Character

Eugene[1] Harold[2] Krabs,[3] more commonly known as Mr. Krabs, is one of the ten main characters in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.[4] He is a red crab who lives in an anchor with his daughter, Pearl, who is a young whale. He is the owner and founder of the Krusty Krab restaurant as well as the employer of both SpongeBob and Squidward.

Mr. Krabs was designed by Stephen Hillenburg, as marine biology teacher. Hillenburg often received fan letters that asked why Pearl is a whale while her father is a crab.[5] Hillenburg simply wanted each member of the main cast to be a different animal.

Mr. Krabs' most prominent trait is his obsession with money, meaning he's also obsessed with wealth, to the point where he occasionally treats money and wealth better than his daughter and employees. Mr. Krabs' only business competition comes from the Chum Bucket, a failing restaurant run by Sheldon Plankton and his wife Karen. Plankton and Karen are constantly scheming to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula that makes the Krusty Krab so successful.

Mr. Krabs is usually voiced by Clancy Brown and first appears in the episode "Help Wanted."

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Creation and development

When Stephen Hillenburg created the main characters of the show, he wanted each one to be a different animal. He had already designed Pearl as a whale, so he decided to make her father a small crab; Stephen Hillenburg thought their contrasting sizes would make for a funny dynamic.[6] Clancy Brown, the voice of Mr. Krabs, has also said there is "something touchingly metaphorical in the idea of a parent-child relationship being analogous to the difference between a crab and a whale."[7]

Mr. Krabs is the only character in SpongeBob initially based on a specific person from Hillenburg's life.[8] When he designed Mr. Krabs, Hillenburg drew inspiration from his former manager at a seafood restaurant. According to Hillenburg, his manager was redheaded, muscular, and a former army cook; these three traits were adapted into Krabs' character, with Krabs' red color standing in for hair. Krabs' speaking manner was also inspired by the restaurant owner, who reminded Hillenburg of a pirate with his strong Maine accent. However, the owner was not greedy, with this detail added by Hillenburg to "give him more personality."[8]

When Stephen Hillenburg first created Mr. Krabs, his and Pearl's surname was spelled with a C rather than a K. Thus, the name of Krabs' restaurant was the "Crusty Crab." Hillenburg changed the name shortly before production began on the show's pilot episode, deciding that K's were funnier and more memorable.[6] The decision to have Mr. Krabs and Pearl live in an anchor was made after production on the first season had started. The original map of the show's setting, which Hillenburg showed Nickelodeon executives as part of his pitch to the network in 1997, did not include an anchor house and instead labeled the Krusty Krab as both of the characters' residence.[6]

Mr. Krabs has a distinct manner of walking; when he moves, he moves his feet very quickly and he is drawn as if he has more than two legs. When directing animation for early episodes, one of Stephen Hillenburg's goals was for each character to have a separate walk cycle that showed their personalities; storyboard artist Erik Wiese designed Krabs' walk cycle with the intention of making it cartoonish. Wiese recalled in 2012, "I animated Mr. Krabs' little feet on a four-frame multi-blur cycle—I think it was the best solution to making him walk like a crab." Stephen Hillenburg approved of the walk after Wiese demonstrated it on a pencil test machine.[9]

Voice

Mr. Krabs' voice usually is provided by actor Clancy Brown. Brown describes the voice he uses for the character as "piratey," with "a little Scottish brogue." According to Brown, Krabs' voice was improvised during his audition and it was not challenging for him to find the correct voice. Brown is fond of playing the role, having told the New York Post in 2015, "I wouldn't mind doing [the voice] until the end of time. There's just no corollary in live-action work—television or films or anything—to playing a miserly crab on the bottom of the ocean."[10] Brown has defended Mr. Krabs as a character, saying he is "not a bad guy, just like your local banker or businessman. He loves Pearl too!"[11]

In a 2005 interview with the magazine Starlog, Brown described his work on SpongeBob as a "whole other career" compared to his live-action roles.[12] Brown's other acting projects have brought some guest actors onto SpongeBob SquarePants, including Dennis Quaid, whose work with Brown on The Express: The Ernie Davis Story led to his selection as a guest star for the episode "Grandpappy the Pirate."

Mr. Krabs is usually voiced by Clancy Brown, but in various scenes and games, he is voiced by other voice actors:

Description

Mr. Krabs is short, red, and portly with tall eyestalks, a crinkled red-brown nose, large claws, and short, pointy legs. Spikes on his shell are also visible on the back of his neck. He wears a light blue shirt and purple pants with a black belt. A sailor or pirate ship often correlates with Mr. Krabs. Many times when he appears on-screen, sea-shanty sailor music is playing. Sometimes he does not have his shell on such as in "Shell of a Man," "Shell Shocked," and "Company Picnic."

Personality

Mr. Krabs is extremely greedy, cheap, miserly, stingy, money-hungry, and sometimes hypocritical. He is sometimes portrayed as being even just as bad, if not worse, than Plankton. His only interest is to have money, and he could not care less for anybody, including his customers, employees, family, or even himself. He treats money as if it's royalty in some aspects. He frequently associates his customers and products with money, with lines such as "That's me money walking out the door!" or "The money is always right." Also, whenever SpongeBob or anyone else does something he doesn't like, he often says "This is coming out of your paycheck." It should be noted that, while Mr. Krabs' portrayal shows him as being obsessed with money and wealth to the point of anthropomorphizing it from the beginning, he became more miserly, cheap, and immoral as the series progressed, up to the ninth season. When SpongeBob uses the term "obsession" to describe his relationship with money and wealth during "Plankton's Good Eye," he denies it and claims it to be a strong word. He then puts his money to bed.

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. "Krab Borg" 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. In the same episode, he forces SpongeBob to serve a 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. He also tries to rip somebody's arm off for a penny saying "Unhand that penny or the arm comes off." 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 rare drink hat to obtain a million dollars. Additionally, he has little respect for 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 more money. Krabs promptly kicks Patrick out when he discovers 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," he fails to take Krabby Patties away from King Neptune when ordered to do so and is 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 $101.99 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 Krusty Krab and adds an extra zero at the end of every price on the menu in hopes of getting more money. Mr. Krabs has even admitted his cheap nature before, such as in "Squirrel Jokes." There have been at least two occasions where SpongeBob has burst into the Krusty Krab to warn him about an oncoming disaster, only for him to think of it as an opportunity to try to serve his customers Krabby Patties. The first attempt was to an oncoming biker gang in "Born to Be Wild." The second was in "Whelk Attack" when he tried serving Krabby Patties to giant whelks when SpongeBob describes them as ravenously eating everything in their paths, he continues 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 as shown in "Squid on Strike." However, in "Dying For Pie" Squidward states that Mr. Krabs pays him minimum wage. In "Bummer Vacation," SpongeBob comments that nickel is "more than [he makes] in a year." In "Big Pink Loser," SpongeBob 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 forces them to work nonstop 24 hours a day, seven days a week without rest for more than 40 days. In "Squid on Strike," 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. 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 not nonexistent, frequently resorting to improvised and obviously inadequate measures to avoid paying for actual insurance and repairs. In "Pickles," he takes 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. 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." The "Spongy Patties" give all the customers food poisoning, and one of the customers, who happens to be a cop, arrests Krabs. "Money Talks" reveals that Krabs has sold his soul multiple times to various evil spirits and demons, including the Flying Dutchman and even SpongeBob because "he was five bucks short on payday." In "Drive Thru," he turns 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 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 making Mr. Krabs not have to spend anything. Because of the increase in customers, he keeps knocking more holes in the walls of his restaurant until it eventually collapses. In "SpongeBob You're Fired," he fires SpongeBob, his best employee just to save a nickel. In "Out of the Picture," Krabs, after SpongeBob telling him that when paintings get older, they get more expensive, buys all of Squidward's paintings, including the one that SpongeBob bought. After an art appraiser tells him that the paintings of a dead artist are a lot more expensive than those of an alive artist, he sends Squidward to a series of deliveries to dangerous locations to get him killed in the process. After through luck, Squidward survives all of them, including delivery to Mars, Krabs in anger takes out a huge hammer and tries to directly kill him. Squidward in the process is forced to destroy his paintings and the art appraiser appraises the destruction. Krabs, in hopes of getting money, then destroys his own restaurant just to impress the appraiser. The appraiser then says to Krabs that the "performance" couldn't have a price on it, so Mr. Krabs then gets angry, but a piece of the roof crushes him and Squidward. It is then seen that they are displaced in an art museum.

Mr. Krabs can also be incredibly petty. In "Plankton's Regular," when 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 says 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 finds, 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 his 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 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 of work, or else he would be fired. In "My Pretty Seahorse," Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to not just stop bringing Mystery to work, but to get rid of her entirely and has on many occasions forced his employees to work nonstop and told them that they could never go home, which is illegal.

Mr. Krabs is very protective of the secret formula, as he is always going to great lengths to make sure it is safe from Plankton. However, he is so used to Plankton making attempts to steal it that if Plankton doesn't make any attempts for a certain length of time, he begins to lose his sanity. As shown in Plankton Paranoia, Mr. Krabs is willing to leave the formula in plain sight, make new laws about all Krabby Patties having to be eaten on Krusty Krab premises, and even ban his customers and his employees just to get Plankton to reveal himself, and he often ends up hallucinating that Plankton is everywhere.

Despite his cruel and money-grubbing behavior, Mr. Krabs is not completely heartless. He has apologized for his actions on occasion, and he does care for Pearl, going to great lengths to acquire food for her in "Growth Spout" and in "Bossy Boots" he makes Pearl manager and gets heartbroken having to fire her. Despite his abusive treatment of SpongeBob and Squidward, he does care for and appreciate them, as the two help keep his restaurant afloat. He has also stated that he wouldn't stoop so low as to physically abuse them, as shown in "Selling Out." In "Krusty Love," Krabs finds his second love after money: Mrs. Puff. 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 non-cheap, generous krab, something that he did very well until he discovered that he had no money in the cash register. As seen in "Little Yellow Book," even Mr. Krabs is upset at Squidward for reading SpongeBob's diary. In "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" Mr. Krabs is heartbroken over losing SpongeBob and even says he will give it all away to have him back. He also shows some sort of fatherly concern towards SpongeBob and Patrick, making them promise never to go near the hooks in "Hooky" and forbidding them from using vulgar words in "Sailor Mouth." He also apologizes for selling SpongeBob for 62 cents in "Born Again Krabs."

Mr. Krabs and Pearl live together in a hollow anchor. Its address has been inconsistent in the show: it is at 3541 Anchor Way, Bikini Bottom in "Sleepy Time" and at 2219 Anchor St. in "Mall Girl Pearl." Mr. Krabs and Pearl own a pet worm named Mr. Doodles, as seen in "Sandy's Rocket" and "As Seen on TV." Krabs has a mother, who lives in a nearly identical version of his anchor home, except it is pink and slightly smaller.

Abilities and talents

Detection: Mr. Krabs is no stranger to having his restaurant invaded by Plankton in pursuit of the formula. As such, he isn't deceived by Plankton's numerous disguises and attempts to obtain the formula. In "Plankton!," Mr. Krabs is the only one to realize that the moving Krabby Patty was a result of Plankton hiding in it. In "Imitation Krabs," he detects Plankton behind the Robot Game Show Host machine. He also isn't deceived by Plankton lying about his card advising to discuss the Krabby Patty formula while at SpongeBob's party in "Party Pooper Pants." Despite this, he falls for Plankton's disguise as Cashina in "Married to Money" and his trail of pennies in "Goo Goo Gas" out of greed. Mr. Krabs also has a great sense of smell, and he can identify the presence of money from lengthy distances, as seen in "Penny Foolish."

Mr. Krabs is no stranger to having his restaurant invaded by Plankton in pursuit of the formula. As such, he isn't deceived by Plankton's numerous disguises and attempts to obtain the formula. In "Plankton!," Mr. Krabs is the only one to realize that the moving Krabby Patty was a result of Plankton hiding in it. In "Imitation Krabs," he detects Plankton behind the Robot Game Show Host machine. He also isn't deceived by Plankton lying about his card advising to discuss the Krabby Patty formula while at SpongeBob's party in "Party Pooper Pants." Despite this, he falls for Plankton's disguise as Cashina in "Married to Money" and his trail of pennies in "Goo Goo Gas" out of greed. Mr. Krabs also has a great sense of smell, and he can identify the presence of money from lengthy distances, as seen in "Penny Foolish." Fighting: Having served in the Navy, Mr. Krabs knows how to defend himself and is more armed than most people. In "One Krabs Trash," he fights off a group of living skeletons in the cemetery using a sword. In "Bubbletown," he assaults the bubble police officer to the point of death, showing that he is more armed than the highest people of authority.

Having served in the Navy, Mr. Krabs knows how to defend himself and is more armed than most people. In "One Krabs Trash," he fights off a group of living skeletons in the cemetery using a sword. In "Bubbletown," he assaults the bubble police officer to the point of death, showing that he is more armed than the highest people of authority. Limb range: Like most characters in the series, Mr. Krabs can stretch his body to unusual extents. He can elongate his eyes into nearby rooms and is revealed to know his to pop his eyestalks in and out in "Pressure," the latter of which he claims is a shared family quirk.

Like most characters in the series, Mr. Krabs can stretch his body to unusual extents. He can elongate his eyes into nearby rooms and is revealed to know his to pop his eyestalks in and out in "Pressure," the latter of which he claims is a shared family quirk. Lying: When under pressure, Mr. Krabs will resort to lying about having malice intent and has at times shown to be rather good at it. In "Life of Crime," he gets away with having stolen many people's valuables by categorizing the act as "borrowing." In "Growth Spout," Mr. Krabs is accused of theft by the police, but denies their accusations and claims he is practicing Santa Claus for the holidays, thereby letting him off the hook.

When under pressure, Mr. Krabs will resort to lying about having malice intent and has at times shown to be rather good at it. In "Life of Crime," he gets away with having stolen many people's valuables by categorizing the act as "borrowing." In "Growth Spout," Mr. Krabs is accused of theft by the police, but denies their accusations and claims he is practicing Santa Claus for the holidays, thereby letting him off the hook. Parental authority: Being Pearl's father, Mr. Krabs has authority over her, and Pearl must obey him regardless of circumstances. Despite having legal authority over Pearl, Mr. Krabs has displayed incredibly poor and abusive parenting towards her in favor of finance, more-so as the show progressed.

Being Pearl's father, Mr. Krabs has authority over her, and Pearl must obey him regardless of circumstances. Despite having legal authority over Pearl, Mr. Krabs has displayed incredibly poor and abusive parenting towards her in favor of finance, more-so as the show progressed. Strength: 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 up 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 then throws it into the air. In "Le Big Switch," he tips over the Krusty Krab from the back, dumping all of the customers out. He also possesses a remarkable sense of smell; he is actually able to smell money, and in "Hooky" he tracks down SpongeBob and Patrick by the sense of smell at least a few hours after the two left the Krusty Krab, claiming that he can "smell laziness up to ten thousand leagues." Mr. Krabs shows that he is stronger than Sandy in "Surf N Turf" when he tossed her submarine into the distance. He also easily beat many muscular fish at the secret anchor arm wrestling club in "Handemonium."

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 up 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 then throws it into the air. In "Le Big Switch," he tips over the Krusty Krab from the back, dumping all of the customers out. He also possesses a remarkable sense of smell; he is actually able to smell money, and in "Hooky" he tracks down SpongeBob and Patrick by the sense of smell at least a few hours after the two left the Krusty Krab, claiming that he can "smell laziness up to ten thousand leagues." Mr. Krabs shows that he is stronger than Sandy in "Surf N Turf" when he tossed her submarine into the distance. He also easily beat many muscular fish at the secret anchor arm wrestling club in "Handemonium." Supervisor authority: Due to having found the Krusty Krab franchise, Mr. Krabs has authority over his employees, who must do what he says or else consequences will be faced. Despite this, he is shown to abuse his authority to mass extents and shows little regard to the well-being of SpongeBob or Squidward in pursuit of raised profits.

Obsession with money and wealth

Mr. Krabs is an extremely selfish and greedy individual when it comes to his money and will go to any lengths for even a single penny. This is shown in "Penny Foolish" where he breaks into SpongeBob's house just to obtain a penny. He even chased a penny for many miles in "Imitation Krabs."

He will even abuse SpongeBob and Squidward at work in many episodes. He makes them work for 24 hours in "Graveyard Shift" and "Fear of a Krabby Patty," but changes it to 23 hours. He forces them to fish for his millionth dollar, even going as far as to use them as bait in "Clams." In "The Cent of Money," he abuses SpongeBob and Gary when he forces Gary to steal change and keep SpongeBob occupied, he is even shown to make them pay him instead of them getting their paycheck, such as in "Squid on Strike." In the said episode, he fires SpongeBob and Squidward, and in the end, when they are reemployed, he forces them to work for him for the rest of their lives after SpongeBob destroyed and trashed the Krusty Krab. In "Krabs à la Mode," he forces them to work with the thermostat at 62 degrees, making them freeze in the process. It is shown in "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm" that he cares more about money than he does about anyone else, even their lives, as shown when Sandy wanted him to pay her. It is also shown in "The Slumber Party" that he can prioritize money over Pearl's happiness when he gives her only tap water with crackers and ketchup (in place of pizza) and a lot of rules. In "Whale of a Birthday" It is revealed that Mr. Krabs ruined 15 of Pearl's birthday parties due to being cheap, and almost ruined her 16th birthday party, only angry to find out that SpongeBob bought a lot of gifts with his credit card. He also has abused animals for money, as shown in "Jellyfish Hunter" and "The Cent of Money." He has also said many times how much he would want to marry money such as in "Money Talks" and "Married to Money."

The episode "Born Again Krabs" shows his greedy personality when he almost dies for forcing SpongeBob to serve a rotten patty. In the same episode, he shows how selfish he is when he sells SpongeBob's soul just for 62 cents and almost rips somebody's arm off for a penny. In "Krusty Love" shows his generous side when he finds someone he loves just as much as money, which appears to be Mrs. Puff, and he reluctantly spends $100,000 just for their date. He then tells SpongeBob to make him not spend any money even though he forces SpongeBob to spend money for him as he scolds him, prompting him to finally snap at him and curse in gibberish, yet he is able to win Mrs. Puff's heart and keep his money. In "Born Again Krabs," he gave children free toys, gave people the ability to watch movies that have not even been in theaters, and free refills; Mr. Krabs is completely relaxed and does not mind having to pay a fine of $10,000 despite being bankrupt until he realized that he wasn't dreaming and he was fully awake.

"The Krabby Kronicle," shows him making counterfeit notes. He has also paid SpongeBob fake money and stole people's belongings to avoid paying, as shown in "Life of Crime." He endangers townsfolk and even children, as shown in "The Wreck of the Mauna Loa" and "Krabby Land." He is overprotective of his money, as shown in "Squid's Day Off," "Can You Spare a Dime?," and "Clams." In the episode "Krabs vs. Plankton," his eyes turn in golden bars when the lawyer says, "We'll counter sue Plankton for everything he's got!" Krabs also prefers to accept free stuff and hate's spending a single dollar. In addition, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, he priced his Krabby Patties up to $99 plus. He also raised the price of Krabby Patties to $50.00 in "The Googly Artiste."

There's also a short called "Me Money" where Mr. Krabs' money is nowhere to be found and he explains to SpongeBob the many violent things he is going to do to the person who "took" his money and then when SpongeBob tells him that he is just polishing it, he all of a sudden turns happy.

Krabs' greed is a double-edged sword, as he has made business decisions in order to save or acquire more money, which turned out to be counter-productive. In "SpongeBob You're Fired," he fires his best employee simply to save a nickel and opts to do the fry cooking himself, which backfires since his terrible fry cook skills scared all the customers away. In "Hello Bikini Bottom!," he sold his restaurant to fund a band tour for SpongeBob and Squidward, but almost went bankrupt.

Worker rights violation

Many times, Mr. Krabs has violated worker's rights out of being cheap, and/or to make more money.

Biography

Eugene H. Krabs was born on November 30, 1942 to Victor and Betsy Krabs. Presumably, before or after his birth his parents had a daughter, making him either an older or younger brother.[13]

When he was less than three years old, he went to a Nursery. Here, he met Sheldon J. Plankton, who was born on the same day as him.[14]

When Mr. Krabs was very young, he was put in the custody of his paternal grandfather, Redbeard Krabs, who was a pirate. Mr. Krabs learned how to be a pirate during this time.[15]

When Mr. Krabs was five years old, he got a dollar from his father. He loved that dollar a lot, but he eventually had to spend it to buy a soda on a hot day.[16]



He attended Poseidon Elementary School. During his time here, he was cruelly considered an outcast by other kids, particularly a circle led by a mean young boy named Billy due to being poor, leaving him in an only close friendship with Plankton.[14]

After being humiliated by the class bullies, Plankton and Mr. Krabs wanted revenge. When Plankton and Mr. Krabs were planning it, they went to the carnival and Mr. Krabs found a penny. He thought it was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. He then asked Plankton what it was. Plankton explained that it was money and that he could buy things with it. Mr. Krabs then spends the penny on balloons for Plankton.[14] This began Mr. Krabs' lifelong obsession with money and wealth.

One of the popular eateries of the time was Stinky Burgers. One day, Mr. Krabs and Plankton tried to get some burgers, but the owner, Stinky, told them that they could not eat at the restaurant, acting out of favor of the shallow Billy and his gang who were his customers that day. Later, Mr. Krabs and Plankton went to the back of the building. Stinky told them that he did not want them there because they would drive away his customers. When Stinky's shift was over, he drove off in a limousine, accidentally leaving a dollar behind. Plankton realized that starting a fast food restaurant had the potential to get the kids to like and respect the two, while Mr. Krabs was focused on the money part. Mr. Krabs was worried that they did not have the skill to make the patties. Plankton was not worried about that since they had science.[14]

Soon, they found an old trailer in The Dump and, using science, created a great-looking burger. They were going to rub it in the face of the other kids, but Stinky Burgers was shut down. They tested the burger on Old Man Jenkins, who was a family friend of Mr. Krabs. The burger was delicious, but it knocked out Old Man Jenkins. Mr. Krabs and Plankton then fought and eventually the two were fighting over the recipe. The force of the two sides pulling caused Mr. Krabs to go towards the wall and Plankton to go out the door. Mr. Krabs got most of the recipe and Plankton got only one part, which was only the corner, reading "...and a pinch of chum." When Mr. Krabs hit the wall, he caused several different ingredients to fall in the cauldron of patty batter, which made the burger good.[14]

Soon after, Mr. Krabs and Plankton went back to school. Plankton had created a chum-based patty, which was the ingredient that he got. Mr. Krabs showed off his Krabby Patties. It was decided that the way that they would determine whose was better was by having the other kids try them. Mr. Krabs won. Plankton then vowed to steal the formula from that day forward.[14]

Somehow, most likely through the Krabby Patties' success and/or the war that occurred during Mr. Krabs' childhood,[17] Betsy was able to buy a house and give Mr. Krabs proper clothes.

Mr. Krabs became quite good with money, even able to scam a vending machine to get a soda.[17]

At some point, Mr. Krabs worked on the S.S. Diarrhea as head chef and S.S. Gourmet as a bathroom attendant.[18]

In the early 1960s , Mr. Krabs joined the Navy. Krabs earned the nickname "Armor Abs Krabs," due to being the manliest of the crew. His shipmates were Torpedo Belly Iron Eye , and Lockjaw Jones . Krabs was apparently also an officer in the navy, for he was a "naval cadet."

During this time, Mr. Krabs' cooking skill improved, and towards the end of his career as a Naval officer, he found himself on a Naval cargo ship, which was carrying suntan lotion. The crew loved his cooking, but Mr. Krabs' superior, Captain Scarfish, did not like that they were not having slop. One day, the cargo ship was invaded by pirates. Mr. Krabs, along with Captain Scarfish and the ensign, captured the pirates. Mr. Krabs then freed the pirate leader, the pirate queen, and joined her as a pirate.[19]

Eventually, using the training that his grandfather gave him as a kid, he managed to become captain of his own ship, which he called, "the Krusty Krab."[15] He eventually faced the abominable snow mollusk, a fearsome beast of the high seas. He and his crew were devoured by the beast and forced to wait "for nature to take its course" to escape the creature's stomach.[20]

Eventually, Mr. Krabs and his crew were not doing so well, and Mr. Krabs had to give up his crew and sell his ship.[15]

With the little money he had, he bought a local bankrupt retirement home, "The Rusty Krab," which he decided to turn into a restaurant, adding a K to "Rusty," thus naming it the Krusty Krab[17] after his pirate ship. He decided to go into business, serving his Krabby Patties. the Krusty Krab was extremely successful from the beginning and has stood for years as Bikini Bottom's premiere daytime eatery.

In the early days of the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs was not that successful due to his own rusty cooking skills.[21]

In the mid-80s, the Krusty Krab had managed to get a commercial.[22] By this time, Mr. Krabs had hired a cashier.[22]

Eventually, he hired Jim.

In 1998 or January, 1999 , he hired Squidward Tentacles. During this period of time, the Krusty Krab had a lot of success as Jim was a great fry cook. One day Jim decided to leave and abandon The Krusty Krab as he did not feel like he was paid enough.

After Jim left, the quality of the Krusty Krab decreased significantly. That same year, Mr. Krabs hired a fry cook whose " Name is Yet to Be Revealed."[22]

Within a year and a half of working at the Krusty Krab, The Other Fry cook, left the Krusty Krab with no fry cook. One day on May 1, 1999, Squidward's neighbor, SpongeBob SquarePants came into the Krusty Krab for the Fry Cook job. At first, Mr. Krabs did not want SpongeBob to have the job because Squidward did not want him there. To get rid of SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs asked SpongeBob to get a ridiculously specific item and to not come back until he got it. Shortly after SpongeBob left, several buses of anchovies appeared. They were restless and almost killed Squidward and Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob showed up with the spatula. He then proceeds to feed every last anchovy. Mr. Krabs then gave SpongeBob the job.[3]

At some point during the earlier days of the Krusty Krab, Plankton opened a restaurant called, "Chum Bucket" across the street from the Krusty Krab. However, it was soon bankrupted by the success of the Krusty Krab and it was destroyed. Years later, sometime after Mr. Krabs hired SpongeBob as the fry cook, Plankton returned with a new Chum Bucket.[21]

Plankton, now a mad scientist and technological scientific genius, constantly attempts to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula as he vowed to do all those years ago, frequently using his various robots and other creations. Occasionally, Plankton uses other tactics besides stealing the formula in order to hinder Krabs and attract customers to him. However, all of Plankton's schemes are doomed to fail and are constantly thwarted by Krabs, with help from SpongeBob, Patrick, and other allies. On multiple occasions, Plankton states that he has never had a single customer.

In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Mr. Krabs opens the Krusty Krab 2 right next door to the original Krusty Krab. He chooses Squidward to manage the restaurant, much to SpongeBob's dismay. However, after SpongeBob saves Bikini Bottom and Krabs' life, he is appointed the new manager of the Krusty Krab 2.

Career

Before he established the restaurant, he tried to open a business along with his former best friend, Plankton. Their first customer was Old Man Jenkins, which their burger poisoned. Plankton and Krabs blamed each other and fought over the recipe, resulting in ingredients dropped into the meat, which became the Krabby Patty. At the end, Plankton only got one ingredient: Chum.[14]

Krabs was a Navy cadet for some time and retired to running a business again. He bought a retirement home named the Rusty Krab and made it into the Krusty Krab restaurant we see today. Currently, he has two employees: one loyal and hardworking and the other who does not care about his job and sleeps during his shifts. Occasionally, he would have extra employees to boost his success, often being better off without them in the end. Less often, he works for someone else or had another business.

In some episodes such as "Culture Shock" and "Squirrel Jokes," he provided entertainment to the customers.

Other businesses that he owned include the Pretty Patties restaurant and the Kuddly Krab, which were not successful in the end. Krabs also owned a hotel, until it crashed.

In "The Krabby Kronicle," he was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper that he used to advertise the Krusty Krab.

During "Squilliam Returns," he served as the chef for the "five-star restaurant" that Squidward "owned." He looked for a job when he was looking for something to do which led him to become the dishwasher in "Selling Out."

Businesses owned

Some restaurants or businesses that he owned were a reformed version of the original Krusty Krab, a separate store, or a different idea. Some changes of the Krusty Krab turned the restaurant into others like the Kuddly Krab, 5 Star Krusty Krab, Krabby O'Monday's, and The Krusty Sponge. Separate restaurants include the Pretty Patties Store and Krusty Krab 2. New ideas were made such as hotels like the Krusty Towers.

Rivalry

The Chum Bucket - The Chum Bucket, owned by Krabs' former best friend Sheldon Plankton has been the main rivalry of the Krusty Krab for nearly the entire series, and Plankton continues to try to steal the recipe for Krabby Patties, but almost always fails by the end of the episode. However, occasionally he has had customers in his restaurant, only to lose them in the end. Krabs' rivalry with Plankton has never been lost, but most of the time it has been gained.

The Sea Chicken Shack - The Sea Chicken Shack was a restaurant that claimed to be "The best restaurant in the sea," which angered Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob then went to investigate, only to find out that it was a complete disaster, and that the only reason it had any service was due to a statue of the mascot, Mr. Sea Chicken, which kids played on.

The Kelpshake - The Kelp Shake restaurant was a very popular restaurant that made no customers order any drinks from the Krusty Krab. Therefore, Mr. Krabs teams up with Plankton to steal the recipe for it. However, Plankton sustains many injuries, so; instead, Mr. Krabs was "forced" to order one. However, both Krabs and Plankton end up drinking it, only to find out that the shakes were toxic causing the person who drank it to grow green fur all over their body.

The Flabby Patty Shack - The Flabby Patty Shack was a restaurant that served burgers much like Krabby Patties in which everyone preferred over. Therefore, he and Plankton teamed up to steal the secret formula. They finally get it, only to find out it is a recipe for friendship. SpongeBob then explained that he created the Flabby Patty Shack to get them to work together.

Relationships

Family

Main article: Krabs family

Pearl Krabs (daughter)

Pearl is the only thing Mr. Krabs loves more than money.[24] Mr. Krabs cares very deeply for her and raised her by himself. He sometimes struggles to let go of his greed for Pearl but does what is right for her in the end.

Betsy Krabs (mother)

His mother, Betsy Krabs, is seen in several episodes. They are very close since Mr. Krabs was raised solely by his mother and for that, he loves her as shown when he affectionately calls her "Mommy," in spite of being an adult. Despite his care for her, Mr. Krabs is as cheap as he is with everybody as he chooses not to give her money. He even tells his mother not to spend her own money, since he believes it to be his inheritance which shows how selfish he can be with her.

Victor Krabs (father)

His father, Victor. Not much is known, though he appears to have a good relationship with him because he gave him a dollar when he was five. Mr. Krabs once got his father to help him handle the Jenkins family after they took over his restaurant.

Grandpa Redbeard (grandfather)

He and his grandfather have a very similar personality. Like Grandpa Redbeard, Mr. Krabs loves money. Although he was ashamed to admit that he was a restaurant owner and tried hiding it, he ultimately revealed it and his grandfather was proud he was still a pirate but in a legal way. Also, Redbeard stole money from Mr. Krabs and is notable for being the only person that Mr. Krabs did not get upset with for stealing his money.

Other relatives

The episode "Stanley S. SquarePants" shows that he has three little nephews who solve mysteries. Because of this, it is confirmed Mr. Krabs has a brother or sister, though it has been hinted to be a sister since his grandfather called him his only grandson.

Mr. Krabs seems to have family all over the world, like Scotland, Dead Eye Gulch, even kings and pirates. He and his relatives are very similar looking, all almost looking the same except with a few different facial features. His relatives such as William Krabs act similar to him as they are cheap, somewhat selfish, and always want money.

His employees

Mr. Krabs treats his employees very poorly, paying them far below minimum wage, and even forcing them to pay him.[25] He constantly abuses them, overworks them to the point of exhaustion,[26] even whipping Squidward for money. That said, he does "tolerate" his employees because they bring him good money, though he is easy to rebuke them if they mess up his profits.

Squidward

Squidward greatly despises and has little tolerance for Mr. Krabs, and views him as nothing more than a cheap miser, that said, he does get along with him sometimes,[27] and even seems to be Mr. Krabs' friend sometimes.[3] Squidward hates his job, works very poorly, much to Mr. Krabs' annoyance. Mr. Krabs has no tolerance for Squidward's laziness, and sometimes even jokes about firing him,[16] not that Squidward would mind, because he'd probably like it better that way too.

SpongeBob

Mr. Krabs is in some way a father figure to SpongeBob, such as reprimanding him for swearing in "Sailor Mouth." That said, SpongeBob does have his fair share of abuse from Mr. Krabs, such as the time when SpongeBob and Squidward were nearly sacrificed to the Clam in "Clams," or sacrificing SpongeBob to the "sandwich gods" in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, or when he sold SpongeBob's soul for 62 cents to the Flying Dutchman in "Born Again Krabs." Mr. Krabs often takes advantage of SpongeBob as he is sometimes gullible enough to work a longer shift at work without overtime payment. SpongeBob also likes working for Mr. Krabs and doesn't mind getting paid little any money. SpongeBob also seems to be oblivious of Mr. Krabs's greed, however, he has called him a "Crustaceous Cheapskate" out of anger twice, in "Pickles" and "Can You Spare a Dime" SpongeBob also got mad at Mr. Krabs when he abused Gary in "The Cent of Money" Mr. Krabs also thinks he can control SpongeBob's life, such as forcing him to give up Mystery the Seahorse in "My Pretty Seahorse" or to give up karate in "Karate Choppers." Despite being a bully sometimes, Mr. Krabs does really care about SpongeBob, mostly because SpongeBob is his best employee.

It's also noted that in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, SpongeBob would risk his own life to save Mr. Krabs.

Jim

According to the episode "The Original Fry Cook," Jim and Mr. Krabs had somewhat of an okay relationship, however, Jim was probably the first one to rebel against Mr. Krabs because of how little he pays his employees, then Jim quits his job to pursue a successful career as a chef. Like Squidward, Jim despised Mr. Krabs for being cheap. He even tried to convince Squidward to quit so they can have "something to fall back on," but Squidward declines, saying he's only doing this until his "clarinet career takes off."

Plankton

Plankton is Mr. Krabs' nemesis, their rivalry stems all the way back to their childhoods when both of them were in poverty and were teased by the other kids, so they wanted to become successful and out-compete the burger shop to get back on the kids, so they made up a recipe, but when they gave their burger to Old Man Jenkins, he was poisoned by the food. Krabs and Plankton blamed each other for Jenkins' death, Plankton ripped off a piece of the old formula ("chum"), when he slammed the door angrily on his way out, a bunch of ingredients fell into a batter, and thus the Krabby Patty was born.[14] Mr. Krabs revels in his success against Plankton and will go mad if Plankton has one customer, that said, Plankton does try to run Mr. Krabs' business to the ground by stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula, although he always fails, with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie being a notable exception. Plankton and Krabs can get along sometimes, such as in "Best Frenemies" and "New Leaf."

Mrs. Puff

According to "Whirly Brains," Mr. Krabs was dating Mrs. Puff for 16 years. They start a relationship in the episode "Krusty Love."

Sandy Cheeks

Mr. Krabs and Sandy have had very few interactions throughout the series so far. When they do interact though, they seem to get along. He even went to her birthday party in the episode "Feral Friends." He temporarily hired Sandy at the end of "Karate Choppers" due to her karate skills being excellent for chopping food; although earlier in the same episode, he showed a distaste for her smell since she was a mammal.

Patrick Star

Mr. Krabs and Patrick have had few interactions. Patrick is sometimes seen working in the Krusty Krab and is a regular customer there. Though like Squidward and Sandy, Mr. Krabs often gets annoyed with Patrick's stupidity. Mr. Krabs often acts mean towards Patrick, as when he fired him for making him do a refund.

Karen Plankton

Mr. Krabs and Karen barely interact despite being enemies. He did take her in and made her work at the Krusty Krab in the episode "Karen 2.0."

Trivia

In the online game Block Party on Nick.com, a trivia question incorrectly says that Mr. Krabs' first name is Seymour. Eugene, his real first name, is not even one of the four choices.

on Nick.com, a trivia question incorrectly says that Mr. Krabs' first name is Seymour. Eugene, his real first name, is not even one of the four choices. Until Plankton and Karen became parents in season 12, he was the only main character to be a parent.

SpongeBob is seen imitating Mr. Krabs in "Gone," "Mimic Madness," and "Boss for a Day."

In older SpongeBob games on Nick.com, Mr. Krabs is wearing the scarf from "Squilliam Returns."