Mr. Krabs
Eugene Krabs, better known as simply Mr. Krabs (born Eugene Harold Krabs November 30, 1942) is the owner and founder of the Krusty Krab, and Spongebob's employer. Mr. Krabs' defining characteristic is his extreme greed and selfishness. He is extremely cheap, refusing to spend any money for the benefit or well being of anyone else, even his own daughter. On numerous occasions, he has been shown to resort to criminal tactics and labor abuse. He is voiced by Clancy Brown.
Mr. Krabs' full name was first revealed in "Krusty Krab Training Video", and has been used semi-regularly since then. Prior to that, his name was simply "Mr. Krabs", and he was identified as such on several occasions where a full name would be used (Such as on his driver's license in "Sleepy Time").
Biography[]
Early life[]
Old Mr.Krabs
Mr. Krabs, born Eugene Harold Krabs on November 30, 1942, is the son of Betsy Krabs and an unknown father. He is a descendant of the medieval King, King Krabs. Ever since medieval times, his family has kept a secret recipe for the secret sauce of the family burger: the Krabby Patty. Later in life, Krabs would go into business selling these. However, in "Grandpappy the Pirate", it is shown that the Mr. Krabs comes from a long line of pirates, which drastically conflicts with information clearly established in earlier episodes and is generally considered non-canonical.
In Eugene's childhood, he and his family were very poor, to the point that his mother had to sew rags for clothes. Their neighbor, Old Man Jenkins of whom Mr. Krabs thought as family, helped them through these rough times.
Plankton, born on the same day as Krabs, was his best friend from birth. While at the carnival one day, Mr. Krabs is exposed to money for the first time by a penny on the ground, and is instantly enthralled by the concept of money. Since then, Eugene H. Krabs has been literally obsessed with money.
Young Eugene and Sheldon in "Friend or Foe."
Because of his family's poverty, Mr. Krabs was teased at Poseidon Elementary School, where Plankton was his only friend. The only place to get a burger in Bikini Bottom, was Stinky Burger, which, despite being a filthy place with terrible food, was very successful with the children simply because it was the only place to get a burger. After seeing Stinky's wealth, Krabs and Plankton were inspired to create their own burger. Initially, However, no one was willing to buy their burgers. Old Man Jenkins ended up being the first to try the "Plabs burger." However, the burger knocks Jenkins unconscious, which leads Krabs and Plankton to get into an argument, during which Plankton attempts to steal the formula and ends up accidentally ripping it in half, with each of them ending up with one half and going into business alone. However, during their struggle, an ingredient shelf in their restaurant collapsed, dumping the ingredients into the burger batter, creating what would, combined with the Krabs family's secret sauce, become the Krabby Patty secret formula. Both Plankton and Krabs attempt to sell their creations separately, and only Krabs succeeds. This leads Mr. Krabs to start a business which lead his family out of poverty.
Mr. Krabs also served in the navy for a time, during which he acquired the nickname "Armor Abs". Eugene H. Krabs currently lives in a anchor shaped house with his presumably adopted daughter, Pearl.
Career[]
Mr. Krabs' career began after a war, where he was secluded in a deep depression that seemed endless. His luck changed when he bought a local bankrupt retirement home, "The Rusty Krab," which he decided to turn into a restaurant, adding a K to "Rusty". He decided to go into business, selling his family's Krabby Patty burger. The Krusty Krab was extremely successful from the beginning, and has for years stood as Bikini Bottom's premiere daytime eatery.
Mr. Krabs' arch business rival is his one-time friend Plankton, who owns a restaurant called "The Chum Bucket" literally right across the street from The Krusty Krab. Plankton, a mad scientist, constantly attempts to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, frequently utilizing his various robots and other creations. Occasionally, Plankton uses other tactics besides stealing the formula in order to hinder Krabs and attract customers to himself. However, all of Plankton's schemes are doomed to fail, and are constantly thwarted by Krabs, with help from Spongebob and friends. On multiple occasions Plankton is stated to never have had a single actual customer (However, in some recent episodes, such as "Chum Caverns", Plankton's plots do give him brief success).
In "the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", Mr. Krabs opens The Krusty Krab 2, right next to the original burger joint. He chooses Squidward to manage the restaurant, much to SpongeBob's dismay. However, in the end of the movie, (After Spongebob saves Bikini Bottom and Mr.Krabs' life), he is appointed new manager of the Krusty Krab 2. In "Squilliam Returns", Mr. Krabs works as the Chef in Squidward's fancy new version of the Krusty Krab, but is apparently a terrible cook, creating a disgusting and freakish "appetizer", which eventually comes to life and begins attacking the restaurant's patrons.
Character[]
Mr. Krabs is short, red and plump and has very tall eyestalks, a crinkled nose, large claws, and very short, pointed legs. He wears a blue shirt and slacks. Krabs is often likened to a sailor or pirate. Many times when he appears onscreen, sailor's music is played. Krabs speaks with a stereotypical pirate-type accent and uses sea-faring vocabulary: he refers to his staff as his "crew", disagreement as "mutiny", Spongebob's kitchen as the "galley". In early episodes, he refers to Squidward almost exclusively as "Mr. Squidward".
As stated above, Mr. Krabs is extremely greedy and miserly, in some cases portrayed as being no better than Plankton, if not worse. His only interest is to make money, and could not care less for his customers or employees. He frequently associates his customers and products with money, with lines such as "That's me money walking out the door!" It should be noted that, while Mr. Krabs was portrayed as being obsessed with money from the beginning, he became more miserly, cheap and immoral as the series progressed.
He is prone to fits of insanity if he has to give up so much as a penny, and often goes to irrationally great lengths to acquire or to avoid losing money (Such as in "Squid's Day Off", in which he is severely injured as a result). In "Born Again Krabs", he sells SpongeBob's soul to the Flying Dutchman for sixty two cents (despite the fact that SpongeBob put his life on the line to protect him from the Dutchman). In the same episode, he forces Spongebob to sell a disgustingly old and contaminated patty that he found under the grill, refusing to let anything that he could potentially make money with go to waste. Ironically, this results in the Krusty Krab losing weeks of business.
His treatment of his employees is just as bad: while inconsistent throughout the series, Spongebob and Squidward's wages are always stated to be extremely low, far below minimum legal wage. In one episode, Spongebob comments that a nickel is "more than (he makes) in a year." In "Big Pink Loser", he implies that instead of being paid, he actually has to pay his boss. He is also shown to abuse his employees, most notably in "Fear of a Krabby Patty", in which he literally forces them to work nonstop 24 hours a day, seven days a week without rest. In one episode, Mr. Krabs gives Spongebob and Squidward bills instead of checks on payday, which charge them for any non work-related activity, including standing, breathing, and even existing. His safety measures and maintenance of the restaurant are extremely poor, if not nonexistent, frequently resorting to improvised and obviously inadequate measures to avoid paying for actual insurance and repairs.
In multiple episodes, Mr. Krabs takes advantage of the situation in order to make money, only to have it backfire later on. For example, in "The Krusty Sponge", after a food critic gives the Krusty Krab a good review because of SpongeBob, he completely changes the Krusty Krab to center all around SpongeBob, with SpongeBob condiments, SpongeBob train rides, SpongeBob napkins, SpongeBob ice cubes, and even "Spongy Patties" (really old, rotten Krabby Patties). The "Spongy Patties" give all the customers food poisoning, and Krabs is arrested by one of the customers, who happens to be a cop. In "Money Talks", it is revealed Krabs has sold his soul multiple times, including to the Flying Dutchman and SpongeBob ("He was five bucks short on payday.")
Mr. Krabs can also be incredibly petty. In one episode, where the Chum Bucket gets a regular customer, Mr. Krabs breaks down crying, saying that he can't let Plankton have even one solitary customer, even though Plankton said beforehand that he wouldn't try to steal the Krabby Patty formula anymore. Another example is in "Penny Foolish", where he goes to ridiculous length's to acquire a penny that Spongebob found. Mr. Krabs is also very harsh and cruel. He often forces Spongebob to do personal tasks for him by threatening to fire him. In "Karate Choppers", he forces Spongebob to give up karate altogether, including outside of work, or else be fired.
Eugene Krabs' home is an anchor, in the vein of Spongebob's pineapple and Squidward's tiki. His address is 3541 Anchor Way, which suggests that there may be other anchors on his street. Mr. Krabs lives with his seemingly adopted whale daughter, Pearl, whom he treats with extreme neglect and who generally hates him. He also owns a pet worm named "Mr. Doodles" as seen in "Sandy's Rocket" and "As Seen On TV". He has a mother, who lives in a near identical version of his anchor home, except it is pink. In "Krusty Love", Krabs finds his second love (after money): Mrs. Puff. However, their relationship has not been explored at all after this episode.
Mr. Krabs seems to be incredibly fit for someone his age and weight, as he has demonstrated titanic strength on a number of occasions. In "Squeaky Boots", he lifts the whole Krusty Krab, filled with numerous customers, like a feather. In Bucket Sweet Bucket he pushes the whole Krusty Krab across the street and the throws it into the air. In "Le Big Switch", he tips over the Krusty Krab from the back, dumping all the customers out.
Antagonistic Side[]
Mr. Krabs has an extremely prevalent antagonistic side and plays a villainous role in several episodes, mainly due to his extreme greed.
In "Clams", he forces Squidward and SpongeBob to stay on his boat until he retrieves his one millionth dollar and threatens to starve them. After they attempt to escape, he uses them as live bait for the clam to give him his dollar back. He lures the clam with stock music, and it then appears and eats him. He miraculously appears again, alive and well, with his millionth dollar back. However, he traded his entire body (spare his head and left arm) for it.
In "The Krabby Kronicle", He tricks SpongeBob into writing lies about people in Bikini Bottom, threatening to get rid of SpongeBob's spatula if he didn't do so. These lies end up ruining the lives of several people. Ultimately, SpongeBob writes a story about what Mr. Krabs was forcing him to do, and all of his money is taken back by an angry mob. At the end of the episode, Krabs starts making counter fit bills with the printing machine.
In "Krabby Land", Mr. Krabs schemes to make money by attracting children with an extremely cheap and unsafe theme park like attraction. He eventually reveals his true motives, and is subsequently beaten, robbed, chained to two poles and force-fed lima beans by two muscular thugs.
In "Krusty Love", he puts Spongebob in charge of his money on his date with Mrs. Puff so that he does not end up spending it all, yet demands Spongebob to buy several increasingly unnecessary items for her before they even leave her house to go to the park, and still getting mad at Spongebob just for doing what he was told. Eventually, SpongeBob becomes furious, apparently cusses Mr. Krabs out (all that is heard is gibberish), and walks away fuming.
In "Wet Painters", he threatens to cut off SpongeBob and Patrick's butts if they get any paint on anything other than the wall when painting Mr. Krabs' house (which they were essentially forced to do), telling them that the paint is permanent. SpongeBob and Patrick are extremely careful, but end up getting paint all over Mr. Krabs' first dollar, much to their horror. When he returns, however, he reveals that it was all for the purpose of a joke, and they leave in disgust.
In "The Patty Caper", Mr. Krabs secretly steals the secret ingredient to the Krabby Patty formula to avoid paying for it (a whole $1.99), and attempts to frame SpongeBob to cover it up. It nearly succeeds, but Mr. Krabs unintentionally reveals that he did so, and is forced by the judge to give out free Krabby Patties all day the next day. While SpongeBob is giving out the patties, Mr. Krabs is shown strapped to a chair, screaming and forced to watch, much to the glee of the police officers holding him.
Morbid Krabs
In "Jellyfish Hunter", arguably Mr. Krabs' most villainous role ever, he tricks SpongeBob catching all of the Jellyfish in Jellyfish Fields for him in order to make Jelly Patties for the customers. Unbeknownst to Spongebob, Mr. Krabs runs a secret factory where the jellyfish are squeezed of every drop of jelly, and killed. The mysterious Blue Jellyfish, No Name (later named Friend by SpongeBob), brings Spongebob to the factory and reveals to him Krabs' true nature. Spongebob foils Mr. Krabs' plan, freeing the jellyfish, who proceed to all sting Mr. Krabs at once.
In "One Krab's Trash", Mr. Krabs tricks SpongeBob into giving back the soda drinking hat that he sold to him as a scheme to earn money once he finds out that it is extremely valuable. He uses a fake ghost and tells spongebob that the hat is cursed and that he must return it to its dead owner. His plan backfires when it turns out that there is an actual dead person with the name and Spongebob literally buried the hat in his grave. Mr. Krabs digs up the grave and retrieves the hat, awakening an entire cemetery of zombies, which he spends until dawn fighting. Krabs goes to sell the hat to the rich people, only to find out that an entire warehouse full of them had been discovered, making the hat worthless.
In "Penny Foolish", Mr. Krabs tries get the "penny" that SpongeBob found on the ground through a series of elaborate tricks that ironically would cost far more than a penny to set up. His desperation for the penny leads him to enter SpongeBob's home, uninvited, where SpongeBob catches Mr. Krabs and explains to him that it was actually a piece gum he found on the ground. However, after Krabs leaves, SpongeBob realizes that it is really a 500 dollar bill and throws it on the ground. Even after all this, Mr. Krabs continues to look for the "penny", digging for it in SpongeBob's yard.
In "Krusty Krushers", Mr. Krabs witnesses severe beatings at the hands of the wrestling champions and says that no one deserves such beatings. However, he ends up tricking SpongeBob and Patrick into fighting for the million dollar prize. The two are no match for the massive champions, and when they are about to lose, Mr. Krabs breaks down crying over losing the prize money, not giving a thought for SpongeBob and Patrick. When they actually do win, they choose the alternate prize of going to wrestling camp over the money, much to Mr. Krabs' dismay.
Near-Death Experiences[]
- In Bossy Boots, he passes out upon hearing SpongeBob say "Pearl, You're Fired", and is only revived by the smell of a 20 dollar bill.
- In The Lost Mattress, SpongeBob and Patrick buy Mr. Krabs a new matress for him to make his aching back feel better. However, his old mattress, which they threw out, had all of his money in it, causing Mr. Krabs to go into a "cash coma". Also, Mr.Krabs had no insurance, so he was moved into the halls, the outside, and finally pushed down a hill.
- At the end of "Wishing You Well", he wishes that he was a butter-steamed meal to prove SpongeBob that the wishing well has no real magic. The wish comes true, and a man is shown preparing to eat him, with a napkin reading "THE END".
- In "Krusty Towers", the hotel collapses with Spongebob, Squidward, Partick and Mr. Krabs all inside. They all end up in the hospital, and upon seeing the outrageous medical bills, Krabs decides to turn the Krusty Krab into a hospital.
- In "Imitation Krabs", Spongebob concludes that Mr. Krabs is a fake, and feeds him to the same live-action hand that appears in the opening sequence. At the end of the episode, after the true Imitation Krabs is exposed, Spongebob saves the real Mr. Krabs.
- In "Born Again Krabs", Mr. Krabs dies from eating the disgusting old patty, and is sentenced to Davy Jones' Locker, the underwater equivalent of Hell. However, he convinces the Flying Dutchman to give him another chance, promising to be nice and generous. He holds up his promise, assuming the whole thing to be a dream, until he realizes that he is awake, after which he goes on a rampage throughout the restaurant, prompting the Flying Dutchman to appear to take him back to Davy Jones' Locker. However, Spongebob stands up for Mr. Krabs, and as a final test, the Dutchman gives Krabs the choice of Spongebob or 62 cents. Krabs chooses the money, and the Dutchman spirits away Spongebob to take Krabs' place in Hell. It is at this point that Krabs finally sees the error of his ways, and Spongebob is given back, not because of his repentance, but because the Flying Dutchman could not stand Spongebob, and Krabs having him in his life would be a fate worse than death.
- In "Dying for Pie", he is nearly killed by the explosion a single crumb of the Pie-Bomb.
- In "The Krusty Plate" SpongeBob resorted to using maximum power to clean a plate and it exploded when Mr. Krabs opened the door.
- In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, he is nearly killed by King Neptune after being frozen in ice for six days, saved only by Spongebob and Patrick launching into the Krusty Krab with the crown, off of which the blast reflects, hitting and severely burning David Hasselhoff.
- In "Jellyfish Hunter", he is stung by 4 million jellyfish at the same time.
- In "Squid's Day Off", Mr. Krabs gets his hand stuck in a sink pipe while attempting to retrieve a dime that had fallen in. While attempting to free him, Spongebob accidentally tears Mr. Krabs' arms off, sending him flying into a wall and causing a shelf to collapse, dropping several heavy objects onto his head, the last of which, ironically, is a dime. The incident puts Krabs in the hospital.
- In "Pressure", he and the other main characters are attacked by a seagull while on dry land, but are saved by Sandy.
- In "Clams", most of Mr. Krabs' body is eaten by the giant clam in exchange for his one millionth dollar.
Quotes[]
- "SQUIDWARD! SPONGEBOB!"
- "I'm Mr. Krabs! And I love money!"
- "The money is always right!"
- "PLANKTON!!"
- "Button down the hatches, Mr. Squidward! We're taking on water, Mr. Squidward! I want my mommy, Mr. Squidward!"
- "But this is crazy! I didn't do it!"
- "Money talks."
- "Spongeboy, me bob!"
- "MORE!"
- "That's me money walking out the door!!!"
- "Only the captain says 'Argh!'"
- "Get it, SpongeBob. GET IT! GET IT! GET IT! GET IT! GET IT!"
- "All's well that ends well."
- "Well, these claws ain't for just attracting mates!"
- "Give to the childrens' fund; why should I? What have children ever done for me?"
- "I hope he throws half of ya retirement money down a hole!"