SpongeBob SquarePants (born July 14, 1986) is one of the ten main characters of the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years. He was designed by the former marine biologist, Stephen Hillenburg. Hillenburg based SpongeBob on Bob the Sponge, a character he had created for his educational book "The Intertidal Zone" in the late 1980s.
SpongeBob is a childish and joyful sea sponge who lives in a pineapple with his pet snail Gary in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. He works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, a job which he is exceptionally skilled at and enjoys thoroughly. He attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School, and his greatest dream in life is to receive his boating license. Unfortunately, he tenses up whenever he has to drive a boatmobile, and he drives recklessly. SpongeBob is very good-natured and loves to hang out with his best friend Patrick. His teacher is Mrs. Puff and his boss is Mr. Krabs.
In The SpongeBob Musical, SpongeBob's exact species of sea sponge is identified: Aplysina fistularis, a yellow sea sponge who's commonly found in open waters.
SpongeBob or some other form of him appears or is mentioned in every episode of the series, beginning with the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted." He is voiced by Tom Kenny, who is married to Karen Plankton's voice actress, Jill Talley.