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SpongeBob dreams of obtaining his boating license but fails every [[Driving Test|driving test]] he takes, usually causing mass destruction and endangering his teacher [[Non-Giving-Up-School Guy|Mrs. Puff]] in the process. While he may be a reckless driver, SpongeBob is a fantastic fry cook who serves delicious Krabby Patty burgers to the townspeople of Bikini Bottom. He also has a [[Accidental Hero|knack for saving the day]] from the [[The Napoleon|tiny villain]] [[Harmless Villain|Plankton]] and his [[Talking Appliance Sidekick|talking computer sidekick]] Karen. They own a rival restaurant called the Chum Bucket and go to desperate lengths to steal the successful the Krabby Patty formula. As proven time and time again, [[Failure Is the Only Option|failure is the only option]] for them.
Other friends include Gary, SpongeBob's [[Sapient Pet|smart pet snail]] who communicates by meowing like a cat; Pearl, Mr. Krabs' teenage daughter who is a [[Huge Schoolgirl|gigantic sperm whale]]; and Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob's Texas-accented squirrel friend [[Fish Out of Water|who lives in an underwater dome]] and ventures forth wearing a bubble-helmet diving suit. The show is in a constant state of underwater bizarreness, frequently using the [[Rule of Funny]] (apparently a wood fire is possible underwater as long as you [[Puff of Logic|don't point it out]]). Funnily enough, series creator Stephen Hillenburg
The show, first broadcast in 1999, has since aired over 250 episodes and is currently in its thirteenth season, which premiered on October 22, 2020. It proved to be a '''huge''' success with both kids and adults. Kids enjoy the bright colors and silly characters, while adults appreciate its writing, wit, and a long list of parental bonuses and [[SpongeBob SquarePants/Radar|Getting Crap Past the Radar]].
''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'' came out in 2004, followed by a sequel, ''[[The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water]]'' in 2015
''SpongeBob'' has had several [[Licensed Game|video game]] [[SpongeBob SquarePants (video game)|adaptations of the show]], with [[The Problem with Licensed Games|many at the quality you would expect]] - a few, like ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom]]'' and ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game'', are [[No Problem With Licensed Games|considered surprisingly good]].
{{tropenamer}}
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Abnormal Limb Rotation Range]]: Happens every once in a while to random characters.
* [[Accidental Dance Craze]]: Patrick starts one by being
* [[Accidental Marriage]]:
** In
{{quote| '''Mermaid Man''': Listen up you villains, I wanna eat my meat loaf! Now if you don't get out of here, then with the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife!
'''Warden''': What is going on here?
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'''Patrick''': ''(SpongeBob is thrown out of Shady Shoals and rolls home, where Patrick is waiting for him)'' Did you reunite our heroes?
'''SpongeBob''': No. But I'm married. }}
:* In "Truth or Square", Sandy and SpongeBob act out a marriage without telling the very real priest it was just a play.
* [[Acid Trip Dimension]]:
** The Fly of Despair from "Shanghaied".
** The titular "land" from "Squidward in Clarinetland".
* [[Acting Unnatural]]:
** In "Life of Crime", SpongeBob and Patrick are panicking because (they think) they stole a balloon. SpongeBob advises, "Just act natural" - then, whether out of nerves or sheer stupidity, both of them start gibbering and acting crazy. They are immediately surrounded by a crowd who mistake them for street performers.
** In the episode "Boating School", when SpongeBob is asked to act natural, he gets on all fours and starts grazing like a cow.
** Inverted in
{{quote|'''Student:''' (looking down at Spongebob in the toilet) Oh, that's real nice.}}
* [[Adam Westing]]:
** Done with the actual [[Adam West]] and [[Burt Ward]] playing the younger versions of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, who are usually played by [[Ernest Borgnine]] and [[Tim Conway]] respectively, in an obvious homage to [[Batman (TV series)|the 1960's ''Batman'']].
** ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'': "I'm [[David Hasselhoff]]!" "Hooray!"
* [[Adult Child]]: SpongeBob's actual age is very difficult to guess. He lives independently, has a job, is trying for his "boating license"... and acts very much like a five-year-old. While there's never been any outright confirmation, some episodes and movies do touch on this:
** The dream sequence in "Sleepy Time" has his birthday listed as July 14, 1986 on a driver's license, which would make him 13 at the time of the episode's airing.
** Based on the number of times SpongeBob won Employee of The Month in ''[[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie]]'', he is somewhere around thirty, which is young for a sponge. The movie also [[Playing With|plays with this]] by making his immaturity the reason he was passed over for a promotion to manager - when King Neptune accuses Mr. Krabs of stealing his crown, they are interrupted by SpongeBob ([[Does This Remind You of Anything?|"drunk" from several ice cream sundaes]]), who proceeds to rant about his missed promotion.
** "SpongeBob LongPants" also plays with this, with the salesman assuring SpongeBob that the longer pants make him look more mature.
* [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Karen plays and subverts this to an extent. She is seemingly more competent and intelligent than Plankton, usually serving as the source of Plankton's plans. However, in newer episodes, she becomes more preoccupied with [[Deadpan Snarker|pointing out Plankton's stupidity]] than helping him.
** In addition, nearly anything technological that SpongeBob or Squidward buy is bound to work wrong in some manner, like Le Spatula or Squidward's house security system.
* [[Alliterative Title]]
* [[All Just a Dream]]: The episodes "{{spoiler|Procrastination" and "Doing Time}}
* [[Alternative Foreign Theme Song]]: Rip Slyme wrote a new ending theme song for the Japanese version. You can find it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eMyzohXUmQ here].
* [[Amusing Injuries]]:
**
** In "Krabby Land" SpongeBob hurts himself to amuse children for Mr. Krabs.
** Spongebob's arm(s) coming loose is a somewhat frequent gag as well:
*** One episode has SpongeBob offering to "lend a hand". Cue him pulling off one arm with the other, only have have another pop out instantly until the ''ground is covered with yellow arms''.
*** This occurs several times in "MuscleBob BuffPants" during SpongeBob's [[Training Montage]].
*** In "Graveyard Shift", as Squidward is telling SpongeBob a scary story about a man who chopped his hand off with a knife, SpongeBob doesn't understand that fish's arms don't grow back like his (even Squidward is shocked it doesn't hurt SpongeBob at all) - naturally, he SpongeBob freaks out upon Squidward telling him this. While Squidward continues the story, he begins biting his nails, which transitions into him [[Auto Cannibalism|eating his arms repeatedly]], followed by outright holding a bucket full of arms to nervously chew on.
* [[Angrish]]:
** Happens in "Krusty Love" when SpongeBob finally loses patience with Mr. Krabs.
{{quote|'''Spongebob:''' "Ah regga fregga smelinolin Mr. Krabs! Yugga hugga hollin wallet! Zibby mibby spibb! Yolla holla '''MR. KRABS WALLET!!!'''"
'''Mrs. Puff:''' (as SpongeBob walks away grumbling) "I had no idea SpongeBob had such a colorful vocabulary..."}}
::* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EatgIocOvl4&NR=1 It's even better in the German dub.] The Dutch dub, meanwhile, actually uses censor bleeps. No kidding. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjRMcQZwxQk&feature=related See for yourselves.]
** Also happens in "Karate Choppers".
* [[Annoying Laugh]]: SpongeBob's tradmark laugh is considered this by quite a few of his friends (and of course, Squidward).
** In "Something Smells", SpongeBob is trying to figure out why everyone's been avoiding him. Patrick ponders:
{{quote|'''Patrick''': Maybe it's your voice.
'''SpongeBob''': Dahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaa!... [[Sarcasm Mode|good one, Patrick.]] }}
:* "Funny Pants" has Squidward trying to figure out a way to stop SpongeBob laughing constantly.
:* "Larry's Gym" has Larry note that he finds SpongeBob's laugh annoying as well.
* [[Anti-Advice]]: In "Pizza Delivery", when SpongeBob and Squidward get lost together, SpongeBob predicts which way to go using his pioneering skills. Squidward goes the opposite way. The camera then pans over to show that their houses are just over a ridge in the direction SpongeBob wanted to go.
* [[Anything But That]]:
** In "The Splinter", Squidward finds out about SpongeBob's splinter and threatens to tell Mr. Krabs about it [[Workaholic|so he'll have to leave work early]].
** "The Battle of Bikini Bottom" has SpongeBob giving [[The Pig Pen|Patrick]] a pedicure, [[Slobs Versus Snobs|much to his chagrin]].
* [[April Fool's Plot]]: "Fools in April".
* [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?]]:
{{quote|
'''SpongeBob''':
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Plenty of times.
{{quote|
{{quote|
:* SpongeBob after stumbling upon Patrick and Squidward in Squidward's bathroom in "Naughty Nautical Neighbors":
{{quote|
{{quote|
** From "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V":
{{quote|'''Barnacle Man:''' 1. I want to be treated like a superhero, not a sidekick.
2. I want to be called "Barnacle ''Man''".
3. I want an adult
** When Mrs. Puff is stealing SpongeBob's new boat, he's not letting go for giant clams, cheese graters, and... EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION!? OH NO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
** From "Life of Crime":
{{quote|'''Patrick:''' "We're not talking about some dumb mail fraud scheme or hijacking here... WE STOLE A BALLOON! And they're gonna lock us up forever!"}}
** In "Graveyard Shift";
{{quote|
* [[Art Attacker]]: In
** Fun Trivia Point: the artist himself, briefly seen in live-action at the start and close of this episode
* [[Art Evolution]]: Season one looks very different. It was the only season to use hand-painted traditional animation cels, and some character designs are slightly different. With season two, the series abandoned cels in favour of the newer digital ink-and-paint process. The series evolved slightly more after [[The Movie]], in which the animation is more fluid and a little closer to that of the movie.
* [[The Artifact]]: Recent seasons just barely acknowledge the fact that Bikini Bottom takes place underwater. Some episodes contain underwater ''thunderstorms'', for example.
* [[Art Shift]]:
** Many occur in "Truth or Square": The opening is redone in really trippy stop-motion (with a new theme by Cee-Lo), a sequence [[Retraux|made to look like an old 1950's-esque TV commercial]], and another [[Retraux]] sequence made to look like an old 1920's [[Mickey Mouse]] cartoon that shows SpongeBob going to work, and [[The Hill ''every single thing has a face''.
* [[Ascended Meme]]
** "Are You Happy Now?" seems to have been inspired by the "Squidward's Suicide" [[Creepypasta]]. [[Dude, Not Funny|Why they'd chose that of all memes to ascend...]]
** Another SpongeBob Creepypasta meme gets ascended in "SpongeBob in Randomland", when a face similar to Red Mist Squidward makes an appearance. (It's replaced with [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|a baby Squidward]] in later airings.)
* [[Ascetic Aesthetic]]: Squidward time-travelling into [[Ironic Hell|the middle of nowhere]].
* [[Ass Shove]]: Implied in "Spy Buddies" while Patrick is wearing [[It Makes Sense in Context|a pair of shorts with a built in pay-phone/walkie-talkie]].
{{quote|'''Disembodied Techno-Female Voice:''' If you would like to make a call, please insert twenty-five cents. ''(SpongeBob produces a quarter)''}}
* [[At Arm's Length]]: Krabs and Plankton.
* [[Attack Backfire]]: In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy", when Mermaid Man attacks Spongebob with his trademark Water Balls, SpongeBob enjoys it.
* [[Author Appeal]]: The show was created by a former marine biologist. In all honesty, could you imagine anybody else creating a cartoon about a talking sea sponge?
* [[Autobots Rock Out]]: At the climax of [[The Movie]].
* [[Auto Cannibalism]]: [[Played for Laughs]]
* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: [http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr15/Acedude55/SaltySpitoon.jpg The Salty Spitoon.] Also mocked in [[The Movie]].
* [[Bad Job, Worse Uniform]]:
* [[Based on a Great Big Lie]]:
** This wakes up the Flying Dutchman, who comes to take his treasure back, but is willing to share a couple of doubloons with SpongeBob and Patrick. Mr. Krabs is rewarded for his greed with... a plastic treasure chest.
{{quote|'''The Flying Dutchman:''' But it's based on a '''''real''''' treasure chest!"}}
* [[Beach Bury]]:
** In the episode "Ripped Pants", one of the "losers" on the beach is a whale
** In "Bubble Buddy", SpongeBob buries Scooter and then asks Bubble Buddy, his [[Companion Cube|inanimate friend]], to unbury him before the tide raises. Later, when the annoyed beachgoers list Bubble Buddy's offenses:
{{quote|Scooter (as an angel): Dude, he made me experience high tide! (laughs as he ascends to heaven)}}
:* [[Harsher in Hindsight]] when it's revealed Bubble Buddy was [[Real After All]]... and just let Scooter die.
* [[Beach Episode]]: Several episodes take place at the Goo Lagoon, the favorite place of Bikini Bottomites who need to take a dip.
** ''Ripped Pants'' has a sizeable portion on the beach.
** As does ''MuscleBob BuffPants''.
** ''Walking Small'' is the first to fully take place on the beach. And it ends with SpongeBob participating in a volleyball game... [[Be the Ball|as the volleyball]]. [[It Makes Sense in Context|Yeah]].
** ''SpongeGuard on Duty'' has SpongeBob attempt to be a lifeguard... [[Epic Fail|and fail miserably]].
** ''Sand Castles in the Sand'' makes SpongeBob and Patrick duke it out... with [[Humongous Mecha]] made out of sand. Definitely one of those that has to be seen to be believed.
* [[Being Watched]]: From "Jellyfish Hunter", while SpongeBob walks home from work, a blue jellyfish from earlier begins to follow him, resulting in this exchange:
{{quote|'''Spongebob:''' It feels like someone... wants to sell me something!
([[Beat]])
(Spongebob continues walking along nervously)
'''Salesman (behind a rock, to fellow salesman)''': [[Properly Paranoid|I told you he was onto us!]]}}
* [[Berserk Button]]: Whatever you do, NEVER call Patrick "tubby". Or eat his chocolate bars and lollipops... you flatfoots !
** Even more so in the the video game version of Truth or Square, where when SpongeBob called Patrick tubby, Patrick turns into a huge one-eyed robot intent on crushing SpongeBob with a mace. {{spoiler|1=Though the battle apparently only happened in SpongeBob's head as SpongeBob was in Plankton's machine the ENTIRE time.}}
** Don't mess up his name tag either.
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* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: In "Opposite Day", Squidward doesn't get to sell his house, but he DOES get to [[Crowning Moment of Funny|chase SpongeBob and Patrick into the distance with a bulldozer]]. In "Enchanted Tiki Dreams" the Tiki Land burns but Squidward gets to knock SpongeBob and Patrick over with a boat swing at the end.
** "Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful". Squidward manages to one-up Squilliam, but get a littering ticket for the umpteenth time.
* [[
** The other giant objects that the characters live in. Although they're only giant in comparison with the characters, [[Doing in the Wizard|according to]] the movie.
** Well, most of the important buildings follow a sort of a theme, in that they're the sort of things that might appear as decor in fishtanks. Moai, rocks, treasure chests, etc.
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{{quote| ''"We're like brothers...only closer."''}}
* [[Conspicuously Light Patch]]: Although the ones in older episodes could be attributed to the fairly small budgets at the time, the newer, more [[Nickelodeon]]-backed episodes have no such [[Hand Wave|(weak) excuse]].
** One particularly [[Egregious]] example is the episode "Can You Spare a Dime?", where SpongeBob pokes Squidward's animated nose, and the ''entire rest of his head'' is a much-darker matte painting (see 9:34-9:40 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219024930/http://
* [[Continuity Nod]]: One of the thugs that wants to enter the Salty Spitoon tells about how he ate a bowl of nails for breakfast. "Without any milk!". In [[The Movie]] one of the thugs in the bar is shown eating a bowl of nails. And yes, without milk.
** In the April Fools episode, Patrick mistakenly says a depressed SpongeBob was "impressed" by Squidward's [[Comedic Sociopathy|prank]]. In Squidward's Tiki Land, Patrick mentions a time he was feeling "impressed".
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* [[Cowboy Episode]]: "Pest of the West"
* [[Crack Defeat]]: In the episode 'The Great Snail Race' had SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick's pet snails ([[The Unintelligible|Gary]], Snellie, and [[Companion Cube|Rocky]] respectively)pitting against each other. Snellie, who is a pure-breed snail, would've won, but she forfeited and comforted an overworked Gary. So the winner? Rocky! It needs to be said that Rocky was an [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|actual rock]]. How it legitimately got to the finish line was [[Offscreen Teleportation|never explained.]]
* [[Crane Game Gag]]: In the episode "Skill Crane", Squidward becomes addicted to a crane game that his boss Mr. Krabs installs. Mr. Krabs further enables the addiction so he can get more quarters from his employee. Ironically, Spongebob keeps winning toys without even trying. In the climax, Squidward gets so addicted that he hijacks a ''real'' crane that rapidly goes out of control.
* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: [[Depending on the Writer]], but Bikini Bottom definitely fits the bill in certain episodes.
* [[Crazy Consumption]]: Squidward eats Krabby Patties until he blows up.
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* [[Cross-Popping Veins]]: Squidward does it towards the end of both "Tentacle-Vision" and "Squid's Visit".
* [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]: Plankton. He is a scientific genius, capable of creating time machines and the like, (among other things that could be tweaked to benefit all ocean life) and yet he insists on working his way up to the top by running a dingy restaurant whose food is [[Human Resources]]. Oh, and trying to steal the Krabby Patty recipe, despite the fact that as long as Krabs is also in business, he'll get all the customers because of the aforementioned dinginess of his restaurant. This was worked around in Plan Z, which [[You Meddling Kids|would have worked if he had tried this ingenious plan from the beginning, before Krabs hired]] SpongeBob, instead of using countless plans that were doomed to fail.
* [[Dance Sensation]]: "The Sponge". Everybody besides SpongeBob and Pearl get mangled up badly, and all [[Crosses The Line Twice|while a peppy rock song is playing!]]
* [[The Danza]]: In "Mermaid Man Begins", the real names of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are revealed to be Ernie and Tim. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are voiced by [[Ernest Borgnine]] and Tim Conway, respectively.
* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]: Implied for Mrs. Puff.
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* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Krabs versus Plankton (in newer episodes).
* [[Expanded Universe]]
* [[Extreme Doormat]]: SpongeBob in some episodes, most notably "Walking Small". As Plankton puts it, "he's like stairs", and the ending (in which he literally becomes [[Be The Ball|a volleyball]] for the whole beach to use) proves how much he really does care about others. Unless the episode calls for otherwise, anyway.
* [[Extra! Extra! Read All About It!]]: "Maniac strikes Bikini Bottom! City paralyzed with fear!"
* [[Eye Scream]]: Crops up a number of times.
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'''Harold (in German accent):''' Yeah, for the fireman!
'''All:''' Hooray! }}
* [[Rubber Man]]: SpongeBob. Balls, kites, surfboards, you name it, he can become one. Of course, he's a sponge, and sponge material is easily moldable in real life.
** The more traditional superhero sense is spoofed in ''Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V'': Patrick gets the powers of Elastic Waistband, but he ends up seriously mangled (and unable to reform back) from a misguided attempt to help SpongeBob (who's The Quickster). Also, touching his arms with his toes is apparently something Patrick always wanted to do. Who knew?
* [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]]: Man Ray
* [[Ruined FOREVER]]: Mocked [[In-Universe]]. Patchy's reaction upon seeing "just a bunch of cheap walk cycles", thinking it was the [[Missing Episode|lost episode]] he was excitedly counting down to. He threw out all of his SpongeBob stuff, even his [[Goofy Print Underwear]] by ripping it ''out of his pants.''
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* [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]]: Patrick had to go undercover (because he thinks someone is going to kick him out of town), so he dressed up as "Patricia". SpongeBob had to tell a few folks "she" wasn't his GF.
* [[Ship Tease]]: SpongeBob and Sandy (occasionally).
** If ''The Chaperone'' and ''Bossy Boots'' are anything, SpongeBob has some chemistry with Pearl too. In the former she tries to kiss SpongeBob on the lips (and SpongeBob actually reaches out to kiss back) and in the latter she outright pecks him on the forehead.
** That being said, it's advisable not to read too much into either of these pairings. Stephen Hillenburg has stated outright that SpongeBob is asexual (in the sponge sense of "not reproducing sexually", not the human sense of "not having any sexual attraction") just to ward off the shippers, and SpongeBob, being a cartoon that's meant to run on [[Rule of Funny]] is probably not the show to watch if you're into fictional relationships.
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy reference both the [[Batman (TV series)|Batman TV series]] and [[Aquaman|Aquaman and Aqualad and Manta Ray is based off of Black Manta]].
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]
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[[Category:Animal Title Index]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:Nickelodeon]]
[[Category:Memetic Works]]
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