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— Karen, in the episode "Plankton!"
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Karen Plankton (birthday: December 20)[1] is one of the ten main characters of the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.[2] She is a waterproof supercomputer who lives in the Chum Bucket laboratory. She is Plankton's wife and sidekick who supplies him with evil plans to steal the Krabby Patty formula. Karen and Plankton both debut in the episode "Plankton!". Karen will be the main antagonist of the upcoming film, "Plankton: The Movie".
As a computer, Karen is the smartest resident of Bikini Bottom and has a clever, analytical personality. She has two main forms: a big monitor on the wall or a portable wheeled computer. Along with her role as co-owner of the Chum Bucket, she works as the chef and cashier. She rarely has to fulfill these jobs due to the Chum Bucket's unpopularity.
Karen was named after Karen Hillenburg, the wife of the show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg.[3] She is voiced by Jill Talley, the wife of SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny.
Production details[]
Karen in the first movie.
Stephen Hillenburg named Karen after his wife, Karen Hillenburg. Stephen called his wife "the funniest person he knows" and her sarcastic sense of humor inspired the cartoon Karen's personality.
Originally, Karen Hillenburg was also planned to provide Karen's voice.[4] However, on the day of the first recording session, she was so nervous that she couldn't record a single line.[4] Jill Talley (the wife of SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny) was chosen as the new voice of Karen.
Throughout the first three seasons, Karen and Plankton were not main characters yet, and they had much less screen time than they would eventually get in later seasons. Doug Lawrence thought they had a lot of potential, and as a writer on the show, he helped develop them into main characters.
In this Nickelodeon interview with Jill Talley, Karen was described as having "turned into a main character" throughout the show's run.[4]
Doug Lawrence decided that Karen should be Plankton's wife, rather than just his computer. In 2009, he said, "I want more Karen on the show... The married life of an evil genius is the funniest thing to me, so in that regard [Karen] definitely enhances Plankton's stories, making him more than just your typical bad guy."[5]
Karen was first promoted to the "Main Cast" in the credits of the 2004 movie. In the movie, Karen gained a "mobile form" (a smaller, portable computer monitor on wheels) that allowed her to move around and interact with other characters (though that mobile version wasn’t used in the show itself until Season 5 (Friend or Foe)). From this point onward, Karen became a more independent and human-like character; as of Season 9, she also has robotic arms in most episodes.
Biography[]
Karen's mobile form.
According to the SpongeBob SquarePants Annual books published by the Egmont Group, Karen's birthday is December 20. This means that she was probably built by Plankton on that day.
As revealed in "Friend or Foe," Plankton originally installed Karen as a security system at the Dump. It is implied in "Goo Goo Gas" that Karen was a calculator as a baby. He has also referenced using "a jumbled mass of diodes and wires" to transform her into a large computer. It has been stated on multiple occasions that Plankton built Karen entirely by himself. Karen does, however, have parents: E.M.I.L.P. and Fredrick.
Plankton and Karen dated while Plankton was still in school. It was the day of their third date when Mr. Krabs and Plankton became enemies. When she became older, she attended Kamp Koral with her soon-to-be husband as an assistant at the Krusty Kanteen. When he and Karen got married, Plankton had a head full of hair and a bushy mustache.
A photograph of them at their wedding can be seen in "Komputer Overload." Despite how they are both happy in the picture, Karen states that she "never agreed" to be with Plankton in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Karen has all of her old memories with Plankton stored in her databanks.
"Walking the Plankton" reveals that Plankton and Karen never had a first honeymoon. Karen would very much love to go on a real honeymoon with her husband someday, but Plankton is more interested in the Krabby Patty secret formula.
Karen and Plankton have lived in the Chum Bucket throughout the entire series. Karen's system is built into many parts of the building, such as the metal fist on top of it. It is shown in "Plankton's Good Eye" that Karen has control of the Chum Bucket's light fixtures. It is implied in "Krabby Road" that the Chum Bucket belongs to Karen more than it does to Plankton because she kicks him and his few belongings out of the house in the episode. She also kicks Plankton out in "Plankton Gets the Boot," and he spends the entirety of the episode trying to be nice, so Karen can let him come back.
At least 2000 years in the future, Karen is still active, albeit as a flying chrome ball.[6]
Description[]
Karen does not have a heart, as stated in a conversation between her and SpongeBob in "Friend or Foe." However, this does not prevent Karen from expressing emotions or feeling true love for Plankton. She does not often show it, but Karen cares for Plankton more than anything else; almost everything she does revolves around helping him in some way. She can even cry as seen at the end of "Single Cell Anniversary."
Karen looking annoyed.
Karen loves Plankton for his evilness. This is best seen in "Plankton's Good Eye," in which she is appalled when Plankton starts to inadvertently abandon his evil ways after growing a second eyeball.
According to Plankton in "Single Cell Anniversary," Karen likes to take long walks on the beach, and talk about their wishes of conquering all of Bikini Bottom.
Plankton needs Karen much more than she needs him. Without her, Plankton is unable to come up with feasible schemes and forgets how to complete basic tasks like blinking, as seen in "Komputer Overload." He has left and replaced Karen multiple times throughout the show but always ends up coming back to her and admitting that he is nothing without her.
Karen speaks with a heavy Midwestern accent. She has a habit of referring to SpongeBob as "the SpongeBob," most notably in "F.U.N." and "Welcome to the Chum Bucket."
In the SpongeBob SquarePants musical, Plankton and Karen are a duo who are bent on dominating the world together. Unlike in the show, Karen wants world domination just as much as Plankton.
Appearance[]
A wallpaper of Karen's wall form.
Karen's wall form is a Mark III Surplus W.I.F.E.omatic 1000 (Wired Intergrated Female Electroencephalograph-omatic 1000) model, which is a large, dark blue monitor with a black screen. Her neon green facial features, usually a waving line, are projected on the screen. To the left of the screen is a silver keyboard with an oval-shaped green button on the top and nine pink keys on the bottom. There are three silver tubes on the right side. There is a silver control panel connected to the bottom of her screen. Although its appearance tends to change, it usually has a red lever, a circular analog clock, a green keypad, and several multicolored buttons on it.
Karen's mobile form is a Mark II Surplus U.N.I.V.A.C. (Universal N.I. Variable Automatic Computer) model[7], which contains a light blue head in the shape of a desktop computer, a black screen, a silver stand, and a silver base with wheels. From seasons 4 to 9, there are two red keys on the base. From the second half of the ninth season onward, the keys are aqua-colored.[8]
Stock art of her wall form.
In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Karen's mobile form is much different from her standard one. It is much taller and made of dark silver metal. Her wheels appear to be completely disconnected from her base, which is shaped like a square. Her screen is dark blue instead of black.
She sometimes has a face on her screen, mostly when she is happy about something and she smiles.
Karen in a roller skate.
In various spinoff media, she is slightly redesigned. In Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, Karen is much smaller and appears as a calculator-like device, embedded in a pink roller skate shoe.
Forms[]
Karen's system has several forms of manifestation aside from her monitor and mobile computer, listed below:
- Robot Krabs - Karen is built into this robot and is responsible for activating its self-destruct mode. Her voice can be heard from inside of it. It is seen in "Imitation Krabs," "New Leaf," and "Spy Buddies."
- Chum Bucket fist - In "20,000 Patties Under the Sea," it is shown that Karen's system is built into the metal fist situated at the top of the Chum Bucket. It can become an independent vehicle, and Plankton uses it as a traveling restaurant in the episode. Karen is heard speaking from the inside.
- Submarine - Plankton's mechanical clam digger submarine seen in "It Came from Goo Lagoon" contains a miniature screen on which Karen can appear.
Abilities and talents[]
Karen pretending to eat.
"Now activating helmet brain-control devices."
- Talking: Karen and Karen 2 are two of the few pieces of technology in the series that can talk freely.
- Form-switching: Karen can alternate between her system's different forms of manifestation.
- Lasers: Karen occasionally uses lasers. This can be seen in the episodes "Enemy In-Law," "Frozen Face-Off," "Walking the Plankton," and "Karen 2.0."
- Cooking: Karen often makes food, usually for Plankton. However, she is incapable of eating anything herself. The following are examples of food items she has made:
- A plate of holographic meatloaf in "The Algae's Always Greener."
- Chum pot pie in "Karen 2.0."
- A cake in "Jailbreak!."
- Television screen: Karen can turn herself into a television, which is useful when she and Plankton want to spy on others. She uses this feature in "Welcome to the Chum Bucket," "Tentacle-Vision," "Plankton's Regular," "Single Cell Anniversary," and "The Inside Job."
- Inventing: Karen is skilled at inventing, like her husband. She builds the Plankton's Freaky Robot Battle Suits in Plankton's Robotic Revenge and creates five machines for Glove Universe in the online game Bikini Bottom Bop 'Em.
- Brain control: Karen is able to activate the Bikini Bottomites' brain-control devices in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
Family[]
Karen as the Crystal Ball.
Karen and Plankton share a family. In "Dunces and Dragons," it is shown that Karen has a medieval ancestor named Karen the Crystal Ball who resembles her and shares her first name. The episode implies that the Plankton family has included marriages between plankton and pieces of technology for generations.
Through Karen and Plankton's marriage, they have a son named Chip Plankton II. Chip gets his name from his great-grandfather, via Karen. Chip works as an ATM at a bank.
Karen's parents have been shown. Her mother, E.M.I.L.P., disapproves of her choice to marry Plankton and thinks she should have married an ATM. Her father, Fredrick, has not made an appearance on the show; however, he can be seen in an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. He is reportedly an old-fashioned desktop computer.
Karen has many cousins-in-law from the countryside, such as Clem, who treat her with respect despite being hillbillies. She also has a mother-in-law, a father-in-law, a grandfather-in-law, and a grandmother-in-law, all of whom are plankton.
Relationships[]
Sheldon J. Plankton[]
Plankton hugs Karen.
From left to right: the voices of Karen (Jill Talley) and Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) with the actors who play their characters in The SpongeBob Musical (Stephanie Hsu as Karen and Wesley Taylor as Plankton).
Plankton and Karen love each other very much, but they do not always like to admit it.
In The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Plankton tries to tell Karen how much she means to him. After Karen says that powering the time machine will take all of her energy, Plankton takes a moment and says, "Well, Karen. I know I've taken you for granted all these years and I... I just wanted to say... I'm glad you're on my tee-am." He starts to listen to Karen respond; she says "Oh, Sheldon, that's the sweetest thing you've ever s--" but Plankton is so caught up in his emotions that he cannot bear to hear her finish the sentence. He starts to cry in front of SpongeBob.
Karen tends to come up with possible ideas to steal the formula, much more so than Plankton. In "F.U.N.," "Welcome to the Chum Bucket," "The Algae's Always Greener," and "Chum Caverns," she gives Plankton ideas that he uses. A reoccurring theme of their relationship is that Karen will come up with an idea, but Plankton will take the credit for it.
"Plankton's Army" reveals that Plankton had never told Karen his embarrassing first name, Sheldon, until that point. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie shows that Plankton considers Plan Z the second greatest thing to happen to him, the first being Karen agreeing to marry him. Karen then, likely joking, remarks that she never agreed to marry Plankton.
"Karen! Don't you leave me, Karen."
Numerous episodes feature Karen supporting Plankton's evil ways. In the first three seasons, she is almost always very positive and genuinely cares about his plans. A good example of this in a later episode is "Truth or Square" where Plankton complains that he is a failure but Karen encourages him to get the formula. She tells him that the Krusty Krew will be busy with their anniversary party and not notice.
"Enemy In-Law" is the first episode to show Karen's jealous side and the first to reveal that Plankton can be disloyal to his wife. Karen gets offended and jealous when Plankton falls in love with Mama Krabs. "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" includes a reverse of this situation; in the episode, Plankton thinks that Karen is cheating on him with Mr. Krabs because he sees them laughing together.
"Krabs à la Mode" is a later episode in which Karen gives Plankton an idea. This episode also features Plankton being sarcastic towards his wife and Karen asking herself why she encourages him. This episode is the first to portray their relationship as one similar to that of an old married couple. Similar tropes are used in the following episodes.
In "Plankton's Regular," Karen secretly pays a citizen named Nat to eat at the Chum Bucket. She does this to make Plankton happy so that he does not complain about his life any longer. Plankton finally finds out when Nat returns the money Karen gave him.
In "Chum Bucket Supreme," Plankton asks her what napkins they should use. This means that he genuinely cares about her opinions.
Karen kissing Plankton in the game Valentine's Day Virus.
Many episodes show that Karen is even smarter than her husband, who is a well-educated genius. One such instance is "Banned in Bikini Bottom," in which Plankton thinks that the Krusty Krab has changed its name to "Closed" and Karen tells Plankton that Miss Gristlepuss shut the place down.
"Komputer Overload" shows the upsides and the downsides of the couple's relationship. Karen leaves Plankton after feeling mistreated. She argues that Plankton is dependent on her and he claims that he does not need her to get the formula. He then builds three robots to replace her. He destroys the town with the robots. He is about to get the formula when the robots turn off unexpectedly. Karen returns to get her keyboard and Plankton admits that she was right. They hug and go home after making up for each other.
"Single Cell Anniversary" is one of the best episodes in regards to Plankton and Karen's relationship. In the episode, it is their anniversary and Karen obtains a copy of the Krabby Patty formula as a gift to Plankton. At first, Plankton just wants to give her something so that he can get the formula, but he eventually gives her a gift from the heart. He enlists the help of SpongeBob and Patrick to write and sing a love song for Karen. She loves it and cries tears of joy, which crashes her system due to water.
Karen greets Plankton in "One Night at the Chum Bucket."
In "Walking the Plankton," Plankton gets tickets to a cruise ship for Karen and Plankton's second honeymoon. Karen points out that they never had a first honeymoon. She is very excited and happy, later remarking that Plankton is so sweet when he is not obsessing over the Krabby Patty formula. However, she later finds out that it was all a plot to retrieve the recipe and is angry at Plankton.
In "Karen 2.0," Plankton builds a new wife to replace Karen because she is getting old. Plankton kicks Karen out and she starts working at the Krusty Krab. Eventually, Karen's replacement (Karen 2) fights with Karen over Plankton. In the end, Karen 2 rolls over Plankton and hurts him. Although Karen is at first mad at Plankton, she is devastated when she sees him injured. This causes her to destroy Karen 2 and protect Plankton. However, her battery drains. Plankton saves her by taking the battery from Karen 2 and replacing Karen's old battery with it. Karen wakes up and thinks that her replacement was all part of a dream. Plankton plays along as they happily go back to the Chum Bucket.
Plankton calling Karen beautiful in an issue of SpongeBob Comics.
"Jailbreak!" shows a very loving and compassionate side of Karen. Plankton is in prison and Karen visits him with a cake that she baked. He asks why there is no file in it like he requested and Karen wonders why he would want a file in a cake. She does not realize it is part of his escape plan.
In "Plankton's Pet," Karen suggests that Plankton should get a hobby to keep himself happy. Plankton is not sure what to do, so Karen recommends a pet. This ends up being a very good fit for him.
In "Plankton Gets the Boot," when Plankton insults Karen's new screensaver, Karen becomes filled with rage and kicks Plankton out of the Chum Bucket as well as shutting doors completely to him.
Karen has been shown to be generally disinterested in Planktons plan's. In episodes such as "King Plankton," "The Krusty Bucket," "The Ghost of Plankton," and "Say Awww!", she questions their purpose or refuses to listen to them.
In "Lockdown for Love," Plankton's desire to have the secret formula is shown to be even stronger than his love for Karen. While forced on a date, he repeatedly tries to sneak outside to steal the formula, having Patrick take his place on the actual date. Karen catches onto him and punishes him, shackling him in place in their next real date.
In "Captain Pipsqueak," Karen is generally supportive of Plankton. After another failure, she places him in a hot bath so he can calm down and watch TV. She then judges his superhero costumes when he wants to try out for E.V.I.L., and he only goes once she approves of his costume choice.
At the end of "Karen for Spot," Karen gets into an argument with Plankton. However, they call off their argument once they realize that Spot is upset. Karen is also genuinely worried about Plankton figuring out that Spot has gotten lost, and does her best to fix the situation.
In "The Flower Plot," Karen actively wants Plankton to steal the formula and is confused when he strays away from his original plan.
Karen and Plankton dancing.
"Single-Celled Defense" has Karen cheering up Plankton by taking him to dance. This gets brought up again in "Tango Tangle," Plankton surprises Karen with a birthday gift for tango lessons, something she does want to do with him. The two quickly get the hang of dancing together and manage to become the best in the class. At the end of the episode, Karen thanks Plankton and kisses him.
In "In a Nut's Shell," Karen plays a prank on Plankton by putting wet ink on the eyepiece of his telescope, leaving him with a black mark around his eye.
Overall, their relationship has had its ups and downs, but they both love each other and have just been married so long that they tend to bicker.
SpongeBob SquarePants[]
SpongeBob with Plankton and Karen.
Because she is on Plankton's side, Karen sees SpongeBob as a pawn for retrieving the secret formula. This is first shown in "F.U.N." when Karen tells Plankton that he should befriend SpongeBob to get the recipe. However, Karen knows that SpongeBob can potentially be an actual threat to Plankton's plans. In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Karen warns Plankton that SpongeBob and Patrick could expose him for the fraud that he is. This eventually happens at the end of the film, just like Karen said.
In "Plankton's Regular," SpongeBob disguises himself as Karen in an attempt to fool Incidental 41 into eating a Krabby Patty. He throws Karen into the Chum Bucket's backroom and tapes her up. He then morphs into the shape of Karen's mobile form and pretends to make "bleep blap" sounds to sell the disguise.
Karen and SpongeBob do not hate each other. In "Single Cell Anniversary," SpongeBob helps Plankton write a song for his anniversary with Karen. In "Frozen Face-Off," SpongeBob is shown to care for Karen. He spots something freezing in the snow and remarks, "it looks like... Karen!" He and Sandy decide to save her by breaking her out of the ice.
SpongeBob says "hi" to Karen.
In "Friend or Foe," she reveals Mr. Krabs and Plankton's story to SpongeBob and the customers of the Krusty Krab. This shows that she somewhat trusts SpongeBob. In "Perfect Chemistry," Karen does not seem to detest working with SpongeBob.
In "Bucket Sweet Bucket," both SpongeBob and Patrick are shown to care for Karen. Plankton persuades them into remodeling the Chum Bucket by telling them that Karen wants it. He says, "I need your artistic vision. You wouldn't want to disappoint my Karen, now would you?" They respond, "No, sir. Uh-uh!."
In "Jailbreak!," SpongeBob is nice to Karen and greets her when she visits Plankton in jail. He says, "Hi, Karen! Look, Plankton, Karen came to visit! And she brought you a cake." He then allows Plankton and Karen to have some time alone.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is an example of Karen and SpongeBob working together to achieve a common goal. In the movie, SpongeBob and Plankton save Karen from a dungeon. She then helps the two, who are outlaws because they are blamed for stealing the formula and the citizens think that SpongeBob has betrayed Mr. Krabs. Karen becomes a time machine that eventually allows them to save the day.
"Plankton's Good Eye" shows that Karen dislikes cheery people like SpongeBob. She dislikes Plankton's new eye, which was given to him by the DNA of SpongeBob and caused him to act nice.
In "Karen's Virus," Plankton needs someone "stupid enough" to remove the virus she had received from Hanna. At one point, when SpongeBob appears at the front of the Chum Bucket and knowing about this, Karen attempts to recall the show's main theme, but in a somewhat silly fashion.
SpongeBob leaves his sea chimps with Karen.
In "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout," Karen helps Sandy and the others decorate SpongeBob's house for his birthday party. After he returns, SpongeBob finds the house destroyed and everyone asleep from the party planning. Nevertheless, SpongeBob is excited that his family and friends would do so much for him. SpongeBob lists Karen and the other wonderful friends and how he's grateful to have them. When Patchy the Pirate arrives and sings the birthday song, Karen along with everyone else wakes up and properly celebrates a happy birthday to SpongeBob.
SpongeBob and Karen chase after Spot.
In "King Plankton," SpongeBob leaves his sea chimp aquarium with Karen. Karen asks what she needs to do to take care of his sea chimps, and he explains that they already handle everything themselves.
In "Sea-Man Sponge Haters Club," SpongeBob gets into the Chum Bucket. Karen sees him as an annoyance and teams up with Plankton to get rid of him, but he ends up locking them both out.
In "Karen for Spot," SpongeBob happily greets Karen when he brings Gary over for a playdate with Spot. The two then work together to follow Spot around town when he runs loose. Karen tries to serve SpongeBob chum for dinner, but they both decide not to eat it.
In "Tango Tangle," SpongeBob compliments Plankton and Karen on their dancing.
Patrick Star[]
Karen and Patrick generally do not interact. However, Patrick does not seem to realize that Karen is evil. He tries to help Plankton make Karen happy in the episodes "Bucket Sweet Bucket" and "Single Cell Anniversary," showing that he does not dislike her. In "The Switch Glitch" on Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, Karen is out looking for lightning berries. Patrick eats them all, then puts Karen on his head when he mistakes her for a hat. The two switch bodies from an electric shock and live out each other's lives.
Karen refers to Patrick as SpongeBob's "pink friend" in the first movie. In the book SpongeBob DetectivePants: The Case of the Missing Spatula, Patrick calls Karen "Talking Box," showing that he does not know that she is a computer.
Squidward Tentacles[]
Squidward ignoring Karen.
Squidward does not care very much about Karen or Plankton. One exception is The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, in which Squidward is attacked by Plankton's slaves after Karen activates their helmet brain-control devices. Another is "Bucket Sweet Bucket," in which Squidward builds a desktop computer for the redesigned Krusty Krab out of Karen. A third is "Chum Fricassee," in which Squidward teams up with Plankton and Karen to start his restaurant. Karen works as a waitress. In "The Big Bad Bubble Bass," Squidward gets mad at Karen and chases her away. Overall, Karen and Squidward have a neutral relationship.
Eugene H. Krabs[]
Mr. Krabs and Karen barely interact despite being enemies, however Mr. Krabs did hire her as a cashier in "Karen 2.0."
In "Best Frenemies," Karen tries to tell Mr. Krabs and Plankton what the Kelp Shakes are made of. Unfortunately, they do not listen to her and end up drinking the shakes, which causes them to become furry monsters.
Karen laughing with Mr. Krabs.
In "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob," Karen asks Mr. Krabs for two Kiddie Meal toys to give to Plankton. When she brings a meal to Plankton, he asks her, "What's that? A souvenir from your boyfriend Krabs?!"
In "Frozen Face-Off," Karen and Mr. Krabs work together to survive after both almost freeze to death, only to be saved by SpongeBob and his friends.
In "Karen 2.0," Plankton builds a replacement Karen and he kicks her out. Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob find her on the curb and take her into the Krusty Krab. When she boots up, she tells the two about her worries. Unexpectedly, Mr. Krabs sympathizes with her and gives her a job. When Karen 2 and Plankton show up to steal the formula, Karen and Karen 2 start fighting and Mr. Krabs takes the opportunity to have customers place bets on who will win.
In "Lame and Fortune," Mr. Krabs thinks about what his funeral would look like. It is shown that Karen would attend alongside Pearl and his other relatives, implying that she does slightly care about him.
At the start of "There Will Be Grease," Mr. Krabs and Plankton fight over what they think is oil between their restaurants. Karen analyzes the substance and tells them what it is to break up their argument.
Sandy Cheeks[]
Sandy talking to Karen.
Unlike her other relationships, Karen's relationship with Sandy is a purely positive one. They are both level-headed and intelligent characters with an appreciation for inventions, which is why they have had friendly interactions throughout the series.
In "Perfect Chemistry," the two meet, and Sandy calls Karen beautiful. Karen is very happy about the compliment.
In "Frozen Face-Off," Sandy and her friends save Karen from being frozen. Later, Sandy uses Karen's body to save Squidward, who has been frozen in a block of ice.
In "Salsa Imbecilicus," Karen and Sandy are the only residents of Bikini Bottom who were not turned into idiots by the steam from Plankton's sauce. They work together to create a university, which eventually returns everyone else to their normal intelligence. This episode reveals that Karen knows where Sandy lives and that her home is called a treedome, implying that she has visited Sandy.
In "Girls' Night Out," the two and Mrs. Puff spend a night out together, and the three refer to one another as "Gal Pals" throughout the episode.
In "A Cabin in the Kelp," the two, Mrs. Puff and Pearl go camp a night in a cabin in a dark forest.
Gary the Snail[]
Karen does not mind Gary. Karen is neutral about Plankton's plan to impersonate Gary in "Shellback Shenanigans." At the end of "Frozen Face-Off," Karen lets Gary sit on top of her. Gary stays on top of Karen until Plankton tries to fry them in a vat of boiling oil. In "Karen for Spot," Karen is okay with letting Gary come over to the Chum Bucket to play with Spot.
Pearl Krabs[]
In "The Algae's Always Greener," Plankton tells Karen that Pearl is "as big as a whale," not realizing that she is a sperm whale. Karen dismisses this comment and seems to understand Pearl's species better than her husband. In "One Coarse Meal," Plankton becomes very afraid of Pearl after Mr. Krabs starts to dress up as her and frighten him. Karen does not take Plankton's temporary phobia of Pearl seriously and seems to think he is crazy. This shows that Karen is not afraid of Pearl.
The first time the two directly interact is in "Patnocchio," where Karen - as the Computer Fairy - gives Pearl a bottle of Gush and Flush to ease her stomach pain, which Pearl thanks Karen for.
In "A Cabin in the Kelp," Pearl joins Karen, Mrs. Puff, and Sandy as a part of the Gal Pals. From that moment, they became friends.
Mrs. Puff[]
While it is unknown how the two met, it is shown that they have been a part of the Gal Pals since the formation of the group in "Girls' Night Out."
Video games[]
Karen as seen in SpongeBob Game Station.
Karen in the online game SpongeBob's Big Adventures.
Karen appears in many SpongeBob SquarePants video games and mobile apps.
- Operation Krabby Patty - Robot Krabs, one of Karen's forms, appears.
- Revenge of the Flying Dutchman - Karen's screen is seen on Plankton's robot in the Game Boy Advance version.
- Battle for Bikini Bottom - Karen's wall form can be seen in the Chum Bucket during cutscenes for the "Kah-Rah-Tae!" level.
- The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie video game - Karen appears as a non-playable character that the player talks to in the PC version. In the console version and Game Boy Advance version, she is in the cutscenes.
- Lights, Camera, Pants! - Karen is an unlockable actor in the PC version and the host of the Chum Bucket level in the console version.
- The Yellow Avenger - Plankton mentions her in the Chum Bucket.
- Creature from the Krusty Krab - At the beginning of the level "Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster," Karen accidentally wakes up the sentient patty by saying "good morning" to Plankton. She then turns Plankton into a supersized monster.
- SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis - Plankton frequently mentions Karen in the Director's Commentary feature of the console version.
- Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition - Karen's mobile form is one of the preset playable character designs.
- SpongeBob's Truth or Square - Karen helps Plankton with his memory machine.
- Plankton's Robotic Revenge - Karen is the first character from the series to speak in this game. She is heard in the first cutscene asking, "What was that?"
- SpongeBob HeroPants - Karen's time machine form is included.
- Nickelodeon Toon Twister 3-D - Karen is seen in the background of the Chum Bucket at the beginning.
- Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy - Robot Krabs, one of Karen's forms, is seen.
- SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom - Karen makes a non-speaking cameo in the Chum Bucket.
- SpongeBob Moves In! - Karen is seen in multiple quests, including Plankton Mania 2015.
- SpongeBob's Game Frenzy - Karen is the playable character in the minigame "Scan the Patty."
- Sponge on the Run - Karen's time machine form is seen.
- SpongeBob Game Station - Karen's mobile form is in the "SpongeBob Run" minigame.
- SpongeBob Town - Karen's mobile form is seen with Plankton.
- Idea Sponge - Karen's wall form and mobile form are in the Chum Bucket level. Her mobile form moves around while Plankton projects himself on her wall form.
- The Cosmic Shake - Karen's mobile form appears as a non-playable character in Bikini Bottom.
- Nickverse - Karen's wall form appears as a non-playable character in the Chum Bucket.
- Minecraft x SpongeBob DLC - She appears at Chum Bucket.
- SpongeBob Simulator - She appears as a morph obtainable for 6,000 Wacky Bucks after reaching Level 5 on the Objectives Shop.
- Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 - She appears as part of Plankton's robot.
- Minecraft x SpongeBob Add-On: She appears as a boss fight.
- The Patrick Star Game: She appears in her wall form at the Chum Bucket minigame.
Trivia[]
Karen's color-changing screen in "Krusty Karen."
- In the comic strip called "Krusty Karen," it is shown that Karen can change the color of her screen depending on her mood. It is blue when she is sad and red when she is angry.
- In several episodes, Karen appears in her mobile form with an extension cord. She is wireless in most of her other mobile appearances.
- She has a version called E.M.I.L.P. (short for Emergency Mother-in-Law Program).
- Karen and Plankton were promoted to the main cast in the credits of the 2004 movie. As a result, they have much more screen time after the movie than in the pre-movie seasons.
- She only makes three appearances in season 1, two appearances in season 2 and 3.
- She is often shown to be smarter than Plankton, a good instance of this is "Banned in Bikini Bottom," when Plankton thinks that Mr. Krabs changed the Krusty Krab's name to Closed, but Karen reveals that it's because the restaurant was closed down.
- Plankton once referred to Karen as an electroencephalograph. An electroencephalograph is a monitor that measures electrical activity in the brain.
- In "All That Glitters," a monitor that looks exactly like Karen in her portable form is seen in the hospital. In "Shellback Shenanigans," Plankton mistakes it for Karen.
- In "Not Normal," SpongeBob says that he needs to defragment his computer's hard drive. Karen also says that she does this.
- When SpongeBob puts tape on Karen's screen in "Plankton's Regular," her speech is muffled. This implies that her screen acts like a mouth.
- Similarly, in "Shellback Shenanigans," Karen is unable to see what SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs are saying without a telescope. This implies that her vision is similar to that of a character with real eyes.
Karen's movie form on a Monopoly board.
A toy of Karen's movie form.
- The fist on the Chum Bucket is very similar in appearance to Karen's hands.
- In "Single Cell Anniversary," Karen has a slot on the side of her screen that scans food. She also has this feature in the app SpongeBob's Game Frenzy.
- In "Krab Borg," Mr. Krabs says that he has had the Krusty Krab cash register ever since it was a calculator. This is similar to how Karen was a calculator as a baby.
- Karen mentions her hard drive in the episodes "Truth or Square," "Karen 2.0," "CopyBob DittoPants," and the film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
- In the Finnish dub, Karen's name is Kaarina, which is pronounced very similarly to Gary's localized name, Kari.
- In the Latin American Spanish version of the second movie, Melanie Henriquez voices both Karen and Pearl.
- Many pieces of merchandise unrelated to the first movie use Karen's design from that film.
- In "Plankton Gets the Boot," Karen's wall form is seen in the background with a very different appearance. The monitor is thinner than usual with a dark blue keyboard and red/white buttons, instead of a silver keyboard and light red buttons.
- "Plankton's Pet" is the last episode in which Karen's wall form is seen.
- As of season 12, her mobile form has appeared more often than her wall form, due to this.
- As of season 11, her mobile form is more often than not equipped with arms. However, she still occasionally lacks arms for portions of episodes she is in (e.g. some scenes in "Blood is Thicker Than Grease").
- Her mobile unit's model name is a reference to the UNIVAC computer, one of the first digital computers used for businesses.
- Her appearance in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years was originally going to be a walkie-talkie instead of the calculating machine.[9]
References[]
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants Annual by Egmont Books UK
- ^ SpongeBob SquarePants Character Guide
- ^ Plankton! (audio commentary)
- ^ a b c Jill Talley: Karen, Conspiracies and Computers - Nickelodeon podcast
- ^ Interview with Mr. Lawrence
- ^ "PL-1413"
- ^ "Single Cell Anniversary." SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon. June 3, 2009. Television.
- ^ "Lame and Fortune." SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon. July 11, 2016. Television.
- ^ File:KampKoralInspiration3.jpeg
| Main characters | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Chum Bucket (V • E) | |
|---|---|
| Residents: | Sheldon J. Plankton • Karen Plankton • Spot |
| Former employees: | SpongeBob SquarePants • Patrick Star • Squidward Tentacles • Stanley S. SquarePants |
| Variations: | Krusty Bucket • Chum Caverns • Chum Caverns Gift Shop • Chum Coliseum • Crumb Basket • Cookie Bucket • Grease Bucket • Chumporium • FlowerPot Florist • Spud Bucket |
| Machines: | Cashina • Chumbot • Ghost extracting machine • Petunia • Transmogrifier • Simmy • SpongeBot SteelPants • Tally • Robot Krabs (Imitation Krabs) • Robot SpongeBob (Welcome to the Chum Bucket) • Plankton's robot • Karen 2 • Majestic Sizzlemaster • Baby gas |
| Food: | Chum • Chum Bucket Supreme • Chum nuggets • Chumstick • Chum Fricassee • Chumbalaya • Chum Patties • Chum Burger • Crispity Crunchities • Free Sample Krabby Patty • Raw Sewage |
| Other: | Chum Bucket glove • Chum detonator • Chum Bucket bucket helmet • Sea ants • Cave dwellers |
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