Sandy Cheeks

Sandra Jennifer Olivia "Sandy" Cheeks (born November 17) is one of the ten main characters in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.She is an American squirrel from the surface who wears a diving suit and lives in an air-filled glass treedome to survive underwater. She is voiced by Carolyn Lawrence.
Sandy is a thrill seeker who loves extreme sports, and karate. Having come from the state of Texas, she has a Southern drawl and a love for rodeos. She works as a scientist and builds both her treedome and air suit and helmetherself. She is also a member of the Gal Pals along with Karen, Mrs. Puff, and Pearl. 
== Description ==
Sandy comes from the state of Texas, known from the episode of the same name, and exhibits many characteristics of a cowgirl character. She speaks with a heavy Southern accent and uses typical Southern slang words and phrases, such as "Howdy" and "Y'all."
Sandy is very fond of her homeland and its culture, as most notably seen in the episode "Texas," in which she was homesick and considers leaving Bikini Bottom to return to Texas. In that same episode, she takes great offense at SpongeBob and Patrick's negative insults about Texas and violently attacks them when they continue to make fun of it.
Along with Plankton and Karen, Sandy is one of the most intelligent and levelheaded characters on the show. She is a multi-talented scientist and inventor and originally came to Bikini Bottom to study sea creatures and their lifestyles. In "Chimps Ahoy," it is revealed that she is employed by a trio of chimpanzees from the surface, named Professor Percy, Dr. Marmalade and Lord Reginald. As an inventor, Sandy is capable of creating extremely advanced devices with ease. Her inventions include a manned spaceship, a teleporter, a submarine that can shrink to microscopic size and go inside a person's body, a robot in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," and even a Protogenerator 2000 cloning device as seen in "Overbooked."
Sandy is also very athletic and physically fit. She and SpongeBob share a favorite hobby of karate, and frequently fight each other just for fun.
The Karate they use appears to be stylized to fit that of "Play Karate," as they both mainly fight with chops and kicks in a cartoon-like manner. There also appears to be some other forms of fighting in the series, most notably in "Karate Island," where three other fish demonstrate unique fighting styles, which looks more like stylized versions of kung fu rather than karate.
Sandy also enjoys extreme sports and thrill-seeking, which SpongeBob joins her in on occasion, most notably in "Prehibernation Week." Sandy possesses immense strength. She is often seen at Goo Lagoon, lifting weights with Larry the Lobster, of whom she is a good friend, and other muscular fish. In "MuscleBob BuffPants," she shows SpongeBob her immense biceps as well as an intense daily exercise routine. In the same episode, she wins the eighth annual Goo Lagoon Anchor Toss competition by tossing an enormous anchor 510 yards.
In various other episodes, such as "Karate Island," "Christmas Who?," and "Whelk Attack," Sandy usually tends to briefly, but prominently, display her muscular body.
== Personality ==
Sandy is usually kind and caring for SpongeBob and is known to help him out when he's feeling lost, as seen in many newer episodes, such as "Lost in Bikini Bottom." However, in older episodes, she is shown to be much crazier. In "Prehibernation Week," she is shown to be crazier than ever when she forces SpongeBob to play dangerous games, thus leading to him running away. She then forces all Bikini Bottomites to search nonstop for days on end looking for him, to the point when they all run and hide from her just like SpongeBob did. In "To Save a Squirrel," she makes SpongeBob and Patrick almost eat each other just to see if they can survive out in the wild.
Sandy takes full pride in her Texan heritage and shown with her Texan accent. She had a lot of experience there and won't stand any insults of it, as shown in "Texas," where she cries several times throughout the episode because she missed her old homeland and even made a song dedicated to it. SpongeBob and Patrick then make fun of the state. She is offended by them mocking Texas, and thus she chases both of them down and brutally attacks Patrick.
She has also been shown to have a strong competitive streak and a high opinion of herself. In "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm," she completely ignores SpongeBob's warnings about the Alaskan Bull Worm and tells him that she is "too Texas tough," only to discover the hard way that the Bull Worm is indeed too much for her to handle. In "Pressure," she continuously brags that land creatures are better than sea creatures and nearly drowns herself in an attempt to "prove" it. In "Squirrel Jokes," she almost kills SpongeBob just because he kept making jokes about her.
In "Survival of the Idiots," Sandy is shown during her hibernation as an obese, monstrous version of herself since before going into hibernation, animals must have tremendous amounts of body fat and energy reserves to survive the winter. SpongeBob and Patrick enter her snow-filled treedome and disturb her sleep, and the semi-conscious Sandy viciously attacks them, believing them to be Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry, the two outlaws from her dreams.
She can be overly competitive, which is best seen in "Squirrel Jelly," where she even harms her friends due to her competitive nature. Also, in the same episode, she burnt Jellyfish Fields to capture all the Jellyfish with her super suit.
Despite her pride and competitive nature, she's still one of the most caring and levelheaded characters on the show, and often helps her friends and save them from danger.
=== Abilities and talents ===
Sandy is smart, athletic, and talented, and therefore has many skills, such as:
* Karate: Out of all the characters in the show who practice karate, Sandy is the best at it; she has green karate gear.
* Science: Sandy has shown to have a vast knowledge and passion of science: several episodes feature her doing experiments, beginning with "Sandy's Rocket," which revealed that she is an astronaut. As the series progressed, she did more and more science.
* Singing: Sandy is a very good singer; the episode "Texas" marks the first time she is shown singing.
* Guitar: Sandy has played guitar while singing several times. Also, in the episode "Band Geeks," she is the lead guitarist of the band.
* Saxophone: Sandy is seen holding a saxophone in the episode "Band Geeks". It is unknown if she may also be skilled in playing the instrument.
* Violin: Sandy plays the violin in the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years episodes "Pat's A Li'l Sinker" and "Helter Shelter."
* Lasso: Sandy can throw a lasso very easily, such as in "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm" and "The Gift of Gum." Also, in video games such as Battle for Bikini Bottom and Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated, she can throw her lasso to catch or even break things that are far away.
* Gliding: In Battle for Bikini Bottom, Sandy can use her lasso to glide.
* Math: Sandy is seen giving a math lesson to intelligent Patrick in "Patrick SmartPants."
* Holding her breath: Sandy has been seen holding her breath for long periods in many episodes. However, after a while, she has to find an air supply for herself.
* Inventing: In several episodes, such as "Chimps Ahoy" and "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," Sandy has created many useful inventions using her inventing skills.
* Driving: In the episode "To Save a Squirrel," Sandy is shown to drive a boatmobile with the style of a jeep.
* Survival skills: Sandy is shown to have good survival skills in "To Save a Squirrel."
* Sandboarding: In "Prehibernation Week," Sandy is sandboarding on Sand Mountain. Also, in "Mooncation," Sandy is "Moon-Crater Boarding."
* Jellyfishing: Sandy is fascinated by jellyfish. The Employee of the Month video game, "I Had an Accident," and "Squirrel Jelly" show her jellyfishing.
* Bodybuilding and muscle growth: In "MuscleBob BuffPants," "Christmas Who?," "Karate Island," and "Whelk Attack," Sandy is shown to have huge muscles, and seems to get bigger and huge each time they are displayed, and growing at almost pure will.
* Cooking: She is shown to make fantastic Nutty Butter. She is a stunt chef, with the ability to cook food rapidly. She was eventually hired by Mr. Krabs to perform tricks with SpongeBob.
* Extreme Sports: Sandy is shown to be fond of extreme sports as revealed in "Prehibernation Week."
== Trivia ==
* Stephen Hillenburg stated in the "Everybody's Talking: The Voices Behind SpongeBob SquarePants" special feature on The Complete 1st Season DVD and a 2014 interview that he created Sandy as "a strong female character that could be a friend to SpongeBob but not a love interest."
** However, when Tim Hill helped Hillenburg create a pitch bible for SpongeBob in 1996, it was suggested that a hint of romance should be added between SpongeBob and Sandy.﻿[citation needed] This idea was included in the bible, but Hillenburg eventually decided against Sandy being a love interest in the show.
* SpongeBob is seen imitating Sandy in "Gone," "Mimic Madness," and "Squirrel Jelly."
* Mrs. Puff had more episode appearances than Sandy in Seasons 3, 10, and 12.
* "Salsa Imbecilicus," "Feral Friends," "Surf N' Turf," "Girls' Night Out," and "A Cabin in the Kelp" are the only episodes where Sandy plays a major role without SpongeBob also playing a major role.
* Sandy is called "Sandy Squirrel" for the first time in "SpongeBob's Last Stand." She would be called this again in the N.E.R.D song "Sandy Squirrel" from the music of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
* Although Sandy and Mrs. Puff only have two lines each in the 2004 movie, they are both still included under the "Main Cast" in the film's credits because they are main characters in the series.
* She was called "Arenita" in the Latin American dub of the series. "Arenita" means "Little Sand" in Spanish, making it a fairly accurate translation. She is still called this in the Spanish dub of the series.
* In the Finnish dub, she is called "Santa Sanna." "Santa" is a synonym for "Hiekka," which means "Sand."
* In the very last shot in "MuscleBob BuffPants," paw pads are visible on the underside of Sandy's feet, they can also be seen in "The Fish Bowl." These two episodes are the only ones to show her having them; in all other episodes, she has a beige or brown surface on the bottoms of her paws.
* As seen in "Karate Island", Sandy is ticklish.
* Sandy was responsible for introducing Christmas to Bikini Bottom. This happens in the episode "Christmas Who?"
* In the episode "Stanley S. SquarePants," a Scottish relative of Sandy with the same name is shown.
* In the episode "To Save a Squirrel," Sandy is shown to have a Jeep-Mobile with the design of a Jeep.
* A package of GoGurt that features Sandy claims she works for a company called "Tree Dome Enterprises Limited."
* In season 1, Sandy has three dots on her suit instead of an acorn symbol. From season 2onward, her symbol is an acorn. For her suit's appearances in "Wormy" and "Prehibernation Week," it is a black silhouette of an acorn, and from "Squirrel Jokes" onward it is a colored acorn.
** Also, in Season 1 episodes, Sandy's tail is not visible when she is wearing her suit in comparison to the later seasons.
** Sandy's fur is slightly darker in Season 1 than in the later seasons. Also, her face is a slightly different shape.
* Ironically, despite being re-established as a scientist in later seasons, Sandy is oblivious to the basic fact that sea creatures cannot survive without water in her first appearance.
* In the live-action puppet sequence in the episode "Pressure," Sandy is represented by a TY squirrel Beanie Baby and appears to be naked aside from her helmet.
* Season 10 is the season with the least amount of appearances for Sandy, with 4 appearances. This is due to Season 10 having only 11 episodes (22 segments).
* It is revealed in "Patrick SmartPants" that her full name is Sandra.
* In Croatian dub, her name is Luna Frnjau, which does not have any connection between her original name.
* Sandy appears on the Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD cover, but does not appear in any of the episodes on this DVD.
** Although, the episodes on the Serbian and Russian releases have at least one episode with her in it.
* When Sandy cries, she flushes her helmet so that she will not drown. However, in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," her helmet fills with tears, but she does not flush it.
* In the episode "Squirrel Record," it is revealed that Sandy has 100 woodchuck cousins, at least one of whom is named Earl.
* In "Karate Choppers," it is revealed that she can consume Volcano Sauce without any reaction to the spice.
* In most of her appearances, she has fur. However, in "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy," she wears a pelt.
* Brian Robbins, the current president of Nickelodeon, believes there is a possibility for a Sandy Cheeks spin-off show.
* The name "Sandy" is a diminutive form of Sandra, which in turn can be a diminutive form of the names Alexandra or Cassandra.
* In the book SpongeBob SquarePants Ocean 3D: Facts & 3D Pics, Sandy's full name is given as Sandra Olivia Cheeks. In the Broadway musical, her middle name is said to be Jennifer instead.
* Sandy was an experienced law enforcement officer.
** Later, she was recruited to be Miss Appear in The International Justice League of Super Acquaintances.
* Unlike the other 9 main characters in the series, Sandy is the only land creature, as she breathes air instead of water.
** She is also allergic to seawater breath as revealed in "Pressure," as squirrels cannot breathe underwater.
* Sandy's horoscope is a Scorpio.
* She is nicknamed Big Cheeks by her past self according to "Kitchen Sponge." The episode also reveals that she can call her past self with a radio device.
* She has never been in jail, but she has been arrested once.