SpongeBob SquarePants

"Well, he's ready, he's ready, he's ready... to fight these evil Coalition of the Red Star bastards that get into our way. Now we're at the brink of total control between the ASEAN and China. We better help this guy out, along with Patrick and Sandy. That's Team SpongeBob of course."

--Su Ji-Hoon, South China Sea

SpongeBob SquarePants is the main protagonist and eponymous character of the Nickelodeon animated comedy series of the same name, SpongeBob SquarePants. He was designed by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, and is voiced by Tom Kenny. He first appears in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted."

SpongeBob is a childish, joyful, eccentric sea sponge who lives in a pineapple on 124 Conch Street with his pet snail Gary and pet scallop Shelley in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. He works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, a job in which he is exceptionally skilled. He attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School, though has yet to receive a driver's license due to his inability to drive a boatmobile. SpongeBob lacks a lot of knowledge and is a constant annoyance to those around him, but he is very good-natured.

He appears in all of the episodes in the series, except for a SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "The Algae's Always Greener," in which his alternate-universe counterpart appears instead. He was soon to be Nickelodeon's main mascot.

In When the Cold Breeze Blows Away, he is the leader of Team SpongeBob.

Description
"I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!"

--SpongeBob SquarePants' catchphrase SpongeBob is a sea sponge, but he is drawn to resemble a kitchen sponge, being rectangular and light yellow with a light olive-green outline. In earlier episodes, he is wider near the top and gets skinnier going further down. However, in the more recent episodes, he is more of a regular square shape. SpongeBob has large light blue eyes, a long, slightly curved nose, a large mouth with two prominent front buck teeth, dimples with three freckles on each cheek, and light olive-green pores. Although vaguely seen in the series, he has light yellow hair, as seen on his driver's license and in a SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "The Sponge Who Could Fly."

He typically wears a white shirt with a scarlet-red tie, black leather shoes with white shoelaces, white socks with blue and red stripes, and brown rectangular pants with a black belt (the entire outfit is sometimes referred to as his "pants," hence his name). While working at the Krusty Krab, he wears a tall, white hat with a small blue anchor on it as a uniform. SpongeBob usually sleeps in his underwear, and at other times, pajamas (beginning with SpongeBob SquarePants season 5 [five]). However, he occasionally sleeps with his entire outfit on, which was more common in the show's earlier seasons.

Though SpongeBob has always been voiced by Tom Kenny, his voice has changed over the course of the series; his voice is lower than normal in the pilot episode and after the the first movie, his voice gets slightly higher-pitched. In season 8, his voice gets lower-pitched once again.

Personality
SpongeBob is a clueless, abnormal, immature, fun-loving, and hyperactive person with a happy-go-lucky personality. He is extremely determined and will often stop at nothing to accomplish a task. He is also somewhat dramatic to the people who are kind to him: for example, to the mailfish. He is also over-confident. Sometimes, though, he shows his devious side when trying to get Mr. Krabs and Plankton to work together. He sometimes tends to make mountains out of molehills, such as losing his name tag.

SpongeBob is very kind-hearted and innocent, and very rarely acts openly mean to anyone, even those who find him an annoyance and act cruel to him. He is a very selfless and loyal person, especially towards those close to him. His selfless nature is most notably shown in a SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Best Day Ever," where he sacrifices his "perfect day" to help his friends. Despite his well-meaning intentions, SpongeBob's actions often annoy and cause trouble for those around him, most notably his next-door neighbor, Squidward Tentacles.

SpongeBob can become scared easily and usually panics when frightened. He is afraid of the dark, and clowns. He also hates hot sauce. Occasionally, SpongeBob is too ignorant to notice impending danger and his unworldly thinking may put himself or others in peril. He also cannot detect lies or malice information as easy as the other characters, mainly due to his naive nature.

SpongeBob's innocence also makes him overly trusting and very gullible, and he is easily manipulated by people who intend to use and/or harm him, such as Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton; most noticeably, he is always easily fooled by Plankton no matter how bizarre or obvious his disguises are. Even though he is generally good-natured and easygoing, when frustrated and angered, SpongeBob can be sarcastic, rude, and "foul-mouthed" to his friends, even Mr. Krabs, whom he treats as a father figure. Ironically, Squidward is the only character whom SpongeBob never insults when he is angry, with the exception of the SpongeBob SquarePants episodes "Can You Spare a Dime?" and "Breath of Fresh Squidward."

Despite his overall kindness, SpongeBob occasionally shows a lack of empathy for others and thus forces people into situations against their will. For example, in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Rodeo Daze," he kidnaps the Bikini Bottomites with bubbles in persuasion for them to save Sandy from a rodeo. Additionally, in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "A SquarePants Family Vacation," he sends his friends letters promising that everything they love will be at his house, only for it to be a hoax and a plea for them to view his slideshow.

Although SpongeBob has several friends, and many of the citizens of Bikini Bottom often treat him quite friendly, most, if not all, citizens of the city have been shown to have some degree of dislike for him. In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Gone," it is shown that a holiday called "National No SpongeBob Day" has been started by the citizens of Bikini Bottom. As its name suggests, it is an entire day dedicated to getting away from SpongeBob, where the people leave Bikini Bottom for the day. Even Patrick goes, stating that everyone needs at least one day away from SpongeBob's laughter. In the ceremony, they build a giant wooden effigy of SpongeBob, burn it down, dance on the ashes, and depart Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is more honored than insulted by this, as he was the "inspiration" for the holiday.