The only thing the creator of ‘SpongeBob’ asked when he died was that they follow a few rules. They’ve broken every one of them

Stephen Hillenburg, the marine biology teacher best known for being the creator of SpongeBob, left us far too soon. He was 57 years old when he died, on November 26, 2018… And quite a few people point to that as the moment the series started to hit rock bottom. SpongeBob became an even bigger multimedia franchise than it already was, even though, before his death, Hillenburg laid down the 7 rules it was supposed to follow to maintain its quality. Obviously, they’ve wiped their feet on many of them, because, all in all, what’s he going to do? Complain?

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SpongeBob must be an adult

Hillenburg was clear that, if the series was going to work, it had to be because its protagonist did adult things: work, go out with friends, and be totally independent, though he allowed that he could still be working in the meantime. Well, three years after his death Nickelodeon launched Kamp Koral, a series about the character’s childhood that showed what the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom were like when they were kids. It lasted 2 seasons, with a total of 75 episodes, and nobody seemed to remember when the author said “One of these days they’re going to make SpongeBob Babies. That’s when I’ll leave”. Better not let him rise from the grave.

The boating license can never be obtained

And if he did get it, it had to be revoked by the end of the episode. So far they’ve stuck to that because it’s a running gag in the series, but in season 10 he got the license to drive bubbles. Well, at least they did stick to this one… but with all the spin-offs they keep churning out, we can never say never.

We should never know Pearl’s mother

Once again, for now they’ve stuck to it: Pearl Krabs’ mother hasn’t been seen in any episode and she hasn’t even been mentioned, but we do know thanks to the trivia book written by screenwriter David Fain that she’s a whale, just like her daughter. Mr. Krabs uses the expression “Mother of Pearl!”, and that’s all that’s officially known. Even so, Nickelodeon did ask the readers of its magazines to send in their drawings of Mrs. Krabs… Ah! And a two-part episode revealing all the character’s secrets in season 5 was actually written before Hillenburg showed his absolute rejection and they buried it. For now nobody’s tried it, and let’s hope it stays that way.

SpongeBob must not have love interests

The reason wasn’t so much about the script as it was about biology: sea sponges have both male and female sexual organs and don’t need to have a partner. Some people believe Bob’s relationship with Sandy is a romantic one (or at least that he’s interested in her) but the truth is that, although it was on the table at first, it’s based on just friendship. SpongeBob is officially asexual and all the books or hints that people outside the series have made about a secret romance are simply non-canonical.

Respect the original series with no spin-offs

I’ve already talked to you before about Kamp Koral, but Nickelodeon also launched The Patrick Star Show. It didn’t matter that Hillenburg had made it clear that “This is a show about SpongeBob, he is the core, and it’s about how he relates to the rest of the characters. Patrick on his own might be too much. I don’t see any spin-off”. There have also been two spin-off movies (one about Plankton and another about Sandy), and there’s still one more to come. Faced with all that money on the table, how’s it going to say no?

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There must be no crossovers with other series

SpongeBob, after Hillenburg’s death, got into a multiverse crossover with its two spin-off series, and it didn’t stop there: he appeared in Fortnite, appeared alongside Star Trek in an ad and even became buddies with Sonic and the Ninja Turtles in a short celebrating the Super Bowl. Not to mention the crossovers with Jimmy Neutron or The Fairly OddParents, which were exactly the opposite of what its creator wanted. Anyway.

Never reveal the secret sauce of the Krabby Patty

What? Did they break that one too? Well yes: not in the series, but in real life. It turns out that in 2022, Nickelodeon put the Krusty Krab recipe up for sale during the NFL playoffs, and everyone found out exactly what Mr. Krabs’ famous sauce tasted like. Shortly after that, Wendy’s did it too, and revealed that the sauce was mayonnaise, ketchup, vinegar, and spices. It wasn’t all that “secret,” all things considered. Anyway, one more nail in the poor creator’s coffin.