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     SpongeBob 
SpongeBob is on Drugs
But not narcotics or anything like that (at least not at first); I mean pain medication. Sometime during the events of I Had an Accident, SpongeBob had to take pain medication because his butt still hurt from the sports accident. He may have overdosed, driving him crazy and make him secluded himself in his own home with no friends by a potato chip, a penny, and a used napkin. Eventually, he became addicted, and had to try harder by getting harder drugs, which would drive him so crazy that he would end up acting very stupid/psychotic. Whenever he was like his pre-Flanderization personality, he was sober. But he would eventually go back to the drugs once again. Before the movie, he had to be taken to rehab for a few years, and eventually he began to make a slow recovery. Although mostly back to normal, some parts couldn't be fixed...
  • The same could apply to Patrick, who got injured a few times before, and Mr. Krabs, who might have gotten some sort of drug therapy in "Born Again Krabs."
  • That might also explain why the police are acting worse; they're just getting more and more suspicious and their difficult work on difficult drug cases is stressing them out.
  • Then, in "Just One Bite", SpongeBob puts weed into a Krabby Patty and tries to feed it to Squidward. SpongeBob starts adding weed to the secret formula, thus establishing that SpongeBob wants to spread drugs around the world.
    • And, also, Mr. Krabs got hooked on drugs, so he decided to start taking other ones, and slipping heroin into the patties and in "Greasy Buffoons", he slipped crank into the grease, and that's why the customers couldn't stop eating the grease.

SpongeBob has Asperger's Syndrome.
  • SpongeBob is naive, but also smart in ways not even he understands. He doesn't pick up Squidward's subtle body language that says he doesn't like him. Everything must remain the same (his morning routine in "Missing Identity"). He takes everything far too literally, as shown when Squidward say's he's not ready to go yet and SpongeBob asks literally every second. This is one of the few WMG this troper (Taco Wiz) considers to be canon.
    • As someone who has Asperger's Syndrome, this troper can confirm that Spongebob is very similar to an aspie- and possibly a more accurate representation of an aspie than most actual aspie characters.
    • That would explain most of his actions in the episode "Ripped Pants." In which he tries to get people to like him by being funny, but ends up just being annoying, and then full-blown offensive.
    • Actually, jokes get unfunny and offensive after a while.

SpongeBob has another (higher paying) job
  • According to the episode "Squid On Strike" SpongeBob refused pay because "grilling is his passion". It was also said on the episode "Big Pink Loser" SpongeBob had to pay Mr. Krabs to work at the Krusty Krab.
    • Multiple episodes show SpongeBob having a day off instead of Squidward despite the fact that he's a more valuable employee.
    • I would guess either he and Patrick still selling Chocolate bars (mostly to Tom) or some fortune from being a professional Jelly Fisher.
      • Alternatively Gary has the higher paying Job and SpongeBob is living off of him.
      • Well, Gary does pay the electric bills...
    • I think it's a combination of all 3 which would explain how he has such a big library.
    • Looking at SpongeBob's library I'd say he has a lot of money, he's just bored. This theory fits with the "professional Jelly fisher one."
    • I've always assumed that his PARENTS were rich enough to fund the pineapple home, and he just works at the Krusty Krab for pleasure.
    • SpongeBob has money left over from the episode where he and Patrick found a pearl. Although he spent all the pearl money, he found a ginormous diamond.
    • SpongeBob knows about his fame, and demanded profits, to continue being a ridiculous idiot. Hence the time where there were no new SpongeBob episodes, and they had to play a 100 episode marathon. They caved.
    • "Oh, it's just a $500 Bill. This will never go with my collection!"... I think he probably has a lot of money...
      • Or this is just him being stupid.
  • Combining several suggestions, Gary has a high-paying job, Spongebob is still selling chocolate (mostly to Tom), he is a professional jellyfisher, and he's living off inherited money. He works at the Krusty Krab because it's fun.
    • Additionally his Bubble stand (from the episode of the same name) actually ended up being a successful business.
    • ...God dammit.
  • Alternatively, SpongeBob has been shown to have an obscenely large amount of awards, enough to fill a large closet and have it spill out to fill the living room. Assuming that some of those had fairly large cash prizes, Spongebob may well have several thousand somewhere.
  • He saved some of the money from the Pretty Patty stand. Not all of it was buried, shredded, burned, or given away.
  • In the episode "Krusty Towers" Mr. Krabs said that spongebob and Patrick should go to Medical school (because that's where the money is). In the episode "suction cup symphony" and "dying for pie" spongebob is performing surgery. Spongebob is a doctor.
    • Doubtable. In "Suds," Spongebob gets very sick and he does a poor job of taking care of himself, and is thick enough to ask Patrick to help him get better. Patrick basically tortures the poor guy and Spongebob doesn't see anything wrong with it. In the episode Spongebob has also apparently never been to the doctor and he's terrified because he doesn't know what to expect other than the scary stories Patrick tells him. So... yeah. Spongebob probably isn't a doctor.
    • Only if you have a preexisting (fanon) chronology that says suds came out after Krusty Towers.
  • In "The Bully," Spongebob fantasizes about being a secretary. Maybe his goal in life is to have a bunch of different jobs to keep things interesting? Plus, the guy is really good at math, maybe he's an accountant or tax guy or something?
  • Maybe he volunteers as Sandy's guinea pig for experiments and she pays him?
  • The episode Porous Pockets involves Spongebob becoming a millionaire with a giant pearl and eventually squandering all of his new fortune by the end of the episode. The episode ends with Patrick showing him a giant "volleyball" he found in a diamond mine. It's likely that Spongebob learned his lesson and instead of invoking Aesop Amnesia, he instead invested the diamond's value more wisely, depositing most of it in a bank account and saving it only for when it's absolutely necessary rather than flaunting it off and attracting the attention of moochers like he did before.

SpongeBob is gay/straight/asexual
A case can be made for multiple sexualities for SpongeBob. On the one hand, he is once stated to be a graduate of high school, but he seems uninterested in any of the show's female characters, and he often has sleepovers with his best friend Patrick. On the other hand, he once demonstrated his ability to reproduce by budding; this would make him asexual, justifying his lack of interest in neither male nor female fish.
  • He's a sponge. Sponges are naturally asexual.
    • Most sponges reproduce sexually. While he is asexual (because he's a sponge) according to Word of God, he is seen with both parents and grandparents. Then again, the show never attempted to show aquatic life accurately.
    • Sponges do not have genders as we know them. The creator of the show is a marine biologist, so he should know that.
      • I've always assumed that the sponges were either all offshoots (buds) from the same earlier sponge, or the ones who paired up (having no gender doesn't mean they can't love) adopted young sponges from a specialized sponge adoption agency.
    • No. SpongeBob is obviously gay and his crush is Patrick.

SpongeBob is not dumb. Rather, he is simply too immature and hedonistic, but was considered an adult due to his appearance.
Really, there are some episodes where SpongeBob invented contraptions.
  • I remember hearing somewhere that, while he's around 20 years of age, in sponge years he's fifty.

SpongeBob is at the tail end of a long-running campaign to make Squidward his friend via less-than-pleasant methods
SpongeBob has a thing about making people his friends. Patrick is dim enough to be easily malleable, Sandy shares interests and is a friendly person herself (although she seems to be increasingly fed up with SpongeBob's antics when her inventions are involved), Mr. Krabs is happy as long as SpongeBob keeps bringing in the loot, but Squidward has done everything including getting a (noneffective) restraining order against SpongeBob and most emphatically does NOT want to be his friend. So, SpongeBob is going to MAKE Squidward be his friend, even if it means utterly destroying him psychologically. As of the end of the "Cephalopod Lodge" episode, SpongeBob has destroyed the last good thing in Squidward's life. The next part of SpongeBob's plan is to either make himself the NEW good thing in Squidward's life or subtly make it so that things will only get worse the longer Squidward refuses to go along with whatever it is SpongeBob wants to do, most likely the latter. I can just envision Squidward running through Jellyfish Fields with SpongeBob, wearing the horrible grin of the damned, his mind and soul ground to dust by the endless spongy proddings of a master of Obfuscating Stupidity.

Some part of SpongeBob was aware that his bodyguard was the Strangler.
In the "Tattletale Strangler" episode, when SpongeBob returns to his house, some part of him was aware that his "bodyguard" was the Strangler. He even blurted out "Strangler- I mean, Bodyguard!" or something like it at one point. His stupidity may have been an act. It even seemed a bit like he was intentionally stalling, though he was completely serene the whole time. Though this is rather out of character for SpongeBob, you never know.
  • This should be considered canon. It's too obvious.
  • This theory could also work for the episodes "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" and "Born Again Krabs". SpongeBob acted annoying on purpose to get Plankton and The Flying Dutchman to become so sick of his presence that they would let him free.

SpongeBob is bi.

Because he looks like he secretly likes Sandy, but then again, he appears to secretly or hides that he likes Patrick, as a friend, but still, with all those "Ho Yay" moments. And Squidward....well....

SpongeBob is a stalker.
How else would he know every single detail of Squidward's house in the episode "Squid's Visit"?

SpongeBob is somewhat hated by the people of Bikini Bottom

Taken mostly from the episode "Gone", where everyone in Bikini Bottom disappears, just like the title states. At the end of the episode, the reason they were gone was explained to SpongeBob, to mostly get away from him. Even Patrick says even he needs a day away from SpongeBob. Somewhat supported by the flashback to when everyone was dancing in the SpongeBob effigy ashes, with Squidward KICKING the ashes around with a large grin on his face, and everyone is dancing in it. SpongeBob is too oblivious to see that this was a day for people to get away from him and is happy that he got a holiday dedicated to him.

SpongeBob is (slightly) aware that Squidward doesn't like him...
... but that thought is pushed to the very back of his mind, or his mind is trying to block it out, as he can't seem to handle rejection.

SpongeBob was in a year-round educational system post-kindergarten
He requires an explanation of summer break.

SpongeBob use to be a normal human until he got transformed into a sponge by putting on magic square-shaped pants.
  • Likely disproven by the many episodes where he changes pants style or isn't wearing pants.

Spongebob has a tiny crush on Squidward, but not in the same way he crushes on Sandy.
Spongebob does actually have a bit of a crush on Squidward, but it's not entirely romantic- he just really admires Squidward and thinks he's really, really cool. Spongebob has a legitimate crush on Sandy, but he doesn't say anything about it, because he knows it wouldn't work out (he is asexual and Sandy is not.) At the very least, the Sandy crush is probably canon, because in one SB book it was stated that he has a "secret crush" on Sandy. Alternatively, he doesn't want to tell her, for fear of ruining their friendship.

SpongeBob is French.
In the first season he occasionally speaks French, with an impeccable French accent. Either he's French or he spent some time in France. Perhaps SpongeBob is actually the suave French narrator we hear occasionally. (Backed up by the fact that in "Jellyfish Jam," he briefly starts narrating his own actions in the same suave French accent.)

SpongeBob isn't actually a sadist. He just genuinely really likes Squidward!
This explains why he'll apologize to Squidward and occasionally see the error of his ways, such as when he made the "Sorry for bugging you so much" cake in "Good Neighbors". Plus, he's never really malicious in his intent. His intentions, no matter how horribly executed, are usually genuinely to either be Squiddy's friend or to make him happy. (He even brings this up a couple times, like in "Just One Bite", where he apologizes for being too pushy, and he says "I was only trying to make you happy.")
  • Of course, this just might make things worse, as there's no way to persuade SpongeBob to back off; few things are more infuriating than someone determined "to cheer you up/help you out."

SpongeBob went through some kind of horrible trauma when he was younger, hence his perpetual childlike state
He doesn't want to grow up mentally. He has a job and his own house, but beyond that he still acts like a young child. He doesn't want to face his own demons, so he keeps himself in a constant infantile state, and keeps the company of the dumb Patrick Star, to avoid facing reality. He has some psychological issues- his parents know this, and they live relatively close by so they can visit him when he needs them.
  • That actually works. In "Cephalopod Lodge", Squidward asks SpongeBob if he was dropped on the head as a baby. SpongeBob responds with, "How did you know?"
  • Right! And in "BlackJack", he had flashbacks about an older cousin who used to regularly beat the living crap out of him, when SpongeBob was probably no older than three or so. He also implied that high school was traumatic for him, in more ways than one. He also seems to harbor a crippling fear of failure, hence why he'll have full-blown breakdowns when he accidentally messes something up. Not to mention his tendency to cry at the drop of a hat. There's... probably a lot of pain in this guy's past, hence why he's such a Stepford Smiler.

SpongeBob's parents were in the circus
.Or something like that. Thus explaining why Spongebob rides a unicycle as his default mode of transportation, and how he can juggle, among other things. His parents were circus performers and they taught him some neat things.

SpongeBob's child-like behavior is because of his Mother
Think about it, watch any episode where we see him with his parents and how she treats him like a child. She doesn't want to lose her only baby so she treats him like a kid and doesn't want him to grow up. She was thrilled to have him move back in with her in "Home Sweet Pineapple", though SpongeBob clearly wasn't too happy about this because he knew how she'd smother him. His Grandmother is in on this too, and when he showed an interest in being treated like a grown up, she showed him how boring adult life is and ignored him until he finally broke down.

SpongeBob is actually an infant in sponge years.
Keep in mind that sponges in real life can live for thousands, if not, tens of thousands of years, and the fact that Spongebob's grandma is STILL alive and his mom's appearance has remained unchanged from before he was born to the series' present day. Obviously this means that SpongeBob is a baby by his kind's standards, but since he's technically 21 or so (and therefore an adult by the standards of most other animal species), he can afford a job and can experience things usually only reserved to adults.

SpongeBob is a genius
  • His license, in the two episodes he gets it, says his birthday is July 14th, 1986. This would have put him at age 18 at around the time the first movie came out. But we've heard SpongeBob talk about high school, and college. Plus he's got that huge library. He's a genius, who graduated at age 14-16. but was tired of the pressure put on him to be so smart, so he left home and became a fry cook, so he could enjoy a simple life.

SpongeBob has asthma.
Thus explaining that weird freaky gasping/wheezing thing he does in the Christmas special when he sees Squidward!Santa for the first time. Also Mr Krabs once asked him if he was on a new allergy medication. Sponge sometimes wheezes when he gets too amped up.
  • He basically has an asthma attack in the first Christmas special, then faints.

SpongeBob has been through many traumatic experiences in his life
Almost every flashback or references towards his life involves something negative or truly discussing situations (e.i. his own cousin abusing him, having pent-up rivalry with Bubble Bass, etc). Note that, giving the fact he still goes to school and has freckles, we never once saw his parents living with him at his house. He gets crazy, sometimes even psychotic whenever the slightest of things went wrong for him or when someone outclass him at something.

SpongeBob is somewhat hated by the people of Bikini Bottom

Taken mostly from the episode "Gone", where everyone in Bikini Bottom disappears, just like the title states. At the end of the episode, the reason they were gone was explained to SpongeBob, to mostly get away from him. Even Patrick says even he needs a day away from SpongeBob. Somewhat supported by the flashback to when everyone was dancing in the SpongeBob effigy ashes, with Squidward KICKING the ashes around with a large grin on his face, and everyone is dancing in it. SpongeBob is too oblivious to see that this was a day for people to get away from him and is happy that he got a holiday dedicated to him.

SpongeBob is perfectly normal. His unusual personality traits are the result of Krabs brainwashing/drugging him
All of SpongeBob's negative personality traits seem to reflect back on the fact that he loves his job, despite having a complete monster for a boss and the obviously unsanitary conditions of the restaurant. For example:SpongeBob's outgoing/weird personality- this prevents him from becoming friends with anyone else, because, after all, friendship would take time away from work. Spongebob is allowed to have Patrick as his friend, however. Similar to Wheatley's role to GLaDOS in Portal 2, Patrick is meant to feed Spongebob a constant stream of negative, idiotic, and otherwise foolish thoughts.

SpongeBob's failure at driving- Mr. Krabs bribes Mrs. Puff to keep failing Spongebob- if he would succeed at his driving test, it might mean that he actually succeeded at something other than work, which would completely ruin his "motivation" to do well at something.

SpongeBob's ambiguous sexuality- simple. Mr. Krabs wants to prevent him from ever finding anyone to settle down with and take time away from work.

SpongeBob's powers- all illusions.

SpongeBob is a psychic, and fully aware of the world around him.
In the episode where Patrick believes he has to get out of town, He runs to SpongeBob's house who is waiting for him at the door with two drinks. One for Patrick and one for himself unless, he has some secret friend in his house we don't know of.
  • Also there has been many times where SpongeBob shows how amazing his insight is. When he left Patrick watch Gary, he would go into his mind's eye to see what could possibly be going wrong, and was wrong, not just a little off, but exactly the opposite of the correct event. He saw fire, while there was a flood.
  • The way he was able to penetrate his friends dreams, shows that his brain is more powerful, than he lets on.
  • In the episode when they are on the run, his statement, "How come there's a fire underwater" was what brought light to the fire's disappearance.
  • In "Employee of The Month", SpongeBob and Squidward are having a conversation where SpongeBob asks him if he knows what day it is. Squidward replies, "Annoy Squidward Day", and SpongeBob retorts, "No, that's on the 15th." That was a paraphrase.

SpongeBob is an evil master of Obfuscating Stupidity
In earlier episodes, SpongeBob is generally depicted as good, whilst in later episodes shifting more towards Chaotic Stupid. However, on the whole he's seen as a kindhearted person who unintentionally causes trouble for others, and people dismiss the trouble he causes because he's The Ditz and therefore doesn't know any better. However, that's purely how SpongeBob wants people to view him - in reality, he's actually very intelligent, but also a psychopath, and so he pretends to be dumb in order to get away with causing havoc. For instance, he bears an intense hatred for Squidward, and thus torments him by pretending to be obsessed with him, and deliberately ruins everything that Squidward loves. The same applies to Mrs. Puff - in reality, he's actually not too bad a driver, but he finds it much more fun to torment her by driving dangerously, thus constantly failing his test and allowing him to continue tormenting her. Patrick is ultimately too stupid for SpongeBob to get much enjoyment out of torturing, but SpongeBob decides to keep him around because it further enforces the facade that SpongeBob is simply misguided rather than malevolent. He ultimately hasn't done much to Mr. Krabs yet, but that's because he's biding his time and trying to figure out the best way to torment him whilst not blowing his cover. Meanwhile, he uses his job at the Krusty Krab to torment Squidward even more, letting him know that he isn't safe anywhere, not even at work. Finally, he tries to manipulate Sandy into letting him use her devices to hurt more people - remember that 'Whirlybird incident' mentioned briefly in "Sandy's Rocket"? Anyhow, Sandy, like everyone else, assumes that the casualties were due to SpongeBob being dumb, not evil, and so is still happy to consider him a friend, but she also doesn't let him play with her devices anymore. Consequently, he's happy to sneak into her home and steal them anyway (in "Sandy's Rocket" he does this, and in another episode, whose name I can't remember, he and Patrick use the stun gun on her when she refuses to lend them her equipment). All in all, SpongeBob is torturing, manipulating or preparing torture anyone he meets, but with a particular focus on Squidward, but he's such an incredible master of Obfuscating Stupidity that no one suspects a thing.

SpongeBob is inbred.
He only has one set of grand parents, also his parents (possible aunt & uncle) do look kind of similar. In the episode with blackjack they featured SpongeBob's uncle, but they never revealed how he is SpongeBob's uncle. Maybe it's because the creators of this show are so damn lazy or maybe they didn't reveal how Captain Blue Squarepants is related to SpongeBob because it was too obscene. SpongeBob's uncle is biologically related to SpongeBob's mom and dad. SpongeBob's mom must have thought that her country brother was too "hickish" for her, and stuck with the civilized brother instead. Contradicting a previous trope about how SpongeBob's square shape is the result of a recessive gene, SpongeBob's shape is really a defect caused by incest. Even though the flaws are exaggerated a bit, come on now a sea sponge looking like a perfect kitchen sponge. What the hell is this, Blue's Clues? Spongebuck (SpongeBob's ancestor) also shares the square shape, but he's also a Southerner. I'm not trying to be the least bit racist. Spongebuck had to keep the sponge legacy going on somehow, he has future children so he must of been with a women during his lifetime before. Don't even say "sponges reproduce asexually" because the why does SpongeBob have two parents? One of Spongebuck's hot ass female relatives, maybe a cousin or sister, could've gotten lonely and decided to kick it off with her older relative. We didn't see any other sponges in the town where Spongebuck moved to, so the sponge that Spongebuck slept with moved in with him; after she sent Spongebuck a letter about how he was doing, and Spongebuck replied by stating how great that town they were living at was. While Spongebuck's female relative was living with him, they had intercourse sometime later. Ever since then the Sponge Clan has lived a legacy of incest, being discreet about if of course.

Spongebuck was the first of his kind to enter that town, while everyone else had someone of their species in that town. Squidward and Mr. Krabs aren't shown to have any grandparents because their parents are shown to be very old so they can't be judged, also they are shown to have one parent.

SpongeBob is aware of what Mr. Krabs is doing is wrong

It's just that he doesn't want to risk losing his job since frycooking is Serious Business to him.

SpongeBob's real name is just Bob.
Everyone in Bikini Bottom in racist, SpongeBob's real name is just Bob but everyone in Bikini Bottom adds "Sponge" because they are racist. SpongeBob even got his ID to fit it because he was ashamed to be singled out.
  • SpongeBob's own family calls him SpongeBob.
  • Then can the same case applied to squids too? In case that you don't get it: Squidward, Squilliam, etc.
    • It's a naming convention.
  • Patrick calls him "Robert" in the "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome Episode.

SpongeBob is square, even though his parents are round, because the gene for a square shape is recessive.
The flashbacks of his grandfather in "The Sponge Who Could Fly" and "Rock Bottom" show him as square, while the rest of his family (other than a few other relatives, such as Stanley) are drawn like realistic sea sponges. It's like how a person can have red hair despite no one else having red hair. The parents both have to be carriers of that gene.

SpongeBob left the Frycook Union.
Considering they made him take a vacation, I don't think he'll stay with them

SpongeBob will finally get his boating license in the movie sequel.
Or in a future episode. He already came very close to earning it in Bumper to Bumper.

SpongeBob is prone to Character Derailment.
Between intervals in episodes he switches between The Ditz, a hard worker, a a character with a questionable sexual orientation, to a wannabe macho man. Honestly this trope is over done on SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's current treatment of Squidward is an elaborate revenge for the events of "Can You Spare A Dime?"
In that episode, Squidward basically treated Spongebob like a servant for months on end, and despite taking advantage of him to a ridiculous extent, for once he didn't get any comeuppance afterwards. So Spongebob instead decided to put Squidward through a continuous amount of torment just to get back at him.

In the episode "Love That Squid" SpongeBob wasn't really trying to help Squidward simulate a date.
He was acting out a gay fantasy deep in his psyche, despite SpongeBob being very creative (don't you think he could've gotten Sandy or Pearl or someone to play the female?). That was a date simulation for SpongeBob's gay date with Squidward, I think he knew his crappy simulation wasn't helping Squidward. But it actually wasn't for Squidward. I'm surprised he didn't sabotage Squidward's chances for Squilvia.

SpongeBob didn’t shrink everyone in Bikini Bottom
Despite Squidward telling SpongeBob that he shrunk everyone in Bikini Bottom while panicking, neither Mr. Krabs, Gary, nor Pearl was barely even shown in the jar along with the shrunken people. For Karen, it wouldn’t make sense, given that she is at the Chum Bucket.

     Patrick 
Patrick's bursts of intelligence are because he has a split personality.
Unknown to anyone but himself, Patrick Star has two personalities. His normal one being a genuinely stupid but kind-hearted person, and the other personality being smart, manipulative and a jerk. That's why whenever Patrick seems smarter than he should be, he holds the Jerkass Ball-it's the other personality in control. Smart Jerk Patrick knows his intelligence is out of the ordinary, so he acts stupid so people think he's Dumb Good Patrick. Whenever Patrick's intelligent moments are a brief comedic burst, it's the stupid Patrick letting the smart Patrick say something. They don't like each other and squabble for control, but if there's something the two personalities share it's an appreciation for comedic timing. "Patrick Smartpants" caused a Split-Personality Merge, resulting in a Patrick who had the smart' side's intelligence(the brain coral was just the catalyst) and the stupid side's heart, which is why he chose to become dumb again at the end. This separated the two personalities, and things went back to normal.
  • This explains a lot of fan-hated episodes caused by Patrick's Character Derailment into a Jerkass; in those episodes his smart personality was dominantly in control. "Rule of Dumb" shows Smart Jerk Patrick turning into a merciless tyrant when he gains an opportunity to become powerful, but Dumb Good Patrick resurfaced when he realised that he pushed SpongeBob away from him. The infamous "Ink Lemonade" proves this even more, where Smart Jerk Patrick was willing to exploit Squidward's worst fears (especially when he shows a puppet of an elderly Squidward working in the Krusty Krab for the rest of his life) for his selfish desire to be popular, and is perfectly okay with traumatising Squidward to sell his ink without giving anything back to him.

Patrick is an autistic savant

This is noticeable in the earlier episodes at least. He typically behaves seemingly idiotically, but is quite articulate on a few subjects. He is shown to play the drums quite well as well. Savants typically struggle with simple tasks, which is the case for Patrick.

Patrick has a light case of anterograde amnesia.
  • Anterograde amnesia is the inability to recall recent or instant events. In "Life of Crime", Patrick forgets that he ate a whole candy bar three seconds after doing so. In "I'm With Stupid", he didn't even realise that his 'parents' were strangers until his real parents showed up. And lastly, in "The Card" and "Tentacle-Vision", he flat out states that he doesn't know how stupid he is. Maybe living under a giant rock that has been shown to practically mutilate others by it's weight seems to have had some effect on Patrick's brain.

Patrick will die horribly in his sleep.
  • In the episode "Gone", SpongeBob knocks on Patrick's rock, saying "You don't want to forget to wake up again, do you?"
  • In "Sleepy Time", SpongeBob goes into one of Patrick's dreams; the dream consists of Patrick riding on a coin-operated ride in the middle of a bleak, white landscape. It's implied that most of Patrick's dreams are like this.
  • Don't worry, science is working on this one. SpongeBob is immortal, and so Patrick will die of old age before ever getting left alone to starve.
    • But could there be a betrayal?

The normal Patrick and prick Patrick are two different characters
Near the end of "Karate Star", Patrick chops off his hand in an act of remorse, forming an exact duplicate of himself who continues wreaking havoc across Bikini Bottom (could possibly be the same Patrick clone from "Spy Buddies"). This just might be the Patrick who's been a malicious jerk in various episodes ("The Card", "Yours, Mine and Mine", "Pet Sitter Pat"), while the original Patrick was elsewhere at those times.
  • Likewise, the unintelligent SpongeBob who acts like a Stalker with a Crush towards Squidward is really a duplicate formed from budding off another Sponge(Bob). We can see in "Pressure" that SpongeBob - like real sea sponges - can reproduce by budding.

Patrick is a stand user like in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
In the season 3 episode "No Weenies Allowed", Spongebob wants to get into the Salty Spitoon but can't because he isn't tough enough. So Spongebob get's Patrick to let him win a fake fight to prove his toughness. The real looking injuries Patrick gets are real due to his stand beating him up. The stand becomes too engrossed with the fight and goes overboard, continuing to beat on his user along after Spongbob is allowed in. Patrick's stand is called Starfish Platinum.

Patrick is the only individual who likes the Chum Bucket.
We've never seen him eat the food and be disgusted, and Patrick has been shown to eat some really bad stuff. So it stands to reason that, if anyone likes Plankton's food, it's Patrick. I can imagine an episode where SpongeBob is forced to deal with either the happiness of his friend or Mr Krabs attack on Plankton
  • In a recent episode called "Free Samples", Patrick is shown eating Plankton's chum and liking it, so thus, confirmed.

Patrick Star is on a disability check.
Even though revealing this isn't super inappropriate like showing someone's genitals or something like that, revealing something like this isn't something especially Nickelodeon would find appropriate for kids. A show like Regular Show might used a topic like this but not anything on Nickelodeon. Even though he's a lazy bastard with no job he can afford things he needs as well as ironically being able to afford things he wants. The government is paying for his housing and giving him a pretty fair allowance. Besides who hasn't seen people like this (Patrick).

Patrick is a Reality Warper and he's holding SpongeBob prisoner in his own created realm.
SpongeBob in his original world was a force to conquer Plankton, bent on world domination, but Plankton enlisted the help of some powerful magicians to summon a person to alter SpongeBob's mind set. They came up with a reality warper named Patrickius, whom they siced on the young spongelad causing him to revert to child hood days as a nincompoop, after which Patrickius put SpongeBob in a place he could keep an eye on him, until Plankton found use for him. In a world of care free joy, and stupidity.
Evidenced by Patrick being so adaptive, and Ironicly on point at all times. When they were on the lam, he made fire under water but when that startled SpongeBob he extinguished it.

Patrick is not really SpongeBob's friend

It's just a thought. Like in the episode, Patrick states that even he needs a day away from SpongeBob's annoying laughter. Also, with the amounts of fights they get into, its a wonder why they are still friends.

  • Many people have friends who get in fights, and they're still friends. Maybe SpongeBob can't make friends with anyone else, and Patrick is too stupid.

Patrick is just an AU version of Grounder.
Think about it! Same dumb voice, same Flowers for Algernon plot where they become Insufferable Geniuses, same plot where they represent the dad in their Parents for a Day plot... Beyond that, both of them are stupider than their companions, and both get frequent Ho Yay. It all makes sense — Patrick is Grounder after a Heel–Face Turn.

Patrick is acting stupid for malicious means
Patrick was once pushed around by other people who insulted him for his stupidity; friends and strangers alike. Then in "I'm With Stupid", Patrick saw his opportunity to turn the tables and intentionally made fun of SpongeBob in front of his supposed parents. Having finally discovered the joy of insulting stupid people, he started Obfuscating Stupidity as means of revenge (Squidward being a prominent victim in moments like "Smooth Jazz at Bikini Bottom" and "Restraining SpongeBob"). Unfortunately, his low intelligence and hypocrisy would soon consume him, turning him into the jerk we'd see in later episodes.
  • If these episodes circulate around Patrick being a prick, then "Patrick-Man" indicates his redemption. It is this episode where Patrick acts like a superhero in attempts to stop crime. Patrick's stupidity also feels genuine rather than malicious or hedonistic.

Patrick hates Squidward
Various moments show Patrick acting like a Deadpan Snarker or even a Jerkass towards him. He also once suggests to SpongeBob that Squidward doesn't like them, which could indicate that Patrick is actually aware of Squidward's dislike towards them. He even excitedly plans to punch a shrunken Squidward after being told he wasn't a toy.
  • For those shippers, Patrick may seem to be jealous that SpongeBob "likes" Squidward.

Patrick is filthy rich
The recent episode "FarmerBob" showed that Patrick has a license for ALMOST EVERY JOB EVER, including random stuff like making crop circles and driving tractors. He has already been shown to be a genius when it comes to driving itself, and apparently he's also smart enough to earn all those other licenses, and be skilled enough with them to write alien messages and successfully harvest crops with a tractor. While SpongeBob is working at the Krusty Krab, Patrick is doing odd jobs for random people because he's bored and doesn't have anything else to do with all the skills he has. He lives under a rock, makes his own furniture, and only seems to need to purchase food, so he probably has a LOT of money somewhere. Odds are he forgets he has it quite often due to his stupidity, but there are times when he has more than enough money to eat twenty-odd Krabby Patties, and we know there are NOT cheap because Mr. Krabs...is Mr. Krabs. Patrick is filthy rich thanks to all his random skills and licenses, but has NO IDEA what to do with his money.
  • He also willingly partakes in Sandy's scientific experiments, which sometimes have dangerous/weird side effects. As Patrick is also Sandy's friend, she probably pays him for his willingness to do stupid/dangerous shit in the name of science.
  • Notice that he also works at the Krusty Krab as SpongeBob's replacement quite often, for one reason or another, and is usually not getting paid to do so. Most of the time, his burger-flipping skills are as good as SpongeBob's, since no one complains about his cooking, meaning Patrick ALSO knows the secret to making good Krabby Patties. Something we're lucky Plankton hasn't figured out, since Patrick probably wouldn't understand why telling Plankton is wrong. Any job he's asked to do, he will usually do it for free. He clearly doesn't need/want the money. Or he's too stupid to know he should be getting paid.

Patrick collects benefits.
It's been established multiple times that Patrick doesn't have a job and yet, he always seems to have money when the plot demands it. Either Patrick gets the money from his family, or he collects some sort of benefits check like welfare or probably disability. Or maybe both.

Patrick has bipolar disorder
He has severe mood swings and can easily snap if provoked. He also has hyperactive bouts of behavior, which is the manic side of bipolar disorder. He also can get depressed or angry really easily, which is the depressive side.

     Squidward 
Contrasting with the theory about SpongeBob's long running campaign, Squidward will become insane
Extreme suffering can destroy a person's sense of morality.

The reason Squidward wanted Santa to go away in the second Christmas special.
He remembers seeing Santa act insanely in "Christmas Who?", and wanted to keep his house safe.

Squidward is a Reality Warper
However, he always gets bad luck because he expects on them too much. It is not expectation, but uncertainty, that powers them.

Squidward is a hexapus
In reality, it's basically an octopus with six legs (as a rare mutation). In the show's universe, however, they could be treated as a whole subspecies of octopus. This would explain the different types of octopi seen in "Walking Small", "Sailor Mouth" and "Slimy Dancing" that look completely different from Squidward's kind.

Squidward is one of those architect people from Afterlife.
  • Sandy is the angel advisor, the devil advisor is on vacation, leaving Squidward to design evil himself. Which is why everyone dislikes Squidward, because he had to make it all purgatory to fit it all in. Certain places fluctuate between its normal earth-ish state, and heaven and hell, Depending on the Writer. Some notably fluxing places are large cliffs (Hell/normal, such as Squidward falling off with an explosion, and Mrs. Puff getting stuck in a fall sequence), the Krusty Krab areas (highly unstable to the point every part is experienced at once, resulting in varied Eldritch Abominations and weird moments), and some other places.

Squidward is a hybrid of an octopus and a squid.
That should explain everything.
  • Not everything. Neither on those animals have 6 limbs. Or a weird giant nose.
    • Squidward is an amputee? He's suffered a whole bunch of injuries, so he could've easily lost them. That, or octopi have some sort of taboo with eight limbs, so they hide and/or remove a pair.
    • It is possible, albeit rare, for octopi to have 6 legs.
    • But other members of Squidward's species also have 6 tentacles.
      • Also, octopi exist in the world of SpongeBob, so it's still possible, but not as likely.

Squidward killed Patrick's real parents
We already know Squidward hates Patrick, so when he heard his parents were coming for Starfish Day, he knew he needed to do something. Patrick's real parents did get there earlier but Squidward murdered them and got rid of the bodies. Then he hired a family, and when Patrick saw them, Squidward made it look like they were annoying him, so once they went in Patrick's house, he could have his peace. After Squidward realized he got the names wrong he told them to find a way to get out.Then he got two more starfish to pose as Patrick's parents. Nobody else knows about this, not even Squidward's house.
  • You do realize that's obscene even for Squidward's standards. Beyond the people who harass him every waking moment, there's been no indication he'd resort to murder.

Squidward is ugly by Bikini Bottom's standards
Let's face it. Squidward's paintings all have his face in it. Even his abstract are has traces of him in it. His self-portraits are so similar to his actual face that the only possible reason that Squidward's art is really bad is not that he ISN'T good at painting, it's that he only paints HIMSELF, which, if Squid really IS ugly, would explain why his art is known to be really bad. Especially because of his big nose. Now, if he painted something else, he'd probably gain a good rep as the best artist, mostly due to the realism in his art and portraits of others.
  • Alternatively he isn't ugly, but people consider his art egotistical pandering because he always has himself as the focus. Especially his nose.
  • In "The Two Faces of Squidward", when he recovers from an accident his nose is noticeably smaller and everyone in town becomes obsessed with his new look.

Squidward is trying to kill SpongeBob.
The episode where SpongeBob and Patrick test there survival skills, Squidward is shown to have Voo Doo dolls of SpongeBob and Patrick, with many needles stuck into them.

Squidward is suicidal.
In the cartoon, they try and make it discreet, but older people can still see it. In one of the "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" episodes, as Patrick is explaining "wumbo" to SpongeBob, Squidward asks himself, "I wonder if a fall from this height could kill me." In "Cephalopod Lodge", Squidward says something along the lines of "This makes the other 364 days worth living." Add in the treatment he gets from people, the constant torture of SpongeBob and Patrick bugging him all day, especially at work, low payment at a crappy job, a crappy job in general, a greedy boss, animals that attack him for no reason even when he acts nice around them, and a clarinet career that can never seem to take off for him, he would start thinking these thoughts, but they can never outright show that on a children's cartoon. Maybe off camera, but not actually on the show.
  • They did have some very morbid jokes in "Are You Happy Now?", though...

Squidward smokes dope.
If he didn't, he would have gone mad and commited suicide back in 2002. Besides, if you listen to the theme song backwards, you can hear the words, "Squidward smokes dope!" quite clearly.
  • Yay, backmasking!
    • That explains why he loves to play his clarinet so much. It's because it doubles as a bong!

Before Squidward plays his clarinet, he gets high.
Which would explain why his clarinet music sucks.
  • The reason why he's even hired? He couldn't find his pot.
    • See "Squidward smokes dope" above.

Squidward has a restraining order against SpongeBob and Patrick
...but the cops in Bikini Bottom are just ''so'' damn incompetent and stupid, that even if he calls them for SpongeBob and Patrick violating the order, ''he'd'' be the one arrested, not them. And SpongeBob and Patrick would get away with it! Thus, he tries to put up with them, or do anything to get away. Though of course, even if he DID kill SpongeBob and Patrick, the Bikini Bottom cops would probably not even RECOGNIZE a murder.
  • He did get it made official (again?) against SpongeBob and then Patrick in one episode, with expected results; no doubt he's given up after this.

Squidward is an octopus.
Alright, he has a round head, and a big nose. This is opposed to a rather pointy head that a squid has. When he set foot on dry land, he became a puppet of an octopus. Also, in Mrs. Puff's classroom, there is a girl who looks a lot like a normal squid, with a pointy head and all. So, her species must be the REAL squids of bikini bottom, and octos like having "Squid" in the name.
  • Confirmed by Word of God.
    • Does that mean I don't have to add the fact that his name is Octo in the Dutch translation?
  • Perhaps in-universe octopuses evolved to only need six arms. They choose squid-based names because it sounds better than "Octward Tentacles."

Squidward is a masochist
If he really hates SpongeBob, Patrick and the rest of his neighbors, why doesn't he go and stay in Tentacle Acres with the rest of his kind for eternity? If he really hates working at the Krusty Krab, why doesn't he quit? If Bikini Bottom is such a Hell for him, why doesn't he just move out, simple as that? He seems to be capable of buying a house outside of Bikini Bottom, concerning the many cases on which his house was destroyed. If he really suffered Freudian Excuse after Freudian Excuse after Freudian Excuse as the series suggested to us, why doesn't he show signs of it, or better yet, kill SpongeBob, worship Cthulhu, go to Japan and rape tons of anime girls (as most of Rule 34 would suggest), and/or commit suicide? Well the truth is, he actually liked all those tortures, those agonies and torments and annoyances that SpongeBob and life imposed on him. That's why he doesn't ever move out of Bikini Bottom and go reclusive in Tentacle Acres (or choose your own utopia), which can just be the solution to all his problems. Of course we always see the grumpy Squidward who openly hates SpongeBob, but of course Squidward had to hide his masochism (either that or Squidward is a Tsundere as an earlier WMG suggested).
  • Well, in certain episodes, Squidward has admitted to at least partially liking SpongeBob. My theory on why he can't quit his job is because he needs the money and there is really no other place where he can get a job. When he tried living in Tentacle Acres, he really didn't quite fit in with the others and was despised.

Squidward secretly loves his job
Bear with me here. In the show, he doesn't like his job, but if he didn't like it, why hasn't he quit? He has been shown to quit a few times, but never permanently. Only in the eleven minute course of an episode.
  • It could also be that he couldn't get another job, and that he had developed an addiction to Krabby Patties in that one episode.
  • Alternatively, Squidward finds his job to be ok as it suits his needs. He just can't stand the fact that SpongeBob also works there. All the times we've seen Squidward at his job without the sponge, he seems to be enjoying himself at least a little bit. Whenever he says he wants to escape from the Krusty Krab, he really just wants to get away from SpongeBob.

Squidward is/was the most hated person in Bikini Bottom
Well, that's pretty obvious, but if you listen closely in the episode "F.U.N", when the citizens of Bikini Bottom are calling Plankton a loser and making fun of him, Squidward says, "How does it feel to be the most hated person in Bikini Bottom, Plankton? It hurts, doesn't it? I know." This could mean that Plankton took over as pariah of Bikini Bottom, or is in the same position as Squidward: most hated.

Squidward is Tsundere for SpongeBob
Squidward hates SpongeBob as a Baka in default, yet he isn't experiencing happiness, contentment and love (or only experiencing a nihilistic existence, as seen in the episode "Squidville", where Squidward transfers to the peaceful squid-populated heaven of tentacle acres, where there is no SpongeBob) when he isn't around. Sometimes he is nice to SpongeBob, sometimes he despises him. Coincidence? Of course, this is Wild Mass Guessing.

Squidward is British. Or part British.
He has British Stuffiness, once in awhile he uses stock British insults, and his watch has Big Ben on it.
  • Or maybe he acts British because British culture is commonly viewed as classy.

Squidward is gay
He's the only one of the trio that has shown shown no attraction to girls (SpongeBob has a Word of God crush on Sandy and Pat fell for a mermaid). He's said a few comments about Squilliam though (like the infamous "oh no, he's hot" comment), and his relationships with SpongeBob and Patrick have more Ho Yay then SpongeBob's or Patrick's realtionships with him. Not to mention his feminine nature.
  • It might just be a case of making sense in context. He was hoping to one-up Squilliam by imagining him in an embarrassing situation, but realized that Squilliam is, in fact, hot.
    • Also, he was trying the "just picture him in his underwear" trick to make himself more confident; however, his own fears made this backfire.
  • Didn't he hit on Puff once?
    • Yeah, not to mention also hit on Patrick while he was disguised as "Patricia" in that one episode, and after Patrick took off his disguise, Squidward looked very repulsed and said he needed a shower.
  • Maybe bisexual instead? Also in the more recent episode "Love That Squid", Squidward falls for the female squid/octopus Squilvia.
    • Aside from the "he's hot" (which I don't recall or haven't seen to understand the context and inflections) and the (very vaguely) Always Camp stereotype, the only evidence for him being gay is that he's never shown attraction to girls. Thus, when he does show attraction to a girl, that means he's bi? Odd.
    • I (who suggested he was bi) was just playing along with the theory like the WMG homepage advises; rather than coming out and saying "Nope, he's straight" when I can't exactly rule out an attraction to males.
  • He's in the closet. As with Patrick, can you blame him?
  • He's got tentacles. Sexual orientation is meaningless to him.

Squidward's real name is Edward.
Duh.

Squidward isn't gay like some people assume he is.
Even though this show has a lot of Ho Yay moments, Squidward hasn't really done anything that would seem gay, not even him imagining Squilliam in his underwear. He did that to make him appear lesser in his mind, although it didn't work, obviously. Squidward is a highly cultured individual and prefers the finer things in life, despite the fact he lives around cultural blandness, therefore he might not have high expectations of the women as well, I'm not trying to sound weird, but Squilvia did look like a good catch. He doesn't eat those "mediocre Krabby Patties" and doesn't think they're "the best things under the sea" according to a lot of Bikini Bottom (even SpongeBob); he prefers to dine at fine restaurants. The ingredients he uses to fix his meals are exotic exquisite and fancy ones at that. While he did like Patrick when he was disguised as Patricia, that doesn't count because all the males liked him/her. He apparently prefers super fine women just like he prefers high class meals.

Squidward is the hypothetical alternate universe animated version of Michael Jackson.

We don't know much about Squidward's childhood so no judgements can be made.

  • They both have slightly feminine dispositions, however Michael Jackson is famous because he got a deal but Squidward didn't.
  • Michael Jackson had nice hair Squidward doesn't have any hair.
  • Michael Jackson had a skin disorder know as vitiligo; although it's not looked on, Squidward could really have a health problem (probably not cancer) that caused his long beautiful hair to just vanish like that.
    • There was this one reality show, where people were getting surgery on their scalps because their hair all of a sudden fell out. That's probably similar to, if not, what Squidward has.
  • Michael Jackson was a supposed sex fiend, Squidward is assumed to be asexual, despite the two times he showed interest in women.
  • Squidward acts like an uppidy adult, while Michael Jackson acted like Peter Pan.
  • Michael Jackson was a energetic pop singer, squidward is a reserved clarinet player.

Squidward might be good at conducting, not playing.
Think about it—in the episode in with Squidward's composition, he does do a epic job conducting. The only problem was SpongeBob playing "doctor" with Patrick.

Squidward WAS a good clarinet player until Bubblestand.
At the beginning of the episode, he's actually playing pretty well, but the shock of the giant bubble lifting his house made him unable to play.
  • No he wasn't... at least not all the time. Though when his confidence was boosted he got better. In fact it sounded like he was trying to play in scales. [1]

Squidward has always been aware of the Fourth Wall, and the universe is trying to destroy him for it.
Remember how early in the series, Squidward would often mention something about 11 minutes? That's the length of the episode. He's know about the wall from the beginning and the universe just can't have that. It feels that in order for the show to continue, that needs to stop. So it does everything it can to end his life, whether directly, or paying him enough of an injustice to make him kill himself.
  • The short version-he is trying to cancel the show.

Squidward is a cuttlefish.
In the show, we have seen both squids and octopuses as background characters and they look nothing like Squidward. It's clear the Squidward is a cephalopod of some sort, so why not a cuttlefish? After all, we haven't seen a cuttlefish in the show before.
  • He's been confirmed to be an octopus. but the new writers can't seem to remember..

The dying animal on Squidward's premises that is briefly referred to in Band Geeks is Snellie.
Think about it for a moment, what other animal would be on Squidward's property?

Squidward's nose is actually his mating tentacle.
It partially explains why he doesn't need to wear pants, as he doesn't have reproductive organs there. Either it isn't considered vulgar or it's disguised as a nose and kept secret by other octopuses.

Squidward is famous in Japan
His art must be big there.

Squidward sucks at his clarinet because of Plankton.
Back in the day, Squidward was good(or just normal) at playing the clarinet. This changed when Plankton, while controlling Spongebob, called him "mediocre." It caused a major blow to his confidence, resulting in Squidward slipping up and becoming the terrible musician we know today.

Squidward isn't a loser because he has bad luck or even made a couple bad choices in the past. He's terrible with money and regularly makes costly impulse purchases
Note: Taken from this Reddit thread.

So the common perception of Squidward is that life has given him the shaft. He dreams of being a musician or artist, but lacks the inherent skill or talent to actually make any money off of those dreams. He's a lowly cashier with a cheapskate boss and neighbors who irritate the hell out of him.

But while it's true that he lacks the skill for his true passions, he has a much better chance at happiness than you might realize. The problem is that he he's terrible at handling his money.

We do have a reference for Squidward's income in one episode, but first let me establish that the figure I'm going to come up with is reasonable and that he does, in fact, have plenty of money to spend. Here are some of the things Squidward has been able to afford:

1) First and foremost, he lives alone in an enormous, multi-story house with lots of art decorations and musical instruments.

2) He's able to move to an entirely new community (and then back home) on a whim (Squidville).

3) In the episode where Spongebob breaks his butt ("I Had an Accident"), Squidward has set up a table and tea set on the mountain slope. This is presumably around the price of skiing for a day, not to mention a lot of hard work.

4) In Good Neighbors, he casually orders a pedicure and foot massage to his home. He then orders a military-grade home security system which must have cost thousands.

5) In Band Geeks, it's stated that he rents out all of the instruments needed for a full marching band to play in. He also rents out an entire factory to practice in.

6) In Chocolate with Nuts, Squidward has reserved a table for himself at an extremely high-end restaurant - the same restaurant where Mr. Krabs racked up a bill of $100,000 dollars.

7) When he's fired from the Krusty Krab ("Can You Spare A Dime?"), he becomes homeless. However shortly after being hired back, he's able to buy back his old house and be back to his normal life.

That's what I can think of off of the top of my head. But hopefully it establishes that he isn't completely broke. Now for his actual salary:

In the episode where Squidward becomes obsessed with the toy crane (Skill Crane), Mr. Krabs hands Squidward his paycheck - all in quarters. And the sack of quarters is enormous - about a foot in diameter. The volume of a sphere means its volume is 900 in3. This isn't a fan calc sub, so for brevity I guess I'll just expect you to believe me, but the volume of a quarter is about .2 inches. 900/.2 = 4500 quarters = $1125. Since the episode came out in 2005, we need to adjust for inflation, and it turns out Squidward is making $1,440 per paycheck. Let's say that his pay is biweekly and he's making $720 a week. That's $37,000 per year.

Given Squidward's spending habit, it's no wonder he's miserable. Imagine if he lived in an apartment for a couple years, and saved up his money to take some art or music classes so that he could actually have a shot a creative career?

An adjustment in lifestyle would absolutely let him.

Squidward is a robot/android.
  • On Futurama, all robots have square pupils. Watch SpongeBob, everybody, regardless of species, has round pupils except Squidward (and I would guess Squilliam). The 3 Laws would also explain why he hasn't gone postal yet.

The mental and physical abuse Squidward has suffered has caused him to develop some form of multiple personality disorder.
  • Along with his inconsistent personality he also seems to not remember various aspects of his past that have been established previously, for example in one episode he said he doesn't have a happy memory despite the fact that he was shown to be quite happy before the appearance of Spongebob, also in "can you spare a dime" he said he's allergic to newsprint despite the fact that he's been shown touching it without issue in other episodes.

     Sandy 
Sandy was trained and sent to Bikini Bottom by The Engineer
Because really, why not?

As a land creature, Sandy is disliked by most of the other Bikini Bottom residents, much like a foreigner.
Sandy doesn't really appear to have any friends in Bikini Bottom besides Spongebob and Patrick, as she doesn't largely interact with other characters (or fish). Mr. Krabs and Squidward are acquaintances at best (she's shown not have gotten along with both of them). She's shown not to have gotten along with other fish before (in "Squirrel Jokes" and "Band Geeks"). It's possible that she's largely a loner if it wasn't for the two of them. Possibly a Stepford Smiler / Pollyanna in regards to this?

A large crisis occurred in Texas at some point in Sandy's life before moving undersea, and Texas only recovered sometime later
Sandy in an early episode, feeling homesick, mentions Texas as only a memory, despite the fact she apparently is capable of going there in later episodes and even sadly leaves for there in the same episode (Presumably transit around there was risky, and she couldn't stay behind to say goodbye or even just vacation, or she'd miss her only transit in and not have an easy way out), even installing an escape pod to launch her there in case of ghosts, and later developing a teleporter to send acorns to a stash there later on. Presumably, Texas suffered a crisis. When she left to visit in the episode with the butterfly, she was either visiting a recovered area or was going to assist with the relief efforts. Texas later recovered, as shown by Sandy participating in a rodeo with a fairly large amount of people.

Sandy hates Spongebob and is actively trying to escape from him.
She builds so many time machines to stop herself from taking the underwater tree-dome deal.She built a rocket to leave for "science".Maybe she even got tired of trying and blasted them back to medieval times.Basically, every one of her inventions is an escape attempt.

Sandy doesn't actually need her air helmet to survive underwater
Although she's a squirrel, due to an unusual genetic mutation when she was born, she's able to breathe underwater as well as on dry land. As a result, she became seen as a 'freak' by other squirrels, but due to her intellectual abilities she was still able to become a respected scientist. When the opportunity came to live underwater for scientific research, she jumped at the opportunity. However, she decides that she's tired of being treated as a freak, so she builds a special sealed airdome and wears a special suit and air helmet to convince the residents of Bikini Bottom that she's just like any other squirrel. Now, "Pressure" seems to contradict this theory, because Sandy takes off a suit and it isn't long before she's frantically searching for a jar to breathe. However, she wasn't actually drowning - she's just a really good actress, and thus further solidified the facade that she couldn't survive without air (even if it meant temporary humiliation). Evidence to support this theory includes a brief shot in "Procrastination" where she's not wearing her suit underwater (she is wearing her helmet, to be fair, but since the opening is wider than her neck...), and also the fact that her medieval ancestor didn't wear a helmet (and because she was a knight no one would realise that she was a squirrel).
  • Makes sense, but I think you meant medieval counterpart rather than ancestor.
  • Contradicted by Bubble Troubles, where Sandy genuinely suffers from the effects of oxygen depravity, including acting insanely. Also, if she was acting in Pressure, her lungs wouldn't be seen crumbling.

Sandy's minor role in the film wasn't because later she'd be demoted to extra.
The creators made it that way so that any relationship Spongebob might have with Sandy in the future episodes couldn't be effected by or effect the movie.

One plot point in Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie will finally address the “Spandy” issue.
A tentative synopsis is that Bikini Bottom is lifted entirely out of the ocean and put in a Texas aquarium. Sandy and SpongeBob go there and team up with the Cheeks family to get it back. The Cheeks family think that Sandy's come for a visit, but who’s the cheese man in the box pants with her? They all jump to the same conclusion: he's her fiancée and she's brought him to meet his in-laws.

SpongeBob plays along. His reason for doing so can go two ways:

1. He genuinely loves Sandy.

2. He doesn’t want to embarrass her family.

This will trigger a plot point where Sandy gets irritated by SpongeBob, they fight and she upsets him. Sandy gets fed up with the allegations that she’s marrying SpongeBob and has an outburst which has her say “HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!”

     Mr. Krabs and Pearl 
Pearl is adopted
More specifically, Pearl was adopted by Mr. Krabs as a tax write-off. Sure, he may have come to actually love her, but his rationale was for the money. Smart budgeting makes it so the gains of the write-off don't offset the expenses of having a child.

.
  • Continuation of the above. Krabs has been with a whale, Mrs. Puff (a talking pufferfish) and was eyeballing the tubby Patrick when he was dressed up as a girl. I guess when you've got pincers instead of hands, you want something to grab onto.
    • He also hit on the decidedly NOT chubby Spongebob when he was wearing a dress and "wig" in the "Sanctuary!" episode. Maybe he's just...really into weird looking chicks. Or ones who could be male or female. Maybe he likes girls with a little something extra "downstairs", which is why he hit on Spongebob, even though he's been to Spongebob's house, recognized Spongebob when he's been in every other type of outfit and even stripped to his bones, knows Sponge's love of snails, and has even met his family. I think he clearly knew that was Spongebob, but still hit on "her" just in case Sponge was open to it. Sponge DID go on a "date" with Squidward and raise a "baby" with Patrick...

Mr. Krabs pays Squidward extra to keep Squidward from informing the local Labor Board that SpongeBob is effectively slave labor

It's mentioned that SpongeBob gets paid basically nothing for what he does and that he's willing to work for free(or even pay Mr. Krabs for the privilege of working at the Krusty Krab), whereas Squidward very much is not. Squidward gets paid a portion of what SpongeBob would normally make as a kickback so he doesn't go and blow the whistle on Mr. Krabs for violating minimum wage laws.

  • I like this; makes sense enough to me!
  • But, knowing Squidward, would he need to be paid for that?

Mr. Krabs is the true villain of the show, and will have a Disney Villain Death brought on by his own greed in the series finale
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was not the end. When the show inevitably gets cancelled, there will be an episode in the future, right after the movie, where Krabs, happy at Plankton being neutralized as a threat and with a second Krusty Krab, will make more money than ever before. This will in turn result in him opening more Krusty Krabs, until he is the richest man in town. When he is the richest man in town, he will destroy all other businesses and bulldoze over people's houses for development, until everyone works for him, even the police, who use their batons to smack the shit out of anyone who resists. SpongeBob, who has been obedient up until this point, notices that the way people are living under Krabs is even worse than under Plankton, and realizes that Plankton was driven to commit his acts in the movie because of Krab's torture.

He breaks him out of prison and forms a resistance group with him that also includes Sandy, with a lazer she designed and her Kung Fu for fighting, Patrick, with his same Robot that he had in "Sand Castles", and Squidward, who fights with god awful Clarinet music. They will assault the first Krusty Krab (which has become Mr. Krabs palace at that point), along with a mob of angry Bikini Bottomians, using things like musical instruments and shells as weapons to fight Krabs' Riot Police. Sandy detonates an explosive that creates a huge pit in the ground, and SpongeBob and Plankton confront Krabs on top of his palace. He fights them using a skull swordfish head as a sword (like in that one episode), where as SpongeBob uses his spatula as a sword and Plankton aids in the fight.

Eventually, Plankton ends up on the ground with his limbs broken, and SpongeBob is hanging off of the building. Krabs prepares to strike him and let him fall to his death, but then someone shows up... Pearl. She is in tears at seeing what her dad has become, and grabs a bag of money, taunting Krabs with it. She then throws it over the ledge, and Krabs jumps over the grab it, leading to him falling down the pit. Outside, the police are defeated and Krabs is overthrown, and it is explained what happened to all the characters through the whole "text over a still picture accompanied by music" method. Plankton and SpongeBob use the recipe to open a new restaurant, which is moderately successful, and lets them make a living. Sandy become the cities new minister of science and Chief of Police. Squidward perfected his clarinet skills, and became a world famous composer. And Patrick is the president. Post credits, there is a clip of Krabs surviving the fall, crawling out onto the land, and noticing an odd looking fish. After talking to it, he grabs it, and gets swooped up into the air, because it was a fishing hook. Krabs is then cooked and eaten. Ok, so this would a little Darker and Edgier for a SpongeBob cartoon, but at least it would guarantee happy endings and get rid of Mr.Krabs

  • This will make a hell of a fanfic. 'specially with pictures.

Krabs traded his soul for the Krabby Patty formula
Mr. Krabs stated to Plankton in 'Plankton's army' that the formula was not meant for mortal eyes. That episode where he sold his soul to the Flying Dutchman to hear money sing shows that he owes his soul to literally a crowd full of entities, including SpongeBob because his check was late.

Therefore, the recipe is something that Krabs traded his soul for. What else he traded his soul for is another mystery, though this troper suspects it includes his restaurant, long life span (The 'dime' from the stone age,) and the apparent capacity to bind two souls for eternity to work off the damages to his restaurant.

Consequently, the training video is supposed to end abruptly- Either we all know the recipe but can't process that part of the video, or that's when Krabs clubs his employees and performs the secret rites that allow them to know the formula. It also has some good protection there too. Since Plankton, while linked in to SpongeBob's brain cannot seem to say it out loud...

The real Mr. Krabs is dead or missing.
Ever since the post-Movie episodes when he Took a Level in Jerkass, Krabs hasn't seemed. Right. Why? He's actually the Krab-Borg v2.0; Plankton has SUCCEEDED in replacing Krabs, and the real Krabs is fighting his way back while the Krab-Borg has rebelled against his creator, going further and further over the Moral Event Horizon. That is, of course, until SpongeBob and Patrick find the real Mr. Krabs, who proceeds to make his return in a Big Damn Heroes moment that leads to the opening of the Krusty Krab II.
  • I like it. Possibly with help from Sandy.

Mr. Krabs knew Pearl's biological father
They happened to be in the navy together. Pearl's father was killed during the war, but not before granting his final will to Krabs: to take care of his daughter (who was only an infant at the time).

Mr. Krabs is a Shell-Shocked Veteran
His days in the navy probably gave him moments that would scar him for life. Perhaps this is the reason he went insane in episodes such as "Squeaky Boots" and "Clams". It could also explain his behavior in "One Coarse Meal"; the war can do terrible things to your mind.
  • In addition, there will be an episode in the future that focuses on Mr. Krabs in the navy (as a flashback).
  • There's probably a lot of truth to this. In "The Krusty Krab Training Video," the narrator has this to say:
    Narrator: After the war, Mr Krabs stayed secluded in a deep depression, which seemed endless.
  • In "The Krusty Sponge", Mr. Krabs mentions having a "thousand-yard stare" back in his service days.

Mr. Krabs would never fire SpongeBob for real, because if he does, the whole restaurant will fall apart, and the customers will go to the Chum Bucket and with no money, the Krusty Krab would shut down and Krabs will be out of buisness
:

SpongeBob has been shown to been fired, or leave work, but it is never for long. He gets his job back when the episode is close to over, and everything returns to normal. Krabs would never fire SpongeBob for real, as he is the only thing holding together the Krusty Krab and giving Krabs his Money Fetish.

Krabs became evil because of a combination of the vents of The Algae's Always Greener and selling his soul
Plankton's scheme led to Krabs accidentally having a piece of Plankton's soul and due to selling his own soul has become taken over by the fragment of Plankton's soul making him evil. If Plankton is killed by King Neptune then Plankton's soul might be drawn to the fragment in Krabs's body and completely take over Mr. Krabs...
  • Plankton became more of a Designated Villain due to a piece of his soul being lodged in Krabs. He doesn't notice because Plankton's evil makes up a measly 1% of him-now he's completely full of hot air, explaining why he's become an idiot. The reason he crossed the Moral Event Horizon in the first movie is that he took back some of Mr Krab's evil when reclaiming the initial soul fragment.

Mr Krabs is in control of everything
The secret to the Krabby Patty's success isn't love or the fry cook-it's a highly addictive drug developed by Krabs that messes with your senses, making Krabby Patties ridiculously good to one under the control of the drug and other food made unappealing. Krabs built success using the drug starting at a small business, then started to expand everywhere, putting more and more people under the influence of his drug until Krabs created a giant MegaCorp. He pays off any officials of importance who aren't controlled by him to solidify himself as a Karma Houdini and eliminated the competition by buying out any company that wasn't driven out of business by his own success. Using his invulnerability, Krabs tortures small business owners like Plankton on a daily basis. Of course, unsatisfied with controlling the economy alone, Krabs began to further develop the drug in order to completely control the minds of the next generation of workers-SpongeBob is just one of an army of naive slave laborers. Squidward remains the Only Sane Man because he's managed to somehow develop an immunity to it after "Just One Bite". The Krusty Krab 2 in the movie isn't the first time Krabs expanded; due to the effects of the drug, it's only the first time anyone is actually aware of that, and soon that will be gone too.

In short, the entire ocean is an Orwellian hellhole and Krabs is the Big Brother.

  • This was implied in the episode where it was reviled that he has a surveillance network across bikini bottom.

Mr Krab's treatment of Plankton isn't entirely unjustified.
At first, Mr Krab's attempts to ruin Plankton's life, going so far as preventing him having one single customer and the infamous One Coarse Meal seem completely horrid and a sign that his greed has consumed whatever morality Mr Krabs has. However, as mentioned under the Fridge Horror section, Plankton's chum would be made out of fish. It's possible the reason Mr Krabs is so dead set on crushing Plankton is because, despite being greed incarnate, he's still horrified by the idea of Plankton making chum from people's...well, chum. In fact "One Coarse Meal" could be Mr Krabs trying to give a sort of twisted justice to Plankton. That's not to say Krabs isn't a horrible arthropod, but it does go to explain why he hates Plankton so much. This also means that Plankton isn't any less evil-he's just been passing the Moral Event Horizon in other ways...

Mr Krabs's increasing levels of jerkassery come from his multiple deals with supernatural beings.
As revealed in "Money Talks", Mr Krabs has sold his soul to so many supernatural beings, he has multiple IO Us. It's unlikely that all these powerful beings, except SpongeBob of course, would simply wait to sort it out for themselves. To compensate them, Mr Krabs had to trade other valuable parts of his being-namely the goodness in his soul. As for what he sold them for:
  • His soul was sold in the first place for immortality, explaining his incredible age. He may have bargaining for others, which could have led to trading memories and thus explain conflicting origin stories.
  • The Krusty Krab wasn't always a success-many early episodes had it go weeks without a customer. Mr Krabs had to compensate this by selling the small part of him that was charitable. This explains the pre-movie scenes of him being morally reprehensible, while still being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold-he still had his compassion.
  • Originally, the series ended with the first movie. The trauma caused by Emperor Plankton led to Mr Krabs trying to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, by selling his ability to feel compassion. The reason why this will eventually happen is because, eventually, the deal will be reversed.
  • Other negative traits are results of more deals, each less valued than before because Mr Krabs cares less and less about his "human side", due to the above three deals. The Moral Event Horizon is the consequence that is paid.

Pearl is the daughter of some sort of sea goddess.
Mr. Krabs had an affair with her and she got pregnant. Since she was busy with her divine duties she left Pearl with Mr. Krabs. Which is why whenever he's shocked, he says "Mother of Pearl!": because Pearl's mother is a powerful, divine sea goddess.
  • Or he made a deal with a sea goddess. Her part was giving him the formula for the Krabby Patty/long life/minor shapeshifting abilities/whatever and his part was giving her a daughter and raising her to eventually take her place. Making Pearl's being a whale not at all weird, since we know children of gods don't always look like EITHER parent (Loki from Norse myth has a child who is a WOLF, for instance, while both the wolf's parents are human-looking).

Pearl is adopted or at least a disabled person.
Whether Pearl is adopted or on disability Mr.Krabs is getting money off that silly whale somehow. Does this explain why Pearl doesn't know what a mom is because his idiot adoptive father never told her where she came from.

Mr. Krabs has a Split Personality.
Think about it. Plankton get mad after having spent only ONE DAY as Mr. Krabs. Imagine now how hard is Mr. Krabs's life is. He deals with people like SpongeBob, Squidward, Plankton, Pearl and even sometimes Patrick. He probably accumulate a lot of rage and frustration and as result he has another personality totally unlikeable who abuses the other as a vengeance for all the crap normal Mr. Krabs get during his life.

Alternate Evil Krabs is Pearl’s other father
Given that Alternate Pearl’s mother wasn’t shown in the Alternate dimension in “The Algae’s Always Greener”, it may likely be that Evil Krabs is Pearl’s Mother, which can reference Mr. Krabs being Pearl’s father.

    Plankton 

Plankton is a Rich Idiot With no Meaningful Day job.
He only runs the Chum Bucket because he has nothing better to do than try to beat Krabs, and since Mr. Krabs runs a restaurant, Plankton must run a restaurant to do so. This is why the Krusty Krab has nearly gone out of business several times while the less-successful Chum Bucket has not.
  • Could be, but then why at the beginning of "The Algae's Always Greener" was he complaining about having "virtual meatloaf again" and not having "real food"? If he's rich, why not buy real food? Or is that where the "idiot" part comes in? And then again, he does seem to be able to afford a lot of other stuff...unless it's stolen or something.

The Chum Bucket has not (unlike the Krusty Krab) nearly gone out of business because...
Krabs refuses to put his "salary" back into the restaurant (except during zany schemes) and Plankton can live for a month off the food he can buy from a single customer's order. The times Plankton has a zany scheme pay for the startup of the next zany scheme instead of going to food, employees, and a hoard of coins and bills. Also, Plankton has no workers and (due to a limited menu, readily available ingredients, and few customers) very little overhead.

Plankton only hasn't completely succeeded in his plans because he loves messing things up.
This irony is pretty good stuff.

Plankton overcame his fear of whales
He is shown to have an immense fear of whales in "One Coarse Meal". But a few seasons later in "Jailbreak!", he escapes prison with help from his inmates - one of which was a whale.
  • Episodes like "Sleepy Time" and "The Algae's Always Greener" (where Plankton was shown with Pearl) took place after the former.

By the end of the series, Plankton will have a Heel–Face Turn.
Presumably after Plankton FINALLY gets the Krabby Patty recipe and becomes successful, he'll feel that without Krabs to compete with, his villainy has no purpose. After a series of mishaps, he'll come to the realization of how unhappy he was during his evil days and try to find his true purpose in life.

Plankton had a hand in the absence of Mrs. Krabs
He probably did something (like edited a photo) to make her divorce Mr. Krabs. Since then, Krabs made it his mission to make Plankton's life miserable. And I say divorce because I'm pretty sure Plankton wouldn't get away with murder.
  • I thought that Mr. Krabs married a whale (pregnant with Pearl), the whale gave birth to Pearl, and died of natural causes.

Plankton invented AI
He upgraded Karen from a simple surveillance system to a computer that passes the Turing test. His invention gets him rích, and thus he is still able to run the Chum Bucket even though none of his plans work. The whole Krabby-Patty-Formula business is really more of a game to him.
  • Plankton sprays Karen with Goo Goo Gas (that turns you into a baby), and she turns into a calculator. Perhaps robot growth stages are:
    • Calculator
    • Home Camera
    • Smartphone
    • Surveillance Camera
    • Portable DVD Player
    • Laptop computer
    • Desktop computer
    • Old box TV
    • Flatscreen TV
    • What Karen is now
    • Who knows?
      • There's an upcoming episode entitled "Karen 2.0". Hmm...

Plankton is kept in business with loan sharks.
Since all he sells is chum, it stands to reason that the only person who'd like his food would be sharks. Plus he's too small for them to break his legs.

Plankton will become worse later in the series
Since The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie is the Grand Finale of the series and in it Plankton crossed the line by stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs and later brainwashing and enslaving (and possibly killing Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy) entire Bikini Bottom and in "Walking The Plankton" he activated Plan B (continuining the idea that Plankton uses all the letters of the alphabet to represent his biggest schemes). Since Plan Z is his Moral Event Horizon and movie is the finale of the series, it is possible that Plankton's actions will become worse as the series progresses. This troper has few ideas of how Plankton could become just as evil as he was in the movie:
  • His methods and actions in order to get the secret formula could become more vicious. Instead of just trying to steal the formula and get Krabs out of the way, Plankton would try to kill Krabs and could enjoy it. He could attempt to kill Krabs even if he would give the formula willingly or Plankton would temporary suceed in stealing it. This could become the second goal of Plankton: not only to get Krabby Patty secret formula, but to destroy Krabs. There could be entire episodes about how Plankton tries to destroy Krabs, even if Plankton doesn't try to steal the Formula. Also there could be episode there Plankton, in order to get secret formula, would kidnap Pearl, Krabs' mother and threatening to kill them if Krabs doesn't give secret formula and even after Krabs would give the formula, Plankton would attempt to both Krabs, his mother and Pearl and would show no remorse for it. There could also be episode where Plankton pretends to have pulled Heel–Face Turn and become friends with Krabs and both could become partners in business, but at the last second Plankton would reveal that he just pretended to be good and only wanted to steal the formula. Another idea: Plankton could convince the entire town that he is evil because Mr. Krabs was bullying him and when he tried to simply use legal methods, Krabs still bullied him. This could let him become succesful businessman and take over Krabs' businesses and we would later find out that Plankton pretented to be symphathetic and would attempt to kill Krabs.
  • He could try to target SpongeBob. Plankton would realize if he wants to succeed in his plans, he must get rid of SpongeBob who usually stops his plans. There could be a Story Arc episode there Plankton tired of SpongeBob meddling in his affairs, attempts to kidnap and kill him and his friends. SpongeBob and his friends manage to surive the series of attacks from Plankton and his robots, but they have no choice but to escape from Bikini Bottom with secret formula and find the place to hide. However Plankton still wants them dead, so he kidnaps Mr. Krabs and threatens to kill him if SpongeBob and his friends do not return to Bikini Bottom and give him formula. He could also make offer a bounty to anyone who captures SpongeBob and his friends. Thus our heroes must not only hide from Plankton and his robots, but from other sea creatures who want the money Plankton offered. This would lead into an epic showdown with Plankton, where SpongeBob and everyone else would defeat Plankton, free Mr. Krabs and save the entire Bikini Bottom from Plankton's grasp. Also there could be the episode there Plankton secretly kidnaps SpongeBob and makes him work for him under a death threat.

Plankton can't make money off his inventions because they were banned.
Think about it.
  • Plankton is a zooplankton, so he feeds off of phytoplakton, the only organism in the sea smaller than himself. That's how he has lived with no money.
    • They have actually been shown to have $-375 in their account balance in Move It Or Lose It.
    • Perhaps he simply has no plans to SELL any of his inventions, just like Sandy doesn't sell hers. The one episode where he DID sell his inventions made him a ton of money. He prefers to use his inventions to try and steal the Krabby Patty formula. He literally wants nothing more than to beat Krabs. He claims he wants world domination, but his inventions are deadly enough to get that without bothering with the Krusty Krab at all, making it pretty clear what his real intentions are.

Plankton never graduated college
He boasts about having went to college but never actually says he graduated. Being the braggart that he is, if he had actually graduated, he probably would have mentioned it.

     Other/Multiple Characters 
Each of the characters represent the Seven Deadly Sins

  • Sandy = Lust — She's obsessed with karate, and we all know what that's a metaphor for in the world of SpongeBob. Also, some people notice she has a bit of an appeal.
  • Patrick = Gluttony — Big Eater.
  • Mr. Krabs = Greed — In love with money.
  • Mrs. Puff = Sloth — Hates her job and enjoys doing nothing.
  • Plankton = Envy — Jealous of Mr. Krabs' success.
  • Squidward = Wrath — Hates his neighbors and the world in general.
  • SpongeBob = Pride — Always tries to be perfect and gets upset over minor details.

  • SpongeBob is Satan? (Satan = demon of pride)
    • Yes. It dovetails nicely with the Grand Unifying Guesses theory that SpongeBob is responsible for the death of all non-evil characters in the multiverse, ever.
      • And the theory that Spongebob is the real villain.
      • This theory was even implied in the DVD commentary for one of the early episodes.
  • Squidward could easily qualify as Pride too.
    • No, Squidward is Satan, look below, he fits all the sins.
    • Yeah.
    • Lust: He's got TENTACLES for Dirk Pitt's sake! Plus, the episode "That's No Lady".
    • Gluttony: See "Just One Bite".
    • Greed: In the episode "Artist Unknown", he dreams of showering in gold coins.
    • Sloth: Hates his job and enjoys doing nothing. Come to think of it, he embodies most of the deadly sins, barring Lust, Avarice, and Gluttony.
    • Envy: In plenty of episodes, I'd think he would be envious of SpongeBob ("Squid Wood", "Choir Boys")
    • Wrath: He hates SpongeBob.
    • Pride: He brags about his paintings and his music. Everyone else pretty much hates them.
  • Let's not forget "HE HAS NO SOUL".
  • This troper sees the list differently: Mr. Krabs is Greed: his adoration of money and cheapskate mentality may be his defining character traits. Plankton is Envy: his jealousy of Mr. Krabs's popularity and volume of customers has driven him to an envy-fueled vendetta mission to steal what his rival has. Patrick is Sloth: he once won an award for doing absolutely nothing longer than anyone in Bikini Bottom, and went home to "protect his title" right after winning it. Sandy is Pride: her extraordinarily high level of self-confidence (though possibly justified, what with her athletic and scientific prowess) has gotten her in trouble quite a few times, including a city-destroying incident involving a gigantic worm. Gary (that's right, even Gary!) is Gluttony: he eats the sofa when SpongeBob is away, once left his loving owner for Patrick just to eat a cookie in his pocket, and even ran away from home when SpongeBob failed to feed him one meal of the day. Squidward is Wrath: his hatred of his neighbors has led to his downfall countless times in the series. Finally, SpongeBob is Lust: not the sexual kind, mind you, but under the definition of being extremely emotional to the point of freaking out and snapping over seemingly tiny things.

SpongeBob and Patrick really died by the heat lamp in the movie

The resulting smoke from the lamp shorting out and the events that followed were all part of SpongeBob and Patrick's dying dream to come back to life. Of course, they can't show something on a kids show die that blatantly, so they made it look like they came back to life.

Mrs. Puff KNEW that Flats was going to maul SpongeBob, the entire time
It's uncharacteristic for her to actually care about SpongeBob's well-being, when she's caused her so much mental (and physical) turmoil for, what, years now? She was simply leading SpongeBob on so that she wouldn't shatter his illusion of her being a wonderful teacher, and because she got a kick out of seeing him squirm.
  • That actually would explain a lot, including her reaction to SpongeBob supposedely beating Flats up at the end. She's probably been waiting a looooong time for an excuse to kick his ass.
    • Worth noting she probably even knew he didn't beat up Flats.
  • Heck, maybe she even let Flats enroll at the school because she knew of his sadism from the start and was hoping he'd channel it on SpongeBob.

King Neptune from the movie is the son of King Neptune the god.
They look different, and the god Neptune is not seen to have a daughter. King Neptune's size and magic triton, as well as his name, come from his father. His mother was a mortal, so the king was a mortal as well. Plus, there was no need for a second god Neptune, so King Neptune required a successor (Mindy). It's also why he looks older than the god; mortals grow old.
  • Because the movie is the end of the series, King Neptune XIV (the one from the series) is the father of King Neptune XV (the one from the movie). They are mortals, who sold their soul for godly powers and a trident.

Mindy is the reason King Neptune went bald

  • What is the evidence for this?
  • Having a child can cause stress, and this causes hair loss. Especially since Mindy isn't the only child; there was Triton, who was locked away for years.

One or more characters is/are (a) Time Lord(s)
You guys are slipping.
  • It's Mr. Krabs, explaining the dime from the Stone Age, his extremely vague age, the similarly vague age of the Krusty Krab, and Pearl (he was a whale in a past regeneration).

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are undiscovered sea creatures.
They are no bigger than Sandy, who's a squirrel. Also in the Movie, they saw a real human that was human sized. And various human-made objects appear in some episodes.(hooks, the magic pencil, Hans) I don't buy the "mutated by nearby radiation" WMG so this is what I think.
  • They're the evolved form of sea monkeys.
    • Monkeys are to humans like sea monkeys are to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
      • Jossed in Mermaid Man Begins. It is revealed in that episode that they were once humans who got the power to breathe underwater (Mermaid Man had a starfish put on his nose by mermaids and used his telepathic powers to get barnacles to replace Barnacle Boy's lungs.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are merfolk/human hybrids.
This could be consistent with the "undiscovered sea creatures" WMG above. The duo are half merman and half human, which is why they're white-skinned (instead of green) and have legs rather than tails, but yet are smaller than other humans in the show and can live/breathe underwater. And the superpowers? MM did say in one episode that the costumes hold the powers. And in another episode MM was still able to breathe underwater wearing just a towel and his mask; he's a water-breather from his merman side instead of from a superpower.
  • Alas, jossed by a more recent episode. They're superpowered humans.

Fred actually has a horrible leg tumor.
You may not want to think it but it makes perfect sense.It's why he's feeling extreme pain and is the only one to scream "MY LEG!" when there is an accident of some sort in Bikini Bottom.

Scooter was always just a figment of SpongeBob's imagination.
Scooter never actually talks to,comes in contact, or is mentioned by anyone besides SpongeBob. The reason for this is SpongeBob secretly knows almost everyone in Bikini Bottom hates him, so his mind subconsciously created Scooter. He is what SpongeBob wishes he could be. Even in the episode "Party Pooper Pants" in the segment "SpongeBob's House Party", when Scooter reads his conversation card, Squidward says "This is lame", because nobody was there, SpongeBob just imagined it. Then, in the episode "Bubble Buddy", SpongeBob felt he had a true friend, Bubble Buddy, who was created for the same reason, so SpongeBob's mind killed him off. It's later revealed that SpongeBob got the idea for this personality from someone labeled "Scooter's Cousin". He is called that because the show all happens from memories in SpongeBob's head.

The puffer fish in the movie, after SpongeBob and Patrick die and the sea creatures come back to life, was Mrs. Puff's husband, captured by the "one eyed cyclops".

In the episode "Krusty Love", where Mr. Krabs wants to ask Mrs. Puff on a date, SpongeBob states that her name is Mrs. Puff, when Krabs wants to know her name. He is disappointed when he finds out her name is "Mrs." Puff, but SpongeBob says she doesn't have a husband. When Krabs asked what happened to her husband, a short scene where a puffer fish lamp is being turned on by a hand is shown. SpongeBob says that she doesn't like to talk about it. The movie comes out and when SpongeBob and Patrick's tears short out the electricity and the lamp is shut off, not before SpongeBob and Patrick die the sea creatures come back to life, including a puffer fish. Granted, the puffer could be both male or female, but no other puffer fish had been shown yet. Also...

The reason that Mrs. Puff doesn't like talking about her husband is because he either got taken right in front of her, and never saw him again, or she was taken too, but managed to escape and get back to Bikini Bottom.

Going on the WMG above this one, it was a beautiful day, when Mr. and Mrs. Puff were on the beach, or in a field, or whatever. Suddenly, the "one eyed cyclops" came and either took them both or Mr. Puff. The first option, the "one eyed cyclops" took them both back to Shell City, and tried to air drown Mrs. Puff, but she escaped, but not before Mr. Puff was already air drowned, right in front of her. She ran back to Bikini Bottom, and began life anew. She still retains memories of being captured and her husband dying right in front of her. The second option: they were sitting in a field or whatever, and the "one eyed cyclops" captures her husband. Mrs. Puff is too slow to catch up to her husband and the "one eyed cyclops" and her husband is taken away. For days, she prays that he comes back to her. It's been years, and she had not forgotten about him, and wishes she would come back.

  • I was going to say this is jossed because the movie explicitly states that no one has ever returned from Shell City, but then I realized it still does work because she "doesn't like to talk about it." She may have escaped from Shell City, but just never told anyone.
    • Or the diver just needed one pufferfish lamp

Old Man Jenkins is a Time Lord.

Think about it. Old Man Jenkins always turns up as a totally different person in Bikini Bottom. Perhaps, when he was once a human, he travelled in his TARDIS, and landed in Bikini Bottom where he died because he couldn't survive the coldness of the water, and regenerated as a fish. Though his body still sometimes cannot manage and regenerates, thus why he looks different each time we see him.

Karen provides Plankton with sexual virtual reality.
It's possible. Plankton's had a hard day at work and is tired what does he do? Have some hot virtual sex with his virtual reality machine. Maybe in that episode where Plankton and Krabs switched lives maybe it was false, he could of just been using his virtual reality machine the whole time; that could explain why he didn't even do anything with the Krabby Patties he had. He uses Karen to provide him food whether it be real or holographic and he also uses her to provide a hot touchable realtime sex simulation.

All the important main characters are hated by everyone in Bikini Bottom.
This doesn't apply to supporting characters like Ms. Puff, Pearl, Squilliam or Larry the Lobster. This is the main reason why all the main characters only react with each other and not the fish folk. The citizens of Bikini Bottom hate the main cast, and the more important they are to the story, the more they are hated in a sense. Mr. Krabs runs the most successful restraunt so they hate him a whole lot, Squidward is town's most cultured person even more cultured then Squilliam, SpongeBob works for the most successful restraunt and he is renoun for a bunch of other things even jellyfishing, Sandy is a outsider and the town's scientist and she plays an important role in the show and apparently everyone isn't too fond of her either, Plankton makes the most sense in that he is the rival of the most successful restaurant as well as an adept scientist, but is often seen as a criminal/terrorist due to frequently destroying Bikini Bottom and is justifiably despised by everyone else as well, and finally Patrick. He basically follows the lead usually SpongeBob's but he is up to crazy antics as well, the Bikini Bottom citizens feel pretty neutral towards him but most of their interactions with Patrick aren't all that good either.

The main characters are part of an Inception team.
Going off the above WMG, the reason the main cast is hated is because they were sent to plant or extract an idea from someone in the show's brain (Maybe King Neptune. He's the most influential character in this universe so someone would have something to gain by getting into his head). All the non-main characters are all projections, and as the seasons move on, the projections are growing more and more hostile to the main characters because the projections are slowly realizing that the cast are foreign invaders. The projections will become more violent with time, meaning that the cast will either be killed in the finale, or will move to the next dream level (Which provides a great Excuse Plot for the inevitable Spinoff).

The reason that Flatts the Flounder hates SpongeBob in "The Bully", was because of what SpongeBob did in "Sandy's Rocket".

In the early episode, "Sandy's Rocket", SpongeBob and Patrick go around town, capturing people they think are aliens. One of the captives was Flatts the Flounder, and SpongeBob was the one who captured him. His anger was focused on SpongeBob, and carried over, a couple of years later, and put in the episode "The Bully", where he finally tried to get revenge.

Flatts was somehow made mean by SpongeBob.

Hey, who knows? Maybe he was a nice guy, handing people flowers, and not threatening to kick their butts at one point, then the episode "Sandy's Rocket" came along, and he became meaner. He threatened people, and made them scared, and even threatened his own father. Again, carries on to "The Bully", where he tries to get revenge on SpongeBob for "Sandy's Rocket".

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are normal humans.
  • They appear to be the same size as fish because MM was messing with his utility belt and tried to set it to Wumbo upon giving up superhero behavior, and accidentally shrunk the two of them. Their starfish masks allow them to breathe. Their superpowers are illusions.

Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy, Blue Neptune, SpongeBob's parents, and The Flying Dutchman will be Killed Off for Real in a future episode
They are the most major characters on the show who aren't in the movie at all.

SpongeBob, Squidward and Patrick have a contract with a reality TV series
On a Fast-food server’s wage, SpongeBob and Squidward never seem to be short of money, that’s because they’re getting it from an alternate source. Squidward initially signed on to a reality TV show called “My life with morons” to try and promote his inflated self-image and credibility as an “artist”. SpongeBob signed up because he was promised anything he wanted, and Patrick forgot why he signed it. All the other characters these three interact with are all part of the show and the SpongeBob show we know and love is a result of these tapings.

Every main character is a representation of some sort of mental disorder or psychological issue.
This can extend to a few of the major supporting characters, too. As a breakdown:
  • SpongeBob has some form of neurotic disorder.
  • Patrick has bi-polar disorder.
  • Squidward has Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
  • Mr. Krabs has a severe money fetish. (Whether or not that is caused by a mental issue is debatable.)
  • Plankton is a bit of a sociopath, possibly with elements of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. (not to be confused with OCD)
  • Larry the Lobster probably has Histrionic Personality Disorder.
  • Pearl is bi-polar, and so is Mrs. Puff.
  • Mermaid Man has a mild form of Alzheimer's.
  • The only ones in the main cast who seem to be "normal" are Sandy and Gary.

Mrs. Puff never stopped falling
Let me explain. In one episode, she is in the car with SpongeBob as he drives off a cliff, and as they fall she has a hallucination about going to jail. In the end you learn she is still falling, and is still hallucinating. Now, she never STOPPED. Every episode she was in since then is her hallucinating as she keeps falling. This is why she starts to hate SpongeBob enough to try and kill him. Part of her is aware that she's still falling and knows she will never escape, and blames SpongeBob for it.

In fact, SpongeBob never stopped either, and is also hallucinating. The hallucinations get progressively stranger, explaining the flanderization and lack of continuity.

Puffy Fluffy possibly had psychic abilities and was probably influencing SpongeBob's personality and actions in "A Pal for Gary", explaining SpongeBob's Jerkass behaviour
  • Adding to this: Someday there will be a follow up episode where Puffy Fluffy returns as an antagonist, goes all mind control on everyone after eating radioactive goop. AND SpongeBob's previous jerkass behavior will not only be addressed, but he actually apologizes to Gary for before. Then, he and Gary will have a Big Damn Heroes moment as they fight off Puffy Fluffy's Eldritch abomination form.

Old Man Jenkins is the god Nereus/Proteus
He always looks different because he has the power of shape changing. Also, Nereus is often called the "Old Man of the Sea."

Larry is on steroids.
Steroids are illegal so they can't show them or anything like it. It's a very high chance that Larry the lobster is on steroids, he does everything do build muscle so why not steroids? All the other body builders do it.
  • In Band Geeks, SpongeBob mentions that Larry's heart gave out due to tanning pills. If he can overdose on those...

Gary is a cyborg
He apparently has feet, can bark as well as meow, what's under and inside his shell can vary. In "The Great Snail Race" he actually blew a fuse like a vehicle.

Patchy will meet SpongeBob in the series finale
Most likely in another theatrical installment.:Patchy does meet SpongeBob in "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout," although that isn't the series finale nor a movie.

Plankton isn't the only one with hillbilly cousins.
Squidward may someday look forward to a meeting with The Cuylers.
  • "Y'all ever pop one out in 'at dumb starfish sumbitch's mouf whall e was layin 'ere droolin'?"

Janet and Marty from "I'm With Stupid" are related to Patrick.
They are obviously not Patrick's parents, but that doesn't mean that they aren't related to Patrick. They both are starfishes like Patrick, know where Patrick live, and even know Patrick's name. They forgot they had a son is sort of like how Patrick saw them as his parents because their stupidity might run in the family. But despite the fact that Janet and Marty both remembered Patrick isn't their son doesn't mean that Patrick wouldn't be their nephew or their son-in-law.

Janet and Marty treated Patrick like an idiot as expected in their introductory scene might be a result of their expectations. Let's assume the couple haven't seen Patrick since he was a kid and he was doing even stupider things back then than in season 2 of "SpongeBob".

And the two came to Patrick's house on Starfish Day, so technically not just Patrick's parents would be expected to show up.

Rocky really was a snail
He was just really shy, so he was always hiding in his shell. When he thought everyone was focusing on Gary and Snellie instead of him, he decided to take his chance and won the snail race before hiding back in his shell.
  • It was never outright said, but wasn't the end of the episode more or less confirmation of this? If he didn't move on his own, surely ONE person in the audience would have noticed Patrick kicking a rock to the finish line. Maybe he was a different type of sea creature that looked more like a rock than a snail, but was still able to move, thus winning the race, albeit slowly.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are McHale and Parker
.Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway played the two respective characters on McHale's Navy, and in Bikini Bottom they are elderly people who have "superpowers" that make them believe that they are superheroes.

Grandpa SquarePants thinks SpongeBob has a desk job.
Hence giving him office supplies in "Grandma's Kisses".

Alternate Evil Krabs and Alternate Plankton are dating and spouses
Given that like the original version of Pearl, whose mother was barely shown, it might imply that Alternate Krabs and Alternate Plankton are spouses.

fred's boss is a sponge.
he didnt notice that his boss wasnt a fish anymore in "MY LEG"

Gary wasn't after Patrick's cookie
Come on, there's no way he couldn't have gotten it any sooner than the end of the episode. He really did ditch Spongebob because of the latter's actions in "A Pal for Gary" (for the sake of the WMG, that episode happens first), but when he saw just how miserable Spongebob was he had a My God, What Have I Done? moment and went back to him. Him going after the cookie was just him getting back at Patrick.

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