In the episode where Spongebob, Patrick, Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy go back in time (they were in their cave and were looking at their Locker of Memories), in the Bad Future where Man Ray has taken over the entire town - we see Spongebob and Patrick go to the 'Krusty Krab' and he sees supposedly the Old Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy with their spirits broken...We get this tear-jerker reminder:
Spongebob: But what about the Younger Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy? Surely they refused to go without a fight?
Mermaidman: Don't you get it! We ARE the younger ones! The older ones, bless their souls, have been immortalized in this very restaurant [pan right to grave-site].
Spongebob: I am at a total loss...for yourselves.
The fact that in "Back to the Past", Man Ray had killed the original Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and buried them under the Krusty Krab as a reminder of how MM & BB's younger versions failed.
This troper assumed that the original versions died of old age.
Even worse is that older MM's actor died later on.
So there was finally a SpongeBob SquarePants episode that can reduce someone to helpless tears instead of helpless laughter: "Have You Seen This Snail?" Like Snoopy Come Home, it touches emotional buttons of pet owners at the heartbreak of them running away and how much they'd miss them. And there just had to be a montage of SpongeBob looking for Gary and how much he missed him.
The song, simply called "Gary's Song", doesn't help the matter either.
The episode with SpongeBob's grandma. SpongeBob's hysterical rant about how he doesn't want to grow up hits a very tender nerve. More specifically, he spends the entire episode trying to act more grown up around his Grandmother, but then finally snaps and goes into a fit of tears, yelling how he wants to do everything he wanted to do as a kid again, and wants some of the moments back.
ESPECIALLY if you grew up with the show and happen upon the episode again once you're older.
Plus where SpongeBob is made fun of for the kissy mark on his forehead.
"I have been publically humiliated for the last time!"
And of course, there's SpongeBob and Patrick's Disney Death in The Movie. Near the end, as they're slowly drying out under the heat lamp, and SpongeBob has kind of a lengthy monologue about how they let everyone down, and how they failed (how broken he sounds at this point doesn't help either), and then they both realise that they at least got to Shell City, and they turn to one another, express their gratitude for having each other as friends, and with the last of their strength start singing the "Goofy Goober Song" together before they die, ending with their tears merging to form a heart shape. Even the pirates in the theater were bawling. Bonus points on making such a cheesy song so heartbreaking.
SpongeBob: Pat...we did make it.
Patrick: Yeah...I guess we did.
SpongeBob: We did alright for a...couple of goofballs. (both of them shed a tear)
Also, earlier in the movie, when Spongebob is excited to become manager...then Mr. Krabs turns him down for being a kid. He walks away into the sunset (I'm ready...depression...I'm ready...depression...) Then later he's over at Goofy Goober's crying because his lifelong dream was ruined.
The scene of Spongebob in the bar crying was both depressing and hilarious.
There was also the episode where Plankton wins SpongeBob's contract from Krabs. The song SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs sing while missing each other was just so sad, especially the part where they stare out the window at each other.
The ending to "The Clash Of Triton" where Neptune accepts Triton as his son.
The picnic scene in "Nature Pants" where Patrick begs SpongeBob to come back.
Him going berserk and viciously chasing Spongebob, especially when he admits defeat, is just heartbreaking.
Dying For Pie. "You had to kill 'im. The boy cries you a sweater of tears, and you kill 'im."
When SpongeBob and Squidward are watching the sunset:
SpongeBob: You know, if I were to die right now in some fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend, well, that would just be okay. (cut to Squidward quietly sobbing)
And then, near the end, there's Squidward bawling over how he killed SpongeBob, saying how he at least made his last day meaningful. It turns out that he never actually ate the pie-bomb in the first place, but still.
It's a small one, yet still heartbreaking:
Patrick: Hey, SpongeBob, wanna go jellyfishing?
SpongeBob: Sorry, Patrick, I can't. I have school today!
Patrick: Well, what am I supposed to do all day while you’re at school?
SpongeBob: I don’t know. What do you normally do while I’m gone?
Patrick: *starts to cry* Wait for you to get back!
In the episode "A Pal For Gary", a guy with a pet worm walks in and SpongeBob says pets aren't allowed and they walk away slowly, but Mr. Krabs says he can stay. It's sad until Mr. Krabs allows him to have a pet.
The episode where Patrick learned the perfect karate move has a part where he thinks he murdered his own best friend. No, not the table sponge one, the one where he found him unconscious and thought he died. He then got vengeful at his own hand and ripped it off.
In the episode "Patrick SmartPants" when SpongeBob (after Patrick decides that they should go their separate ways, after becoming smart), looks through his memory book filled with pictures of him and Patrick.
It's also a point to mention that at the same time, Patrick (after it becomes apparent that his being smart is alienating him from his friends) does the same thing in his rock... and ends up being the one we see cry.
Also the episode where Gary becomes friends with Patrick and begins to play with him instead of SpongeBob. Throughout the episode, SpongeBob tries to get Gary to come back to him with toys and his favorite snacks. It ultimately ends up with SpongeBob trying one last time to get Gary to come back by offering things to Gary he wasn't allowed to do before. Gary goes back to SpongeBob, only because he wanted Patrick for the cookie in his pocket.
SpongeBob crying in the Christmas Episode, mainly because of the very sad face he makes while Squidward continues to torment him over Santa Claus not appearing, which is why SB's crying in the first place. He even manages to make Squidward feel sorry for him and dress up as Santa to make him happy after it's revealed that SpongeBob made Squidward a present so he wouldn't feel left out when Santa came.
The song at end of the lost episode that plays after the jellyfish help SpongeBob to fly without pants. All you need is friendship.
I could handle the con artist in Chocolate With Nuts for a while, but I have not been able to watch the part where he pretends to be badly and shockingly injured (the way he describes it to SpongeBob and Patrick is enough of a Tear Jerker in itself) without tearing up. Jerkass.
How about the episode where Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob the boots? And then he later steals them back, leaving SpongeBob sobbing and telling Mr Krabs that he let him down for "losing" them. It's always the characters crying over minor things that make me the saddest.
The band episode. Sure, it's hilarious, particularly the total lack of good things to say about Squidward, but his utter despair as the band starts...and then the look on his face as it's actually good.
The episode "Texas", where Sandy becomes very homesick and even sings a song expressing her homesickness (everybody who hears it ends up crying). She then decides to actually return home. Thankfully, Spongebob and Patrick manage to convince her otherwise (through hilarious means, however).
Oddly enough, the episode "Arrgh!". When SpongeBob and Patrick complain about going on a wild goose chase of a treasure hunt led by Mr. Krabs, he mourns that without a loyal crew, a captain's nothing. This in itself is just a ploy on Krabs' part to get them to stick around, but it works; the tearful way Patrick says "Don't cry, Captain Krabs," just nails me.
What got me was the part where he puts the sword like a cross.
"I can no longer hold onto you little pebble. (Buries the pebble and begins to shed a tear) You hold too many memories. (Cries as tear falls onto the pebble)"
Plankton's Regular as a whole. Just to give Plankton one tiny victory and then have Krabs smash it in his face... It's not funny, just sad.
Also, the fact that Plankton can't even have so much as one customer without Krabs trying to ruin him. ONE.
"No more nice warm beds. No more Krabby Patties. No more getting mail. No more Gary. No more movies. No more Squidward. No more Sandy or Pearl or Mr. Krabs, NO MORE ANYTHING!"
From Opposite Day:
Spongebob: Go away! I never wanna see you again!
Patrick: (cries) Spongebob doesn't like me anymore!
It turns out that it was Opposite Day and Spongebob was just playing along with it but imagine going to your best friend's house (one that you've known since you were a baby) and instantly being rejected for no good reason.
The episode Model Sponge, where Spongebob thinks he's been fired from his job. You don't have to be a long-time fan to know how much Spongebob loves his job, so his reaction is pretty sad. Then, later when he goes to beg Mr. Krabs for his job back, he is in tears and crawling on his knees, promising he'll do better and he doesn't want to go. Of course, Krabs has no idea what he's talking about (remember, Spongebob misinterpreted something Krabs had said earlier), but that makes it no less sad.
Let's not forget "Whatever Happened To SpongeBob", where SpongeBob's friends drive him away from Bikini by calling him "idiot boy" in a cruel way. Those bastards! And to top it off, Mr. Krabs was the one to tell SpongeBob to never come back. But then Mr. Krabs, Patrick, and Sandy feel bad for SpongeBob and cry that it's their fault he ran off. This troper forgave them, but he never forgave what they did.
A little one. From "Patty Hype." Mr. Krabs and Squidward make Spongebob cry by mocking his idea of "Pretty Patties-" vibrantly colored Krabby Patties- along with other ideas Spongebob has of drawing customers and making things interesting. Eventually, Spongebob actually gets angry- something we don't see him do a lot- and says, in an uncharacteristically determined way, "I KNOW this is a good idea! YOU'LL SEE!" He runs out of the restaurant to embark on a solo entrepreneurship. A little later, he starts crying again, having lost confidence. "Maybe Mr. Krabs was right...maybe my idea IS dumb! *sob!*"
My Pretty Seahorse, the episode where Spongebob becomes attached to a wild seahorse. At the end of the episode, Mr. Krabs tells Spongebob how it's wrong to keep a wild animal from their natural habitat and lifestyle. Spongebob understands and, with a heavy heart, releases the seahorse (which he named Mystery). The episode can hit harder for kids, considering that Spongebob has a child-like mental state and many children tend to get attached to animals (toys and live, alike) fairly quickly.
Mr. Krabs backstory in this episode is tear inducing either. He tells the story that he, as a kid, had received a penny. They were both the bested of friends, they did all the things together- but on a hot summer day, while at the beach, he was so thirsty that he gave his penny away for a drink. The way Krabs is telling the story to SB is working, too.
The goddamn April Fools special, "Fools in April." It's pretty funny, up until the scene where Squidward viciously pranks Spongebob, to everyone else's disgust. It goes straight into tear jerker territory as Squidward laughs during the prank, while Spongebob is yelling in fear the whole time. It gets worse as Spongebob runs away in tears, and everyone calls out Squidward for his jerkassery. "April Fools, jerk!" Later, he gives a disheveled, depressed Spongebob an insincere apology to ease his own conscience. After that, he flashes back to everyone else's reaction to the prank. "It must have been pretty good to make him CRY like that," Patrick says. Eventually, a hallucination of Squidward's own MOTHER appears to scold Squidward for being such a bastard. That leads to the kicker - Squidward collapses before Spongebob's door and breaks down, apologizing for the prank, and says how much he actually LIKES Spongebob despite how annoying he is, and how he appreciates everything about him. Happy tears ensue for the audience when Spongebob opens the door, and is completely back to his old self, cheerfully smiling, haven completely forgiven Squidward.
And then the whole thing turns out to be an April Fool's joke on Spongebob's end...
A small example, but in the episode Growth Spout, when Mrs. Puff was sleeping, she mutters out that she must protect her garden, and that it's the only thing worth living for. This comes into effect when you remember that most of her life would be boat driving with SpongeBob and nearly getting killed by him.
SpongeBob: A present. I made it for you so you wouldn't be left out...WHEN SANTA CAME!!!
"One Coarse Meal." Lets just say The Bad Guy Wins and leave it at that.
In case you aren't sure, the bad guy is Mr. Krabs this time around
A meta-example: the death of Ernest Borgnine, the voice of Mermaid Man, a character who has been around since season 1.
They then, without any advertisement, put on a small two hour marathon containing the numbered Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes, Back to the Past, The Bad Guy Club For Villains, and Mermaid Man Begins.
Not from the show itself, but shortly after Borgnine passed, there was an illustration◊ circulating Facebook simply showing a teary Barnacle Boy at the grave of Mermaid Man. If you find it, I DARE you not to get choked up.
Also, Pat Morita, the voice of Udon, died when his only appearence came out. The Character Died with Him. Charles Nelson Riley, the voice of the Dirty Bubble, is also deceased.
The song in "Welcome to the Chum Bucket".
Spongebob talking to Patrick on the phone and begging him for help in The Bully; by the end of it, he's actually crying. Anyone who's ever been bullied as a child or has ever comforted a bullied child would have a hard time not tearing up with the poor guy.
Spongebob: Please Patrick! I'm so scared it feels like I'm going to throw up!
