SpongeBob

"SpongeBob Is Ready!"

SpongeBob SquarePants is the protagonist of the Nickelodeon cartoon franchise of the same name, debuting in 1999 with the airing of "Help Wanted".

He is also a playable character in Nexed.

Real-World History
SpongeBob was created by the late Stephen Hillenburg, who had been fascinated with the ocean and its life since he was a child. While employed at the Ocean Institute in California, he created a comic book dubbed The Intertidal Zone, which sought to educate the public about marine science. This comic featured a character known as Bob the Sponge, who would go on to be the "prototype" version of SpongeBob.

After leaving the Ocean Institute to pursue a career in animation, Hillenburg met writer Martin Olson, who had read The Intertidal Zone and encouraged him to make a cartoon based on it. Hillenburg decided to reuse Bob the Sponge as the show's protagonist, but redesigned him to give him a blockier design as opposed to his more realistic appearance from The Intertidal Zone. After a number of redesigns, SpongeBob's iconic look was complete and was given a somewhat childish personality inspired by comedian Jerry Lewis. While SpongeBob was originally meant to be dubbed SpongeBoy (with the show's name being SpongeBoy Ahoy!), copyright issues led to the character and show both being renamed to SpongeBob SquarePants.

After being pitched to Nickelodeon, SpongeBob SquarePants first aired in May 1999 with the episode "Help Wanted". It would then go on to become one of Nick's most valuable franchises, being seen as a mascot of sorts for the network. Being the longest-running show on the network (fifth longest-running cartoon overall) with new episodes being produced to this day, SpongeBob is one of the world's most iconic cartoon characters, appearing in merchandise, video games, and a trilogy of animated movies.

Gameplay Information
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants, of course! This optimistic, yet naive sea sponge resides in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom, spending his days cooking up Krabby Patties at the Krusty Krab and going jellyfishing. Despite all the nautical nonsense he endures, SpongeBob remains happy-go-lucky and ready for anything!

However, entering the tournament wasn’t his idea. Hearing of the Winner’s Wish, Mr. Krabs sent his number-one employee out to claim it, hoping to use it to expand his wealth. SpongeBob doesn’t seem to care about the wish, though - He’s just happy to be working for his boss!"

SpongeBob is designed as an introductory fighter, having traditional moves found in a basic platform fighter character. With an average set of stats across the board, SpongeBob's moves focus on fundamentals, such as differing projectiles and a basic recovery. This makes him a great fighter to learn the ropes of the game with.

However, SpongeBob does struggle in some matchups due to his "master of none" status, lacking tools meant to deal with overly specific situations. In addition, his damage output is somewhat lacking across the board (though he does have considerable KO potential). As such, while SpongeBob is a very vanilla character with no major strengths or weaknesses, this design does weaken him to a certain extent.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: SpongeBob throws a slap.
 * Dash Attack: SpongeBob trips over and somersaults forwards.
 * Forward Light: SpongeBob throws a straight punch.
 * Up Light: SpongeBob swings his spatula from low to high. This can combo into itself at earlier percents.
 * Down Light: SpongeBob swings his hips in a circle, resembling the "bring it around town" step of his bubble-blowing technique from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Bubblestand".
 * Forward Strong: SpongeBob throws a chop while wearing a foam karate glove. This is his best kill move.
 * Up Strong: SpongeBob swings his arm upwards while wearing a foam karate glove.
 * Down Strong: SpongeBob chops both sides of himself while wearing foam karate gloves.
 * Counter: SpongeBob quickly puffs up, bouncing the opponent away.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: SpongeBob inflates his pants, referencing the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "The Sponge Who Could Fly".
 * Forward Air: SpongeBob chops from high to low while wearing a foam glove. This move can spike opponents during its first few frames.
 * Back Air: SpongeBob throws a backhand behind himself while wearing a foam karate glove.
 * Up Air: SpongeBob throws a straight headbutt upwards, with his body stretching to complete the attack.
 * Down Air: SpongeBob performs a belly flop, being able to spike opponents during the move’s early frames.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: SpongeBob swings a jellyfishing net, being able to catch one opponent (as well as a jellyfish).
 * Pummel: The jellyfish inside SpongeBob’s net shocks the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: SpongeBob rears his net back before throwing the opponent forwards.
 * Back Throw: SpongeBob swings his net behind himself, launching the opponent backwards.
 * Up Throw: SpongeBob swings his net upwards, launching the opponent up.
 * Down Throw: The jellyfish shocks the opponent so hard that they go flying out of SpongeBob’s net. This is his best combo throw.

Stage Intro
A realistic hand (known as Hans) drops SpongeBob into the arena as the latter yells "I'm ready!", referencing the opening of SpongeBob SquarePants and SpongeBob's iconic catchphrase.

Taunts

 * SpongeBob raises his hands as a rainbow forms between them as he says “Imaaaaaaagination!”, referencing the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Idiot Box”.
 * SpongeBob morphs his face to resemble a chicken and starts clucking, referencing the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Little Yellow Book”.
 * SpongeBob performs a dance resembling his dance from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Band Geeks”.
 * SpongeBob lets out his infamous laugh, which can be held out as long as the taunt button is held.

Victory Animations
SpongeBob's victory theme is an excerpt of the theme song from SpongeBob SquarePants.
 * SpongeBob performs a dance before playing his nose like a flute in tune with his victory theme, referencing the opening of SpongeBob SquarePants.
 * SpongeBob performs the “Victory Screech” from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “The Algae's Always Greener”.
 * SpongeBob performs a dance before posing with a thumbs-up.

Colors / Costumes


Trivia
N/A