Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy
SpongeBob SquarePants characters
Mermaid Man (left) and Barnacle Boy (right)
First appearance	"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" (1999)
Created by	Stephen Hillenburg
Voiced by	Mermaid Man: Ernest Borgnine (1999–2012) Joe Whyte (video games) Joe Alaskey (video games) Tom Kenny (young) Adam West (young) Barnacle Boy: Tim Conway
Information
Gender	Male
Nationality	American

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are fictional characters in the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Mermaid Man was voiced by Ernest Borgnine from 1999 to his death in 2012, and Barnacle Boy is voiced by Tim Conway. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were created and designed by Stephen Hillenburg. The characters debuted on August 21, 1999 in the series' episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy".

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are semi-retired superheroes in the fictional city of Bikini Bottom. Within the show's fictional universe, they are real superheroes. In addition to fighting crime, the duo has been extensively franchised throughout Bikini Bottom, including the television series The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, a long-running comic book series, trading cards, and kids' meals at the Krusty Krab. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy currently reside at Shady Shoals Retirement Home. However, their two biggest fans, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, convinced them to come out of retirement.

"What could you possibly describe about the character that has a thing all over his nose like this... and says "EVIL!"

Mermaid Man is portrayed as a stereotypical elder, and appears to suffer from slight memory loss as he is easily confused by others' behavior, though this also could be partly credited to his hearing loss. As opposed to his sidekick, Barnacle Boy, he is slightly less grouchy and somewhat more tolerant of SpongeBob's ecstatic optimism, but only to a certain extent as SpongeBob's slips or mistakes have triggered serious consequences before in the past, and his partner seems annoyed with Mermaid Man's absentminded tendencies. Despite this, Mermaid Man has maintained some of his abilities as a skilled crime-fighter, though some of them have comically been shifted in a fashion more appropriate with stereotypes commonly associated with his age; however, few of his admirers seem particularly bothered by this. It was revealed that through a series of meticulous and intricate events he and his friend were suddenly equipped with aquatically themed superpowers in their youth, and chose to dedicate their lives to brawling undersea crime as a result (it is implied that the backstory behind the duo's powers as described in Bikini Bottom media was in fact far different from the presumably actual backstory Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy remembered from differing perspectives).