[OVERVIEW]
As a 90 / early 2000's child, my favorite things were Nick, Disney and Cartoon Network. I've done quite a few Disney theories so now it's time to move on to Nick (CN will come soon!)
Just like the Disney ones, I will have multiple chapters because there are so many theories!
[SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS]
The Krabby Patty had a secret formula that no one knew, or do we?
A twitter user seems to think they know.
So what is the big secret? Crabs.
There are no other crabs in Bikini Bottom aside from Mr. Krabs' mother. Also, the menu is pretty clear on what each food item's key ingredient is, like the kelp shake and the coral bits. So it's possible that Krabby Patties do have Crabs in them, which is why Mr. Krabs doesn't want anyone to know.
[DOUG]
In Doug, Mr. Dink seemed to always be around Doug at school and at home, since they were neighbors. In this theory, Mr. Dink was creeping on Doug from the beginning, trying to groom his new prey. He's always inviting Doug over to look at something cool, and even offers him his shed to do projects in. After being a victim of molestation, Doug finds some LSD that his sister Judy has and starts using it to cope. That's where all the weird daydream scenes come from in the show — he's actually just tripping.
[SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS]
Towards the end of Spongebob Squarepants the movie Spongebob and Patrick are dried out and seemingly killed before their tears miraculously bring them back to life... except that's not what happened. In the ocean, when a piece of a sea sponge or starfish breaks off, it regenerates a new "body" around that piece. Spongebob and Patrick both died and regenerated into a new Spongebob and Patrick.
After the movie aired Spongebob and Patrick got a lot more childish. This is because they were literally new borns from that point.
[FAIRLY ODD PARENTS]
In the pilot episode of The Fairly Odd Parents, Timmy's fairy godparents arrive on the same night Vicky, his evil babysitter, comes into his life, essentially saying that they showed up during an intense period of stress and problems in his life. The "doom and gloom up in his room is broken instantly" when he's prescribed a regimen of anti-depressants.
Cosmo represents Zoloft, which makes you more giddy and excitable, while Wanda represents Prozac, which tends to make you more analytical and focused. The parallels continue on occasions when Timmy abuses magic, overusing it to the point that he becomes bored and apathetic no matter how much he uses it because he's built up too much of a tolerance. He's also gone through episodes where he has to break his "dependence" on magic, finding that he can't even perform simple tasks without it.
[HEY ARNOLD]
I'm Hey Arnold! We never get to meet Arnold's parents. We (along with Arnold) were told his parents got lost in a jungle soon after his birth. So he lives with his grandparents.
But what if his grandparents weren't actually his grandparents? What if his parents never got lost in the jungle? What if his grandparents and his parents are the same people?
This theory states that his grandparents are not actually his grandparents, but rather his parents.
Arnold's "grandparents" conceived him at a very old age which led to Arnold being born with hydrocephalus, a condition which causes an enlarged and oddly-shaped head. He's often bullied for having a "football head," which combined with his condition cause him to hallucinate a world where everyone has oddly shaped heads, since nobody's head shape is ever mentioned or teased except his. Both grandparents seem to be moving toward senility, which might be why they felt it was better for Arnold not to know the truth.