SpongeBob SquarePants

**SpongeBob SquarePants** is the main protagonist of the *SpongeBob SquarePants* television series.

## Origin

SpongeBob is a good-natured, naive, and enthusiastic anthropomorphic sea sponge. He resembles a yellow kitchen sponge-like creature with large blue eyes and a long thin nose. He has three eyelashes on each eye, three freckles on each cheek, and a recognizable pattern of holes. SpongeBob also wears clothing that he proclaims to be his "SquarePants". He typically wears a white shirt with sleeves only on his shoulders, a red tie, tan shorts with a belt, and black shoes with knee socks.

He resides in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom with other anthropomorphic aquatic creatures. He works as a fry cook at a local fast food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, to which he is obsessively attached, showing devotion to it above other restaurants. His boss is Eugene Krabs, a greedy crab who nonetheless treats SpongeBob like a son. Squidward Tentacles, an octopus, and SpongeBob's ill-tempered, snobbish neighbor, works as the restaurant's cashier. SpongeBob's hobbies include fishing for jellyfish, practicing karate with his friend Sandy Cheeks (a squirrel from Texas), and blowing bubbles.

SpongeBob is often seen hanging around with his best friend, starfish Patrick Star, one of his neighbors. SpongeBob lives in a submerged pineapple with his pet snail, Gary. His unlimited optimistic cheer often leads him to perceive the outcome of numerous endeavors and the personalities of those around him as happier than they really are. He believes, for instance, that Squidward Tentacles enjoys his company even though he clearly harbors an intense dislike for him (though they have been shown to get along on rare occasions). SpongeBob's greatest goal in life is to obtain his driver's license from Mrs. Puff's boating school, but he often panics and crashes when driving a boat.

SpongeBob is often shown to possess regenerative abilities, as he can quickly regenerate from getting ripped to pieces. He is also quite nimble. SpongeBob can endure a lot of pain, thanks to his absorbent sponge-like body, which was a major plot point in the episode, *The Bully*, where he was able to take Flatts punches without any harm. Despite his poor arm strength, SpongeBob is able to fight rather competently. He was able to defeat Sandy on multiple occasions, though Sandy is able to overpower SpongeBob just as often. Despite his clumsy nature, SpongeBob seems to be quite talented in material arts and melee combat. Whenever SpongeBob fight against a foe, he uses his red gloves to attack his opponent. On other occasions, SpongeBob will utilize his bubble wand to as a weapon. He can use this object to projectile bubbles at his enemies or trap them within in the bubble itself. SpongeBob often shape-shifts to his advantage and can transform into a variety of objects, such as spatula, a parachute, a weight, and a cannon. SpongeBob can also use his elasticity to fight against his foes. However, SpongeBob's most renowned skill is his efficiency in fry cooking. His spatula, named Spat, is another constant weapon he uses to defend himself.

SpongeBob is voiced by Tom Kenny, who is married to Karen Plankton's voice actress, Jill Talley. SpongeBob was created and designed by Stephen Hillenburg, an artist and marine science educator. The character's name is derived from "Bob the Sponge", a porifera-like creature who was depicted as the host of Hillenburg's unpublished educational book *The Intertidal Zone*. However, SpongeBob was also initially going to be named "SpongeBoy," but the name was already in use by other products including a pencil, which also lead to a fan misconception regarding the existence of a mop that also shared the aforementioned name; this said mop had never existed, contrary to the belief of several fans.

SpongeBob SquarePants has become a recognizable icon among children and adults. He has also appeared in some form in every episode of the series, beginning with the series' debut episode, "*Help Wanted*", where he applied as the fry cook of Krusty Krab. He is also the main protagonist of the movie trilogy and a recurring character in the spin-off series, *The Patrick Star Show*. He is considered to be Nickleodeon's mascot, and his television series eventually became the longest running cartoon on the network.

Alongside his legacy as a cartoon character, SpongeBob has been featured in several video games, including sidescrollers, mini-game compilations, and kartracer. SpongeBob made his video game debut in the Nickleodeon crossover kartracer, *Nicktoons Racing*. However, his first solo video game role occurred *Legend of the Lost Spatula*, where SpongeBob embarks on an adventure to retrieve a Golden Spatula that was stolen by the Flying Dutchman. Since then, SpongeBob has continued to star in many video game titles under his brand. A notable example of this is *Battle for Bikini Bottom*, where he, Patrick Star, and Sandy Cheeks fight against a rebellious army of robots. Another famous video game title includes *Creature from the Krusty Krab*, where SpongeBob, alongside Patrick and Plankton, traverse through a series of dreams. SpongeBob in particular, finds himself in a racetrack after his bed inexplicably transformed into a hot rod, only to be devoured by an Alaskan Bull Worm.