Accept no substitutes

I feel Spongebob is empathetic enough to have a positive connection with almost every personality to varying levels, so I think he'd hit it off with the whole cast besides the intense villains and maybe Vector The thing about Spongebob is he has a strong sense of sympathy but can't stand bullies or abuse of authority. He still calls out Mr. Krabs when he has to and they have a father/son relationship. So in regards to villains, lower examples like some of the Deadly Six (Zeena, Zor, Zomom) wouldn't turn him off so much that he wouldn't attempt to sway them (Zazz would make him mad uncomfortable though), but the genuine maniacs? Especially the irredeemable high tier masterminds? Black Doom, Mephiles, etc? He'd hate them I have a hunch Sonic's cocky attitude can amuse or annoy him depending on when it hits. An ordinary everyday conversation? He'd play along. "Good nickname for that Dr. Eggman guy. Baldy McNosehair. Face says it all." During a crisis? He would scold him to focus. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Sonic, this isn't a picnic, you know. We might not come back." In other words I see Sonic's dynamic with him like a mishmash of his dynamics with Tails and Sally. Maybe a touch of Chip? Side note I always thought they sounded alike Shadow would be...interesting? Contrary to some, Spongebob is very conscious of boundaries. We see numerous examples of him backing down even in later episodes after the staff changed. There he just gets dumbed down occasionally to not notice when he crosses them for funnies. Realistically, I don't think he's stupid enough to annoy Shadow. SpongeBob doesn't want to be annoying unless the person has it coming. Nor does he stay where he's disrespected. I'm actually not so sure what their relationship would be. My first instinct is Spongebob would be simply supportive of him while respecting his space like everyone else

I've compared Rocko and Spongebob, Ed and Squidward, should I compare Heffer and Patrick to determine who's a better friend

Search For Squarepants: Slightly younger inexperienced Spongebob that hasn't threaded life's lessons. He's literally still going through puberty, guy must be 18 flat or at most 19. Dutchman and Spongebob meet a 2nd time, we know this as Spongebob in season 1's "Scaredy Pants" didn't know how his ship looked yet he sees it in this movie. Dutchman doesn't recognize Spongebob (excused by he was in costume in "Scaredy Pants") while he does in "Aargh", his second episode appearance. Also says in this movie he hasn't seen Krabs in a long time. In "Scaredy Pants", Krabs fainted when Dutchman crashed the Halloween party, so he more than likely just didn't spot him, but he does in "Aargh" adding to Search taking place between the two. And Mr. Krabs treats Spongebob like a helpless baby The SpongeBob Movie/04: This comes second. Mr. Krabs has stopped treating Spongebob like a whole baby, but he still has some doubt in him where he views him as an irresponsible kid. Spongebob himself is given a layer of experience which he lacked in Search. It would make more sense from the narrative perspective of Spongebob's place in life and Mr. Krabs' relationship with him for 04 to come after Search Sponge On The Run: Sponge On The Run is the third chronological entry. This one is easy. There's literally a framed photo of a Plan Z mind control servant on Plankton's Wall Of Failures. The Patty Mobile itself receives upgrades that would've stayed in 04 if that came after. Mr. Krabs has also gained full faith in Spongebob Sponge Out Of Water: Admittedly you can interchange these last two as Out Of Water was initially going to set up the third movie, which got reworked into On The Run. I put it in the end for two glaring reasons. Spongebob himself is more mature than he was in any of the other films. He comes off as someone who's learned so much. He doesn't get the cheers. He doesn't look for anyone's approval. He's not concerned with proving himself, he is sensitive to the state of the world. I cannot see this Spongebob being before any of the others, especially Search. Just organically. Second is OOW, as mentioned, would've led into the third film's original plot about a space adventure to stop an evil empire. It ends in Spongebob and Gary presumably sacrificing themselves into a black hole which reports say would have transitioned to the beginning of the Pilot episode, implying they entered a time loop. OOW directly leading to this scrapped end-timeline story shows how late it takes place in the future. Now yes, it was scrapped, but the idea OOW happens late is still there. On The Run does end on Bikini Bottom becoming a snail sanctuary which isn't shown in Out Of Water, but I reason those snails are around, they simply aren't on-screen and in their homes. Hell I could say they're the army Gary leads. They would listen to him given it was his idea to move them to Bikini Bottom after Poseidon was defeated If you still think Run happens after Water because it was technically going to be the movie it would lead into, fair, but Movie 3 was reworked from the ground up. It didn't turn out a direct sequel so we don't know if it's still placed after. From where I stand OOW being after holds up the strongest