50+ Best Spongebob Squarepants Characters

The best SpongeBob SquarePants characters include SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Gary the Snail, and Sheldon J. Plankton, but Bikini Bottom is packed with far more than the main crew. From one-off gags and movie royalty to the iconic core cast, these are the sea-dwellers who soak up the laughs one bubble at a time. Here’s a guide to the characters worth knowing, plus a full cast list at the end.

SpongeBob SquarePants Characters

Welcome to a deep dive on Bikini Bottom’s zaniest sea creatures. From Sandy’s “Eureka!” moments to the whole pineapple-under-the-sea crew, it’s a roast and toast to the characters dreamed up by Stephen Hillenburg, marine biologist by trade and animation legend by talent. At the center is SpongeBob himself, the sponge who can light up a room (even underwater), surrounded by a colorful crew of perfectly imperfect sea-dwellers.

Mrs. Tentacles

Squidward’s mother first sashays onto the scene in “Fools in April” with a fresh, wrinkle-free look that sets her apart from the usual suspects: puffy white hair, a turquoise complexion, and lashes for days. Her design has shifted over the years (in “Krusty Towers” she’s a purple-haired, bespectacled vision in pink with gold accessories), but she’s settled into a granny-chic look that’s stuck around like barnacles on a hull.

Princess Mindy

King Neptune’s teenage daughter swims into the spotlight in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Around 13 to 14 years old (per character designer Sherm Cohen), she knows her sea critters inside out and becomes fast friends with SpongeBob and Patrick, forming a trio of undersea camaraderie. Patrick clearly has a soft spot for her, though it stays sweet and silly in classic kids’-show fashion.

King Poseidon

The big baddie of Sponge on the Run rules the Lost City of Atlantic City with vanity that outshines the neon. His whole scheme revolves around an anti-aging obsession: he relies on snail slime for his skincare, and when the supply runs dry, it’s dungeon-time for the current gastropod and in slides the next one, which is exactly how poor Gary ends up in trouble. A skincare routine that’s truly the snail’s pace.

Bubble Buddy

Born from loneliness and SpongeBob’s impressive lung capacity, Bubble Buddy is the bubble friend SpongeBob blows into existence during a bout of the blues. Comedy ensues as SpongeBob’s one-man-and-his-bubble show draws side-eyes from all of Bikini Bottom, who can’t figure out why he’s chatting up a floaty, soapy sidekick that’s just a breath away from a pop.

Harold and Margaret SquarePants

SpongeBob’s parents are a fashion-forward duo. Harold rocks a distinguished-gentleman look with a silvery mustache, bifocals, a crisp white shirt, and a hat tall enough to have its own weather system. Margaret sashays in shades of purple, from her matchbox dress to her sky-high heels, finished with bracelets, a pillbox hat, and a string of pearls. Call them the ocean’s answer to Audrey Hepburn.

Larry the Lobster

Larry the Lobster is Goo Lagoon’s resident beefcake and Bikini Bottom’s most good-natured bodybuilder. Buff bod, even bigger heart: his sunny disposition and can-do attitude bring a special kind of humor to the mix, and behind the brawn he’s a total softie. In a town that’s anything but normal, Larry plays the “normal” strongman, which somehow makes him stand out even more.

Karen Plankton

Karen is the zinger-slinging supercomputer who puts the byte in bitter. Married to a pint-sized plotter with an oversized scheme portfolio, she serves as Plankton’s sardonic sidekick and strategy brain, mixing ones and zeros with a twist of lemon: tart, sharp, and refreshingly robotic. For a bunch of circuits, she shows more humanity than you’d expect, and her code concocts a healthy share of the show’s best quips.

Pearl Krabs

Pearl is the ocean’s own diva of the deep, a whale with a flair for the dramatic. She’s a whirlwind of teen angst and aquatic aerobics, navigating the treacherous tides of high school and BFFs with a father whose wallet snaps shut faster than a clam. A whale daughter for a crab dad is exactly the marine-biology mashup we never knew we needed, and underneath the drama she’s got a heart roomier than the Krusty Krab on free-patty day.

Mrs. Puff

Mrs. Puff is the perpetually puffed-up, ever-enduring driving instructor behind SpongeBob’s endless boating blunders. Her patience rivals a saint on sedatives, especially with SpongeBob behind the wheel, and voice actor Mary Jo Catlett animates her every weary sigh. As the unwilling straight man to SpongeBob’s relentless cheer, she’s the emblem of endurance: hope floats, even if her car usually doesn’t.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy

Bikini Bottom’s caped retirees serve up a splash of spandex-clad superhero spoofery, like your favorite golden-age crime-fighters if they’d traded punches for prune juice. The mix of naivete, grown-up giggles, and pure nonsense is the secret spice, with heroes who save the day between soap-opera binges and shouts for meatloaf.

The Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman is the ghostliest, ghastliest spirit of the ocean deep, but he’s more than a one-note spook. He’s got surprising layers, even a soft side and a ghostly yearning for company beneath the chilling charm. He adds a real phantom dimension to Bikini Bottom, proving that even ghosts have souls, sort of.

Gary the Snail

Gliding in with a meow, Gary the snail is the silent-but-wise oddball of the cast, delivering laughs and surprising insight without a single word. He’s SpongeBob’s pet, partner in shenanigans, occasional life coach, and non-verbal venting buddy, communicating volumes through eye gymnastics and a single perfectly-timed meow.

Squilliam Fancyson

Squilliam Fancyson is the opulent octopus who flaunts his fabulous life with a sneer and a swagger, the rich-and-famous foil to Squidward’s everyman. He carries tall tales and an even taller ego, and he has an uncanny knack for showing up at exactly the right moment to turn Squidward’s day sour, seasoning the show with a dash of delicious disdain.

King Neptune

King Neptune reigns as the trident-toting sea god with a god-sized ego. He’s the king of self-love and undersea overstatement, yet he’s prone to the same goofy antics as everyone else in Bikini Bottom. His dramatic, ham-heavy delivery turns every tantrum into comedy gold, and his episodes are a treasure trove of over-the-top, godly gags.

Sheldon Plankton

Plankton may be micro in size, but his dreams could dwarf the entire SpongeBob villain lineup. Tiny but with a tidal wave of ambition, he’s the adorably inept antagonist forever working on Plan Z to steal the Krabby Patty formula. He’s so determined you’d almost trade your own patty to see him win just once, and his digital romance with Karen adds a real byte of heart to his schemes.

Sandy Cheeks

Sandy Cheeks is the squirrel who’s nuts about science and karate, an astronaut-squirrel hybrid breathing a bubble of Texas in the ocean’s depths. She’s SpongeBob’s bestie with a black belt in fun, marches to the beat of her own drum, and brings lassos, line dancing, and the occasional underwater BBQ. More than a character, she’s a celebration of smarts, strength, and Southern sass.

Mr. Krabs

Mr. Krabs is the crustacean overlord of cash and the Krusty Krab, a walking satire of the almighty dollar who squeezes a buck so tight Washington’s wig would pop off. Under the hard shell, though, he’s got a soft spot for his whale daughter Pearl and his beloved restaurant, and his endless tug-of-war with Plankton spices up the show like a secret formula.

Patrick Star

Patrick Star is the not-so-sharp but endlessly lovable goofball of the cast. He may not light up a room, but he sure knows how to light up a smile, with a worldview about as complicated as a jellyfish’s daily planner. His bond with SpongeBob runs as deep as the Mariana Trench, and every so often he drops a surprise wisdom bomb that proves even the goofiest sea creature has his own shade of genius.

Squidward Tentacles

Squidward Tentacles is the deliciously dour counterpart to the cast’s sunnier dispositions, permanently perched between a grimace and an eye-roll. A clarinet-clutching arts aficionado in a sea of simplicity, he’s the yin to SpongeBob’s yang, but his shell occasionally cracks to reveal a tender side. In his own grumpy way, he’s the show’s deepest dive into the quest for creative fulfillment.

SpongeBob SquarePants

Topping it all off with his trademark giggle is SpongeBob SquarePants himself. More than a sponge, he’s a genuine tidal wave in pop culture, a recipe of one part giggle, two parts positivity, and an endless stream of innocence. He sees the silver lining in every slip-up and the good in every guppy, championing the cause of finding the awesome in the average and turning the daily dive into a deep-sea adventure.

Patchy the Pirate

Patchy the Pirate, played by Tom Kenny (SpongeBob’s own voice actor), is the live-action host of SpongeBob SquarePants, presenting special episodes and Nickelodeon segments from his home in Encino, Los Angeles. His co-host, Potty the Parrot, is forever starting arguments and mischief. Patchy debuted in the episode “Christmas Who?” and is the self-appointed president of the fictional SpongeBob Fan Club he founded, with a house that’s a full shrine to SpongeBob and pirate memorabilia, right down to a wooden boat on wheels for a vehicle.

Best Side Characters in SpongeBob

Running for more than two decades, SpongeBob SquarePants has built a deep bench of minor and background characters who steal scenes in their own right. A few favorites:

• Old Man Jenkins: an elderly fish with many incarnations over the years, usually the wise, often bewildered senior citizen of Bikini Bottom.
• The Alaskan Bull Worm: the massive creature behind one of the most memorable SpongeBob adventures.
• Man Ray: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy’s main nemesis, whose attempts at villainy and run-ins with the elderly heroes are pure entertainment.
• The Tattletale Strangler: one of the show’s more menacing villains, whose failed attempts to live up to his scary name (thanks to SpongeBob’s innocence) always end in laughs.
• Fred: the source of the famous “My leg!” running gag, whose frequent mishaps made him a fan favorite.
• Bubble Bass: an early SpongeBob rival whose deviousness and love of Krabby Patties make him fun to hate.
• Potty the Parrot: Patchy the Pirate’s sidekick, adding to the whimsy of the live-action segments.
• Tom: a background character forever caught in unfortunate situations thanks to the main cast’s antics.
• DoodleBob: SpongeBob’s crudely drawn doppelganger, whose chaotic nature and garbled language made for a frequently-quoted episode.
• Realistic Fish Head: a true-to-life trout from the opening theme who pops up as a news anchor throughout the series.
• Anchovies: the slender, chinny schooling fish that frequently flood the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Full Cast & Crew

1. SpongeBob SquarePants – Tom Kenny
2. Patrick Star – Bill Fagerbakke
3. Squidward Tentacles – Rodger Bumpass
4. Mr. Eugene Krabs – Clancy Brown
5. Sandy Cheeks – Carolyn Lawrence
6. Sheldon J. Plankton – Mr. Lawrence (also known as Doug Lawrence)
7. Mrs. Puff – Mary Jo Catlett
8. Pearl Krabs – Lori Alan
9. Karen Plankton – Jill Talley
10. Mermaid Man – Ernest Borgnine (until his passing in 2012, with archived recordings and other solutions afterward)
11. Barnacle Boy – Tim Conway (until his passing in 2019, with archived recordings and other solutions afterward)
12. Gary the Snail – Tom Kenny (meowing sounds)
13. The Flying Dutchman – Brian Doyle-Murray
14. Patchy the Pirate – Tom Kenny
15. Larry the Lobster – Doug Lawrence (Mr. Lawrence)
16. Bubble Bass – Dee Bradley Baker
17. Man Ray – John Rhys-Davies (initially), Bob Joles (later episodes)
18. Dirty Bubble – Charles Nelson Reilly (original episodes), Tom Kenny (some later appearances)
19. Old Man Jenkins – Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kenny, and others
20. DoodleBob – Paul Tibbitt
21. King Neptune – John O’Hurley (“Party Pooper Pants”), Jeffrey Tambor (“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”), Kevin Michael Richardson (“The Clash of Triton”)
22. Princess Mindy – Scarlett Johansson (“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”)
23. Tom – Doug Lawrence (Mr. Lawrence), Dee Bradley Baker (varies)
24. Fred – Doug Lawrence (Mr. Lawrence), Tom Kenny (varies)
25. Realistic Fish Head (Johnny Elaine) – Doug Lawrence (Mr. Lawrence)
26. Harold – Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kenny, and others
27. Perch Perkins – Dee Bradley Baker
28. Bubble Buddy – J.D. Crew
29. Kevin C. Cucumber – Dee Bradley Baker
30. Squilliam Fancyson – Rodger Bumpass
31. Grandma SquarePants – Mary Jo Catlett (most episodes), Marion Ross (“Grandma’s Kisses”)
32. Mama Krabs – Paul Tibbitt (“Sailor Mouth”), Sirena Irwin (other episodes)
33. Bubble Poppin’ Boys Leader – Ray Liotta
34. Cyclops – Neil Ross (“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”)
35. The Alaskan Bull Worm – Dee Bradley Baker
36. David Hasselhoff – Himself (“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”)
37. Howard Blandy – Alton Brown
38. Jack Kahuna Laguna – Johnny Depp (“SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One”)
39. Stanley S. SquarePants – Christopher Guest
40. Betsy Krabs – Sirena Irwin
41. Smitty WerbenJagerManJensen – Dee Bradley Baker
42. Kelpy G – Rodney Bingenheimer
43. Mrs. Tentacles – Rodger Bumpass
44. BlackJack – John DiMaggio
45. Flats the Flounder – Thomas F. Wilson
46. Goofy Goober – Dee Bradley Baker (“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie”)
47. Potty the Parrot – Stephen Hillenburg (early episodes), Paul Tibbitt (later episodes)
48. Big Sister Sam – Alesha Reneé

That’s a tour through the best SpongeBob SquarePants characters, from the main crew to the deep-cut side cast. Who’s your favorite resident of Bikini Bottom, or which one did I leave out? Let me know in the comments.