“Meow.” Gary the Snail is an anthropomorphic light blue snail with a pink shell with a purple spiral on its sides. He is SpongeBob’s pet and lives in his pineapple at 124 Conch Street, next to Squidward and Patrick. Gary is a snail of few words — he meows like a cat (apparently because snails are cats in Bikini Bottom), which is all he says. SpongeBob can understand him somehow through his meows. Whether that’s because of his unconditional love or it’s just a random ability of his is unknown. SpongeBob loves Gary and would become ultimately heartbroken if he left. Good thing that’s not happening anytime soon.

Patrick Star is SpongeBob’s best friend. He is a pink starfish who usually wears lime-green trousers with purple flower-like shapes on them. He’s not too bright, but can say objectively smart quotes at any given moment. He lives in his dome-shaped burgundy rock next to Squidward and SpongeBob at 120 Conch Street, in which everything he has is made out of sand, even the television, which works. …but no one seems to question it, as the laws of nature don’t apply in Bikini Bottom. Patrick has no job and usually visits the Krusty Krab either in order to eat or to see SpongeBob. …or both.

Squidward Tentacles is SpongeBob’s mild-mannered squid (although he only has four legs/tentacles and two arms) and perpetually annoyed neighbor. He lives between SpongeBob and Patrick in a blue Easter Island head at 122 Conch Street, and works at the Krusty Krab as a cashier with SpongeBob (his coworker & neighbor) and Mr. Krabs (his boss). Squidward hates SpongeBob because of him always disrupting his clarinet solos or messing up his art, and because he’s genuinely nerve wracking. SpongeBob always finds a way to get inside Squidward’s house, usually with Patrick, whom he also hates. Even though he might despise SpongeBob, deep down he cares about him, as he called out Mr. Krabs for selling his soul in exchange for 62¢. (That’s how cheap he is.) Outside of that, Squidward just wants some peace and quiet for himself. …hopefully, he gets it. Squidward’s rival is Squilliam Fancyson, who is more rich, smug, and fancier than him. (Hence the name.) Squidward always tries to outdo Squilliam, but fails and gets it shoved in his face by Squilliam and his peers.

Eugene Krabs is an anthropomorphic crab and SpongeBob and Squidward’s boss. He is the founder and owner at the Krusty Krab and is the one who gave SpongeBob a job there, in exchange for a “hydro-dynamic spatula with port and starboard attachments and turbo drive”. Once he gave him the spatula, he hired SpongeBob and he has been working there ever since. Mr. Krabs loves money and is probably a multimillionaire. He usually spends his days counting his money or billing SpongeBob and Squidward for basic necessities, like breathing ($2.00) and standing ($10.00). Mr. Krabs’ rival is Sheldon Plankton, who is the founder of and worker at the Chum Bucket, along with his computer wife, Karen. The Chum Bucket is nowhere near (actually, it isn’t even) successful as the Krusty Krab. Despite being enemies now, they originally were best friends. They both remember those times, and try to reconcile, with the other (usually Plankton) stabbing the other in the back.

Sandy Cheeks is one of SpongeBob’s best friends and karate partner. Sandy is a southern-accented squirrel who lives in a glass dome in her tree, where she conducts science experiments. Whenever Sandy comes out of her dome, she needs to wear an astronaut like-suit with a glass helmet in order to breath air. Without it, she’ll drown. On the contrary, whenever someone enters her dome, they need to wear a glass helmet filled with water so that they can breathe. Sandy is one of the smartest creatures in Bikini Bottom, along with Plankton, with the difference being that she uses her inventions for good instead of evil. Sandy would hate anything happening to her friends (especially SpongeBob), in which she uses physical violence if anyone takes advantage of them. (Like a CERTAIN money-loving crab…)

Sheldon Plankton (or usually just called Plankton) is a small, green… well, plankton with a singular eye and two green antennae. He is an evil genius who founded the Chum Bucket as a rival to the Krusty Krab. It’s a running gag in the show for absolutely no one to like chum, with them even suffering health problems from eating too much. (that is, if they WANTED to eat chum.) Plankton also lives in the Chum Bucket with his computer wife, Karen, who always nags him about having no customers because chum is just so disgusting to the Bikini Bottomites. Plankton has been trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula for years, with someone (usually SpongeBob or Mr. Krabs) stopping him before he can get anywhere near the bottle in Mr. Krabs’ safe. Plankton is frequently stepped on due to his small size, which he hates as it is very painful to him. Mr. Krabs and Plankton used to be best friends, though. USED to.

Karen is Plankton’s computer wife and second-in-command when stealing the Krabby Patty formula. She lives with him at the Chum Bucket and always reminds him about how his competitive restaurant will never be successful because chum is horrible, but she loves her husband. …even if she doesn’t show it much.