24 Years Ago, Nickelodeon’s Creepiest Villain Was Born

Nickelodeon has introduced its fair share of horror elements in its history, despite the cable network focusing on a younger audience. Rugrats’ Angelica, Danny Phantom’s Vlad Plasmius, Doug’s Roger Klotz, Fairly Oddparents’ Vicky, and many others have threatened our animated heroes of Nicktoons’ fame. Twenty-four years ago, one of the creepiest creations arose from the ocean’s depths, being simultaneously horrific and hilarious when the dark doppelganger hit the scene. Following their introduction, said imposter has returned time and time again to threaten the land of Bikini Bottom, remaining one of the scariest villains in a show that is normally anything but.

In the SpongeBob Squarepants episode, “Frankendoodle,” the popular animated frycook creates his own version of “Bizarro” in Doodle Bob. Released in 2002, the episode begins with a fisherman dropping a pencil into the sea, which is then scooped up by SpongeBob himself. While the pencil can draw like any other ordinary writing tool, SquarePants discovers that it also brings said drawings to life. Using the pencil to create “Doodle Bob,” the dark iteration of SpongeBob runs amok following its birth and causes both the titular frycook and Patrick to attempt to take him down. Unfortunately, while Doodle Bob might seem like a far less intelligent version of his creator, he proves to be anything but.

In the first episode featuring the bizarre character, SpongeBob and Patrick attempt to erase him from existence by using the pencil’s eraser. Ultimately, this is turned against them both by the nefarious Doodle. Luckily, SquarePants manages to trap Doodle Bob inside a book thanks to his status as a drawing come to life. Despite being trapped in this parchment, the doppelganger would return in various episodes, with Nickelodeon even going so far as to create a video that features every single appearance of the SpongeBob double in the long-running series. You can watch all the appearances of DoodleBob so far in the Nickelodeon video below.

What Does SpongeBob Think of DoodleBob?

Tom Kenny, the long-time voice actor who has been responsible for bringing SpongeBob Squarepants to life, had previously talked about the antagonist. In the “Tom Kenny Collection” of curated episodes, Kenny said, “SpongeBob creates an evil doodle of himself with a magic pencil he finds. I actually feel sorry for the ‘monster’ when he has to be erased. Another semi-creepy one! Producer Paul Tibbett does Frankendoodle’s voice.”

While the Frankendoodle is a creepy ‘villain’ in his own right, he is far from the only antagonist that SpongeBob and the Krusty Krab have faced in the past. If there has to be one villain that is the “big bad” of the series, it has to be Plankton, the pint-sized baddie vying for the secret formula while running the “Chum Bucket.” In the latest feature-length film, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, the Flying Dutchman was the antagonist as his supernatural exploits threatened Bikini Bottom. Other villains include the likes of Nosferatu, the Dirty Bubble, and Man Ray, making for quite the collection of colorful antagonists.

While DoodleBob hasn’t confirmed to plague Bikini Bottom recently, the doppelganger may make a return in the future. Nickelodeon has confirmed that the series will run for an additional season, season seventeen, meaning he might return. With the legendary animated franchise continuing to create spin-offs and feature-length films, who knows where we’ll see the long-running villains appear next.

What do you think of this villainous anniversary for one of Nickelodeon’s creepiest villains? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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