SpongeBob SquarePants (character)

SpongeBob SquarePants is the principal character in the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, which first aired in July 1999 on Nickelodeon. The character was designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, and is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Appearance

SpongeBob is an anthropomorphic, yellow, porous, sponge with a face. He has disproportionally thin and short extremities extending from his body (arms and legs), and resembles a kitchen sponge more than a sea sponge. SpongeBob has the ability to transform into other shapes at will, absorb physical blows as well as large amounts of water, and reassemble pieces which fall off of him. His arms can become variable in length and shape at will, are retractable, and can be re-grown at will. He has six long black wiry eyelashes, and his eyes have sky-blue irises with very dilated pupils. Like the rest of SpongeBob's body (excluding his eyes, mouth and brain), his hands and feet are made of sponge.

SpongeBob typically wears a white business shirt, red tie and brown pants, although he has been known to run naked or in his underwear. As a part of the attire, his shoes are shining black, with a spheric bulge at the front (although still a part of the shoe proper, unlike the balls of the clown shoes). He usually wears a pair of white briefs underneath his pants, although he has been seen wearing blue, green, and red briefs (all at the same time, nonetheless) and even pink to honor his best friend, Patrick. At night, he sometimes has a green bathrobe on but mostly goes to sleep with his underwear and nothing else. When he goes "swimming", he wears a pair of blue swimming trunks (although he still wears his underpants underneath). He also wears a red bowtie in exchange for his necktie on special occasions, such as his house party or at the Krusty Krab telling Squirrel Jokes.

General

SpongeBob is extremely sweet, generous, friendly, and most of all, trusting. He has a buck-toothed grin, tremendously expressive face and square body that complement his pure and good nature. SpongeBob will rarely knowingly do wrong or harm to anyone and never without remorse. However, he has been known to shout and curse (even "obscenities") when angry or frustrated. He dislikes scary things and stinky things. Although he is an adult, he has a very childish nature.

Although a good-natured and loving sponge, many characters seem to avoid him. SpongeBob is very easily overexcited about almost everything, like many different or simple/regular tasks, or even things he doesn't know what they mean (like when Squidward invited him to a strike, SpongeBob celebrated for it although he never heard the word before). This, along with his repetitive talking and loud dolphin-like laughter makes him a huge annoyance to others, especially Mrs. Puff and Squidward Tentacles.

Although malleable, SpongeBob's body is generally incredibly weak. He has been known to have enormous difficulty lifting even the lightest of objects. Normally though he can function at a reasonable level. SpongeBob's insides and skeleton have been shown various times (eg. when he appears 'dead' in some future 'flashbacks'), but every time they appear different. His skeleton varies from a simple spine to a perfect square.

SpongeBob has one pet, a snail named Gary (the analogous of a cat on land, it is also thought that a worm is the analogous of a dog on land). Gary's meows are generally understood by most all residents of Bikini Bottom. Gary and SpongeBob live together in a pineapple under the sea.

Job and Leisure

SpongeBob has a career as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant, home of the Krabby Patty. He takes his job very seriously and is very good at it. He was employee of the month over twenty six times, which would mean he has worked there at least two years. Then, in The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, he has had 374 consecutive employee-of-the-month awards, which would mean he has worked there for at least 31 years and 2 months. Because of labor laws, this puts his minimum age around 52 years, 2 months. He works alongside Squidward (much to Squidward's dismay), who manages the cash register for his money obsessed boss, Mr. Eugene Krabs. SpongeBob, in some episodes, seems to have attained a celebrity like status in Bikini Bottom for his masterful fry cooking. In an episode where SpongeBob and Squidward go on strike, he is referred to as a "legend" by a young fry cook who wants to take his job and is asked to sign the young boy’s spatula. In another episode, he is offered a job as Neptune's fry cook, but turns it down because Patrick couldn't come too. And SpongeBob has never been a minute late ever for his job (except in "Hooky" he was two minutes late because he got hooked, and in "Have You Seen This Snail" he was fifteen minutes late because he was so tired from searching for Gary.).

He spends his free time with his friend Patrick Star (a rather dimwitted Starfish), and especially enjoys practicing karate with his other friend Sandy Cheeks (a squirrel from Texas who wears a space suit to breathe underwater), as well as catching jellyfish at Jellyfish Fields. To date, he has caught (and let go) every jellyfish in Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob has yet to keep a boating license (analogous to a driver's license) because he fails every driver's test at Mrs. Puff's Boating School, mainly due to a tendency to become nervous once behind the wheel (he has been shown to know what he's doing everywhere but inside the boat). Despite this, he perpetually and continuously attends boating school in an attempt to get his license (and because he enjoys it), much to the woe and frustration of his boating instructor Mrs. Puff. At one point, Mrs. Puff becomes so frustrated she gives SpongeBob his boating license by allowing him to do "extra credit". She then takes it back realizing how much chaos he could cause with his license.

In several episodes, most SpongeBob video games, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, it is suggested he has brilliant guitar and singing skills. Many times he sings some songs in a different voice, probably by a different voice actor. He also likes to blow bubbles, surf, sun bathe, play the ukulele, watch his favorite TV show, The New Adventures of Mermaidman and Barnacleboy and do his job at the Krusty Krab.

Family

• Mr. SquarePants, SpongeBob's father (voiced by Tom Kenny)
• Mrs. SquarePants, SpongeBob's mother (voiced by Sirena Irwin)
• Grandpa SquarePants, SpongeBob's grandfather (also voiced by Tom Kenny)
• Grandma SquarePants, SpongeBob's grandmother (voiced by Marion Ross)
• Sherm SquarePants, SpongeBob's uncle (also voiced by Tom Kenny)

New Shows

The Misadventures of Spongebob Squarepants

Spongebob Superpants Z

Trivia

• In the German version of the show, SpongeBob's last name is "Schwammkopf" meaning "SpongeHead".
• In the French version of the show, SpongeBob's name is Bob L'éponge, which literally means Bob the Sponge.
• In the Latin America version of the show, SpongeBob's name is "Bob Esponja", which is a literal translation of the English name. It should be noted, however, that in this case "Esponja" is the character's last name, while the "Squarepants" portion of the original english name is dropped altogether.
• SpongeBob's name is written in the CamelCase word style.
• SpongeBob's voice is described as a combination of the mayor of Munchkinland from The Wizard of Oz and Elroy Jetson from The Jetsons.
• SpongeBob's character was influenced by Jerry Lewis, Pee Wee Herman, and Charlie Chaplin.
• SpongeBob was originally going to be called SpongeBoy, but the name was already trademarked.
• The creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg says he didn't want SpongeBob to just be named Bob, because then people would confuse him with a piece of cheese.
• SpongeBob wasn't always a square. Before he was drawn like a luffa.
• The Spanish theme song on the British SpongeBob DVD is not the same as the American DVD Spanish version of the theme song.