Who Is SpongeBob SquarePants’ Family? Other Members & Backstory Explained

The family of SpongeBob SquarePants has appeared in the series a couple of times, and even though his parents and grandmother are the best-remembered ones, other SquarePants family members have also visited SpongeBob. Created by Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999 and has since become one of the longest-running American animated series, as well as the most successful Nicktoon to date.

SpongeBob SquarePants follows the daily adventures of the title character – an always optimistic and cheerful sea sponge that looks like a kitchen sponge – and his friends from Bikini Bottom, most notably Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, and Squidward Tentacles. SpongeBob’s adventures are not limited to his friends and neighbors, as his family has also appeared a couple of times, with some of them being key characters in the story, either as secondary characters that push the story forward or antagonists, though not necessarily villains – and, of course, some have been more memorable than others.

The show has taken viewers many, many generations back when it comes to the SquarePants family tree, starting with Primitive Sponge, introduced in the episode “SB-129” and who is now best known as a meme. Primitive Sponge, as the name says it, is SpongeBob’s prehistoric ancestor, and has an ape-like mouth with large teeth and wears a loincloth. Many years later came SpongeGar, who is often mistaken with Primitive Sponge. SpongeGar appears in the episode “Ugh”, and unlike his ancestor, he has a language system, a pet (Prehistoric Gary), and can cook. The SquarePants family tree then jumps many generations to SpongeBuck SquarePants, an old Western Hero who used to hang out at the Krusty Kantina and who made his debut in the episode “Pest of the West”.

Four generations later came Grandpa SquarePants, who married Grandma SquarePants and together had five children, of which only three have been formally introduced: Sherm, Blue, and Harold SquarePants. Sherm has only appeared once in a picture, where he’s shown with a watermelon up his nose, and he’s the father of cousin Stanley, who was sent with SpongeBob as he was unable to hold a job because he destroyed everything – and that’s exactly what he did while with his cousin. Then is uncle Blue SquarePants, a retired police captain, and then SpongeBob’s cousins BlackJack and Todd, born to unknown parents. BlackJack is a very muscular sponge with tattoos and is the complete opposite of SpongeBob, while cousin Todd is messy and can’t even match his clothes properly. BlackJack had the antagonist role in an episode of the series, whereas Todd has only appeared in the book The Never-Ending Stay.

Last but not least is Harold, who married Margaret, and together they had SpongeBob. Harold and Margaret have appeared a couple of times through the series, most notably in the episodes “Home Sweet Pineapple” and “No Free Rides”, where they gave their son a boatmobile for (finally) getting his driver’s license. Not everyone in the SquarePants family has the same cheerful personality as SpongeBob, which is exactly what makes their appearances in the show entertaining, as viewers would probably expect them to be like SpongeBob.

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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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