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List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters

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File:Spongebob Characters.jpg
SpongeBob SquarePants main characters (from left to right): Plankton, Mr. Krabs, Sandy, SpongeBob, Squidward, Patrick, and Gary.

The characters in SpongeBob SquarePants were created by artist, animator and former marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. In addition to the series' main cast, various celebrities have voiced roles in SpongeBob SquarePants. Notably, Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voice the roles of recurring characters Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy respectively, while others have taken a one off part.

Creation and conception

File:Calartsentrance.jpg
Creator Stephen Hillenburg became an animator during his period of study at the California Institute of Arts.

Creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived the characters for SpongeBob SquarePants in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute.[1] During his period, Hillenburg became fascinated in animation, and wrote a comic book entitled The Intertidal Zone starring various anthropomorphic forms of sea life, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob SquarePants characters,[2] including "Bob the Sponge", who was the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual sea sponge as opposed to SpongeBob.[3] In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator.[2][3]

Main characters

SpongeBob

Main article: SpongeBob SquarePants (character)

SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) is the main character of the series. He is a optimistic, energetic, lively sea sponge who physically resembles a kitchen sponge and lives in a pineapple-shaped house. He is often shown in the series working at The Krusty Krab as a fry cook. SpongeBob's hobbies in the show include practicing karate with Sandy and catching jellyfish. He attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School, but has never passed; his lack of a driver's license is a running joke in the series.

SpongeBob was originally named "SpongeBoy" by the series creators, but it was later changed due to trademark issues. Green and purple were early color choices for the character before his classic yellow was chosen.[4]

Patrick

Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke) (sometimes referred to as Patrick Starr in subtitles and credits) is a pink, lazy, overweight seastar who is SpongeBob's best friend. He lives under a rock and his most prominent character trait is his lack of intelligence, which differs from one episode to another. In some episodes, Patrick is deprived of even the most rudimentary common sense and knowledge, though occasionally he will have bursts of great intelligence, much to the confusion of everyone around him. He is also considered one of the biggest idiots in all of the Nicktoons universe. Depicted as a negative influence on SpongeBob, he has encouraged dangerous and foolish activities that get the two into trouble. Patrick is a career journeyman who is usually unemployed throughout the course of the series, but holds various short-term jobs as the storyline of each episode requires.

Squidward

Squidward Q. Tentacles (Rodger Bumpass) is SpongeBob and Patrick's effete cephalopod neighbor. His species is ambiguous, and has been referred to as both a squid[5] and an octopus[6] by the series' creators. Squidward lives in a house shaped like an Easter Island Head. He works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab, a job he dislikes. SpongeBob and Patrick consider Squidward their friend, but the feeling is not mutual.[5]

In addition to his malcontent attitude, Squidward is depicted as narcissistic, displaying an unjustified air of superiority. As a result, he is delusional about his talents, such as playing the clarinet, though nobody around him considers him to be very good.

The series' animators illustrated Squidward with six tentacles (two arms and four legs), believing that giving him the eight tentacles of an octopus made him look too burdened.[6]

Mr. Krabs

Eugene H. Krabs (Clancy Brown) is a cheap and selfish crab.[7] He is the owner of the Krusty Krab, as well as SpongeBob and Squidward's employer. Mr. Krabs's greed in the series is exaggerated to the point where he anthropomorphisizes money. At times, he will do nearly anything to obtain and keep money, with little regard for anyone's well-being, including his own. Mr. Krabs has a daughter named Pearl, who is a sperm whale.

Sandy

Sandy Cheeks[8] (Carolyn Lawrence) is a squirrel who is another of SpongeBob's friends. She is the series' only terrestrial character, living in the "Treedome", which is an underwater dome that contains a large oak tree. She is a scientific genius who practices karate with SpongeBob and enjoys extreme sports.[9] She is from the U.S. state of Texas, and therefore she is depicted in the series with a Southern American drawl.

Despite claims that SpongeBob is "somewhat asexual" by the show's creators,[10] several annuals state that SpongeBob holds romantic feelings for Sandy, but none of this is ever mentioned in the show.[11][12] On November 6, 2009, a one-hour special entitled "Truth or Square" aired to commemorate the series' tenth anniversary, playing this relationship off as a hoax.[13]

Plankton

Sheldon J. Plankton (Doug Lawrence) is a green copepod. He is Mr. Krabs' rival and the main antagonist of the series. He operates a struggling restaurant called the Chum Bucket across the street from the Krusty Krab. His primary goal in the series is to steal the Krabby Patty recipe and drive Mr. Krabs out of business. Mr. Krabs and Plankton were once friends, but a dispute over the Krabby Patty recipe ended their friendship. He also has teamed up with several of the Nicktoons universe's all time greatest villans, such as Mr. Crocker. SpongeBob also had a few temporary friendships with plankton, such as in F. U. N. It is revealed that he has an immense fear of whales.

Gary

Main article: Gary (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Gary (Tom Kenny) is SpongeBob's pet sea snail. Within the series, snails are analogous to cats, so Gary almost always vocalizes like a feline.[14] Despite this, other characters can understand and communicate with him. Depicted as a level-headed character, Gary sometimes serves as a voice of reason for SpongeBob, and solves problems that his owner cannot.

Recurring characters

  • Mrs. Puff (Mary Jo Catlett) is a puffer with blonde hair, who is the owner and teacher of a boating school (analogous to driving school, as the "boats" are underwater equivalents to cars). She has post-traumatic stress disorder due to countless wrecks while teaching SpongeBob, and often dreads teaching SpongeBob due to his reckless boat operation. It is mentioned that Mrs. Puff is not her actual name, saying that she'll have to change her name and go to a new town (because of Spongebob) but then decided against having to do it again.
  • Mermaid Man (Old: Ernest Borgnine, Young: Adam West) and Barnacle Boy (Old: Tim Conway, Young: Burt Ward)[15] are two elderly and partially senile superheroes who live in a retirement home, whom SpongeBob and Patrick watch on television. Mermaid Man is the older of the two and is the leader, while Barnacle Boy is his sidekick. According to their book, as seen in the episode "Ditchin'," they are implied to be brothers (and apparently the same age).
  • Pearl (Lori Alan) is Mr. Krabs' sixteen-year-old (as of the episode "Whale of a Birthday") sperm whale daughter. She is frequently embarrassed by her father's cheap attitude, and often forces him to change his habits. Mr. Krabs dotes on her, and no attempt is made to explain their disparity in species. However, there have been some who theorized that Pearl may have been up for adoption as a baby, and Mr. Krabs, figuring it would be a good idea to have a child who would one day inherit the Krusty Krab, decided to take her in as his own daughter (this was probably his only way to be a father, since he appears to have never been married).
  • Larry the Lobster (Doug Lawrence) is a lobster lifeguard of the Goo Lagoon. Larry is a bodybuilder and workout fanatic. Despite his large and muscular physique, he is sometimes shown to be somewhat of a coward.
  • The Flying Dutchman (Brian Doyle-Murray) is a pirate ghost named after a ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman. He lives underwater in a giant ship, and collects souls.
  • Karen (Jill Talley) is Plankton's computer wife that often expresses human emotions with a female North Central American English accent. Karen usually helps Plankton in his schemes to steal the Krabby Patty formula or cause trouble in general. Arguing often in the series, Karen's schemes are either ignored or reiterated by Plankton to take credit for them.
  • The French Narrator (Tom Kenny) speaks at the start of some episodes and during intertitles in American English with a French accent. He is shown in the series as a scuba diver with a TV camera. On the November 16, 2004 episode of the NPR program Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Kenny admitted that Jacques Cousteau was the inspiration for the French narrator, as series creator Stephen Hillenburg considered him an idol.
  • Patchy the Pirate (Tom Kenny) is a live-action character who is a pirate and the president of the SpongeBob fan club.
  • Harold SquarePants (Tom Kenny) and Mrs. Claire SquarePants (Sirena Irwin) are SpongeBob's parents, who more resemble sea sponges rather than SpongeBob's shape as a kitchen sponge.
  • Squilliam Fancyson (Rodger Bumpass) is Squidward Tentacles's wealthy arch-rival.
  • Mrs. Krabs (Paul Tibbitt;[16][17][18] Sirena Irwin) is Mr. Krabs' overbearing mother.
  • Man Ray (John Rhys-Davies & Guy Siner/Bob Joles) and the Dirty Bubble (Charles Nelson Reilly/Tom Kenny) are villains against Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. Man Ray has a humanoid body with a mask and helmet, while the Dirty Bubble is portrayed as a literal giant bubble with a face. Charles Nelson Reilly was the primary voice actor for the Dirty Bubble, but Tom Kenny has portrayed the character in one episode after Reilly's death in 2007.

Minor characters

  • Redbeard Krabs (Dennis Quaid) - Mr. Krabs's grandfather, a pirate who wears similar clothes to those worn by Mr. Krabs. He only appears in the episode "Grandpappy the Pirate".
  • Bubble Bass (Dee Bradley Baker) - An obese bass who is SpongeBob's arch-nemesis. He made his first appearance in "Pickles", and also appears in F.U.N. when SpongeBob and Plankton are at the movie theatre.
  • Stanley S. SquarePants (Christopher Guest) - SpongeBob's cousin who has a similar appearance to SpongeBob, but is much taller. SpongeBob and Stanley try to help each other whenever possible. Stanley is accident prone and causes destruction wherever he goes.[19]
  • Flatts (Thomas F. Wilson) - A mean flounder who went to community college with Patrick and bullies SpongeBob at Mrs. Puff's boating school in the episode "The Bully", for whom Mrs. Puff (Mary Jo Catlett) appreciates for that decision. He was first seen in "Sandy's Rocket".
  • Grandma SquarePants (Marion Ross) and Grandpa SquarePants (Tom Kenny) - SpongeBob's grandparents. Grandpa SquarePants is mentioned in past tense and Grandma SquarePants lives alone and sometimes treats SpongeBob like he is still a little sponge.
  • Old Man Jenkins (Doug Lawrence and Tom Kenny) - An elderly fish who used to live in the Rusty Krab care home before it became the Krusty Krab restaurant, and currently resides at Shady Shoals Retirement along with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. His appearance changes through some episodes. He is voiced by Doug Lawrence and Tom Kenny in separate episodes.
  • Painty the Pirate (Patrick Pinney) - A painting of a pirate head that sings the SpongeBob SquarePants theme. Painty also makes minor appearances in several episodes.
  • Scooter (Carlos Alazraqui/Clancy Brown) - A lavender-colored fish who enjoys surfing. He allegedly died in the second-season episode "Bubble Buddy", except he also returned in future episodes. Scooter talks like a stereotypical surfer dude, but in future episodes he had different voices each episode he appeared in. He is mainly seen at Goo Lagoon.
  • King Neptune (Paul Tibbitt/John O'Hurley (series) and Jeffrey Tambor (movie)[15][20] - The king of the ocean and Atlantis, King Neptune is a massive magical green merman with red glowing hair, although he looks slightly different from one appearance to another. Neptune also appears as one of the movie's characters, although with a very different appearance, including a blindingly bald head; in the movie, he is also shown to have a daughter named Mindy. In SpongeBob and the Clash of Triton, it is shown that he has a son named Triton and is married to Queen Amphitrite. His name is also used frequently as a substitute for "God" in colloquial phrases (e.g. "Sweet mother of Neptune!" and "What in Neptune's name is that?").
  • Jack Kahuna Laguna (Johnny Depp) - A surfer who prefers to be called JKL, and helps SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward get home by teaching them how to surf.[21] He only appears in the special episode "SpongeBob vs. The Big One".
  • Jim the Original Frycook (Patton Oswalt) - A rich fry cook who used to work at the Krusty Krab and later quit because Mr. Krabs didn't give him enough money. He now works at the finest restaurants of Bikini Bottom and visits the Krusty Krab sometimes. He is much wealthier than Mr. Krabs.
  • Janet (Clea Lewis) and Marty (Thomas F. Wilson) - Patrick's fake parents, appearing in the episode "I'm With Stupid".
  • Nicolas Withers (Alton Brown) - The host of the House Fancy television show, in which Squidward and his rival Squilliam were competing against each other over whose house was better.
  • Triton (Sebastian Bach) - King Neptune and Queen Amphitrite's son. He is also the brother of Mindy even though Mindy wasn't shown in the episode "Clash of Triton". Triton was always fascinated by the "mortal" world. When King Neptune destroyed Triton's cure for all "mortal" diseases, Triton confronts King Neptune, forcing King Neptune to lock him away in a cell that shrinks 7% of the way. Triton's first appearance was on the episode "Clash of Triton".
  • Mindy (Scarlett Johansson) - King Neptune's daughter (who only appears in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) who tends to be sweeter and kinder than her dad, and helped Spongebob and Patrick with their journey in the movie. Unlike her father King Neptune, brother Triton and mother Queen Amphitrite, Mindy has no magical powers. Patrick seems to have a crush on Mindy, often calling her pretty and hot.
  • Queen Amphitrite (Victoria Beckham) - The wife of King Neptune, and the mother of Triton and possibly Mindy. She tends to be very caring of her husband, even though it is not proven she shows a minor dislike for Mr.Krabs, after he called her a prankster on the phone pretending to be Amphitrite.
  • Herb & Margie Star are Partick's real mother & father who appeared to visit their son for Starfish Day in the episode "I'm With Stupid".

Reception

The characters of SpongeBob SquarePants have been well-received overall. The titular character SpongeBob has become very popular with both children and adults. The character's popularity has spread from Nickelodeon's original demographic of two to eleven year olds, to teenagers and adults,[22] including college campuses and celebrities such as Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis.[23] 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.[24] 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. Sceptics initially doubted that SpongeBob could be popular in Japan as the character's design is very different to already popular designs for Hello Kitty and Pikachu.[25] However, the characters have also attracted negative reception, including SpongeBob himself, who was listed as number four on AskMen's Top 10: Irritating '90s Cartoon Characters. SpongeBob Squarepants was ranked on TV guide's top 50 cartoon characters.[26]

Arthur Brown, author of Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!, has compared Squidward's voice to that of Jack Benny's.[27]

Appearances in other media

The characters of SpongeBob SquarePants have been parodied various times in popular culture. In 2007, the Amsterdam-based company Boom Chicago created a SpongeBob parody called "Back to Work!" in which a Chinese Patrick refuses to go to work and advocates freedom of speech and rights of leisure and income.[28] During the same year, production company Camp Chaos created a SpongeBob parody entitled SpongeBong HempPants which features a multitude of the series' characters parodied in the form of various drugs.[29] The series has received mixed reviews from television critics; Adam Finley of TV Squad believed the series sounded "hilarious on paper", but ultimately did not demonstrate its full potential.[29]

References

General
  • Banks, Steven (September 24, 2004). SpongeBob Exposed! The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants. Schigiel, Gregg (Illustrator). Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon. ISBN 978-0689868702. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Specific
  1. ^ Banks, pp. 8-9
  2. ^ a b Banks, p. 9
  3. ^ a b Hillenburg, Stephen (2003). The Origin of SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment.
  4. ^ Neuwirth, Allan (2003-04-01). Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies. Allworth Press. p. 51. ISBN 1-58115-269-8. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  5. ^ a b "Meet the Characters: Squilliam Facyson". Nickelodeon. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  6. ^ a b Hillenburg, Stephen (2003). Tide and Seek DVD commentary for the episode "Sleepy Time" (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment. Cite error: The named reference "Hillenbirg" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Krabs "Meet the Characters: Mr.Krabs". 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |publisgfhh= ignored (help)
  8. ^ "Patrick SmartPants". SpongeBob SquarePants. Season 4. Episode 130. 2005-10-21. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Meet the Characters: Sandy Cheeks". Nickelodeon. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  10. ^ BBC Staff (2002-10-09). "Camp cartoon star 'is not gay'". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  11. ^ Apsley, B. (ed.) (2005). SpongeBob SquarePants Annual 2005. Egmont Books Ltd. p. 11. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Apsley, B. (ed.) (2005). SpongeBob SquarePants Annual 2007. Egmont Books Ltd. p. 14. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ "Nickelodeon Culminates SpongeBob's 10th Anniversary Celebration with Star-Studded Prime Time TV Event SpongeBob SquarePants 'Truth or Square' Premiering Friday, Nov. 6 at 8:00 p.m." (Press release). Viacom Staff. 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  14. ^ "Meet the Characters: Gary". Nickelodeon. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  15. ^ a b Imperiale Wellons, Nancy (2001-05-17). "SpongeBob cartoon proves its hip to be SquarePants". The Orlando Sentinel. Kathleen Waltz. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  16. ^ Wiese, Erik (2004). SpongeBob SquarePants season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Sailor Mouth" (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment.
  17. ^ Dohrn, Walt (2004). SpongeBob SquarePants season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Sailor Mouth" (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment.
  18. ^ Overtoom, Andrew (2004). SpongeBob SquarePants season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Sailor Mouth" (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment.
  19. ^ "SpongeBob SquarePants - Episode Guide". New York Times. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  20. ^ Otto, Jeff (2004-11-18). "Interview: Jeffrey Tambor". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  21. ^ Freeman, Hadley (2009-03-19). "The celebrity cult of SpongeBob". Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media Limited 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  22. ^ Park, Michael Y. (2002-10-09). "SpongeBob HotPants?". FOXNews. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  23. ^ Imperiale Wellons, Nancy (2001-05-01). "SpongeBob cartoon proves its hip to be SquarePants". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  24. ^ Strauss, Gary (2002-05-17). "Life's good for SpongeBob". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  25. ^ Kageyama, Yuri (2007-01-24). "SpongeBob Goes Trendy to Win Japan Fans". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ Murphy, Ryan. "Top 10: Irritating '90s Cartoon Characters". AskMen. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  27. ^ Brown, Arthur (2008). Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!. Arthur Brown. p. 85. ISBN 9781435732483.
  28. ^ http://www.boomchicago.tv/boomvideosearch/node Official Boom Chicago "Back to Work!" page
  29. ^ a b Finley, Adam (2007-01-01). "SpongeBong the banned". TV Squad. Retrieved 2009-11-13.

External links

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