Ever since Pearl Krabs was introduced to viewers in the
SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Squeaky Boots", fans have been asking: Why is Pearl a whale while her father is a crab.
Whilst the answer is simple in out-of-show context: Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Nickelodeon's beloved animated series, wanted each member of the main cast to be a different animal, fans have also wondered how its explained in-universe.
Whilst the in-universe difference in species between Pearl and Mr. Krabs has never been addressed in an episode, the official trivia book states that Pearl takes after her unseen mother, who was also a whale.
In fact, Hillenburg was strongly against revealing the identity of Pearl's mom, that he made it one of the show's rules to keep it a secret throughout the show's run!
Interestingly, Pearl was the
second main character that Hillenburg created for the show. He was inspired to design her while working as a supervisor for whale watches at the Ocean Institute.
SpongeBob SquarePants executive producer Vincent Waller recently
revealed that, although he didn't have a lot of rules for the show, Hillenburg did have a few, including that when advertising merchandise, SpongeBob can't ever look into the camera and say "Buy ______ because I love it," and that
there's no meat in a Krabby Patty.
Another rule Hillenburg had was that Patrick shouldn't be shown with a floppy head. In fact,
according to Waller, Hillenburg disliked that pose so much that it very much got on the creator's nerves. Waller suggested that it may have been because that pose led to retakes, by calling too much attention to itself.
More Nick: Nickelodeon Announces Voice Cast for 'Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years', First-Ever 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Spinoff!
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