Triton is a supporting antagonist of SpongeBob SquarePants, serving as the titular main antagonist of the season six special, "The Clash of Triton."
He is the son of King Neptune and Queen Amphitrite, and he was locked away and banished on a deserted island for displaying an interest in mortals.
In other instances in the series, Triton is mentioned by other characters as an exclamation of surprise or shock.
Personality[]
Triton exhibited a mortal-like personality during his child and teenage years, wanting to pick up hobbies like them, which soon caused his relationship with his father, King Neptune, to worsen. They had conflicting interests, as Neptune wanted to use their powers to bring terror onto the world instead. Neptune later imprisoned Triton on an island for creating a potion for that would help mortals cure diseases, thus driving him to become bitter and hateful of him.
Once released by SpongeBob and Patrick, Triton wasted no time in pursuing his father to get revenge on him. He locks his father up (the same way he was once locked up) and even ignores his apologies. Triton then has a change of heart, and decides to destroy Bikini Bottom because he thinking that the world of mortal is "lame." (Ironically, Neptune wanted Triton to do that in the first place.)
Triton's overconfidence and cockiness is what leads to his brief downfall, as he is oblivious to SpongeBob and Patrick's presence, allowing the duo to quickly free everyone. Triton then redeems himself after Neptune becomes proud of giving him the greatest birthday gift, that is being to learn how to use his power and destroy Bikini Bottom, as the two's relationship becomes restored, and Neptune accepts Triton for who he is.
History[]
Long ago, Triton was born to King Neptune and Queen Amphitrite as their newborn son. When he was young, Triton became interested in the mortal world, and he could sometimes be seen watching a nearby baseball game. One time, however, King Neptune shot a bolt of lightning at one of the field lights, shocking Triton and prompting him to run away. During his teenage years, Triton created a potion that would cure diseases for mortals, which gained the disapproval of King Neptune, as he stated that gods should not care about mere mortals. Neptune then punished Triton by banishing him to a deserted island and locking him in a cage until he learned to uses his god powers to escape. This, unsurprisingly, led Triton to hold a bitter grudge against his father.
During King Neptune's 5,000th birthday, Neptune becomes guilty and stressed about locking away his son, and explains the situation to everyone at the Krusty Krab. Motivated by the story, SpongeBob travels to the deserted island and finds Triton, but he gets stuck on solving the cage's lock puzzle and has to call Patrick for assistance. They free Triton, who summons a sportscar in the cage's place and offers the two mortals a ride, before eventually deciding that they are useless to him, and abandoning them in the middle of nowhere.
Triton then crashes his car into the Krusty Krab, much to everyone's surprise, and proceeds to lock up his own parents, their advisors, Mr. Krabs and Squidward, as a form of revenge for locking him up and abandoning him all those years ago. King Neptune attempts to apologize, but Triton ignores him and instead goes on a rampage - destroying Bikini Bottom and leaving everything in ruins. Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Patrick return to the Krusty Krab and attempt to sneak their way over to the cage that the party goers are locked in. Patrick once again solves the puzzle and frees everyone.
Once free, Neptune is quick to glare at Triton angrily. Triton thinks that he is going to be punished for his actions, so he quickly flees the restaurant before getting caught. However, when pursuing Triton, Neptune notices the destruction he caused in Bikini Bottom and becomes proud of his son for finally using his god powers. The two then reconcile and return to their kingdom.
Trivia[]
- Triton's character arc is vaguely reminiscent of Prometheus from Greek mythology. Both of them show empathy for mortals and attempt to give them tools to help their survival - Prometheus gives man fire, while Triton tries to give man a potion to cure disease. Furthermore, the two gods both face scrutiny and punishment for taking an interest in mortals. Prometheus is chained to a rock by Zeus, and Triton is caged on a deserted island by Neptune (the Roman equivalent to Poseidon).