Squidward Tentacles

"Squidward Tentacles" is the tritagonist and "anti-hero" of the Nickelodeon animated comedy series, SpongeBob SquarePants. He is a grumpy and unlucky octopus which is a friend of his neighbors SpongeBob and Patrick, however, he's often annoyed by them obviously because of their childlike behaviors. He is a turquoise octopus who lives in an Easter Island head-shaped moai.

Why He Has All The Talent

 * 1) Despite being a bad artist, he did make good art that people have enjoyed.
 * 2) He is vain and grouchy, but he puts those traits to good use.
 * 3) Much like characters such as Garfield; His sarcasm & vanity can be hilarious or just comical.
 * 4) * He's also had many other funny moments aside from his sarcasm.
 * 5) Despite his grumpiness and arrogance, he has a good heart and actually cares about SpongeBob secretly considering him his friend and even saving his life, standing up for him, or protecting him on several occasions.
 * 6) He is proven to be more caring than his boss, Mr. Krabs. He even called him out for selling SpongeBob to the Flying Dutchman for 62 cents in "Born Again Krabs".
 * 7) Rodger Bumpass does an awesome job voicing the character and his signature laugh.
 * 8) Speaking of his laugh, it is very good and it has a vibrant side to him.
 * 9) His clarinet skills may be poor most of the time, but that isn't always the case; he played the clarinet very nicely a few times.
 * 10) His design is great and memetic, but his superhero design as Sour-Note is even better!
 * 11) He is one of the most realistic and relatable characters in the show.
 * 12) A lot like characters such as Donald Duck; His maturity makes him heavily relatable to adults.
 * 13) Speaking of which, whenever he makes mistakes in a jerky manner, he gets a reasonable comeuppance for his actions and he also learns from them. Making him rather sympathetic and likable as time passes on.
 * 14) Though Squidward alone is cynical quite often, SpongeBob finds the good in him.
 * 15) He's the only one who's aware that Mr. Krabs is a cheapskate, unlike SpongeBob.
 * 16) There are times when he cares for SpongeBob like in the episode "Pizza Delivery", he stood up for him in the most satisfying ways possible.
 * 17) He does have a point in berating his neighbors SpongeBob and Patrick for their immaturity, stupidity, and annoyance.
 * 18) In some episodes, he is put in charge of the Krusty Krab when Mr. Krabs is away. SpongeBob may have a good work ethic, but Squidward's maturity and intelligence give him an edge over SpongeBob. In fact, these qualities are the reason why he is chosen over SpongeBob to be the initial manager of the Krusty Krab 2 in the first movie!
 * 19) He even leads a marching band with tremendous success, much to his rival's shock!
 * 20) When the show declined between seasons 6-8, he was alongside Plankton, and Mrs. Puff who were the least flanderized of the main cast.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some fans can get annoyed by his bad attitude despite being justified most of the time.
 * 2) Some people get confused about whether he is a squid or not due to his name, even though he is actually an octopus, despite that he has six limbs (which would be two arms and four legs) when real octopuses have 8. (In fact, there was an octopus family that appeared in "Sailor Mouth" who looked like actual octopuses.)
 * 3) He was used as a punching bag during some of seasons 4 and 5, as well as Seasons 6-8 treating him as a complete & utter Butt-Monkey since some episodes such as "Boating Buddies", "Smooth Jazz at Bikini Bottom", "Cephalopod Lodge", and even "Choir Boys" showcase his actions in those episodes are either out of his own control or have nothing to do with him, to begin with. Even after season 6 to 8, he can still have bad episodes that focus on him suffering in a miserable state of mind, and much to the point you sympathize with him in a pitiful manner.
 * 4) There were a few episodes where he comes off as really mean-spirited. Here are some examples:
 * 5) *In "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?", he yelled at SpongeBob for waking him up and even called him "Idiot Boy". Unlike everyone else who felt guilt for driving SpongeBob away, he showed no remorse for driving SpongeBob out of town, and in the end, the worst part is he didn’t even say he was sorry.
 * 6) *In "Restraining SpongeBob", he filed a restraining order against SpongeBob all because of what happened at the Krusty Krab. Sure, SpongeBob bringing Patrick over to help him out with his restraining order is not any better, but even for a Squidward Torture Fest episode such as this one, it's really hard to sympathize with Squidward here since SpongeBob has done nothing wrong to him whatsoever in that same episode.
 * 7) *In "The Splinter", he makes SpongeBob suffer by making him break down and cry because he is glad SpongeBob got a splinter. Granted, he did have a point that SpongeBob would be on worker's compensation because he got a splinter, but the way he treats SpongeBob is him being a malicious douchebag who is taking joy in his suffering by flushing his hat and spatula down the toilet and making him break down.
 * 8) * In "Gullible Pants", he comes off as a Karma-Houdini who convinces SpongeBob to make the Krusty Krab dirty and does not get any consequences in that episode. Not even after SpongeBob told Krabs he knew about his "secrets". Krabs even gets a bad ending, which isn't fair.
 * 9) *In "Fiasco!", he wakes him up when Spongebob and Patrick try to give the "Fiasco" back when Plankton steals it, thus the police accidentally send "Squidward" to jail for "lying".
 * 10) *He was completely at his worst in "Little Yellow Book", since he was the one who read SpongeBob's diary and humiliated him to the point where he made him cry, and plus, he never even learned his lesson in that episode, not even after he apologized to him later.
 * 11) Though he didn't see too much in decline in character much like Chris from Family Guy in Seasons 6-8, he was also flanderized into being a complete grouch that doesn't care for SpongeBob, even if this is sometimes justified; the flanderizaion of him, while not noticeable, can sometimes show up in newer seasons like "SpongeBob in Randomland".

Videos
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Reception

 * Squidward has received a positive reception from critics and fans.
 * SpongeBob's voice actor Tom Kenny named Squidward his favorite character on the show. He said, "He has an extra dimension where SpongeBob and Patrick's capacity of play mystifies him, but he's also jealous of it. When he tries to participate, he just fails utterly because he doesn't believe in it."
 * Staff writer Casey Alexander said, "Squidward is the character I relate to the most. In an exaggerated way, he's the most human character. If I knew a human-like SpongeBob, I probably would react to him like Squidward does".
 * American singer Pharrell Williams, who says he is a fan of the show, he said that "Squidward is my favorite, though. If he was a human, I would hang out with him."

Trivia

 * In a theory based on SpongeBob and his friends representing "The 7 Deadly Sins", Squidward is considered to be the "Wrath" as several examples were shown in many episodes that he slowly starts to love SpongeBob's krabby patties for example.
 * He was born on October 9, 1977, making him a Libra.