Dennis (SpongeBob SquarePants)

"Name's Dennis! I've been hired to exterminate you."

- Dennis introduces himself when he and SpongeBob and Patrick meet up.

"Come on, kid. Give it up! Dennis always gets his man!"

- Dennis, as he is preparing to kill SpongeBob.

Dennis the Hitman, mainly known as Dennis, is the secondary antagonist of Nickelodeon's 11th feature film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. He is a murderous bounty hunter who was hired by Plankton to kill SpongeBob and Patrick and prevent the two from finding King Neptune's crown.

He was voiced by Alec Baldwin, who also played Makunga in DreamWorks' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Larry Quinn in The Cat in the Hat, Nicholas Kudrow in Mercury Rising, Donald Trump in Saturday Night Live, and Future Timmy in Channel Chasers. In the video game, he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who also played The Mawgu.

History
Dennis was an assassin who was hired by Sheldon J. Plankton to kill SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, making his first appearance when Plankton told his computer wife Karen about having someone who would kill the heroes. The reason being that Plankton stole King Neptune's crown sold it to a forbidden land called Shell City and framed Eugene H. Krabs for the crime, so Neptune threatened to execute Mr. Krabs (via burning by fire) unless the crown was to be retrieved within a period of six days; Plankton, obviously, wanted Krabs to die of a painful and wrongful execution, and upon learning SpongeBob's and Patrick's journey to get the crown back, he knew that Neptune would discover that Plankton was the thief, so he sent Dennis after them.

Dennis first appears in the film after SpongeBob and Patrick left on a mission to bring the crown back to King Neptune, he inspects left behind sesame seeds from the Patty Wagon and the two gasoline workers insult his hat. Annoyed by this, he literally pulls their mouths off before resuming his search for SpongeBob and Patrick.

Later in the film, SpongeBob and Patrick encountered Dennis for the first time during the middle of their journey. Dennis removes Spongebob and Patrick's mustaches that were used to become "men" (which are made of sea grass and given by Princess Mindy) from their faces, calling the duo out on their stupidity on the obviously fake mustaches, before advancing on them. When SpongeBob asks why Dennis wants to kill him and Patrick, Dennis explains Plankton hired him to do so, and in his overconfidence, he accidentally reveals to his victims that Plankton was the one who stole the crown and sent it to Shell City. Dennis then lifts up his foot to crush the duo with his "big" spike boot, only to be crushed by the Cyclops' "bigger boot".

After what happened at Shell City, SpongeBob and Patrick escape and ride on the backside of David Hasselhoff, who speedily swims through the ocean in order to send them back to Bikini Bottom. During the middle of the swim, SpongeBob and Patrick see the boot of the Cyclops that he stepped on Dennis with. It stops behind his foot and lifts back to show Dennis, who is squished into a green pulp like Plankton always does when somebody steps on him. Dennis then detaches from the boot and onto Hasselhoff, revealing that he is still alive. He tries to kill SpongeBob and Patrick. Dennis grabs SpongeBob by the throat but the latter blows soap bubbles into the hitman's eyes, making him to toss SpongeBob, but Patrick manages to catch him. The enraged Dennis then corners SpongeBob on Hasselhoff's heel. As Dennis prepares to crush SpongeBob and Patrick with his cleated boot, he suddenly hears the honk of a boat's horn. Dennis turns around to see, to his horror, Hasselhoff swimming straight towards a catamaran. Dennis is struck by the catamaran and falls back into the sea below, never to be seen again, though his fate remains uncertain.

Personality
Dennis is portrayed as a fearmongering and homicidal sadist. He is a vituperative and bloodthirsty assassin who supposedly tries to kill SpongeBob and Patrick and prevent them from bringing the crown to King Neptune. Despite this, he is willing to let his victims go if they are able to bribe him such as when he grabs SpongeBob's money and says "It's gonna take a lot more than five...", which shows that he is willing to let them go but it is unknown what the exact amount is because he noticed that SpongeBob gave him Goofy Goober Dollars which are obviously not currency. One of his most abominable plans is when he tries to prevent them from bringing the crown to King Neptune.

Appearance
Dennis is tall, slender, and has olive green skin. He usually wears black cowboy-type hat, a gray shirt, a black vest with the word "DENNIS" on his back, a pair of silver shoulder pauldrons, a right-hand fingerless spiked glove, a pair of black sunglasses, a red neckerchief which covers his mouth, black trousers, a dark gray utility belt with a skull symbol, and a pair of black boots with spikes underneath. When Dennis is crushed by the Cyclops, his clothes are damaged and ragged, he also has eyes with black irises and a mouth reveals sharp and pointy teeth. His appearance was inspired by various motorbike gang members.

Trivia

 * As The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was originally stated to be the series finale of the show, Dennis was never seen again for the rest of the franchise. Although he later made a non-physical cameo on a wanted poster in "Call the Cops".
 * Despite being hired by Plankton, Dennis was never seen interacting with him onscreen.
 * Dennis is one of the deadliest villains in the franchise. He ripped Floyd and Lloyd's mouths off, punched Victor out of his socks and into the Thug Tug, presumably killing him, and tries to kill SpongeBob and Patrick twice, but failed because of him getting defeated by luck.
 * He also can breathe outside of water without any trouble. Although this could be because he was under a boot for some time and the boot sped through the water, thus giving Dennis more moisture.
 * He resembled Plankton after he was crushed by the Cyclops.
 * Even though Dennis is determined to kill SpongeBob and Patrick, he is willing to let them go if they pay him the amount of money he demands. This is shown when SpongeBob tries to bribe him and he responds "It's gonna take a lot more than five...", before noticing that SpongeBob gave him Goofy Goober Dollars.