Man Ray

Man Ray

**Man Ray**, also spelled **Manray**, is the greatest nemesis of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, alongside the Dirty Bubble. He first appears in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" and has also appeared in *The Patrick Star Show*. He is a great threat to Bikini Bottom.

## Description

He is a parody of Aquaman's archenemy, Black Manta.

Man Ray is a humanoid being with a blue helmet shaped like the head of a Manta ray and a red bodysuit. His gloves, boots, and Speedo are all deep blue in color. Oddly, he has no head under his helmet.

Man Ray was initially imprisoned with the Tickle belt before he eventually tricked SpongeBob into unlocking it. Despite the belt being deactivated, Man Ray still wears it in most of his appearances.

## Abilities and traits

Man Ray possesses combat skills and seemingly has the power to shoot destructive lasers from his hands. He also has the ability to fully fly in some episodes. Man Ray is also a tactical genius, able to plan any scheme on-the-fly and during the crime. He also is physically able to remove his own head and throw as a boomerang to attack enemies. He is also in peak form despite being nearly as old as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

## Personality

Man Ray is a villain who wants to take over the world and he is also short-tempered and temperamental. He is very manipulative, able to trick SpongeBob and Patrick into thinking he has changed into a force of good despite his very clear intentions. He is also very loyal to those he has a long history with and fellow villains, as he's part of many groups and alliances. Despite his evil nature, he also has a very soft side. His soft side shows in his debut when he can't rob the bank due to the side effect of the tickle belt, causing him to give up and get a credit card with a dog on it to show his defeat. Another example is when SpongeBob and Patrick pose as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy for a shuffleboard tournament in "Shuffleboarding." When they show up, he greets them and acts friendly to them until they randomly accuse him and a fellow elder of breaking the law and attack them for no real reason other than to satisfy themselves "of upholding the law." He is also very vengeful; if he's betrayed, harmed, or made fun of, he will inflict pain in the worst ways such as blasting people with a ray gun or destroying a city.

## Biography

Decades ago, Man Ray attempted to rule Bikini Bottom with his ray gun, but was foiled by Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy of the past pouring tartar sauce on him. However, when the future Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy, SpongeBob, and Patrick come to the past, Patrick eats the tartar sauce that trapped Man Ray and creates the Man Ray timeline where he defeated Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and took over Bikini Bottom. Fortunately, SpongeBob and Patrick go back in time (after a complicated series of time travels), defeat Man Ray, and restore the timeline.

Man Ray first appears in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III." He was trapped in tartar sauce by Mermaid Man until Patrick frees him. He is about to destroy SpongeBob and Patrick, but he has the tickle belt, so he can't do anything. In order to get SpongeBob to take the belt off, he convinces him that he wants to become good, so after many aggregating tests, SpongeBob finally removes the tickle belt, giving Man Ray a chance to escape. Man Ray then attempts to rob a bank but can't because he has lost the "urge to do bad."

At some point, Man Ray regains this urge and begins committing crimes again. In "Super Evil Aquatic Villain Team Up is Go!," he is seen as a villain for hire on the phone book. Plankton hires him to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.

## Trivia

* He may be named after the surrealist of the same name.
	+ His name is also a pun on manta ray.
* Despite abandoning his evil ways during his debut, he joins E.V.I.L. in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V." In "Shuffleboarding," he actually did retire.

* Man Ray was originally voiced by John Rhys-Davies in the episodes "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" and "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V." Man Ray's voice got replaced with Bob Joles starting with the video game *Lights, Camera, Pants!* released in 2005 and the episode "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" in 2007.
* It is shown in the end credits for "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" that Man Ray was originally going to be voiced by Guy Siner; a 2000 *SpongeBob SquarePants* voice role is listed on the official Guy Siner website. In the opening credits for "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III," John Rhys-Davies is listed as being the official voice actor for Man Ray in said episode. John Rhys-Davies replaced Guy Siner as the voice of Man Ray in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III," but the end credits weren't updated to list the replacement voice actor.

It has been requested that this article should be rewritten. **Reason:**

* Despite having the Tickle Belt removed in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III," he still appears to be wearing it in all later episodes.
* He is very susceptible to the tickle belt, feeling its tickle even when he's not wearing it.
* Oddly, he can remove his head and is still able to talk. This is shown in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" and "Shuffleboarding."
	+ Additionally, in the latter, it's revealed Man Ray's head is dry-clean only, and if shrunken, he speaks in a higher-pitched voice as a result.
* In "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob," it is inferred that it might be possible Man Ray is immortal based on how he asked "The delicious new treat no mortal can resist?" as Barnacle Boy introduces the Krusty Kid's Meal box.

* "Super Evil Aquatic Villain Team Up is Go!" reveals that Man Ray works at a store restocking Canned Bread into a vending machine.
* His name appears on the wall graffiti in "The Nitwitting."
* Man Ray is allergic to tartar sauce as shown in the episode "Swamp Mates." This is probably why Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have encased him in tartar sauce in the past.