Dennis Spongebob Guide: Who Is Dennis The Hitman?

Because of its unique roster of characters and individual storylines, I’ve always considered SpongeBob SquarePants one of the most versatile shows ever. One of my favorite things that excites me the most is when they introduce a new character in the show. This gives a refreshing feeling that our favorite show hasn’t yet run out of new ideas to mess around with. 

I vividly recall how the SpongeBob movie unveiled the dreadful hitman, Dennis. Unlike other new character debuts, when he was introduced, I actually detested him. I mean, he was out to kill SpongeBob and Patrick, and they are among my top 5 favorite characters in the series. 

Nevertheless, he played a really intriguing part in the film. Join me in this tale-telling about one of the most fearsome killers Bikini Bottom has ever witnessed in this Dennis SpongeBob Guide.

Key Information

  • Name: Dennis
  • Gender: Male
  • Occupation: Hitman
  • Employer: Sheldon J. Plankton 
  • First Appearance: Road Trip in 3D!
  • Last Appearance: Captain Pipsqueak

Appearance

dennis the hunter appearance
Image from Spongebob Fandom

With his tall stature, muscular body, and light green skin tone, Dennis appears to be the ideal hitman. He also has a very deep, or should I say dark, voice. Additionally, he often covers his face with a crimson handkerchief, his eyes with a pair of shiny jet-black glasses, and his head with a black buckle hat. 

As for his clothing, he wears a cowboy-like costume consisting of a grey shirt, a black vest, and a short knife necklace around his neck. He also has a belt buckle made out of a human skull. Additionally, Dennis can be seen wearing a pair of black, shiny Ugg boots with deadly spikes attached to the soles. In short, if you consider Dennis’ overall appearance, it is clear that he fits every stereotype of a cowboy hitman you can imagine!

Personality and Character

Dennis is undoubtedly a terrifying, vicious, and horrifying sea beast. He is determined to complete his hitman job and stops at nothing. All that said, he is a bit overconfident.

Dennis also can’t tolerate people making fun of him. In the movie, he ripped off the mouths of the two hillbillies who tried to tease him. Not to mention, Dennis dislikes having his time wasted by others. He even struck a thug high in the air for trying to occupy him with pointless interrogations and accusations.

Pre-Arrival of the Infamous Hitman, A Brief Overview

dennis the hunter
Image from Spongebob Fandom

To this day, I remember when the first-ever SpongeBob movie got released in the theatres. If someone asked me about the film’s most exciting aspect, I would tell them about Dennis the Hitman. Besides the storyline, he was unarguably the best thing about this movie. But, before we get down to who Dennis was, let’s look at the circumstances that led to his introduction.

SpongeBob’s Delusions of Being a Manager

The movie starts with SpongeBob’s delusional dreams of getting promoted to the manager of the new Krusty Krab outlet. He was so sure about his promotion that he even told Squidward and Patrick beforehand of the actual opening ceremony.

Moreover, he even promised Patrick that they would celebrate his promotion at the Goofy Goobers. With all the excitement and surety of the promotion, SpongeBob went to the opening ceremony of Krusty Krab 2. While the ceremony was being held, Plankton was getting extremely envious of the success of Eugene Krab and his restaurant. 

He always wanted to steal the secret formula of Krabby Patty, the reason for the success of Krusty Krab, but all his plans failed. But then, his wife, Karen, made him realize that plan Z was yet to be executed. You heard it right. Plankton has tried all the plans from A to Y to steal that secret formula but always fails. The expression on Plankton’s face as he read his plan Z gave me an impression that this time, he was going to change the course of Mr. Krabs‘ life.

The ceremony was going on, and the time arrived when Mr. Krabs was to reveal the new manager. It was exactly what I had anticipated initially; Squidward was chosen as the new manager of the Krusty Krab restaurant instead of SpongeBob. After all, Mr. Krabs always thought of SpongeBob as just a kid.

SpongeBob felt really sad after not being promoted to manager. Nevertheless, he dragged his depressed self to Goofy Goober’s, where he tried to liven his mood up. This holds up until Patrick comes in. When Patrick came and sat beside him, SpongeBob broke into tears and told him he didn’t get the promotion. Anyway, they both spent the entire night binge-eating Triple Goober berries.

Plan-Z Of Plankton and the Arrival of Dennis

dennis arrival
Image from Spongebob Fandom

Plankton started plotting his evil plan, and he did something that no one else could have dared: he stole King Neptune’s crown! All being part of his plan, this little evil creature plotted this robbery so that all the blame went to Mr. Krabs. Although Mr. Krab denied such allegations in front of King Neptune, it was too late.

Now, King Neptune intended to fry Mr. Krabs to a crisp. However, SpongeBob worked out a compromise to avoid Mr. Krabs‘ punishment and promised the King he would bring back his crown. Resultantly, Patrick and SpongeBob set out on their search.

While on their way to reach Shell city, Karen informed Plankton that SpongeBob and Patrick were getting closer to finding Neptune’s crown. And it would be a big problem for him if they got back with the crown, which would have Plankton’s stubby and tiny fingerprints all over it.

However, Plankton seemed chilled during this conversation and replied that he had already taken care of this situation. This is where the story of Dennis the Hitman, the most anticipated character in this film, begins. 

Plankton hired Dennis, a nasty, cold-blooded predator, to deal with Patrick and SpongeBob. His debut appearance made him look more badass than I could ever have imagined. He rode a gangster motorbike with “I-KILL-YOU” written on his number plate. He was wearing jet-black shiny long shoes with the words “Your head here” printed on them, covering his mouth with a red handkerchief, and let’s not forget his shiny black sunglasses.

Reunion with the Patty Wagon

SpongeBob and Patrick were traveling on their feet while they had a hitman on their back who was chasing them on his heavy motorbike. It felt like they were going to get caught before the next day. But fortunately, they saw their Patty Wagon parked outside a bar named “Thug Tug.” But they discovered the key was missing when they reached out to the wagon.

Therefore, they had to enter the bar to get the key, which wasn’t as simple as it seemed. They had to confront all the thugs there, fight the impulse to sing along to the Goofy Goober theme song, and try not to act like babies to avoid being pummeled by every thug in the bar.

Despite the struggle, they managed to get the key, escape the bar, and continue their quest to find the crown.

The Ice-Cream Trap

SpongeBob and Patrick were unaware of almost everything that was going around. And they were also ignorant of Dennis, who had been chasing them since their arrival. 

They were so neglectful that they did not even notice the stacks of skeletons on both sides of the road. But still, in the middle of nowhere, Patrick saw a sign that said free ice cream. Unsurprisingly, they were stupid enough to fall for this trap.

Patrick waited in the wagon while SpongeBob went to get the ice cream. But eventually, they realized that it was just a big piranha fish trap set for dumb sea animals like them.

Now, they had to flee from that monster fish as fast as they could. Although they managed to save themselves, the escaping processes birthed two more issues. First, they had lost their wagon AGAIN, and second, they realized they had to traverse a vast trench full of formidable and horrendous sea monsters.

Dennis is on Their Trail

dennis the hitman following spongebob and patrick
Image from Twitter

Dennis had arrived at the Thugs Tug, where SpongeBob and Patrick were last night. He knew he was on the right path when he noticed the bubble fluid on the road. However, while looking into it, he accidentally blew a bubble.

As a result, Victor, the macho thug, approached him and informed him that it was forbidden to blow bubbles there and that he would now be dealt with. Dennis punched him straight up in the air before he could even lay his finger down on him. The punch was so strong that the whole Thug tug drowned in the sand like Titanic. And then, Dennis simply continued on his hunt.

Mindy’s Mermaid Magic

On the other hand, SpongeBob almost gave up after looking down into the trench, which really scared the living daylight out of him. He realized that everyone was right about him and that he was just a kid. But Mindy, King Neptune’s daughter, arrived at the scene just at the right time.

She helped them realize that they had promised to save Mr. Krabs but had yet to fulfill that vow. However, SpongeBob told her they weren’t men enough for this job and couldn’t even protect themselves. Still, the strong-willed Mindy urged them to continue as they were their only hope. Plankton had converted Bikini Bottom into Planktopolis, where everyone was his slave, and SpongeBob and Patrick were their only saviors.

Meanwhile, Dennis was already on the road where skeletons were spread on both sides. Add to that the fact that SpongeBob and Patrick had just escaped from a colossal piranha fish; he would have been much closer to them. He also demonstrated that he was out for the blood as he rode his giant motorcycle at the fastest possible pace and shattered all the stacked skeletons in his path.

Despite all these circumstances, SpongeBob felt powerless to bring the crown back. Therefore, after giving it some thought, Mindy had an idea. Even though she lacked any magic, she assured them that she could turn them into men with her mermaid magic. She merely deceived SpongeBob and Patrick into believing they were now men by placing some seaweeds under their noses as mustaches.

Both felt incredibly brave because of their false mustaches and thought of themselves as actual men. As a result of such motivation, they dauntlessly crossed the trench while just singing a song.

SpongeBob and Patrick’s Encounter with Dennis

dennis the hitman threatening spongebob
Image from Nickelodeon Fandom

Here comes the entry of the true evil I have feared since I first saw him, Dennis. It felt like SpongeBob and Patrick had overrun him after they crossed the trench, as someone couldn’t cross it. But I might have underestimated Dennis.

He was casually waiting for them on the other side of the trench. Little did he know that SpongeBob and Patrick would survive that monster-infected trench. It shows that he’s the villain who doesn’t underestimate their prey, which makes him more dangerous. 

When he first saw them, he said, “Finally,” in a deep, dark voice, assuring them both that they were exactly where he wanted them to be. He spoke while clenching his fists, showing that he was ready to beat SpongeBob and Patrick to death. He then went right to his point and told them both that he had been hired to eliminate them, demonstrating his violent nature.

But poor them, they had no idea who he was and continued to believe that Mindy had turned them into men through her sorcery. Consequently, hearing Dennis’s threat, they exchanged glances and then laughed as they took his threats as a joke. 

Dennis Makes Fun of Their Mustaches

However, they were both ignorant of the peril they were in. After the pair stopped laughing at Dennis’s threat, SpongeBob moved forward. He twisted his mustache to make it look macho and told Dennis to back off so he wouldn’t have to deal with the wrath of their mustaches. They were stupid enough to underestimate him.

Let’s not forget SpongeBob had the guts to say such things in front of a thug only because of those mustaches. But Dennis knew they were wearing fake mustaches. So, he simply ripped off their fake mustaches in a single snap. But he didn’t stop there and mocked their fake mustaches as he thought they were a mere piece of salad stuck to their lips before throwing them on the ground. 

SpongeBob and Patrick’s courage disappeared into thin air along with the mustaches. They had reverted to the scared, timid kids they had always been. And just by looking at each of their faces, it was clear that they were just awaiting their fate.

Dennis, however, didn’t stop there; he made fun of them even more by showing them what a real mustache looks like. The thing I found a little amusing is that he didn’t have a mustache. But when he pulled down his red handkerchief, he grew it in a second. However attractive it may have sounded, neither SpongeBob nor Patrick was amused. In fact, Patrick went on making a pun right at this scene by questioning if he’s a mermaid.

Dennis Moves on to Terror

dennis the hitman without mask
Image from Nickelodeon Fandom

But now, Dennis had enough of this meaningless conversation and got straight to his point of killing them both. SpongeBob and Patrick, shaking and sweating with fear, asked him what he would do with them, to which he replied, “Plankton was very specific.”

However, despite exuding such a menacing aura, Dennis turned out to be foolish as he revealed Plankton’s entire secret—that he had stolen the crown. Now, he got another reason to kill SpongeBob and Patrick. He was ready to crush them both under his boots, which had about 21 enormous, deadly blades built into them, as Plankton had commanded. 

SpongeBob and Patrick started trembling from head to toe when they saw these spikes, and they were so terrorized that their body froze. And instead of running, they just stood there while hugging each other as they felt like it was the end. 

The Origin of Cyclops

Rather than stomping them to the ground immediately, Dennis said a few things, like how much this would hurt and how much he loved his work. While he was laughing like a classic villain, a more giant foot suddenly slammed him to the ground, which is how overconfidence always dies. 

The enormously gigantic foot initially alarmed SpongeBob and Patrick. But as it just saved them from Dennis, they didn’t mind it. However, as soon as they looked up, they understood the peril they were currently facing. It was a more significant issue than Dennis; it was Cyclops. He was the reason why no one ever returned alive from Shell City.

Even though SpongeBob and Patrick tried to avoid him, he was simply too enormous to escape. He got them, but SpongeBob and Patrick blacked out and returned to consciousness in a fishbowl.

SpongeBob and Patrick are Captured

SpongeBob noticed that they were surrounded by dead sea animals when he turned to look around. Unfortunately, it was too late to realize the anger, as it was their turn to die. Cyclopes removed them from the fishbowl and placed them under a lamp’s tremendous heat, causing them to dry off and die.

Their dying scene made me emotional as they were satisfied with how far they had come to get back King Neptune’s crown. It felt like this was the end of SpongeBob and Patrick, but suddenly, the tears they shed before dying combined and caused a short circuit.

The smoke from this short circuit activated the fire sprinkler, which brought them and the rest sea creatures back to life. The sea animal came all together to beat Cyclopes. But it didn’t let SpongeBob and Patrick get distracted from their primary mission.

Thus, they grabbed the crown, rushed out of Shell city, and tried to use the magical bag of winds that Mindy gave them to return to Bikini Bottom. But Patrick launched it in the air before they could ride it, and they got stuck again.

But it was not long before a guy on the beach, David Hasselhoff, told them he would help them get to the Bikini Bottom by carrying them on his back. Upon agreeing, SpongeBob and Patrick were finally on their way back to Bikini Bottom. But things didn’t go quite well!

The Final Battle

They noticed that the boot, with which Cyclops crushed Dennis, started following them. Dennis was back! Now he wanted to end what he had started.

He approached SpongeBob and Patrick with eyes full of vengeance and a terrifying grin on his face because he was so confident that he would kill them both this time. SpongeBob asked Patrick to run, but Patrick tried to fight Dennis; however, he couldn’t even withstand Dennis’s single slap. Now, Dennis wanted to get to his primary target, SpongeBob!

SpongeBob started running for his life, but, as expected, it wasn’t hard enough for Dennis to catch a kid. SpongeBob tried to bribe his way out of this problem by offering his special Goofy Goober $5. But Dennis was hard to bribe. 

Luckily, SpongeBob had some bubbles in his pocket, so he blew some right into Dennis’ eyes, stinging them the worst they could. Although it produced some diversion, it wasn’t much. His eyes burned red due to the bubble fluid. Dennis was determined to trample SpongeBob and Patrick under the lethal razor-spiked blades of his boats. 

dennis the hitman final battle
Image from Nickelodeon Fandom

And then, when it felt like SpongeBob and Patrick’s luck was about to run out, Dennis was hit by a skiff as David Hasselhoff passed through under the boat. Consequently, it proved to be Dennis’ demise.

Afterward, SpongeBob and Patrick managed to get back to Bikini Bottom. They successfully saved Mr. Krabs and then destroyed the Planktopolis that Plankton created and restored their Bikini Bottom. 

Other Appearances of Dennis 

Dennis appeared later in the SpongeBob SquarePants animated series and even in a game. Still, his prominent role remains in The SpongeBob SquarePants movie. He appeared for just three seconds in the episode “Captain Pipsqueak” as a stage door guard. He additionally made short cameos in The SpongeBob SquarePants video game. 

Final Thoughts About Dennis the Hitman

Speaking for myself, I thought Dennis was quite terrifying when I first saw him in The SpongeBob SquarePants movie. The fact that he was hired to murder SpongeBob and Patrick, two of my favorite characters, made me utterly detest him.

I was shaken by his stern voice and tall, muscular appearance. I felt he was more brutal than any sea creature in Bikini Bottom. After all, he survived after being squished under a large Cyclopes boot.

I think one of his crucial character flaws was overconfidence. He developed a sense of superiority because he was a hitman who had never failed at his profession. He figured he could easily defeat SpongeBob and Patrick, thinking they were merely some kids. I believe if he had kept his ranting behavior in check, he might have been a better hitman.

However, I was relieved that despite his best efforts, he could not get our saviors of the Bikini Bottom, and I took a sigh of relief when he was gone once and for all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Who Was Dennis In SpongeBob?

Answer: Dennis was a hitman hired by Plankton to assassinate SpongeBob and Patrick before they could find King Neptune’s crown. Moreover, he was also the second main antagonist of the SpongeBob SquarePants movie.

Question: How Did Dennis Try To Kill SpongeBob And Patrick?

Answer: There were roughly 21 lethal razor spikes on each of Dennis’ boots’ soles. He tried many times to crush SpongeBob and Patrick under these spikes, but he was never successful.

Question: Was Dennis Successful In Assassinating SpongeBob And Patrick?

Answer: Dennis failed in killing SpongeBob and Patrick. Because the first time he tried to knock them to the ground, Cyclops stomped him, and the second time, he was struck by the boat.

Looking for more interesting readings? Check out:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top