SpongeBob SquarePants has been criticized for its sense of humor and how some of its characters have gotten dumber with time, but what if the dumbest of all, Patrick Star, is actually a genius? Created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob SquarePants debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999 and has been unstoppable ever since, becoming the most successful Nicktoon to date and expanding to other media, most notably film, with three movies so far.

SpongeBob SquarePants follows the daily adventures of the title character – a sea sponge that looks like a kitchen sponge – and his best friends Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, his neighbor and coworker Squidward Tentacles, his greedy boss Mr. Krabs, and antagonist Plankton, who wants to steal the secret formula of the Krabby Patty. SpongeBob SquarePants started strong and won over the hearts of the audience, both children and adults, thanks to its sense of humor and the fun situations the characters got into, but after the first movie came out, the quality of the series began to decline, and the characters (specifically SpongeBob and Patrick) have become dumber – but what if Patrick is actually secretly a genius?

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SpongeBob and Patrick are pretty much inseparable, and the latter follows the former to all types of adventures and get in a lot of trouble together, but they always find a way to come out on top. While SpongeBob isn’t a genius, he’s certainly smarter than good old Patrick, and lives a much more normal and stable life, having a job, a house, a pet, and hobbies – Patrick, on the other hand, literally lives under a rock and spends his time eating, sleeping, and watching TV, and is famous around Bikini Bottom for not being smart. However, Patrick has had some moments of intelligence and usually comes up with naive yet genius solutions to whatever problem he and SpongeBob are going through, which has made some fans believe he could be a genius but doesn’t want to show it.

The theory suggests that Patrick is actually very intelligent, so much that he figured out that he can live off welfare by pretending to be useless and dumb, so he never has to work yet he always has food and everything he needs. Some fans have even pointed out certain episodes where Patrick pretends to be dumb just to mess with others, including SpongeBob, as he did in the episode “The Secret Box”. It has also been mentioned throughout SpongeBob SquarePants that Patrick went to community college, so he surely isn’t as dim-witted as he wants everyone to believe. If anything, Patrick is incredibly lazy and prefers to act dumb and useless so he doesn’t have to work but still gets money for food and other things, which also leaves him plenty of time to spend with SpongeBob.

If Patrick is indeed a genius, it’s unlikely this will be revealed in SpongeBob SquarePants at some point, as it’s a lot more fun to have the dumb sidekick character with sporadic flashes of brilliance than one who is super intelligent all the time – look no further than what happened in the episode “Patrick SmartPants”, where Patrick became smart after a brain coral was screwed to his body instead of his actual head, and being intelligent only got him into a lot of trouble. Patrick Star, then, will continue to be SpongeBob’s dumb but lovable best-friend, who sometimes saves the day with his smart (though often chaotic) solutions.

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Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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