History SpongebobSquarepants / TropesDToI

* DisproportionateRetribution: According to "Good Ol' Whatshisname", the standard punishment for wallet theft is 10 years of incarceration.

* EvenTheDogWasAshamed:

* TheFantasticFaux: While the International Justice League of Super Acquaintances (first seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" when [=SpongeBob=]'s friends borrow their outfits to get superpowers, then seen in their original incarnations in "The Bad Guy Club for Villains") has an aesthetic and name more reminiscent of the Justice League, the powers fit the Fantastic Four archetypes much better. The Elastic Waistband has stretchy powers a la Mister Fantastic, Miss Appear is an ActionGirl with invisibility powers a la the Invisible Woman, and Captain Magma shoots hot lava similar to the Human Torch's fire ability (and activates his powers with a CatchPhrase like the Torch does). The Quickster and Mermaid Man don't fit a particular mold, however, as they're parodies of ComicBook/TheFlash and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} respectively.

** In "No Free Rides", when Mrs. Puff enters her house, there's a painting of the EXACT same frame in the top left! And if you look closely, [[DrosteImage the painting has ITSELF in it!]] This joke is also used in the episode "Bumper to Bumper."

* FurryConfusion: While this normally doesn't come up very often it got kinda weird with the episode "Feral Friends". [[BadMoonRising Neptune's Moon rises after 100 years]] and its light turns everyone into feral animals and it's treated as if they've devolved into these forms.

** Also in "I'm With Stupid", Gary questions on why [=SpongeBob=] is going to act stupid for Patrick, and he replies, "What could go wrong?" [[TemptingFate Something will go wrong indeed]] -- Patrick begins to believe SpongeBob really ''[[BelievingTheirOwnLies is]]'' stupid.

* FilePhotoGag: In "What's Eating Patrick?", a file photo of SpongeBob and Patrick shows SpongeBob sitting in a chair while Patrick is wearing a chair around his neck.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: With the notable exception of Patchy, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, Hans, Creator/DavidHasselhoff, and the French Narrator, most humans depicted in the show often antagonize the cast in some way. The notion of humans being evil predators is a major plot point in a few episodes episodes such as ''[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E20HookyMermaidManAndBarnacleBoyII Hooky]]'', which portrays human fishing as a mass alien abduction, or in ''[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS9E9DontLookNowSeanceSchmeance Don't Look Now]]'', which reveals there is a horror movie series all about an evil fisherman that hunts fish in the night.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: With the notable exception of Patchy, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, Hans, Creator/DavidHasselhoff, and the French Narrator, most humans depicted in the show often antagonize the cast in some way. The notion of humans being evil predators is a major plot point in a few episodes episodes such as ''[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E20HookyMermaidManAndBarnacleBoyII Hooky]]'', which portrays commercial fishing as a mass alien abduction, or in ''[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS9E9DontLookNowSeanceSchmeance Don't Look Now]]'', which reveals there is a horror movie series all about an evil fisherman that hunts fish in the night.

** Flats the Flounder is the same character he played in [[Film/BackToTheFuture another movie]]. By the amount of times he says butt in the episode, you can tell he wants to add 'head' to the end of it. Flats's voice actor also voices the impostor father of Patrick in one episode. Add the irony of that character being called [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty]]...

* ForgottenFramingDevice: The [[http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/SpongeBob%27s_Runaway_Roadtrip_(event) SpongeBob's Runaway Roadtrip]] episodes, also known as the vacation miniseries, begin with the same framing device of a character showing pictures of a vacation they were on, leading to a WholeEpisodeFlashback. However, the framing device for each episode is not revisited at the end, nor are they acknowledged in the other episodes.

* GreenAndMean: A good portion of villainous (or at least antagonistic) characters are green - Plankton, The Flying Dutchman, Bubble Bass, Kevin C. Cucumber and Flatts the Flounder. {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Squidward, who is more of an aquamarine color, but can cross into DesignatedVillain territory at times.

* GreenAndMean: A good portion of villainous (or at least antagonistic) characters are green - Plankton, The Flying Dutchman, Bubble Bass and Flatts the Flounder. You could even count Squidward and Squilliam (who are more turquoise and the former is an AntiHero at best).

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* HeterosexualLifePartners: [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick; but WordOfGod has it that [=SpongeBob=] is, in fact, UsefulNotes/{{asexual|ity}}.

** In the episode "Sportz?", Squidward is asked by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick to teach them how to play sports properly and is given advice on what to do by angel and devil versions of himself. Angel Squidward advises that he must give them the right information so they don't hurt themselves, while Devil Squidward sadistically gloats that Squidward has the opportunity to trick the two dolts into hurting each other as payback for all the times they annoyed him. Angel Squidward ends up agreeing with Devil Squidward after he gets hit by a tennis ball.
* GoodBehaviorPoints: In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E13NewStudentStarfishClams New Student Starfish]]", it's shown that Mrs. Puff has a "Good Noodle Board" system for her class, in which stars are placed next to her student's names on a board when they display good behavior. [=SpongeBob=] has by far the most stars, with a total of 74. However, when Mrs. Puff discovers an unflattering drawing of her made by Patrick, she believes [=SpongeBob=] drew it and removes one of his Good Noodle Stars. Later in the episode, after [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick manage to save the unhatched egg of Roger when the light bulb that gives it warmth goes out, Mrs. Puff gives each of them a Good Noodle Star.

** In "Demolition Doofus" when [=SpongeBob=] is strangled by Mrs. Puff at the hospital, he giggles and feels ticklish for a brief moment, giving a hint toward his NighInvulnerability as an invertebrate once he enters the demolition derby.
* ForgedMessage: "Naughty Nautical Neighbors", in which [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, at their homes, communicates via speeches in soap bubbles. The noises disturb Squidward (whose house are between the two's) who's eating a cake at the moment. Frustrated, Squidward shakes his fork on the plate, at which point it creates foams (presumably from the cake). Squidward then gets an idea of stopping them: "sap" the communication line by stopping their bubbles mid-flight, and then using his own foam to create speech soap bubbles that are filled with unsavory messages for [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick (who are unaware that Squidward did it). This drives the two to hate each other for the remainder of the episode. FridgeLogic comes when Squidward's soap bubbles looked different from the normal one, and it's also filled with Squidward's voice and yet they don't recognize the voice.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Inverted by [=SpongeBob=] to such an extent that he sleeps in his shoes and socks regularly, even when he's only wearing his underwear to bed. However, around season 4 or 5, this trope is played straight as he wears proper sleepwear.