Mr. Krabs

"Hello! I'm Mr. Krabs, and I like money!"

- One of Mr. Krabs's recurring phrases. "You're fired!"

- Mr. Krabs's famous catchphrase.

Eugene Harold Krabs, mostly known as Mr. Krabs (born November 30, 1942), is a major character in Nickelodeon's popular animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is the money-obsessed founder of the Krusty Krab and the business rival of Plankton. Although one of the series' main "protagonists", Mr. Krabs has been frequently been depicted as anti-heroic and even villainous at times, eventually going so far to develop as the secondary antagonist of the entire franchise.

He is voiced by legendary actor Clancy Brown, who also portrayed the Kurgan in the Highlander film franchise, Lex Luthor in the DCAU and other DC animated works, Uka Uka and Dr. Neo Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, Hades in God of War III, Trident, Undertow, Parallax in Green Lantern, Baron Praxis, Taskmaster in Ultimate Spider-Man, Rahzar in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok.

Villainous side
Since the beginning of the series, Mr. Krabs' overall characterization has become more and more negative. Sometimes, he becomes the villain in some episodes of the show, with Mr. Krabs being just as bad as, if not worse than, Plankton himself.

Ever since the events were seen in the fourth season (seasons that released after the first film, but is not chronologically set after the movie), Mr. Krabs' role as a father figure to SpongeBob has been degenerated (though some element of his fatherly side proved to remain in Face-Freeze! where he forbade SpongeBob and Patrick from excessively giving stupid expression on their face as it would threaten to freeze their face almost permanently), and he is considered a full-blown Protagonist Villain in his worst episodes.

He has a recurring tendency to exploit his employees and even exhibits sadism towards Plankton upon the latter's defeat. For a very good example of Mr. Krabs as a prominent antagonist, one should watch the episode Born Again Krabs (though he does show signs of redemption near the end).

Another good episode to consider is Jellyfish Hunter (where he abuses captured jellyfish in favor of producing as much jellyfish jelly as he can and nearly eradicate them all had the blue jellyfish save the day by exposing his crime on SpongeBob) and One Coarse Meal (where he exploits Plankton's fear of whales to the point where Plankton attempts suicide out of fear) - which all show Mr. Krabs being at his worst.

A hideous, demonic version of Mr. Krabs that appeared for one second in the episode, "Jellyfish Hunter", and now is seen frequently in videos on the internet is called Moar Krabs.

Personality
As stated above, Mr. Krabs is extremely greedy, cheap, quite cruel, callous, arrogant, and sometimes he is even a hypocrite and avaricious, often being portrayed as being just as bad as, if not even worse than, Plankton. His only interest is to have money, and he could not care less for his customers, employees, family or even himself.

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 portrayal shows him as being obsessed with money to the point of anthropomorphizing it from the beginning, he became more miserly, cheap, and immoral as the series progressed. His money hunger may stem from his childhood poverty. When SpongeBob uses the term, obsession, to describe his relationship with money during "Plankton's Good Eye", he denies it and claims it to be a strong word.

He is prone to fits of insanity if he has to give up as much as a penny. He often goes to irrationally great lengths to acquire or to avoid losing money with little (if any) regard to the safety or well-being of others or even himself (in "Squid's Day Off", he loses both arms and suffers a severe head injury while attempting to pull a dime out of the sink). In "Krab Borg" (and shown earlier in "Squeaky Boots") reveals that Mr. Krabs always remembers the price for everything he has bought which proves his greed has a strong memory. In "Born Again Krabs", he sells SpongeBob's soul to the Flying Dutchman for 62 cents, despite the fact that SpongeBob put his life on the line to protect him from the Dutchman. Even Squidward was angry and told Mr. Krabs off (even though he hates SpongeBob).

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. Twice, he has been shown to have little respect for the dead, most notably in "One Krabs Trash", where he defiles a grave to obtain a presumably rare drink hat to obtain $1,000,000.

Additionally, he is somewhat respectful of royalty. In "Rule of Dumb", when Patrick is believed to be the king of Bikini Bottom, Krabs allows him to eat at the Krusty Krab in the hopes of getting tons of money. Krabs promptly kicked Patrick out (literally) when he discovered that he never intended to pay at all, shouting, "No one eats at my restaurant for free, king or no king!". In "The Clash of Triton", when he failed to take Krabby Patties away from King Neptune when ordered to do so, he was promptly electrocuted when he asked who was to pay for them all. Also in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, he raises the price of a Krabby Patty to $101 when he finds out King Neptune is coming to the restaurant. He has also risen the price of food in "Truth or Square" in which it was the 117th anniversary of the KK and he added an extra zero on the end of every price on the menu in hopes of getting more money.

There have been at least two occasions where SpongeBob has burst into the Krusty Krab to warn him about the oncoming disaster, only for him to think of it as an opportunity to try to sell them Krabby Patties. The first time was to an oncoming biker gang. The second was when he tried selling Krabby patties to giant whelks when SpongeBob described them as ravenously eating everything in their paths, he continued to try to push his products, despite them obviously being vicious wild monsters and he was promptly eaten. 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 "Bummer Vacation", 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 for more than forty days.

In "Squid on Strike", Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob and Squidward bills instead of checks on payday, that charge them for any nonwork-related activity, including standing, breathing, and even existing, and SpongeBob even reveals in "One Coarse Meal" that Mr. Krabs actually pays him in play money. His safety measures and maintenance of the restaurant are extremely poor; if existent, frequently resorting to improvised and obviously inadequate measures to avoid paying for actual insurance and repairs.

In "Pickles", he took money out of SpongeBob's paycheck for one small mistake. 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 of the customer's food poisoning, and one of the customers, who happens to be a cop, arrests Krabs.

The next episode "Money Talks" reveals that Krabs has sold his soul multiple times to various evil spirits and demons, including to the Flying Dutchman and even SpongeBob because "He was five bucks short on payday" (ironically, this actually saved his soul since no single specter could fully claim it). In "Drive Thru", he turned a hole in the wall into a drive-thru. SpongeBob bought several things (including a menu, a microphone, and a light up arrow). However, Krabs turned it down (because it wasn't "free") as he already made a menu made of napkins, a microphone made of tin cans on a string, and a very small fish-shaped sign, despite the fact that SpongeBob already paid for them, thus meaning that Mr. Krabs does not have to spend money on any of those things. Because of the increase in customers, he keeps knocking more holes in the walls of his restaurant until it eventually collapses.

Mr. Krabs can also be incredibly petty, heartless, and despicable. In "Plankton's Regular", 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, because he "just can't afford it". Another example is in "Penny Foolish", where he goes to ridiculous lengths to acquire a penny that SpongeBob found, setting up numerous tricks that would ironically cost far more than a penny. In "Born Again Krabs", he attacks an innocent bystander who found a penny on the floor and nearly tore the man's arm off to get the penny. During his schemes, he often forces SpongeBob to help him by threatening to fire him.

In "InSPONGEiac", Mr. Krabs is defamatory, opprobrious, harsh, cold, and vituperative, as he scolds SpongeBob for using 1% more mustard than he was supposed to, and calls him an insomniac for getting two minutes less sleep than normal. Mr. Krabs has also shown that he believes that he has full control over SpongeBob's personal life: in "Karate Choppers", he forces SpongeBob to give up karate altogether, including outside work, or else he would be fired. In "My Pretty Seahorse", where Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to not just stop bringing Mystery to work, but to get rid of her entirely, and once forced his employees to work nonstop and told them that they could never go home (which is actually illegal).

Despite his covetous and acquisitive behaviour, Mr. Krabs is also completely compassionate and tolerant. He has apologized for his actions on occasion, and he does care for his daughter Pearl, going to great lengths to acquire food for her in "Growth Spout". Despite his abusive treatment of SpongeBob and Squidward, he does care for and appreciate them, as the two help keep his restaurant afloat. In "Krusty Love", Krabs finds his second love (after money): Mrs. Puff. However, their relationship has not been explored at all after this episode. Also in Best Day Ever, when SpongeBob is sad, he actually uses his money to try to cheer him up.

Additionally, in "Born Again Krabs", he struck a deal with the Flying Dutchman for a second chance at life because he is a charitable and generous man, something that he did very well until he discovered he had no money in the cash register. As shown in "Hooky" (free water for Pearl and her friends), "Whale of a Birthday" (cardboard cake, dishwater for party drink, stale popcorn, an "It's a Girl" (with the word Boy crossed out) banner, and Boys Who Cry (really Squidward)), and "The Slumber Party" (crackers and tap water, and "how about some pizza, just put sauce on crackers"), he loves money more than his own daughter. In addition, as seen in "Little Yellow Book", even Krabs was upset at Squidward for reading SpongeBob's diary telling Squidward, "That's low, Squidward, even for you.".

Mr. Plankton Universe
"Enjoy your victory screech, Plankton, because someday the Krabby Patty formula will be mine!"

- Krabs

In the episode "The Algae is Always Greener", an alternate version of Mr. Krabs serves as the main antagonist.

Role in the episode
In the episode, after Plankton unsuccessfully attempts to steal the Krabby Patty formula yet again, he becomes frustrated by all of Mr. Krabs' success and wishes to switch lives with him just to know what it's like to be him. Then Karen suggests using a device he had recently built to do just that. Activating the device, Plankton suddenly finds himself in the boss's room of the Krusty Krab wearing his rival's attire, showing the switch was a success, much to his happiness.

However, he would come to regret this decision due to having to deal with Spongebob's idiocy or the dissatisfaction of the customers. But the thing that truly drove him over the edge was the realization that by switching lives with Mr. Krabs, he had taken over Plankton's job of stealing the Krabby Patty formula, which he had attempted to do so once again. Krabs attempted to escape with a sandwich, but Spongebob managed to thwart him shooting clothes at him, eventually succeeding with a bra. He gives back the formula but vows to return every single day until he succeeds. Ultimately, Plankton couldn't take it anymore and presses a button to return him to his own reality.

Personality
Krabs acts like Plankton does in the mainstream continuity, but with some differences. He prefers to steal the Krabby Patty formula simply sneaking in and taking a sandwich rather than using ingenious plots or devices. Also, like Plankton, he is always naked, but because he was much crazier, he hates wearing clothes to the point where he surrenders when SpongeBob successfully makes him wear something.

Robot Chicken
In an episode of the series Robot Chicken, SpongeBob finds out that Mr. Krabs has been feeding his customers Krabby patties that are made from crab meat and a variety of other sea creatures (such as tuna and squid). Mr. Krabs attempts to justify his actions by claiming to be the last honest person in Bikini Bottom, stating this is how nature wanted it, he is ultimately defeated when the customers, along with Squidward and Patrick, beat him to death.

Pamtri's Videos
Mr. Krabs is one of the main characters of the Pamtri's Mythos. He runs the Ugli Krab (an obvious parody of his restaurant) and tries everything to get rid of Plankton while keeping his sociopathic employees in check. Like in the cartoon, he abuses SpongeBob and Squidward, and sometimes cooks them, usually after being murdered by Santiago.

Quotes
"(Squidward: I'm not taking an order for a bubble!) Sure you are! Or I'll fill your life with misery and woe. Even if you quit."

- Mr. Krabs's threat to make Squidward serve Bubble Buddy.

"Krusty Krab is unfair! Mr. Krabs is in there standing at the concession, plotting his oppression!"

- SpongeBob rioting against Mr. Krabs.

"Am I really going to defile this grave for money? Of course, I am!"

- Krabs before robbing the grave.

"(Customer: Hey man, please, you're crushing my arm!) Unhand that penny or the arm comes off!"

- Mr. Krabs threatening to rip off a customer's arm for a penny on the ground.

"(SpongeBob: But Mr. Krabs, what about the true meaning of summer? What about the children?) The children? I don't care about the children, I just care about their parents' money. Ah, the fact that their feeble minds are easily distracted by cheap playgrounds and talentless clowns is no skin off my nose! Survival of the fittest, SpongeBob. Survival of the fittest. Heh heh."

- Mr. Krabs talking about deceiving the children.

"What do I do?! I can't let Plankton have so much as one single customer!"

- Mr. Krabs's motive.

"Where is my formula Plankton? (Plankton: I don't know, it just vanished.) WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU, YOU LYING LIAR?!"

- Mr. Krabs enraged overseeing that his formula is missing.

"Enough with the niceties, Plankton! This is the last time I'm gonna ask ya: WHERE IS ME FORMULAR?! (Plankton: I told you, Krabs, I don't have it!) Wrong answer! [Nearly steps on Plankton]"

- Mr. Krabs accusing Plankton of stealing the Krabby Patty formula, before nearly killing him.

"(Customer: They're in cahoots!) Yeah I guess that's a short way of saying it. STOP THAT BUBBLE!"

- Mr. Krabs ordering the customers to pop the bubble containing SpongeBob and Plankton.

"Money money money money! Oh boy."

- Mr. Krabs about to be injured by a huge wave of coins.

Trivia

 * Mr. Krabs is often considered more of a villain than Plankton. In fact, Plankton acts like a rather stereotypical villain like Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls and Dr. Doofensmirtz from Phineas and Ferb, and just like those villains, Plankton is actually shown to be sympathetic sometimes. Mr. Krabs, on the contrary, often behaves like a selfish sociopath, who barely cares about how others feel and only cares about himself and the money he earns. At least Plankton shows to have a soft spot for his computer wife Karen and pet amoeba Spot. That being said many people debate otherwise pointing out that Krabs never once got as evil as Plankton was in the first movie and he rarely wants cause harm on purpose mostly getting carried away by his greed while Plankton wants to take over the world.
 * Mr.Krabs has also broken the law more than Plankton. Unlike Plankton, Krabs never went to prison onscreen for it.
 * In the episode "Jellyfish Hunter", Mr. Krabs demands more jellyfish from SpongeBob, upon which he begins to repeat the words "more", which is eventually followed by a grotesque image of Mr. Krabs with his claws raised up. The image is commonly featured and parodied in YouTube Poops and has been dubbed "Moar Krabs".
 * Not surprisingly, in the theory about how SpongeBob 's cast represents the Seven Deadly Sins, Mr. Krabs represents the Deadly Sin of Greed.
 * Even in his old age, he is quite tough. He was also in the navy for several years.
 * At the beginning of the series, Mr. Krabs genuinely cared about SpongeBob and was even somewhat of a father figure to him (since SpongeBob's real dad lives far away from him). This fatherly behaviour has waned in the later series, although it occasionally surfaces (depending on the writer of the episode).
 * In spite of it being claimed by others Krabs pays his employees below minimum wage, Krabs does occasionally pay his employees proper wage, albeit rare, like in "Skill Crane" or "Squeaky Boots".
 * Unsurprisingly, many fans and ex-fans of SpongeBob alike consider Krabs to be the worst character in the entire series, as well as Patrick in post-movie episodes. It is debatable who is worse, but some can make the argument that Krabs is obviously worse because, unlike Patrick, he is more fully aware of his actions, plus he almost made Plankton commit suicide by his fear of whales and was proud of this, whereas Patrick was just aware of himself being dumb.
 * Despite his bottomless obsession of money, Mr. Krabs has absolutely zero knowledge about finance and banking as he stupidly makes absurd behaviour at the bank and getting himself kicked out as well as only depositing a penny instead of huge tons of money to gain big interests due to being ignorant about how a bank works.

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