Plabs

Plabs is the slash ship between Mr. Krabs and Plankton from the SpongeBob SquarePants fandom.

Canon
Mr. Krabs and Plankton are primarily arch-nemeses and rivals in most of their appearances in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, though upon occasion referred to as frenemies. In some episodes their rivalry may be presented as more of a game or a kayfabe, where they may be more playful or friendly with each other while competing, while others portray it as more serious and potentially deadly. In either case, Plankton's character often revolves around trying to best Mr. Krabs or the Krusty Krab in some way.

However, the idea of their relationship being a romantic one is not without some canonical basis, as there are many moments that play with the idea that there is a homoerotic undercurrent to their dynamic. In addition to that, the notion that Mr. Krabs' feelings for Plankton could potentially be romantic does come up at one point in earnest. But there are no indications that Plankton would reciprocate even if it were true, and ultimately the idea that the relationship could ever go anywhere is treated as a joke. This is especially as Plankton has been married to Karen for the majority of the series, and Mr. Krabs is currently in a relationship with Mrs. Puff.

SpongeBob SquarePants
Most information about their friendship and childhood together is taken from the episode Friend or Foe, where Plankton was said to be Mr. Krabs' first friend and the two were inseparable. When Mr. Krabs attended elementary school he was bullied by other kids for being poor, though Plankton never cared about that. Plankton was even shown to have helped Mr. Krabs seek revenge a number of times. The two often spent their time together in an abandoned trailer at the local garbage dump, serving as their club house. Later when the two decided to start a restaurant together, they re-used that same trailer as their food truck, as it was the only thing they could afford.

However their business venture would prove unsuccessful and the two had not attracted customers, likely as a result of their location, with Old Man Jenkins being the only person to try their burger when it was offered to him by Mr. Krabs. However when Old Man Jenkins was knocked out immediately after eating the Plab Patty, Plankton started an argument over who was more to blame for what was wrong with the recipe. When he claimed that he was "taking the recipe and fixing it," the two got into a tug of war fight over who had more ownership over the recipe. When the recipe tore in half, Plankton stormed out of their clubhouse with a declaration of war. By slamming the door, he ended up accidentally assisting Mr. Krabs in the creation of what would soon become the Krabby Patty as a shelf of ingredients had fallen into the leftover patty batter.

The two would then compete with each other to prove who could provide the tastier sandwich, with Mr. Krabs' prototype recipe being referred to as more flavorful and edible than what Plankton had created on his own. This would become integral to the brand loyalty that citizens of Bikini Bottom would hold for the Krabby Patty in the future, and Mr. Krabs opened the Krusty Krab in his adulthood. Envious of Mr. Krabs' success as proprietor of the Krusty Krab, Plankton is said to later open the Chum Bucket as direct competition. But his continued failure to create an appetizing menu of his own eventually results in the status quo of the series: where Plankton makes continuous efforts to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula from Mr. Krabs, but always being met with repetitive failure.

Having made many attempts at the formula over the years, many of Plankton's schemes have relied on taking advantage of Mr. Krabs emotions - one of the most notable being Married to Money, an episode where Plankton disguises himself as a sapient stack of money named Cashina. Over the course of several days, Plankton-as-Cashina seduces Mr. Krabs, with the endgame of enticing him into telling Plankton the formula himself. This eventually culminates in the marriage between Cashina and Mr. Krabs, with a wedding held at the Krusty Krab. When Mr. Krabs nearly reveals the formula to his bride at their honeymoon, Plankton's disguise is ruined in the process. Though he was initially furious with this deception, Mr. Krabs sadly reveals that he'd been alone for so long he was desperate for companionship and even if Cashina wasn't real, his feelings were. When he asks Plankton if it was all just a scheme to him, Plankton dodges the question and storms out of the honeymoon suite.

Plankton: The College Years
A short comic story that was published in the Nickelodeon Magazine depicting the two crustaceans as college roommates. This comic is presumably not canon to the series, or at the very least not to episodes like Friend or Foe, as it appears that Plankton and Mr. Krabs might not have known each other prior to rooming together at Bikini Bottom University. In this story, Mr. Krabs is shown to repeatedly inconvenience and harm Plankton unintentionally, though seemingly wanting to be friends with the much smaller copepod regardless of how much harm he inadvertently causes. The climax of the story involves Mr. Krabs arranging double dates for the two, only to accidentally trap Plankton within the confines of a book when answering the door for their dates. The penultimate panel is Plankton swearing eternal vengeance upon Mr. Krabs for this unintentional slight.

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
Taking place 16 years before the original series, Kamp Koral is a spinoff based on the flashbacks featured in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. However, both film and the spin-off series are said to take place in an alternate timeline that was created by Sandy's interference in the past. As a result, the details of their friendship may differ from the main series. Rather than their friendship coming to an end over the Plab Patty, the Krabby Patty has not yet been invented and the two have thus far remained close friends into their 20s. A year after the flashbacks shown in the film, Mr. Krabs has become the new proprietor of the camp. And with their friendship still intact, Mr. Krabs hired Plankton to take over his old position as the new chef prior to the beginning of the series. The two are often seen hanging out when not busy wrangling the campers, and one episode shows that they are often playing board games with each other (and Mrs. Puff) when the children are asleep.

Moments
Seasons 1-3=

Welcome to the Chum Bucket

 * The episode reveals that Mr. Krabs and Plankton have been playing poker together once a week for fifteen years.

Christmas Who?

 * Plankton and Mr. Krabs are seen singing carols together during SpongeBob's song.
 * Mr. Krabs offers Plankton a fruitcake during this.

Imitation Krabs

 * At one point Mr. Krabs jumps into the arms of Plankton's robotic duplicate of Mr. Krabs.

Party Pooper Pants
Seasons 4-6=
 * SpongeBob pairs Mr. Krabs with Plankton as conversational partners.

New Leaf

 * When Plankton seemingly gives up on trying to steal the recipe, Mr. Krabs is initially heartbroken by the thought of losing him as a rival.
 * After having a violent breakdown, Mr. Krabs calls Plankton to apologize for his behavior. They have a sincere moment where Mr. Krabs admits that he cares about Plankton.
 * There is then a montage of the two spending time together at the Valentines Day carnival.
 * This culminates in a romantically charged scene that ends with the two sitting on a pier while watching the sunset together.
 * Mr. Krabs signs his fake-out recipe with a heart.

Best Frenemies

 * Mr. Krabs repeatedly holds Plankton gently in his claws while the two scheme to steal the Kelp Shake recipe.
 * Plankton stands on Mr. Krabs shoulder like a parrot, at one point even giving him encouragement.
 * The two share a Kelp Shake, taking turns drinking from a single bottle.
 * In the end, Mr. Krabs willingly gives Plankton a head-start on stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula because of how much he'd enjoyed spending time with Plankton.

Friend or Foe

 * Plankton introduced Mr. Krabs to the concept of money as a child, and having money to spend Mr. Krabs chose to spend his money on something to make Plankton happy.
 * When discussing plans on how to make more money, Plankton refers to Mr. Krabs as "baby."
 * During Mr. Krabs' recollection of their childhood together, he claims that he made his first dollar with Plankton. As Karen reveals that this portion of the retelling was false, this means that it was an idealized fabrication on Mr. Krabs' part.
 * Near the end of the episode Mr. Krabs and Plankton hold each other and sob.
 * While Plankton saying he wanted to be friends again was shown to be a trick to lull Mr. Krabs into a false sense of security, this simultaniously reveals that Mr. Krabs would genuinely like to be friends again.

Spy Buddies

 * This episode is shown to be a result of a bet Mr. Krabs and Plankton made, where the two decide to swap lives and see who would have more success in the others position.

Chum Caverns
Seasons 7-9=
 * When the two believe they are going to die, trapped in the caverns, Mr. Krabs asks Plankton to comfort him. Plankton then leaps into Mr. Krabs' arms, the two sobbing, with Plankton pressed against his chest.
 * After spending some time alone in the caved in cavern, Mr. Krabs and Plankton hold hands while agreeing to work together from then on.
 * Plankton ends up working at the Krusty Krab.

The Main Drain

 * Another episode that shows the childhood friendship between Mr. Krabs and Plankton.
 * Mr. Krabs and Plankton supposedly destroyed the town of Bikini Bottom together.

SpongeBob’s Last Stand

 * Mr. Krabs calls Plankton “Shelly.”
 * Plankton reveals he’s been stealing Mr. Krabs’ mail for 5 years.

The Other Patty

 * SpongeBob reminds Plankton and Mr. Krabs of their friendship by showing them a photograph of the two somewhere between their late teens to young adults, in matching turtleneck sweaters.
 * Plankton repeatedly carries Mr. Krabs around.

Married to Money

 * Plankton disguises himself as Cashina with the intent of making Mr. Krabs fall in love with him; considers every romantic action preformed as Cashina as his own.
 * When Plankton's disguise is revealed, Mr. Krabs alludes the notion that he may love Plankton, or at the very least would like to be loved by him.

Company Picnic

 * When Plankton's picnic seems to be more fun than his own, Mr. Krabs ditches his own picnic to go play at Plankton's amusement park styled picnic.
 * Mr. Krabs almost decides to work for Plankton because of how much fun he is having.

Lame and Fortune

 * Plankton wore a t-shirt that said “kiss me I'm a copepod” with the intent of Mr. Krabs seeing it.
 * Mr. Krabs willingly gives Plankton a fortune cookie in the end when his scheme fails.

Salsa Imbecilicus

 * Mr. Krabs spends the majority of the episode willingly pretending to be intimidated by Plankton, who tries to toy with him in a manner that is somewhere between generic high school bully to flirty teen rebel.
 * Plankton refers to Mr. Krabs as "baby" again, and asks to be called "Sheldon" in return.

Seasons 10-13=

Plankton gets the Boot

 * Mr. Krabs is the first person Plankton thinks of when he considers moving in with a friend who would “love to have him.”

Plankton Retires

 * At one point Mr. Krabs and Plankton - not yet revealed to have been replaced by their robotic doppelgangers - are meant to be shaking hands, but due to an error, the two are actually holding hands.
 * The robotic doppelgangers of Plankton and Mr. Krabs become best friends, and have a montage together.

Mimic Madness

 * Plankton nearly convinces Mr. Krabs to give him the Krabby Patty secret formula while imitating SpongeBob.
 * After that, Mr. Krabs compliments Plankton on his imitation of SpongeBob.

Girls Night Out

 * When Plankton believes Mr. Krabs is going to give him the secret formula, his eye becomes heart-shaped and he blows a kiss to the figure he believes to be Mr. Krabs and calls him honey.

Plankton Paranoia

 * At one point in the episode, Mr. Krabs becomes saddened by the thought that Plankton doesn't "want him anymore."
 * Spending the entire episode obsessed with Plankton and what he might do next.
 * The episode's climax reveals that Plankton was planning an anniversary party for the two of them.
 * The anniversary cake featuring a cake-topper of their likenesses has a heart struck by cupid's arrow.

The Krusty Bucket

 * Plankton creates Plankrab, the genetic combination of Plankton himself and Mr. Krabs.
 * When Plankrab takes over both the Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket, Plankton and Mr. Krabs start a lemonade stand styled food stand together.
 * Once they've defeated Plankrab, Plankton makes a joke that makes Mr. Krabs laugh.
 * They end the episode on good terms with each other, for once.

There Will Be Grease

 * The two sing a duet together to advertise their snake-oil.
 * Their snake-oil brand is named Krabton's, one of the earliest used ship names for the two.
 * Later, when shown how successful their snake-oil business is, Mr. Krabs and Plankton start playing with their money together while giggling.

Movies=

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water

 * In a cut storyboard for the movie, at one point Plankton laments at the fact he will never get the Krabby Patty secret formula. In response, Karen urges Plankton to focus on something or someone else, implying he should focus on her instead of trying to steal the formula. However Plankton immediately yells back that he doesn't want to focus on something or someone else, suggesting that ultimately fixating on Mr. Krabs is more important to him.
 * At the end, Plankton returns the formula to Mr. Krabs while talking about how he doesn't want to turn his back on everything important over the formula anymore.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

 * Plankton owns a pin-up calender of Mr. Krabs posing provocatively with a Krabby Patty in hand.
 * During the Secret to the Formula sequence at the climax, Plankton and Mr. Krabs recreate a scene from the ending of Dirty Dancing while dancing together.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical

 * In one performance of the broadway production, the actors portraying Mr. Krabs and Plankton held hands near the end of the musical when the entire cast held hands waiting to see if the Eruptor Disruptor succeeded.
 * The professional recording of the musical that aired on Nickelodeon includes a scene where Mr. Krabs calls Plankton "tiny dancer."

Comics=

Spongebob Comics Issue #6

 * The main story primarily focuses on a universe where Plankton and Mr. Krabs work together, running a bakery called the Cookie Bucket.
 * At the end of the story, an alternate universe Plankton who is about average height has a much smaller Mr. Krabs standing on his head. It isn't clear if they're from the same universe or two different universes, but chose to stand with each other.

Spongebob Comics Issue #54

 * Mr. Krabs befriends a clone of Plankton, unaware that he is not the original Plankton.
 * He even willingly gives the clone the Krabby Patty secret formula, still believing him to be the original Plankton.

Spongebob Comics Annual #2

 * During the comic story “I shall destroy all the civilized Planktons,” Plankton is seen saying "and now for the truth, Krabs... I've always had a crush on you!" in one panel.

Fanon
was originally considered to be a rarepair within the SpongeBob SquarePants fandom. Though it's still often overshadowed by more popular ships within the fandom, such as SquidBob and PatBob, the ship has risen in popularity within the last decade. This may be a result of the popularity of newer episodes that have focused on their relationship over other characters, such as Married to Money, The Krusty Bucket, or There Will Be Grease.

It is not at all uncommon for fans of the pair to explore the angsty aspects of their relationship, such as their falling out or the effects their rivalry may have on each other. A popular scenario among fans seem to be continuations of the events of Married to Money, where Mr. Krabs is suggested to have romantic feelings for Plankton, or at the very least a desire for Plankton to have romantic feelings for him instead. This will usually have the endgame of Plankton ending up married to Mr. Krabs for real, or at the very least realizing that he might reciprocate any amorous feelings Mr. Krabs may feel for him.

The two of them are usually shipped alongside Karen and Sandy. A common scenario in fan works that focus on the two as shipmates involve Plankton and Karen divorcing each other, often with Karen and Sandy getting together while Plankton and Mr. Krabs go from enemies to lovers. The details may differ between works, but there have been multiple works where it has been Karen and Sandy's developing relationship that acts as an inciting event for Plankton and Mr. Krabs to repair their relationship with each other.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * "Plabs" used as a ship name for the two originates from the name of their original patty in Friend or Foe, the Plab Patty. However, "Plabs" used as a name for a fusion of the two characters used in an obscure Nick bumper may have possibly predated the Plab Patty.