Howard Blandy

Howard Blandy, also known as Incidental FG3, is a minor character in SpongeBob SquarePants (making his most prominent appearance in the episode Selling Out), as well as several of its fanon works, including the community-run "fanon series". Notably, he is the antagonist and titular character of the series Blandy. He is the owner of the smallest of the largest corporate conglomerates, "Blandy Franchising Co.", that exist within the ocean, being ranked 200th on the Oceanic Billionaires list of 2013 out of 500 and dead last in the nightmarish parallel world where Mr. Krabs became a tyrannical billionaire that enslaved fish putting them into electric zoos. Considered to be one of the faces of corporatism in the ocean at least in present day Bikini Bottom with many of his businesses being known to cut costs and cut corners to produce cheap ingredients, he often uses philanthropy as a means to gather good press so he can merge his business with other corporate conglomerates and maintain his monopoly on the ocean which in turn crushes small businesses. 
King Neptune had attempted to use his supreme court to block many but not all of his corporate mergers but only when pressed to do so. He is mainly rivals with Mr. Krabs, Scientist Vil Evil, Barnacle Chips Incorporated, and Plankton, neutral towards Benson Cross, owner of the BEI and Benny's, and allies with Jim the Original Frycook, a owner of a small business that he chose to keep alive for good PR, Miss Gristlepuss, a recurring customer that enjoys McPatties, and various corporate characters that he either knows and pays off or employed. Once the businesses that Blandy has taken over have become deeply invested in the corporate merger, getting the original burger and ingredients becomes either impossible or very expensive to obtain. In the case of Jim and McPatties, he kept the original burgers on the menu as signature items with a hefty price tag of $1000 dollars per burger due to them being more in line with Blandy's goals of a cheaper market with cheaper ingredients. Critics against Blandy argue that his actions to buy out small businesses and expand had led to various health risks in his food some of which are synthetic ingredients linked to cancer. Overtime Blandy became less invested in fast food and more interested into other ventures due to the amount of bad press he has attempted to pay off over the years.
== Biography ==
Howard Blandy was born into a wealthy family in the late 1960s. Blandy is a millionaire, business magnate and the founder and CEO of "Blandy Franchising Co.", best known for owning the fast food chains Krabby o Mondays and McPatty's. His father, Howard Blandy Sr., was a successful businessman who owned several fast food chains across the country. From a young age, Howard was exposed to the world of business and entrepreneurship, and he quickly learned the ins and outs of the industry. In 1989, McPatty's was ranked the "Biggest Fast Food Chain Franchise Ever" by food critics. In the early 1990s, Howard Sr. fell ill with cancer and was forced to step back from the day-to-day operations of his businesses. Howard Jr. was just out of college at the time, and he took over as CEO of Blandy Franchising Co. with the blessing of his father.
As a teenager, Howard Blandy had a passion for business and entrepreneurship. He was always looking for ways to make money, whether it was by selling lemonade on a hot summer day or mowing lawns for his neighbors. However, it was his experience with Stinky Burgers that really kickstarted his career in the fast food industry. Stinky Burgers was a small, rundown burger joint in Bikini Bottom that was notorious for its greasy burgers and questionable hygiene practices. Despite its less than stellar reputation, the burgers were still wildly popular among the townsfolk, who had few other options for fast food. Howard saw an opportunity to capitalize on this demand by offering a slightly higher quality product with better service. He began to hire certain employees who were good with cooking, a decent but slightly bland burger. 
He began experimenting with different recipes and techniques, eventually coming up with his own signature burger that quickly became a hit among locals. When Stinky Burgers finally closed down due to health code violations, Howard saw it as a chance to expand his business. He used his savings to open his own fast food joint, McPatty's, which quickly became one of the most popular restaurants in Bikini Bottom. Howard's success with McPatty's paved the way for the expansion of his fast food empire, which eventually included a number of other popular chains. However, it was his early experiences with Stinky Burgers that taught him the importance of quality and customer service, values that he carried with him throughout his career. He would later hire Scientist Vil Evil to mass produce his sub-par, but passable burgers using gray goop on a conveyor belt to produce his burgers. This later brought some concerns about the ethics of his business as he started focusing more on profits than quality, however he was able to fight against detractors with careful marketing.
Under Howard Jr.'s leadership, Blandy Franchising Co. experienced unprecedented growth. He expanded the company's fast food empire by acquiring and rebranding struggling chains, and he also diversified the company's holdings by investing in other businesses, such as Plesiosaur Park. Howard Jr. was a shrewd businessman, but he also had a reputation for being ruthless. He wasn't afraid to make tough decisions, and he was known for cutting corners and taking risks in order to turn a profit.
Despite his controversial business practices, Howard Jr. was a beloved figure in the fast food industry at least in terms of having a positive paid off press. He was known for his charisma and his ability to connect with his customers, and he was also a generous philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to various charities and causes. In 2015, tragedy struck the Blandy family when Howard Sr. passed away after a long battle with cancer. Howard Jr. was devastated by the loss of his father, but he was determined to continue his legacy and uphold the values that his father had instilled in him.
Today, Howard Blandy is one of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the world. His fast food empire continues to expand, and he remains a vocal advocate for the preservation of dinosaurs and other endangered species. This is due to his desire to help launch dinosaurs into space with fellow scientist, Scientist Vil Evil who he gave additional roles in addition to his expertise in food science and biological compounds of both inorganic and organic matter. However, despite his success, Howard Jr. is haunted by the memory of his father and the legacy that he left behind. Scientist Vil Evil would later leave the company in order to become a mad scientist full time.
== Role in fanon series ==
His first major appearance in the Fanon series was the two parter "How Bland Are Blandy's Plans?" where he decides to depopulate the town of Bikini Bottom by hiring a vampire named Count Deadfish in hopes that the Count will spread fear by sucking some of the citizens blood. His idea was brought about in a corporate board meeting with fellow employee Vil Evil who at this time period was working in his company under a different name as it is known that Vil Evil does not like his crimes being brought up while earning a paycheck to keep himself living.
In Season 83, under the episode "Silent Jellyfish" he teams up with Mr. Craps to produce Pretty Patties that are toxic to the environment. While Blandy likes money and Mr. Craps hates money, they both share a common goal in seeing the cheap crab known as Mr. Krabs get payback for his cheapness as both of them fear what a monopolist version of Krabs would look like. However, this episode is more focused on the unethical behavior of Mr. Craps putting his agendas over people and Blandy's willingness to destroy and pollute the environment to boost profits.
In Season 84, he makes yet another appearance in "Plesiosaur Park", this time being the assumed owner of Plesiosaur Park. However, he is forced to shut down his park and hide in the Caribbean after the park goes haywire. Soon after he vows revenge.
In Season 277, during the episode "Mission: Patrick" he is confirmed to have been killed by a serial killer with many faces.
In Season 350, he returns to the show revealing himself to not actually have been dead, it is also ambiguous that he may have cloned himself before his death. By the time he returns his company is taking massive looses in profits and discovers that his former employees are quitting his "sinking ship" amass leading him to believe that his company is being tainted not just by his own failures to produce a decent corporate product, but also by fellow former employee Vil Evil, who has quit to pursue the life of a supervillain just like his parents.
In Season 352, he teams up with Vexus, Korbloxa (a clone of Olivia Evilly reincarnated into a Boudacian lady of war that loves Roblox), and Squilliam to help get their positions of power back. Unfortunately he is unsuccessful and is forced to work at an office to maintain his corporation.
In Season 353, during the events of "Canned Bread Research," he attempted to figure out a way to monopolize the Canned food market starting with Canned Bread.
In Season 358, during the episode, "PowerPoint," he showed ways to manage and strangle employees into being obedient cogs in the rat race. 
==Trivia==
*Blandy became less of an antagonist and more of a recurring side character as the fanon series progressed, but still occasionally does villianous acts of corporate cronyism.
*Despite wanting to have a monopoly on any market he touches, he has shown no interest in stealing the Krabby Patty formula or helping out Plankton.
*"Embrace, extend, and extinguish" is considered to be an unofficial slogan for Blandy Franchising Co. that was seen in court documents regarding Bikini Bottom V. Blandy Franchising Co. which was a court case detailing his involvement in several of the franchises he attempted to merge into his corporate conglomerate.
*Many of his crimes except for the ones done at the managerial level were retconned to being the fault of Scientist Vil Evil which he employed out of nepotism. This however doesn't excuse some of Blandy's crony actions and misdeeds.
*There are likely other corrupt employees that he has employed besides Scientist Vil Evil and Carl, however, they have yet to make a public appearance, have their actions be whistleblown, or reveal their ties to Blandy's network of rich billionaires.
*His character on SBF is more of a general representation of billionaires in general than his characterization in the Daddy Pig Continuity which depicts him as being the underwater version of Donald Trump and amps those comparisons up to 11.
*At some point in the series he lost all of his wealth and had to restart from scratch, he does eventually go back to his old ways, having his mind tainted with the privileged greed of his status as a billionaire.
*Fans of the show had compared him to Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.
*Most episodes post S350 starring him usually are set in a office space full of office workers who complain about the nature of corporate culture. These episodes were inspired by the Office (TV Show) and the film Officespace.
*Howard Blandy is mentioned to run a money laundering scheme to avoid taxes known as the Blandy Foundation.
*In the canon episode, "Don't Feed the Clowns," he is shown working for an unamed fish called Boss. Various incidentals believe that this is a part time gig as a high paying financial controller position that he took while his company was taking in massive losses from having his smoke and mirrors of a ethical business model be exposed. Boss had been listed in the top 50 in the billionaires list.
*During the era in which Blandy was killed off as well as the era in which Blandy had to get a corporate job to earn the money to restructure his company, Carl the Manager took over reigns of his company.
*Howard Blandy is an inspiration for the Krusty Krab and Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs was shown having footage of having a training video from Howard Blandy on how to run a business.
*Many details in Howard Blandy's own biography which some fish including Mr. Krabs own are a more sanitized version of the events. Some details regarding how Blandy's family got his wealth and power are kept confidential by other billionaires and agencies like Benson Cross of the BEI. The details surrounding the death of Howard Blandy Sr. have also been kept confidential as well.
*The image of Blandy being a generous philanthropist is speculated to be a media fabrication that was widely known before the Krusty Krab's rise in popularity.
*Although Howard Blandy paints himself as generous in the media, he is actually almost as cheap as Mr. Krabs, but not to the same comedic length as him.
*Much like how Viacom wants to merge with CBS, Blandy wants to do the same.
*Roberto Poncho Eelinski the 27th is considered to be one of his competitors in wealth being at 27th place in the Oceanic Billionaires list of 2013. Many of Eelinski's wealthy family members are listed as well at least until 2018 where Oceanic Magazine blacklisted the wealthy family from the list.
*At some point Howard Blandy started calling the media Fake News, but this was only when his good press could not recover.
*He has shown to own a few software companies and developers including the licensed software, BlandySoft Office.
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