Death Battle Predictions: SpongeBob VS Aquaman

 

(Thumbnail by AwesomeEthan48)

SpongeBob SquarePants, the spongy fry cook of the Krusty Krab from SpongeBob SquarePants.

Aquaman, Protector of the Seven Seas and member of the Super Friends.

Ah, the sea, a place of wonder and beauty with nothing like it, is full of majesty and life. However, it is also prone to some dark threats and strange circumstances unlike anywhere else. As such, in order to bring balance to the sea, we have these two marine heroes ready and able to help those in need. While they may be a bit goofy and silly with their over-the-top personalities and boisterous attitudes, they protect the ocean against all invaders, big or small, with their strength, courage, and heart. Today, we shall see which marine hero will come out top; will SpongeBob be ready for a Sweet Victory, or will Aquaman prove his worth and wring out the sponge to dry? It’s time to find out in this DEATH BATTLE!

Before We Get Started… 

For SpongeBob, we will be looking at all media he’s appeared in, with the show, the games, the movies, and even some of the more obscure spin-off material being considered. As for Aquaman, we will be compositing the 60s Aquaman and the Super Friends Aquaman, as well as tie-in material in which he appeared, such as the Super Friends comics. As this is focusing on this incarnation of Aquaman, this naturally means that scaling to his mainline counterparts from Earth-One, New Earth, etc. is off the table.

Background

SpongeBob

“I’M READY!”

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? For a while, no one, actually. SpongeBob has been just another resident of Bikini Bottom for a good portion of his life, growing up with an average family (albeit one with a terrifying bully in his cousin Blackjack), but nothing seemed extraordinary at the time. Well, aside from his extraordinary history of failing to get a driver’s license. However, this would all change when he applied to work at an eating establishment known as the Krusty Krab. Despite being sent on a seemingly impossible task, SpongeBob returned victoriously and got the job, which would be the first of many (and we mean MANY) adventures.

Shortly after, he’d make a new friend with a foreigner named Sandy Cheeks, help the Krusty Krab explode in popularity, and protect the secret Krabby Patty formula from Plankton time and time again. His optimism and positive outlook on life have rubbed off on almost everyone around him as time has gone on, and even after what’s been close to 25 years, he shows no signs of slowing down. Metaphorical rain or shine, SpongeBob will always be ready, with his infectious laugh in tow.

Aquaman

“I don’t get paid.”

By now, everyone knows the story of Aquaman, but even though this is only one specific incarnation of DC’s Defender of Atlantis, this version of Aquaman is pretty different than the one in the comics. Some stuff does stay the same, with Aquaman being the child of a fisherman and an Atlantean, discovering his powers at a young age, mastering said powers, and becoming the protector of the sea when he grew up. However, that is where the similarities end.

With the media we are using for Super Friends Aquaman, his past has been changed several times. In the Aquaman TV show, he was the king of Atlantis and would protect the seven seas with his teen ally Aqualad. In the original Super Friends cartoon, Aquaman was never king, moreso being the protector of the sea in general, as well as a fellow member (and butt-monkey) of the Super Friends. Then, in the Super Friends in the comics, his past is exactly the same as the normal Aquaman we’re used to. Whichever backstory you use, Arthur is still the hero Aquaman, and he’ll fight to protect his sea while also being a Super Friend to all.

Equipment

SpongeBob

Spatula (AKA Spat)

SpongeBob’s main patty-flipping cooking utensil. Nicknamed Spat, SpongeBob has used it for more than preparing Krabby Patties, such as using it as a makeshift ping-pong paddle and a sword. It also seems like this spatula is both sentient and capable of moving on its own, as shown by the time it was in a wheelchair after being injured, and demonstrated conscious thought and movement.

Hydro-Dynamic Spatula

The first ever spatula that SpongeBob used, bought at Bikini Bottom’s Barg'N-Mart. Coming equipped with “port-and-starboard attachments and a turbo drive”, it’s a triple-headed spatula capable of flight and making Krabby Patties at a faster and more effective rate.

Golden Spatula

Exactly what it says on the tin; it’s a spatula… but golden. This specific spatula pictured above was pulled out of a mountain of deep fryer grease at the Fry Cook Museum by SpongeBob himself, thus making him worthy enough to be King Neptune’s royal fry cook.

SpongeBob actually owns several of these thanks to Battle for Bikini Bottom, where they also seem to be able to undo barriers.

Reef Blower

It’s like a leaf blower, but underwater. Brought out by SpongeBob to remove a shell from his front yard, this machine also functions as a vacuum cleaner, being capable of sucking up the entire ocean. It is not, however, capable of holding it all together.

Jellyfishing Net (AKA Ol’ Reliable)

Every fisherman has a preferred rod or net when doing their thing. In SpongeBob’s case, his is appropriately named “Ol’ Reliable”, which is, much like his spatula, something that’s way more than it appears on the surface. Either a golden variation of your standard jellyfishing net (as seen above) or a mechanical version that comes equipped with a titanium skeleton, carbon fiber handle, soft red handle grip, and silicon netting, it should be capable of what other jellyfishing nets can do, such as holding multiple jellyfishes at once. SpongeBob is also capable of weaponizing these nets, being able to destroy several of Plankton’s robots with a single swing around his body.

Jellyfish

The creatures SpongeBob goes after so often. Despite what you may think, SpongeBob is on very good terms with almost the entire species thanks to his catch-and-release nature. They’ve gone out of their way to assist him in many ways, though mainly by zapping whoever is antagonizing him. Their zaps pack a real punch as well, often leaving victims charred as if they were struck by actual lightning. Squidward once had a run-in severe enough to leave him in an entire body cast. Some more powerful jellyfish can even wipe out entire buildings with their zaps.

Wish-Granting Jellyfish

This particular jellyfish SpongeBob befriended has the innate ability to grant him any wish he pleases, such as turning SpongeBob into a jellyfish. Quite the offer.

Magic Pencil

Originally a normal pencil that an artist dropped at sea, this writing utensil is capable of bringing anything the user draws to life. SpongeBob even once used it to make a warrior to fight for him for the length of an entire game; aptly dubbed “DoodlePants”. This drawn hero is not only far more obedient towards SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward than their other doodle creations, but is also a capable fighter, and is even capable of using the pencil on their own.

The pencil also has the ability to erase things in the real world, such as when SpongeBob used it to erase all of DoodleBob (save for an arm) and when DoodleBob himself used it to erase SpongeBob’s butt. Don’t ask.

Krabby Patties

The formula may be a mystery, but the effect it has on people definitely isn’t. These seemingly average sandwiches are apparently so good that they can make people obsessed with them to the point of eating them to near death, reverse mind control, and make people break into musical numbers. However, eating too many of them can cause them to go straight to your thighs… and then you blow up.

It apparently also tastes even better with Jellyfish Jelly and can be turned into a serviceable pizza… somehow. Not to be served without a drink. Don’t ask.

Clothes

Good for helping SpongeBob know his identity, assuming he doesn’t put them on backwards. Interestingly, inserting a hair dryer into SpongeBob’s signature square pants gives him the ability to fly. Don’t. Ask.

Included as a part of his clothes are, of course, his underwear. Why is that even remotely significant? Well, they seem to have healing properties (with Patrick and Sandy outright commenting on it), and Golden Underwear can permanently increase his health… Sure, why not at this point? Gotta love video game logic.

Glasses

Similar to his voice actor Tom Kenny, SpongeBob has occasionally worn glasses, particularly when he’s reading or out jellyfishing. His vision is not impaired if they were removed, as these are more for protection purposes.

Employee Hat

The signature uniform of the Krusty Krab employees. Being an experienced “Employee of the Month”, SpongeBob always keeps a brick of lead inside his hat.

…what, you expected more from this section? It’s just a goddamn hat.

Kah-rah-tay Gear

Whenever SpongeBob engages in “Kah-rah-tay” the melee way, he dons protective gear consisting of a red helmet and gloves. They don’t protect him at all.

In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game, he can upgrade them into a set of karate gloves made of metal that increase his striking power.

Bubbles

SpongeBob’s bubble-blowing skills are not to be underestimated. With just a normal bubble wand and some traditional bubble mix, SpongeBob has been able to create bubbles of all shapes and sizes, some even dwarfing Squidward’s house in size. Despite being literal bubbles, SpongeBob is also able to make them durable enough for him to use as platforms. Some are even sentient, with the most popular example being Bubble Buddy. And yes, some even explode. SpongeBob has even used bubbles to create pie. Actual pie. With a pie smell and everything. SpongeBob’s bubbles even caused the destruction of New Kelp City.

Boat

Legally he shouldn’t have one, but the law hasn’t stopped SpongeBob before, and we’re pretty sure even participating in Death Battle is a misdemeanor at the very least. When behind the wheel, SpongeBob becomes nothing less than a force of absolute chaos, leaving no one safe. Miraculously, however, SpongeBob seems to be able to drive a boat perfectly if he is blindfolded. Whatever the case, someone’s leg is bound to be broken…

Thanks to SpongeBob’s Boating Bash, he has multiple boats to drive.

Patty Wagon

He may not have a driver’s license, but one needs no such thing to drive a sandwich like this baby. Said to be used for promotional purposes and coming packed with a “sesame-seed finish, steel-belted pickles, grilled-leather interior”, and a “fuel-injected French-fryer with dual overhead grease traps” under the hood, it’s a layered vehicle whose pieces can drop back together, as seen after SpongeBob and Patrick drove it through the wall of the Krusty Krab 2 to get to Shell City and retrieve King Neptune’s stolen crown.

In Sponge on the Run, an improved model was shown, faster than the original model and able to transform into a longer Patty Wagon at the push of a button to accommodate more people. It’s also a vehicle SpongeBob can drive without unintentionally putting others in danger.

Mystery

A seahorse SpongeBob befriended one day and was forced to release. Despite that, Mystery was more than willing to lend a fin in the Game Boy Advance version of Battle for Bikini Bottom throughout the entire journey. Much like Yoshi, Mystery’s appetite is near insatiable. She can keep eating even after devouring fields of jellyfish or walls of flowers.

Pepper Spray

SpongeBob always keeps a bottle of pepper spray on him in case he gets confronted by a boatjacker. He never thought he’d have to use it, but he’s ready. Unfortunately, he’ll most likely use it on himself by accident.

Spiky Cleats

With these, anything is possible! Well, anything related to helping others get the… point. They get stuck in your corneas. And he also has the…

Spiked Metal Gauntlet

When he wants to make it hurt. While it was only used once, it seems to be implied that SpongeBob can pull it out whenever he wants.

Magic Conch Shell

The Magic Conch Shell is a toy that’s equivalent to our world’s Magic 8-Ball. The conch shell tells sage advice to whoever pulls its string, as long as you’re not Squidward. When SpongeBob and Patrick got stranded in the Kelp Forest, they asked the conch shell for help. By following the answers given to them by the shell, SpongeBob and Patrick were able to survive.

It also ruined the pronunciation of “Conch” for the entire world. 

Invisible Spray

Used to once prank the citizens of Bikini Bottom, anything coated in this spray will become invisible, though can easily come off with water. This is despite the fact that the series mainly takes place underwater to begin with, but considering how fires can burn underwater just fine, it’s best not to think about it too much.

The Quickster’s Superhero Outfit

A member of the International Justice League of Super Acquaintances, the Quickster is the team’s speedster whom SpongeBob has briefly taken the mantle of. With the costume, he’s granted the uncanny ability to run really… quick. He can even run to a mountain and back fast enough the human eye can’t see and says he can do it again.

Goofy Goober Guitar

During the final battle in the first SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, SpongeBob unveiled the Goofy Goober guitar. With it, he performed the epic rock song Goofy Goober Rock. The guitar can shoot out lasers capable of destroying Plankton’s mind-controlling bucket helmets, as the helmets could not handle that level of rock n’ roll.

Condiment Gun

When the fight calls for extra ketchup and mustard, SpongeBob arms himself with a giant gun shaped like a ketchup bottle. Loaded with smaller bottles of ketchup and mustard, this gun fires the condiments at a rapid pace.

Gizmos

SpongeBob has used weapons in the past to do battle against Plankton and his robotic army, such as:

• Exploding Pie Launcher: Launches exploding pies…naturally.

• Tartar Sauce Travel Pack: Shoots a consistent stream of tartar sauce. Especially effective against bosses.

• Condiment Cannon: Shoots globs of ketchup, mustard, and relish at a really fast rate.

• Pickle Blaster: Shoots pickles that do great damage to enemies.

• Neptuning Fork: Shoots electric bolts that spread out.

• Bubblegum Blaster: Launches exploding gumballs.

• Reef Blower: Blows gusts of air that damage enemies at close range.

Anchor Arms

These are basically inflatable fake arms SpongeBob once used to impress Sandy and everyone else at the beach. However, the anchor arms’ muscles are only for show, as they do not actually increase SpongeBob’s physical strength. The arms also have a limit, as too much physical strain can result in them popping.

Magic Book Page

A page from a… well, a Magic Book that originated on the island of Bikini Atoll before it was taken by the pirate Burger Beard. The book itself essentially allows the user to effectively warp reality, as anything even the user writes down in its pages happens soon after. 

While Burger Beard used the Magic Book to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula for himself and open up the world’s most successful food truck owner before it burned up on his grill, SpongeBob and co. managed to use its last remaining page to turn into superheroes to go toe-to-toe with Burger Beard and get the formula back before using it to warp them all back to the Krusty Krab.

The Invincibubble

As mentioned previously, using the page from the Magic Book, SpongeBob turned himself and his friends into a team of superheroes to battle Burger Beard and retrieve the Krabby Patty secret formula. SpongeBob’s superhero form is the Invincibubble, a buff superhero with a bubble wand at the top of his head. The Invincibubble’s main superpower is (naturally) creating bubbles, whether it’s through his wand or hands. As the Invincibubble, SpongeBob can encase objects inside his bubbles. He can even fly by propelling himself with his bubbles and can increase his flight speed by holding his breath and blowing afterward. Any object that goes through the Invincibubble’s bubble wand or his hands gets trapped inside a bubble.

Neutronic Moisture Sealer

Courtesy of a certain boy genius, this spray was used to give SpongeBob the ability to permanently breathe on land by, well, sealing moisture in his body permanently. While its canonicity is uncertain, there have been several times (Most notably The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) where SpongeBob has remained on land with zero consequences, which implies that he’s lost said weakness by the end of his series’ timeline regardless.

Bubble Blower

A ranged type weapon that SpongeBob gains in Globs of Doom. It's made from Mawgu technology powered by what's left of Mawgu himself. It uses "Radiated Bubble Solution" to trap Morphoids (mutated beings from each of the Nickelodeon worlds) in a nearly inescapable bubble, leaving them vulnerable to other attacks.

SpongeBob’s Mech Suit Mk. 2

A mech battlesuit SpongeBob obtains during Attack of the Toybots. This suit comes equipped with “Goo Launchers” that, despite what the name might imply, are quite powerful, capable of obliterating giant robots, cars, and even tanks if shot enough times.

Aquaman

Trident of Atlantis 

No version of Aquaman comes complete without one of these (except this one since it apparently only exists as a toy). This special trident once belonged to the God of the Sea, Neptune, and symbolizes Aquaman’s royal heritage as it is given to the Ruler of Atlantis. 

Growth Device 

This Growth Device was created by Aquaman and used in the episode “The Microscopic Monsters”. When fired at an object, it grows significantly larger (7:05), as shown when Aquaman used it to make plankton grow to human size. Clearly, he has it set to W for Wumbo.

Water Pistol 

Aquaman has a water pistol on hand to blind enemies and presumably prevent his heat weaknesses from being too much of a factor.

Heat Ray 

Aquaman has a heat ray that, surprise, fires off heat strong enough to melt ice on a frozen lake.

Aqua-Scooter

Aquaman’s personal vehicle. It can be ridden across the surface of the water or be used as a submarine. And you thought Wonder Woman’s invisible jet was the dumbest vehicle in DC Comics.

Storm

Aquaman’s seahorse (who’s actually competent, unlike his master). Storm often serves as Aquaman’s steed in order to get to one location or the other and, unlike Tusky below, can help quite a bit in a punch, as shown with the fight against Nepto’s minions.

Tusky 

The Scrappy-Doo of the series and perpetual comedic relief. He is Aquaman and Aqualad’s pet walrus and occasionally helps, but he constantly, and we mean constantly, needs rescuing or makes the situation worse for everyone. He is the literal worst.

Abilities

SpongeBob

Sponge Physiology

SpongeBob’s body is remarkable, mainly in the aspect that it’s incredibly stretchy and malleable. This not only means he can stretch to a near limitless amount, to the point of shape-shifting, but his body also acts as a damage sponge (fitting), making it difficult for him to take any real damage physically. His body is also able to be removed with little consequences as it grows back fairly quickly, if not faster than it can be removed. For example, his arms became so plentiful after ripping them out repeatedly that they basically acted as popcorn for him while listening to a scary story (and they can operate autonomously even when unattached). Another time he was ripped completely in half by a gorilla and hardly seemed bothered by it, more worried about how selfish he was being to his friends at the time. One time, he even split himself apart to be at two places at once. Furthermore, his spongy body allows him to duplicate his limbs, like when he reproduces by budding or sprouts limbs to do many tasks.

Naturally, as a character that’s pretty in touch with cartoon shenanigans (not to mention an actual ability of real-life sea sponges), he also has a ridiculous regeneration, as he’s able to hop back from being grounded into a fine mist, flattened, cut into pieces, disintegrated, being splattered, melted, etc.

Being a sea sponge (well, moreso a kitchen sponge, but a sponge is a sponge), absorbent and yellow and porous is he… emphasis on the “absorbent” part. He can absorb many liquids and hold them within his many pores, but he’s not limited to just liquids; he’s also absorbed many solids, such as Krabby Patty “meat”. He’s also been shown to be able to redirect whatever he absorbs, as a projectile. Another substance that SpongeBob can absorb is electricity, and he can also discharge it into other objects. By absorbing enough water, SpongeBob gains a buff body with large muscles and immense physical strength.

Toon Force

One of the first things to come to mind whenever a cartoon character is brought up in VS. Naturally, SpongeBob has no shortage of tomfoolery. As mentioned previously, any damage he could take can easily be ignored, usually thanks to his spongy biology, though sometimes there’s no explanation other than the fact he’s a cartoon. He’s also able to squish and stretch himself in countless ways much like a traditional scrimblo bimblo. SpongeBob’s toon force is so powerful that he can make things more realistic just by pointing them out, like when Patrick pointed out what fire is doing underwater and the fire instantly died out. Or when SpongeBob pointed out and asked what a gorilla was doing underwater and said gorilla instantly ran away… on a zebra… still underwater. Don’t ask. Though one of his more well-known (and most powerful) acts of mischief is the ability to bring objects to life. While he usually does this with his bubbles, he’s also shown to do so with sand as well (more on that later).

SpongeBob is also often aware that he is in a cartoon, and thus can toy with certain aspects of his reality in different ways, such as looking at/talking to the audience in several episodes or riding the series’ bubble transition to fast-travel straight to the Krusty Krab in Born to be Wild. There are more examples of him breaking the fourth wall as well, like the time he turned to Painty the Pirate for advice despite him only being around for the theme song. He’s also interacted with the narrator and even his own audience on multiple occasions.

KAH-RAH-TAY

The art of throwing hands. Under normal circumstances, we’d go over the normal definition, but since this is SpongeBob, you know full well this isn’t traditional karate. Despite the show making it out like he’s terrible at it, he’s actually on par with Sandy a lot of time and has taught Patrick and Squidward karate in the past as an expert. Mind you, Sandy is skilled enough at karate to clear an entire gauntlet of experts in Karate Island. As for what “Kah-rah-tay” actually is… we have no fucking idea. Just don’t have him near your three-day potato salad.

Dream Hopping

SpongeBob is capable of being kicked out of his own dream (he is THAT bad at driving) and can invade the dreams of others. And since he’s a lucid dreamer, he can do whatever he wants in them. More importantly, anything that he gets his hands on in his dreams can be brought into reality.

Bubble Bash

With this move, SpongeBob dons a bubble Viking helmet and launches himself into the air toward enemies and obstacles, though he can’t change directions once he initiates it.

Cruise Bubble

A cruise missile made from bubbles that results in a big explosion. It is the final bubble move SpongeBob unlocks in Battle for Bikini Bottom.

Bubble Bounce

The traditional body slam attack. No 3D platformer is complete without it. With this move, SpongeBob grows giant bubble feet and slams on the enemies below him.

Tongue

The tongue is the most powerful muscle in the body, and for SpongeBob, it’s a sled that he uses to slide down slopes because basic human decency does not apply under the sea. His tongue is also sentient and can detach itself from SpongeBob, who can still talk even without it.

Sponge Bowl

This move has SpongeBob whipping out a bowling ball that can defeat enemies, destroy obstacles, and press out-of-reach buttons. It can be upgraded into a destructive spiked bomb capable of exploding things within its explosion radius.

Hammerspace

Being a cartoon character, SpongeBob is no stranger to pulling stuff out of his person from seemingly nowhere, such as when he pulled the Magic Pencil out of one of his sponge holes.

Sand-Making Skills

In the episode Sand Castles in the Sand, SpongeBob and Patrick were able to build working weapons and sentient beings out of sand. SpongeBob in particular was able to create a giant castle with a war room, a catapult, a war horn, living gargoyles, and a couple of soldiers. In addition, he was able to create a tank capable of movement and gunfire and a fighter jet capable of flight and missiles. Meanwhile, Patrick was able to create a giant battle dome with armored knights on horses, a cannon that can shoot sentient cannon balls, and a giant mechanical robot.

Genetic Alteration

In one instance, SpongeBob was capable of merging with Patrick and several citizens of Bikini Bottom by hugging them so hard they merged on a cellular level, even down to their DNA. Now that’s some true friendship! Though the merged being was dispersed when Squidward declared he wasn’t friends with SpongeBob.

Duplication

SpongeBob has been shown to make multiple copies of himself on various occasions, whether it be via using a shovel to make thinner copies to help at the Krusty Krab, cutting a small chunk off of himself to make a mini SpongeBob, or just straight-up ripping himself in half in excitement over the prospect of making the elusive Krabby Patty.

Size Manipulation

There have been multiple instances where SpongeBob has been shown to either grow to large sizes or shrink down to little sizes. His big instance of doing this was in the episode The Incredible Shrinking SpongeBob, where he got shrunk down to being next to Plankton’s size, but absorbed enough water to be able to grow larger than the Krusty Krab.

Resistances

• Mind Manipulation: In Welcome to the Chum Bucket, he refused to make Plankton a Krabby Patty after having his brain placed into a robot, despite said robot being specifically programmed to make one for him. Krabby Patties are also capable of undoing mind control, provided SpongeBob gets a good whiff of it or eats it.

• Matter Manipulation: Resists the effects of The Spot-Master 6000, which creates spontaneous molecular distortion.

• Extreme Heat: Survived the heat of the Sun while it set his room on fire.

• Extreme Cold: His experience with stuff like snow and Sandy’s hibernations also shows that he’s able to survive harsh winters, even to the point of freezing.

• Transmutation: Has nullified transmutation by his mere biology due to shapeshifting and laughed off being turned into string.

• Mutation Resistance: Resists being mutated and completely controlled by Globulous's goo.

• Existence Erasure: Survived being unraveled out of existence by Patrick.

• Extreme Toxics/Acids: Being a sponge, he’s able to absorb and even survive the effects of multiple poisons. One instance was when he was walking through a hole of acid in the episode Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired and was fine in the next shot. He’s also been fine after eating chum, which is considered to have toxic qualities.

• Electrocution: Due to his experience with jellyfish, he’s been able to survive their shocks from time to time.

• Empathic Manipulation: SpongeBob’s pure heart and tiny brain make him pretty much immune to the effects of Plankton’s Jerktonium-laced fruitcake, which turned the rest of the Bikini Bottomites into jerks.

• Soul Manipulation (possibly): Apparently, he lacks a soul. Don’t even think about asking.

• Fear Manipulation: Became unfazed by the Flying Dutchman’s attempts to scare him.

Aquaman

Atlantean Physiology

Thanks to his mermaid mother, Arthur has adopted her Atlantean traits that allow him to thrive in the aquatic environment due to mermaids living in the water. His physiology also allows him to withstand water pressure that would crush even the most advanced diving gear (14:34) and enhances his strength and speed whilst in the water or whenever water comes into contact with his skin. However, his mermaid physiology has its drawbacks, as it makes him especially weak to the heat/heat beams. Due to needing water to survive, he will die within an hour if he is not given water. While he is exceptionally strong in the water, he is much slower and weaker while on land, to the point that he is slower than Robin, and by his own admission, not much stronger than an ordinary human.

Aquatic Telepathy 

Ever since he was a child, Aquaman has developed an ability called Aquatic Telepathy. This allows him to talk telepathically to everyone, but due to his morality, he prefers just communicating with the sea. He can telepathically communicate and control sea life to do actions for them, often ordering sea life to help him get out of dangerous situations. The range/effectiveness of his Aquatic Telepathy is also quite extensive, as he can call on entire armies of fish for aid (04:15). If you're curious and want a list of all the sea life that Aquaman has communicated with, check out this link. Also, he can get dolphins that can emit high frequencies to destroy stuff down to the molecule. (3:57)

Due to being the Master of All Water Creatures, his telepathy also extends to other creatures who spend most of their time near water even though they aren’t fish, such as seagulls, walruses, and crocodiles. He can even telepathically control sea creatures on an alien world. However, his telepathy isn’t perfect; it can be blocked, and he generally has trouble controlling smarter creatures, often preferring to ask them for aid rather than simply controlling them. 

Sonar/Echolocation

Due to living in the water, Aquaman is an expert at using sound propagation, AKA using sound waves, to find objects in the water, as shown when he tracked down a submarine in the water utilizing echo pulses.

Water Manipulation

Aquaman is able to manipulate the water around him… obviously. He does this most commonly through compressing water in his hands and firing it off as a high-speed projectile (03:31). These projectiles are strong enough to counter a fireball from this volcano monster (02:13), stop Black Manta’s ship (04:18), and counter the forward momentum of objects such as these pin missiles. (10:48). Aquaman can also create a wall of water by spinning around in a circle, firing off fast water at his opponents (03:45). This wall of water can also travel a couple of meters (05:52). With help, Aquaman is capable of even greater feats, such as creating tidal waves.

Resistances 

• Cold Resistance: Considering the bottom of the sea is cold, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Aquaman has also been frozen during a fight against an ice dragon and has broken out with no adverse side effects (2:41).

• Pressure Resistance: Also no surprise, Aquaman’s body can survive immense amounts of pressure at the bottom of the sea due to his muscles being accustomed to them.

• Disintegration Resistance: It’s likely that Aquaman can resist getting disintegrated, considering that characters who are much weaker like Batman and Robin survived their atoms getting broken up with a disintegration ray (3:31).

Feats

SpongeBob

Overall

• Became one of the most popular and recognizable franchises in the world

• Drove many citizens to insanity

• Teamed up with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy a few times

• Failed his Boating Exam over a hundred times

• Made the Krusty Krab the most popular restaurant in Bikini Bottom

• Protected the Krabby Patty secret formula from Plankton numerous times

• Stopped Robo-Plankton’s takeover of Bikini Bottom, defeating his mechanical counterpart to do so

• Retrieved King Neptune’s crown from Shell City

• Eventually became the manager of the Krusty Krab 2 (canonical ending tbhhh)

• Helped the Nickelodeon Multiverse avoid chaos and destruction on multiple occasions

• Is best friends with Danny Phantom (he’s pretty cool)

• Has spawned a lot of memes

• Has won every Kids Choice Awards for Best Cartoon (minus that one year where Avatar won)

• Defeated the likes of Plankton, Dennis, the Cyclops, Flatts the Flounder, the Flying Dutchman, Burger Beard, Man-Ray, Dirty Bubble, ToyBob, DoodleBob, that one guy in the back alley who we’ve never heard from again, etc.

• Is a VS Debater (unbased)

Strength

• Has consistently harmed Plankton by stepping on him, who can survive this nuclear explosion point blank

• Destroyed the Moon with a jack-in-a-box

• Sucked up all of the Earth’s water with a reef blower (1 yottaton of TNT)

• Literally unraveled the universe

• Tilted the entire planet while doing some plumbing (164,483 yottatons of TNT)

• Absorbed enough water to become the Moon itself

• Lifted Squidward’s house alongside Patrick, and can even lift his own house

• Pulled an entire anchor on his back

• Moved through a metal wall

• Effortlessly threw his grill out of the Krusty Krab when he had his buff body

• Scales to Globulous, who was birthed alongside the universe in The Big Sneeze (We implore you not to ask)

• Scales to Patrick, who can hop an iron steamboat in half

• Scales to Sandy, who can pull ships and eat an asteroid

Speed

• Ran to a mountain and back as the Quickster faster than the human eye can see, and says he can do it again

• Dodges lasers fired by Bubbles the Dolphin

• Outran Sandy on multiple occasions

• Climbed his way into space and outside of the galaxy with the string 

• Outran the Atlanteans, who can travel a distance of tens of thousands of galaxies

• Outran the Alaskan Bull Worm, a town-sized behemoth 

• Can make dozens of Krabby Patties in mere minutes

• Dodged cannonballs as the Invincibubble

• Scales to Patrick, who ran to the Sun and back in a few seconds (83.168c)

• Scales to Sandy, who surfed from the moon to Saturn

Durability

• Survived a nuclear explosion from a pie bomb. Said explosion came from the 1946 nuclear test Operation Crossroads, which had a yield of 23 kilotons.

• This exact explosion has been reused for other feats in the series (such as the above-mentioned explosion Plankton tanked), which can add to consistency

• Survived being thrashed by a hibernating Sandy

• Survived hits from the Jellyfish Dragon, which can vaporize buildings with a touch

• Survived getting sunbleached

• Tanked being burnt alive by the Sun with no signs of pain

• Survived falling from space

• Survived having his insides breaking apart (10:00)

• Survived being driven through giant clams, cheese graters, and educational television

• Survived his brain breaking apart

• Survived this explosion (21:54)

• Got karate chopped and thrown by ToyBob, who can destroy an entire building just by throwing a boat at it

• Survived returning to Earth while burning up in the atmosphere via atmospheric entry (9:45)

• No-sold numerous beatings and many forms of punishment from many characters

• Can endure sounds so loud they broke glaciers and collapse buildings

• Survived being cooked and eaten by Mrs. Puff

• Got hit by a cannonball shot by Burger Beard

• Scales to Plankton, who once survived this explosion after trying to rip open a safe molecule by molecule and atom by atom (15:45)

• Could take hits from Mawgu, who was gaining so much energy from each Nickelodeon universe that he was near destroying them all

• Scales to Squidward, who went through… all this

Aquaman

Overall

• Monarch and Protector of Atlantis

• Member of the Justice League and Super Friends

• Has bested his arch-rival Black Manta numerous times

• Defeated Captain Cuda, Nepto, the Brain, Mirrorman, Torpedo Man, Magneto (not that one), etc.

• Master of All Water Creatures

• Once wrestled an ice dragon with his bare hands

• Once teamed up with the Powerpuff Girls

• Fan of the Beatles

Strength

• Knocked out Reptile-Men with a single punch (Aquaman Episode 2 - 12:33)

• Able to move apart a monster’s hands with strength (Aquaman Episode 5 - 03:49)

• Wrestled an ice dragon with his bare hands (Aquaman Episode 9 - 05:00)

• Pushed apart this crevasse to free Aqualad’s foot (Aquaman Episode 10 - 09:19)

• Held up a metallic whale’s jaws with physical strength (Aquaman Episode 11 - 02:18)

• Broke off said metallic whale’s fin, which is made out of steel (Aquaman Episode 11 - 02:51)

• Can lift and throw a giant steel anchor (Aquaman Episode 11 - 05:36)

• Lifted Torpedoman who is wearing metal armor (Aquaman Episode 14 - 08:14)

• Can punch missiles (Aquaman Episode 16 - 08:03)

• Flipped Mephisto’s minion’s ship (Aquaman Episode 18 - 11:00)

• Using physical strength, moved an oil tanker in multiple directions (Super Friends Episode 3 - 29:25)

• Moved a boulder to stop the overflow of water (Super Friends Episode 3 - 32:43)

• Possibly scales to Superman who:

• Pushed the earth out of a black hole (7:33)

• Started a avalanche with his laser eyes  (14:04)

• Scales to Samurai, who:

•  Could throw thermites into the Asteroid Belt (Super Friends 1980 Episode 19 season 1 - 7:30)

• Matched a foe that could start a volcano with a single blast (Super Friends 1980 Episode 12 season 2 - 18:04)

Speed

• Dodged a laser

• Dodged a radiation blast

• Reacted and moved out of the way of a whale and grabs its fin (Aquaman Episode 1 - 02:22)

• Dodged Manta’s weapon (Aquaman Episode 2 - 6:14)

• Reacted to and dodged electricity from the Lizardman’s fingertips (Aquaman Episode 2 - 09:34)

• Outraced the Mantaship with Storm (Aquaman Episode 2 - 5:35)

• Reacts to storm lighting (Aquaman Episode 3 - 00:47)

• Fast enough to grab Aqualad and save him before a fire tornado could hit him (Aquaman Episode 4 - 09:29)

• Reacted to volcanic fireballs (Aquaman Episode 7 - 11:30)

• Saved Aqualad from being crushed by a monster dropping a boulder (Aquaman Episode 8 -11:40)

• Dodged electricity from a drill ship (Aquaman Episode 8 - 09:45)

• Dodged hard-light (Aquaman Episode 15 - 04:37)

• Outsped missiles heading towards Brain’s ship. (Aquaman 06:01-04)

• Dodged the Manta Men’s blasts (Aquaman Episode 23 - 5:42)

• Scales to Wonder Woman, who can:

• React to meteors

• React and intercept missiles

• Intercepts beams

• React to and intercept laser rays

• Possibly scales to Green Lantern, who dodged lasers (Super Friends 1980 Episode 11 Season 1  - 6:03)

• Scales to Black Vulcan, who flew to the Moon in a short timeframe (0.427c) (Super Friends 1980 Episode 13 Season 1 - 7:41)

• Possibly scales to Superman who pushed the earth out of the black hole in a few seconds (7:33)

Durability

• Survived getting hit by Nepto’s electricity, which is strong enough to move boulders and destroy a ship (Aquaman Episode 3 - 03:05- 5:01)

• Got hit by a monster’s tail (Aquaman Episode 5 - 03:12)

• Survived an explosion from a bobby-trapped controller (Aquaman Episode 17 - 02:08)

• Tanked a beam from Magneto (still not that one) (Aquaman Episode 20 - 10:35)

• Got hit by a giant mole creature

• Scales to the Wonder Twins, who survived being in the center of an earthquake that was going to destroy a city (Super Friends 1980 Episodes 7, 8, 9 Season 1 - 13:39)

• Possibly scales to Superman, who survived being sucked into a black hole that had Kryptonite (Super Friends 1980 Episode 4 season 1 - 01:54)

• Scales to Batman, who, alongside Robin and Black Vulcan, survived their atoms getting broken up with a disintegration ray (Super Friends 1980 Episode 22 season 1 - 3:31)

• Possibly scales to the Wonder Twins, who survived exiting the atmosphere and entering space

• Survived getting eaten by a giant clam

Weaknesses

SpongeBob

Anyone who’s watched even one episode of his show can tell you that SpongeBob is not perfect, far from it. One of his notable weaknesses is his immaturity, as he’s burst into tears like a child over some of the smallest things on numerous occasions. He’s also especially naive, with even Patrick being more socially aware than him in early seasons. Plus, although this facet has shown to be somewhat inconsistent throughout SpongeBob’s history, more often than not, he cannot survive on dry land for very long, and he has even died from being exposed to a heat lamp for a few minutes. But above all else, SpongeBob’s own optimism and peaceful nature can leave him either ignorant (at best) or oblivious (at worst) to the world around him. Yes, this has even happened while people were actively trying to kill him.

He is also not careful.

Aquaman

Everything you’ve heard about Super Friends Aquaman being useless is true… sort of. It is no secret that Aquaman is, for the most part, completely useless on land, to the point where he is considerably weaker. Due to his mermaid biology, he also suffers from not being a huge fan of the heat and, if he doesn’t have water every hour, he dies. Finally, while he definitely has had moments of showing impressive feats, most of the time he gets knocked out or captured extremely easily and has to call on his fish to bail him out. This factors into what is perhaps his greatest weakness - early cartoon Aquaman is very much over reliant on his fish, so if he is in an area where he can’t call on his allies to help him, then he is very much in trouble.

Also, coins. You know the drill by now.

Summary

SpongeBob

“I guess you're right, Plankton. I am just a kid. And you know, I've been through a lot in the past six days, five minutes, twenty-seven-and-a-half seconds. And if I've learned anything during that time, It's that you are, who you are. And no amount of mermaid magic, or managerial promotion, or some other third thing... can make me anything more than what I really am inside: A kid. But that's okay! Because I did what everyone said a kid couldn't do! I made it to Shell City, and I beat the Cyclops, and I rode the Hasselhoff, and I brought the crown back! So yeah, I'm a kid. And I'm also a goofball. And a wing nut. And a Knucklehead McSpazatron! But most of all, I'm... I'm... I'm… I’M A GOOFY GOOBER!”

Advantages:

• Handily takes the stat trinity regardless of how high Aquaman is scaled

• Regeneration makes him incredibly difficult for Aquaman to kill

• Completely nullifies Aquaman’s water attacks due to being a sponge

• Far more versatile in terms of abilities and equipment

• At his peak, is unaffected by worse heat than Arthur can hit him with

• Has options against telepathy even if it were theoretically viable

• Seasons 1-3, the first movie, and the musical

• Is always ready

• Even Squidward Tentacles is rooting for him 

Disadvantages:

• Generally not as smart

• Less experienced in combat

• Potentially lacks the numbers advantage due to Aquaman’s fish army

• Easy to make cry ig?

• The Splinter

• Seasons 6-8

Aquaman

“I was feeling useless…feeling sorry for myself—right up to the point where I was able to rescue us all! I guess the moral is…nobody ever has to be a fish out of water!”

Advantages: 

• Generally smarter

• More combat experience

• Has the numbers advantage due to Aquatic Telepathy

• Arguably better sense of fashion (the orange brings out his eyes)

Disadvantages:

• Greatly outclassed in stats

• Water attacks are completely nullified by SpongeBob’s absorption abilities

• Telepathy is reasonably a non-factor against SpongeBob

• Cannot output heat stronger than what SpongeBob has withstood unscathed

• Lacks versatility when compared to SpongeBob

• SpongeBob’s frankly insane regeneration makes it difficult to put him down for good

• Somehow worse at handling air and heat than a peak SpongeBob

• Is the main reason why people think normal Aquaman is lame

Before We Get to the Verdict…

The String

Let's address the giant unraveling elephant in the room. Coming from the episode aptly titled The String, what started as a loose thread on Squidward’s shirt became a contentious feat whenever SpongeBob gets brought up in the VS scene, as he managed to unravel the entirety of Bikini Bottom, the Milky Way Galaxy, and presumably the rest of the universe with the damn thing over the course of the episode (aside from Patrick, who unravels SpongeBob himself at the end). The main point of discourse is if it’s something SpongeBob can normally achieve or even scale to. 

It’s a little strange to dissect, but it should generally be fine to scale speed-wise for SpongeBob, at least for attacking speed. He was able to climb out into the galaxy with the string, moving himself in that timeframe while only using the string as a method of climbing, so it’s all good on that front. As far as SpongeBob having access to the string, it should be fair game as well. A point of contention is that it requires the presence of Squidward, as his shirt was the point of origin of the string. However, SpongeBob very clearly unravels things that weren’t even connected to Squidward’s shirt throughout the episode, so any of those points would’ve been just as possible to start without needing Squidward at all. On top of that, Patrick himself unravels SpongeBob and the original string from just his own shirt alone, so it’s not unreasonable to assume any loose string would work for SpongeBob to just unravel stuff out of existence.

Now, the big question is if it would scale AP-wise. It’s easy to argue SpongeBob shouldn’t scale since pulling on the string moreso caused a chain reaction of stuff to unravel. However, he’s seen carrying the entirety of at least the unraveled Milky Way on his shoulder with relative ease by the end of the episode, and carrying that should apply to his lifting strength and thus be comparable to his AP. 

Verdict

(Art by AwesomeEthan48)

Stats

So now that we’ve explored the chronicles and full qualities of everyone’s favorite sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, it’s time to delve into all the absurd and plentiful catalogs of all the absurd nautical nonsense SpongeBob has achieved. So drop on the deck and flop like a fish, ‘cause we’re diving in full swing.

SpongeBob has accomplished some superbly impressive feats of power. In his very second episode aptly titled Reef Blowers, SpongeBob sucked in the entire ocean before it burst and the resulting explosion placed it all back. The energy required to achieve this has been calculated to 1 yottaton of TNT, or large planet-level. On top of that, he shattered the Moon by winding up a jack-in-a-box, and then proceeded to absorb enough water to become large enough to replace the entire Moon himself. Further corroborating things, he’s rotated and tilted the entire planet around just by doing some plumbing work, a feat worth 164,483 yottatons of TNT. He’s also comparable to Patrick, who once froze the entire Earth in an ice cube after having a really nasty case of brain freeze, calculated at 1.17 zettatons of TNT. And to ensure no loose ends are left untied, there’s the good ol’ string which SpongeBob used to unravel the entire universe. While the nature of it is definitely more debatable compared to the rest, it illustrates the point pretty well: SpongeBob is one ready capable sponge of the great blue sea. Comparatively, Aquaman is falling short in this area. Scaling to the city-level Wonder Twins makes him far from weak, but nowhere up to par with what SpongeBob has.

In regards to speed, Mr. SquarePants isn’t lacking in this department either. He’s comparable to Patrick, who once ran all the way to the Sun in seconds, clocking in at 83.168c or over 83 times the speed of light. Further corroborating this, Sandy surfed from the Moon to Saturn in seconds, and SpongeBob and the gang have outran the Atlanteans, who traveled on foot across billions of light years all for the sake of their bubble. Tying this all up in a nice package, the string SpongeBob used to unravel the universe also had him moving into space and outside of the galaxy itself, which naturally leads to a ludicrously high degree of MFTL+ speeds. While any of these things may be a bit more questionable individually, they all come together nicely to add credence to SpongeBob’s speed being exceptionally impressive. Aquaman scaling to Black Vulcan flying to the moon places him in the relativistic range. While certainly impressive, SpongeBob’s speed is ultimately so much higher that he can run circles around Aquaman and back (and ask if you wanna see him do it again).

And of course, thanks in no small part to his spongey goodness, SpongeBob is extraordinarily difficult to put down. With a combination of his malleable and sponge body, he can absorb hits and blows and continue to laugh his infectious laugh as if they were but a flesh wound. And of course, the fact he’s been able to do things like survive nuclear pies at point blank range, have a sucked up ocean explode on top of him, and recover from virtually all manner of injuries and damage you can think of (being turned to dust, getting ripped and chopped in half, having his internal organs broken apart, getting melted and disintegrated) shows how durable he is. Not even the wrath of educational television can keep this sponge down for long. So, much like with strength, Aquaman is ultimately not up to the playing field with SpongeBob. Even if he could match SpongeBob’s survivability, his spongey properties will make leaving a lasting wound on him an arduous task, on top of him already being significantly tough for Aquaman to damage to begin with.

Arthur’s best shot of winning would be scaling to his version’s Superman, who has blatant planet-large planet feats that could match the Sponge. However, this scaling is… really generous. Arthur has no real showings putting him on par with the Man of Steel; in fact, he has the opposite. Another Kryptonian, Zy-Kree, one shots Aquaman and claims he has no chance since he has all the powers of Superman, and Aquaman admits he’s right. Even if we give him the scaling, not only are Robert’s highest feats ones that dwarf Clark's with similar or less generous interpretations, but his other advantages are so numerous that even a theoretical stat disadvantage could not make this a losing fight for him.

Suffice to say SpongeBob has my the leg up on Aquaman in virtually every area here, being significantly stronger, much faster, and too tough for Aquaman to leave any meaningful lasting effects on. Even if he could, Mr. SquarePants will recover in no time flat. Even being incredibly generous to Aquaman, it still wouldn’t be enough to surmount SpongeBob and the rest of his advantages are still firmly grasped here. Much like his Employee of the Month record, SpongeBob scores the advantage in most aspects.

Equipment

Let’s be real here, SpongeBob takes this by a HUGE margin as well. The guy has bubbles that can act like bombs, missiles, and LITERAL SENTIENT BEINGS, a vacuum cleaner that can suck up the ENTIRE OCEAN, a pencil that can wipe you from EXISTENCE, a wish-granting jellyfish, the Quickster suit that can allow him to run to a mountain in seconds, a sentient spatula that can cut you like a knife through butter, a page that can make anything you write down come true, and multiple long-ranged gizmos strong enough to destroy robots. Aquaman has weapons too, but they are really nothing to write home about.

Heat Ray: Just melts ice, and while SpongeBob has been affected by similar things before in the movie, he has been through much worse heat on other occasions. So it won’t do much anyway.

Water Pistol: Just a pistol filled with water, which SpongeBob can take with no problem, since he’s a sponge and water just fuels him.

Growth Device: It just grows things large, growing SpongeBob isn’t gonna change anything.

Trident: Just a trident with no abilities, no haxes at all, and he doesn’t even use it in this continuity.

SpongeBob just has so much to throw at Aquaman, while all of Arthur’s equipment are frankly useless, with only one weapon that can potentially affect SpongeBob (the heat ray), which might not even matter since Spongey has again been through much worse heat.

Toon Force

And now the moment you’ve been waiting for! First off, let’s talk about the whole “actually death is kind of overrated” aspect of toon force and take Aquaman out of the splash zone for a moment. SpongeBob on a bad day can:

• shatter 

• melt

• explode

• be vaporized

• be frozen solid

• have his brain removed

• have his SOUL removed

• be unraveled from existence

And still be fine seconds later. Again, this is just for survivability. On the opposite end, SpongeBob can make his own armies just by blowing bubbles, or hell, why go through the trouble of getting bubbles when he can do the same to sand? You know, the thing that covers all of the ocean and stuff?

That’s just the start of things, by the way. The fourth wall, much like Aquaman, will be demolished like the walls of a house owned by anyone named Kyle. He’s used the bubble transition to teleport, travel to different dimensions, and, as stated with the lovely string feat, pull apart the entire galaxy. There are also many instances where SpongeBob’s antics have had consequences on the real world, with a good example being the time he was running from a creature that threw the ship of the author of the comic the story took place in as it was being written.

But more importantly, he made it so after the first movie, David Hasselhoff was never relevant again. That’s terrifying to even think of in this context, given that Death Battle loves their comic characters. If SpongeBob can make them irrelevant then no one is safe. But let’s not gloss over the time SpongeBob and Patrick hugged so hard they fused down to the DNA strands. Beyond a cellular level and then some. And the guy did that with nothing other than friendship and elbow grease. There are probably a lot more examples but now we should show off everything Aquaman can do!

Amazing! Astounding!

The sponge has the edge.

Other Hax

With those sections out of the way let's get to the hax these two have, AKA how their abilities bounce off each other. This is where we see the big things both these characters have, and both are surprisingly similar in terms of abilities outside of hax, with both having similar ranged attacks (SpongeBob and his bubbles, Aquaman with his water manipulation). With water being all around them, it basically allows Arthur to have unlimited resources to do these moves.

Now, let's discuss the thing Aquaman is most known for: his telepathic powers. With these, he has shown several times he can stun enemy fish, summon fish even if he’s unable to move, get fish that can hold up Atlantis, and summon dolphins that can emit a high frequency that can break things into molecules. Sounds all fine and dandy, right? Well, the thing is SpongeBob has shown to resist most of what the telepathic powers can do (see Resistances), so already not a good spot for Aquaman.

As for SpongeBob, his big thing in this is the Magic Book page, which can do whatever is written down in it. That means SpongeBob can erase Aquaman out of existence, make him go to the surface where Aquaman can’t do anything while SpongeBob can, and just do what he can mostly do in water. This is not even taking into consideration what SpongeBob can probably do with his bubbles and sand-making skills. To put it simply, SpongeBob has way more things he can do to end the fight quickly, while Aquaman doesn't have the same options to compete. Sorry, but Aquaman just doesn't sand a chance in hax…   

Resistances

Time to talk about resistances, and how much SpongeBob has compared to the little Super Friends Aquaman has going for him.

One of SpongeBob’s worst nightmares is heat, so Aquaman can just use his heat ray to melt SpongeBob, right? Well… SpongeBob has shown several times to resist extreme heat, like in the Best Day Ever song, when he was fine surviving the literal heat of the Sun, with the most we’ve seen the heat ray do being… melting ice in a lake.

Aquaman has the ability to talk to aquatic life telepathically, so he could telepathically control SpongeBob, especially since he’s not the brightest person, right? Well… SpongeBob has resisted mind control and has dealt with it before. His brain refused to work for Plankton when it was put into a robot, he can survive fine without his brain in his body while controlling it with a drone, and his Krabby Patties can outright reverse mind control, so it’s not really that big of a deal.

Well, what about water attacks? SpongeBob is a literal sponge, and he has absorbed enough water to become the Moon.

Another thing is the idea that Aquaman could just bring SpongeBob up to the surface and just finish him off there. But there’s two things that make this a non-option for Aquaman: 

1. Aquaman also can’t survive on the surface for more than an hour without water. 

2. SpongeBob has been to the surface plenty of times and was fine, and he potentially has Jimmy Neutron’s Neutronic Moisture Sealer, which would allow him to be fine on the surface as much as he likes.

Lastly, Aquaman supposedly has disintegration resistance by scaling to Batman and Robin having their atoms broken up. But SpongeBob can kill him in other ways, most notably the Magic Pencil that can erase stuff out of existence. Comparing what little Aquaman has to just how much SpongeBob has, SpongeBob is sure ready to win this.

Conclusion

Based on everything we’ve gathered, there’s no doubt in our minds that SpongeBob takes the win. The yellow sea sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea takes the advantage in basically every key area of this fight. The Not-King of Atlantis will have his fins full with Nickelodeon’s biggest icon.

In terms of stats, SpongeBob’s toon force allows him to display a more impressive set of feats in comparison to Aquaman. The fry cook’s most powerful feat is him literally unraveling the universe at the end of the episode The String. He was easily able to hold the string that was once the universe, better than any strength feat that Aquaman has shown or could scale to. Even outside of this, SpongeBob has plenty of star-level and planet-level feats to back him up. He has shown to be faster as well. Not only is The String feat an applicable speed feat, but even without it, the yellow sea sponge scales to Patrick running to the sun and back in a few seconds, much greater than Arthur dodging laserfire or scaling to Black Vulcan flying to the Moon. And no, this version of Aquaman can’t scale to his version of Superman. Even if he could, it doesn’t change the outcome, as SpongeBob’s feats are much higher than anything Superman displayed in the Super Friends cartoon.

Moving on, SpongeBob’s toon force gives him an insane healing factor that’ll make it difficult for Aquaman to put him down. He has been vaporized, had both his brain and soul removed on separate occasions, melted, and unraveled along with the universe among others. In addition, SpongeBob’s toon force allows him to break the fourth wall in ways that Aquaman cannot match, such as leaving actual consequences in the real world. Aquaman doesn’t even have any fourth wall-breaking abilities in the first place.

When it comes to hax, Aquaman is blown out of the water (pun intended). For the Guy of Atlantis, his water manipulation is useless against SpongeBob. The Nicktoon star is very well known to be very absorbent (to the point of becoming a second Moon), not just with water but also with a variety of other substances (liquid and solid). In Mermaid Man’s own words, “He’s absorbing it like some kind of EVIL sponge!” As for Arthur’s other notable hax, his aquatic telepathy, it might seem like an advantage at first glance, but it wouldn’t work on SpongeBob in actuality. For one thing, it’s difficult for this version of Aquaman to command intelligent sea life with his telepathy, and SpongeBob counts as intelligent sea life despite his nautical nonsense. Even if the Protector of Atlantis can, the fry cook has the right resistances to counter it. As for SpongeBob’s best haxes, take your pick between his genetic alteration or the magic page. Both are good enough to take out Arthur.

Among their equipment, the only item Arthur has that’s worth talking about is his heat ray because Neptune knows his water pistol and wumbo device won’t help against the yellow sea sponge. SpongeBob has shown to be weak to heat in the show and movies, especially when he’s on dry land. However, that weakness later became inconsistent such as when SpongeBob was next to the actual sun, so the heat ray won’t be very reliable for Aquaman. Meanwhile, the fry cook has more items that Aquaman isn’t immune or resistant to. In fact, the best of these items are the magic pencil that can erase people from existence and the magic book page that can affect reality based on what’s written into it.

Overall, SpongeBob SquarePants has everything he needs to claim Sweet Victory. Sure, Aquaman has a heat ray that might exploit his opponent’s weakness, but that one item is useless when the yellow sea sponge has the stats advantage (even if you do apply Superman scaling), better haxes, more effective equipment, and more reliable resistances. For SpongeBob, this Death Battle will be The Best Day Ever. Sadly for the Justice League though, their Super Friend from Atlantis will be sleeping with the fishes (No, not in that way).

Final Tally

SpongeBob SquarePants (17) - AgentRedhead, AwesomeEthan48, GumballViking, Hi Hi, Hyperstarman, Joshski, Js250476, Maddie Antiqua, Nobrainer13, RadioactiveCaffeine, resident Joe, Rina Antiqua, Spideyman, SwagJames33, The Mad Gadfly, therealcalhoward, VampyreNVRmore

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