Squidward Quincy Tentacles is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is voiced by Rodger Bumpass and first appeared in "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999. Squidward was created and designed by Stephen Hillenburg. Squidward is a cephalopod, but his species is an octopus according to the series' creators, despite his name containing the word squid. The series' animators made Squidward with six tentacles, believing that giving him the eight tentacles of an octopus has made him look too burdened.