Flying Dutchman

Amsterdam "Adam" Bartholomew Valdez West lV (November 21, 1873 - July 16, 1925) is a recurring minor character in SpongeBob SquarePants. He is a green pirate ghost who haunts Bikini Bottom.

The Flying Dutchman is a green pirate ghost named after the famous ghost ship of the same name. He lives in a giant ship that floats in the underwater "sky." He is first mentioned, but does not physically appear, in the episode, "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost". Here, it is explained that after he died (his cause of death is unknown), a clothing shop used his body as a window display (mannequin). Now he haunts the seven seas because he was never put to rest. Whenever he appears, a thunderstorm suddenly occurs.

According to the episode, "Your Shoe's Untied", he last wore shoes over 5,000 years ago (it could be assumed from this statement that he has been a ghost for over 5,000 years, though this is impossible due his birthdate being 1873, and his attire in no way resembling such a time period), and has won the Fancy Knotting contest for the past 3,000 years. The knots he knows include: The Pretzel Knot, Double Diamond Knot, Square Knot, The Constrictor, Gut Knot, Pillow Knot, Butterfly Knot, Monkey Chain, Monkey's Fist, The Monkey and the Loop Knot, a.k.a. Poop Loop. However, he is unable to tie a simple shoe knot, due to him not wearing shoes. In addition, he cannot eat without his dining sock as mentioned in "Shanghaied." In "Scaredy Pants", he expresses a dislike for the tradition in which others dress up as him for Halloween and claims that it "turns the Flying Dutchman name into a laughing stock".

File:DutchmansGhostShip.jpg

The Flying Dutchman's ghostship.

The Flying Dutchman once lost his "scare", in the episode "Ghost Host". He got so carried away, that he stopped scaring for months. He became a couch potato in SpongeBob's house until finally SpongeBob helped him be scary again. In the same episode, it was shown that he had some sort of wedding ring. In "Curse of Bikini Bottom", the Flying Dutchman was seen with no beard. It was because of SpongeBob and Patrick so he turned them into ghosts.

The Flying Dutchman is the keeper of and escorts people to Davy Jones' Locker, which is the underwater equivalent of Hell, and is an actual locker. It is full of sweaty socks, because "he (Davy Jones) works out a lot." Mr. Krabs was almost stuffed within the locker in "Born Again Krabs". In "Spongebob vs. The Big One", "Davy Jones" is jokingly shown to be Davy Jones, the singer of the real-life band The Monkees.

Episode count

The Flying Dutchman has appeared in the following episodes:

• Arrgh!
• Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost (only in a magazine)
• Scaredy Pants
• Your Shoe's Untied
• Shanghaied
• Born Again Krabs
• Ghost Host
• Money Talks
• SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One
• Curse of Bikini Bottom

Appearance

The Flying Dutchman has a green glow around him, yellow eyes with black irises, scaraggly beard, pirate hat with a chunk taken out, a handbag marked "Souls", droopy nose, coat, little pigtails, and ghostly tail, and also speaks with a Scottish Pirate accent. He has a sister named Sally Dutchman.

Skills

The Flying Dutchman is essentially all-powerful within the ocean. Abilities shown include:

• being able to appear anywhere at anytime
• changing his size
• fulfilling any number of wishes (3 were used in "Shanghaied", but can offer at least five.)
• generating the "Fly of Despair" (seen in Shanghaied)
• tying several types of knots (unfortunately not including a basic shoe knot) (as seen in Your Shoe's Untied)
• turning his head around 360 degrees
• morphing into monstrous forms
• spewing fire from his nostrils
• floating through walls
• shooting lasers from his eyes
• creating illusions
• turning Spongebob's legs and arms into tentacles
• Altering reality (seen in "Shanghaied", when Spongebob wishes that the Dutchman was vegetarian, he transforms Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward into fruits.)

Quotes

• You?! SCAREY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
• [in his sleep] I'm the Flying Dutchman...I'm the Flying Dutchman.
• I haven't worn shoes for over 5000 years!
• We have so much in common. You like teddy bears, I like teddy bears. You like ponies, I like ponies.

Video Games

The Flying Dutchman makes appearances in nearly all SpongeBob video games. His first appearance was in the very first Spongebob video game, "Spongebob Squarepants: Legend of the Lost Spatula" as the final boss. He also appears as a boss in "Spongebob Squarepants: Supersponge" and as an enemy in "Spongebob Squarepants: Operation: Krabby Patty".

He is the main antagonist of"Spongebob Squarepants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman". In "Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom" he is a minor boss fought in a level centered around him, the Flying Dutchman's Graveyard.