Mermaid Man

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Mermaid Man
General Information
Gender:	Male
Eye Color:	Black
Address:	Shady Shoal's Rest Home Bikini Bottom
Occupation(s):	Superhero Rock Bottom Museum Security
Aliases:	"Old Coot" Old Man
Family & Friends
Family:	Son Daughter In-Law 4 grandchildren
Friends:	Barnacle Boy (sidekick), SpongeBob SquarePants (The Quickster, Patrick Star (The Elastic Wasteband), Squidward Tentacles (Captain Magma), Sandy Cheeks (Miss Appear)
Employer:	The Commissioner, The Chief
Employees:	The I.J.L.S.A
Enemies:	Man Ray The Dirty Bubble Atomic Flounder Jumbo Shrimp Prawn Sheldon J. Plankton Moth Sinister Slug Evil Genie Barnacle Man
Other Informations
Interests:	Crime Fighting, watching television
Series Information
First appearance:	"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy"
Portrayer:	Ernest Borgnine (Series, SuperSponge Video Game), Joe Alaskey/Joe Whyte (Video Games)

Mermaid Man is a semi-retired superhero who is well past his prime. He and his sidekick, Barnacle Boy, are the stars of a show-within-a-show called "The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy", but are also real superheroes within the universe of SpongeBob SquarePants. The two are now very old, and currently reside at Shady Shoals Rest Home. However, their two biggest fans, SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star, convinced them to come out of retirement. He is voiced by Ernest Borgnine.

Mermaid Man is a parody of both Aquaman and Batman. He wears a nearly identical costume, and his powers, which include being able to control the creatures of the sea, are also similar to those of Aquaman. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's TV show and method of fighting crime are based on the campy 60's Batman TV show, their secret headquarters, the Mermalair, is a parody of the Batcave, and their vehicle, the "Invisible Boat-Mobile" is a parody of both the Batmobile and Wonder Woman's invisible jet.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy first appeared in the episode of the same name. This episode spawned several "sequels" (II, III, IV, V, and VI), all of which featured the duo. Originally, they appeared exclusively in episodes bearing their name. Their first appearance of any kind in an episode not bearing their name was in "Have You Seen This Snail", in which SpongeBob receives a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy-themed paddle ball set. However, they do not physically appear in this episode. Their first full appearance in a "normal" episode was in "Night Light", and since then, the rule of them only appearing in numbered "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" episodes has been abolished. In season six, they appear in three episodes, more than in any other season.

Mermaid Man is an old man who is overweight and very round in shape. He exhibits several typical characteristics of an old man, such as white hair, poor sight and hearing, crankiness and memory loss, often forgetting what he is thinking about or doing. Elements of his costume not shared by Aquaman include an M-shaped belt buckle, a purple star-shaped mask, a scallop-shell bra, and a pair of pink fuzzy slippers. It is unclear how Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy can survive in Bikini Bottom, as they are some of the only true humanoid characters on the show (although they could be Atlantean or otherwise super-powered). Mermaid Man has a sidekick, Barnacle Boy, who he still treats like a child even though Barnacle Boy is 68 years old (according to "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V").

According to Mermaid Man, his powers all come from his costume. His abilities include summoning and controlling sea creatures, high speed swimming (used to create the "Raging Whirlpool"), water balls, and the ability to survive underwater. While Mermaid Man retains all of these abilities, they are not as powerful as they were in his prime.

In addition to this, his belt features a wide array of abilities, similar to Batman's utility belt, as seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV". These abilities are usually manifested as a beam or ray. The only one specifically named on the show is the "Small Ray", which shrinks things, but various effects were created when SpongeBob tested various buttons on Squidward in an attempt to reverse the Small Ray's effects. These include several bizarre mutations and effects, such as causing the victim to suddenly catch on fire, turn inside out, or to be cut in half by scissors.

In the episode "Ditchin'", a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy origin comic book is shown. One panel features a man resembling Barnacle Boy and woman resembling Mermaid Man in a spaceship. The woman has two children in her arms resembling Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, implying that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are brothers. However, this book was advertised as being brand-new, so it is likely that this story is false.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have several super-villain enemies. Their two most notable foes are the Dirty Bubble, their arch nemesis, a sentient giant bubble, and Man Ray, a Manta ray-themed villain who is a parody of Black Manta, the arch nemesis of Aquaman. Other villains include the Atomic Flounder, who is now retired, the Sinister Slug, the Jumbo Shrimp, Kelp Thing, the Moth, a humanoid moth who steals light and was seen in "Night Light". Mermaid Man claims to have been trying to catch the Moth for 57 years due to his very small size. The Mermalair features a "villain containment chamber" where villains such as Man Ray and Prawn are imprisoned in frozen tartar sauce, as seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" and the video game Battle for Bikini Bottom. It is unknown whether Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy imprison all their enemies in this manner.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SpongeBob SquarePants, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.