How Old Is Spongebob? (Take a guess)

BabySmitty

BabySmitty

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Okay, we know that he was born in 1986, but that doesn't necessarily tell us specifically how old he is. The actual time period of the show is left slightly ambiguous, as the people of Bikini Bottom seem to have a slightly timeless culture, and their technology is often shown to be antiquated (phones with spiraling cords, record players are frequently shown, old-fashioned cash registers, etc.)

I'm going to go out on a limb and make some assumptions....

Spongebob, in the pilot, was applying for a job which you would, presumably, need to be at least 16 years old to apply for. However, at this point in the show, he appears to be old enough to own a house, and he lives alone. (Apparently, according to "Home Sweet Pineapple," his parents live outside of Bikini Bottom.)

We can assume, perhaps, that Spongebob was in his early twenties at the time of the pilot.

According to the first movie (which canonically is the end of the series,) he has won "Employee of the Month" 374 times... which amounts to 31 years.

Spongebob was presumably in his early twenties at the start of the show, and by the end, he'd been working at the Krusty Krab for 31 years. By the end of the show, he would likely be in his early to mid 50s.

But since the show has little to no continuity, he could be 500 for all I know. Sponges age differently than humans do.
 
Cartoon characters usually never age, I'd say late teens (18,19)or early/mid twenties.
 
I'd say SpongeBob is somewhere around his early to mid 20s. For one, he has a job at the Krusty Krab so he must be over the age of 16. Second, he lives in his own house. I don't know much about how old you have to be to own your own house in Bikini Bottom, but I think you have to be 21 or older to own your own house. Last, he has a man-childish personality to him. Usually most adults are too mature to do stuff like scream at boats or play tag with an electric eel or cry over a toy so SpongeBob would have to be like 22 or something like that.

I personally think he's 30 years old in the first movie because he does act both mature and childish at the same time and his voice does sound deeper than it usually does. That probably explains why the movie takes place after the series.
 
Even though he has become more immature and babyish as the series has gone on, I still prefer to view SpongeBob's age as current and finite, meaning that in my book, he will turn 29 this July 14.

EDIT: And yes, I know this theory makes him not even 13 on the airdate of "Help Wanted." :P
 
Old Man Leeroy Jenkins said:
I'd say SpongeBob is somewhere around his early to mid 20s. For one, he has a job at the Krusty Krab so he must be over the age of 16. Second, he lives in his own house. I don't know much about how old you have to be to own your own house in Bikini Bottom, but I think you have to be 21 or older to own your own house. Last, he has a man-childish personality to him. Usually most adults are too mature to do stuff like scream at boats or play tag with an electric eel or cry over a toy so SpongeBob would have to be like 22 or something like that.

I personally think he's 30 years old in the first movie because he does act both mature and childish at the same time and his voice does sound deeper than it usually does. That probably explains why the movie takes place after the series.
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I don't think age has anything to do with maturity. How many 30-40 somethings do you know who would willingly go to an ice cream bar called "Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat?"

DadMom AngryPants said:
Time to bust out my mega-essay on this topic: SpongeBob's age: a case study
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DadMom, as for why Puff refers to her students as "kids..." lots of adults do that with adults who are considerably younger than them. It's just a thing that older people do.

From TVTropes:

"A good example is professional sports, where retired players will often refer to twenty-something players as "kid" or "young man." Even in pro wrestling (no idea how we went from SpongeBob to WWE), Jim Ross referred to Shawn Michaels as a "young man" until the day Michaels retired... at the age of 44."


Spongebob being middle-aged doesn't contradict the movie's message at all. In fact, it makes it ten times more interesting. Spongebob is an adult who approaches the world with child-like wonder and infinite zeal. The movie was about Spongebob reconciling his two halves- the childish side and the responsible side. It showed that you don't have to stop being a kid to do great things and have great responsibilities. That only makes the film's message poignant for kids AND adults. To kids, it says "hey, even though you're a kid, you can still achieve greatness!" And to adults, it says, "you don't have to lose your heart when you grow up."

I think the reason people assume that SB is younger than he is is because of his mannerisms, and his appearance. I think Spongebob's afflicted with some form of dwarfism or something.
 
I've always considered him to be 22 years old. I don't know why, but it's just what I think of.
However, I have a book with an interview from Stephen Hillenburg that says Sleepy Time isn't canon, and that's a in-joke around when they started the show.
 
BrickSponge2015 said:
I've always considered him to be 22 years old. I don't know why, but it's just what I think of.
However, I have a book with an interview from Stephen Hillenburg that says Sleepy Time isn't canon, and that's a in-joke around when they started the show.
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ooh, what book? I'd love to read another book about Spongebob's history. Hillenburg seems like such an interesting, weird dude.

Popeye Q. Krabs said:
25 is better than 24 so I'll go with that. :P
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Honestly, I think Spongebob is in his 40s or so.
Episodes like "Idiot Box" are somehow a lot more poignant and entertaining with that mindset.
 
BabySmitty said:
ooh, what book? I'd love to read another book about Spongebob's history. Hillenburg seems like such an interesting, weird dude.
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SpongeBob Exposed: The Insider's Guide To SpongeBob (I think)
It also has a Pre-Movie episode list. Some of the airdates in it are wrong but it's still an awesome list.
 
This is only sorta related.. (Character ages in general.)

I recently posted my head canon character profiles on FF.net, and got one anonymous reply saying Squilliam's 53. I guess they didn't catch the part that it was head-canon. Actually, since it was anonymous and didn't give any reason to that conclusion, just stating it simply, I'm figuring they're just wanting to be a troll. (Far as I recall, Squidward's age has never been confirmed in the series, and Squilliam's certainly hasn't.)

That aside, I like DMAP's conclusion (that is, her lack of), she put a lot of thought into it.

I've never really needed to use SB's age yet, but also always went with him being in his 20's (But that he's a sponge, so his lifespan is obviously different and he could physically be older than the other characters).

Actually, a squid or octopus only have a lifespan of about 5 years, if I'm not mistaken. That Squidward hasn't physically changed in ten years would imply the characters in BB don't age according to natural rules anyway.
 
If you absolutely forced me to choose an age I'd say 18-22 since that is technically an adult, which he would need to be in order to be the young man/man-child that Hillenburg describes him as and I generally hold his opinion above all since he actually created the character. But to be honest there is simply no age that seems right to me, and I think it's is irrelevant enough that nobody who works on the show really knows or cares. Tom Kenny usually describes SpongeBob as not quite a kid and not quite a grown-up. Jay Lender did a Reddit AMA one time and in response to a question about SpongeBob's sexuality said "SpongeBob is a child". Derek Drymon said almost the exact same thing in that Hogan's Alley oral history of the show.

I have to say I really enjoy the fact that Hillenburg has never specified an age, because it means they can put SpongeBob in both child and adult situations and neither feels wrong or out of place.
 
I always thought he was 16 years old.
Because of the fact he's trying hi driving license. But that doesn't make sense, since he lives alone already.
He may be 21...
 
Headcanon

He was born in july 1986, and since the show premiere happens in may 1999, he'd be 12-13 years old. But then, the movie happened and was release in november 2004, which makes him 18. You'd think that he'll still age after the movie. Well nope. People are complaining so much about the later seasons that no one ever consider them "canon" to the series and consider the movie and the three original seasons as the only things they want to talk about, as if the new episodes doesn't exist plus they all take place before the movie. Therefore, he is, to me, a very naive teen who tries to take adult responsibilities and act like one but still behave like a kid until the movie in which he'll become an adult, but Mr. Krabs still doesn't see him deserving to be one. It's basically a coming-of-age thing.

Stupid headcanon is stupid
 
My guess that he's 20-something. If his birth date (1986) really is canon, the show probably was set around the mid 00's (2004-2006). Which is why we never see any modern mainstream technology, the computer are still bulky and only can play Solitaire. I also noticed that in newer episodes the characters can be seen using shell-phones (heh) but they're depicted to be bulky phones with only number pads and no screen, that probably means the time period in the show do progress.
 
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