SpongeBob VS Aquaman

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SpongeBob VS Aquaman
Season	9
Episode	12
Overall	167
Episode Link	Original: YouTube RT Archive With Commentary: RT Archive
Air Date	October 17th, 2022
Producers
Written by	Liam Swan
Animated by	Gus Espinal John Mitchell OriginTheHero Zack Watkins
Fight
Combatants
Winner	SpongeBob SquarePants
Battle Score	"Ocean Men" by Therewolf Media
Fight Length	3:35
Episode Guide
← Previous	Trunks VS Silver
Next →	Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers

Prepare for nautical nonsense as SpongeBob SquarePants battle Aquaman!

—Tagline

SpongeBob VS Aquaman is the 167th episode of Death Battle, featuring SpongeBob SquarePants from the SpongeBob SquarePants series and Super Friends Aquaman from DC Comics in a battle between goofy underwater heroes. SpongeBob was voiced by Tom Schalk and Aquaman was voiced by Kestin Howard.

Interlude

Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates

Wiz: SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon's #1 nautical nincompoop.

Boomstick: Aquaman, the thalassic third wheel of the Super Friends. "Thalassic" means "ocean". I looked it up.

Wiz: The infinite ink black depths of the seven seas are home to any number of terrifying awe-inspiring creatures.

Boomstick: They're also home to these two losers. Though, when it comes to cartoon characters, there's always more hidden beneath the waves. That's right, we're prioritizing the cartoons for maximum Toon Force shenanigans!

We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

SpongeBob SquarePants

Tour Of Duty by Oskar Reisinger

Wiz: The year was 1946. The former allies of World War II were engaged in a cold war between Capitalist West and Communist East.

Boomstick: The United States changed history forever with the introduction of the atomic bomb, a weapon of unparalleled nuclear devastation.

Wiz: One of their most popular test spots, the site of 23 separate detonations over the course of 12 years for a total fission yield of 42.2 megatons, was Bikini Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Boomstick: The results were ecological devastation, and... perhaps something more. Deep beneath the atoll, the fauna began to change. They evolved, becoming sentient, forming language, technology, and society. This "Bikini Bottom" organized into a monarchy under the god, King Neptune. It developed a free market economy and a thriving artistic culture.

Popup: This origin is just one theory, perhaps contradicted by the fact that Bikini Bottom history had its own Wild West, Medieval, and Paleolithic cultures.

Wiz: Even the simplest underwater creatures became capable of complex thought, including the very first multicellular organism to be categorized as part of the animal kingdom: the sea sponge!

Boomstick: And one sponge in particular, the greatest among them, lives in a pineapple under the sea. OOOOHHHH~—

Wiz: SpongeBob SquarePants.

Boomstick: (sadly) Aw, I wanted to sing the song...

Slapstick Stomp by Rick Cassman & Vyvyan Hope-Scott

Wiz: I don't know about "greatest". SpongeBob may headline one of the most popular children's cartoons of all time, but he's a total dork. He's a painfully naïve man-child whose only ambition in life is to continue his minimum wage job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab.

Boomstick: Really soundin' like a Squidward there, Wiz. And no one wants to be a Squidward. SpongeRobert might not have the flashiest life, but he's happy. And that's what matters, ain't it?

Wiz: Not in Death Battle, it doesn't. SpongeBob is routinely physically incapable of even the most basic tasks, almost like... anti-Toon Force. He's the biggest wimp in town, like the time he failed to lift a glass of lemonade, or the time a school bully gave him diarrhea, or the time he effortlessly... rotated the entire planet. Huh...

Popup: In Battle for Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob replenishes health by finding clean underwear. This implies that he shits himself every time he takes damage.

Boomstick: Oh-ho-ho, we're in for some shit now, aren't we? Despite being a real sea creature, SpongeBob is more like a kitchen sponge. Absorbent and yellow and porous is he, after all. He can stretch and shapeshift his body any way he likes, duplicate himself through asexual reproduction, and absorb immense amounts of liquid. Wouldn't he always be full, though?

Wiz: From an entire lagoon to... oh God... enough water to replace the Moon?

Clown Parade by Alfi Kabiljo

Boomstick: Oh, and for some reason, he has an insane healing factor. He's survived being torn in half, vaporized, having his soul removed from his body, and literally being unraveled out of existence. Oooookay, I think we're good, we can just, uh, end the rundown here.

Popup: Though he looks as though he's disappeared, his disembodied laughter can be heard as the episode ends, proving he's still alive in some fashion even after being unraveled.

Wiz: NO! I need to see how deep this rabbit hole goes! Perhaps his most mind-bending ability is his control over... bubbles. No, stay with me. This is unbelievable. Like a soapy Green Lantern ring, his bubbles can become anything he wishes. From guided cruise missiles to sentient life and entire bubble societies!

We cut to Wiz and Boomstick, the latter of whom using the Magic Pencil to draw something on the ground as ground as Wiz continues to talk.

Wiz: That's a pretty similar effect to his Magic Pencil, which can draw anything he wants into existence, and erase it from reality just as easily! The pencil was so powerful, SpongeBob sent it back to the surface where it belonged. But in later seasons, he still just... has it, for some reason.

Boomstick: And... finished!

What comes to life is a DoodleBob-esque version of Wiz.

Boomstick: I call him... "Doodle Wiz", Wiz! He's just like you! But I made him with a pencil!

Doodle Wiz: Mee hoy minoy.

There is a brief silence following the doodle's words.

Wiz: (annoyed) I'm calling the police.

After hearing that, Doodle Wiz angrily attacks his counterpart to Boomstick's horror, with Wiz frantically screaming and blood splattering everywhere shortly before we cut back to the analysis.

Get Up Now! by Mathias Mersch

Boomstick: Even the mundane becomes godlike in SpongeBob's yellow hands. Like his reef blower, which Hoover-ed up the entirety of Earth's oceans in seconds, and then exploded on top of SpongeBob all at once!

Wiz: It's estimated the entire mass of Earth's oceans is about 1.5 quintillion tons. Considering all the water refilled the planet in about one second, that'd be a kinetic energy of over 6,000 yottatons.

Boomstick: That's enough energy to nuke Jupiter 13 times over. And SpongeBob... was completely unharmed!

Wiz: His hydro-dynamic spatula isn't just an impromptu bladed weapon. It's also his primary instrument to create the greatest foodstuff Bikini Bottom has ever seen: the Krabby Patty.

Boomstick: A burger so delicious, it's basically magic. Not only is it totally addictive — SpongeBob was romantically attracted to one — it can nullify mind control, heal wounds, and even detonate!

Wiz: SpongeBob has survived nukes point blank, hugged his best friend Patrick so hard their DNA fused, can ride on the scene transitions, and once cried so hard he flooded Bikini Bottom! Even though it's... already underwater! Shit, he once grabbed a hold of this mysterious string and unraveled the entire universe! He literally undid... the fabric of reality... in seconds...! What the f**k...???

Boomstick: What was that you were saying about Anti-Toon Force?

Wiz: (fascinated) I'm-I'm sorry! I'm not sure I've ever misjudged a character as severely as... SpongeBob SquarePants.

Boomstick: Nice character arc there, Wiz. Unfortunately for Roberto, the rest of the town only saw the Goofy Goober on the outside. It took more than one adventure to prove himself to be a real hero... You think he ever banged that squirrel?

Popup: Nope!

Hectic Harry by Douglas Ian Kinloch

Wiz: He's crushed Plankton's Plan Z, won the Battle of Bikini Bottom against an army of killer robots, and even teamed up with fellow Nickelodeon stars Timmy Turner, Jimmy Neutron, and Danny Phantom to save the Nicktoons multiverse.

Boomstick: His biggest weakness is that he's a giant, suicidally naïve idiot.

Wiz: And depending on the humidity of the atmosphere around him, being out of the water can dehydrate and permanently incapacitate him.

Boomstick: Oh, also seasonal rot. Those first three seasons are pure gold, but after that, hoh-oh boy. There's this one episode called "Squid Baby" where Squidward gets brain-damaged into a giant baby and shits himself on-screen.

Wiz: ...What are you talking about??

Boomstick: Oh, right, ahem. Trials and tribulations and Hasselhoffs aside, it wasn't until SpongeBob accepted himself for who he was that he was rewarded with the greatest boon of all: middle management!

Wiz: So if nautical nonsense be something you wish, then pray to your yellow porous god for mercy, because his whimsical laughter is the last thing you'll ever hear.

Super Friends Aquaman

Holiday March by Archibald Joyce

Wiz: Aquaman, king of the seven seas.

Boomstick: We've covered Arthur Curry on the show before and he's actually secretly awesome!

Wiz: That's right, Boomstick, but the version we're dealing with today is from the bargain bin cartoons from the '60s and '70s.

Boomstick: Now, you might assume that means this Aquaman is a total loser, but really, have you watched all those cartoons?

Wiz: Remember, this is from the era when Superman was sneezing solar systems apart. So, get ready.

Quick As A Flash by Joseph Engleman

Boomstick: Art's origin is basically the same as the Silver Age comics: Tom Curry was a humble lighthouse keeper who decided one day to... f**k a fish.

Wiz: He did not... do... that! He (clears throat) procreated with Atlanna, an Atlantean from the underwater city of Poseidonis, and from their union, Arthur Curry was born with magnificent aquatic abilities.

Boomstick: And he's the king of Atlantis too!

Wiz: Uh, wait, no. Says here that it was introduced in the comics later. Here, he's just... some guy... with magnificent aquatic abilities! And a giant mutant seahorse that neighs just like a land horse.

Boomstick: This Aquaman comes from a time when everybody who's anybody had their own secret cave with assorted gadgets. He's got an underwater jet ski, a net, octopus ink, a water pistol, and a portable heat ray to blast right through solid ice! Not exactly mind-blowing but, y'know, I'm sure we're rampin' up.

Acrobats by Wilfred Burns

Wiz: We sure are! Aquaman's hybrid human-Atlantean biology grants him superhuman strength and the ability to breathe underwater indefinitely and withstand the crushing depths of the ocean floor.

Boomstick: The pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 16,000 pounds per square inch. That's like... bein' stepped on by a... hundred elephants! Whi-which is a lot, I-I guess.

Wiz: Aquaman is also an incredible swimmer, able to travel from Florida to Maine in under an hour. That's almost twice the speed of sound. He can create water balls and whirlpools out of thin... water, and fittingly, water-based attacks are completely ineffective against him. And, of course, you can't forget his aquatic telepathy.

Boomstick: He can talk to fish, and he can even control people's minds and give them seizures, right?

Wiz: Oh, actually, that second part is also just from the comics. Cartoon Aquaman can... talk to fish, which is awesome! His telepathy can reach several miles, summon hundreds of sea creatures at once, and works on anything from microscopic organisms to alien life, as long as it's aquatic alien life, of course.

We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.

Boomstick: But he can still mind control them, right?

Wiz: Kiiind of...? He can free them from mind control and even influence their emotional state to some degree, but, besides that, there have been times when sea creatures have just... ignored his commands outright.

We cut to the wide shot of the Death Battle Lab, where Boomstick gives Wiz an unimpressed look.

Boomstick: (bluntly) Wiz, I'm gonna be straight with you. You haven't said anything remotely mind-blowing yet. Does this Aquaman actually suck?

We cut back to the analysis.

At The Ringside by Cedric King Palmer

Wiz: H-hold your seahorses! Aquaman's exploits were so world-renowned he banded together with Earth's mightiest heroes to form a team capable of defending the planet, nay, the universe from any threat: the Super Friends!

Boomstick: The Super Friends? They're like the dime-store knock-off version of the Justice League.

Wiz: What? Nooo, nooo, you've got heavy hitters like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman...

Boomstick: Mhmm, keep goin'...

Wiz: Flash, Green Lantern...

Boomstick: Uh-huh...

Wiz: A...pache Chief... Samurai... Black Vulcan, the- the Wonder Twins!... and their pet monkey, Gleek...

Boomstick: Wiz... Stop... You're embarrassing yourself.

Wiz: No, wait! His best direct strength feat was when he, uhhh... moved some trash! About... 50 metric tons of it... F**k.

Boomstick: Ah, the jokes write themselves, huh? Fun fact: Aquaman once enrolled in an American college under the name... "Mr. Waterman". So we're workin' with a pretty hefty IQ here, huh?

Wiz: Okay, so he's lame! Inarguably, completely lame! I was convinced I'd find some crazy insane Popeye-punching-out-the-animator feat somewhere, but... no! He sucks! He actually, actually sucks. His best feat is. Literally. Garbage!

Boomstick: I'll, uh, take over from here, Wiz.

Busy Business by International Radio Orchestra

Boomstick: Aquaman is a bit of a joke, sure, but he's not completely useless. He's dodged laser beams, defeated a living Titanic by luring it into an iceberg... seriously, and beaten this water elemental Undine, who looks like a gorilla for some reason, uh, by summoning seagulls to pelt her with clam shells. He once even outswam this Kryptonian pterodactyl monster, Rokan, who flew from the edge of the galaxy to Earth in about 15 seconds.

Popup: Another elemental, Sylph, summoned a blizzard to completely freeze an oil refinery. Based on its size and the volume of ice, this would be an energy of 2.9 kilotons of TNT.

Wiz: Wait, wait, really? O-Okay, okay, now we're talking. That'd be over 55 billion times the speed of light! And Aquaman's swimming clearly outmatched that. It doesn't matter if it looks lame!

Boomstick: Ya get one, buddy.

Wiz: And, hey, he could probably kick your ass, person that's watching at home, so... that's something!

Boomstick: Well, not if he's on dry land. Uh, if he's out of the water for even one hour, he dies. Never mind, person watching at home, just uh, hide for a bit, grab some lunch, and then uh, stomp on his corpse.

Wiz: But is raw power really what makes someone a hero? Or is it the drive to help others, to be of service, to sacrifice? That's what a hero is to me, and I'd say Aquaman's got as much of that as there are drops of water in the ocean.

A brief silence ensues before...

Boomstick: ...He's about to die.

Wiz: Yeah... Yeah.....

Prelude

Wiz: The combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibility! One... one possibility.

Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR AQUAMAN'S FUNERAAAL!!!

Death Battle

Ocean Men by Therewolf Media

Deep in the ocean depths of Bikini Bottom, a green portal appears, from which the aquatic member of the Super Friends, Aquaman, drops in through. He looks up to see a familiar-looking robotic starfish and squirrel, which are quickly destroyed by a spatula.

A yellow arm and hand from the one and only SpongeBob SquarePants retrieves his chef's tool. He then notices Aquaman in front of him and responds with joy in thinking it is his idol, only to realize it is not his personal hero.

SpongeBob: (gasp) Mermaid Ma—! Wait a second, you're not Mermaid Man!

Aquaman: The name's Aquaman, evildoer!

SpongeBob: Evildoer? (laughs) I'm a hero. (in a heroic voice) I saved this city!

The camera, however, zooms out to show a devastated and ironically on-fire underwater city, with a certain individual crying out in the background...

Fred: (off-screen) My leg!

SpongeBob can only chuckle nervously at this sight before turning back to Aquaman, who, misunderstanding the innocent citizen, prepares for battle.

Aquaman: There's only one real hero here, fiend. And he's... a Super Friend!

He jumps forward and hits SpongeBob dead-on, but his punch just cartoonishly pushes his spongy face inwards without him budging, resulting in the sky turning from orange back to its natural blue color from how unimpressive the attack was. A polite and uninjured SpongeBob then attempts to clear up the situation...

SpongeBob: You see, sir—

Only to get punched again...

SpongeBob: I'm a sea sponge—

And again to no avail...

SpongeBob: Phylum porifera—

And again... Still no dice.

SpongeBob: And you can't just—

Having charged up his next attack with water, Arthur finally knocks him back into a building with a powerful blow. However, SpongeBob is quick to recover and is now ready for battle, having suddenly donned his kah-rah-tae gear.

SpongeBob: How 'bout a little Kah-Rah-Tae, Waterman?

He jumps towards Aquaman and attacks with a chop. While he blocks the attack, Aquaman is understandably annoyed and repeats his name to him.

Aquaman: It's. AQUA. MAN!

Both aquatic fighters trade blows momentarily and try to strike each other...

POW! SpongeBob strikes Aquaman's cheek with a chop while victory screeching.

BLAM! Aquaman kicks hard enough to push SpongeBob's body backwards.

STERILITY! Both kick each other painfully in the groin before comedically being sent flying backwards.

As he stops himself, another green portal appears next to Arthur, showcasing another Aquaman through the multiverse and his abilities.

Aquaman: What? Of course! (thinking) He's a sea creature. And as the king of the seas, he's mine to command!

He uses his telepathy in an attempt to control SpongeBob, but he is unaffected and forms a cruise missile from a bubble, which rams into Aquaman's stomach and makes him comedically lose his breath. The missile then rams into him again, sending him spinning high into a building.

As SpongeBob gets ready to blow another bubble, he is bitten by three electric eels with little to no pain felt, only leaving him confused as Aquaman commands the eels their next move.

Aquaman: I wasn't... just reaching out to you, sponge. Let him have it, chums!

The eels zap him to the point of forming a cloud of smoke from where he was. Aquaman gets up and looks to the cloud with shock, seeing that SpongeBob has duplicated, with all the copies laughing childishly.

The camera cuts to a hand-drawn bit of a comedically stunned Aquaman, only his mouth is replaced by a live-action mouth sync.

Aquaman: GREAT NEPTUNE!

The duplicated SpongeBobs all merge back into the original.

SpongeBob: Get a load of this, Seaman!

He begins absorbing the water from his surroundings. Arthur is annoyed that he got his name wrong again and tries to correct him...

Aquaman: God damnit, it's Aqu— whoah-ohhh-ohhh-ohhhh-OHHHHHH!

... only for him to get pulled into the watery vortex as all of the water on Earth is absorbed into SpongeBob, turning him into a mountain towering over Bikini Bottom. Arthur remains nearby, quickly dehydrating from his lack of water.

Aquaman: Need... water... Powers... fading...! Is there nothing I can do?

A green portal once more appears to show him the other Aquamen in other universes.

DCEU Aquaman: My man!

Aquaman: I see it now. A multiverse of Aquamen...

Tears begin to drop from where he is kneeling, inadvertently rehydrating himself as he realizes his major downside.

Aquaman: And out of all of them... I'm the LAMEST F-(dolphin noise)-ING ONE!! (crying) I'm a ripoff... a joke... I'm no superhero...

Looking at the sobbing Aquaman with pity, SpongeBob gives some encouraging words.

SpongeBob: People used to say the same kind of things about me. Goofball, Wingnut, Knucklehead McSpazatron. But every day, I get back up and say two words: "I'm... ready".

Motivated by SpongeBob's words, Arthur reaches into the portal and pulls out the Trident of Neptune. He charges headstrong and stabs SpongeBob's giant body, releasing all of the water he had stored up back onto the planet. Returning to normal size, SpongeBob's Magic Pencil comes out of him and he arms himself with it. Arthur, now having full confidence in himself, respectfully states to his foe.

Aquaman: May the best hero win.

The two return to battle with weapons at hand, with Aquaman managing to push the SpongeBob back. He doodles on mid-air to summon DoodleBobs to swarm Arthur. While at first overwhelmed, Arthur jumps through them and slices the Magic Pencil in half. Quickly taking up the pencil, he scribbles something in the sand himself, but just as he finishes, SpongeBob throws the pink eraser at him, which removes his arm from existence.

Aquaman: What?!

Despite the painless loss of a limb, he quickly goes to stab SpongeBob and throws him through a door he made before closing it and sighing in relief. The camera zooms into the door sign, which says "The Other Side of the Universe" before cutting to a time-card of the same text, with a French voice stating...

French Narrator: The Other Side of the Universe...

The scene cuts to show SpongeBob floating in a void of space, with Arthur's trident beside him. Disregarding this, he morphs his feet into rocket boosters.

SpongeBob: IIIIIIIII'MMM READYYYYYY!!!

He blasts off and quickly makes his way back to Earth, with Arthur hearing and noticing his opponent coming right back for him. Smiling and undeterred, he begins to channel all of the water on Earth into his remaining hand and turns it into a massive whirling hurricane. Both prepare to clash one more time.

SpongeBob and Aquaman: I'll prove it to you. I'll be a real...

SpongeBob: ...Goofy Goober.

Aquaman: ...superhero.

As SpongeBob gains more speed, Aquaman screams with all his might before sending the entirety of Earth's marine population and all of its water at him, who crashes into the planet with all his speed, the result of both attacks being a gargantuan explosion.

After a bubble screen transition, Bikini Bottom in its entirety has been destroyed. What's left in the crater is an unharmed SpongeBob crying over a charred but still alive Aquaman, who, having been happy for the battle, cheers him up as he begins to fade away.

Aquaman: Don't cry, sponge... Let's be... Super... Friends...

Aquaman then completely disintegrates, leaving the sniffling and dismayed SpongeBob alone. Taking what remains of his broken magic pencil, he sadly scribbles something on the ground and backs away before smiling at what he had made: a #1 memorial grave for the Aquaman with flowers on the side, titled "Here Lies Ocean Man".

Results

Ocean Men by Therewolf Media

Boomstick: What is it with ridiculously OP nautical-themed cartoon characters on this show, Wiz?

Wiz: This was an incredibly close fight...

The music abruptly stops...

Wiz: Gotcha!

...and then resumes shortly after.

Wiz: Obviously, Aquaman didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell in defeating this little spongey bastich.

Boomstick: Where do we even start? With his bubbles and Magic Pencil, SpongeBob could basically do anything he wanted. There was no way Aquaman wouldn't get totally overwhelmed, especially with his much more limited arsenal. I can't think of a more lopsided matchup than someone whose main attack is throwing water against a sentient sea sponge!

Popup: SpongeBob is an obsessive fan of the superhero Mermaid Man, an in-universe parody of Aquaman with the same powers; he'd be familiar with anything Aquaman could throw at him.

Wiz: Aquaman's only potential option was his telepathy, but as we've covered, it's far less powerful than his comic counterpart. There's no reason to believe SpongeBob wouldn't just ignore Arthur's commands.

Boomstick: Even if it was straight-up mind control, SpongeBob's Krabby Patties straight-up cancel mind control!

Wiz: And really, nothing Aquaman had could overcome Bob's utterly broken regeneration.

Boomstick: The little yellow dude has survived being completely disintegrated into dust, and even erased from reality! All Aquaman can do is... punch kind of hard and... even that's basically useless against Bob's squishy body.

Wiz: Maaaybe Aquaman could have found a way to dehydrate SpongeBob enough to keep him permanently incapacitated, like when he and Patrick were trapped in Shell City.

Boomstick: But, that would require the fight to take place out of the water, which... messes Aquaman up way harder than it does SpongeBob. And it'd also require the fight doesn't instantly end up with SpongeBob karate-chopping Aquaman at ten shit-zillion times the speed of light, splattering his atoms against Saturn. 'Cause yeah, remember when SpongeBob unraveled the universe? Considering the—

Wiz: No, I'm sorry, I need to do this one. This is... this is fucking insane. Compared to SpongeBob's size, the string's width is about 192 micrometers. We can use that to find the volume of, say, one meter of string, and compare that to the volume of the entire observable universe! Considering it took SpongeBob about five seconds, he would've had to be pulling at 8.2 times 10 to the 78th power times faster than light!! (breathes in)

Boomstick: That's as many times faster than light as there are atoms in the universe!

Wiz: This... is the fastest calculable speed feat... in our show's history... And it belongs to SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!

Boomstick: But do you think he could take on comic book Aquaman?

Wiz: Ha-ha-have you been listening to ANYTHING I've been saying?!!

Boomstick: Good point. 'Cause let's not forget—

Wiz: OF COURSE I DIDN'T FORGET!!!

Boomstick: That string feat also destroyed the entire universe! And stuff like that is actually consistent!

Wiz: SpongeBob is literally aware of the fourth wall and has rewritten the plot of his own story as he's living it! Screw the pencil or the bubbles, he can just will whatever he wants into existence from his imagination! He's... a god! A yellow... spongey... god... of death!!

Boomstick: And that's why he beats Goku.

We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.

Wiz: At least Arthur finally got to be a real hero, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

Boomstick: Yeah, sure, whatever, pal. He's dead. Too bad for the king of the seas, that sure was one Sweet Victory.

We cut to the "Winner" card.

Wiz: The winner is SpongeBob SquarePants. Our God.

Comparison

SpongeBob SquarePants

+ Absurdly stronger & faster

+ Absorbs water attacks

+ Immune to telepathy

+ Infinite potential w/ powers

+ Cannot be killed by Arthur

- Dumbass

Aquaman

+ Won the moral victory?

- Everything else lmao

Original Track

Ocean Men by Therewolf Media

Composition

The track for this fight is "Ocean Men" by Therewolf Media. It's a mix of relaxing Hawaiian-style ukulele and slide guitar music (similar to the styles of music heard in the SpongeBob series) with a subtle motif of the SpongeBob end credits theme, upbeat orchestral music similar to "The Lineman" (Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's theme), surfer-style guitar, and a short hard rock guitar segment reminiscent of "Goofy Goober Rock" in the fight's climax.

Title

The title is a reference to "Ocean Man" by Ween, which is the ending song of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. It also refers to how both combatants are men of the ocean.

Cover Art

The cover art done by John Mitchell depicts SpongeBob's jellyfishing net crossing in an X-formation with DCEU Aquaman's trident (a reference to how Super Friends Aquaman gets his trident through the multiverse portal in the middle of the fight), with Aquaman's logo, SpongeBob's bubbles, and the flower-shaped clouds from SpongeBob in the background.

Trivia

Production

• The core connections between SpongeBob SquarePants and Super Friends Aquaman are that they are both aquatic cartoon heroes who are friends with sea life and known for being goofy and comedic, albeit in different ways (SpongeBob behaves very dorky and cartoonish and is in a comedy show known for being intentionally funny, whereas Super Friends Aquaman is infamously and unintentionally laughable due to him being pathetically useless and lame to the point of being largely blamed for ruining Aquaman's reputation). In addition:
  • Both have similar resistances and weaknesses involving hydrating themselves with water.
  • Both are well-known citizens among the populace within the underwater cities they live their daily lives in (Bikini Bottom and Poseidonis, respectively) ruled by monarchs (King Neptune and Aquaman himself, respectively).
  • Both own two pets (Gary and Shelley, and Storm and Topo, respectively).
  • Both have a female friend who's skilled at wielding a lasso (Sandy Cheeks and Wonder Woman, respectively).
  • Funnily enough, Mermaid Man from the SpongeBob SquarePants series is not only based on Aquaman (with the in-universe show based on his adventures taking cues from this version of Arthur), but is also SpongeBob's personal hero, with SpongeBob even briefly mistaking Aquaman for Mermaid Man before the fight starts proper.
  • Also funnily enough, Boomstick made the connection that the mainline Aquaman was SpongeBob himself due to how both of them "[live] under the sea, [wear] yellow, and [are] absorbent" back in Aquaman VS Namor.
• SpongeBob's preview was released on October 9th for FIRST Members, which is not only Leif Erikson Day (a holiday SpongeBob celebrates), but also the birthdate of both Bubble Buddy and Squidward.
• It was confirmed by a member of the team in a private Discord server that this episode was originally going to be the 13th episode of Season 9, with the original 12th episode being Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers.
• The clip from the SpongeBob episode "Squid Baby" shown in SpongeBob's analysis is taken from the site KissCartoon, as evident by the logo in the top-left corner.
• When Aquaman first punches SpongeBob, the sky in the background suddenly turns from orange to blue and the surrounding destruction disappears. Though it was initially believed by the community to be an animation error, it was confirmed that it was intentionally done to reference how Bikini Bottom occasionally goes from being destroyed to completely fine again in between shots in numerous SpongeBob episodes.
• The Rooster Teeth version of the episode uncensors some of the profanity heard within it, unlike the YouTube version.
• According to OriginTheHero, the trident Aquaman pulls out through the multiverse portal in the middle of the fight was originally meant to be the one from his comic book counterpart, as seen on his sprite used in his fight with Namor. However, Origin decided to edit the head of the trident to make it resemble the one used for this action figure of Super Friends Aquaman.
• The storyboards by John Mitchell reveal a few differences from the final episode, namely SpongeBob's spatula originally destroying a generic-looking robot instead of Robo-Patrick and Robo-Sandy, a few cut pieces of dialogue from SpongeBob and Aquaman's first interaction at the start of the fight, and SpongeBob originally walking away sadly after drawing Aquaman's memorial grave instead of tearfully looking at it after he's done.
• This episode makes a cameo appearance in Deku VS Asta, as the fight plays on one of the screens in the arena near the start before Deku and Asta start their fight proper.
• An extended version of the brief guitar solo in the climax of Ocean Men is featured in Therewolf Media's video announcing Round 3 of his "What If?" commission tracks.
• This episode was initially teased and revealed as SpongeBob SquarePants VS Super Friends Aquaman, though the title would later be shortened to the current one before the episode's release.

Easter Eggs

• The start of SpongeBob's analysis being about the nuclear testings on Bikini Atoll and how the Bikini Bottomites and the world of SpongeBob in general evolved from there is a reference to a popular theory regarding said nuclear testings. The first pop-up box seen in the analysis also mentions this theory.
• The first three verses of the SpongeBob theme song are referenced by both hosts throughout SpongeBob's analysis, in the lines:
  • "And one sponge in particular, the greatest among them, lives in a pineapple under the sea. OOOOHHHH~—"
  • "Absorbent and yellow and porous is he, after all."
  • "So if nautical nonsense be something you wish, then pray to your yellow porous god for mercy,"
• Boomstick commenting on how Wiz is "sounding like a Squidward" and how "no one wants to be a Squidward" in SpongeBob's analysis is a reference to the SpongeBob episode "Krusty Krab Training Video", where the narrator compares bad work ethics to Squidward in general.
• Spongebob's "Feats" slide lists "Ran to that mountain and back" and "Wanna see him do it again?" as one of his feats, referencing his time as the Quickster in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V", which became a meme.
• Boomstick saying "Ya get one, buddy." in Aquaman's analysis after he and Wiz brought up and calculated Aquaman's surprisingly impressive speed feat could be a possible call-back to the Mega Man Battle Royale, where Boomstick said a similar line after Wiz mentioned in the post-analysis how MegaMan Volnutt's weapons being manual instead of programmed prevented them from being disabled by MegaMan.EXE. In both cases, Boomstick said it towards the combatant who he otherwise thought was unimpressive and the community unanimously agreed had no chance of winning their respective episodes.
  • Additionally, while indirect, Wiz mentioning that SpongeBob's speed feat is "the highest calculable speed feat" in the show's history during the post-analysis could be calling back to Boomstick's line in that episode for EXE's major speed feat, as SpongeBob has now usurped it.
• The green portals that Aquaman goes through at the start of the battle and show him multiversal variants of himself throughout the battle are likely a reference to the green portals from Nicktoons Unite, a Nickelodeon crossover game SpongeBob is in.
  • The different versions of Aquaman seen in the portals are, in order, Aquaman from Peter David's comic run, DCEU Aquaman, Aquaman from Neal Pozner's comic run, Mer-Man, and Aqualad.
• Bikini Bottom's ruined state and the presence of Robo-Patrick and Robo-Sandy at the start of the fight are references to the plot of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom.
• SpongeBob claiming he saved Bikini Bottom despite it being in flames is a reference to a similar moment in the episode "Wormy", where SpongeBob says "We did it, Patrick! We saved the city!" despite Bikini Bottom being destroyed. This quote also became a meme.
  • SpongeBob's voice and face when he says the line "I saved this city!" is a reference to a scene in the episode "Hall Monitor".
  • From that shot, an off-screen voice is heard saying "My leg!", which is a reference to a running gag in SpongeBob.
• The hand-drawn shot of Aquaman before he punches SpongeBob is likely referencing this shot of Man Ray from the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III".
• The way Aquaman punches SpongeBob with the latter being unfazed is likely a reference to the episode "The Bully", where Flats the Flounder repeatedly tried punching SpongeBob with the same effect.
• SpongeBob accidentally calling Aquaman "Waterman" before he lunges towards him in his kah-rah-tae gear is a reference to the Super Friend's alias when attending Weston College in Adventure Comics #120, which was brought up in his analysis.
• When SpongeBob hits Aquaman during the "POW!" screen, he does his victory screech from the episode "The Algae's Always Greener".
• Aquaman's mouth being realistic when he yells "GREAT NEPTUNE!" utilizes the Syncro-Vox technique that's occasionally seen in SpongeBob, such as Painty the Pirate's mouth and in a scene from the episode "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" where a close-up of SpongeBob's mouth saying "actors" is realistic.
  • The mouth itself belongs to animator Zack Watkins. It was originally meant to be a placeholder due to Zack's beard, but the crew thought it made the scene funnier, so it was kept in.
• SpongeBob accidentally calls Aquaman "Seaman" as he absorbs all of Earth's oceans, a reference to the South Park character of the same name, who is a parody of Super Friends Aquaman.
• SpongeBob's design when he absorbs the ocean is based on his appearance when he soaked up Goo Lagoon in the episode "SpongeGuard on Duty".
• When the portal showing the alternate Aquamen shows up the second time, one of the Aquamen can be heard saying "My man!" This voice clip comes from the 2017 film Justice League, where Aquaman says this line to Cyborg while flying. This line has also become a meme.
• Aquaman's swear is censored by a dolphin sound, a reference to the episode "Sailor Mouth", where most of the swears were replaced with dolphin noises.
• SpongeBob's motivational speech to Aquaman references his speech in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, notably when he accepts the insults some Bikini Bottomites called him near the start of the film: "Goofball, Wingnut, Knucklehead McSpazatron."
• The Magic Pencil getting broken in half references what happened to it during the climax of the episode "Frankendoodle", the episode where the pencil first appeared.
• SpongeBob morphing his feet into rocket boosters in the climax is a reference to the episode "Jellyfish Hunter".
• Amongst the sea creatures in Aquaman's giant hurricane, a jellyfish from the SpongeBob series briefly appears before it gets eaten by a shark.
  • Columbo appears in the bottom-right corner for a single frame at the end of this scene before it cuts to space, added by Luis Cruz in a reference to how writer Liam Swan wanted Light VS Columbo to become an episode.
    • This is the first episode to hide Columbo in it as an easter egg in some form, with the next seven being Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, Bill Cipher VS Discord, Gojo VS Makima, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, and Galactus VS Unicron.
• The stock Baker explosion from the 1946 nuclear test Operation Crossroads seen in multiple SpongeBob episodes is used in the final blow when SpongeBob rams into Aquaman at faster-than-light speeds.
• The memorial grave that SpongeBob draws for the deceased Aquaman resembles the #1 tombstone of Smitty Werbenjägermanjensen from the episode "One Krabs Trash".
  • The epitaph on it saying "Here Lies Ocean Man" references the end credits song of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, "Ocean Man" by Ween.
  • A knocked down billboard advertising The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy can be seen in the background to the right of the memorial grave.
• At the start of the post-analysis, Boomstick wonders about "ridiculously OP nautical-themed cartoon characters on this show" after SpongeBob's victory, calling back to Saitama VS Popeye.
• Wiz stating how this battle was "an incredibly close fight" before passing it off as a joke at the start of the post-analysis references how variations of this line are memed in the Death Battle community due to its repeated usage in episodes that weren't close at all.
  • In the next sentence after, he also calls SpongeBob a "spongey bastich", the second word of which is a reference to the gender-neutral insult that previous Death Battle combatant Lobo uses.
• Boomstick's closing statement in the post-analysis, "And that's why he beats Goku," is a reference to the "Reasons Goku loses to SpongeBob" meme, with the meme's image of SpongeBob holding a beaten Goku by his shirt appearing in the episode itself as Boomstick says this. A similar meme would become popular in 2021 from the YouTube channel WatchFiction, which claimed that it would take "30 billion" SpongeBobs to defeat Goku.
  • Coincidentally, Brandon Yates made a sponsored "What If?" track for SpongeBob VS Goku titled "Over 30 Billion" that was released only four days before this episode was publicly revealed.
• Boomstick's ending pun references "Sweet Victory", a song by David Glen Eisley that's best known for being used in the highly-praised episode "Band Geeks".

Errors

• The description of the episode states "as SpongeBob SquarePants battle Aquaman!", which is inaccurate as SpongeBob SquarePants is singular, which should make it "battles".
• During SpongeBob's analysis, Boomstick claims that SpongeBob survived getting his soul removed, with footage from the episode "Ghoul Fools" being shown to back this up. However, this is incorrect, as it's stated in the episode itself that SpongeBob and Patrick's souls weren't truly removed.
• When Aquaman stabs Spongebob with his trident, his left arm can be seen for a frame despite it being erased just a few moments ago.
• After Aquaman hears SpongeBob's distant scream from space, the door to the Other Side of the Universe disappears in the next scene as Aquaman creates his giant hurricane.

Other

• This is the 10th joke episode, after Goomba VS Koopa, Justin Bieber VS Rebecca Black, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Chuck Norris VS Segata Sanshiro, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Smokey Bear VS McGruff the Crime Dog, Deadpool VS Mask, and Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man.
  • This is the sixth joke episode to have an actual winner instead of ending in a tie, after Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Smokey Bear VS McGruff the Crime Dog, Deadpool VS Mask, and Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man.
• This is the 11th DC VS non-Marvel-themed episode, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Ben 10 VS Green Lantern, Black Canary VS Sindel, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Flash VS Sonic, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and Harley Quinn VS Jinx, and with the next two being Goku VS Superman (2023) and Gurren Lagann VS White Lantern.
  • This is the second time that the non-Marvel character wins, after Harley Quinn VS Jinx.
• This is the sixth Cartoon-themed episode, after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Royale, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, He-Man VS Lion-O, Danny Phantom VS American Dragon Jake Long, and Steven Universe VS Star Butterfly, and with the next four being Bill Cipher VS Discord, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Wile E. Coyote VS Tom Cat, and Gru VS Megamind.
• This is the second Water-themed episode, after Aquaman VS Namor.
• This is the first episode to feature Wiz's memetic "That's right, Boomstick." line since Yoshi VS Riptor back in Season 1, with the next three being Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, and Joker VS Giorno.
• This is the 21st episode where Boomstick yells a variation of his pre-fight catchphrase (via saying "IT'S TIME FOR AQUAMAN'S FUNERAAAL!!!"), after Akuma VS Shang Tsung, Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, Eggman VS Wily, Terminator VS RoboCop, Pokémon Battle Royale, Fulgore VS Sektor, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Guts VS Nightmare, Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Bowser VS Ganon, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Meta VS Carolina, Mega Man Battle Royale, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, James Bond VS John Wick, and Trunks VS Silver, and with the next eight being Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, Phoenix VS Raven, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Galactus VS Unicron, Kratos VS Asura, and Ghost Rider VS Spawn.
  • This is the third episode where Wiz says a variation of either one of his pre-fight catchphrases (via saying "The combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibility! One... one possibility."), after Goku VS Superman 2 and The Seven Battle Royale, and with the next one being Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers.
    • This is the second episode where it's a variation of his pre-fight catchphrase since Season 6, after The Seven Battle Royale, and with the next one Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers.
    • This is the third episode where Wiz's pre-fight catchphrase does not include "alright" at the start, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2010) and Goku VS Superman 2.
• This is the sixth episode in which the winner shows respect for their fallen opponent (via SpongeBob crying over Aquaman's death and scribbling a memorial grave for him), after Goku VS Superman 2, All Might VS Might Guy, Korra VS Storm, Tanjiro VS Jonathan Joestar, and Magneto VS Tetsuo, and with the next six being Gogeta VS Vegito, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Guts VS Dimitri, Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Kratos VS Asura.
• This episode reached #3 on YouTube's Trending page.