History FranchiseOriginalSin / SpongeBobSquarePants

** Mr. Krabs in later seasons is infamous for his tendency to do underhanded, immoral, or even illegal things if it means turning a quick buck. However, even in the first three seasons he's shown to use tactics like the latter with [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E17ArrghRockBottom emotional manipulation and forcing SpongeBob and Patrick to dig up treasure only to plan to keep it all for himself]], [[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E19JellyfishHunterTheFryCookGames animal abuse and emotional manipulation]], [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E16BornAgainKrabsIHadAnAccident forcing his employees to use an old, diseased patty and then selling SpongeBob's soul for 62 cents]], or even ''[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E20SquidOnStrikeSandySpongeBobAndTheWorm enslaving]]'' his employees. The difference, though, is that whenever he crosses a line in the first few seasons, he is generally punished for it or at least realizes he's wrong and tries to make amends for what he did.[[note]]To name a few examples from those four episodes, The Dutchman is actually impressed that [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick saved him the trouble of digging up his treasure and rewards them each with a gold doubloon and Mr. Krabs only gets a worthless plastic chest, the jellyfish sting Mr. Krabs after [=SpongeBob=] releases them; he gets food poisoning and has to promise The Flying Dutchman to give up his greedy ways, then has a breakdown after Squidward chews him out for selling [=SpongeBob=]; and Squidward convinces [=SpongeBob=] to go on strike with him, and later unintentionally inspires him to tear down the Krusty Krab.[[/note]] In many later episodes, [[KarmaHoudini Krabs gets away with a slap on the wrist, if that]]. After many of his more controversial moments, most notoriously driving Plankton to [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] in "One Coarse Meal", the show began to address this sin and [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty give him comeuppance]] more often in later episodes.

* Many fans complain abut Mrs. Puff tending to get arrested in episodes from later seasons, viewing it as overused. But this is fairly common in the early seasons too: of the eight episodes in seasons 1 to 3 where she is a major character, three have her get arrested. However, one of these episodes ("Doing Time") is revealed to be AllJustADream, while her other two arrests make sense: in one of them ("Hall Monitor"), she claims [=SpongeBob=] is her responsibility and thereby unintentionally transfers the blame for what he did onto her; while in the other ("No Free Rides"), she attempts to steal [=SpongeBob=]'s new boat and nearly commits vehicular manslaughter on two police officers. This tendency is much less forgivable in later episodes, where the reasons for her arrests are much flimsier or even outright nonexistent, and seemingly only exist to keep up a RunningGag rather than as a logical consequence of Mrs. Puff's actions. Not helping matters is that in some episodes where she ''does'' commit crimes (like in "Demolition Doofus"), she inexplicably ''[[KarmaHoudini isn't]]'' arrested.

** One of the ''biggest'' complaints people have with the modern series is the way they treat [[DesignatedMonkey Squidward]]. This has been happening since the beginning, believe it or not. Thing is, Squidward is an arrogant jerk at best who [[FunHatingConfiscatingAdult went against childish fun]], and was someone the audience [[LoveToHate loves to hate]]. Whenever the episode is sympathetic, they usually bring in someone even worse, namely Squilliam. As such, the audience usually laughed at Squidward's misfortune and saw it as well-deserved karma. However, later episodes tone down Squidward's rudeness, so he starts coming across less as a jerk being punished for his actions and more like a CosmicPlaything who is being made miserable simply for wanting peace and quiet from [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's antics, making his misfortune less funny and getting fans to complain. Not to mention, some of the earlier episodes in which Squidward was tormented (such as "Jellyfishing" and "Opposite Day") at least saw him get the last laugh on his neighbors, whereas in modern episodes, he’s lucky to even get a shot back at them.

** One of the ''biggest'' complaints people have with the modern series is the way they treat [[DesignatedMonkey Squidward]]. This has been happening since the beginning, believe it or not. Thing is, Squidward is an arrogant jerk at best who went against childish fun, and was someone the audience [[LoveToHate loves to hate]]. Whenever the episode is sympathetic, they usually bring in someone even worse, namely Squilliam. As such, the audience usually laughed at Squidward's misfortune and saw it as well-deserved karma. However, later episodes tone down Squidward's rudeness, so he starts coming across less as a jerk being punished for his actions and more like a CosmicPlaything who is being made miserable simply for wanting peace and quiet from [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's antics, making his misfortune less funny and getting fans to complain. Not to mention, some of the earlier episodes in which Squidward was tormented (such as "Jellyfishing" and "Opposite Day") at least saw him get the last laugh on his neighbors, whereas in modern episodes, he’s lucky to even get a shot back at them.

** Patrick is notorious for being a bad, selfish friend to [=SpongeBob=] in the post-movie seasons. It's often ignored by pre-movie fans that, along with Patrick being a fellow troublemaker (prank-wise at least) and like-minded individual (through ignorance as well), there were still several moments where he acts jerkish towards [=SpongeBob=], albeit not as pronounced as in the post-movie era. The list in detail:

* The show itself runs on NegativeContinuity and as such very little happens as a consequence of what went down in a previous episode. This didn't hurt the show early on since the writing and characters are often so strong that any continuity errors can be ignored. [[note]] Think the number of episodes where the Krusty Krab is either successful or on the verge of bankruptcy (such as "The Algae's Always Greener" for the former or "Patty Hype" for the latter).[[/note]] Even with the weaker episodes, this wasn't usually a complaint. This was finally no longer an excuse with "Are You Happy Now?" where the premise is Squidward trying to find a happy memory since he's '''''never''''' had a happy memory; an idea far harder for fans to swallow because it ignored key elements of Squidward's backstory and thus character, plus the emotional core of many episodes (including some of the show's most beloved, like ''Band Geeks.'')

** On a related note, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebAVSjl_cCY&ab_channel=AlphaJayShow this video]], using the episode "Yellow Pavement" as an example, posits that one of most significant flaws of Modern ''[=SpongeBob=]'' is that [=SpongeBob=] is portrayed as oblivious to ''everything'' (not just to obvious threats like Man Ray) to a fault, to the point that he can no longer recognize when he is making another person actively miserable. [=SpongeBob=] has always been portrayed as oblivious in this way, but his obliviousness is usually portrayed as part of a joke, such as when he [[AchievementsInIgnorance accomplishes outlandish feats due to not realizing he couldn't]], or made it so that the only characters who suffer as a result of [=SpongeBob's=] oblivious nature [[AssholeVictim actually deserve it]] (such as Plankton, the aforementioned Man Ray, Squidward when he acts mean enough to warrant it, or one shot antagonists like [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E10NoFreeRidesImYourBiggestFanatic Kevin]] or [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E20SpongeBobMeetsTheStranglerPranksALot the Strangler]]). Some modern-era episodes forget this, playing [=SpongeBob's=] obliviousness completely straight without a hint of irony and having anybody and everybody suffer for his cluelessness without rhyme or reason, to the point that it stops being funny and just becomes annoying.

** One of the ''biggest'' complaints people have with the modern series is the way they treat [[DesignatedMonkey Squidward]]. This has been happening since the beginning, believe it or not. Thing is, Squidward is an arrogant jerk at best who went against childish fun, and was someone the audience [[LoveToHate loves to hate]]. Whenever the episode is sympathetic, they usually bring in someone even worse, namely Squilliam. As such, the audience usually laughed at Squidward's misfortune and saw it as well-deserved karma. However, later episodes tone down Squidward's rudeness, so he starts coming across less as a jerk being punished for his actions and more like a CosmicPlaything who is being made miserable simply for wanting peace and quiet from [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's antics, making his misfortune less funny and getting fans to complain.

** Mr. Krabs in later seasons is infamous for his tendency to do underhanded, immoral, or even illegal things if it means turning a quick buck. However, even in the first three seasons he's shown to use tactics like [[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E19JellyfishHunterTheFryCookGames animal abuse and emotional manipulation]], [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E16BornAgainKrabsIHadAnAccident forcing his employees to use an old, diseased patty and then selling SpongeBob's soul for 62 cents]], or even ''[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E20SquidOnStrikeSandySpongeBobAndTheWorm enslaving]]'' his employees. The difference, though, is that whenever he crosses a line in the first few seasons, he is generally punished for it or at least realizes he's wrong and tries to make amends for what he did.[[note]]To name a few examples from those three episodes, the jellyfish sting Mr. Krabs after [=SpongeBob=] releases them; he gets food poisoning and has to promise The Flying Dutchman to give up his greedy ways, then has a breakdown after Squidward chews him out for selling [=SpongeBob=]; and Squidward convinces [=SpongeBob=] to go on strike with him, and later unintentionally inspires him to tear down the Krusty Krab.[[/note]] In many later episodes, [[KarmaHoudini Krabs gets away with a slap on the wrist, if that]]. After many of his more controversial moments, most notoriously driving Plankton to [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] in "One Coarse Meal", the show began to address this sin and [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty give him comeuppance]] more often in later episodes.

*** He neglects the baby scallop, Junior, leaving [=SpongeBob=] with all the work of raising it for months on end while he sits around in his house watching TV ("Rock-A-Bye Bivalve").** The pre-movie seasons have one of the more drastic cases of TookALevelInJerkass which was toned down post-movie, with Sandy becoming much more arrogant, and standoffish in Season Two. Since Sandy was an overwhelmingly intellectual, calmer character who tried to be polite originally, however, this usually only serves to make her a more flawed, but still reasonably likeable character that can contribute her own amount of humor, especially since (similar to the pre-movie Krabs examples) Sandy is usually brought back down to earth by the end of each story and still has glimpses of her original, saner character in other episodes.

** Not to mention that while post-movie Spongebob has, in infamous episodes such as "A Pal For Gary", been neglectful to the point of wall-thumping ignorance and also contradicted enough of his kinder nature by (even while defending a Krabby Patty he dated) attacking scallops in ways that seem to kill them depending on how serious the subject can be in this show, he has had some little mean streaks in the first few seasons. That includes running his mouth on others when he perceived them as annoying him a bit much ("The Smoking Peanut" and "New Student Starfish") or thought them appearing reckless, not to mention such ignoramus tendencies leading to the conflict in "Squirrel Jokes". Note that Spongebob has always had some early-established scenes of frustration. Also, these early scenes (listed under JerkAssBall in his character sheet) were almost always under the same writer, though he apparently hardly ever wrote for Seasons 4 and up. The difference is that when Spongebob realized an error in some earlier stories, he was more likely to try and fix it than to let the plot save him.

** Patrick is notorious for being a bad, selfish friend to [=SpongeBob=] in the post-movie seasons. It's often ignored by pre-movie fans that along with Patrick being a fellow troublemaker (prank-wise at least) and like-minded individual (through ignorance as well), there are several moments where he comes off as a bit of a jerk, and while it's more accidental, it pays heed to his relaxed but rough nature as a starfish (a literally rough-to-the-touch predator). The list in detail: Patrick goes insane and tries to kidnap [=SpongeBob=] when he goes to live with the jellyfish ("Nature Pants"), tries to, or so it could apprear, '''murder''' him and a bunch of strangers when he doesn't get anything - and everyone else around him does - for Valentines Day ("Valentine's Day"), had no issue convincing [=SpongeBob=] he's hideous way too much ("Something Smells"), abandons their plan to be 'grown-up' and leaves him hanging for some cookies ("Grandma's Kisses"), tries to sell [=SpongeBob=] out to the cops when he can't con him out of his last chocolate bar ("Life Of Crime"), rubs it in a decent bit Gary choosing him over [=SpongeBob=] in [=SpongeBob's=] face ("Dumped"), abruptly stabs [=SpongeBob=] in the back so he can continue looking like the smart one to his 'parents' ("I'm With Stupid"), immediately tries to squeal on [=SpongeBob=] to Mr. Krabs for swearing ("Sailor Mouth") and neglects the baby scallop Junior, leaving [=SpongeBob=] with all the work raising it for months on end while he sits around in his house watching TV ("Rock-A-Bye Bivalve"). Patrick was still somewhat well-meaning; episodes such as "Something Smells" make him come off as more InnocentlyInsensitive than intentionally cruel. Also, some of his deeds make it clear that he does not do this on purpose. [[note]] However, Patrick has implied several times that he's not as oblivious as he acts and that he's engaging in ObfuscatingStupidity, so it's more that his characterization [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the writer]]. [[/note]] The later seasons, however, do this far more often, and often make him out to be outright malicious, most notoriously in "The Card", where he ''states'' that he's self-aware of his own stupidity and tries to mix it up at times, heavily implying he isn't as stupid as he seems. Patrick eventually began to [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty face the consequences of his actions]] in later episodes.
** The pre-movie seasons have one of the more drastic cases of TookALevelInJerkass which was toned down post-movie, with Sandy becoming much more arrogant, and standoffish in Season Two. Since Sandy was an overwhelmingly intellectual, calmer character who tried to be polite originally, however, this usually only serves to make her a more flawed, but still reasonably likeable character that can contribute her own amount of humor, especially since (similar to the pre-movie Krabs examples) Sandy is usually brought back down to earth by the end of each story and still has glimpses of her original, saner character in other episodes.

* The show itself runs on NegativeContinuity and as such very little happens as a consequence of what went down in a previous episode. This didn't hurt the show early on since the writing and characters are often so strong that any continuity errors can be ignored. [[note]] Think the number of episodes where the Krusty Krab is either successful or on the verge of bankruptcy (such as "The Algae's Always Greener" for the former or "Patty Hype" for the latter).[[/note]] Even with the weaker episodes, this wasn't usually a complaint. This was finally no longer an excuse with "Are You Happy Now?" where people have said, among other things, that the premise of Squidward trying to find a happy memory since he's '''''never''''' had a happy memory, is hard to swallow.

** [=SpongeBob=] in later seasons is often criticized for being a {{Manchild}}. However, his immaturity has always been a part of his character; his entire story arc in the [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie first movie]] is centered around accepting that he acts like a kid. But it's only in later seasons that it began to [[{{Flanderization}} overshadow his other traits]], to the point where he's not only downright infantile but [[TookALevelInDumbass completely devoid of common sense]].

** Patrick is notorious for being a bad, selfish friend to [=SpongeBob=] in the post-movie seasons. It's often ignored by pre-movie fans that along with Patrick being a fellow troublemaker (prank-wise at least) and like-minded individual (through ignorance as well), there are several moments where he comes off as a bit of a jerk, and while it's more accidental, it pays heed to his relaxed but rough nature as a starfish (a literally rough-to-the-touch predator). The list in detail: Patrick goes insane and tries to kidnap [=SpongeBob=] when he goes to live with the jellyfish ("Nature Pants"), tries to, or so it could apprear, '''murder''' him and a bunch of strangers when he doesn't get anything - and everyone else around him does - for Valentines Day ("Valentine's Day"), had no issue convincing [=SpongeBob=] he's hideous way too much ("Something Smells"), abandons their plan to be 'grown-up' and leaves him hanging for some cookies ("Grandma's Kisses"), tries to sell [=SpongeBob=] out to the cops when he can't con him out of his last chocolate bar ("Life Of Crime"), rubs it in a decent bit Gary choosing him over [=SpongeBob=] in [=SpongeBob's=] face ("Dumped"), abruptly stabs [=SpongeBob=] in the back so he can continue looking like the smart one to his 'parents' ("I'm With Stupid"), immediately tries to squeal on [=SpongeBob=] to Mr. Krabs for swearing ("Sailor Mouth") and neglects the baby scallop Junior, leaving [=SpongeBob=] with all the work raising it for months on end while he sits around in his house watching TV ("Rock-A-Bye Bivalve"). Patrick was still somewhat well-meaning; episodes such as "Something Smells" make him come off as more InnocentlyInsensitive than intentionally cruel. Also, some of his deeds make it clear that he does not do this on purpose. [[note]] However, Patrick has implied several times that he's not as oblivious as he acts and that he's ObfuscatingStupidity, so it's more that his characterization [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on the writer]]. [[/note]] The later seasons, however, do this far more often, and often make him out to be outright malicious, most notoriously in "The Card", where he ''states'' that he's self-aware of his own stupidity and tries to mix it up at times, heavily implying he isn't as stupid as he seems. Patrick eventually began to [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty face the consequences of his actions]] in later episodes.

** Mr. Krabs in later seasons is infamous for his tendency to do underhanded, immoral, or even illegal things if it means turning a quick buck. However, even in the first three seasons he's shown to use tactics like [[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E19JellyfishHunterTheFryCookGames animal abuse and emotional manipulation]], [[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS3E15BornAgainKrabsIHadAnAccident forcing his employees to use an old, diseased patty and then selling SpongeBob's soul for 62 cents]], or even ''[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E20SquidOnStrikeSandySpongeBobAndTheWorm enslaving]]'' his employees. The difference, though, is that whenever he crosses a line in the first few seasons, he is generally punished for it or at least realizes he's wrong and tries to make amends for what he did.[[note]]To name a few examples from those three episodes, the jellyfish sting Mr. Krabs after [=SpongeBob=] releases them; he gets food poisoning and has to promise The Flying Dutchman to give up his greedy ways, then has a breakdown after Squidward chews him out for selling [=SpongeBob=]; and Squidward convinces [=SpongeBob=] to go on strike with him, and later unintentionally inspires him to tear down the Krusty Krab.[[/note]] In many later episodes, [[KarmaHoudini Krabs gets away with a slap on the wrist, if that]]. After many of his more controversial moments, most notoriously driving Plankton to [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] in "One Coarse Meal", the show began to address this sin and [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty give him comeuppance]] more often in later episodes.

** One of the ''biggest'' complaints people have with the modern series is the way they treat [[DesignatedMonkey Squidward]]. This was in the Pre-Movie episodes, believe it or not. Thing is, Squidward is an arrogant jerk at best who went against childish fun, and was someone the audience [[LoveToHate loves to hate]]. Whenever the episode is sympathetic, they usually bring in someone even worse, namely Squilliam. As such, the audience usually laughed at Squidward's misfortune and saw it as well-deserved karma. However, later episodes tone down Squidward's rudeness, so he starts coming across less as a jerk being punished for his actions and more like a CosmicPlaything who is being made miserable simply for wanting peace and quiet from [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's antics, making his misfortune less funny and getting fans to complain.

* Modern episodes like "A Pal for Gary" are infamous for [=SpongeBob=] being so stupid, he can not sense an obvious threat. The episode "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy III" depict him trusting some who gives an obvious line (see below) that Man Ray should not be trusted at all. However, the line came right after [=SpongeBob=] unintentionally annoyed Man Ray into saying it, giving it much better comedic timing that the former episode failed in. In addition, [=SpongeBob=] was foolish enough to let him out, but not foolish enough to do so without a backup plan, as he could protect himself using that tickle belt from Episode 17[[note]]As seen in Episode 17[[/note]].

** Not to mention that while post-movie Spongebob has, in infamous episodes such as "A Pal For Gary", been neglectful to the point of wall-thumping ignorance and also contradicted enough of his kinder nature by (even while defending a Krabby Patty he dated) attacking scallops in ways that seem to kill them depending on how serious the subject can be in this show, he has had some little mean streaks in the first few seasons. That includes running his mouth on others when he perceived them as annoying him a bit much ("The Smoking Peanut" and "New Student Starfish") or though them appearing reckless, not to mention such ignoramus tendencies leading to the conflict in "Squirrel Jokes". Note that Spongebob has always had some early-established scenes of frustration. Also, these early scenes (listed under JerkAssBall in his character sheet) were almost always under the same writer, though he apparently hardly ever wrote for Seasons 4 and up. The difference is that when Spongebob realized an error in some earlier stories, he was more likely to try and fix it than to let the plot save him.

* Recent episodes like "A Pal for Gary" are infamous for [=SpongeBob=] being so stupid, he can not sense an obvious threat. The episode "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy III" depict him trusting some who gives an obvious line (see below) that Man Ray should not be trusted at all. However, the line came right after [=SpongeBob=] unintentionally annoyed Man Ray into saying it, giving it much better comedic timing that the former episode failed in. In addition, [=SpongeBob=] was foolish enough to let him out, but not foolish enough to do so without a backup plan, as he could protect himself using that tickle belt from Episode 17[[note]]As seen in Episode 17[[/note]].

*** Not to mention that while post-movie Spongebob has, in infamous episodes such as "A Pal For Gary", been neglectful to the point of wall-thumping ignorance and also contradicted enough of his kinder nature by (while defending a Krabby Patty he dated) attacking scallops in ways that seem to kill them depending on how serious the subject can be in this show, he has had some mean streaks in the first few seasons, running his mouth on others when he perceived them as annoying him a bit much ("The Smoking Peanut" and "New Student Starfish") or though them appearing reckless, not to mention such ignoramus tendencies leading to "Squirrel Jokes". Note that Spongebob has always had both a potential lack of confidence and some early-established scenes of frustration as negative traits. Also these early scenes (listed under JerkAssBall in his character sheet) were almost always under writer Paul Tibbit, though he apparently hardly ever wrote for Seasons 4 and up. The difference is that when Spongebob realized an error in these earlier stories, he was more likely to try and fix it than let the plot save him.