History Characters / SplatoonBands

* TheSlacker: They used to slack off and cut class during their academy days with Marina, and prefered their position as security over anything in the front lines, considering something like that to be "too much like work."

* AnonymousBand: Quite literally, ''nothing'' is known about Free Association. Absolutely ''nobody'' acknowledges the band in ''Side Order,'' so, until extra material is provided, we only know of their name and their music. It isn't until a Famitsu interview that reveals they are the flying, fish-shaped lures you sometimes see in the background (the album art specifically takes place in the "Vending Machine Corner" floor).
* BreakingOldTrends: On a technicality due to them being literal background scenery, specifically the flying clouds of fish you see in the Vending Machine Corner, but they're the first campaign band to be physically present in the same game they provide music for.

* PunnyName: Their name is a play on the psychoanalytic technique "free association," which involves the exploration of unconscious feelings via the patient expressing their conscious feelings without inhibition.

* MentorArchetype: Quinn attempted to be this to Ichiya, trying to draw out his potential.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: They're certainly an odd bunch. An unmotivated anemone, an overly energetic squid, an introverted octopus, and an easygoing crab. They're still part of a succesful and well respected band, to the point of being the only band to return in both ''Splatoon 2'' and ''3'' unchanged (they ''did'' break up, but they simply reformed rather than forming other bands, like Quinn from Squid Squad forming Diss-Pair).

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite their standoffish, aggressive nature, ''[=HaikaraWalker=]'' notes that Finn performs because they love traditional-style music and they want others to be able to enjoy it too.

* OddFriendship: A major part of their dynamic is their contrasting styles, with the eccentric octoling dj Mashup and the stoic inkling bassist Quinn. despite that, the two are shown to get along well enough that they can perform without having to even pay attention to each other.

* VariableMix: Their music switches to a calmer, stripped back version in between waves, allowing the song to stay on tempo and pick up when the next wave begins. They'll only stop playing when they have to change songs for Known Occurences.

* CoolShades: They wear the same stylish shades the enemy Octolings of ''Splatoon 2'' wore -though theirs are colored a starker red- despite not being a soldier. According to a Famitsu interview, it's to make themselves look cooler deliberately, as their real face looks too cute otherwise.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: The Octarians are generally known for being very hardworking, with examples like the {{Workaholic}} Marina and the high-ranking general DJ Octavio. Acht is a self-professed slacker who has no interest in anything that's too high-effort.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: By default, as any Octoling was subjected against their will to study in military school to work for the Octarian Army, something they especially struggled with. Then, Marina's disappearance kickstarts an obsession with music that would eventually lead to their (willing) sanitization by Kamabo Co. leaving them with no will other than to make music as a mindless [=DJ=]. [[spoiler:Their appearance in ''Side Order'' ends up restoring their original self, much to Marina's delight, as the Memverse is meant to restore memories to sanitized Octolings.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: How truthful Baker's statement of "Now or Never" belonging to C-Side is debatable. For one, he himself admits to stating this information during a drunken rant online, though he does also add that he's made this declaration before plenty of times. As well, C-Side only recently gained any prominence in the music world, so it's unlikely the band existed during the time "Now or Never" debuted 7 years prior. Front Roe, Ichiya's current band, has only responded by refusing to perform anywhere in the Splatsville area, leaving an actual answer up to debate.

* AnonymousBand: Quite literally, ''nothing'' is known about Free Association. Absolutely ''nobody'' acknowledges the band in ''Side Order,'' so, until extra material is provided, we only know of their name and their music.
* AmbiguousSituation: Considering the fact that the Memverse is Marina's creation, and she herself is a musician, it ''could'' be that Free Association is simply a Memversal band, and Marina is actually the one creating all the music.

* NoMouth: Kitamura has no visible mouth on her face. What's implied to be her signature on Hotlantis has a doodle of herself with a CatSmile, however, so it seems her mouth is just not visible to the viewer.

** Octoplush has a song called ''#35 caught'', a named that matches [=Dedf1sh=]'s ThemeNaming of their tracks. If it was a song made by them some time before ''Splatoon 3'', or simply a song written in inspiration of their work, it remains unknown, as Acht makes no mention of having worked for Octoplush.

** Octoplush has a song called ''#35 Onward'', a named that matches [=Dedf1sh=]'s ThemeNaming of their tracks. If it was a song made by them some time before ''Splatoon 3'', or simply a song written in inspiration of their work, it remains unknown, as Acht makes no mention of having worked for Octoplush.