Mrs. Puff

Mrs. Puff is a major character in the SpongeBob SquarePants series. She is a paranoid pufferfish whose occupation is to teach students how to drive at her boating school. She is voiced by Mary Jo Catlett and first appears in the episode "Boating School."

Description

SpongeBob SquarePants has attended her school ever since its opening, yet has failed his final driving exam countless times, often injuring Mrs. Puff and/or damaging the school and other people in the process.

SpongeBob SquarePants, Mrs. Puff's longest-standing student, is the bane of her existence. His distracting personality, reckless driving, and inability to improve torment her to no end. SpongeBob has failed his driving test countless times, often sending Mrs. Puff to the hospital and often causing immense property damage in the process. On multiple occasions, she has been sent to jail as a result of his actions. To make matters worse, SpongeBob has failed to come to terms with the reality that he cannot learn how to drive properly, largely due to his boundless optimism. Due to this, she and Squidward Tentacles are on very good terms for good or evil since SpongeBob is also Squidward's bane of existence, so she has someone to relate to.

However, in comparison to Squidward, Mrs. Puff is much kinder to SpongeBob (probably stemming from their teacher-student relationship); for example, while Squidward usually tells SpongeBob face-to-face that he hates him, Mrs. Puff has at least tried to hide her fury. Also, she has even acted nice to SpongeBob on some occasions, like in the episode "Krusty Love," she shows no annoyance or anything negative towards him, except when she screams in horror when she thought they were doing the boating test and the second time, when she is on her second date with Mr. Krabs, he states SpongeBob is helping him tonight and she says a bit slightly worried, "Excuse me, I need to go call my insurance agent."

Appearance

Mrs. Puff is a white, tan pufferfish with light blue fins for limbs. She has blonde hair and wears a dark blue shirt with a yellow string tie, a dark blue hat, a red skirt, and red shoes. When frightened or shocked, she puffs up into a ball. This is her defining trait that makes her a pufferfish and a reference to the airbags in cars that blow up to protect the passenger when an accident happens. She is very large and plump but not overweight, as her size is a trait of her species.

Creation and development

Her size has changed over the series. In the first three seasons of the show, she developed a shape and grew in size, but in seasons 4-present, she has been getting smaller and skinnier. In a more recent appearance, "Patrick-Man!," she is slightly shorter than Patrick but in the first appearance of both together, "New Student Starfish," she is slightly taller.

Personality

Mrs. Puff is very paranoid and has had a history of mental instability. In "No Free Rides," it is implied that she has had to move to another town and start a new life with a new name from the past. While this is mostly caused by SpongeBob's antics, she also suffers her pain of losing her husband, who is now a reading lamp. She is also shown to have a strict Zero-Tolerance Policy in "New Student Starfish," as she accuses SpongeBob of all Patrick's disruptions and even ignores SpongeBob when he tries to explain anything and even doesn't tolerate fighting. In a deleted scene, she realizes her error and apologizes to SpongeBob.

At the beginning of the series, Mrs. Puff seems to be a little optimistic towards SpongeBob and actually treats him like a good student, save for a few moments when SpongeBob crashes during the course. However, as the series has progressed, Mrs. Puff seemed to have developed an intense hatred for him and can even get a bit of mental instability by just looking at him. This could be because of the fact that SpongeBob becomes a more troublesome and annoying student as the series progresses and has caused Mrs. Puff great trouble on numerous occasions. In "Krusty Love," her thoughts and fears about SpongeBob cause her to think that she was giving SpongeBob a driving test even though they are not at school or driving.

In the episode "Demolition Doofus," it is shown that Mrs. Puff has finally been driven completely insane by SpongeBob's antics. After losing her ability to puff up, thanks to another failed test by SpongeBob, she becomes incredibly hostile towards him. After seeing the many hospitalized competitors of the annual demolition derby, she decides to sign SpongeBob up for it, hoping that he will get literally killed in the derby. However, SpongeBob proves to be very hard to take down and he even eliminates all the other competitors. At this point, Mrs. Puff enters the derby in a huge truck and tries to murder SpongeBob herself, only to crash into her own boating school and regaining her ability to puff up. It is also her first known time tranquilized.

Scapegoat side

• In "Hall Monitor," SpongeBob causes a lot of damage to Bikini Bottom. However, the police arrest her instead, even though SpongeBob was the one who destroyed the city and not her.
• In "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired," she is fired because SpongeBob has failed his boating test far too many times. However, all the other students are able to pass and even when the best instructor is hired, he still can't teach him (however he did come close).
• In "Oral Report," SpongeBob steals her boatmobile and causes some damage. However, she is arrested simply for being SpongeBob's instructor, overlooking the fact that she didn't instruct her students to do what he did and the fact that SpongeBob stole her boat and is simply "unteachable."
• In "Patrick-Man!," she is helping a driver out of his boat. However, Patrick thought she was stealing it, hence she was arrested for actually helping someone.

Relationships

SpongeBob SquarePants

Main article: SpongeBob-Mrs. Puff relationship

Mrs. Puff sometimes even tends to be very anxious and fearful around SpongeBob, since she's been in so many wrecks and accidents with him. Her main goal is to get SpongeBob out of her boating school as soon as possible, as it has been since her very first appearance in "Boating School." With every episode after the next, Mrs. Puff has grown more hateful or likeful towards SpongeBob. The episode "Demolition Doofus" implies that Mrs. Puff wants to murder SpongeBob, especially with her shouting out "Why are you still alive?!" to him. The episode plot is that she enters SpongeBob in a demolition derby, just to get him out of her life in the worst possible way.

Squidward Tentacles

Main article: Squidward-Mrs. Puff relationship

Mrs. Puff tends to care for Squidward more than SpongeBob due to his good driving skills as opposed to SpongeBob's bad driving skills. It is even shown that she portrayed him in a documentary as a "good boater."^[1] They also share a common dislike of SpongeBob, as he is always getting both of them into trouble for things that sometimes aren't even their fault.

Patrick Star

Main article: Mrs. Puff-Patrick relationship

Mrs. Puff is commonly annoyed by Patrick, as shown in "New Student Starfish," when he was being an annoyance and also wrote an offensive note behind her back (which SpongeBob was blamed for). In "Driven to Tears," he says that she isn't the boss of him, thus annoying her. However he does show that he knows how to drive, thus leading to SpongeBob's jealous side taking control of himself. In "Doing Time," SpongeBob brings Patrick along to help break Mrs. Puff out of jail and she asks "Why'd you bring him?," sounding a bit annoyed. Also, in "Patrick-Man!," Patrick accuses her of stealing a boat, even though she is actually trying to help someone to get out. However she is falsely accused and sent to prison for it.

Mr. Krabs

Main article: Mr. Krabs-Mrs. Puff relationship

In some episodes, Mrs. Puff and Mr. Krabs tend to argue (e.g. "Growth Spout," "Summer Job"), but in "Krusty Love," it is shown that they are in a relationship. This could mean that "Krusty Love" takes place after "Growth Spout" and "Summer Job." This was also one of the few occasions a relationship didn't end by the time the episode ended. It is shown they still show little affection for each other. In "Whirly Brains" it is shown that Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff have been dating secretly.

Near-death experiences

Mrs. Puff has nearly died almost every time SpongeBob takes a driving test with her, from "Boating School" to "Bumper to Bumper."

Jail database record

• Crashing into a police car
• Ditching jury duty
• Littering
• Responsible for damage of Bikini Bottom (which was actually SpongeBob's fault)
• Attempting to steal a boat, causing SpongeBob injuries
• Accused by Patrick Man of boat theft (again, not her fault, as the officers believe Patrick Man's accusation)
• Accidentally crossed the county line, thus violating her parole
• Granting SpongeBob a boating license when he didn't know how to drive, taking the risk that he may injure others.

Quotes

• "I'm not ready." —"Boating School"

• "Oh, SpongeBob. Why?!" —"Boating School"

• "SpongeBob SquarePants, there you are! I turn my back on you for one minute and you destroy half the city! You should be ashamed of yourself!" —"Hall Monitor"

• "Of course I do. I'm the one who gave him the uniform in the first place. He's my responsibility." —"Hall Monitor"

• "And in conclusion, students: red means stop, green means go. And SpongeBob..." —"Hall Monitor"

• "I'd like to see you after class. Six months from now." —"Hall Monitor"

• "What I learned in boating school is... Blankity, blankity, blank!" —"No Free Rides"

• "You only need three...more...words!" —"No Free Rides"

• "You need 600 to pass. You got 6." —"No Free Rides"

• "Extra credit!" —"No Free Rides"

• "I'm gonna kick your butt!" —"The Bully"

• "Where did I go, wrong?!" —"Doing Time"

• "No more SpongeBob! I think I'm gonna like this place." —"Doing Time"

• "Let the testing begin!" —"Driven to Tears"

• "There there, darling. The bad man's gone now, and if he comes back, we'll make sure he never walks again!" —"Growth Spout"

• "SpongeBob, I believe you know the punishment for two classroom disruptions!" —"New Student Starfish"

• "As if I really look like this!" —"New Student Starfish"

• "Oh great, another genius." —"New Student Starfish"

• "Due tomorrow. And remember class, work hard and no goofing off." —"Procrastination"

• "What do I say? Oh. I'd say you have a way with words, Mr. Krabs!" —"Krusty Love"

• "You're a very sweet man, Mr. Krabs." —"Krusty Love"

• "Neptune, give me strength." —"Nautical Novice"

• "We paid $9 for this?!" —"The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"

• "I hate Mondays." —"Pets or Pests"

• "SpongeBob's unteachable." —"Mrs. Puff, You're Fired"

• "This is all your fault!" —"Demolition Doofus"

• "Why are you still alive?!" —"Demolition Doofus"

• "Just focus on the road." —"Bumper to Bumper"

• "Ghost!" —"Pranks a Lot"

• "Happy Halloween, ScaredyPants. [drives off laughing]" —"Scaredy Pants"

• "Must..protect..garden." —"Growth Spout"

• "Not even in your dreams, Mr. SquarePants." —"Sleepy Time"

• "I didn't know that SpongeBob had such a colorful vocabulary." —"Krusty Love"

• "Oh SpongeBob, I didn't expect to see you here." —"Krusty Love"

• "He even knows the hardy laugh. He has been doing his homework." —"Nautical Novice"

• "Patience is a virtue..." —"Summer Job"

• "Focus on the road. There is nothing but the road." —"Bumper to Bumper"

• "You have such a gentle foot on the pedal..." —"The Getaway"

• "Have some." —"Krabby Patty Creature Feature"

Trivia

• Mrs. Puff is one of few characters who actually wanted SpongeBob dead and actually tried to get rid of him herself, as stated in "Demolition Doofus." Other characters are the Tattletale Strangler in "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler," where he tries to strangle SpongeBob for being a tattletale, Dennis who was hired by Plankton to kill SpongeBob and Patrick in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and Squidward in "The Lost Mattress," where he actually threatens to murder SpongeBob.
  • Also, in "The Curse of Bikini Bottom," Squidward allows SpongeBob and Patrick to borrow his lawn mower to try and kill them.
• Mrs. Puff actually deflates in three episodes: "Pranks a Lot," "Demolition Doofus," and "Don't Feed the Clowns."
• It is known that Mrs. Puff is ambidextrous because she uses right hand in the episode "Boating School," but in "Sandy's Rocket," she writes with her left hand.
• In "Hello Bikini Bottom," Mrs. Puff owns her very own bus (she calls it a busmobile), which Mr. Krabs ends up stealing.
• Since Mrs. Puff changed her name and ran away, her last name may not be "Puff." It's possible that "Puff" may be her maiden name and she kept it after her husband's death.
• A running gag in the series is that she gets injured or arrested whenever she drives with SpongeBob, but always lets him come back to class afterwards.
• "The Sponge Who Could Fly" reveals that Mrs. Puff owns a snail and has since she was a little girl.
• Mrs. Puff has the largest criminal record out of all the characters in the series.
• Mr. Puff, her husband, is confirmed to be deceased in "Krusty Love" when Mr. Krabs asks "What happened to Mr. Puff?" then it shows he had been turned into a novelty lamp. SpongeBob says "She doesn't like to talk about it."
• In season 1, whenever Mrs. Puff inflates, she has a deep voice. However, since season 2, her voice hasn't changed whenever she inflates.
• Mrs. Puff's quote "Oh, Neptune" became an Internet meme in 2016.
  • Also, her quote "Now for some tunes!" is a popular source for vines and meme videos.
  • The scene where Patrick calls her a "big fat meanie" is often edited in memes.

References