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[[caption-width-right:255:''"Hand over the secret Krabby Patty formula!"'']]
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** In "The Krabby Kronicle", he doesn't invade people's privacy for a newspaper gossip and shows disgust at Krabs' greed. Quoted by him "And I thought '''I''' was evil!"
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** In "The Krabby Kronicle", he doesn't invade views invading people's privacy for a and spreading newspaper gossip and shows disgust at Krabs' greed.their expense for a quick buck as absolutely disgusting, actually taking the moral high ground over Krabs. Quoted by him "And I thought '''I''' was evil!"
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** In "F.U.N.", SpongeBob relays a speech he was once told bya magician. [[TastesLikeDiabetes What he said, not to mention how we relayed it]], was enough to persuade Plankton to surrender the Patty he'd almost gotten away with.
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** In "F.U.N.", SpongeBob [=SpongeBob=] relays a speech he was once told bya by a magician. [[TastesLikeDiabetes What he said, not to mention how we relayed it]], was enough to persuade Plankton to surrender the Patty he'd almost gotten away with. And [=SpongeBob=] wasn't even trying to talk him out of the Patty.
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** In "One Coarse Meal", after [=SpongeBob=] tells him that Krabs had been impersonating Pearl to terrorize Plankton, he becomes pissed. Apparently, even ''he'' sees that terrorizing someone to the point of suicidality is heinous.
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** In "F.U.N.", SpongeBob relays a speech he was once told bya magician. [[TastesLikeDiabetes What he said, not to mention how we relayed it]], was enough to persuade Plankton to surrender the Patty he'd almost gotten away with.
-->'''Plankton''': And after all these years, I thought ''I'' was the master of torture, but ''that''... that just wasn't fair!
-->'''Plankton''': And after all these years, I thought ''I'' was the master of torture, but ''that''... that just wasn't fair!
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* LadyAndAScholar: She is one the friendliest characters on the show and also a genius. It helps that she's one of the few characters on the show that didn't [[{{Flanderization}} Take a Level in]] [[TookALevelInDumbass Dumbass]] [[{{Flanderization}} or]] [[TookALevelInJerkass Jerkass]].
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* LadyAndAScholar: She is one of the friendliest characters on the show and also a genius. It helps that she's one of the few characters on the show that didn't [[{{Flanderization}} Take a Level in]] [[TookALevelInDumbass Dumbass]] [[{{Flanderization}} or]] [[TookALevelInJerkass Jerkass]].
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* LadyAndAScholar: She is one the friendliest characters on the show and also a genius. It helps that she's one of the few characters on the show that didn't [[{{Flanderization}} Take a Level in]] [[TookALevelInDumbass Dumbass]] [[{{Flanderization}} or]] [[TookALevelInJerkass Jerkass]].
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* EvilOldFolks: He doesn’t look it but pretty much qualifies, as he has been shown to be the same age as Mr. Krabs, who himself is not such a young guy.
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* EvilOldFolks: He doesn’t look it it, but pretty much qualifies, as he has been shown to be the same age as Mr. Krabs, who himself is not such a young guy.
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* EvilOldFolks: He doesn’t look it but pretty much qualifies, as he has been shown to be the same age as Mr. Krabs, who himself is not such a young guy.
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*EvilOldFolks: He doesn’t look it but pretty much qualifies, as he has been shown to be the same age as Mr. Krabs, who himself is not such a young guy.
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*EvilOldFolks: He doesn’t look it but pretty much qualifies, as he has been shown to be the same age as Mr. Krabs, who himself is not such a young guy.
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* {{Archnemesis}}:
** Squidward is Gary’s least favorite person in Bikini Bottom and feeling is mutual on the former’s behalf.
** Since "Shellback Shenanigans", Gary holds an immense grudge against Plankton for stealing his shell once and [[ItsPersonal immediately goes hostile towards the latter, whenever Plankton’s present from that day forth.]]
** Squidward is Gary’s least favorite person in Bikini Bottom and feeling is mutual on the former’s behalf.
** Since "Shellback Shenanigans", Gary holds an immense grudge against Plankton for stealing his shell once and [[ItsPersonal immediately goes hostile towards the latter, whenever Plankton’s present from that day forth.]]
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No longer a trope.
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* YourCheatingHeart: Plankton tries to marry Mr. Krabs' mother in "Enemy In-Law"...while still married to his computer wife. Luckily for the latter, his plan is ultimately foiled.
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* TVHeadRobot: The head of her mobile unit looks a lot like a CRT television.
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* TVHeadRobot: The head of Early seasons depict her as a giant computer screen built into Plankton's lab, but later seasons gave her a mobile unit looks a lot like form that's effectively a CRT television.television on a thin pole attached to a base with wheels, occasionally with robotic arms.
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* LovableRogue: Plankton plots the most devilish of schemes to get the formula, showing no regard to the lives of his targets whatsoever, yet that hasn't stopped the audience from finding him entertaining for nearly two decades.
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* LovableRogue: Plankton plots the most devilish of schemes to get the formula, showing no regard to the lives of his targets whatsoever, yet that hasn't stopped the audience from finding him entertaining for nearly two decades.
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adorkable cleanup, now it's YMMV. removing misuse and ZCE, moving appropriate examples to YMMV, and replacing with Endearingly Dorky for In Universe examples
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* {{Adorkable}}: Like her friend [=SpongeBob=], she's cute and eccentric. Not to mention extremely nerdy, which causes [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick to often scratch their heads in confusion whenever she talks science.
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* {{Foil}}: To [=SpongeBob=]. While both of them are {{Adorkable}}, energetic and eccentric {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s who like karate, their personalities differ in that:
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* {{Foil}}: To [=SpongeBob=]. While both of them are {{Adorkable}}, energetic and eccentric {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s who like karate, their personalities differ in that:
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* BrainwashedAndCrazy: One of his recurring plans involves taking control of other characters in some way: he forces [=SpongeBob=] to steal a Krabby Patty and bring it to him by [[BrainWithAManualControl putting a remote control in his brain]] in "Plankton", he controls almost everyone in Bikini Bottom with chum bucket helmets in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie'' and the ''Super Brawl 2'' flash game has him fight by controlling a muscular bodybuilder fish via MindControlDevice.
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'''Plankton:''' Oh, don't worry about me. My parade will be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
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'''Plankton:''' Oh, don't worry about me. My parade will shall be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
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* TokenEvilTeammate: On the rare occasion that [[EnemyMine he does team up with SpongeBob]], he's still noticeably [[SmugSnake smug]], [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] and even [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]]. This is best seen in his fight against [=BurgerBeard=] where, despite being able to end it quickly thanks to his newly acquired SuperStrength, decides to toy with him before forcing him to hand over the Krabby Patty Secret Formula.
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* DeadpanSnarker: [=SpongeBob=]'s annoyance and idiocy often causes Mrs. Puff to make snide and sarcastic remarks.
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* DeadpanSnarker: [=SpongeBob=]'s annoyance and idiocy often causes Mrs. Puff to snide and make sarcastic remarks.
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* {{Sadist}}: He very often takes delight in others suffering. Even in one episode where he is seen in a dream, he is destroying Bikini Bottom, even trying to crush Gary with sadistic glee. And this is evident even in the movie, where he expresses great excitement and joy when Mr. Krabs will be executed.
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* AmericansAreCowboys: The only character explicitly stated to come from the United States, and she's a Texas cowpoke through and through.
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'''Plankton:''' Oh, my parade will be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which [[spoiler: Plankton finally obtains the formula, attracts business, and takes over the world to drive it home...until [=SpongeBob=] frees all the citizens from his mind-control helmets and Plankton serves a life sentence for his terror.]]
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which [[spoiler: Plankton finally obtains the formula, attracts business, and takes over the world to drive it home...until [=SpongeBob=] frees all the citizens from his mind-control helmets and Plankton serves a life sentence for his terror.]]
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'''Plankton:''' Oh, my don't worry about me. My parade will be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which[[spoiler: Plankton [[spoiler:Plankton finally obtains the formula, attracts business, and takes over the world Bikini Bottom to drive it home...until [=SpongeBob=] frees all the citizens from his mind-control helmets and Plankton serves a life sentence for his terror.]]
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which
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** Her husband was apparently [[spoiler: fished up out of the sea and made into a lamp.]]
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** Her husband was apparently [[spoiler: fished [[spoiler:fished up out of the sea and made into a lamp.]]
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: In addition to [[WeUsedToBeFriends having formerly been friends with Mr. Krabs]] back then, Plankton used to be an innocent little boy devoid of malice.
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: In addition to [[WeUsedToBeFriends having formerly been friends with Mr. Krabs]] back then, Plankton used to be an innocent little boy devoid of malice.
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* ADogNamedDog: His nickname serves as this. He's a plankton addressed as Plankton.
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* ADogNamedDog: His nickname last name serves as this. He's a plankton addressed as Plankton.
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Added by a ban evader
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* {{Irony}}: Her brain is one of '''the''' most powerful ones (if not literally '''the''' most powerful one) in the show's main cast, yet also one of the only ones that has '''not''' (canonically) been shown in a [[GrossUpCloseUp close-up]] shot and/or invaded by at least one other character yet. You'd think that she would be a '''much''' bigger target for Plankton...
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* UnaffectedBySpice: She downs a bottle of [[BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce Volcano Sauce]] in [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E14SB129KarateChoppers "Karate Choppers"]] like it's nothing.
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* {{Irony}}: Her brain is one of '''the''' most powerful ones (if not literally '''the''' most powerful one) in the show's main cast, yet also one of the only ones that has '''not''' (canonically) been shown in a [[GrossUpCloseUp close-up]] shot and/or invaded by at least one other character yet. You'd think that she would be a '''much''' bigger target for Plankton...
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* CosmicPlaything: He is a constant victim of AmusingInjuries and failure.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In some episodes, his claims of being evil are mostly bluster, and he turns out to have a good nature overall. See "Best Frenemies" or ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' for examples.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In some episodes, Occasionally, his claims of being evil are mostly bluster, and he turns out to have a good nature overall. See "Best Frenemies" or ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' for examples.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first season episode "FUN", where his bonding with [=SpongeBob=] was just a ruse to get him to help him find the secret Krabby Patty formula. In episodes such as "Friend or Foe" and "Chum Caverns", when Mr. Krabs seems willing to let bygones be bygones, he always just takes advantage of the opportunity.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In some episodes, his claims of being evil are mostly bluster, and he turns out to have a good nature overall. See "Best Frenemies" or ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' for examples.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first season episode "FUN", where his bonding with [=SpongeBob=] was just a ruse to get him to help him find the secret Krabby Patty formula. In episodes such as "Friend or Foe" and "Chum Caverns", when Mr. Krabs seems willing to let bygones be bygones, healways just takes advantage of the opportunity.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first season episode "FUN", where his bonding with [=SpongeBob=] was just a ruse to get him to help him find the secret Krabby Patty formula. In episodes such as "Friend or Foe" and "Chum Caverns", when Mr. Krabs seems willing to let bygones be bygones, he
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%%Characters are ordered per the credits of the movie.%%
[[center:[-[[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePants Main Character Index]] | '''Main Characters''' | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob SquarePants=]]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar Patrick Star]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSquidwardTentacles Squidward Tentacles]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Mr. Krabs]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMinorCharacters Minor Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMovieCharacters Movie Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongebobSquarepantsVideoGameCharacters Video Game Characters]] ]]-]
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_main_characters_sheet.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An original model sheet for the main characters. [[note]]Plankton and Karen weren't promoted to the main cast until 2004.[[/note]]]]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:[=SpongeBob SquarePants=]]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Patrick Star]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Squidward Tentacles]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSquidwardTentacles here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mr. Krabs]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sheldon Plankton]]
!!Sheldon J. Plankton
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_plankton.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Hand over the secret Krabby Patty formula!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Doug Lawrence
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Óscar Zuloaga, Luis Miguel Pérez
->'''German voice:''' Thomas Petruo (Seasons 1 - 11, until his death in 2018) Sebastian Christoph Jacob (Season 11 - Present)
->'''Debut:''' "Plankton!"
A tiny planktonic copepod with a Napoleon complex. With the help of his computer Karen, he runs the failing Chum Bucket restaurant across the street from the Krusty Krab. He is always after the secret Krabby Patty formula and dreams of running the Krusty Krab out of business.
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* AbusiveParents: Towards his and Karen's son Chip in "Karen's Baby". As Plankton never wanted a baby, he spends most of the episode going out of his way to avoid showing any affection towards Chip, including showing up his baby form's attempts to walk, refusing to help him stop crying and eventually outright telling his teenage form to run away. It takes Karen threatening to throw Plankton out if he can't find his son and said son's first word being "father" before Plankton finally accepts him as his son.
* AffablyEvil: He is no less pleasant than his rival can be anyway. This is best exemplified in the end of "Wishing You Well": Plankton, having been granted his wish to be taller, now towers over everybody and could smash the Krusty Krab if he felt like it. Instead, he jovially greets [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs before rampaging through the city, leaving them and the Krusty Krab completely unscathed.
* ArchEnemy: He is the main foe of Krabs, and sometimes [=SpongeBob=].
* AssholeVictim: He always meets his own end for trying to steal the formula, and needless to say, he's such a totally deserving victim. The only time his abuse was pitiful was in "One Coarse Meal", in which he becomes DrivenToSuicide.
* AxCrazy: Became one in [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie the first movie]]. He is much more deranged, sadistic, depraved and homicidal than usual.
* BadassBookworm: He is shown to be a technological genius, capable of creating complex machines and powerful robots, as well as plotting various very elaborate, and nearly successful evil schemes.
* BadBoss: Plankton sometimes uses Karen as a guinea pig for his experiments.
* BigBad: The primary antagonist of both the series and TheMovie, although Karen is the one giving him his plans in the film and most episodes.
* BigBadWannabe: Usually, however, he's too incompetent to pull off a successful EvilPlan.
* BodySnatcher: A few of his plans involve mentally or physically enslaving someone with or without them being aware of the situation.
* BreakoutVillain: Plankton was originally meant to be a minor character, as Stephen Hillenburg was initially unsure how to use the character beyond his debut episode. According to Mr. Lawrence [[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/138093814/ here]], Plankton "was only supposed to be in one or two episodes, but I was a writer on the show and I really liked this character." Lawrence wrote many plot outlines involving Plankton and Karen to prove that they could survive as more than one-offs, eventually turning the Planktons into the series villains.
* ButtMonkey: Just how many times has he been stepped on and thrown?
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Not just with his evil plans:
** A rather discomforting example would be "One Coarse Meal", where Plankton is punished for trying to exact justifiable revenge on Mr. Krabs, who in turn got off scot-free after tormenting Plankton non-stop for several days, to the extent that Plankton was nearly DrivenToSuicide.
** Plankton does ''[[SubvertedTrope partially]]'' get away in "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy". After yet another failed attempt to steal a Krabby Patty, he is locked in a jar of spicy mustard. Then the police show up and - instead of arresting Plankton for stealing Sandy's pelt - they arrest SANDY for public nudity.
* CardboardPrison: Plankton has been to prison a lot. However, no matter how many times Plankton is put in prison, Plankton will always end up out of prison the next episode he appears. Granted, he is small enough to escape through the bars after all, but even ''tiny'' prisons aren't going to be enough for him.
* CardCarryingVillain: He likes to talk about how evil he is.
* CatchPhrase:
** ''"I went to college!"''
** "[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction Ouch]]."
** "Yes! '''YES!'''"
** "I win! I WIN!"
* {{Cephalothorax}}: His entire body is his face, just like [=SpongeBob=]. However, other plankton on the show are drawn like this, so this feat isn't exclusive to him.
* TheChessmaster: In TheMovie, he manipulates everyone to get the secret formula and to ensure Mr. Krabs' demise.
* TheChewToy: Most of the forms of LaserGuidedKarma he receives are meant to be amusing. The only time his abuse ''wasn't'' PlayedForLaughs was in "One Coarse Meal".
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Although the Chum Bucket could hardly be considered a corporation, he ''is'' an evil man bent on world domination in addition to trying to put his rival Mr. Krabs out of business.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: In TheMovie, proves to be way more competent than before.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: TropeCodifier. He's clearly a brilliant inventor, with a ''huge'' cache of futuristic technology as his disposal, but it apparently never occurs to him to do something with his life other than [[TheRival running a rival restaurant to the Krusty Krab]]. Even then, he's apparently never considered that [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat there are ways of running a profitable restaurant that don't require stealing your rival's recipes]].
** Though the main reason he keeps trying to steal the Krabby Patty recipe, is not so much because he hates Mr. Krabs, but because he himself [[LethalChef couldn't cook to save his life]] so he tries to latch on to Krabs's success.
** Also note that either way, Krabs is a ruthless competitor. There are in fact times Plankton ''has'' tried to make legitimate profits. Krabs still tries to ruin them and steal his customers, since either way he is his business rival and ''right next door to him'' at that. At times Krabs becomes so greedy and petty in bullying away profit that it seems this trope is there just to ensure he can still look like the good guy against Plankton.
* {{Cyclops}}: {{Justified|Trope}}, he's a plankton and many plankton have just one eye.
* DeadpanSnarker: Though not nearly as profound an example, he can dish sarcasm and witty retorts back to Karen at times.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** How evil he is tends to vary from episode to episode. He's almost always a villainous character, but his antics are frequently overshadowed by [[TookALevelInJerkass Mr. Krabs]] later on. In some episodes, especially more recent ones, he's little more than the local grouch, much like Squidward.
** How much he cares about Karen, if at all. Sometimes he genuinely cares about her and sometimes he has no problem expressing his contempt toward her.
* {{Determinator}}: He won't stop no matter what gets in the way of his plans to get the secret formula. Much much more so in earlier episodes, but there are some later episodes in which he's given up.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: A key reason why his {{Evil Plan}}s almost constantly fail: Plankton repeatedly overlooks glaring flaws in his schemes and doesn't notice until it's too late for him to do anything about it. For example, in "Plankton's Army", a robot made to look like a customer enters the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs, smelling an obvious trap, takes Squidward's place at the register. To his astonishment, the robot just asks for coral bits and even pays him money after it's given its order. Suddenly, Plankton, who was hiding ''inside'' the dollar bill, pops out and gloatingly orders Krabs to hand him the secret formula. When Krabs responds, "Or what?", Plankton admits he never really thought the plan would get this far; Krabs responds by [[FunWithFlushing flushing Plankton down the toilet]].
* DitzyGenius: He may be a scientist and have all sorts of gadgets, but is incompetent overall. For example, he believes that baby powder is made from actual babies in "Goo Goo Gas", and in "Komputer Overload", he has to be reminded to blink.
* TheDogBitesBack: In "One Coarse Meal", when he nearly kills himself after being frightened by Mr. Krabs in disguise as Pearl from his fear of whales for 17 straight days, he finds out about Mr. Krabs's fear of mimes and starts scaring him with that. It doesn't last long, though.
* ADogNamedDog: His nickname serves as this. He's a plankton addressed as Plankton.
* DrivenToSuicide: Almost deliberately got himself killed in "One Coarse Meal".
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Karen had a ''really'' good time with this one. Once she learned her husband's given name was Sheldon in "Plankton's Army", her laughter and habit of displaying his name on a screen behind his back grew incessant to the point that Plankton had to turn her off.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Like Squidward, he gets irritated when it comes to stupid people, particularly [=SpongeBob=].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His very first appearance depicts him attempting to steal a Krabby Patty, and then vowing revenge on Mr. Krabs when the attempt fails.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Actually his grandmama. He's shown to care for his grandmother in "Gramma's Secret Recipe", though that doesn't stop him from stealing her wig and dentures to disguise himself.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** He truly loves and cares for Karen, but how he shows his love for her [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the episode]].
** Plankton has his pet amoeba, Spot, who happens to be one of the only characters he will show ''genuine'' affection for, no strings attached.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** In "The Krabby Kronicle", he doesn't invade people's privacy for a newspaper gossip and shows disgust at Krabs' greed. Quoted by him "And I thought '''I''' was evil!"
** In "Squirrel Record", Sandy comes to him asking for raw chum in order to break a world record. Plankton is actually reluctant to give it to her despite freely admitting to being an "evil, heartless mastermind", because, as he puts it, "no one can eat raw chum and survive!"
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He often has trouble understanding basic concepts of goodness, such as having fun. In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', not only does he struggle to understand the concept of teamwork, he can't even ''pronounce'' it properly ("Te-am work? Tie-am? Time bomb... work?"). He also believes that [=SpongeBob=] helping him is really a front for a plot to steal the formula for himself, and is shocked to learn he really doesn't know it.
* EvilCounterpart: To Mr. Krabs, at least in earlier seasons, since they both own rival fast food businesses and he behaved more like a supervillain than a mere unscrupulous businessman.
* EvilFormerFriend: To Mr. Krabs. It was the Krabby Patty Formula that caused them to become {{Arch Enem|y}}ies with each other.
* EvilGenius: He is shown to be a technological genius, capable of creating complex machines and powerful robots, as well as plotting various elaborate, and nearly successful evil schemes.
* EvilIsHammy: Despite his small size, he's hammy as hell.
* EvilLaugh: He laughs evilly quite a lot.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He's a villain with a deep voice. Downplayed later on the show.
* {{Expy}}: He has a lot in common with [[Film/GoodBurger Kurt Bozwell]], another Nickelodeon fast food villain.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: With an exception in "Wishing You Well", where his wish to be taller comes true, his schemes to get what he desires never work.
* ForTheEvulz: As he freely admits in "F.U.N.", "being evil is too much fun."
* FriendlyEnemy: [=SpongeBob=] on many occasions tries to befriend or show pity on Plankton, with varying success.
* GiftedlyBad: He's determined to destroy Mr. Krabs with his rival restaurant at the Chum Bucket, trying to market chum-related products to his customers even as he's trying to acquire the Krabby Patty formula. It has been shown that the food Plankton offers is simply ''unfit for consumption'', driving away anyone who isn't already scared away by his cruelty. Plankton tries numerous ways to convince his customers his food is just as good as that of the Krusty Krab, but it usually only sickens whoever works up the nerve to try it.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: He's guilty of taking credit for ideas other people come up with when he finds them pleasing, especially when he takes an idea Karen says to him.
* GreenAndMean: An evil, green copepod.
* GreenEyedMonster: He expresses his jealousy towards Mr. Krabs' success rate in the most diabolical ways possible.
* HairTriggerTemper: He tends to get ''really'' angry when he's enraged in earlier episodes, he's calmed down a tad in later episodes.
* HenpeckedHusband: Has shades of being submissive around Karen.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Due to [[DidntThinkThisThrough his inability to think his schemes through]], said schemes always come back to bite him in the ass.
* IdiotBall: He varies from being on Sandy's level in terms of intelligence to being barely smarter than other characters.
* TheIgor: In "The Legend of Boo-kini Bottom", the Flying Dutchman ends up turning him into a deformed lackey who addresses him as "master".
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Plankton wants to have the same level of success as his archnemesis in the fast food industry, [[DisproportionateRetribution although the way he goes about it is repulsive, to say the least]].
* ImAHumanitarian: "The Krabby Kronicle", as ode to ''Film/SoylentGreen'', has Mr. Krabs force [=SpongeBob=] to write a news article claiming that Plankton makes his chum out of sentient fish.
* ImpossibleThief: In "F.U.N.", Mr. Krabs tempts a "reformed" Plankton with a Krabby Patty. Despite the fact that the patty is always visible and untouched on the table throughout the exchange, it somehow ends up replaced with a cardboard cutout, ''[[BehindTheBlack which Krabs should have seen from his angle, even when it was propped up.]]''
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: He tends to be a pitiable and unsuccessful villain in later seasons, but it varies, as sometimes he manages to be the clear cut villain. DependingOnTheWriter.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Plankton suffers serious insecurities based on his archnemesis' success. The episode "Friend or Foe" reveals [[WeUsedToBeFriends his dynamic with Mr. Krabs]] and explains that he became a villainous GreenEyedMonster over the latter's success as a business owner, while all Plankton could make was inedible chum.
* IronButtMonkey: He gets hurt a lot, but he usually walks out of it okay. Deconstructed though, as while he '''can''' take a lot, it's strongly hinted that he became so resilient because he '''HAD''' to due his status as a plankton.
* {{Jerkass}}: When he's the central villain of an episode, he'll be as mean as he is evil. In the episode "Plankton Gets the Boot," he falls into his analyzer, which describes him as "30% mean guy, 20% spiteful monster, 50% evil butt-head," and sums him up as "100% big jerk."
* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Walking Small". True, he may have been using [=SpongeBob=] as an UnwittingPawn at the time, but he nonetheless makes a valid point when he calls [=SpongeBob=] out on being an ExtremeDoormat.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first season episode "FUN", where his bonding with [=SpongeBob=] was just a ruse to get him to help him find the secret Krabby Patty formula. In episodes such as "Friend or Foe" and "Chum Caverns", when Mr. Krabs seems willing to let bygones be bygones, he always just takes advantage of the opportunity.
* JustJokingJustification: At the end of TheMovie, he attempts this, claiming that his mind-controlling everyone and turning Bikini Bottom into [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans the dystopic]] [[{{Egopolis}} Planktopolis]] was all a joke. Not one person buys it, and he's shipped off to prison, screaming that he'll destroy everyone.
-->'''Plankton''': Come on, I was just kidding. Come on, you guys knew that, didn't you? With the helmets and the big monuments...Wasn't that hilarious, everybody?
* KnightOfCerebus: In TheMovie, he's actually played [[NotSoHarmlessVillain seriously]]. Downplayed in the earlier episodes, where he was also played semi-seriously, but was still overall a comedic character.
* LargeHam: Particularly in earlier seasons, he has his moments of yelling at the top of his lungs and exhibiting NoIndoorVoice.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Many of Plankton's attempts to steal the formula prove to him that karma is a bitch.
* LastNameBasis: Though in his case, he prefers to go by his surname because he considers Sheldon an EmbarrassingFirstName. Unlike Mr. Krabs, he's simply called Plankton instead of Mr. Plankton (sans one episode where he sees what it's like if they switch places).
* LaughablyEvil: He's an EvilGenius who chews up the scenery.
* LegoGenetics: Happens to him at least twice:
** In "The Inside Job", when Karen's gadget allows Plankton to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe from [=SpongeBob's=] heart, he transforms into a Plankton shaped mini-[=SpongeBob=]. When he's extracted, the device attaches itself to Patrick, turning Plankton into a one eyed mini Patrick.
** In "Salsa Imbecilus", after its suggested that the only way Plankton can get a hold of the Secret recipe is if Mr. Krabs was dumb enough to be tricked into giving it up he comes up with the idea to mix some of Patrick's genes into a soup he would give to Mr. Krabs in order to infect him with Patrick's [[TooDumbToLive (lack of) intelligence]]. It goes wrong when [[HoistByHisOwnPetard after tasting the soup, Plankton becomes as dumb as Patrick,]] leaves the stove on, which causes the soup to evaporate and condense into a rain cloud, [[LethallyStupid which lowers the intellect of everyone in Bikini Bottom to the level of Patrick.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: InUniverse. He carries his gramophone to play his theme music, but only in his first appearance. It sometimes plays without the need of a gramophone.
* LethalChef: The reason why he doesn't have customers. Not only is he a terrible cook, "Plankton's Regular" shows that his chum is actually ''poisonous'' to eat.
* LikesOlderWomen: He is attracted to Mr. Krabs' mother in "Enemy In-Law", when he and Krabs are around the same age.
* LovableRogue: Plankton plots the most devilish of schemes to get the formula, showing no regard to the lives of his targets whatsoever, yet that hasn't stopped the audience from finding him entertaining for nearly two decades.
* MadScientist: Emphasis on mad. Quite a lot of his schemes involve using machines and concoctions that he created himself.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: He tended to react this way in the older episodes whenever his schemes backfired on him.
-->'''Plankton''': Ouch.
* ManipulativeBastard: It would take more than two hands to count the amount of times he's deceived [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs into thinking that he TookALevelInKindness just to get the formula.
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: Several episodes have him win, only for a last minute occurrence or revelation to render his victory pointless.
** In "Plankton's Army", with the help of his brethren, Plankton manages to get into the Krusty Krab safe and procure the Krabby Patty formula. As he reads the ingredients out loud, he discovers that the most important one is four pounds of freshly ground [[spoiler:plankton]], which causes Plankton and his family to run out of the Krusty Krab screaming in horror. [[spoiler:It's then revealed that what Plankton found wasn't even the real formula and that Mr. Krabs has the actual one in his home under his mattress]].
** In "Bucket Sweet Bucket", after tricking [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, and Squidward into fixing up the Chum Bucket, Plankton manages to get into the Krusty Krab safe and find the formula, [[spoiler:only for it not to be the formula, but a To Do list and that Mr. Krabs had the formula with him while he was on vacation]]. In addition, since [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick used the ''entire Krusty Krab'' to fix up the Chum Bucket, Plankton also lost his restaurant when Mr. Krabs pushes his back to its normal spot.
** In "For Here Or to Go", Plankton enters a contest at the Krusty Krab where the prize is a free Krabby Patty (and he brings in a contest official that makes Mr. Krabs allow Plankton to enter). Plankton manages to win and despite Krabs's attempts to prevent the patty from being made, Plankton gets his patty, but has to eat it on the premises. However, Plankton makes it back to the Chum Bucket and has the patty analyzed before it's digested, with him selling Krabby Patties the next day. [[spoiler: However, they taste awful, due to Karen having analyzed all the contents of Plankton's stomach, which in addition to the Krabby Patty also included things such as stomach acid and pills.]]
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: It is occasionally brought up that he doesn't wear clothes, like when he switches lives with Mr. Krabs in "The Algae's Always Greener" and is horrified to see that Krabs is naked since now he's the rival trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula from him. Plankton eventually explains in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' that he goes naked because they don't make clothes his size.
* TheNapoleon: Being constantly stepped on and flung around like a piece of trash will mess with a plankton's mind, man.
* NearVillainVictory: "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand" is the closest Plankton has ever gotten in the cartoon series, with Mr. Krabs completely willing to hand over the secret formula. In one episode, he already figured out every ingredient in a Krabby, save for one, which was the {{Macguffin}} of that episode. This also goes for any scheme that DOESN'T involve stealing the secret formula.
* NiceGuysFinishLast: Says this word-for-word in "Walking Small" when he tells [=SpongeBob=] that he's letting his niceness allow people to push him around.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Voice actor Doug Lawrence modeled his voice off of Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/ThurlRavenscroft.
* NoIndoorVoice: Prone to speaking at the top of his lungs.
* NotMeThisTime: In "Patty Caper", he's naturally the first suspect when [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick try to find out who stole the key ingredient to the Krabby Patty formula. However, for once, it ''wasn't'' him.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Played with in that his only interest is stealing Krabs' secret formula. However depending on his overzeal, he is willing to brainwash, potentially murder and generally cause a lot of collateral damage in his attempts to do so. In other episodes that aired after the movie, he even settles for just [[VillainyFreeVillain competing with Krabs legitimately]]. When he falls into his Analyzer in his debut episode, it describes him as being made of "1% evil, 99% hot gas."
* TheNoseless: {{Justified|Trope}}, planktonic organisms do not have noses.
* OmnicidalManiac: He vows to be one in the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie''.
-->'''Plankton''': I will destroy all of you!
* OnlySaneMan: He's known to play this role whenever paired with [=SpongeBob=] and/or Patrick, as he has zero tolerance for their idiocy.
* PaperThinDisguise: He has so many of these, and only [=SpongeBob=] is fooled by them.
* PetTheDog:
** The episode "Plankton's Pet". He's genuinely nice to his pet amoeba Spot, feels guilty about having to punish him, and willingly works with [=SpongeBob=] to find him.
** "Mimic Madness" has an example: when [=SpongeBob=] gets infected with Mimicry Madness, Plankton is actually willing to work with Sandy, Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs to cure him, even to the point of (reluctantly) getting himself painted yellow to imitate the sponge.
** Even after his scheme to steal the formula is quickly thwarted, Plankton has no qualms about helping [=SpongeBob=]'s friends set up a birthday party for [=SpongeBob=] in "[=SpongeBob=]'s Big Birthday Blowout".
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: He's ostensibly a chef/restauranteur, but it's easy to forget this when his status as a CardCarryingVillain dominates his characterization, and when the Chum Bucket resembles a SupervillainLair more than it resembles an actual eatery. He seems to spend more time plotting Mr. Krabs' downfall (and occasionally trying to TakeOverTheWorld) than, y'know...cooking food and trying to attract customers.
* PsychopathicManchild: He's a diabolical, immoral {{jerkass}} who has exhibited homicidal tendencies, wants to TakeOverTheWorld, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk manipulates and deceives [=SpongeBob=] on a recurring basis]], and in general has little redeeming qualities. Despite this, he has a slight touch of innocence that makes him charming, as he's shown to enjoy [=SpongeBob=]'s childish activities in "F.U.N.", owns a cute pet amoeba which he wholeheartedly cares for, occasionally responds with childish insults, and is shown watching hamster videos in some episodes.
%%* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Krabs' red.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: {{Subverted|Trope}}; he has a red eye, but he's usually pretty harmless despite being the BigBad. [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie Usually harmless]].
* TheRival: He is rivals with Mr. Krabs.
* RunningGag: It's common for Plankton to be thrown out of the Krusty Krab to the Chum Bucket by Mr. Krabs.
* SecondaryColorNemesis: A green copepod with a yellow eye who happens to be Mr. Krabs' ArchEnemy and the BigBad of the series.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: He's undoubtedly the most popular (and only) example of plankton in fiction. Most specifically (and a bit of a GeniusBonus to boot), Plankton is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod Copepod]], a small crustacean with one eye.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Often uses strong vocabulary.
* SlasherSmile: He's particularly fond of these when one of his plans is actually working. [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/c/c7/Creep.jpg He lets off an especially terrifying one with fangs]] near the climax of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'' [[spoiler:when Neptune is about to kill Mr. Krabs]].
* SmugSnake: Sometimes shown to be egotistical and arrogant toward others.
* SpeciesSurname: His full name is Sheldon J. Plankton, and he's a planktonic copepod.
* SuperStrength: Shown in "Bucket Sweet Bucket", [[spoiler:where he crushes a nut with his teeth & punches the door off of a safe... from the inside,]] but normally subverted.
* SwappedRoles: In "The Algae's Always Greener", Plankton creates a device that allows him to go into an AlternateTimeline where he is the owner of the Krusty Krab. He decides to go back to his own timeline after he experiences firsthand the nonsense that Krabs has to go through everyday in order to keep the restaurant in business.
* TakeOverTheWorld: His secondary goal, DependingOnTheWriter, is to take over the world.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Gets a legitimately happy ending in both "Plankton's Pet" (where he gets a pet amoeba that he loves dearly) and "Wishing You Well" (where his wish to be taller comes true).
** May have finally gotten the formula according to the AmbiguousEnding in "Buried in Time." Specifically, after Plankton breaks into the time capsule to steal the Kraby Patty recipe, he accidentally swallows the bottle containing the scrap of paper. When we last see him, [[ToiletHumour he's sitting on the toilet, demanding Karen to tone down the sarcasm and give him some more prunes.]]
** He manages to get even with Krabs in "The Krusty Slammer."
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The tiny guy to Karen's huge girl, as he's obviously shorter than her.
* TookALevelInBadass: After a stint of VillainDecay, Plankton returned to his threatening and menacing self by Season 7 and became a much more competent villain. Particulary in the episodes "Frozen Face-Off", "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand", and "One Coarse Meal".
** In "Frozen Face-Off", he [[spoiler: [[KansasCityShuffle organized a race as a distraction just so he could steal the Krabby Patty formula without trouble]] and to throw off the suspicion he placed his [[ActuallyADoombot robot doppelgänger to participate in the race]] and it took the entire Krusty Krew plus Sandy and Karen to stop his EvilPlan]].
** In "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand", he took over the town when he built a superhighway over the Krusty Krab that directly led to the Chum Bucket and drove away all the jellyfish from their fields. Almost all of Bikini Bottom's population supported him until the jellyfish attacked them in revenge for their home's destruction. It was so bad that Mr. Krabs was going to give him the secret formula ''willingly''. This and "Frozen Face-Off" are more dramatic and action-packed episodes of the series.
** Even in "One Coarse Meal", where he was DrivenToSuicide due to Krabs masquerading as Pearl and scaring him, Plankton was a very effective villain. He drops a powerful explosive the size of a TV remote on the Krusty Krab's roof; he is said to build a transmutator (a machine with the power to make an element in nature into another element, like iron into gold, fire into air, etc.); and a robotic bomb-shaped object that is actually a disguised, robotic, telescopic claw that can crush a sea creature. And at the end of the episode, Plankton uses [[spoiler:mimes to scare Mr. Krabs, who is very afraid of mimes, as the revenge for Mr. Krabs scaring him and driving him to suicide and from looks of it, Mr. Krabs' fear of mimes is bigger than Plankton's fear of whales, since Plankton managed to remain rational while being scared by whales, while Mr. Krabs was completely irrational]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: While Plankton was already something of a ManipulativeBastard and JerkWithAHeartOfJerk in the show's beginning, he became far more prone to committing crimes and attempting murder from the first movie onwards.
* TragicVillain: For some, he could be seen as a villain who deserves sympathy for the mishaps he went through that led to his path. It is known that as a child, he was bullied and his only friend was Mr. Krabs. Now he is evil and despises society, not only because of this, also for a dispute with Mr. Krabs for poisoning Old Man Jenkins.
* TrashOfTheTitans: The Chum Bucket is often incredibly filthy to the point of crawling with cobwebs. Krabs lampshades it:
-->'''Mr. Krabs''': Criminy, Plankton! You ever hear of spring cleaning?
* UsedToBeASweetKid: In addition to [[WeUsedToBeFriends having formerly been friends with Mr. Krabs]] back then, Plankton used to be an innocent little boy devoid of malice.
* TheUnfettered: DependingOnTheWriter, he's willing to stoop to a lot of lows and do a lot of heinous acts to get the Krabby Patty formula.
* UnknownRival: Sometimes, [[NiceGuy SpongeBob]] fails to acknowledge him as an enemy.
* VillainousBreakdown: He has one in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie''. After his helmets have been proven to be defeated by the PowerOfRock, he resorts to desperately begging Karen to do something about [=SpongeBob=]. However, she was being carried off by the crowd and was too far away to hear her husband. As one final act of desperation to keep his control over the townspeople, he tried to command the brainwashed King Neptune to kill [=SpongeBob=]. Unfortunately for him, the helmet on Neptune's head was also destroyed, and he was freed from his mind control. Plankton then tried to escape through the front doors, only to be paved down by the freed Bikini Bottomites. [[LaserGuidedKarma He's later arrested]], and he threatens to murder everyone once he gets out of prison.
* VillainCred: The episode "Jailbreak!" reveals that every other criminal in Bikini Bottom looks up to him; they outright describe him as "criminal royalty."
* VillainEpisode: "The Algae's Always Greener" (where he uses an invention to switch lives with Mr. Krabs just to see what his rival's life is like) and "Plankton's Army" (where he recruits his relatives to steal the secret formula) are a couple of good examples of episodes where Plankton is the main character.
* VillainProtagonist: He's evil, but he's only the main character in '''some''' episodes, showing his attempts to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
* VillainSong:
-->'''Plankton: ♪F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium... bombs! N is for no survivors, when you-♪''
* VillainsOutShopping: In different episodes, he's shown doing such activities as watching TV ("The Inside Job") and [[SmartPeoplePlayChess playing chess with Sandy]] ("Mimic Madness") when not plotting to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
* VocalDissonance: He has quite a deep, booming voice, in contrast to his minuscule size. Except in the Japanese dub, where he has a cutesy, high-pitched voice.
* VocalEvolution: Starting in the movie, he would develop a high-pitched scream.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: He and Krabs were once friends since they were babies, but turned against each other after Krabs created the Krabby Patty and became more successful.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He has an absolute fear of whales as shown in "One Coarse Meal", [[DrivenToSuicide to the point where the presence of them alone will drive him into a suicidal state]]. [[SeriesContinuityError He doesn't seem to mind them in other episodes]] (e.g. "Jailbreak!", "Married to Money"), however.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Fakes an injury to get the Krabby Patty Formula in "Krabs vs. Plankton".
* XanatosSpeedChess: He's been shown to be quite adept at this in TheMovie, where he quickly comes up with a last ditch scheme [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu to put a mind-control bucket on]] [[PhysicalGod King Neptune's]] head to kill Spongebob and Patrick.
-->'''Spongebob:''' Sorry to rain on your parade, Plankton.\\
'''Plankton:''' Oh, my parade will be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which [[spoiler: Plankton finally obtains the formula, attracts business, and takes over the world to drive it home...until [=SpongeBob=] frees all the citizens from his mind-control helmets and Plankton serves a life sentence for his terror.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Plankton tries to marry Mr. Krabs' mother in "Enemy In-Law"...while still married to his computer wife. Luckily for the latter, his plan is ultimately foiled.
* YourSizeMayVary: We all know that Plankton is small, but ''how'' small he is has a tendency to vary, ranging anywhere from a few inches tall to borderline microscopic. This is especially the case in his debut episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Karen Plankton]]
!!Karen Plankton
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_karen.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Today is the perfect day to steal the recipe!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Jill Talley
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Melanie Henríquez, Sofía Narváez
->'''German voice:''' Susanne Herrmann
->'''Debut:''' "Plankton!"
A waterproof supercomputer who runs the Chum Bucket alongside her husband Plankton. She is always giving him new evil plans to steal the Krabby Patty formula, but their efforts never succeed. Karen is Plankton's own invention, and her software is built into most of his machines.
----
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Sometimes laughs with the good guys against Plankton.
* AllThereInTheScript: Her name wasn't mentioned at all in the "Plankton!" episode, but it was listed in the credits.
* ArmlessBiped: In the movie and most episodes from season 5-9, her mobile form does not have arms. From season 10 onwards, however, her mobile form always has them.
* BeleagueredAssistant: She mostly averts this as she is generally the dominant one in the relationship.
* BerserkButton: She has one in "Plankton Gets The Boot". Don't insult Karen's new screensaver or saying it makes her processor look fat. Plankton learned that the hard way, twice.
* BigBadEnsemble: She and Plankton tend to be the main villains of the show.
* BreakoutVillain: As mentioned above, Mr. Lawrence was responsible for turning the Planktons from one-off characters into the main villains.
* CharacterDevelopment: She shows no signs of sentience in "Plankton!" but gains her personality in "F.U.N." However, she did always have a Midwestern accent, as mentioned in JustAStupidAccent below.
* CutenessProximity: She gets so excited over how adorable Spot's puppies are in "Spot Returns" that she shuts down and spends several hours needing to be rebooted. When she comes back online and discovers even more puppies, she's even happier.
* DeadpanSnarker: In the post-movie episodes, she snarks at Plankton all the time.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: She was only seen in wall form until the first movie and season 4.
* EquippableAlly: She is equippable with lasers, screensavers, and various software.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Her sentience and, to a lesser but still noticeable extent, her DeadpanSnarker mannerisms. In the first season, she was always supportive of Plankton and focused on the mission. In the first movie, she became deadpan almost all of the time. While she has mostly reverted to her more cheerful demeanor as of season 9, she still shows signs of getting fed up with Plankton's ignorance at times.
** One aspect of her personality that was completely phased out was her unquestioning servitude to Plankton. She always helps with his plans and gives them to him in most cases, but she no longer does whatever he says when he demands it.
** An example of her unquestioning servitude can be seen in the Season 3 episode "The Algae's Always Greener". Plankton orders Karen to make him some dinner, so she gives him holographic meatloaf while saying—in a completely serious, non-sarcastic manner—"Yes, your majesty."
* HyperCompetentSideKick: She successfully stole a Krabby Patty the first time she tried alone, with near zero effort (then again, it was against Squidward).
* InterspeciesRomance: If a computer counts as a species, her and Plankton counts as a relationship between people of different species.
* JustAStupidAccent: Had a very obvious Chicago accent even [[CharacterizationMarchesOn before she had a personality]].
* LackOfEmpathy: She even says to [=SpongeBob=] that she cannot feel for others because she physically does not have a heart.
* MamaBear: Is extremely protective of her son, Chip, to the point of destroying an arcade machine just to stop him from being harmed by the in-game enemies and outright ''forcing'' Plankton to search for him after the latter drives him away.
* NonIndicativeName: Her full name is Karen Plankton, but she's a computer, not a plankton.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Karen is the only one who is regularly drawn with wavy-lined borders instead of clean lines. This is because backgrounds and items in the show are normally drawn with wavy borders while characters aren't.
* OnlySaneWoman: Typically one to call Plankton out on his obsessive schemes, more so currently.
* PetTheDog: She is a computer but nevertheless has a very strong love for Plankton deep down.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Played with. She supposedly has no heart but still feels a wide range of emotions. However, she still has some limitations such as being unable to eat (though she is turned into a Krabby Patty zombie in "Krabby Patty Creature Feature" when she is force-fed bits of the Krabby Patty zombies by having them stuffed into her disc drive).
* RoboticSpouse: Yes and no. Yes, Karen is a robot and she married her creator. But no, Plankton did ''not'' create her just to marry her. She was originally just the security system for the business he and Mr. Krabs ran together, before they began dating naturally. Their romance even began before Plankton became evil, and Karen was so faithful to him that she became evil as well.
* SatelliteCharacter: She usually only interacts with Plankton and whoever else comes into the Chum Bucket. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], seeing as she's a mostly immobile computer who was permanently stationed in the Chum Bucket for the first four seasons.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Averted, since she wasn't written as Plankton's wife until Season 3 and is actually a formidable villain rather than just a love interest, having come up with almost all of Plankton's schemes herself.
* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: She plays crucial roles in both movies (authoring and telling Plankton about "Plan Z" in the first, powering the time machine in the second) but did not have much screen time in the trailers for them. However, she ''was'' featured in the associated merchandise, such as the Mega Bloks time machine playset for the 2015 movie.
* SnarkyInanimateObject: She's a robot and is pretty snarky in the later episodes.
* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: She's a robot who aids Plankton in his plans and is prone to making snide remarks toward him.
* TalkingWeapon: She has robotic abilities like lasers and death rays that make her a talking, walking weapon sometimes.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The huge girl to Plankton's tiny guy, since she's a large computer and he's a tiny crustacean.
* TookALevelInCynic: She inexplicably becomes far more cold-hearted than usual in the first movie.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Named after Stephen Hillenburg's wife.
* TVHeadRobot: The head of her mobile unit looks a lot like a CRT television.
* WomenAreWiser: She is much more clever and competent than her husband Plankton.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sandy Cheeks]]
!!Sandra Jennifer Cheeks
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_sandy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Don't you dare take the name of Texas in vain!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Carolyn Lawrence
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Mercedes Prato, Anabella Silva, Yaraivi Acevedo, Lileana Chacón
->'''German voice:''' Cathlen Gawlich
->'''Debut:''' "Tea at the Treedome"
An athletic, thrill-seeking squirrel from Texas who loves her home state. She works as a scientist and lives in an underwater dome full of air. She usually wears a bubble-helmet diving suit when she is outside of her home.
----
* AcademicAthlete: She qualifies even if the show is not set in a school. She's probably the most academically inclined character with a vast knowledge of science, and also a PassionateSportsGirl who excels at karate.
* ActionGirl: Much more so in earlier episodes, though it still shows through every now and then. It's often shown that she's very strong, occasionally so much that she easily defeats [=SpongeBob=], as tough as he is to damage, in Kung-Fu battles.
* {{Adorkable}}: Like her friend [=SpongeBob=], she's cute and eccentric. Not to mention extremely nerdy, which causes [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick to often scratch their heads in confusion whenever she talks science.
* AnimalsNotToScale: She's rather small for a squirrel. In ''Sponge Out of Water'', she's smaller than a human's foot.
* AxCrazy: If her hibernation is interrupted, she turns into a rabid, feral beast.
* BadassAdorable: An extraordinarily strong and intelligent female squirrel who manages to live underwater. Does more need to be said?
* BadassBookworm: She is extremely intelligent and often shown to be extraordinarily strong. Also likes life-threatening stunts.
* BareFistedMonk: She's a master of Karate, and it's part of how she and Spongebob initially bonded.
* BareYourMidriff: When she's not wearing her suit filled with oxygen, she wears a purple bikini top and green panties with a purple skirt, leaving her midsection exposed.
* BerserkButton: Never ever insult anything/anyone from Texas, or even the state itself. You will regret it, as [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick faced the serious consequences.
* BigSisterInstinct: She's frequently portrayed as immediately defending [=SpongeBob=] from terror.
* BreakTheHaughty: Suffers it in "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm". She goes to take out the Alaskan Bullworm for the sake of the town, and adamantly refuses to listen to [=SpongeBob=]'s warnings about how big and monstrous the thing is, convinced she's "too Texas-tough" and can easily handle the worm. In the end, she comes across the worm in a cave and apparently beats it...only to discover that [[ThatsNoMoon what she fought was actually the worm's tongue]], and the Bikini Bottomites were ''not'' exaggerating over how big and monstrous it is; all of her bravado fades in an instant.
* BrokenAce: She tends to be competent and highly skilled at everything she does. However, she suffers a light case of this in some episodes, due to her very competitive attitude. She takes the idea of [[ATasteOfDefeat not being the best at something]] rather badly.
* BullyingADragon: Combined with BreakTheHaughty. Despite the Bikini Bottomites and [=SpongeBob=]'s constant warnings about how big and monstrous the Alaskan Bull Worm was, Sandy refuses to take them seriously. This bites her in the butt when she finds out that the "worm" she was fighting was actually it's ''tongue.'' Sandy then realized that she was ''seriously'' outclassed and runs for her life.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Her scientific nature wasn't shown as much in the pre-movie era. It wasn't until Season 4 that her inventor personality was established.
* ChasteToons: "Sandy's Nutty Nieces" reveals she has three nieces.
* CompetitionFreak: Sandy is used to being the best at multiple talents and sports, so gets rather aggressive with when challenged.
* CoolBigSis: Her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] can be rather brotherly-sister in that the former looks up to her and they get into conflicts often but always come out clean.
* CuteBruiser: She is clearly one of Bikini Bottom's strongest residents, if not the strongest. She occasionally challenges massive, heavily muscled beachgoers to weightlifting challenges.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has become quite a bit of one in the later episodes, particularly in "Planet of the Jellyfish" and "It's a [=SpongeBob=] Christmas!"
* DemotedToExtra: Sandy appeared significantly less from Season 3 onwards, being more of a recurring supporting character than the main character she was originally billed as. Later seasons have attempted to avert this, with seasons 8, 9 and 11 in particular giving her plenty of [[ADayInTheLimelight focus episodes]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the first season, her tail wasn't outside her suit, and the patch on her suit was three black dots instead of her signature acorn.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Not to the extent of Squidward, but she quite expresses her annoyance towards people's stupidity, particularly when it regards Patrick on occasions like in "I Had An Accident" for instance.
-->'''Sandy:''' (to Patrick) Don't you have to go be stupid somewhere else?
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first time Sandy is seen on-screen, she's shown fighting a giant clam, ultimately cementing her strength and masculinity.
* EverythingIsBigInTexas: She's the size of a flea compared to the Texas landscape.
* FishOutOfWater: Played straight, though she's actually a squirrel IN water. Her troubles fitting in with an underwater society aren't as apparent in the later episodes, though.
* {{Foil}}: To [=SpongeBob=]. While both of them are {{Adorkable}}, energetic and eccentric {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s who like karate, their personalities differ in that:
** [=SpongeBob=] is a naïve and kooky [[TheDitz Ditz]] who's childish, pestering, wimpy, cowardly, and generally ignorant in all but a few topic areas,
** Sandy is a mature, tough, bold, and intelligent individual who more often than not plays the OnlySaneWoman role.
* {{Flanderization}}: Originally portrayed as TheAce in various activities, post-movie episodes have increasingly focused on her being a scientist, pretty much shunning anything else she was passionate about.
* FlatCharacter: Became lacking in characterization in the post-movie seasons, as more focus was given on her intelligence and competence in fields dealing with science.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Choleric (shares this with Mr. Krabs). She's task-oriented and likes a challenge.
* ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: Any time the writers remember her Texan background or her other talents besides science.
* GadgeteerGenius: She built tons of nifty gadgets.
* GeniusBruiser: She's athletic, tough, and loves karate, while also being an extremely smart scientist.
* GenkiGirl: She can be excitable and cheerful when she wants to have a good time.
* HairTriggerTemper: Usually level headed, but being a HotBlooded Texan, she is rarely subtle when her temper flares.
* IdiotBall:
** Holds this in "Prehibernation Week", where she takes [=SpongeBob=] along with her to perform extreme stunts with little regard to his deteriorating health. This doubles as JerkassBall.
** She invokes this on herself in "Squirrel Jokes" in retaliation against [=SpongeBob=]'s bigoted humor about her species, showing him how toxic it would be to have a friend who's TooDumbToLive.
* InsufferableGenius: Sometimes can be insufferably boastful about her intellect, especially in later seasons.
* {{Invisibility}}: She can turn invisible as Miss Appear in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V".
* JerkassBall: In spite of her overall kindness, she can be quite an InsufferableGenius and egotistical jerk at times, and occasionally forces the others to do excruciating activities with her when it dangerously affects their health.
** In "Prehibernation Week", she forces [=SpongeBob=] along with her in her extreme sports activities, which clearly have an adverse affect on his health, not that Sandy seems to care.
** In "Kenny the Cat", she exposes the eponymous character as a fraud in front of his fans and forcefully kicks him to the top of the ocean's surface despite him having done nothing to provoke her.
* JustFriends: In spite of the ShipTease, her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] seems to be platonic for the most part.
* LethallyStupid: In "Prehibernation Week", and only that episode. She forces [=SpongeBob=] to take part in a series of life-threatening sports and seems oblivious to his despair even as he screams and cries. After [=SpongeBob=] decides to hide from her, she rallies the entire city to search for him, ordering them to repeatedly venture into dangerous places and refusing to let any of them sleep.
* LightningBruiser: She's very strong (as mentioned above in CuteBruiser), tough (goes through very hard physical training, such as looking for a ''SINGLE STRAND OF HAY in a HUGE PILE OF METAL NEEDLES'' without getting hurt or tiring out) and is also very agile (especially considering she is wearing a heavy suit and is reasonably fast even while under water pressure).
* LikeBrotherAndSister: While there has been some romantic connotations in their friendship, she and [=SpongeBob=] have a brotherly-sister relationship, enjoying each other's company and performing karate together, albeit not without having their squabbles.
* MadeOfIron: Thanks to SuperStrength, Sandy has survived many fatal accidents and near-death experiences in ways that [[TooDumbToLive SpongeBob]] wouldn't.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Masculine Girl to [=SpongeBob's=] Feminine Boy. Sandy is characteristically tough in that she has survived the most fatal obstacles, practices extreme sports, fought a giant clam by which she was nearly eaten, and is proficient in hardware; [=SpongeBob=] is a wimpy [[LovableCoward coward]] who's InTouchWithHisFeminineSide, [[ExtremeDoormat unable to stand up for himself]], [[DudeLooksLikeALady sports a very girly appearance]], and has cross-dressed on a few occasions.
* MsViceGirl: She is a scientific genius, physically robust to superhuman levels and thoroughly optimistic and friendly on top of that. However, perhaps because of her many strengths and talents, she often displays an ego problem, which can lead her to be very aggressive and competitive when someone challenges her.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: PlayedWith in that the art style doesn't depict her as being muscular, but a few close-ups and occasional flexes do indeed show her with muscles, even being able to grow them by force (most notably in "[=Karate Island=]", but also in "[=MuscleBob BuffPants=]", "[=Christmas Who?=]", and "[=Whelk Attack=]").
* NiceGirl: Sandy's a happy and friendly squirrel.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A sea-dwelling squirrel that dresses like an astronaut to cope with the environment, Sandy's love of [[GeniusBruiser science and karate]] is surpassed only by her love of her home state of Texas.
* NobleBigot: In "Pressure", she repeatedly bragged that land creatures are better than sea creatures, with [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs thinking the opposite. However, after their attempts at proving it put both sides in mortal danger, they grow out of it.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Sometimes, her sciencey-mind can make her do some things that push her into MadScientist territory.
* OcularGushers: In "Texas", her longing for her eponymous hometown causes her to cry an abundance of tears in her helmet, so much to the point where there's a flusher installed in it to drain them.
* OddFriendship:
** Her friendship with [=SpongeBob=] could qualify, as while both of them like karate, Sandy is far more intelligent and mature than the [[TheDitz dizty]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} goofball]] sponge, thus their relationship seems to be more brotherly-sister than genuine.
** Same goes for her friendship with Patrick, although they rarely interact one-on-one and Patrick usually only goes to her house as [=SpongeBob=]'s tagalong. Despite some disagreements regarding their vast difference in intellect, they seem to get along well enough.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The only times she was referred to by her first name were in "Patrick [=SmartPants=]", "Atlantis [=SquarePantis=]", and "Two Thumbs Down".
* OnlySaneWoman: Not as sane as Squidward, but she's still fairly level-headed. [[GenkiGirl Not so much]] before hibernation, though, as apparently the first stage of hibernation involves losing your mind. Apparently, her not being a jerk or an idiot is why Squidward gets along better with her than with the others.
* ParodySue: A few episodes, especially in the 2nd season, seem to [[LampshadeHanging make light of]] her somewhat lengthy amount of talents and positive aspects, it also usually being these points she was portrayed in a more flawed light.
* PassionateSportsGirl: To a particularly extreme level. Adding to that her occasional CompetitionFreak bouts, working out with Sandy can border out and out life threatening.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: While she's rather short in height and [[StrongerThanTheyLook depicted as a weakling]] by the art style, she has performed the most badass of defeats for a squirrel in an astronaut suit.
* PlatonicLifePartners: She's close friends with [=SpongeBob=], and while there have been some definitive ShipTease moments between the pair, their dynamic hasn't shown any ''explicit'' romance.
* PositiveDiscrimination: Is a female mammal and the most gifted and least flawed central character by miles, though partly due to excessive {{Flanderization}} of the bipedal, male characters. Admittedly, it is also balanced by frequent NotSoAboveItAll moments. She played it undeniably straight pre-CharacterDevelopment however.
* ShipTease:
** Usually with [=SpongeBob=], shown by how well they interact with one another, and some reactions to each others comments. One {{Flashback}} from "Truth or Square" even had them seemingly getting married, only for it to be revealed as a play after an AlmostKiss. Carolyn Lawrence, Sandy's voice actress, has admitted she believed that both characters have romantic interest in one another.
** She also has some ship tease with Larry in "Ripped Pants", overlapping with her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] and seeming a bit like a LoveTriangle on her part. The latter is greatly affected by Sandy choosing to interact with Larry over him (though [=SpongeBob=] brought this betrayal on himself as he [[AttentionWhore went too far and faked a near-death experience]] [[DudeNotFunny just to make another joke about his pants]]).
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Not as much as the others but Sandy suffers some physical damage at times, such as being mauled by a gorilla, having her fur torn off by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, being plagued with fleas, being hit by a car off of a mountain and so on.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Albeit [[DependingOnTheWriter not as consistently]] as Squidward, she can overestimate her own abilities. Here are some examples:
** In "Pressure", she repeatedly stated that land creatures are better than sea creatures and went so far as to almost drown herself in an attempt to prove it.
** In "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm", she was firmly convinced that, being "Texas tough", she could easily handle the Alaskan Bullworm, repeatedly dismissing and even mocking [=SpongeBob=]'s warnings. When she finally reaches it and finds out that the Alaskan Bullworm is indeed as big and dangerous as everyone said, she runs in fear, and ''only'' admits she was wrong after [=SpongeBob=] nagged her into doing so.
* SouthernFriedGenius: She's a genius from Texas, and proud of it!
* StrongerThanTheyLook: From a first glance, Sandy looks no stronger than [=SpongeBob=] (who, needless to say, is a weakling), however when she's faced with fatal near-death experiences, she [[SuperStrength absolutely aces it when it comes to overpowering her obstacles]].
* SuperStrength: Pretty obvious, actually. Especially when you see her ''pull a boat underwater by the chain'' in "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm".
* TeamMom: Unlike most other OnlySaneMan characters on the show, who are usually {{Jerkass}}es, Sandy has shown herself able to deliver logic and reason to [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick constructively and in a way that doesn't come off as abrasive.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: She wears a flower on her diving helmet so it's more readily apparent she's a girl. She's got eyelashes too, but so does [=SpongeBob=].
* TokenGoodTeammate: One of the only characters who hasn't been turned into either a {{Jerkass}} or [[TookALevelInDumbass a moron]]. She and Pearl are also the only characters Squidward gets along with very well for this reason. Her occasional [[SmallNameBigEgo ego]] and [[BerserkButton temperament]] can provoke some unfortunate situations in the show (eg. "Pressure"), that said, she is arguably the one recurring character that hasn't had her flaws [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] over her redeeming aspects.
* {{Tomboy}}: Sandy's a muscular squirrel girl with a passion for sports and science.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Sandy may always be up for tough fun or a science experiment, but she's not quite TheLadette. She regularly wears a pink decorative flower on her helmet and nothing but her bikini in her treedome, openly cries over her isolation from her hometown, and perhaps most prominently, is not above venturing into typical GossipyHens nighttime behavior with Karen and Mrs. Puff (who are apparently gal pals with each other) in "Girls' Night Out".
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The karate chopping techno whiz Tomboy to Pearl's Girly BrattyTeenageDaughter.
* TomboyishVoice: Although, it's more Southern than tomboyish.
* TooCleverByHalf: Every now and then she goes into being so smart that it puts her at a disadvantage.
* ToonTransformation: She was a live-action squirrel when she lived in Texas, but she became animated like the rest of the residents of Bikini Bottom when she moved there.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She likes eating nuts and anything nut-related. [[StockAnimalDiet Give or take, she's a squirrel]].
* WalkingSwimsuitScene: Occasionally seen in a bikini, but always when she's in her tree house.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mrs. Puff]]
!!Poppy Puff
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_mrspuff.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"In all my years of teaching, only one student has ever failed my class."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Mary Jo Catlett
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Isabel Vara
->'''German voice:''' Rita Engelmann (Episodes 4-182, first movie), Joseline Gassen (second movie), Sonja Deutsch (Episodes 190-present)
->'''Debut:''' "Boating School"
[=SpongeBob=]'s patient but paranoid teacher at boating school. She would like nothing more than to pass [=SpongeBob=] since he is an obsessively good student, but he routinely freaks out and crashes whenever he has to get inside a boat. She is a pufferfish who blows up into a ball whenever she is scared or stressed out.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''P'''oppy '''P'''uff.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Several episodes demonstrate that [=SpongeBob's=] antics have taken quite the toll on her mental health. "Doing Time" ends with her having repeated hallucinations of the episode's beginning, and in "Krusty Love", she has a very [=PTSD=]-like reaction by just hearing [=SpongeBob's=] voice. Though she's still able to calm down when he points out they're not driving.
* ApatheticTeacher: Zigzagged, DependingOnTheWriter. Though it's mostly her attitude toward [=SpongeBob=] since no matter what she does, she can't seem to get him to pass the driving portion of her test and out of her hair for good. His over-eagerness certainly doesn't help, neither does continually landing her in jail either.
* AxCrazy: In "Demolition Doofus" when she becomes obsessed with attempting to get [=SpongeBob=] killed in a demolition match, and tries to kill him herself when that fails.
* BigEater: She's shown to have a big appetite. See ObsessedWithFood below.
* ButtMonkey: As a result of [=SpongeBob's=] antics, she's frequently injured or sent to jail.
* CommonalityConnection: When Squidward has to attend her classes, they bond over the fact that [=SpongeBob=] is the bane of both their existences.
* CoolOldLady: She is surprisingly active for an elderly teacher and even has an expansive criminal record.
* DarkAndTroubledPast:
** According to at least one [[TalkingToThemself monologue]], she has previously skipped town under a different name.
** Her husband was apparently [[spoiler: fished up out of the sea and made into a lamp.]]
* DecemberDecemberRomance: She and Mr. Krabs are close to being senior citizens and have each been married before, but that doesn't stop them from falling in love and continuing to date (for nearly two decades, as revealed in ''Whirly Brains'').
* DeadpanSnarker: [=SpongeBob=]'s annoyance and idiocy often causes Mrs. Puff to snide and make sarcastic remarks.
* {{Determinator}}: Amazingly, she has made it her goal never to give up on [=SpongeBob=], no matter how many times he fails.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: She falls victim to this in the episode "No Free Rides". Sick and tired of having to go through [=SpongeBob's=] [[DrivesLikeCrazy chaotic driving tests]], she comes up with a bogus extra credit test to just give him his driver's license and get him out of her classroom. It's only after she does so that it hits her that she has just given [=SpongeBob=] free reign to drive on public streets and wreak havoc there.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference:
** She has much more wrinkles in her first appearance.
** "Boating School" had her puff up a little whenever she inhaled. Now, she only puffs when she is surprised or injured.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first time we see her, she is at her school watching [=SpongeBob=] dance around and says "I'm not ready..."
* EvilCripple: In "Demolition Doofus", Mrs. Puff loses her ability to puff and develops the desire to kill [=SpongeBob=].
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: No matter how many times she tries to get rid of [=SpongeBob=] (or get him in trouble legally), [=SpongeBob=] will always come out on top, leaving her stuck with him, or at worst, end up in jail.
* FatAndProud: Her size is a trait of her species, so she's not insecure about it.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Mrs. Puff has blonde hair and is rather kind-hearted, [[JerkassToOne so long as your name isn't SpongeBob]].
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: A rare female example. She doesn't wear any underwear.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Compared to the already hostile and mean-tempered Squidward, Mrs. Puff is a docile and well-meaning character whose nerves have slowly been worn at by [=SpongeBob's=] behavior. Many episodes have shown her take increasingly desperate and sometimes unscrupulous measures just to finally get away from him. She's at her lowest point in "Demolition Doofus", where she's so furious at [=SpongeBob=] for accidentally puncturing her inflation sac that she outright tries to ''murder'' him.
* HeavyVoice: In her earliest appearances, she gets a deeper voice whenever she puffs up.
* IdiotBall: Despite being one of the few characters on the show with any common sense (aside from Squidward and Sandy), she holds this in "The Bully" when she fails to take action against an obvious bully who has joined her class and plans to harm one of her students, instead viewing him as a {{nice guy}}.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Sandy and Pearl in a few episodes, and also with [=SpongeBob=] in very early episodes, since she's considerably older than them.
* InterspeciesRomance: Her relationship with Mr. Krabs qualifies, since she's a blowfish and he's a crab.
* ItsAllMyFault: In early episodes, she thinks [=SpongeBob=]'s inability to drive is at least partially her fault.
* JerkassBall: She's usually always hostile toward [=SpongeBob=], but sometimes her grudge against him can go ''way'' too far, such as when she threatened to kick his butt at the end of "The Bully" [[MisplacedRetribution over something he didn't do]], and of course, [[AxCrazy going as far as trying to get him murdered]] in "Demolition Doofus". It's aggravated by the fact that she's supposed to be an authority figure.
* JerkassToOne: [=SpongeBob=] is typically the only person whom Mrs. Puff holds a grudge against. Aside from him, she's usually outgoing and friendly to everyone. Plus, it isn't hard to see why she's hostile toward him, considering the amount of times he has endangered her with his reckless driving and gotten her arrested.
* KnightOfCerebus: She briefly becomes one in the Season 8 episode "Demolition Doofus". She enters [=SpongeBob=] into a demolition derby and hopes that he dies (since his crazy driving previously caused her to puncture her inflation sac). She later tries to kill him herself by entering into the demolition derby using a massive monster truck. This episode is considered one of the darkest stories by many fans.
* MadeOfIron: Spongebob has caused this poor woman to get injured many times in fatal car crashes, but she seems to return to normal in a few episodes. It's only on "Demolition Doofus" that this trope was subverted with her losing her ability to puff and played straight at the end of the episode when she regains her ability to puff.
* MeaningfulName: Her name refers to both her species and her tendency to puff up like a ball.
* MisplacedRetribution: She is always blamed and put in jail for [=SpongeBob=]'s recklessness despite educating him right, [[KarmaHoudini with SpongeBob going completely scot-free every time]].
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: "Feral Friends" has her and Pearl become the first female characters shown naked on the show in the series' history. When she and Mr. Krabs return to normal two hours after being transformed into non-anthropomorphic sea life by Neptune's Moon, they bashfully giggle at seeing each other nude and promptly run off in embarrassment.
* NervousWreck: She's very neurotic, although it's usually justified.
* NeverBareheaded: Whenever she's not seen wearing her trademark sailor's cap, she usually wears hair curlers to bed.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She is around Mr. Krabs' age (early 70s) but has a dark side and commits many crimes.
* NeverMyFault: True, [=SpongeBob=] is the reason why she's so grouchy and getting constantly injured, but she forgets the fact that she's not obligated to keep [=SpongeBob=] as a student and she can simply expel him if she's tired of him failing her classes. While her suffering isn't her fault, she is unintentionally playing a role in prolonging it due to her never thinking of expelling [[=SpongeBob=]] from her boating school. It also helps that she mentioned that [=SpongeBob=] was the only student who has ever failed her boating school.
* NiceGirl: Mrs. Puff seems friendly to everybody. It's only [=SpongeBob=] who she can't seem to stand.
* NiceHat: Almost always wears a blue sailor cap.
* NoAccountingForTaste: Is in a committed 16-year relationship with Mr. Krabs.
* NonGivingUpSchoolGuy: She is relentlessly determined to continue teaching [=SpongeBob=].
* NonMammalianHair: She's a fish who has short blonde hair.
* NotSoDifferent: From Squidward. They both agree that [=SpongeBob=] is the bane of their existences.
* ObsessedWithFood: She loves pasta, chocolate cake, and Krabby Patties. Her love of food seemed to be a running gag in early episodes.
* OfficialCouple: With Mr. Krabs. As of "Whirly Brains," they have been dating for sixteen years in canon. However, this is shockingly debunked in prior episodes (e.g. "Growth Spout", "Summer Job"), where she doesn't even seen to ''recognize'' him. [[NegativeContinuity This being]] ''[=SpongeBob=]'', continuity errors are natural, and their relationship seems to be consistent from the former episode onwards, courtesy of the series becoming more continuity-driven.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Like Mr. Krabs, she looks a bit younger than her true age, although she ''does'' have wrinkles on her face in up-close shots.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In the infamous "Demolition Doofus", she is driven insane after one of [=SpongeBob's=] accidents causes her to deflate. She actually tries to get [=SpongeBob=] killed in a demolition derby. Thankfully, she was turned back to normal at the end.
* OnlyOneName: She is only ever called "Mrs. Puff" in the series proper. Merchandise such as books and the video game ''Yellow Avenger'' state that her first name is Poppy.
* OnlySaneWoman: She often fills the role of being the only reasonable person when an episode only stars her and [=SpongeBob=].
* ParentalSubstitute: She tries her best to be motherly with [=SpongeBob=].
* PersonAsVerb: "Puff" has been used as an adjective by other characters when talking about her. It's not very clear whether or not it's referring to her name, the actual verb, or both.
* PrinciplesZealot: Mrs. Puff refuses to go against her principles regarding her Boating School, despite the fact that she gets hospitalized for having to put up with [=SpongeBob=]'s bad driving. She could either make an exception to her principles and just expel him.
* RageBreakingPoint: [=SpongeBob=] possibly deflating her permanently in ''Demolition Doofus'' seemed to be this, [[FridgeBrilliance with her somewhat calming down at the end]] when she was able to puff again.
* RunningGag: Many episodes ended with her going to jail.
* SanitySlippage: She tends to go crazy from having to deal with [=SpongeBob=]'s antics.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: She is always a victim of [=SpongeBob's=] recklessness.
* SpeciesSurname: Her name is Mrs. Puff and she's a puffer-fish.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: She is often mistakenly called ''Ms.'' Puff by casual fans. Oddly, she has also been called "Mrs. Pearl" by more than a few.
* StepfordSmiler: It is implied on several occasions that her cheerfulness is just a facade to mask the pain she feels over having to deal with [=SpongeBob=] all the time.
* TemporarilyAVillain: In "No Free Rides" and "Demolition Doofus", she acts as an antagonist toward [=SpongeBob=] out of being sick of having to put up with him.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: She has visible eyelashes to certify her gender.
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: In "Demolition Doofus", she ruptures her inflation sac, with the doctor stating she'll never be able to puff again. Since StatusQuoIsGod, Mrs. Puff spontaneously regains her ability to puff at the end of the episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pearl Krabs]]
!!Pearl Krabs
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_pearl.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"As far as disasters go, that was really fun."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Lori Alan
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Irina Índigo, Yensi Rivero, Sofía Narváez
->'''German voice:''' Sabine Winterfeldt
->'''Debut:''' "Squeaky Boots"
Mr. Krabs' beloved teenage daughter, who is a huge sperm whale. Her brain is the largest in Bikini Bottom and she is gifted in math, but she is still young and immature. Her father hopes to pass his restaurant on to her when she grows up.
----
* {{Acrofatic}}: Justified. She's a whale, so of course she'd be agile for her size.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: In "Whale of a Birthday", Pearl spots a mini seahorse at the mall and expresses immense affection towards it.
* AmbiguouslyRelated: Her biological relationship to her father isn't mentioned. It's unknown if she's adopted or whether she takes after her MissingMom.
* AndCallHimGeorge: Being a GenkiGirl, she has a lethally affectionate attitude.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: DependingOnTheWriter, she tends to have a reputation among her peers as the social outcast.
* AnimalsNotToScale: She is a whale who's only twice the size of miniature creatures like starfish and crabs. Some international dubs justify this by claiming she is a ''baby'' whale, but she is 16 (mentally, at least).
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: On a frequent basis, she berates Mr. Krabs and whines whenever he doesn't let her have what she wants.
* ButtMonkey: She is often mistreated, neglected, and publicly embarrassed by her cheapskate asshole of a father, belittled and betrayed by her friends, and has suffered many breakups. On a side note, her height often makes her subject to klutziness.
* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: In "Bossy Boots", she goes to work for the Krusty Krab during her summer vacation, and makes multiple changes to the restaurant that effectively ruin her father's business. As it turns out, all the changes she made were because she was deliberately ''trying'' to get fired, but Krabs simply didn't have the heart to fire his own daughter. So [=SpongeBob=], who was sent to fire her anyway, "pretends" to fire her so she could go and enjoy her summer vacation.
* TheCheerleader: She regularly wears her cheerleading uniform even outside of school and is shown to be one in "Culture Shock", where it's the subject of her performance at the Krusty Krab talent show. When taking into account her height however, [[TheKlutz the results are drastic]].
* CoolBigSis: She's had more than a few mutually affectionate moments with [=SpongeBob=] and often plays the role as a sister figure to him, due to her being a typical teenage girl and him being a naïve and innocent {{manchild}}.
* CryingARiver: Pearl cries literal rivers on a regular basis. The Krabs house even has drain plugs on the floors to empty out her tears.
* CuteClumsyGirl: She's quite the GenkiGirl and qualifies as clumsy owing to her gigantic height.
* DaddysGirl: Her default status is Mr. Krabs' beloved teenage daughter whom he often babies in an attempt to discourage her conformity to [[TeensAreMonsters toxic stereotypes]]. She's becoming less true to this status as the series progresses, however, partly due to her father's overprotective and cheap nature.
* DamselInDistress: In "Dunces and Dragons", where Planktonamor kidnaps her and [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick have to rescue her.
* ADayInTheLimelight:
** While all of the prominent characters have times to shine every once in a while, "Mall Girl Pearl" is the only episode in which [=SpongeBob=] has no plot relevance whatsoever and plays no direct role in the outcome of the story. The episode exclusively focuses on Pearl as she tries to get a job at the mall, with [=SpongeBob=] appearing in two background cameos stalking Squidward and one more cameo at the end when he retrieves Beatrice's dropped hand. The last cameo is meant to reference how he wasn't part of the episode.
** "Whale Watching" centers on both Pearl and Squidward. On the night that Mr. Krabs likes to play poker, he hires Squidward, whom Krabs promised a [=SpongeBob=]-free shift, to look after Pearl, who was forbidden from going out that night to hang out with some kids, including a boy she had a crush on. Pearl manages to sneak out, and Squidward follows to where she beaches herself after she breached the surface. Seeing her in trouble, the other kids run away, leaving Squidward to rescue her. After they get home, [[ThrowTheDogABone they decide to have some fun]] [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave by siccing SpongeBob on the boy that left Pearl beached on the surface.]]
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In the first three seasons, she and [=SpongeBob=] have a very close bond. Some post-movie episodes disregard all of their previous interactions and don't portray Pearl as a friend to him. Of course, [=SpongeBob=] is always extremely nice to Pearl, regardless of the season. Despite his undying loyalty to Mr. Krabs, he is even friendlier to Pearl than he is to his boss. This is shown in episodes like "Whale of a Birthday" and "Barnacle Face" where [=SpongeBob=] takes Mr. Krabs' belongings to make Pearl happy.
** Her reputation. She ranges from being an AlphaBitch in a GirlPosse to TheFriendNobodyLikes. Due to the lack of recurring characters and continuity in general, she's also depicted with different friends per appearance.
** Her relationship with her father. She ranges from genuinely loving him and being on good terms, being displeased with him but still caring about him deep-down, or outright ''despising'' him and overpowering his authority. Since she's a stereotypical teenage girl, the variety isn't surprising. It also sort of depends on her father's part.
* DramaQueen: Pearl loves to cry over insignificant slights and is quite possibly the show's biggest drama magnet. Although, unlike [= SpongeBob=], who exhibits meltdowns over the most mundane of things like running out of ice, [[AgeAppropriateAngst Pearl's angsts are reasonable given her age range]].
* TheDreadedPretendTeaParty: When [=SpongeBob=] enters her dream in "Sleepy Time" and sees that she's having a fake tea party, he asks her how to get to Mr. Krabs' dream instead.
* {{Fangirl}}: She is a huge fan of "Mecha Baleen" and "The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy", according to the comic series and the ''[=SpongeBob=] Moves In!'' app respectively. She's also a huge fan of the boyband Boys Who Cry, whom she wanted so bad to perform at her 16th birthday party (they did).
* {{Flanderization}}: Her brattiness, bad luck, and disrespect for her father got worse by the post-movie seasons.
* FreudianExcuse: With the way Mr. Krabs treats her, you can understand her attitude.
* GenderEqualsBreed: Her father is a crab and her mother was a whale (according to the [[AllThereInTheManual official trivia book]]).
* GenkiGirl: Pearl is quite cheerful. She constantly shouts and eagerly bounces up and down when confronting Mr. Krabs about something she wants, for starters. The fact that she's a cheerleader tops it all off.
* GirlyGirl: She wears a [[PinkMeansFeminine pink dress]], is a huge fan of boy bands (especially Boys Who Cry), gossips a lot, likes hanging out at the mall with her girlfriends, and in general possesses a lot stereotypical ValleyGirl and PhoneaholicTeenager traits.
* GiveGeeksAChance: In "The Chaperone", her boyfriend was a nerdy little baitfish...although she [[InformedAttractiveness describes him as incredibly]] [[TallDarkAndHandsome "long, tan, and handsome"]].
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: In "Sleepy Time", she dreams about a tea party with stuffed animals.
* GonkyFemme: She is a huge girl with inhuman strength and a tendency to cause everything to shake whenever she is crying, jumping or dancing.
* GossipyHens: She gossips quite a lot with her friends.
* HiddenDepths: Her [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040812015604/http://www.nicksplat.com/Tvshows/Characters/Nicktoons/Spongebob_squarepants/pearl.html original character bio]] reveals that she has the biggest brain in Bikini Bottom and loves math.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Most of the neglect she receives from her cheapskate father is played for comedic effect.
* HugeSchoolgirl: Considering she's a whale among little animals like fish and squirrels.
* {{Hypocrite}}: She singles Mr. Krabs out for babying her in "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" when directing the commercial for Frozen Krabby Patties, but she has frequently addressed him as "Daddy", a trait typically associated with younger children.
* IGotBigger: The entire plot of "Growth Spurt" revolves around Pearl undergoing a growth spurt that not only causes her to outgrow her bed, but also endlessly demand food to fulfill her metabolic hunger. She regresses to her regular size by the end after she eats a Krabby Patty.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: There's often the implication that Pearl only behaves like an average teenage girl in a desperate attempt to fit in with the crowd.
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Quite a few episodes frame Pearl as this for [=SpongeBob=], in ways that are sometimes more blatant than any Spandy moments.
** "The Chaperone" is all about Pearl taking [=SpongeBob=] to prom, and the end—where they hold hands and almost kiss until Mr. Krabs scares them—seals the deal.
** "Bossy Boots" is a major moment as well, since Pearl hugs [=SpongeBob=] so hard he has to ask her to stop and later kisses him on the forehead.
** In the post-movie episode "Tunnel of Glove", the plot involves Pearl and [=SpongeBob=] going in a tunnel of love at Glove World, and it starts off with Pearl's fake friends calling [=SpongeBob=] her boyfriend. Even though this episode was made after the writers started disregarding Pearl and SB's friendship, the ending implies that Pearl ''does'' like [=SpongeBob=] but pretends not to when her friends are around.
** The solution to Pearl's growth spurt in "Growth Spout" is [=SpongeBob=] making her a special Krabby Patty ''with love''.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Many episodes focusing on her reputation portray her as a talentless hack who behaves like a rebellious teenage girl in a desperate attempt to fit in.
* InformedAbility: According to her official character bio, she's the smartest citizen in Bikini Bottom, but there has never been an episode focusing on her intelligence. There ''have'', however, been episodes like "Mall Girl Pearl" that imply she only acts like a regular teenager to fit in.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With [=SpongeBob=], who's an independent adult.
* IronicName: Pearls are known for being very small, but Pearl is huge.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Has this attitude in "Whale of a Birthday", even saying that everyone in the world has to pay attention to her on her birthday.
* JerkassBall: She holds this in episodes that showcase her as an AlphaBitch, specifically in the episode "The Slumber Party" when she and her friends make fun of a sponge girl who looks like [=SpongeBob=].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While she tries her best to fit in with her bratty peers, Pearl's "hip, cool" persona is merely a ruse and she wants to be friends with [=SpongeBob=]. This is most obvious in the early episode "Bossy Boots", where she tearfully confides in [=SpongeBob=] that her new position is too stressful and that she only accepted it to make her father happy- and she thanks [=SpongeBob=] with a hug ''and'' a kiss when he helps her quit.
* KiddieKid: Downplayed, as she acts and wants to be treated like a regular teenage girl more than anything, but she still has shades of this nonetheless, yet she'd never admit it to anyone. Mr. Krabs also views her as such.
** She typically addresses her father as "Daddy" rather than just "Dad" like most older kids.
** In "Sleepy Time", she has a dream of her throwing a tea party with stuffed animals.
** She seems to have a fondness for [[AllGirlsLikePonies sea-ponies]], as seen in "Whale of a Birthday".
* LargeHam: She has an overdramatic voice, which isn't surprising given her height.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: She plays quite a sisterly role to [=SpongeBob=] whenever she's not outright hating him.
* LikesOlderMen: Like most girls her age, she fantasizes over men who are at least ten years her senior, if not in the same age range as her.
* LovableAlphaBitch: Some episodes depict her as joining the GirlPosse to fit in and acting rather condescending to the less fortunate. When taking into account the unreasonable amount of neglect she receives at the hands of Mr. Krabs, she still remains sympathetic in that the very hand that feeds and shelters her is too cheap to satisfy her demands despite being rich.
* MissingMom: Her mother has never been revealed nor mentioned in the show. WordOfGod is that they're against revealing her identity and strive to keep it a secret throughout the show's run.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: "Feral Friends" has her and Mrs. Puff become the first female characters shown naked on the show in the series' history. After everyone returns to normal two hours after being turned into non-anthropomorphic sea creatures by Neptune's Moon, she is shocked to find herself naked in public and runs away in embarrassment while covering herself.
* NoIndoorVoice: All the time, but it's especially emphasized when Mr. Krabs riles her up.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: She's the only one with monocular vision: eyes on the sides of her head rather than in front.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: She's been sixteen years old for decades. Funnily enough, episodes like "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" and "Whirly Brains" make direct references to how many years have passed since the show started out. Pearl is the only character with a definite age, and it's stayed the same throughout all of these episodes, causing some continuity errors.
* OcularGushers: Due to her enormous height, she cries large puddles of tears, even flooding the Krusty Krab with them at one point.
* OddFriendship: PlayedWith in regards to [=SpongeBob=]. While their relationship [[ItMakesSenseInContext makes sense in context]] in that the latter is her father's employee, [=SpongeBob=] has been identified as an adult numerous times [[{{Manchild}} yet has the demeanor]] [[OlderThanTheyLook of a child]], while Pearl is a stereotypical teenage girl.
* ParentalTitleCharacterization: She's an affectionate, but somewhat bratty, DaddysGirl of a teenager. As a result, she still calls her dad "Daddy".
* PhoneaholicTeenager: She is frequently seen talking on her cellphone.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Her standard outfit is a pink and purple dress.
* TeensLoveShopping: Pearl and her girlfriends like to shop at the mall.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly BrattyTeenageDaughter to Sandy's karate chopping techno whiz Tomboy.
* TookALevelInJerkass: She becomes more spoiled and rude in later episodes.
* ValleyGirl: Borderline case of a girl who cares more about being stylish than anything else.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gary the Snail]]
!!Gerald Wilson Jr.
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_gary.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Meow."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Creator/TomKenny, Creator/KeithDavid (translator voice in "Chatterbox Gary")
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' José Manuel Vieira, Fernando Márquez
->'''German voice:''' Santiago Ziesmer [[note]] while Santiago Ziesmer voices Gary, some of Tom Kenny's lines were kept in some episodes. [[/note]]
->'''Debut:''' "Help Wanted"
[=SpongeBob=]'s pet snail, who meows like a cat.
----
* AffectionateNickname: He calls [=SpongeBob=] "[=PapaBob=]" in "Chatterbox Gary" when he gets a translator for his meows. [=SpongeBob=] also calls him "Gare Bear" quite often.
* AnimalJingoism: In "Pets or Pests", he develops a mutual hatred for a worm [=SpongeBob=] takes in, since worms in this show are the undersea equivalent of dogs.
* AscendedExtra: In the earlier episodes, he was just a SatelliteCharacter to [=SpongeBob=], before his role gradually increased and allowed him to develop a personality.
* BerserkButton: Do NOT check his undercarriage. You'll be lucky if he just gives you a warning by hissing at you.
* BigEater: He eats the entire year supply of snail food [=SpongeBob=] left for him in "What Ever Happened to [=SpongeBob=]?" as well as a lot of cookies in "Have You Seen This Snail?"
* ButtMonkey: He's abused mercilessly in a few episodes of the later seasons like "A Pal For Gary", "The Cent of Money" and "Pet Sitter Pat".
* CatsAreMean: Under the show's theory of snails existing as an underwater equivalent for cats. Subverted for the most part, though he has his occasional {{Jerkass}} moments like most of the cast: "Dumped" shows he can be a rather fickle bastard.
* CatsHateWater: Being the equivalent thereof, he's not a fan, even though [[WaterIsAir technically]] he ''lives'' underwater.
* CharacterDevelopment: Started off as a gag character whose sole purpose was to exhibit snails as an underwater equivalent to cats. Although his vocabulary is still limited to "meow", he arguably has much more of a personality nowadays than he did in the earlier seasons.
* ConnectedAllAlong: "Rule of Dumb" reveals he and Patrick are ''cousins''.
* DoesNotLikeSpam: ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' reveals that he hates mayonnaise.
* FurryConfusion: Although there are no anthropomorphic snails, snails wearing lip gloss, a hat, a bow, or some other accessory have been shown. Some snails can even ''talk'', although they remain unable to talk to anthropomorphic characters.
* HateAtFirstSight: Towards Squidward during their introduction together in "I Was A Teenage Gary." The feeling was mutual on Squidward’s behalf, since he’s allergic to snails and his initial reaction towards the former. Squidward not feeding him over the weekend [[NotHelpingYourCase probably didn't help]]...
* HatesBaths: As seen in "Gary Takes a Bath" and "Pet Sitter Pat", he doesn't like taking baths. This phobia is based on how felines are opposed to water.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He often seems smarter than his owner.
* IntellectualAnimal: In the episode "Sleepy Time", he is revealed to be quite intelligent through his dream self.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: [=SpongeBob=] and some of the other characters can understand Gary even though he only meows.
-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' [=SpongeBob=], what's wrong with you?
-->'''Gary:''' Meow!
-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' The Suds?!
* JerkassBall: In "Dumped", where he decides to stay with Patrick (who himself also grasps the Jerkass Ball in this episode) despite [=SpongeBob=] blatantly showing his depression over being separated from him. Subverted however, as he only interested in the cookie in Patrick's pocket.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gary comes across as gluttonous and can be occasionally selfish and uninterested in some of the things [=SpongeBob=] wants to do. However, he is a very gentle snail who loves [=SpongeBob=] very dearly.
* KillerRabbit: He's mostly a sweet snail, but he has his dark side; he rebels and leads a revolution with other snails and worms against a pet show in "Grooming Gary" due to [=SpongeBob=] abusing him just to score a win, and admits through a translator that he fantasizes about raining fiery vengeance down on those who've wronged him in "Chatterbox Gary".
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:"Rule of Dumb" reveals him and Patrick to be cousins.]]
* OddNameOut: His full name has nothing to do with his species, unlike most of the other characters.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He's never called by his real name, "Gerald".
* OnlySaneMan: Despite being a pet, Gary fills the role of the only reasonable and rational person the vast majority of the time.
* NearlyNormalAnimal: While he mostly functions as an ordinary pet, he does occasionally exhibit some human mannerisms or gestures, such as drinking from a glass, and he seems to think on a sapient level. His meows are intelligible to most who interact with him.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: He's a cute little snail.
* SecretTest: In the episode "Treats!" Gary pesters [=SpongeBob=] to get him a box of discontinued treats, and spends the episode in vain searching for the snacks. When [=SpongeBob=] takes Patrick's advice, and tells Gary "no" they will not keep searching, Gary goes to bed happy to know that [=SpongeBob=] learned to say "no."
* SilentSnarker: Often non-verbally expresses his disdain for his owner's idiocy.
* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: Despite all of them being sea creatures and all (except for some one-offs, Mermaid Man, and Barnacle Boy). Even if the [[TheUnintelligible audience will never be able to figure out what he's saying,]] [=SpongeBob's=] retorts to whatever he says show that he is rather snarky.
* TokenGoodTeammate: One of the few characters who is not a {{Jerkass}}, an antagonist, or a moron (although he can be fickle at times).
* UndyingLoyalty:
** If him rescuing [=SpongeBob=] from Puffy Fluffy after the sponge treated him like crap doesn't qualify for how unwilling he is to turn against [=SpongeBob=], ''nothing'' does.
** In "Suds", [=SpongeBob=] curtly dismisses Gary's insistence that he stay home from work. Despite this, Gary seemingly follows [=SpongeBob=] to work just to tell his boss that he's ill.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: While not a weapon, his status as a bottom feeder allows him to easily clean up an infectious fungus which would otherwise make the infected [[BodyHorror disgustingly sick]].
[[/folder]]
----
[[center:[-[[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePants Main Character Index]] | '''Main Characters''' | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants [=SpongeBob SquarePants=]]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar Patrick Star]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSquidwardTentacles Squidward Tentacles]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Mr. Krabs]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsRecurringCharacters Recurring Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMinorCharacters Minor Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMovieCharacters Movie Characters]] | [[Characters/SpongebobSquarepantsVideoGameCharacters Video Game Characters]] ]]-]
----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_main_characters_sheet.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An original model sheet for the main characters. [[note]]Plankton and Karen weren't promoted to the main cast until 2004.[[/note]]]]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:[=SpongeBob SquarePants=]]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Patrick Star]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Squidward Tentacles]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSquidwardTentacles here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mr. Krabs]]
For tropes related to him, see [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sheldon Plankton]]
!!Sheldon J. Plankton
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_plankton.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Hand over the secret Krabby Patty formula!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Doug Lawrence
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Óscar Zuloaga, Luis Miguel Pérez
->'''German voice:''' Thomas Petruo (Seasons 1 - 11, until his death in 2018) Sebastian Christoph Jacob (Season 11 - Present)
->'''Debut:''' "Plankton!"
A tiny planktonic copepod with a Napoleon complex. With the help of his computer Karen, he runs the failing Chum Bucket restaurant across the street from the Krusty Krab. He is always after the secret Krabby Patty formula and dreams of running the Krusty Krab out of business.
----
* AbusiveParents: Towards his and Karen's son Chip in "Karen's Baby". As Plankton never wanted a baby, he spends most of the episode going out of his way to avoid showing any affection towards Chip, including showing up his baby form's attempts to walk, refusing to help him stop crying and eventually outright telling his teenage form to run away. It takes Karen threatening to throw Plankton out if he can't find his son and said son's first word being "father" before Plankton finally accepts him as his son.
* AffablyEvil: He is no less pleasant than his rival can be anyway. This is best exemplified in the end of "Wishing You Well": Plankton, having been granted his wish to be taller, now towers over everybody and could smash the Krusty Krab if he felt like it. Instead, he jovially greets [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs before rampaging through the city, leaving them and the Krusty Krab completely unscathed.
* ArchEnemy: He is the main foe of Krabs, and sometimes [=SpongeBob=].
* AssholeVictim: He always meets his own end for trying to steal the formula, and needless to say, he's such a totally deserving victim. The only time his abuse was pitiful was in "One Coarse Meal", in which he becomes DrivenToSuicide.
* AxCrazy: Became one in [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie the first movie]]. He is much more deranged, sadistic, depraved and homicidal than usual.
* BadassBookworm: He is shown to be a technological genius, capable of creating complex machines and powerful robots, as well as plotting various very elaborate, and nearly successful evil schemes.
* BadBoss: Plankton sometimes uses Karen as a guinea pig for his experiments.
* BigBad: The primary antagonist of both the series and TheMovie, although Karen is the one giving him his plans in the film and most episodes.
* BigBadWannabe: Usually, however, he's too incompetent to pull off a successful EvilPlan.
* BodySnatcher: A few of his plans involve mentally or physically enslaving someone with or without them being aware of the situation.
* BreakoutVillain: Plankton was originally meant to be a minor character, as Stephen Hillenburg was initially unsure how to use the character beyond his debut episode. According to Mr. Lawrence [[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/138093814/ here]], Plankton "was only supposed to be in one or two episodes, but I was a writer on the show and I really liked this character." Lawrence wrote many plot outlines involving Plankton and Karen to prove that they could survive as more than one-offs, eventually turning the Planktons into the series villains.
* ButtMonkey: Just how many times has he been stepped on and thrown?
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Not just with his evil plans:
** A rather discomforting example would be "One Coarse Meal", where Plankton is punished for trying to exact justifiable revenge on Mr. Krabs, who in turn got off scot-free after tormenting Plankton non-stop for several days, to the extent that Plankton was nearly DrivenToSuicide.
** Plankton does ''[[SubvertedTrope partially]]'' get away in "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy". After yet another failed attempt to steal a Krabby Patty, he is locked in a jar of spicy mustard. Then the police show up and - instead of arresting Plankton for stealing Sandy's pelt - they arrest SANDY for public nudity.
* CardboardPrison: Plankton has been to prison a lot. However, no matter how many times Plankton is put in prison, Plankton will always end up out of prison the next episode he appears. Granted, he is small enough to escape through the bars after all, but even ''tiny'' prisons aren't going to be enough for him.
* CardCarryingVillain: He likes to talk about how evil he is.
* CatchPhrase:
** ''"I went to college!"''
** "[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction Ouch]]."
** "Yes! '''YES!'''"
** "I win! I WIN!"
* {{Cephalothorax}}: His entire body is his face, just like [=SpongeBob=]. However, other plankton on the show are drawn like this, so this feat isn't exclusive to him.
* TheChessmaster: In TheMovie, he manipulates everyone to get the secret formula and to ensure Mr. Krabs' demise.
* TheChewToy: Most of the forms of LaserGuidedKarma he receives are meant to be amusing. The only time his abuse ''wasn't'' PlayedForLaughs was in "One Coarse Meal".
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Although the Chum Bucket could hardly be considered a corporation, he ''is'' an evil man bent on world domination in addition to trying to put his rival Mr. Krabs out of business.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: In TheMovie, proves to be way more competent than before.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: TropeCodifier. He's clearly a brilliant inventor, with a ''huge'' cache of futuristic technology as his disposal, but it apparently never occurs to him to do something with his life other than [[TheRival running a rival restaurant to the Krusty Krab]]. Even then, he's apparently never considered that [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat there are ways of running a profitable restaurant that don't require stealing your rival's recipes]].
** Though the main reason he keeps trying to steal the Krabby Patty recipe, is not so much because he hates Mr. Krabs, but because he himself [[LethalChef couldn't cook to save his life]] so he tries to latch on to Krabs's success.
** Also note that either way, Krabs is a ruthless competitor. There are in fact times Plankton ''has'' tried to make legitimate profits. Krabs still tries to ruin them and steal his customers, since either way he is his business rival and ''right next door to him'' at that. At times Krabs becomes so greedy and petty in bullying away profit that it seems this trope is there just to ensure he can still look like the good guy against Plankton.
* {{Cyclops}}: {{Justified|Trope}}, he's a plankton and many plankton have just one eye.
* DeadpanSnarker: Though not nearly as profound an example, he can dish sarcasm and witty retorts back to Karen at times.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** How evil he is tends to vary from episode to episode. He's almost always a villainous character, but his antics are frequently overshadowed by [[TookALevelInJerkass Mr. Krabs]] later on. In some episodes, especially more recent ones, he's little more than the local grouch, much like Squidward.
** How much he cares about Karen, if at all. Sometimes he genuinely cares about her and sometimes he has no problem expressing his contempt toward her.
* {{Determinator}}: He won't stop no matter what gets in the way of his plans to get the secret formula. Much much more so in earlier episodes, but there are some later episodes in which he's given up.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: A key reason why his {{Evil Plan}}s almost constantly fail: Plankton repeatedly overlooks glaring flaws in his schemes and doesn't notice until it's too late for him to do anything about it. For example, in "Plankton's Army", a robot made to look like a customer enters the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs, smelling an obvious trap, takes Squidward's place at the register. To his astonishment, the robot just asks for coral bits and even pays him money after it's given its order. Suddenly, Plankton, who was hiding ''inside'' the dollar bill, pops out and gloatingly orders Krabs to hand him the secret formula. When Krabs responds, "Or what?", Plankton admits he never really thought the plan would get this far; Krabs responds by [[FunWithFlushing flushing Plankton down the toilet]].
* DitzyGenius: He may be a scientist and have all sorts of gadgets, but is incompetent overall. For example, he believes that baby powder is made from actual babies in "Goo Goo Gas", and in "Komputer Overload", he has to be reminded to blink.
* TheDogBitesBack: In "One Coarse Meal", when he nearly kills himself after being frightened by Mr. Krabs in disguise as Pearl from his fear of whales for 17 straight days, he finds out about Mr. Krabs's fear of mimes and starts scaring him with that. It doesn't last long, though.
* ADogNamedDog: His nickname serves as this. He's a plankton addressed as Plankton.
* DrivenToSuicide: Almost deliberately got himself killed in "One Coarse Meal".
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Karen had a ''really'' good time with this one. Once she learned her husband's given name was Sheldon in "Plankton's Army", her laughter and habit of displaying his name on a screen behind his back grew incessant to the point that Plankton had to turn her off.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Like Squidward, he gets irritated when it comes to stupid people, particularly [=SpongeBob=].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His very first appearance depicts him attempting to steal a Krabby Patty, and then vowing revenge on Mr. Krabs when the attempt fails.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Actually his grandmama. He's shown to care for his grandmother in "Gramma's Secret Recipe", though that doesn't stop him from stealing her wig and dentures to disguise himself.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** He truly loves and cares for Karen, but how he shows his love for her [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the episode]].
** Plankton has his pet amoeba, Spot, who happens to be one of the only characters he will show ''genuine'' affection for, no strings attached.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** In "The Krabby Kronicle", he doesn't invade people's privacy for a newspaper gossip and shows disgust at Krabs' greed. Quoted by him "And I thought '''I''' was evil!"
** In "Squirrel Record", Sandy comes to him asking for raw chum in order to break a world record. Plankton is actually reluctant to give it to her despite freely admitting to being an "evil, heartless mastermind", because, as he puts it, "no one can eat raw chum and survive!"
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He often has trouble understanding basic concepts of goodness, such as having fun. In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', not only does he struggle to understand the concept of teamwork, he can't even ''pronounce'' it properly ("Te-am work? Tie-am? Time bomb... work?"). He also believes that [=SpongeBob=] helping him is really a front for a plot to steal the formula for himself, and is shocked to learn he really doesn't know it.
* EvilCounterpart: To Mr. Krabs, at least in earlier seasons, since they both own rival fast food businesses and he behaved more like a supervillain than a mere unscrupulous businessman.
* EvilFormerFriend: To Mr. Krabs. It was the Krabby Patty Formula that caused them to become {{Arch Enem|y}}ies with each other.
* EvilGenius: He is shown to be a technological genius, capable of creating complex machines and powerful robots, as well as plotting various elaborate, and nearly successful evil schemes.
* EvilIsHammy: Despite his small size, he's hammy as hell.
* EvilLaugh: He laughs evilly quite a lot.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He's a villain with a deep voice. Downplayed later on the show.
* {{Expy}}: He has a lot in common with [[Film/GoodBurger Kurt Bozwell]], another Nickelodeon fast food villain.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: With an exception in "Wishing You Well", where his wish to be taller comes true, his schemes to get what he desires never work.
* ForTheEvulz: As he freely admits in "F.U.N.", "being evil is too much fun."
* FriendlyEnemy: [=SpongeBob=] on many occasions tries to befriend or show pity on Plankton, with varying success.
* GiftedlyBad: He's determined to destroy Mr. Krabs with his rival restaurant at the Chum Bucket, trying to market chum-related products to his customers even as he's trying to acquire the Krabby Patty formula. It has been shown that the food Plankton offers is simply ''unfit for consumption'', driving away anyone who isn't already scared away by his cruelty. Plankton tries numerous ways to convince his customers his food is just as good as that of the Krusty Krab, but it usually only sickens whoever works up the nerve to try it.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: He's guilty of taking credit for ideas other people come up with when he finds them pleasing, especially when he takes an idea Karen says to him.
* GreenAndMean: An evil, green copepod.
* GreenEyedMonster: He expresses his jealousy towards Mr. Krabs' success rate in the most diabolical ways possible.
* HairTriggerTemper: He tends to get ''really'' angry when he's enraged in earlier episodes, he's calmed down a tad in later episodes.
* HenpeckedHusband: Has shades of being submissive around Karen.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Due to [[DidntThinkThisThrough his inability to think his schemes through]], said schemes always come back to bite him in the ass.
* IdiotBall: He varies from being on Sandy's level in terms of intelligence to being barely smarter than other characters.
* TheIgor: In "The Legend of Boo-kini Bottom", the Flying Dutchman ends up turning him into a deformed lackey who addresses him as "master".
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Plankton wants to have the same level of success as his archnemesis in the fast food industry, [[DisproportionateRetribution although the way he goes about it is repulsive, to say the least]].
* ImAHumanitarian: "The Krabby Kronicle", as ode to ''Film/SoylentGreen'', has Mr. Krabs force [=SpongeBob=] to write a news article claiming that Plankton makes his chum out of sentient fish.
* ImpossibleThief: In "F.U.N.", Mr. Krabs tempts a "reformed" Plankton with a Krabby Patty. Despite the fact that the patty is always visible and untouched on the table throughout the exchange, it somehow ends up replaced with a cardboard cutout, ''[[BehindTheBlack which Krabs should have seen from his angle, even when it was propped up.]]''
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: He tends to be a pitiable and unsuccessful villain in later seasons, but it varies, as sometimes he manages to be the clear cut villain. DependingOnTheWriter.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Plankton suffers serious insecurities based on his archnemesis' success. The episode "Friend or Foe" reveals [[WeUsedToBeFriends his dynamic with Mr. Krabs]] and explains that he became a villainous GreenEyedMonster over the latter's success as a business owner, while all Plankton could make was inedible chum.
* IronButtMonkey: He gets hurt a lot, but he usually walks out of it okay. Deconstructed though, as while he '''can''' take a lot, it's strongly hinted that he became so resilient because he '''HAD''' to due his status as a plankton.
* {{Jerkass}}: When he's the central villain of an episode, he'll be as mean as he is evil. In the episode "Plankton Gets the Boot," he falls into his analyzer, which describes him as "30% mean guy, 20% spiteful monster, 50% evil butt-head," and sums him up as "100% big jerk."
* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Walking Small". True, he may have been using [=SpongeBob=] as an UnwittingPawn at the time, but he nonetheless makes a valid point when he calls [=SpongeBob=] out on being an ExtremeDoormat.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first season episode "FUN", where his bonding with [=SpongeBob=] was just a ruse to get him to help him find the secret Krabby Patty formula. In episodes such as "Friend or Foe" and "Chum Caverns", when Mr. Krabs seems willing to let bygones be bygones, he always just takes advantage of the opportunity.
* JustJokingJustification: At the end of TheMovie, he attempts this, claiming that his mind-controlling everyone and turning Bikini Bottom into [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans the dystopic]] [[{{Egopolis}} Planktopolis]] was all a joke. Not one person buys it, and he's shipped off to prison, screaming that he'll destroy everyone.
-->'''Plankton''': Come on, I was just kidding. Come on, you guys knew that, didn't you? With the helmets and the big monuments...Wasn't that hilarious, everybody?
* KnightOfCerebus: In TheMovie, he's actually played [[NotSoHarmlessVillain seriously]]. Downplayed in the earlier episodes, where he was also played semi-seriously, but was still overall a comedic character.
* LargeHam: Particularly in earlier seasons, he has his moments of yelling at the top of his lungs and exhibiting NoIndoorVoice.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Many of Plankton's attempts to steal the formula prove to him that karma is a bitch.
* LastNameBasis: Though in his case, he prefers to go by his surname because he considers Sheldon an EmbarrassingFirstName. Unlike Mr. Krabs, he's simply called Plankton instead of Mr. Plankton (sans one episode where he sees what it's like if they switch places).
* LaughablyEvil: He's an EvilGenius who chews up the scenery.
* LegoGenetics: Happens to him at least twice:
** In "The Inside Job", when Karen's gadget allows Plankton to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe from [=SpongeBob's=] heart, he transforms into a Plankton shaped mini-[=SpongeBob=]. When he's extracted, the device attaches itself to Patrick, turning Plankton into a one eyed mini Patrick.
** In "Salsa Imbecilus", after its suggested that the only way Plankton can get a hold of the Secret recipe is if Mr. Krabs was dumb enough to be tricked into giving it up he comes up with the idea to mix some of Patrick's genes into a soup he would give to Mr. Krabs in order to infect him with Patrick's [[TooDumbToLive (lack of) intelligence]]. It goes wrong when [[HoistByHisOwnPetard after tasting the soup, Plankton becomes as dumb as Patrick,]] leaves the stove on, which causes the soup to evaporate and condense into a rain cloud, [[LethallyStupid which lowers the intellect of everyone in Bikini Bottom to the level of Patrick.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: InUniverse. He carries his gramophone to play his theme music, but only in his first appearance. It sometimes plays without the need of a gramophone.
* LethalChef: The reason why he doesn't have customers. Not only is he a terrible cook, "Plankton's Regular" shows that his chum is actually ''poisonous'' to eat.
* LikesOlderWomen: He is attracted to Mr. Krabs' mother in "Enemy In-Law", when he and Krabs are around the same age.
* LovableRogue: Plankton plots the most devilish of schemes to get the formula, showing no regard to the lives of his targets whatsoever, yet that hasn't stopped the audience from finding him entertaining for nearly two decades.
* MadScientist: Emphasis on mad. Quite a lot of his schemes involve using machines and concoctions that he created himself.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: He tended to react this way in the older episodes whenever his schemes backfired on him.
-->'''Plankton''': Ouch.
* ManipulativeBastard: It would take more than two hands to count the amount of times he's deceived [=SpongeBob=] and Mr. Krabs into thinking that he TookALevelInKindness just to get the formula.
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: Several episodes have him win, only for a last minute occurrence or revelation to render his victory pointless.
** In "Plankton's Army", with the help of his brethren, Plankton manages to get into the Krusty Krab safe and procure the Krabby Patty formula. As he reads the ingredients out loud, he discovers that the most important one is four pounds of freshly ground [[spoiler:plankton]], which causes Plankton and his family to run out of the Krusty Krab screaming in horror. [[spoiler:It's then revealed that what Plankton found wasn't even the real formula and that Mr. Krabs has the actual one in his home under his mattress]].
** In "Bucket Sweet Bucket", after tricking [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, and Squidward into fixing up the Chum Bucket, Plankton manages to get into the Krusty Krab safe and find the formula, [[spoiler:only for it not to be the formula, but a To Do list and that Mr. Krabs had the formula with him while he was on vacation]]. In addition, since [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick used the ''entire Krusty Krab'' to fix up the Chum Bucket, Plankton also lost his restaurant when Mr. Krabs pushes his back to its normal spot.
** In "For Here Or to Go", Plankton enters a contest at the Krusty Krab where the prize is a free Krabby Patty (and he brings in a contest official that makes Mr. Krabs allow Plankton to enter). Plankton manages to win and despite Krabs's attempts to prevent the patty from being made, Plankton gets his patty, but has to eat it on the premises. However, Plankton makes it back to the Chum Bucket and has the patty analyzed before it's digested, with him selling Krabby Patties the next day. [[spoiler: However, they taste awful, due to Karen having analyzed all the contents of Plankton's stomach, which in addition to the Krabby Patty also included things such as stomach acid and pills.]]
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: It is occasionally brought up that he doesn't wear clothes, like when he switches lives with Mr. Krabs in "The Algae's Always Greener" and is horrified to see that Krabs is naked since now he's the rival trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula from him. Plankton eventually explains in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' that he goes naked because they don't make clothes his size.
* TheNapoleon: Being constantly stepped on and flung around like a piece of trash will mess with a plankton's mind, man.
* NearVillainVictory: "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand" is the closest Plankton has ever gotten in the cartoon series, with Mr. Krabs completely willing to hand over the secret formula. In one episode, he already figured out every ingredient in a Krabby, save for one, which was the {{Macguffin}} of that episode. This also goes for any scheme that DOESN'T involve stealing the secret formula.
* NiceGuysFinishLast: Says this word-for-word in "Walking Small" when he tells [=SpongeBob=] that he's letting his niceness allow people to push him around.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Voice actor Doug Lawrence modeled his voice off of Creator/GregoryPeck and Creator/ThurlRavenscroft.
* NoIndoorVoice: Prone to speaking at the top of his lungs.
* NotMeThisTime: In "Patty Caper", he's naturally the first suspect when [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick try to find out who stole the key ingredient to the Krabby Patty formula. However, for once, it ''wasn't'' him.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Played with in that his only interest is stealing Krabs' secret formula. However depending on his overzeal, he is willing to brainwash, potentially murder and generally cause a lot of collateral damage in his attempts to do so. In other episodes that aired after the movie, he even settles for just [[VillainyFreeVillain competing with Krabs legitimately]]. When he falls into his Analyzer in his debut episode, it describes him as being made of "1% evil, 99% hot gas."
* TheNoseless: {{Justified|Trope}}, planktonic organisms do not have noses.
* OmnicidalManiac: He vows to be one in the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie''.
-->'''Plankton''': I will destroy all of you!
* OnlySaneMan: He's known to play this role whenever paired with [=SpongeBob=] and/or Patrick, as he has zero tolerance for their idiocy.
* PaperThinDisguise: He has so many of these, and only [=SpongeBob=] is fooled by them.
* PetTheDog:
** The episode "Plankton's Pet". He's genuinely nice to his pet amoeba Spot, feels guilty about having to punish him, and willingly works with [=SpongeBob=] to find him.
** "Mimic Madness" has an example: when [=SpongeBob=] gets infected with Mimicry Madness, Plankton is actually willing to work with Sandy, Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs to cure him, even to the point of (reluctantly) getting himself painted yellow to imitate the sponge.
** Even after his scheme to steal the formula is quickly thwarted, Plankton has no qualms about helping [=SpongeBob=]'s friends set up a birthday party for [=SpongeBob=] in "[=SpongeBob=]'s Big Birthday Blowout".
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: He's ostensibly a chef/restauranteur, but it's easy to forget this when his status as a CardCarryingVillain dominates his characterization, and when the Chum Bucket resembles a SupervillainLair more than it resembles an actual eatery. He seems to spend more time plotting Mr. Krabs' downfall (and occasionally trying to TakeOverTheWorld) than, y'know...cooking food and trying to attract customers.
* PsychopathicManchild: He's a diabolical, immoral {{jerkass}} who has exhibited homicidal tendencies, wants to TakeOverTheWorld, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk manipulates and deceives [=SpongeBob=] on a recurring basis]], and in general has little redeeming qualities. Despite this, he has a slight touch of innocence that makes him charming, as he's shown to enjoy [=SpongeBob=]'s childish activities in "F.U.N.", owns a cute pet amoeba which he wholeheartedly cares for, occasionally responds with childish insults, and is shown watching hamster videos in some episodes.
%%* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Krabs' red.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: {{Subverted|Trope}}; he has a red eye, but he's usually pretty harmless despite being the BigBad. [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie Usually harmless]].
* TheRival: He is rivals with Mr. Krabs.
* RunningGag: It's common for Plankton to be thrown out of the Krusty Krab to the Chum Bucket by Mr. Krabs.
* SecondaryColorNemesis: A green copepod with a yellow eye who happens to be Mr. Krabs' ArchEnemy and the BigBad of the series.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: He's undoubtedly the most popular (and only) example of plankton in fiction. Most specifically (and a bit of a GeniusBonus to boot), Plankton is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod Copepod]], a small crustacean with one eye.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Often uses strong vocabulary.
* SlasherSmile: He's particularly fond of these when one of his plans is actually working. [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/c/c7/Creep.jpg He lets off an especially terrifying one with fangs]] near the climax of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'' [[spoiler:when Neptune is about to kill Mr. Krabs]].
* SmugSnake: Sometimes shown to be egotistical and arrogant toward others.
* SpeciesSurname: His full name is Sheldon J. Plankton, and he's a planktonic copepod.
* SuperStrength: Shown in "Bucket Sweet Bucket", [[spoiler:where he crushes a nut with his teeth & punches the door off of a safe... from the inside,]] but normally subverted.
* SwappedRoles: In "The Algae's Always Greener", Plankton creates a device that allows him to go into an AlternateTimeline where he is the owner of the Krusty Krab. He decides to go back to his own timeline after he experiences firsthand the nonsense that Krabs has to go through everyday in order to keep the restaurant in business.
* TakeOverTheWorld: His secondary goal, DependingOnTheWriter, is to take over the world.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Gets a legitimately happy ending in both "Plankton's Pet" (where he gets a pet amoeba that he loves dearly) and "Wishing You Well" (where his wish to be taller comes true).
** May have finally gotten the formula according to the AmbiguousEnding in "Buried in Time." Specifically, after Plankton breaks into the time capsule to steal the Kraby Patty recipe, he accidentally swallows the bottle containing the scrap of paper. When we last see him, [[ToiletHumour he's sitting on the toilet, demanding Karen to tone down the sarcasm and give him some more prunes.]]
** He manages to get even with Krabs in "The Krusty Slammer."
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The tiny guy to Karen's huge girl, as he's obviously shorter than her.
* TookALevelInBadass: After a stint of VillainDecay, Plankton returned to his threatening and menacing self by Season 7 and became a much more competent villain. Particulary in the episodes "Frozen Face-Off", "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand", and "One Coarse Meal".
** In "Frozen Face-Off", he [[spoiler: [[KansasCityShuffle organized a race as a distraction just so he could steal the Krabby Patty formula without trouble]] and to throw off the suspicion he placed his [[ActuallyADoombot robot doppelgänger to participate in the race]] and it took the entire Krusty Krew plus Sandy and Karen to stop his EvilPlan]].
** In "[=SpongeBob=]'s Last Stand", he took over the town when he built a superhighway over the Krusty Krab that directly led to the Chum Bucket and drove away all the jellyfish from their fields. Almost all of Bikini Bottom's population supported him until the jellyfish attacked them in revenge for their home's destruction. It was so bad that Mr. Krabs was going to give him the secret formula ''willingly''. This and "Frozen Face-Off" are more dramatic and action-packed episodes of the series.
** Even in "One Coarse Meal", where he was DrivenToSuicide due to Krabs masquerading as Pearl and scaring him, Plankton was a very effective villain. He drops a powerful explosive the size of a TV remote on the Krusty Krab's roof; he is said to build a transmutator (a machine with the power to make an element in nature into another element, like iron into gold, fire into air, etc.); and a robotic bomb-shaped object that is actually a disguised, robotic, telescopic claw that can crush a sea creature. And at the end of the episode, Plankton uses [[spoiler:mimes to scare Mr. Krabs, who is very afraid of mimes, as the revenge for Mr. Krabs scaring him and driving him to suicide and from looks of it, Mr. Krabs' fear of mimes is bigger than Plankton's fear of whales, since Plankton managed to remain rational while being scared by whales, while Mr. Krabs was completely irrational]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: While Plankton was already something of a ManipulativeBastard and JerkWithAHeartOfJerk in the show's beginning, he became far more prone to committing crimes and attempting murder from the first movie onwards.
* TragicVillain: For some, he could be seen as a villain who deserves sympathy for the mishaps he went through that led to his path. It is known that as a child, he was bullied and his only friend was Mr. Krabs. Now he is evil and despises society, not only because of this, also for a dispute with Mr. Krabs for poisoning Old Man Jenkins.
* TrashOfTheTitans: The Chum Bucket is often incredibly filthy to the point of crawling with cobwebs. Krabs lampshades it:
-->'''Mr. Krabs''': Criminy, Plankton! You ever hear of spring cleaning?
* UsedToBeASweetKid: In addition to [[WeUsedToBeFriends having formerly been friends with Mr. Krabs]] back then, Plankton used to be an innocent little boy devoid of malice.
* TheUnfettered: DependingOnTheWriter, he's willing to stoop to a lot of lows and do a lot of heinous acts to get the Krabby Patty formula.
* UnknownRival: Sometimes, [[NiceGuy SpongeBob]] fails to acknowledge him as an enemy.
* VillainousBreakdown: He has one in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie''. After his helmets have been proven to be defeated by the PowerOfRock, he resorts to desperately begging Karen to do something about [=SpongeBob=]. However, she was being carried off by the crowd and was too far away to hear her husband. As one final act of desperation to keep his control over the townspeople, he tried to command the brainwashed King Neptune to kill [=SpongeBob=]. Unfortunately for him, the helmet on Neptune's head was also destroyed, and he was freed from his mind control. Plankton then tried to escape through the front doors, only to be paved down by the freed Bikini Bottomites. [[LaserGuidedKarma He's later arrested]], and he threatens to murder everyone once he gets out of prison.
* VillainCred: The episode "Jailbreak!" reveals that every other criminal in Bikini Bottom looks up to him; they outright describe him as "criminal royalty."
* VillainEpisode: "The Algae's Always Greener" (where he uses an invention to switch lives with Mr. Krabs just to see what his rival's life is like) and "Plankton's Army" (where he recruits his relatives to steal the secret formula) are a couple of good examples of episodes where Plankton is the main character.
* VillainProtagonist: He's evil, but he's only the main character in '''some''' episodes, showing his attempts to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
* VillainSong:
-->'''Plankton: ♪F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium... bombs! N is for no survivors, when you-♪''
* VillainsOutShopping: In different episodes, he's shown doing such activities as watching TV ("The Inside Job") and [[SmartPeoplePlayChess playing chess with Sandy]] ("Mimic Madness") when not plotting to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
* VocalDissonance: He has quite a deep, booming voice, in contrast to his minuscule size. Except in the Japanese dub, where he has a cutesy, high-pitched voice.
* VocalEvolution: Starting in the movie, he would develop a high-pitched scream.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: He and Krabs were once friends since they were babies, but turned against each other after Krabs created the Krabby Patty and became more successful.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He has an absolute fear of whales as shown in "One Coarse Meal", [[DrivenToSuicide to the point where the presence of them alone will drive him into a suicidal state]]. [[SeriesContinuityError He doesn't seem to mind them in other episodes]] (e.g. "Jailbreak!", "Married to Money"), however.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Fakes an injury to get the Krabby Patty Formula in "Krabs vs. Plankton".
* XanatosSpeedChess: He's been shown to be quite adept at this in TheMovie, where he quickly comes up with a last ditch scheme [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu to put a mind-control bucket on]] [[PhysicalGod King Neptune's]] head to kill Spongebob and Patrick.
-->'''Spongebob:''' Sorry to rain on your parade, Plankton.\\
'''Plankton:''' Oh, my parade will be quite dry under my '''''[[LastDitchMove UMBRELLA]]'''''!
* YankTheDogsChain: Happens to him an abundance of times, as anytime he gets his hands on the Krabby Patty formula, he'll eventually have it taken away from him in one way or another or realize how fatal it was. The most prominent example yet occurs in the first movie, in which [[spoiler: Plankton finally obtains the formula, attracts business, and takes over the world to drive it home...until [=SpongeBob=] frees all the citizens from his mind-control helmets and Plankton serves a life sentence for his terror.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Plankton tries to marry Mr. Krabs' mother in "Enemy In-Law"...while still married to his computer wife. Luckily for the latter, his plan is ultimately foiled.
* YourSizeMayVary: We all know that Plankton is small, but ''how'' small he is has a tendency to vary, ranging anywhere from a few inches tall to borderline microscopic. This is especially the case in his debut episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Karen Plankton]]
!!Karen Plankton
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_karen.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Today is the perfect day to steal the recipe!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Jill Talley
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Melanie Henríquez, Sofía Narváez
->'''German voice:''' Susanne Herrmann
->'''Debut:''' "Plankton!"
A waterproof supercomputer who runs the Chum Bucket alongside her husband Plankton. She is always giving him new evil plans to steal the Krabby Patty formula, but their efforts never succeed. Karen is Plankton's own invention, and her software is built into most of his machines.
----
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Sometimes laughs with the good guys against Plankton.
* AllThereInTheScript: Her name wasn't mentioned at all in the "Plankton!" episode, but it was listed in the credits.
* ArmlessBiped: In the movie and most episodes from season 5-9, her mobile form does not have arms. From season 10 onwards, however, her mobile form always has them.
* BeleagueredAssistant: She mostly averts this as she is generally the dominant one in the relationship.
* BerserkButton: She has one in "Plankton Gets The Boot". Don't insult Karen's new screensaver or saying it makes her processor look fat. Plankton learned that the hard way, twice.
* BigBadEnsemble: She and Plankton tend to be the main villains of the show.
* BreakoutVillain: As mentioned above, Mr. Lawrence was responsible for turning the Planktons from one-off characters into the main villains.
* CharacterDevelopment: She shows no signs of sentience in "Plankton!" but gains her personality in "F.U.N." However, she did always have a Midwestern accent, as mentioned in JustAStupidAccent below.
* CutenessProximity: She gets so excited over how adorable Spot's puppies are in "Spot Returns" that she shuts down and spends several hours needing to be rebooted. When she comes back online and discovers even more puppies, she's even happier.
* DeadpanSnarker: In the post-movie episodes, she snarks at Plankton all the time.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: She was only seen in wall form until the first movie and season 4.
* EquippableAlly: She is equippable with lasers, screensavers, and various software.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Her sentience and, to a lesser but still noticeable extent, her DeadpanSnarker mannerisms. In the first season, she was always supportive of Plankton and focused on the mission. In the first movie, she became deadpan almost all of the time. While she has mostly reverted to her more cheerful demeanor as of season 9, she still shows signs of getting fed up with Plankton's ignorance at times.
** One aspect of her personality that was completely phased out was her unquestioning servitude to Plankton. She always helps with his plans and gives them to him in most cases, but she no longer does whatever he says when he demands it.
** An example of her unquestioning servitude can be seen in the Season 3 episode "The Algae's Always Greener". Plankton orders Karen to make him some dinner, so she gives him holographic meatloaf while saying—in a completely serious, non-sarcastic manner—"Yes, your majesty."
* HyperCompetentSideKick: She successfully stole a Krabby Patty the first time she tried alone, with near zero effort (then again, it was against Squidward).
* InterspeciesRomance: If a computer counts as a species, her and Plankton counts as a relationship between people of different species.
* JustAStupidAccent: Had a very obvious Chicago accent even [[CharacterizationMarchesOn before she had a personality]].
* LackOfEmpathy: She even says to [=SpongeBob=] that she cannot feel for others because she physically does not have a heart.
* MamaBear: Is extremely protective of her son, Chip, to the point of destroying an arcade machine just to stop him from being harmed by the in-game enemies and outright ''forcing'' Plankton to search for him after the latter drives him away.
* NonIndicativeName: Her full name is Karen Plankton, but she's a computer, not a plankton.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Karen is the only one who is regularly drawn with wavy-lined borders instead of clean lines. This is because backgrounds and items in the show are normally drawn with wavy borders while characters aren't.
* OnlySaneWoman: Typically one to call Plankton out on his obsessive schemes, more so currently.
* PetTheDog: She is a computer but nevertheless has a very strong love for Plankton deep down.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Played with. She supposedly has no heart but still feels a wide range of emotions. However, she still has some limitations such as being unable to eat (though she is turned into a Krabby Patty zombie in "Krabby Patty Creature Feature" when she is force-fed bits of the Krabby Patty zombies by having them stuffed into her disc drive).
* RoboticSpouse: Yes and no. Yes, Karen is a robot and she married her creator. But no, Plankton did ''not'' create her just to marry her. She was originally just the security system for the business he and Mr. Krabs ran together, before they began dating naturally. Their romance even began before Plankton became evil, and Karen was so faithful to him that she became evil as well.
* SatelliteCharacter: She usually only interacts with Plankton and whoever else comes into the Chum Bucket. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], seeing as she's a mostly immobile computer who was permanently stationed in the Chum Bucket for the first four seasons.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Averted, since she wasn't written as Plankton's wife until Season 3 and is actually a formidable villain rather than just a love interest, having come up with almost all of Plankton's schemes herself.
* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: She plays crucial roles in both movies (authoring and telling Plankton about "Plan Z" in the first, powering the time machine in the second) but did not have much screen time in the trailers for them. However, she ''was'' featured in the associated merchandise, such as the Mega Bloks time machine playset for the 2015 movie.
* SnarkyInanimateObject: She's a robot and is pretty snarky in the later episodes.
* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: She's a robot who aids Plankton in his plans and is prone to making snide remarks toward him.
* TalkingWeapon: She has robotic abilities like lasers and death rays that make her a talking, walking weapon sometimes.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The huge girl to Plankton's tiny guy, since she's a large computer and he's a tiny crustacean.
* TookALevelInCynic: She inexplicably becomes far more cold-hearted than usual in the first movie.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Named after Stephen Hillenburg's wife.
* TVHeadRobot: The head of her mobile unit looks a lot like a CRT television.
* WomenAreWiser: She is much more clever and competent than her husband Plankton.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sandy Cheeks]]
!!Sandra Jennifer Cheeks
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_sandy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Don't you dare take the name of Texas in vain!"'']]
->'''English voice:''' Carolyn Lawrence
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Mercedes Prato, Anabella Silva, Yaraivi Acevedo, Lileana Chacón
->'''German voice:''' Cathlen Gawlich
->'''Debut:''' "Tea at the Treedome"
An athletic, thrill-seeking squirrel from Texas who loves her home state. She works as a scientist and lives in an underwater dome full of air. She usually wears a bubble-helmet diving suit when she is outside of her home.
----
* AcademicAthlete: She qualifies even if the show is not set in a school. She's probably the most academically inclined character with a vast knowledge of science, and also a PassionateSportsGirl who excels at karate.
* ActionGirl: Much more so in earlier episodes, though it still shows through every now and then. It's often shown that she's very strong, occasionally so much that she easily defeats [=SpongeBob=], as tough as he is to damage, in Kung-Fu battles.
* {{Adorkable}}: Like her friend [=SpongeBob=], she's cute and eccentric. Not to mention extremely nerdy, which causes [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick to often scratch their heads in confusion whenever she talks science.
* AnimalsNotToScale: She's rather small for a squirrel. In ''Sponge Out of Water'', she's smaller than a human's foot.
* AxCrazy: If her hibernation is interrupted, she turns into a rabid, feral beast.
* BadassAdorable: An extraordinarily strong and intelligent female squirrel who manages to live underwater. Does more need to be said?
* BadassBookworm: She is extremely intelligent and often shown to be extraordinarily strong. Also likes life-threatening stunts.
* BareFistedMonk: She's a master of Karate, and it's part of how she and Spongebob initially bonded.
* BareYourMidriff: When she's not wearing her suit filled with oxygen, she wears a purple bikini top and green panties with a purple skirt, leaving her midsection exposed.
* BerserkButton: Never ever insult anything/anyone from Texas, or even the state itself. You will regret it, as [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick faced the serious consequences.
* BigSisterInstinct: She's frequently portrayed as immediately defending [=SpongeBob=] from terror.
* BreakTheHaughty: Suffers it in "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm". She goes to take out the Alaskan Bullworm for the sake of the town, and adamantly refuses to listen to [=SpongeBob=]'s warnings about how big and monstrous the thing is, convinced she's "too Texas-tough" and can easily handle the worm. In the end, she comes across the worm in a cave and apparently beats it...only to discover that [[ThatsNoMoon what she fought was actually the worm's tongue]], and the Bikini Bottomites were ''not'' exaggerating over how big and monstrous it is; all of her bravado fades in an instant.
* BrokenAce: She tends to be competent and highly skilled at everything she does. However, she suffers a light case of this in some episodes, due to her very competitive attitude. She takes the idea of [[ATasteOfDefeat not being the best at something]] rather badly.
* BullyingADragon: Combined with BreakTheHaughty. Despite the Bikini Bottomites and [=SpongeBob=]'s constant warnings about how big and monstrous the Alaskan Bull Worm was, Sandy refuses to take them seriously. This bites her in the butt when she finds out that the "worm" she was fighting was actually it's ''tongue.'' Sandy then realized that she was ''seriously'' outclassed and runs for her life.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Her scientific nature wasn't shown as much in the pre-movie era. It wasn't until Season 4 that her inventor personality was established.
* ChasteToons: "Sandy's Nutty Nieces" reveals she has three nieces.
* CompetitionFreak: Sandy is used to being the best at multiple talents and sports, so gets rather aggressive with when challenged.
* CoolBigSis: Her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] can be rather brotherly-sister in that the former looks up to her and they get into conflicts often but always come out clean.
* CuteBruiser: She is clearly one of Bikini Bottom's strongest residents, if not the strongest. She occasionally challenges massive, heavily muscled beachgoers to weightlifting challenges.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has become quite a bit of one in the later episodes, particularly in "Planet of the Jellyfish" and "It's a [=SpongeBob=] Christmas!"
* DemotedToExtra: Sandy appeared significantly less from Season 3 onwards, being more of a recurring supporting character than the main character she was originally billed as. Later seasons have attempted to avert this, with seasons 8, 9 and 11 in particular giving her plenty of [[ADayInTheLimelight focus episodes]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the first season, her tail wasn't outside her suit, and the patch on her suit was three black dots instead of her signature acorn.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Not to the extent of Squidward, but she quite expresses her annoyance towards people's stupidity, particularly when it regards Patrick on occasions like in "I Had An Accident" for instance.
-->'''Sandy:''' (to Patrick) Don't you have to go be stupid somewhere else?
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first time Sandy is seen on-screen, she's shown fighting a giant clam, ultimately cementing her strength and masculinity.
* EverythingIsBigInTexas: She's the size of a flea compared to the Texas landscape.
* FishOutOfWater: Played straight, though she's actually a squirrel IN water. Her troubles fitting in with an underwater society aren't as apparent in the later episodes, though.
* {{Foil}}: To [=SpongeBob=]. While both of them are {{Adorkable}}, energetic and eccentric {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s who like karate, their personalities differ in that:
** [=SpongeBob=] is a naïve and kooky [[TheDitz Ditz]] who's childish, pestering, wimpy, cowardly, and generally ignorant in all but a few topic areas,
** Sandy is a mature, tough, bold, and intelligent individual who more often than not plays the OnlySaneWoman role.
* {{Flanderization}}: Originally portrayed as TheAce in various activities, post-movie episodes have increasingly focused on her being a scientist, pretty much shunning anything else she was passionate about.
* FlatCharacter: Became lacking in characterization in the post-movie seasons, as more focus was given on her intelligence and competence in fields dealing with science.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Choleric (shares this with Mr. Krabs). She's task-oriented and likes a challenge.
* ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: Any time the writers remember her Texan background or her other talents besides science.
* GadgeteerGenius: She built tons of nifty gadgets.
* GeniusBruiser: She's athletic, tough, and loves karate, while also being an extremely smart scientist.
* GenkiGirl: She can be excitable and cheerful when she wants to have a good time.
* HairTriggerTemper: Usually level headed, but being a HotBlooded Texan, she is rarely subtle when her temper flares.
* IdiotBall:
** Holds this in "Prehibernation Week", where she takes [=SpongeBob=] along with her to perform extreme stunts with little regard to his deteriorating health. This doubles as JerkassBall.
** She invokes this on herself in "Squirrel Jokes" in retaliation against [=SpongeBob=]'s bigoted humor about her species, showing him how toxic it would be to have a friend who's TooDumbToLive.
* InsufferableGenius: Sometimes can be insufferably boastful about her intellect, especially in later seasons.
* {{Invisibility}}: She can turn invisible as Miss Appear in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V".
* JerkassBall: In spite of her overall kindness, she can be quite an InsufferableGenius and egotistical jerk at times, and occasionally forces the others to do excruciating activities with her when it dangerously affects their health.
** In "Prehibernation Week", she forces [=SpongeBob=] along with her in her extreme sports activities, which clearly have an adverse affect on his health, not that Sandy seems to care.
** In "Kenny the Cat", she exposes the eponymous character as a fraud in front of his fans and forcefully kicks him to the top of the ocean's surface despite him having done nothing to provoke her.
* JustFriends: In spite of the ShipTease, her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] seems to be platonic for the most part.
* LethallyStupid: In "Prehibernation Week", and only that episode. She forces [=SpongeBob=] to take part in a series of life-threatening sports and seems oblivious to his despair even as he screams and cries. After [=SpongeBob=] decides to hide from her, she rallies the entire city to search for him, ordering them to repeatedly venture into dangerous places and refusing to let any of them sleep.
* LightningBruiser: She's very strong (as mentioned above in CuteBruiser), tough (goes through very hard physical training, such as looking for a ''SINGLE STRAND OF HAY in a HUGE PILE OF METAL NEEDLES'' without getting hurt or tiring out) and is also very agile (especially considering she is wearing a heavy suit and is reasonably fast even while under water pressure).
* LikeBrotherAndSister: While there has been some romantic connotations in their friendship, she and [=SpongeBob=] have a brotherly-sister relationship, enjoying each other's company and performing karate together, albeit not without having their squabbles.
* MadeOfIron: Thanks to SuperStrength, Sandy has survived many fatal accidents and near-death experiences in ways that [[TooDumbToLive SpongeBob]] wouldn't.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Masculine Girl to [=SpongeBob's=] Feminine Boy. Sandy is characteristically tough in that she has survived the most fatal obstacles, practices extreme sports, fought a giant clam by which she was nearly eaten, and is proficient in hardware; [=SpongeBob=] is a wimpy [[LovableCoward coward]] who's InTouchWithHisFeminineSide, [[ExtremeDoormat unable to stand up for himself]], [[DudeLooksLikeALady sports a very girly appearance]], and has cross-dressed on a few occasions.
* MsViceGirl: She is a scientific genius, physically robust to superhuman levels and thoroughly optimistic and friendly on top of that. However, perhaps because of her many strengths and talents, she often displays an ego problem, which can lead her to be very aggressive and competitive when someone challenges her.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: PlayedWith in that the art style doesn't depict her as being muscular, but a few close-ups and occasional flexes do indeed show her with muscles, even being able to grow them by force (most notably in "[=Karate Island=]", but also in "[=MuscleBob BuffPants=]", "[=Christmas Who?=]", and "[=Whelk Attack=]").
* NiceGirl: Sandy's a happy and friendly squirrel.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: A sea-dwelling squirrel that dresses like an astronaut to cope with the environment, Sandy's love of [[GeniusBruiser science and karate]] is surpassed only by her love of her home state of Texas.
* NobleBigot: In "Pressure", she repeatedly bragged that land creatures are better than sea creatures, with [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs thinking the opposite. However, after their attempts at proving it put both sides in mortal danger, they grow out of it.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Sometimes, her sciencey-mind can make her do some things that push her into MadScientist territory.
* OcularGushers: In "Texas", her longing for her eponymous hometown causes her to cry an abundance of tears in her helmet, so much to the point where there's a flusher installed in it to drain them.
* OddFriendship:
** Her friendship with [=SpongeBob=] could qualify, as while both of them like karate, Sandy is far more intelligent and mature than the [[TheDitz dizty]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} goofball]] sponge, thus their relationship seems to be more brotherly-sister than genuine.
** Same goes for her friendship with Patrick, although they rarely interact one-on-one and Patrick usually only goes to her house as [=SpongeBob=]'s tagalong. Despite some disagreements regarding their vast difference in intellect, they seem to get along well enough.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The only times she was referred to by her first name were in "Patrick [=SmartPants=]", "Atlantis [=SquarePantis=]", and "Two Thumbs Down".
* OnlySaneWoman: Not as sane as Squidward, but she's still fairly level-headed. [[GenkiGirl Not so much]] before hibernation, though, as apparently the first stage of hibernation involves losing your mind. Apparently, her not being a jerk or an idiot is why Squidward gets along better with her than with the others.
* ParodySue: A few episodes, especially in the 2nd season, seem to [[LampshadeHanging make light of]] her somewhat lengthy amount of talents and positive aspects, it also usually being these points she was portrayed in a more flawed light.
* PassionateSportsGirl: To a particularly extreme level. Adding to that her occasional CompetitionFreak bouts, working out with Sandy can border out and out life threatening.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: While she's rather short in height and [[StrongerThanTheyLook depicted as a weakling]] by the art style, she has performed the most badass of defeats for a squirrel in an astronaut suit.
* PlatonicLifePartners: She's close friends with [=SpongeBob=], and while there have been some definitive ShipTease moments between the pair, their dynamic hasn't shown any ''explicit'' romance.
* PositiveDiscrimination: Is a female mammal and the most gifted and least flawed central character by miles, though partly due to excessive {{Flanderization}} of the bipedal, male characters. Admittedly, it is also balanced by frequent NotSoAboveItAll moments. She played it undeniably straight pre-CharacterDevelopment however.
* ShipTease:
** Usually with [=SpongeBob=], shown by how well they interact with one another, and some reactions to each others comments. One {{Flashback}} from "Truth or Square" even had them seemingly getting married, only for it to be revealed as a play after an AlmostKiss. Carolyn Lawrence, Sandy's voice actress, has admitted she believed that both characters have romantic interest in one another.
** She also has some ship tease with Larry in "Ripped Pants", overlapping with her relationship with [=SpongeBob=] and seeming a bit like a LoveTriangle on her part. The latter is greatly affected by Sandy choosing to interact with Larry over him (though [=SpongeBob=] brought this betrayal on himself as he [[AttentionWhore went too far and faked a near-death experience]] [[DudeNotFunny just to make another joke about his pants]]).
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Not as much as the others but Sandy suffers some physical damage at times, such as being mauled by a gorilla, having her fur torn off by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, being plagued with fleas, being hit by a car off of a mountain and so on.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Albeit [[DependingOnTheWriter not as consistently]] as Squidward, she can overestimate her own abilities. Here are some examples:
** In "Pressure", she repeatedly stated that land creatures are better than sea creatures and went so far as to almost drown herself in an attempt to prove it.
** In "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm", she was firmly convinced that, being "Texas tough", she could easily handle the Alaskan Bullworm, repeatedly dismissing and even mocking [=SpongeBob=]'s warnings. When she finally reaches it and finds out that the Alaskan Bullworm is indeed as big and dangerous as everyone said, she runs in fear, and ''only'' admits she was wrong after [=SpongeBob=] nagged her into doing so.
* SouthernFriedGenius: She's a genius from Texas, and proud of it!
* StrongerThanTheyLook: From a first glance, Sandy looks no stronger than [=SpongeBob=] (who, needless to say, is a weakling), however when she's faced with fatal near-death experiences, she [[SuperStrength absolutely aces it when it comes to overpowering her obstacles]].
* SuperStrength: Pretty obvious, actually. Especially when you see her ''pull a boat underwater by the chain'' in "Sandy, [=SpongeBob=], and the Worm".
* TeamMom: Unlike most other OnlySaneMan characters on the show, who are usually {{Jerkass}}es, Sandy has shown herself able to deliver logic and reason to [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick constructively and in a way that doesn't come off as abrasive.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: She wears a flower on her diving helmet so it's more readily apparent she's a girl. She's got eyelashes too, but so does [=SpongeBob=].
* TokenGoodTeammate: One of the only characters who hasn't been turned into either a {{Jerkass}} or [[TookALevelInDumbass a moron]]. She and Pearl are also the only characters Squidward gets along with very well for this reason. Her occasional [[SmallNameBigEgo ego]] and [[BerserkButton temperament]] can provoke some unfortunate situations in the show (eg. "Pressure"), that said, she is arguably the one recurring character that hasn't had her flaws [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] over her redeeming aspects.
* {{Tomboy}}: Sandy's a muscular squirrel girl with a passion for sports and science.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Sandy may always be up for tough fun or a science experiment, but she's not quite TheLadette. She regularly wears a pink decorative flower on her helmet and nothing but her bikini in her treedome, openly cries over her isolation from her hometown, and perhaps most prominently, is not above venturing into typical GossipyHens nighttime behavior with Karen and Mrs. Puff (who are apparently gal pals with each other) in "Girls' Night Out".
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The karate chopping techno whiz Tomboy to Pearl's Girly BrattyTeenageDaughter.
* TomboyishVoice: Although, it's more Southern than tomboyish.
* TooCleverByHalf: Every now and then she goes into being so smart that it puts her at a disadvantage.
* ToonTransformation: She was a live-action squirrel when she lived in Texas, but she became animated like the rest of the residents of Bikini Bottom when she moved there.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She likes eating nuts and anything nut-related. [[StockAnimalDiet Give or take, she's a squirrel]].
* WalkingSwimsuitScene: Occasionally seen in a bikini, but always when she's in her tree house.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Mrs. Puff]]
!!Poppy Puff
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_mrspuff.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"In all my years of teaching, only one student has ever failed my class."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Mary Jo Catlett
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Isabel Vara
->'''German voice:''' Rita Engelmann (Episodes 4-182, first movie), Joseline Gassen (second movie), Sonja Deutsch (Episodes 190-present)
->'''Debut:''' "Boating School"
[=SpongeBob=]'s patient but paranoid teacher at boating school. She would like nothing more than to pass [=SpongeBob=] since he is an obsessively good student, but he routinely freaks out and crashes whenever he has to get inside a boat. She is a pufferfish who blows up into a ball whenever she is scared or stressed out.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''P'''oppy '''P'''uff.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Several episodes demonstrate that [=SpongeBob's=] antics have taken quite the toll on her mental health. "Doing Time" ends with her having repeated hallucinations of the episode's beginning, and in "Krusty Love", she has a very [=PTSD=]-like reaction by just hearing [=SpongeBob's=] voice. Though she's still able to calm down when he points out they're not driving.
* ApatheticTeacher: Zigzagged, DependingOnTheWriter. Though it's mostly her attitude toward [=SpongeBob=] since no matter what she does, she can't seem to get him to pass the driving portion of her test and out of her hair for good. His over-eagerness certainly doesn't help, neither does continually landing her in jail either.
* AxCrazy: In "Demolition Doofus" when she becomes obsessed with attempting to get [=SpongeBob=] killed in a demolition match, and tries to kill him herself when that fails.
* BigEater: She's shown to have a big appetite. See ObsessedWithFood below.
* ButtMonkey: As a result of [=SpongeBob's=] antics, she's frequently injured or sent to jail.
* CommonalityConnection: When Squidward has to attend her classes, they bond over the fact that [=SpongeBob=] is the bane of both their existences.
* CoolOldLady: She is surprisingly active for an elderly teacher and even has an expansive criminal record.
* DarkAndTroubledPast:
** According to at least one [[TalkingToThemself monologue]], she has previously skipped town under a different name.
** Her husband was apparently [[spoiler: fished up out of the sea and made into a lamp.]]
* DecemberDecemberRomance: She and Mr. Krabs are close to being senior citizens and have each been married before, but that doesn't stop them from falling in love and continuing to date (for nearly two decades, as revealed in ''Whirly Brains'').
* DeadpanSnarker: [=SpongeBob=]'s annoyance and idiocy often causes Mrs. Puff to snide and make sarcastic remarks.
* {{Determinator}}: Amazingly, she has made it her goal never to give up on [=SpongeBob=], no matter how many times he fails.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: She falls victim to this in the episode "No Free Rides". Sick and tired of having to go through [=SpongeBob's=] [[DrivesLikeCrazy chaotic driving tests]], she comes up with a bogus extra credit test to just give him his driver's license and get him out of her classroom. It's only after she does so that it hits her that she has just given [=SpongeBob=] free reign to drive on public streets and wreak havoc there.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference:
** She has much more wrinkles in her first appearance.
** "Boating School" had her puff up a little whenever she inhaled. Now, she only puffs when she is surprised or injured.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first time we see her, she is at her school watching [=SpongeBob=] dance around and says "I'm not ready..."
* EvilCripple: In "Demolition Doofus", Mrs. Puff loses her ability to puff and develops the desire to kill [=SpongeBob=].
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: No matter how many times she tries to get rid of [=SpongeBob=] (or get him in trouble legally), [=SpongeBob=] will always come out on top, leaving her stuck with him, or at worst, end up in jail.
* FatAndProud: Her size is a trait of her species, so she's not insecure about it.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Mrs. Puff has blonde hair and is rather kind-hearted, [[JerkassToOne so long as your name isn't SpongeBob]].
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: A rare female example. She doesn't wear any underwear.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Compared to the already hostile and mean-tempered Squidward, Mrs. Puff is a docile and well-meaning character whose nerves have slowly been worn at by [=SpongeBob's=] behavior. Many episodes have shown her take increasingly desperate and sometimes unscrupulous measures just to finally get away from him. She's at her lowest point in "Demolition Doofus", where she's so furious at [=SpongeBob=] for accidentally puncturing her inflation sac that she outright tries to ''murder'' him.
* HeavyVoice: In her earliest appearances, she gets a deeper voice whenever she puffs up.
* IdiotBall: Despite being one of the few characters on the show with any common sense (aside from Squidward and Sandy), she holds this in "The Bully" when she fails to take action against an obvious bully who has joined her class and plans to harm one of her students, instead viewing him as a {{nice guy}}.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Sandy and Pearl in a few episodes, and also with [=SpongeBob=] in very early episodes, since she's considerably older than them.
* InterspeciesRomance: Her relationship with Mr. Krabs qualifies, since she's a blowfish and he's a crab.
* ItsAllMyFault: In early episodes, she thinks [=SpongeBob=]'s inability to drive is at least partially her fault.
* JerkassBall: She's usually always hostile toward [=SpongeBob=], but sometimes her grudge against him can go ''way'' too far, such as when she threatened to kick his butt at the end of "The Bully" [[MisplacedRetribution over something he didn't do]], and of course, [[AxCrazy going as far as trying to get him murdered]] in "Demolition Doofus". It's aggravated by the fact that she's supposed to be an authority figure.
* JerkassToOne: [=SpongeBob=] is typically the only person whom Mrs. Puff holds a grudge against. Aside from him, she's usually outgoing and friendly to everyone. Plus, it isn't hard to see why she's hostile toward him, considering the amount of times he has endangered her with his reckless driving and gotten her arrested.
* KnightOfCerebus: She briefly becomes one in the Season 8 episode "Demolition Doofus". She enters [=SpongeBob=] into a demolition derby and hopes that he dies (since his crazy driving previously caused her to puncture her inflation sac). She later tries to kill him herself by entering into the demolition derby using a massive monster truck. This episode is considered one of the darkest stories by many fans.
* MadeOfIron: Spongebob has caused this poor woman to get injured many times in fatal car crashes, but she seems to return to normal in a few episodes. It's only on "Demolition Doofus" that this trope was subverted with her losing her ability to puff and played straight at the end of the episode when she regains her ability to puff.
* MeaningfulName: Her name refers to both her species and her tendency to puff up like a ball.
* MisplacedRetribution: She is always blamed and put in jail for [=SpongeBob=]'s recklessness despite educating him right, [[KarmaHoudini with SpongeBob going completely scot-free every time]].
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: "Feral Friends" has her and Pearl become the first female characters shown naked on the show in the series' history. When she and Mr. Krabs return to normal two hours after being transformed into non-anthropomorphic sea life by Neptune's Moon, they bashfully giggle at seeing each other nude and promptly run off in embarrassment.
* NervousWreck: She's very neurotic, although it's usually justified.
* NeverBareheaded: Whenever she's not seen wearing her trademark sailor's cap, she usually wears hair curlers to bed.
* NeverMessWithGranny: She is around Mr. Krabs' age (early 70s) but has a dark side and commits many crimes.
* NeverMyFault: True, [=SpongeBob=] is the reason why she's so grouchy and getting constantly injured, but she forgets the fact that she's not obligated to keep [=SpongeBob=] as a student and she can simply expel him if she's tired of him failing her classes. While her suffering isn't her fault, she is unintentionally playing a role in prolonging it due to her never thinking of expelling [[=SpongeBob=]] from her boating school. It also helps that she mentioned that [=SpongeBob=] was the only student who has ever failed her boating school.
* NiceGirl: Mrs. Puff seems friendly to everybody. It's only [=SpongeBob=] who she can't seem to stand.
* NiceHat: Almost always wears a blue sailor cap.
* NoAccountingForTaste: Is in a committed 16-year relationship with Mr. Krabs.
* NonGivingUpSchoolGuy: She is relentlessly determined to continue teaching [=SpongeBob=].
* NonMammalianHair: She's a fish who has short blonde hair.
* NotSoDifferent: From Squidward. They both agree that [=SpongeBob=] is the bane of their existences.
* ObsessedWithFood: She loves pasta, chocolate cake, and Krabby Patties. Her love of food seemed to be a running gag in early episodes.
* OfficialCouple: With Mr. Krabs. As of "Whirly Brains," they have been dating for sixteen years in canon. However, this is shockingly debunked in prior episodes (e.g. "Growth Spout", "Summer Job"), where she doesn't even seen to ''recognize'' him. [[NegativeContinuity This being]] ''[=SpongeBob=]'', continuity errors are natural, and their relationship seems to be consistent from the former episode onwards, courtesy of the series becoming more continuity-driven.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Like Mr. Krabs, she looks a bit younger than her true age, although she ''does'' have wrinkles on her face in up-close shots.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In the infamous "Demolition Doofus", she is driven insane after one of [=SpongeBob's=] accidents causes her to deflate. She actually tries to get [=SpongeBob=] killed in a demolition derby. Thankfully, she was turned back to normal at the end.
* OnlyOneName: She is only ever called "Mrs. Puff" in the series proper. Merchandise such as books and the video game ''Yellow Avenger'' state that her first name is Poppy.
* OnlySaneWoman: She often fills the role of being the only reasonable person when an episode only stars her and [=SpongeBob=].
* ParentalSubstitute: She tries her best to be motherly with [=SpongeBob=].
* PersonAsVerb: "Puff" has been used as an adjective by other characters when talking about her. It's not very clear whether or not it's referring to her name, the actual verb, or both.
* PrinciplesZealot: Mrs. Puff refuses to go against her principles regarding her Boating School, despite the fact that she gets hospitalized for having to put up with [=SpongeBob=]'s bad driving. She could either make an exception to her principles and just expel him.
* RageBreakingPoint: [=SpongeBob=] possibly deflating her permanently in ''Demolition Doofus'' seemed to be this, [[FridgeBrilliance with her somewhat calming down at the end]] when she was able to puff again.
* RunningGag: Many episodes ended with her going to jail.
* SanitySlippage: She tends to go crazy from having to deal with [=SpongeBob=]'s antics.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: She is always a victim of [=SpongeBob's=] recklessness.
* SpeciesSurname: Her name is Mrs. Puff and she's a puffer-fish.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: She is often mistakenly called ''Ms.'' Puff by casual fans. Oddly, she has also been called "Mrs. Pearl" by more than a few.
* StepfordSmiler: It is implied on several occasions that her cheerfulness is just a facade to mask the pain she feels over having to deal with [=SpongeBob=] all the time.
* TemporarilyAVillain: In "No Free Rides" and "Demolition Doofus", she acts as an antagonist toward [=SpongeBob=] out of being sick of having to put up with him.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: She has visible eyelashes to certify her gender.
* ThrowingOffTheDisability: In "Demolition Doofus", she ruptures her inflation sac, with the doctor stating she'll never be able to puff again. Since StatusQuoIsGod, Mrs. Puff spontaneously regains her ability to puff at the end of the episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Pearl Krabs]]
!!Pearl Krabs
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_pearl.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"As far as disasters go, that was really fun."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Lori Alan
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' Irina Índigo, Yensi Rivero, Sofía Narváez
->'''German voice:''' Sabine Winterfeldt
->'''Debut:''' "Squeaky Boots"
Mr. Krabs' beloved teenage daughter, who is a huge sperm whale. Her brain is the largest in Bikini Bottom and she is gifted in math, but she is still young and immature. Her father hopes to pass his restaurant on to her when she grows up.
----
* {{Acrofatic}}: Justified. She's a whale, so of course she'd be agile for her size.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: In "Whale of a Birthday", Pearl spots a mini seahorse at the mall and expresses immense affection towards it.
* AmbiguouslyRelated: Her biological relationship to her father isn't mentioned. It's unknown if she's adopted or whether she takes after her MissingMom.
* AndCallHimGeorge: Being a GenkiGirl, she has a lethally affectionate attitude.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: DependingOnTheWriter, she tends to have a reputation among her peers as the social outcast.
* AnimalsNotToScale: She is a whale who's only twice the size of miniature creatures like starfish and crabs. Some international dubs justify this by claiming she is a ''baby'' whale, but she is 16 (mentally, at least).
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: On a frequent basis, she berates Mr. Krabs and whines whenever he doesn't let her have what she wants.
* ButtMonkey: She is often mistreated, neglected, and publicly embarrassed by her cheapskate asshole of a father, belittled and betrayed by her friends, and has suffered many breakups. On a side note, her height often makes her subject to klutziness.
* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: In "Bossy Boots", she goes to work for the Krusty Krab during her summer vacation, and makes multiple changes to the restaurant that effectively ruin her father's business. As it turns out, all the changes she made were because she was deliberately ''trying'' to get fired, but Krabs simply didn't have the heart to fire his own daughter. So [=SpongeBob=], who was sent to fire her anyway, "pretends" to fire her so she could go and enjoy her summer vacation.
* TheCheerleader: She regularly wears her cheerleading uniform even outside of school and is shown to be one in "Culture Shock", where it's the subject of her performance at the Krusty Krab talent show. When taking into account her height however, [[TheKlutz the results are drastic]].
* CoolBigSis: She's had more than a few mutually affectionate moments with [=SpongeBob=] and often plays the role as a sister figure to him, due to her being a typical teenage girl and him being a naïve and innocent {{manchild}}.
* CryingARiver: Pearl cries literal rivers on a regular basis. The Krabs house even has drain plugs on the floors to empty out her tears.
* CuteClumsyGirl: She's quite the GenkiGirl and qualifies as clumsy owing to her gigantic height.
* DaddysGirl: Her default status is Mr. Krabs' beloved teenage daughter whom he often babies in an attempt to discourage her conformity to [[TeensAreMonsters toxic stereotypes]]. She's becoming less true to this status as the series progresses, however, partly due to her father's overprotective and cheap nature.
* DamselInDistress: In "Dunces and Dragons", where Planktonamor kidnaps her and [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick have to rescue her.
* ADayInTheLimelight:
** While all of the prominent characters have times to shine every once in a while, "Mall Girl Pearl" is the only episode in which [=SpongeBob=] has no plot relevance whatsoever and plays no direct role in the outcome of the story. The episode exclusively focuses on Pearl as she tries to get a job at the mall, with [=SpongeBob=] appearing in two background cameos stalking Squidward and one more cameo at the end when he retrieves Beatrice's dropped hand. The last cameo is meant to reference how he wasn't part of the episode.
** "Whale Watching" centers on both Pearl and Squidward. On the night that Mr. Krabs likes to play poker, he hires Squidward, whom Krabs promised a [=SpongeBob=]-free shift, to look after Pearl, who was forbidden from going out that night to hang out with some kids, including a boy she had a crush on. Pearl manages to sneak out, and Squidward follows to where she beaches herself after she breached the surface. Seeing her in trouble, the other kids run away, leaving Squidward to rescue her. After they get home, [[ThrowTheDogABone they decide to have some fun]] [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave by siccing SpongeBob on the boy that left Pearl beached on the surface.]]
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In the first three seasons, she and [=SpongeBob=] have a very close bond. Some post-movie episodes disregard all of their previous interactions and don't portray Pearl as a friend to him. Of course, [=SpongeBob=] is always extremely nice to Pearl, regardless of the season. Despite his undying loyalty to Mr. Krabs, he is even friendlier to Pearl than he is to his boss. This is shown in episodes like "Whale of a Birthday" and "Barnacle Face" where [=SpongeBob=] takes Mr. Krabs' belongings to make Pearl happy.
** Her reputation. She ranges from being an AlphaBitch in a GirlPosse to TheFriendNobodyLikes. Due to the lack of recurring characters and continuity in general, she's also depicted with different friends per appearance.
** Her relationship with her father. She ranges from genuinely loving him and being on good terms, being displeased with him but still caring about him deep-down, or outright ''despising'' him and overpowering his authority. Since she's a stereotypical teenage girl, the variety isn't surprising. It also sort of depends on her father's part.
* DramaQueen: Pearl loves to cry over insignificant slights and is quite possibly the show's biggest drama magnet. Although, unlike [= SpongeBob=], who exhibits meltdowns over the most mundane of things like running out of ice, [[AgeAppropriateAngst Pearl's angsts are reasonable given her age range]].
* TheDreadedPretendTeaParty: When [=SpongeBob=] enters her dream in "Sleepy Time" and sees that she's having a fake tea party, he asks her how to get to Mr. Krabs' dream instead.
* {{Fangirl}}: She is a huge fan of "Mecha Baleen" and "The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy", according to the comic series and the ''[=SpongeBob=] Moves In!'' app respectively. She's also a huge fan of the boyband Boys Who Cry, whom she wanted so bad to perform at her 16th birthday party (they did).
* {{Flanderization}}: Her brattiness, bad luck, and disrespect for her father got worse by the post-movie seasons.
* FreudianExcuse: With the way Mr. Krabs treats her, you can understand her attitude.
* GenderEqualsBreed: Her father is a crab and her mother was a whale (according to the [[AllThereInTheManual official trivia book]]).
* GenkiGirl: Pearl is quite cheerful. She constantly shouts and eagerly bounces up and down when confronting Mr. Krabs about something she wants, for starters. The fact that she's a cheerleader tops it all off.
* GirlyGirl: She wears a [[PinkMeansFeminine pink dress]], is a huge fan of boy bands (especially Boys Who Cry), gossips a lot, likes hanging out at the mall with her girlfriends, and in general possesses a lot stereotypical ValleyGirl and PhoneaholicTeenager traits.
* GiveGeeksAChance: In "The Chaperone", her boyfriend was a nerdy little baitfish...although she [[InformedAttractiveness describes him as incredibly]] [[TallDarkAndHandsome "long, tan, and handsome"]].
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: In "Sleepy Time", she dreams about a tea party with stuffed animals.
* GonkyFemme: She is a huge girl with inhuman strength and a tendency to cause everything to shake whenever she is crying, jumping or dancing.
* GossipyHens: She gossips quite a lot with her friends.
* HiddenDepths: Her [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040812015604/http://www.nicksplat.com/Tvshows/Characters/Nicktoons/Spongebob_squarepants/pearl.html original character bio]] reveals that she has the biggest brain in Bikini Bottom and loves math.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Most of the neglect she receives from her cheapskate father is played for comedic effect.
* HugeSchoolgirl: Considering she's a whale among little animals like fish and squirrels.
* {{Hypocrite}}: She singles Mr. Krabs out for babying her in "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" when directing the commercial for Frozen Krabby Patties, but she has frequently addressed him as "Daddy", a trait typically associated with younger children.
* IGotBigger: The entire plot of "Growth Spurt" revolves around Pearl undergoing a growth spurt that not only causes her to outgrow her bed, but also endlessly demand food to fulfill her metabolic hunger. She regresses to her regular size by the end after she eats a Krabby Patty.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: There's often the implication that Pearl only behaves like an average teenage girl in a desperate attempt to fit in with the crowd.
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Quite a few episodes frame Pearl as this for [=SpongeBob=], in ways that are sometimes more blatant than any Spandy moments.
** "The Chaperone" is all about Pearl taking [=SpongeBob=] to prom, and the end—where they hold hands and almost kiss until Mr. Krabs scares them—seals the deal.
** "Bossy Boots" is a major moment as well, since Pearl hugs [=SpongeBob=] so hard he has to ask her to stop and later kisses him on the forehead.
** In the post-movie episode "Tunnel of Glove", the plot involves Pearl and [=SpongeBob=] going in a tunnel of love at Glove World, and it starts off with Pearl's fake friends calling [=SpongeBob=] her boyfriend. Even though this episode was made after the writers started disregarding Pearl and SB's friendship, the ending implies that Pearl ''does'' like [=SpongeBob=] but pretends not to when her friends are around.
** The solution to Pearl's growth spurt in "Growth Spout" is [=SpongeBob=] making her a special Krabby Patty ''with love''.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Many episodes focusing on her reputation portray her as a talentless hack who behaves like a rebellious teenage girl in a desperate attempt to fit in.
* InformedAbility: According to her official character bio, she's the smartest citizen in Bikini Bottom, but there has never been an episode focusing on her intelligence. There ''have'', however, been episodes like "Mall Girl Pearl" that imply she only acts like a regular teenager to fit in.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With [=SpongeBob=], who's an independent adult.
* IronicName: Pearls are known for being very small, but Pearl is huge.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Has this attitude in "Whale of a Birthday", even saying that everyone in the world has to pay attention to her on her birthday.
* JerkassBall: She holds this in episodes that showcase her as an AlphaBitch, specifically in the episode "The Slumber Party" when she and her friends make fun of a sponge girl who looks like [=SpongeBob=].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While she tries her best to fit in with her bratty peers, Pearl's "hip, cool" persona is merely a ruse and she wants to be friends with [=SpongeBob=]. This is most obvious in the early episode "Bossy Boots", where she tearfully confides in [=SpongeBob=] that her new position is too stressful and that she only accepted it to make her father happy- and she thanks [=SpongeBob=] with a hug ''and'' a kiss when he helps her quit.
* KiddieKid: Downplayed, as she acts and wants to be treated like a regular teenage girl more than anything, but she still has shades of this nonetheless, yet she'd never admit it to anyone. Mr. Krabs also views her as such.
** She typically addresses her father as "Daddy" rather than just "Dad" like most older kids.
** In "Sleepy Time", she has a dream of her throwing a tea party with stuffed animals.
** She seems to have a fondness for [[AllGirlsLikePonies sea-ponies]], as seen in "Whale of a Birthday".
* LargeHam: She has an overdramatic voice, which isn't surprising given her height.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: She plays quite a sisterly role to [=SpongeBob=] whenever she's not outright hating him.
* LikesOlderMen: Like most girls her age, she fantasizes over men who are at least ten years her senior, if not in the same age range as her.
* LovableAlphaBitch: Some episodes depict her as joining the GirlPosse to fit in and acting rather condescending to the less fortunate. When taking into account the unreasonable amount of neglect she receives at the hands of Mr. Krabs, she still remains sympathetic in that the very hand that feeds and shelters her is too cheap to satisfy her demands despite being rich.
* MissingMom: Her mother has never been revealed nor mentioned in the show. WordOfGod is that they're against revealing her identity and strive to keep it a secret throughout the show's run.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: "Feral Friends" has her and Mrs. Puff become the first female characters shown naked on the show in the series' history. After everyone returns to normal two hours after being turned into non-anthropomorphic sea creatures by Neptune's Moon, she is shocked to find herself naked in public and runs away in embarrassment while covering herself.
* NoIndoorVoice: All the time, but it's especially emphasized when Mr. Krabs riles her up.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: She's the only one with monocular vision: eyes on the sides of her head rather than in front.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: She's been sixteen years old for decades. Funnily enough, episodes like "Goodbye, Krabby Patty?" and "Whirly Brains" make direct references to how many years have passed since the show started out. Pearl is the only character with a definite age, and it's stayed the same throughout all of these episodes, causing some continuity errors.
* OcularGushers: Due to her enormous height, she cries large puddles of tears, even flooding the Krusty Krab with them at one point.
* OddFriendship: PlayedWith in regards to [=SpongeBob=]. While their relationship [[ItMakesSenseInContext makes sense in context]] in that the latter is her father's employee, [=SpongeBob=] has been identified as an adult numerous times [[{{Manchild}} yet has the demeanor]] [[OlderThanTheyLook of a child]], while Pearl is a stereotypical teenage girl.
* ParentalTitleCharacterization: She's an affectionate, but somewhat bratty, DaddysGirl of a teenager. As a result, she still calls her dad "Daddy".
* PhoneaholicTeenager: She is frequently seen talking on her cellphone.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Her standard outfit is a pink and purple dress.
* TeensLoveShopping: Pearl and her girlfriends like to shop at the mall.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly BrattyTeenageDaughter to Sandy's karate chopping techno whiz Tomboy.
* TookALevelInJerkass: She becomes more spoiled and rude in later episodes.
* ValleyGirl: Borderline case of a girl who cares more about being stylish than anything else.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gary the Snail]]
!!Gerald Wilson Jr.
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spongebob_gary.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:''"Meow."'']]
->'''English voice:''' Creator/TomKenny, Creator/KeithDavid (translator voice in "Chatterbox Gary")
->'''Latin American Spanish voice:''' José Manuel Vieira, Fernando Márquez
->'''German voice:''' Santiago Ziesmer [[note]] while Santiago Ziesmer voices Gary, some of Tom Kenny's lines were kept in some episodes. [[/note]]
->'''Debut:''' "Help Wanted"
[=SpongeBob=]'s pet snail, who meows like a cat.
----
* AffectionateNickname: He calls [=SpongeBob=] "[=PapaBob=]" in "Chatterbox Gary" when he gets a translator for his meows. [=SpongeBob=] also calls him "Gare Bear" quite often.
* AnimalJingoism: In "Pets or Pests", he develops a mutual hatred for a worm [=SpongeBob=] takes in, since worms in this show are the undersea equivalent of dogs.
* AscendedExtra: In the earlier episodes, he was just a SatelliteCharacter to [=SpongeBob=], before his role gradually increased and allowed him to develop a personality.
* BerserkButton: Do NOT check his undercarriage. You'll be lucky if he just gives you a warning by hissing at you.
* BigEater: He eats the entire year supply of snail food [=SpongeBob=] left for him in "What Ever Happened to [=SpongeBob=]?" as well as a lot of cookies in "Have You Seen This Snail?"
* ButtMonkey: He's abused mercilessly in a few episodes of the later seasons like "A Pal For Gary", "The Cent of Money" and "Pet Sitter Pat".
* CatsAreMean: Under the show's theory of snails existing as an underwater equivalent for cats. Subverted for the most part, though he has his occasional {{Jerkass}} moments like most of the cast: "Dumped" shows he can be a rather fickle bastard.
* CatsHateWater: Being the equivalent thereof, he's not a fan, even though [[WaterIsAir technically]] he ''lives'' underwater.
* CharacterDevelopment: Started off as a gag character whose sole purpose was to exhibit snails as an underwater equivalent to cats. Although his vocabulary is still limited to "meow", he arguably has much more of a personality nowadays than he did in the earlier seasons.
* ConnectedAllAlong: "Rule of Dumb" reveals he and Patrick are ''cousins''.
* DoesNotLikeSpam: ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' reveals that he hates mayonnaise.
* FurryConfusion: Although there are no anthropomorphic snails, snails wearing lip gloss, a hat, a bow, or some other accessory have been shown. Some snails can even ''talk'', although they remain unable to talk to anthropomorphic characters.
* HateAtFirstSight: Towards Squidward during their introduction together in "I Was A Teenage Gary." The feeling was mutual on Squidward’s behalf, since he’s allergic to snails and his initial reaction towards the former. Squidward not feeding him over the weekend [[NotHelpingYourCase probably didn't help]]...
* HatesBaths: As seen in "Gary Takes a Bath" and "Pet Sitter Pat", he doesn't like taking baths. This phobia is based on how felines are opposed to water.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He often seems smarter than his owner.
* IntellectualAnimal: In the episode "Sleepy Time", he is revealed to be quite intelligent through his dream self.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: [=SpongeBob=] and some of the other characters can understand Gary even though he only meows.
-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' [=SpongeBob=], what's wrong with you?
-->'''Gary:''' Meow!
-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' The Suds?!
* JerkassBall: In "Dumped", where he decides to stay with Patrick (who himself also grasps the Jerkass Ball in this episode) despite [=SpongeBob=] blatantly showing his depression over being separated from him. Subverted however, as he only interested in the cookie in Patrick's pocket.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gary comes across as gluttonous and can be occasionally selfish and uninterested in some of the things [=SpongeBob=] wants to do. However, he is a very gentle snail who loves [=SpongeBob=] very dearly.
* KillerRabbit: He's mostly a sweet snail, but he has his dark side; he rebels and leads a revolution with other snails and worms against a pet show in "Grooming Gary" due to [=SpongeBob=] abusing him just to score a win, and admits through a translator that he fantasizes about raining fiery vengeance down on those who've wronged him in "Chatterbox Gary".
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:"Rule of Dumb" reveals him and Patrick to be cousins.]]
* OddNameOut: His full name has nothing to do with his species, unlike most of the other characters.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He's never called by his real name, "Gerald".
* OnlySaneMan: Despite being a pet, Gary fills the role of the only reasonable and rational person the vast majority of the time.
* NearlyNormalAnimal: While he mostly functions as an ordinary pet, he does occasionally exhibit some human mannerisms or gestures, such as drinking from a glass, and he seems to think on a sapient level. His meows are intelligible to most who interact with him.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: He's a cute little snail.
* SecretTest: In the episode "Treats!" Gary pesters [=SpongeBob=] to get him a box of discontinued treats, and spends the episode in vain searching for the snacks. When [=SpongeBob=] takes Patrick's advice, and tells Gary "no" they will not keep searching, Gary goes to bed happy to know that [=SpongeBob=] learned to say "no."
* SilentSnarker: Often non-verbally expresses his disdain for his owner's idiocy.
* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: Despite all of them being sea creatures and all (except for some one-offs, Mermaid Man, and Barnacle Boy). Even if the [[TheUnintelligible audience will never be able to figure out what he's saying,]] [=SpongeBob's=] retorts to whatever he says show that he is rather snarky.
* TokenGoodTeammate: One of the few characters who is not a {{Jerkass}}, an antagonist, or a moron (although he can be fickle at times).
* UndyingLoyalty:
** If him rescuing [=SpongeBob=] from Puffy Fluffy after the sponge treated him like crap doesn't qualify for how unwilling he is to turn against [=SpongeBob=], ''nothing'' does.
** In "Suds", [=SpongeBob=] curtly dismisses Gary's insistence that he stay home from work. Despite this, Gary seemingly follows [=SpongeBob=] to work just to tell his boss that he's ill.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: While not a weapon, his status as a bottom feeder allows him to easily clean up an infectious fungus which would otherwise make the infected [[BodyHorror disgustingly sick]].
[[/folder]]
----
