SpongeBob SquarePants Fans Debate Whether He's a Dish Sponge or Sea Sponge

Nicole Drum

05/24/2018 10:57 am EDT

SpongeBob SquarePants may be one of the most beloved children's characters ever. First debuting on Nickelodeon in 1999, the endearing yellow creature and his friends have remained on the air and popular ever since. However, despite the popularity there is apparently a major question about what SpongeBob is -- a sea sponge or a dish sponge.

Yes, that's right. Despite nearly 20 years of existence there are still those who aren't sure what SpongeBob is and earlier this week writer and comedian Celeste Yim set off quite a heated debate on Twitter when she noted that she only recently discovered that SpongeBob is a sea creature.

"I have only just discovered that SpongeBob is a sea sponge? I thought he was maybe a regular sponge with an eclectic lifestyle, like a white man living in Southeast Asia." Yim wrote.

You may be asking yourself how Yim could confuse SpongeBob for, well, a sponge, but it's not so cut and dry. Yes, the show and associated movies and Broadway musical (which, by the way, was just nominated for a Tony) all center on SpongeBob and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. However, SpongeBob literally looks like an ordinary yellow kitchen sponge. He's even been shown as looking even more like a kitchen sponge when he happens to be on dry land. Details like that led various Twitter uses to come to Yim's defense and things sort of devolved from there.

Realistically, though, it's not a completely unreasonable thing to think that SpongeBob might be a kitchen sponge. First, it's a cartoon. Anything can happen, but technically-speaking some sponges used in human homes are sea sponges. There is a whole industry devoted to sea sponge aquaculture that farms seas sponges under controlled conditions for harvest and use for a variety of purposes out of the ocean. This might explain why SpongeBob looks so, well, sponge-like, but let's leave science out of this and, instead enjoy some of the best moments from this interesting debate.

Cartoon logic

After explaining that she only recently realized that what SpongeBob is was even a question, Yim explained that her friends were mocking her about his ability to breathe underwater. As we've mentioned, she assumed cartoon logic, but that was just the beginning.

The sea pollution argument

Ocean pollution is a real issue and one Twitter user used that as the basis for her theory that SpongeBob is, in fact, a kitchen sponge who simply adapted to his new environment on the trash-filled sea.

The pro-kitchen sponge dry land argument

Another person turned to evidence of what SpongeBob and his pal Patrick look like on dry land to justify the kitchen sponge argument. This one we have to admit is pretty convincing.

Science!

Then, the pro-sea sponge contingent chimed in with solid evidence via science.

DVD commentary

Plot twist! People began messaging Yim with hot takes from both sides -- including a note that there may be DVD commentary confirming the dish sponge theory.

Third party candidate

Not satisfied with the kitchen sponge/sea sponge options, one fan offered up that they thought SpongeBob was something else entirely: cheese.

Let the people decide

Finally, Yim just let the people vote and the winner? SpongeBob is a dish sponge.

We sincerely doubt this debate is fully settled despite the vote, but there's always a chance we might get some confirmation one direction or the other soon. The third SpongeBob movie is set to it theaters in a couple of years. Maybe they'll address SpongeBob's true nature then.

The SpongeBob Movie: It's A Wonderful Sponge will open in theaters July 22, 2020.

Now it's your turn to chime in: do you think SpongeBob is a kitchen sponge or a sea sponge? Sound off in the comments below!

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