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 Many of the characters' designs originated in an unpublished educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in 1989.
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.
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 [one]". 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 [from Hey 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.
SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a yellow anthropomorphic 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; throughout the series, he tries his hardest on the exams but remains an unintentionally reckless boat driver. 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 neighbor Squidward. He first appears in "Help Wanted".
Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) 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 get the two into 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 aggressive, much like real starfish, and occasionally performs feats of great strength.
Squidward Tentacles (voiced by Rodger Bumpass) is a turquoise Giant Pacific octopus with a large nose who works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab but despises his job and desires a 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 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.
Eugene Krabs (voiced by Clancy Brown) 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 happy. Krabs owns and operates the Krusty Krab restaurant where SpongeBob and Squidward work. He is self-content, cunning, and obsessed with the value and essence of money. He tends to worry 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.
Sheldon Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) and Karen Plankton (voiced by Jill Talley) 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 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 oceanic 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 (except, temporarily, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie). 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 (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence) is a squirrel from Texas who lives in an air-filled glass dome and wears a diving suit to breathe underwater. Whenever any aquatic creatures enter her home, they must wear helmets of water. Sandy works as a scientist, explorer, and inventor. She is a rodeo champion with a number of athletic interests, such as "sand-boarding" and karate. She speaks with a Southern drawl and uses typical Southern slang words and phrases.
Mrs. Puff (voiced by Mary Jo Catlett) 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 boards a vessel. 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 causes destruction around Bikini Bottom during his boating tests.
Pearl Krabs (voiced by Lori Alan) 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 (vocal effects provided by Tom Kenny) 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 character, Gary often serves as a voice of reason and a foil to SpongeBob and solves problems that his owner cannot. He has a pink shell that is impossibly spacious on the inside.
Patchy the Pirate (portrayed by Tom Kenny) 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, 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 (voiced by Stephen Hillenburg in seasons 2–3, Paul Tibbitt from seasons 4–8, Mr. Lawrence from seasons 10–present) 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 obnoxious and often annoys or talks back to Patchy while he is trying to host an episode.
The French Narrator (voiced by Tom Kenny, portrayed by Dan Southworth in live-action appearances) 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 (voiced by Ernest Borgnine as an old man and a young man in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains", Adam West as a young man in "Back to the Past") and his sidekick Barnacle Boy (voiced by Tim Conway as an old man and a young man in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains", Burt Ward as a young man in "Back to the Past") 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 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, both characters have been limited to cameo appearances without dialogue, as the showrunners chose not to recast their voices.
The Flying Dutchman (voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray in the TV series, Mark Hamill in The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants) 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 smelly socks that belong to Monkees singer Davy Jones, which within the series is analogous to Hell and occasionally mentioned as a curse word.
In April 2025, Hamill revealed that he had secretly previously once voiced the character during the fifth season prior to being asked to reprise the role in the Search for SquarePants movie.
King Neptune (voiced by John O'Hurley in the TV series, Paul Tibbitt in "SpongeBob vs. The Patty Gadget") is a 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 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 when the Star family was caught by the guards trespassing, King Neptune recognizes Patrick and has them released since he is a fan of Patrick's show. Through Patrick's suggestion, King Neptune moves the party to the Star family's house.
Larry the Lobster (usually voiced by Mr. Lawrence but voiced by Bill Fagerbakke for a line in "MuscleBob BuffPants" and "House Hunting") is a lobster lifeguard and bodybuilder who thoroughly enjoys exercising, especially if it involves lifting 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.
Mr. Harold SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Mrs. Margaret SquarePants (voiced by Sirena Irwin) are SpongeBob's parents, who more closely resemble round sea sponges than SpongeBob. Harold is 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.
The Realistic Fish head (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) 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 Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, and "T. McTrout" in Toonz2Nite commercials for Nicktoons UK.
Perch Perkins (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) 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 (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is an overweight green bass 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, such as "Swamp Mates".
Nosferatu (real name Count Orlok) 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 (voiced by Tom Kenny impersonating Peter Lorre) 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 (voiced by various actors from seasons 1—10 and by John Gegenhuber since season 11) 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!" One of his critical appearances is in "The Sponge Who Could Fly" wherein he plays a farmer, a sailor, and finally, a human cannonball. 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.
The jellyfish (vocal effects by Tom Kenny) are wild animals who reside in Jellyfish Fields, a meadow in Bikini Bottom, and have a 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 painful welts.
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 currently known to be over 300 incidental characters. These characters can usually be portrayed as customers at the Krusty Krab, beachgoers at Goo Lagoon, or characters making up a large crowd or audience, although they also commonly make supporting and/or speaking roles as well.
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. (short for Bad Guys All Together for Book Club) in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains.
The International Justice League of Super Acquaintances (or IJLSA for short) 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 IV", 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.
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.
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 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.
The characters of SpongeBob SquarePants have appeared throughout popular culture. In 2007, the Amsterdam-based company Boom Chicago created a SpongeBob parody called "SpongeBob SquarePants in China", in which a stereotypically Chinese Patrick refuses to go to work and advocates freedom of speech, rights of leisure, and income. During the same year, production company Camp Chaos created a SpongeBob parody titled SpongeBong HempPants, which features five of the series' characters parodied in the form of various drugs. The show was seen on VH1 and Comedy Central, both owned by Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom. Comedy Central's Drawn Together also features a parody of SpongeBob named "Wooldoor Sockbat" whose theme tune is inspired by SpongeBob's Hawaiian-style background music. Two animated series that former SpongeBob writer Dan Povenmire worked on have incorporated references to the characters; the Phineas and Ferb special "Summer Belongs to You" features a joke in which Phineas Flynn holds up inanimate representations of SpongeBob and Patrick, and the Family Guy episode "Road to Rupert" includes SpongeBob's "Campfire Song Song" from "The Camping Episode". SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Pearl and Squidward all appear in "Major League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", an episode of the sketch comedy Robot Chicken. A segment of the episode, animated in stop motion with SpongeBob toy figures, features Mr. Krabs using crab legs as the secret ingredient for Krabby Patties. In April 2016, Nintendo's Wii U exclusive Splatoon released a splatfest based on the eponymous series by teaming two characters SpongeBob and Patrick, hosted by the pop band Squid Sisters: Callie and Marie, the event began for 24 hours and Team Patrick won.