What You Never Noticed About Mr. Krabs' Lies In SpongeBob SquarePants
The sea critters of SpongeBob SquarePants are among the most universally recognized television characters ever, likable in many ways yet rounded out by personal flaws. The titular yellow sponge (voiced by Tom Kenny) can be a bit too trusting and naïve; Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) isn't the brightest angler fish lure in the sea; and Squidward Tentacles (voiced by Rodger Bumpass) is crusty as an old barnacle despite his age. But Mr. Krabs (voiced by Clancy Brown), proprietor of the Krabby Patty-serving Krusty Krab, may be the most flawed of all.
To start, he's as greedy as greedy gets, prioritizing money over pretty much anything else in his life — even his workers (namely, SpongeBob and Squidward), who are the reason he has money in the first place. Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) is a constant thorn in the Krusty Krab's side, but Mr. Krabs sometimes goes a little overboard in thwarting the little guy's plans. Oh, and who can forget the time he builds a factory with the intention of extracting as much jelly as he can from jellyfish while completely disregarding the creatures' sentience? Yeah. The show doesn't shy away from more adult themes, even if it's ultimately a fun-to-watch kids' program.
One of Mr. Krabs' worst habits — lying — is expanded upon in ways you may never have noticed, as pointed out by Redditor joshuamillertime. His grandfather taught him that "a pirate never lies," but his refusal to listen leads to a slew of misadventures.
So he says, and so it shall be
The trend begins in the series' very first episode, "Help Wanted," after SpongeBob declares his intention to join the Krusty Krew. Trusting as ever, he tells Mr. Krabs that his neighbor Squidward will vouch for him — which he doesn't, in classic Squidward fashion. Mr. Krabs then tells SpongeBob that he must pass a test to get hired: "Go out and fetch me a hydrodynamic spatula, with port and starboard attachments, and a turbo drive — and don't come back 'til you get one!" Mr. Krabs and Squidward laugh the fib off as the young sponge dashes away, never expecting to see him around the restaurant again.
In the time SpongeBob's gone, the Krusty Krab is assailed by waves (literally) of anchovies, every single one of them craving a Krabby Patty. Mr. Krabs and Squidward are at a loss against so many hungry customers, but just as they're about to throw in the towel, SpongeBob returns, equipped with the very spatula he was asked to find. Mr. Krabs' lie... came true. And it saves his butt, too, since SpongeBob uses the spatula to make Krabby Patties faster than the eye can see.
In "One Krab's Trash," another of Mr. Krabs' lies comes true. After selling a soda-drinking hat to SpongeBob, a school of fish come up to Mr. Krabs bidding for the hat, with prices reaching up to a million dollars. Money-grubbing as ever, he immediately seeks out SpongeBob to get the hat back and resell it at a higher price. He tries every which way to get SpongeBob to return the valuable headgear, failing again and again. Determined, Mr. Krabs resorts to scare tactics, using a crude drawing of a ghost on loose-leaf paper to convince the gullible sponge that the cursed hat needs to be returned to its rightful owner, "Smitty Werbenjägermanjensen," or else.
And so, SpongeBob does exactly that. In a cemetery on the outskirts of Bikini Bottom, he finds Smitty's grave and buries the hat. In disbelief, Mr. Krabs visits the gravestone (a giant #1) himself and digs the hat back up, only to discover that Smitty's skeleton has no intention of giving back what's rightfully his, summoning an army of undead fish to get it back. Few forces in the seven seas can come between Mr. Krabs and money, though, and he escapes with the hat — which he finds out has lost all value overnight after a stock of similar hats was found.
Similar scenarios play out again, and again, and again. Coincidence or not, Mr. Krabs doesn't seem to mind taking advantage of the truth behind his lies.