History Webcomic / TheBikiniBottomHorror

** [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=]'s motive for giving Patrick an undercooked Krabby Patty, thereby exposing him to the truth and setting the entire massacre in motion, is left deliberately vague. Was he simply trying to let his friend know about an awful truth that he must have discovered that led to horrific consequences that he couldn't predict, or was he ultimately seeking power and willing to sacrifice thousands of lives to attain it? Either way, he doesn't want to reflect on it, or for anyone else to know the truth.]]

** [[spoiler:Guilty!Patrick]] is also forgiven, or at least left alone by the [[spoiler:remaining citizens of Bikini Bottom as they rebuild]]. The only one who doesn't, and thinks he got off too easy is [[spoiler:Pearl, because [[YouKilledMyFather Mr. Krabs is dead]] and she could've stopped the Tortured One due to being a [[MonsterWhale sperm whale]]. She also derides Patrick (all of them) for being cowardly by waiting to attack until she was on a school trip. Unfortunately, she's the only one who wants revenge for Mr. Krabs, as Sandy points out that the greedy man started the whole thing and got what he deserved.]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Obviously, a lot of what was in the original show carries over here, but one new deviation is that Patricks can regenerate in a matter of seconds, while real sea stars may take years to reach their full size again. A flashback shows [[spoiler: the Tortured One]] regenerating from a single limb, but he's really tiny compared to the limb - which implies that the regeneration used to be much slower due to the [[spoiler:lack of growth hormones]] then but still much faster than in real life.

* CallBack: The first thing Patrick says in the series is: "Do you know how sea stars feed, [=SpongeBob=]? Let me......show you". Later on, [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=] throws it back at him: "DO YOU KNOW HOW SEA SPONGES FEED, PATRICK? LET ME SHOW YOU."]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Obviously, a lot of what was in the original show carries over here, but one new deviation is that Patricks can regenerate in a matter of seconds, while real sea stars may take years to reach their full size again. A flashback shows a Patrick regenerating from a single limb, but he's really tiny compared to the limb - which implies that the regeneration used to be much slower due to the [[spoiler:lack of growth hormones]] then but still much faster than in real life.

After it received a positive reception, u/stillinthesimulation chose to continue the story with Sandy Cheeks and [=SpongeBob=]'s other friends seeking to avenge the fallen fry cook, learning of the existence of the [[BigBad Tortured One]] -- a Patrick clone who possessed the original, is the one who killed [=SpongeBob=], and desires the destruction of all Bikini Bottom -- and figuring out how to stop his rampage while discovering his grisly origins. The comic has since exploded in popularity. The comic has since been finished, and in addition to [=r/ImSorryJon=], the story can be found on [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheBikiniBottomHorror/ its dedicated subreddit]], [[https://www.patreon.com/stillinthesimulation/posts Patreon]] and even [[https://stillinthesimulation.com/ website]]. It also has an AnimatedAdaptation [[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLARth4jsAoOVuZFKMKAWoe_CVHXg066xV&si=nmTkcuA-deElVD-G here]].

* MathematiciansAnswer: When Mrs. Puff shows Sandy some weapons she can give her, the converesation goes like this:

* AcidAttack: The starfish attack by externally digesting their living prey. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:the Tortured One flipping his stomach inside out is treated as basically his LimitBreak move.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Zigzagged with ]]Patrick Star, who goes from an empty-headed, childish, yet lovable BigFun seastar to a monstrous, calculating, and sadistic killer who uses his cloning abilities to target and hunt down everyone in Bikini Bottom as food for himself, not even sparing his lifelong friends. [[spoiler:The subversion comes late into the comic, though, as the original Patrick founds out that his reasons for his rampage were just lies told to him by the Tortured One, causing him to defect and help his surviving friends stop his evil clones.]]

** [[spoiler:And all that's to say nothing of [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=] himself. That happy-go-lucky, hyper-friendly, lovable frycook who was always soaked full of smiles in the original show? Yeah, he allowed the Tortured One to brainwash Patrick, knowing the death and destruction it'd cause to his hometown, and only came back to save everyone to make himself look like a hero to Bikini Bottom, providing him with the opportunity to set up his own restaurant. His depravity is emphasized with him forcing Sandy, one of closest pals in canon, to keep quiet about his crimes under the threat of killing her and everyone else who survived. A massive farcry from the character we all grew up with, this SpongeBob abandons that personality in favor of a superficially nice, manipulative, and viciously [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] villainous one.]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Obviously, a lot of what was in the original show carries over here, but one new deviation is that Patricks can regenerate in a matter of seconds, while real sea stars may take years to reach their full size again. A flashback shows a Patrick regenerating from a single limb, but he's really tiny compared to the limb - which implies that the regeneration used to be much slower due to the []spoiler:lack of growth hormones]] then but still much faster than in real life.

* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: [[spoiler:Sandy]] gains [[spoiler:Man's powers]] by wearing his [[spoiler:starfish]] mask.

* DarkReprise: [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=]'s new]] version of the [[spoiler:F.U.N. Song]] makes Plankton's sound like a sweet lullaby.

* FoodChainOfEvil: [[spoiler:Patrick learned that the secret ingredient of Krabby Patties was starfish meat; specifically, meat harvested from his own tortured clone. Since Patrick assimilated this knowledge from his clone, he assumed everyone else knew the secret, especially his best friend, [=SpongeBob=]. However, after killing [=SpongeBob=] and a majority of Bikini Bottom, a Patrick learned, to his horror, that only Mr. Krabs knew the truth and his revenge has gone too far. However, [[TheEndingChangesEverything the ending reveals that SpongeBob did indeed know about this]], leading him to use it to his advantage.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Mr. Krabs and [=SpongeBob=] have their own unique descriptions of this trope. Mr. Krabs' decision to use the Tortured One, originally a clone of Patrick, as the secret ingredient of his famed Krabby Patties is what kickstarts the Tortured One's desire for revenge. It is also what sets up [=SpongeBob's=] realization of the secret ingredient. And that undercooked patty that Patrick ate which allowed the homicidal clone to take control of the sea star? That was undercooked by [=SpongeBob=] on purpose and served as a catalyst for [=SpongeBob's=] true plan. In conclusion, Mr. Krabs put the causes of the scenario into place, and [=SpongeBob=] is the true active orchestrator behind the main plot.]]

** [[spoiler:And all that's to say nothing of [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=] himself. That happy-go-lucky, hyper-friendly, lovable frycook who was always soaked full of smiles in the original show? Yeah, he allowed the Tortured One to brainwash Patrick, knowing the death and destruction it'd cause to his hometown, and only came back to save everyone to make himself look like a hero to Bikini Bottom, providing him with the opportunity to set up his own restaurant. His depravity is emphasized with him forcing Sandy, one of closest pals in canon, to keep quiet about his crimes under the threat of killing her and everyone else who survived. A massive farcry from the character we all grew up with, this SpongeBob abandons that personality in favor of a superficially nice, manipulative, and viciously [[TheSociopathsociopathic]] villainous one.]]

** Sandy says it to herself (or the illusion of [=SpongeBob=]) when she escapes the cult.

** [[spoiler:Guilty!Patrick]] is also forgiven, or at least left alone by the remaining citizens of Bikini Bottom as they rebuild. The only one who doesn't, and thinks he got off too easy is [[spoiler:Pearl, because [[YouKilledMyFather Mr. Krabs is dead]] and she could've stopped the Tortured One due to being a [[MonsterWhale sperm whale]]. She also derides Patrick (all of them) for being cowardly by waiting to attack until she was on a school trip. Unfortunately, she's the only one who wants revenge for Mr. Krabs, as Sandy points out that the greedy man started the whole thing and got what he deserved.]]

** [[spoiler:At some point, one of Patrick's clones managed to replace the starfish on Mermaid Man's face and proceeded to graphically peel the skin off his face.]]

** The series opens with Patrick eating [=SpongeBob=] like a real starfish, by using his stomach as a proboscis to digest [=SpongeBob=] externally. The main conflict of the series from there on out is just how absurdly durable starfish are, to the point where cutting one apart will eventually result in not just a completely fine starfish, but more of them than you started with. He also reveals he has eyes on the ends of his limbs, meaning if he can reach into somewhere, he can also see into it.

** [[spoiler:Crustaceans are known to eat starfish with regularity, and Mr. Krabs's predatory nature is taken to a literal extent by slicing off one of Patrick's limbs to create a clone he can use as an infinite source of meat for his patties. Larry likewise shows up to the fight with full knowledge of how to kill a starfish quickly and effectively, and is jokingly offended Squidward thinks he needs a refresher.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Mr. Krabs and [=SpongeBob=] have their own unique descriptions of this trope. Mr. Krabs' decision to use the Tortured One as the secret ingredient is what kickstarts [=SpongeBob's=] realization of the secret ingredient. And that undercooked patty? That was undercooked on purpose and served as a catalyst for [=SpongeBob's=] true plan. In conclusion, [=SpongeBob=] is the true orchestrator behind the main plot.]]
* GroupHug: The surviving heroes embrace each other after [[spoiler:The Tortured One is finally gone]].

* IAteWhat: [[spoiler:Patrick is completely horrified that the meat in the patties came from a version of ''him''. Sandy and Squidward also have similar reactions upon learning the truth as well.]]
* IgnoranceIsBliss: [[spoiler:After discovering [=SpongeBob’s=] role as the ultimate cause behind the events of the story, she considers telling Squidward before she leaves Bikini Bottom. She ultimately decides against it, believing Squidward deserves to be happy after everything he went through.]]

* AMoltenDateWithDeath: The climatic final battle between [[spoiler:kaiju-Patrick and Porifera-[=SpongeBob=]]] ends with both of them falling into the lava of Mount Bikini Bottom and burning up, though a chunk of the latter survives.

** The Tortured One's rampage is fueled by his desire to make everyone who consumed his flesh (albeit unknowingly) pay for it.

* TearOffYourFace: The fate of Mermaid Man, having his face '''graphically''' ripped off by one of the Patrick clones. [[spoiler:And at one point in the final battle, the kaiju-sized Patrick tears off the similarly giant-sized [=SpongeBob's=] face]].

* ThisIsADrill / DrillTank: Mrs. Puff and her crew come back to the fight with a drilling machine in tow to help dislodge Mt. Bikini Bottom.

-->''"5...4...3...2...1... See you soon, my love."''

* TownWithADarkSecret: By the end of the comic, Bikini Bottom trades one dark secret for another, with only a select few wise to it. They go from Mr. Krabs making Krabby Patties out of a cloned Patrick and feeding them to customers to [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=] ruling the town as its fake savior following his EngineeredHeroics]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Zigzagged with ]]Patrick Star, who goes from an empty-headed, childish, yet lovable BigFun seastar to a monstrous, calculating, and sadistic killer who will use his cloning abilities to target and hunt down everyone in Bikini Bottom as food for himself, not even sparing his lifelong friends. [[spoiler:The subversion comes late into the comic, though, as the original Patrick founds out that his reasons for his rampage were not what he was lied into believing by the Tortured One, causing him to defect and help his surviving friends stop his evil clones.]]
** [[spoiler:He's not even the only character to get hit with a dose of this trope, as seen not too long into the comic.]] [[spoiler:Mr. Krabs was always a shifty, cantakerous person with a greedy streak several miles long in the [=SpongeBob=] series, but here, his lust for money pushes him to near-sociopathy, and it is played deadly serious. Eugene is the one who set up the circumstances of this story's conflict, with his beloved secret Krabby Patty formula, for all this time, being starfish meat harvested from a Patrick clone, which was grown from a severed arm Krabs hungrily stole from the original Patrick in order to start his business. Krabs intentionally kept that clone Patrick imprisoned and conscious, endlessly tearing flesh from him to make his critically acclaimed patties, all while the crustacean soaked up the riches he gained from this infinite torture. Sure enough, that clone became the Tortured One, and bloody vengeance was to be had.]]
** [[spoiler:And all that's to say nothing of [=SpongeBob=] [=SquarePants=] himself. That happy-go-lucky, hyper-friendly, lovable frycook who was always soaked full of smiles in the original show? Yeah, he somehow knew about what Eugene was doing behind the scenes with the tortured Patrick clone, and selected one of the patties (filled with starfish flesh) and fed that Krabby Patty to Patrick--''without cooking it fully''. This set up a psychic link between Patrick Star and The Tortured One, allowed the latter to possess the former, and the rest is history—all according to the sponge's design.]]
*** [[spoiler:And that's all ''before'' he was killed by Patrick in the first page. [=SpongeBob=] eventually comes back, revealed to have ''faked his death'', and helps defeat the Tortured One, but this was all a scheme to rule over what was left of Bikini Bottom as its sole restaurant owner. And to drive it all home, when Sandy finds out about all this and confronts him, he implicitly threatens her with death and the murder of the city's survivors to keep her quiet. With all that, [=SpongeBob=], in this comic, is a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster-level]] sociopath who is hungry for power and will go to horrifying extremes, including betrayal, indirect mass murder and genocide, and death threats, to get it. In short, a '''''massively''''' far cry from what showgoers are used to.]]

** Sandy says it to Plankton[[spoiler:'s memory]] after she shoots the small Patrick that ate him.
** Squidward says it to Sandy when he sends her to the surface.

** Guilty Patrick repeats it several times when he thinks [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=]]] is going to kill him.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Obviously, a lot of what was in the original show carries over here, but one new deviation is that Patricks can regenerate in a matter of seconds, while real sea stars may take years to reach their full size again. A flashback shows a Patrick regenerating from a single limb, but he's really tiny compared to the limb - which implies that the regeneration used to be much slower due to the lack of growth hormones then but still much faster than in real life.

* BondOneLiner: Several.

* BrutalHonesty: In the epilogue, Pearl angrily asks Sandy if [[spoiler:they're going to forgive Patrick for killing her father, just because he felt sorry about it. Sandy rather bluntly responds that Mr. Krabs was a monster who started this whole mess in the first place, and as far as everyone but Pearl is concerned, he [[AssholeVictim got exactly what he deserved]].]]

* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: [[spoiler:Sandy]] gains Mermaid Man's powers by wearing his starfish mask.

* DarkReprise: [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=]'s new]] version of the F.U.N. Song makes Plankton's sound like a sweet lullaby.

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:Plankton and Karen are portrayed more sympathetically than they are in the show. Plankton is shown to be horrified by Krabs' nefarious actions that led to the creation of the Tortured One, and later his conscience leads back to the battlefield along with Karen to try and stop the monster, only to die in a tragic manner for both the audience and the other characters]].

* MythologyGag:
** This isn't [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E18MissingIdentityPlanktonsArmy the first time]] that the Krabby Patty Secret Formula has been said to be [[spoiler:made from the flesh of people]], to Plankton's horror. Or the first time that Mr. Krabs has [[spoiler:[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E19JellyfishHunterTheFryCookGames created a factory]] to extract ingredients from living creatures through a horrific industrial process.]]
** Page 3 ends with one of the Patricks uttering his famous line: "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E3BigPinkLoserBubbleBuddy No... This is Patrick.]]" This time, though, [[PlayedForHorror the context is much darker and the line is much more menacing]].
** Squidward successfully knocks some of the Patricks out by playing "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E4NaughtyNauticalNeighborsBoatingSchool Solitude in E Minor]]."
** Patrick criticizes Squidward on his clarinet playing skills, telling the latter he lacked the ability to improvise.  [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E6GrandmasKissesSquidville Patrick must've acquired a taste for free form jazz.]]
** [[spoiler:Mr. Krabs]]' last words before a mini Patrick bursts from his chest? [[spoiler:[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E15TheGreatSnailRaceMidLifeCrustacean "I CAN FEEL IT!"]]]]
** When [[spoiler:the star on Mermaid Man's face is revealed to have been replaced by a Patrick]], the sea star has the same facial expression and posture as the ones he had in the [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E9NaturePantsOppositeDay Savage Patrick meme]].
** The cult of Patrick chants [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E13ShanghaiedGaryTakesABath "LEEDLE. LEEDLE. LEEDLE. LEE."]] at one point.
** While discussing Squidward, one of the Patricks calls him "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS5E19TheTwoFacesOfSquidwardSpongeHenge The handsome squid.]]"
** Page 23 contains a recreation of the famous "Who are you calling Pinhead?" gag from "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E9SurvivaloftheIdiotsDumped Survival of the Idiots]]."
** [[spoiler:Larry]] shouts "My leg!" as he is devoured.
** [[spoiler:When Squidward flings [=SpongeBob's=] pineapple into the Tortured One's maw, he yells, "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E5PizzaDeliveryHomeSweetPineapple But this one's on the house!]]"]]
** When Plankton [[spoiler:arrives in a giant mech, he states that this situation calls for [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E10WetPaintersKrustyKrabTrainingVideo maximum overdrive]].]]
** Squidward [[spoiler:blows a massive bubble to carry Sandy above the water, much like how he did so to himself in [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E2BubblestandRippedPants Bubblestand]] and [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick did to him in [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E11 Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost]].]]
** Squidward shouts, "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsChocolateWithNutsMermaidManAndBarnacleBoyV KRAKATOA!]]" [[spoiler:when he gets his second wind, goes into his SuperMode, and blasts the Patricks with ink.]]
** As he transforms, [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=] sings a dark variant of the [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E10CultureShockFUN F.U.N. Song]].]]
** [[spoiler:The Guilty Patrick]] asks Squidward [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E7PrehibernationWeekLifeOfCrime how they are going to start a fire if they're underwater]]. Squidward notes that [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS7E16TrenchbilliesSpongeCano Mt. Bikini Bottom is a probable solution]] but it's been dormant for years. So [[spoiler:the guilty Patrick]] suggests [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E20SquidOnStrikeSandySpongeBobAndTheWorm they take it and push it somewhere else]]. Squidward concludes that that's actually CrazyEnoughToWork.
** The final non-epilogue chapter is named "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E15TheSecretBoxBandGeeks Bittersweet Victory]]."
** The epilogue takes place one month after the comic's events. This is conveyed using a time card just like the ones iconic to the original show.
** In the epilogue, [[spoiler:[=SpongeBob=]]] has opened a restaurant selling [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E5WormyPattyHype Pretty Patties]].

!!Provides Examples of:

* ActorAllusion: When [[spoiler:finding Sandy in the Invisible Boatmobile]], Barnacle Boy refers to Mermaid Man as [[Creator/ErnestBorgnine "Ernie"]].

* DVDCommentary: The author has started re-releasing the pages on [[https://www.reddit.com/user/stillinthesimulation/comments/191zozg/the_bikini_bottom_horror_page1_with_commentary/ Reddit]] with added commentary detailing the thought processes by the making of each page.