How did Mr. Krabs die? The truth behind the origin of his bizarre death conspiracy
Eugene Harold Krabs or simply Mr. Krabs, the Kruty Krab restaurant’s penny-pinching owner with a good heart, is one of the main characters of the beloved cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants. Despite his tendency to put money above everything else, Mr. Krabs is redeemable for being a doting single father to his whale daughter, Pearl.
As the boss of SpongeBob and Squidward, Mr. Krabs has been a part of the show since its pilot episode aired on May 1, 1999. In 2020, after twenty years of appearing on the show, a strange report describing his death at the hands of fellow characters saw the light of day on the internet. But whether it happened in the cartoon’s canon is a different story.
According to the viral document ‘The Trail of SpongeBob SquarePants’, Mr. Krabs was found dead in the kitchen of his Krusty Krab restaurant
Around August 2021, what seemed to be a court document titled “The Trial of SpongeBob SquarePants: For the Murder of Mr. Krabs” surfaced on the internet. It detailed the death of Mr. Krabs that had taken place in the kitchen of his Krusty Krab restaurant.
As per the document, his body was found on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood that had emerged from a cut wound on his throat. The coroner’s report traced the wound to have been inflicted by a metal spatula and also found signs of blunt force trauma at the back of his head from where he fell.
It was concluded that Mr. Krabs’ death was caused by the loss of blood from his throat wound. With foul play not ruled out, the police drew a list of suspects. Initially, Mr. Krabs’ longtime rival and owner of Chum Bucket restaurant, Sheldon Plankton, was assumed to be the killer.
This was because Mr. Krabs’ secret recipe for his acclaimed ‘Krabby Patty’ had gone missing from the safe after his death and Plankton was known for his attempts to steal it in the past. The evidence sheet read:
“Plankton has a long history of trying to sabotage Mr. Krabs’ restaurant and steal his secret recipes. Three days after Mr. Krabs’ death, Plankton began selling a crab burger recipe on his website, www.chumbucket.ocean. The recipe was very similar to Mr. Krabs’ Krabby Patty recipe, but it wasn’t exactly the same.”
With the recipe not found anywhere, there was not enough evidence to convict Plankton. As a result, the suspicion later landed on SpongeBob SquarePants, who was one of the employees at the restaurant.
SpongeBob SquarePants and Sheldon Plankton were the prime suspects in the murder of Mr. Krabs
Witness testimonies showed that SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs had a major disagreement shortly before his death. After landing in some financial troubles, SpongeBob’s pineapple house was about to be seized by the bank for non-repayment of loans. Thus, he turned to Mr. Krabs for help and implored him to raise his pay to make ends meet.
But Mr. Krabs refused to do so, stating slow business as the reason, and an upset SpongeBob called his employer a “greedy pig” and quit the job. A testimony read:
“Squidward saw SpongeBob enter the Krusty Krab restaurant two hours before Mr. Krabs was found dead. An hour later, he heard Mr. Krabs screaming loudly. After waiting a while, Squidward went into the restaurant to investigate, and that’s when he found the dead body.”
The investigation further found the murder weapon – a metal spatula with Mr. Krabs’ blood on it – in SpongeBob’s house with his fingerprints on the handle.
The evidence against SpongeBob was staggering as not only were his footprints all over the crime scene but he was also the only one apart from Mr. Krabs who knew the passcode of the safe that held the secret recipe. The disappearance of the recipe from the safe and the empty cash register was both linked to him.
Moreover, his resentment of Mr. Krabs’ refusal to raise his pay combined with the need for the restaurant’s money to repay his loans was suspected to be the motive for murder.
The document also seems to suggest another possibility of Plankton and SpongeBob being joint partners in the murder. It was noted that SpongeBob’s bank loans had been mysteriously paid by Plankton just two days after Mr. Krabs’ death.
The document is likely to be a fictional case study for a school project – it originated from one of the districts of Springfield Public Schools in Illinois
The initial two-page trial document that made its rounds online was thought to be fan-made content, possibly fanfiction or a parody of sorts. This was because it offered no context and only detailed the murder of Mr. Krabs and associated evidence and witness testimonies.
But another version of the document that was eleven pages long contained a list of teacher’s instructions and student activity questions.
According to The Sun, the first document originated from ‘SPS186.org’ which is the now-defunct website for District 186 of Springfield Public Schools located in Illinois. Also, the document treated the murder of Mr. Krabs as a case study, and the instructions called for a team of defense and prosecutors to be formed to present the trial in class.
Therefore, the most plausible explanation is that the PDF document was a fictional account of the SpongeBob characters made for a school project that unintentionally went viral.
Mr. Krabs is still alive and makes frequent appearances in the ongoing episodes of the cartoon’s 13th season
It did not help that around the time the conspiracy about Mr. Krabs’ death was circling the internet, Nickelodeon pulled an episode of the show that was scheduled to air on November 7, 2020. The episode in question, titled ‘Kwarantined Crab’, was episode 21 of season 12.
Confused fans assumed that the episode might have featured the death of Mr. Krabs. However, the network clarified that the episode was removed due to its striking similarities with the real-world COVID-19 pandemic situation.
“The ‘Kwarantined Crab’ centers on a virus storyline, so we have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic,” a Nickelodeon spokesperson said.
Its storyline about the patrons of Krusty Krab restaurant being quarantined after catching a bout of ‘Clam Flu’ was deemed inappropriate for the then scenario. The episode later aired on April 29, 2022.
As of now, SpongeBob SquarePants is on its 13th season and all of its characters remain unchanged for the most part. This includes Mr. Krabs, who is still alive and good despite the grim rumors.
Voiced by actor Clancy Brown, Mr. Krabs continues to be on the show and even made an appearance in the most recent episode 277 titled ‘Captain Pipsqueak/Plane to Sea’ which aired on July 22, 2022. He also had a major role in episode 273 titled ‘Potato Puff/There Will be Grease’ where the storyline focused on him as the synopsis read:
“Mrs. Puff’s new substitute teacher gives SpongeBob a crash course in driving. Mr. Krabs and Plankton must work together after discovering a well of miracle grease under their restaurants.”