About

Squidward "When You Have a Friend" is an exploitable meme format based on a viral Twitter / X post by @soberkravitz sharing an image of two identical Squidward Tentacles from SpongeBob SquarePants, one in a brown shirt and one in a blue shirt, walking together under the caption, "When you have a friend."

The post was made in mid-April 2026 and became the subject of edits over the following days, in which the number of Squidwards is usually increased, and the shirts are further edited to reflect different groups and types of groups.

Origin

On April 11th, 2026, X^[1] user @soberkravitz posted an edited image from SpongeBob SquarePants that shows two identical versions of Squidward, one wearing a blue shirt and one wearing a brown shirt, smiling and walking away from Squidward's home. The post is captioned, "When you have a friend," and gained over 169,000 likes and 24,000 reposts in two days.

Spread

The Squidward When You Have a Friend post inspired memes over the following days in mid-April 2026, largely on X / Twitter.

On April 12th, 2026, X^[2] user @blephin_ posted an edit of the image that increases the number of Squidwards to eight, captioned, "When you have a gathering," garnering over 77,000 likes and 9,300 reposts in a day.

Later that day, X^[3] user @mobilesuitsam posted a version of the original meme where the on-meme caption, "I want to fall in love but I also want to be free. Forever. And unhurt. Forever," has been placed over the image of the two Squidwards, garnering over 16,000 likes in a day.

That night, X^[4] user @wormpuller posted a version of the meme where all of the Squidwards have been removed from the scene, writing, "When you were never really here," gaining over 7,600 likes in a day.

On April 13th, 2026, X^[5] user @elphaela posted an edit of the meme that depicts one of the Squidwards as Elphaba and one as Glinda, the witches from Wicked, under the caption, "When you have been changed for good," a reference to the musical's song "For Good," garnering over 7,500 likes in under a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References