is Patrick's adopted sister and the director and producer of Patrick's imaginary talk show. She later crossed over into the main series.' is Patrick's grandfather and Cecil's father in The Patrick Star Show. He is the smartest member of the Star family.
- ' is a sea urchin who is the Star family's pet in The Patrick Star Show.' is a sentient toilet in The Patrick Star Show.
- ' is a sea bunny in The Patrick Star Show. While often shown to be feuding with Ouchie, they get along well when they are with Tinkle. is a red crab kid who was originally the intern for Squidina in "Squidina's Little Helper" before stealing from the Star family to start The Crabina Show that her older sister Crabina starred in. In "Best Served Cold", Fentin is jealous with Squidina's success and joins with the other characters who had grievences with the Star Family in a revenge plot.
Families
SquarePants
' is SpongeBob's cousin who bullied him during their childhoods. In his lone appearance, BlackJack was imprisoned for littering but has since been released. While he appeared large in flashbacks, BlackJack somehow shrunk by the present day.- '
Star
and Margie Star are Patrick's parents in the original series. Their identities are temporarily taken by another starfish couple named Marty and Janet in "I'm with Stupid". In "Rule of Dumb", it is revealed that Herb is a brother of Gary's father, Sluggo, making Patrick and Gary first cousins. The characters were later dropped when Cecil Star and Bunny Star were created.Tentacles
' is Squidward's elderly mother. In earlier episodes, she only appears as hallucinations tormenting Squidward, but later appears in person in "Krusty Towers". She lives in a moai like Squidward, but with a curly hair-like structure on its roof and earring-like balls hanging from the sides.- '
Krabs
' is Mr. Krabs' overbearing mother who still treats him slightly like a child. She is a friend of Old Man Jenkins. She first appears in "Sailor Mouth" and has been mostly retired from the show, aside from appearances in "Lame and Fortune" and later "Momageddon". Although her name is not officially mentioned in the series, she is referred to as "Betsy" in some merchandising.- '
Plankton
' is Plankton's hillbilly father. In "Blood is Thicker than Grease and Oil", Gordon leads his family in opening a potato restaurant next to Plankton after winning the lottery. It doesn't last long when Plankton joined the business after failing to ruin it and placing chum in the potatoes. In "In the Mood to Feud", it is revealed that Gordon's hillbilly family has feuded with Nobby and Narlene's family over the field of bumble jellies in between their properties in Bikini Holler.- '
Narwhal
' is the father of Nobby and Narlene and the patriarch of their hillbilly narwhal family. The episode "In the Mood to Feud" revealed that Pa Narwhal's family have been feuding with Plankton's family over the field of bumble jellies in between their properties in Bikini Holler.- '
Ancestors
' and Primitive Star are the earliest known ancestors of SpongeBob and Patrick, who appear in the episode "SB-129" when Squidward time-travels to the past. Upon seeing the two of them electrocuting themselves with a jellyfish, Squidward inadvertently teaches them the sport of Jellyfishing, which results in Squidward being documented as the inventor of Jellyfishing when he returns to the present. They also seem to strongly dislike Squidward's clarinet music, as they ruthlessly chase down Squidward upon hearing it. The scene where Primitive Sponge and Primitive Star are confronted by Squidward upon noticing them torturing themselves with the jellyfish, particularly, the pose struck by Primitive Sponge, has become an internet meme, referred to as "SpongeGar".- '
Reception
The characters of SpongeBob SquarePants have been well-received overall. The titular character SpongeBob has become very popular with children and adults.The character's popularity has spread from Nickelodeon's original demographic of two- to eleven-year-olds, to teenagers and adults. The popularity of SpongeBob translated well into sales figures. In 2002, SpongeBob SquarePants dolls sold at a rate of 75,000 per week, which was faster than Tickle Me Elmo dolls were selling at the time. SpongeBob has gained popularity in Japan, specifically with Japanese women. Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom purposefully targeted marketing at women in the country as a method of building the SpongeBob SquarePants brand. Skeptics initially doubted that SpongeBob could be popular in Japan as the character's design is very different from already popular designs for Hello Kitty and Pikachu. However, the characters have also attracted some negative reception, including SpongeBob himself, who was listed as number four on AskMen's Top 10: Irritating '90s Cartoon Characters. Nevertheless, SpongeBob SquarePants was ranked ninth on TV Guide's top 50 cartoon characters.
The show's characters have received recognition from celebrities and well-known figures in media. Barack Obama named SpongeBob his favorite television character in 2007 and admitted that SpongeBob SquarePants was "the show I watch with my daughters." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also said he watches the show with his children. Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis were reported to be fans of the SpongeBob character in 2008. Film critic A. O. Scott named Squidward, Mrs. Puff, and Sandy his favorite characters on the show in 2004. American singer Pharrell Williams, who says he is a fan of the show, said that "Squidward is my favorite, though. If he was a human, I would hang out with him." Fashion designer Peter Jensen designed a line of sweatshirts inspired by SpongeBob and called Mrs. Puff his "absolute favorite" character in an interview with Women's Wear Daily. Peter Keepnews of The New York Times commended Patrick, calling him "a popular character, and the new episodes illustrate why: He is unfailingly enthusiastic, touchingly loyal and absolutely undeterred by his intellectual limitations. Hilariously voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, he is not just an endearing comic creation but a role model for idiots everywhere."
The show's voice actors have received attention from honorary organizations for the portrayals of their characters. Mary Jo Catlett and Tom Kenny were both nominated at the 29th Annie Awards ceremony in 2001 for their vocal performances as Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob. Kenny received an additional two nominations at the 2008 and 2010 ceremonies, the latter of which he won for voicing SpongeBob in "Truth or Square". In 2012, Rodger Bumpass' performance as Squidward was nominated for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards. Additionally, Patrick as a character won in the category "Favorite Animated Animal Sidekick" at the 2014 Kids' Choice Awards.
Appearances in other media
The characters of SpongeBob SquarePants appeared in the 2004 theatrical film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and its 2015 sequel. Both films feature the regular television cast and blend animated elements with live-action sequences. They have also been featured in a variety of associated merchandise, particularly video games; from 2001 to 2013, the SpongeBob franchise had multiple video games released each year, with the show's voice cast reprising their character roles for many titles. Every main cast member with the exception of Clancy Brown has voiced their respective characters in each game that they appear; Brown's character Mr. Krabs is instead voiced by Joe Whyte in SuperSponge, Operation Krabby Patty, and Battle for Bikini Bottom and by Bob Joles in the SpongeBob's [Truth or Square (video game)|Truth or Square game].The SpongeBob characters have been featured at a variety of theme park attractions. In 2003, Kings Island announced plans to build the first SpongeBob-themed amusement park ride, a dark ride roller coaster titled "Mrs. Puff's Crash Course Boating School". Plans were halted when Kings Island changed ownership, and the first ride featuring SpongeBob theming was instead "SpongeBob's Boatmobiles"—also based on Mrs. Puff's Boating School and opened in 2003—at California's Great America. Amusement rides based on the characters have since been opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Dreamworld, Movie Park Germany, and Nickelodeon Universe. Two 4D films featuring 3-D models of the characters and a motion simulator experience, SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D and The Great Jelly Rescue, were sold to theme parks and aquariums worldwide in 2005 and 2013 respectively.
Mascot costumes of the SpongeBob characters debuted at Nickelodeon Suites Resort in 2005 and have made regular appearances at Nickelodeon events since. Plankton, Karen, and Gary are the only main characters who have never been realized as mascots; at events, they are normally depicted as puppets or statues instead. In December 2011, a parade of SpongeBob mascots and floats titled "SpongeBob ParadePants" opened at Sea World Australia. In November 2017, a Broadway musical based on the show began previews at the Palace Theatre, and opened in December 2017. Unlike previous shows, the characters were not represented with mascot costumes but by actors wearing clothing inspired by the characters' designs.