PatBob

 is the slash ship between Patrick Star and the titular SpongeBob SquarePants from the SpongeBob SquarePants fandom.

Canon
SpongeBob and Patrick have consistently been portrayed as the best of friends across the franchise, with their relationship often being the central focus. How long they've been friends exactly depends on the episode and media, usually with their friendship being mentioned as going as far back as since the two were children. However there are some mentions of them having been friends even earlier than their childhood, going as far back as their infancy. In these ways, their friendship arguably parallels the friendship that was formerly shared between Plankton and Mr. Krabs.

SpongeBob SquarePants
In the original series, SpongeBob and Patrick are both grown adults who happen to be neighbors. The two live on opposite ends of the same street, sandwiching Squidward's house between their own. Many episodes revolve around the antics the two get up to as a duo, often to the annoyance of those around them. There is not an insignificant number of episodes where SpongeBob will look to Patrick for guidance in situations he finds his own experience or awareness is lacking. This will usually be a source of humor, as Patrick is rarely more aware than SpongeBob himself is. However, the two will more often than not support each other and encourage each other in their endeavors.

Patrick is usually depicted as a loyal, caring and protective best friend toward SpongeBob. This is considered to be most evident in the first three seasons. However, as the series had always relied on Patrick's lack of intelligence for humor there had been times where his positive qualities as a friend had been undermined by obliviousness or selfishness. Similarly, it had not been uncommon for Patrick to become possessive and throw tantrums whenever he felt his friendship with SpongeBob is compromised or threatened. The severity of his flaws and how it effects his relationship with SpongeBob would usually depend on the plot or tone of the episode. Notoriously, Patrick had been largely considered at his worst as a friend through seasons five through eight, though some argue that he'd improved since season nine.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical
The friendship between SpongeBob and Patrick is the central focus of the musical, with the two sharing multiple duets about their importance to each other. While the two have a brief falling out when Patrick feels as though his contributions are not being appreciated enough by his friends, he soon feels remorse for this and reunites with SpongeBob. As a result, the two - and Sandy - save the town of Bikini Bottom with the strength of their friendship.

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
Depicted as 10 year olds, 16 years prior to the events of the original series, the two are cabin-mates along with Squidward and Sandy. As Kamp Koral is specifically a spin-off based on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, taking place a year after the events of the flashbacks shown in the film, their friendship is still relatively new. As seen in Sponge on the Run, SpongeBob was the first person at camp to befriend Patrick while he was homesick. As a result, Patrick is deeply attached to SpongeBob, and the two are hardly seen apart. Aside from age and how long they have known each other, there aren't very many differences in how they are depicted in comparison to their depictions in the original series.

The Patrick Star Show
Taking place roughly seven years before the original series, Patrick and SpongeBob are depicted as late teens in this spin-off. Though the two are still shown to be best friends, SpongeBob's appearances are fewer than in the original series. As a result there is not as much focus on their friendship in comparison to other works in the franchise. Instead the series mainly focuses on Patrick's relationship with his family, whom he still lives with at this point. When SpongeBob does appear, he more often supports Patrick in his endeavors than the other way around.

Fanon
is possibly one of the oldest SpongeBob ships, and having a long history of controversies regarding the possibility of their relationship being a homoerotic one. With SpongeBob being popular with the gay community in the early 2000s, even as Nickelodeon denied the possibility of characters being gay at the time, many had read their relationship as possibly being romantic in nature. So much so that in the past conservative Christians have called for boycotts against the series because of the imagined homoerotic nature of their friendship, famously resulting in Hillenberg's announcement that he saw the characters as "almost asexual."

Because of all of this at one point was possibly the most popular ship involving the titular character, though it's popularity has long since been eclipsed by Spandy and SquidBob. However, there are still a number of fans who quite enjoy the relationship, especially those in the fandom for the musical's portrayal of the two. The exact lines of when and how they become romantically involved as well as sharing a platonic bond are usually blurred in fan works, or for the relationship to be established from the beginning. Despite this it isn't all that uncommon for depictions of the relationship where one of the two to realize their feelings and the crux of the story is conveying those feelings to the other.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

FAN ART

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