Yeah, it's a goofy meme comic with lots of horror and Squick thrown in, but there's some legitimate badassery going on under the surface.
- Squidward is the standout, being not only the first person to successfully stand up to the Patricks, but showcasing incredible coolness and fortitude under fire; he even loses one of his three hearts and keeps going.
- Sandy is right behind him, surviving as basically a nobody reliant on technology and her own gumption — which proves to be more than enough.
- Plankton, after regretting selling Sandy out to the Patrick hordes, shows up to battle the Tortured One in his Fight-O-Plankton mech, and becomes the first character to actually put up a decent fight against it. He's eventually defeated, but still...
- The Tortured One is no slouch either — the above badasses? They're basically helpless to fight him until help arrives.
- Barnacle Boy gives his life to move a volcano.
- At the darkest hour... SpongeBob arises, turning into Porifera, a giant, almost gorilla-esque sponge abomination. The Body Horror and biologically fueled superpowers aren't JUST for bad guys... or are they?
- The climatic panel of the comic is an epic Splash Panel of Porifera throwing the Tortured One into the flames of the volcano with what is probably the most genuinely epic panel in the entire comic.
- While horrifying due to the scope and ramifications of his actions, SpongeBob orchestrated a brilliant plan. He gave Patrick an undercooked Krabby Patty anticipating that he would go on a rampage and kill Mr. Krabs and Plankton (whether or not he also intended for the Tortured One to destroy the entire city is unclear). He then faked his death and returned, becoming the hero of the town. By the time Sandy found out the truth, it was already too late as the yellow sponge had already made a stronghold over the town whilst keeping the citizens woefully ignorant of their position.
- Sandy manages to get one final barb in however. As much as she wants to gun him down, she knows it'd be a losing battle since his restaurant is staffed by his own set of clones. So, she does something he could never reasonably counteract without giving his game away; She decides to move away and cut him out of her life, a decision that makes his final appearance in the comic one of dejected realization that he succeeded in establishing his empire, but it costs him all of his friends.
- The Art Evolution is a sight to see, but special mention goes to this shot
◊ of The Tortured One rising from the ruins of the Krusty Krab, reminiscent of something out of Berserk or Attack on Titan.
