History Tearjerker / Splatoon

* While taking the train to Inkopolis Plaza or Inkopolis Square can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that their glory days are long over. The mailbox in front of Inkopolis Tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, the arcade machine in Inkopolis Plaza that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the Squid Beatz machine in Inkopolis Square is completely gone, the Battle Dojo in Inkopolis Plaza is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed from Inkopolis Plaza, and Octo Valley, Octo Canyon, and the Deepsea Metro are permanently cut off since their entrances are covered up by new bits of scenery (and the Tableturf Battle Dojo in the latter case).

** In a way, the BigBad for the ''Octo Expansion'', [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Tartar]]. Even as an OmnicidalManiac MisanthropeSupreme, it's hard to not feel bad for this thing once you figure out its StartOfDarkness. It's still loyally devoted to the professor that made it, and all it was programmed to do was pass down human knowledge to any sentient life remaining, but unfortunately, it saw right through the Inklings and Octarians and noticed their flaws first i.e. how vain, lazy and hedonistic the former was and how unreasonably vindictive the latter was - and to say it was distraught with how these two species turned out would be an understatement. Its defeat dialogue even has it hoping to reunite with its creator in the afterlife. It gets even more worse when you discover in Splatoon 3 that the Inklings and Octolings were in fact, the closest successors to humanity to be created, making this situation a sibling trying to kill his other siblings without knowing who that they were family.

!!Series as a whole

!!''Splatoon''

!!''Splatoon 2''

!!''Splatoon 3''

* While taking the train to Inkopolis Plaza or Inkopolis Square can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that their glory days are long over. The mailbox in front of Inkopolis Tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, the arcade machine in Inkopolis Plaza that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the Squid Beatz machine in Inkopolis Square is completely gone, the Battle Dojo in Inkopolis Plaza is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed from Inkopolis Plaza, and Octo Valley, Octo Canyon, and the Deepsea Metro are permanently cut off since their entrances are covered up by new bits of scenery (and the Tableturf Battle Dojo in the latter case).
* During the announcement for the Friends vs. Family vs. Solo Splatfest, after Big Man and Frye solidify their plans to spend the holidays alone and with their family respectively, Frye notices Shiver has a bunch of coupons for karaoke, bowling, and [[CallBack an all-you-can-eat-sweets buffet]]. Specifically, three of each. The other two quickly catch on that the friends Shiver was planning to spend her holiday with ''were Frye and Big Man'' (which is now ruined thanks to them having other plans), and she seems genuine downtrodden even as she attempts to deny it.
* In Side Order, the first time you ''de facto'' defeat the Overlorder, it executes its grayscaling program, and it assimilates Splatsville and Inkopolis Plaza, causing the places to discolor [[TimeStandsStill and freeze]], with Acht just about to reach Marina before they're frozen too. But then Agent 8 barely frees themself and their companions, tuned to the beat of Spectrum Obligato. The fact that you press ZR to strengthen the music at that point, after you were left with a blank gray screen, makes the scene all the more cathartic.
* Throughout Side Order, Marina continues to beat herself up and blame herself for Order going rogue and it gets worse once it's revealed why she created the Memverse-she wanted to help the Sanitized Octolings that were still trapped in Kamabo Co regain their senses of self and yet the program that was intended to help others instead got turned into the device that a malevolent AI hoped to use to pretty much sanitize everyone. It's hard not to feel bad for her.
* Upon seeing the BrainwashedAndCrazy Marina, Pearl is clearly ''distraught'' to see her partner like that. She later admits that she was worried that, if they didn't beat her, then she would never get Marina back.
* Acht's letters to Marina all have a very melancholic tone to them, as they reminisce on their past with Marina before everything went wrong. The last letter is especially gut wrenchig with the implication that Marina's sudden departure is what kickstarted their obsession with "breakbeat perfection" in their music, something that would inevitably lead to their sanitization by Tartar.

* In a way, the BigBad for the ''Octo Expansion'', [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Tartar]]. Even as an OmnicidalManiac MisanthropeSupreme, it's hard to not feel bad for this thing once you figure out its StartOfDarkness. It's still loyally devoted to the professor that made it, and all it was programmed to do was pass down human knowledge to any sentient life remaining, but unfortunately, it saw right through the Inklings and Octarians and noticed their flaws first i.e. how vain, lazy and hedonistic the former was and how unreasonably vindictive the latter was - and to say it was distraught with how these two species turned out would be an understatement. Its defeat dialogue even has it hoping to reunite with its creator in the afterlife.

* During the announcement for the Friends vs. Family vs. Solo Splatfest, after Big Man and Frye solidify their plans to spend the holidays alone and with their family respectively, Frye notices Shiver has a bunch of coupons for karaoke, bowling, and [[CallBack an all-you-can-eat-sweets buffet]]. Specifically, three of each. The other two quickly catch on that the friends Shiver was planning to spend her holiday with ''were Frye and Big Man'' (which is now ruined thanks to them having other plans), and she seems genuine downtrodden even as she attempts to deny it.

* The story of DJ [=Dedf1sh=], the sanitized octoling in charge of providing the music of ''Octo Expansion'', is quite depressing. Once an up and coming DJ in Octarian society, she ''willingly'' underwent the sanitization process in order to cast away her doubts and fears and fully focus on her music. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor What she gets is the loss of her free will, left only as a mindless zombie who does the one thing she's capable of remembering.]] The titles of her songs are her way of warning others about the truth behind the process.
** The worst part is that, as she is never encountered in person in the game, her fate is uncertain, likely still trapped in the Deep Sea Metro without anyone aware of her existence.

* While taking the train to Inkopolis can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that ''1's'' era is long over. The mailbox in front of the tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, the arcade machine that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the Battle Dojo is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed, and Octo Valley is permanently cut off since its entrance is covered by trash and a telltale Cuttlegear logo.

** Some of Marina's comments in the pre-fest banter are genuinely upsetting, even if you don't put them into any greater context. She's absolutely terrified of what's to come, and she all but openly admits to having had clinical depression at one point, outright saying that Off the Hook and her friendship with Pearl are "the only thing[s] she [has] in this world". Now think back to the chat logs from the Octo Expansion; Pearl and Marina first met on Mount Nantai. Marina was going through a very dark time in her life, and was climbing a mountain. It isn't hard to put two-and-two together. [[labelnote:note]]If that weren't enough, there's a waterfall very close to Mount Nantai known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegon_Falls Kegon Falls]]. It's famous in Japanese culture for being the location philosophy student Misao Fujimura left a farewell poem before committing suicide, and is unfortunately a very common spot for despairing teenagers to take their own lives due to the Werther effect.[[/labelnote]] [[FridgeHorror If Pearl hadn't shown up]] [[DrivenToSuicide at just that moment]]...

* During the announcement for the Friends vs. Family. Solo Splatfest, after Big Man and Frye solidify their plans to spend the holidays alone and with their family respectively, Frye notices Shiver has a bunch of coupons for karaoke, bowling, and [[CallBack an all-you-can-eat-sweets buffet]]. Specifically, three of each. The other two quickly catch on that Shiver was planning to spend her holiday with Frye and Big Man (which is now ruined thanks to them having other plans), and she seems genuine downtrodden even as she attempts to deny it.

* While taking the train to Inkopolis can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that ''1's'' era is long over. The mailbox in front of the tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, the arcade machine that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the Battle Dojo is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed, and Octo Valley is permanently cut off since its entrance is covered by trash and a telltale Cuttlegear logo.

* The dead scientist who preserved Judd and made Tartar clearly had good intentions. But not only did he fail to save his species and only managed to save his pet, his AI went rogue, completely failed to pass on humanity's knowledge to its replacements whom it grew to hate beyond all measure, murdered thousands of innocent people and even tried to destroy Earth. And if that wasn't bad enough, despite cloning Judd to make sure he wouldn't be lonely, all that resulted in was Lil Judd becoming resentful of the being he came from to the point of scheming against him. This poor guy just can't catch a break in the slightest even discounting the extinction of humanity.

* Like Tartar, the backstory of Mr. Grizz adds a sense of tragedy to the character. He was the SoleSurvivor of the Ark Polaris ship, which was an attempt to preserve Earth's wildlife. It failed, and the ship crashed, killing everyone on-board save for him, who was in a cryogenic slumber at the time. When he woke up, he couldn't find any other mammals, the years of isolation [[GoMadFromTheIsolation wearing away at his sanity]] until he decided to try and bring them back through the [[MutagenicGoo fuzzy ooze]] you've been encountering throughout the campaign. Seriously, ''[[TragicVillain ouch]]''.

* Reading the Alterna Logs can be quite sobering, as you learn that it was humanity's last refuge after everywhere else on Earth has been destroyed by disasters. They thrived well thanks to technology and sea life they managed to breed, and survive for a few generations... until it [[AllForNothing ends with them killing themselves off anyway when one final escape attempt to the surface causes the bunker to fail on them.]]

** One must admit it is quite sad to hear the sad little sounds the Inklings/Octolings make after getting splatted. It almost makes you feel bad for the splatting, because by the sounds of pain it must hurt like hell. Then again, getting blown up and shot by ink at fast speed (this is why paintball players wear protective gear) does not feel like a pleasant experience anyway even if you're able to respawn.

* While taking the train to Inkopolis can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that ''1's'' era is long over. The mailbox in front of the tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, the arcade machine that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the One on One is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed, and Octo Valley is permanently cut off since its entrance is covered by trash and a telltale Cuttlegear logo.

* While taking the train to Inkopolis can make for a very nostalgic journey and plenty of things stay the same, it's still clear that ''1's'' era is long over. The mailbox in front of the tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, and arcade machine that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the One on One is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed, and Octo Valley is permanently cut off since its entrance is covered by trash and a telltale Cuttlegear logo.

* While taking the train to Inkopolis can make for a very nostalgic journey, it's still clear that ''1's'' era is long over. The mailbox in front of the tower is painted over and no longer has the Miiverse logo, and arcade machine that allowed you to play minigames is refitted into a Hotlantis contact point, the One on One is now a Shoal, Judd's box has been removed, and Octo Valley is permanently cut off since its entrance is covered by trash and a telltale Cuttlegear logo.

* The scene just before the FinalBoss where Cuttlefish seemingly dies from dehydration shortly after Grizz flies away on his rocket. At least Captain 3 [[SwissArmyTears shedding a tear]] over his dehydrated body [[DisneyDeath saved him]].

** And the reason why they wanted to escape? They knew what Earth's skies really looked like and wanted to see it in person just once. The fact that this reflects the Inkadian Octolings' situation makes it hurt worse.

* Depending on how you view it, the homes of the Octarians, and their situation that caused them to steal the Zapfish in the first place. They had to live underground after the Great Turf War and eventually, they were losing precious power causing their homes to deteriorate rapidly. And according to Sunken Scroll #6, they even state that the future doesn't look good for them. Even when Octolings start moving to the surface in search of a better life, it's because things are that bad and the main thing that kept them from leaving was mind control music and propaganda.
* Spyke is a StreetUrchin. Both literally and figuratively. While he doesn't seem to mind it, one can't help but feel at least a little sorry to see him living in a back alley like that. Alleviated a bit in the sequel, where WordOfGod has it that Spyke has made so much money off of his business that he no longer has to work.

* In the lead-up to ''Splatoon 2'', [[http://splatoon.nintendo.com/squid-sisters-stories/ the Squid Sister Stories]] that have cropped up are legitimately tear-inducing. The worst part is that the way Callie and Marie are said to have drifted apart is all too realistic, as their different career choices turn their timetables around so they have less and less time to spend together.

* One of ''Splatoon 3'''s Sunken Scrolls describes the behavior of Smallfry that get lost and separated from the rest of the Salmonid society, noting that they start to starve during their quest to come home and featuring an image of one looking somberly over an evening horizon. Poor little guy.

** And the reason why they wanted to escape? They knew what Earth's skies really looked like and wanted to see it in person just once. The fact that this reflects the Inkadian Octolings' situation makes it hurt worse.

* In a way, the BigBad for the ''Octo Expansion'', [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Tartar]]. Even as an OmnicidalManiac MisanthropeSupreme, it's hard to not feel bad for this thing once you figure out its StartOfDarkness. It's still loyally devoted to the professor that made it, and all it was programmed to do was pass down human knowledge to any sentient life remaining, but unfortunately, it saw right through the Inklings and Octarians and noticed their flaws first i.e. how vain, lazy and hedonistic the former was and how unreasonably vindictive the latter was - and to say it was distraught with how these two species turned out would be an understatement. Its defeat dialogue even has it hoping to reunite with its creator in the afterlife. Downplayed in that it's still chosen that [[OmnicidalManiac genocide of at least two intelligent species]] [[ApocalypseHow and destroying Earth]] is the best way to pursue its long-dead creator's goal.

[[AC:The Games Themselves]]

** And the reason why they wanted to escape? They knew what Earth's skies really looked like and wanted to see it in person just once. The fact that this reflects the Inkadian Octolings' situation makes it hurt worse.

[[AC:Meta]]
* It may be only a Meta Example, but the fact that the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest was the final Splatfest produced by Nintendo is being seen as a tearjerker by many players if both Miiverse posts and attempts to push #[=SaveSplatfest=] are any indication. Thankfully, they returned for the second game.
* With ''Splatoon 2'' out, the first game has effectively been rendered obsolete, mostly because of the fact that ''Splatoon 2'' has most of the weapons and features from the first game and then some, and that Miiverse, an integral part of the Splatoon community, shut down in November 2017, making one of most popular and active Wii U games, the one that defied all expectations, feel a lot less full.
** During the Retro vs. Modern Splatfest in ''Splatoon 2'', Marina mentions that Inkopolis Plaza has become a ghost town with nearly all the Inklings (and the Great Zapfish) moving to Inkopolis Square. It's a harsh LeaningOnTheFourthWall reminder for player veterans of the original ''Splatoon'', especially those who choose Team Retro.
** And as of ''Splatoon 3'''s release, a similar fate has befell Splatoon 2 as well (though time will tell if Inkopolis Square faces the same fate as Inkopolis Plaza).
* Splatoon is the last New Original Nintendo IP with Creator/SatoruIwata's name listed in the credits, as the next original Nintendo IP, ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'', does not list him at all. This bit of info can hit players pretty hard, especially if they really looked up to him or grew up during the time he was President/Executive Producer.
* Just seeing the near-unanimously heartbroken reactions fans of Off the Hook had to the duo getting PutOnABus for ''Splatoon 3'' can hurt. Fortunately, Off the Hook DLC was announced before the game came out, meaning everyone knew from the beginning they weren't gone forever -- though ''not'' when it would release or when they would get updates on it, making it cold comfort for some. It says something about how ''Splatoon'' writes its characters that fans mourned Pearl and Marina's disappearance the way one would mourn the loss of a real friend or loved one. Even Squid Sisters faithfuls and fans of Deep Cut have expressed their disappointment at not being able to see Off the Hook in the base game. You rarely see an entire fandom come together to express the same opinion like that; it goes to show how beloved and iconic the duo had become in the space of only a few years.

[[AC:Fan-Made Content]]
* [[http://3drod.tumblr.com/post/147265569450/final-concert-a-splatoon-comic This fan comic.]] It does end on a heartwarming note though.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywu45KaZ78s It now has a dubbed version,]] with some of the most realistically upset and heartwrenching voice acting you'll ever hear. 98.75% guaranteed to make you cry.
* Ever since the final Splatfest, Order vs Chaos, has been announced, people have been genuinely scared or worried for the fate of Inkopolis. This reflects in some of the posts made in Inkopolis Square. Fortunately, ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' shows that Inkopolis is completely fine and as bustling and active as ever.

* Depending on how you view it, the homes of the Octarians, and their situation that caused them to steal the Zapfish in the first place. They had to live underground after the Great Turf War and eventually, they were losing precious power causing their homes to deteriorate rapidly. And according to Sunken Scroll #6, they even state that the future doesn't look good for them...