"Next year is the last Splatfest. And I'm gonna win it... no matter what!"
Meggy: It's time...
SMG4's Mario Bloopers' resident Breakout Character and Action Girl is ready to take on her greatest challenge yet.
Meggy’s Destiny: An SMG4 Movie, is, well, the first feature-length movie based on SMG4, released on February 29, 2020.
2020 is the year of the final Splatfest, due to cost-effect reasons, and as payback, the Squid Sisters decide to spend all of the company's money on the biggest Splatfest ever. Meggy Spletzer wants to win it for her rival Desti, who was killed during the events of the Anime arc, but will she be able to find the strength to confront the trauma that scars her?
Meggy's Destiny provides examples of:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's never made truly clear whether the Desti seen in Meggy's dreams and in the real world is just a lingering memory of her, or her ghost. Their conversation at the end implies the latter, but it's never stated outright.
- Big Bad: Team Killer Ink and their leader, the rival team to the heroes, and also having Fantastic Racism towards humans.
- Big Damn Movie: Rather than a several-episode long arc, Meggy's big story is SMG4's first real 44-minute "movie".
- Book Ends:
- Although it doesn't happen exactly at the start, having Boopkins be the victim of Mario's game of "Pin the tail on the Boopkin" is still close enough to count. The ending also has Boopkins be the victim to the same game.
- This movie ends a lot of conflicts in a similar way that they started in previous SMG4 videos and arcs. Like the Squid Sisters said, "there’s no better way to finish this than in the way it all started…"
- Meggy’s first meeting with Desti happened at Moray Towers in "If Mario was in... Splatoon 2". Their final conversation at the end of the film takes place on Moray Towers near the spot where they first met.
- Mario and Meggy's first Splatfest opponent in "If Mario Was In... Splatoon" had a team of blue Inklings, similar to Team Killer Ink here.
- With the movie technically serving as a proper finale to the Anime Arc, the arc started with Mario & the gang partaking in a competition in "Mario and the Anime Challenge" and this movie ends with them partaking in a competition, this one being the last Splatfest.
- Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Desti loved to make Meggy's life miserable in their rivalry, yet Meggy still finds herself looking back fondly of their battles together after Desti's death in the trailer.
- Character Death:
- This marks the very last appearance of Desti (at least in the main timeline), who Disappears into Light after Meggy makes peace with her. SMG4 himself makes it abundantly clear she's never coming back.
- It also was the last appearance of Meggy's Inkling form, although unlike Desti she did return in in the YouTube Arc when SMG3 erases Meggy from existence.
- Darker and Edgier: Downplayed. It has its comedy and is still fairly low-stakes in terms of other post-Cerebus Syndrome SMG4 arcs and episodes, but it's still more serious in tone than your average episode, playing out more like a sports drama.
- Darkest Hour: Round 2 of the Splatfest ends with the heroes losing against the Ink Brigade, and Meggy crossing the Despair Event Horizon. Thankfully, not only does Axol succeed in snapping Meggy out of her funk, but Mario does some detective work and learns that the Ink Brigade cheated, leading to a Disqualification-Induced Victory and fully restoring Meggy's confidence.
- A Day in the Limelight: In case it wasn't clear, this is Meggy's time to shine.
- Demoted to Extra: After having their own side story in the Anime Arc, Team Japan (SMG4, Boopkins, Bob, Saiko, and Axol) serve as a cheer squad for Team Bootcamp (Meggy, Mario, Luigi, and Tari). Axol at least has some moments of encouragement and support with Meggy.
- Disappears into Light: Inkling Meggy fades away this way once Human Meggy makes peace with her within her mind. The same goes for Desti at the end of the movie.
- Disqualification-Induced Victory: After the Splat Squad lose by the skin of their teeth to the Ink Brigade in the semifinals, Mario notices something amiss and discovers an illegal trap the Ink Brigade used to win, thus disqualifying the Ink Brigade and allowing the Splat Squad to advance to the finals by default.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After what she herself calls "a rough year", Meggy is finally able to win a Splatfest, making peace with both her new humanity and with Desti in the process.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": As the subtitles show, the leader of Team Killer Ink is called, well, Leader.
- Fantastic Racism: Team Killer Ink looks down upon and mocks humans, as well as the now human Meggy. This extends to the rest of Inkopolis as well with every single store and food outlet banning humans, though according to Crusty Sean, this is for health and safety rather than feelings of racial superiority. It becomes clear that Meggy can no longer live there, and she moves out after winning Splatfest.
- Final Battle: Quite literally, since it's the last Splatfest, and Meggy's last chance to win it. Not just for herself, but for Desti as well.
- Foreshadowing: As the second round is about to end, a loud mechanical sound can be heard before an Ink Brigade member sends a pile of Squidwards flying. The noise was a hidden cannon activating and shooting the Squidwards, which are fake, hinting that Ink Brigade is cheating.
- Grand Finale: Of Meggy's "Splatfest" subplot since "Meggy's Bootcamp". After the Splatfest was interrupted and shelved for the Darker and Edgier second half of the Anime Arc, Meggy is determined to get herself some closure for her and Desti, and only has this Splatfest left to work with. Also, it serves as an epilogue of sorts to the Anime Arc and its effects on Meggy.
- Jerk Jock: Team Killer Ink. Their "Douchebags" rating is listed as 5 out of 5.
- Lighter and Softer: Than the Anime Arc, although to an extent. While there are no huge world stakes this time around, Meggy's inner conflicts and the trauma Francis' actions left on her are treated with serious gravitas.
- Meaningful Name: Considering who Meggy's avenging, the title "Meggy's Destiny" makes a whole lot of sense.
- The Movie: SMG4's first motion picture.
- Pain-Powered Leap: One obstacle during the Splatstacal Course is a tall building surrounded by lava, with one unfortunate Inkling getting sent to respawn when they fall in. Meggy falls in as well when a platform breaks, but she instead bounces all the way to the roof. Mario is seen beaming with pride at this, while the Squid Sisters are understandably confused.
- Pride: Meggy stubbornly believes she doesn't need her Ink Boi, even though it's been made specifically to compensate for her new human form. She grows out of it after making peace with her Inkling self.
- The Promise: The movie centers around Meggy trying her damnedest to win Splatfest for Desti.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: For their part as hosts and referees of the Splatfest, the Squid Sisters are fairly accommodating. They allow an all-human team to compete in the Splatfest in stark contrast to the Fantastic Racism Meggy faces from all other residents of Inkopolis; they let the Splat Squad off with a warning instead of immediate disqualification for getting in a brawl with Team Killer Ink against tourney rules; and they personally seek Meggy out to reinduct her into the competition after Mario exposes the Ink Brigade for cheating their own team out of a win.
- The Reveal: Meggy's monologue in the beginning reveals just how she got trapped in that paint can in "If Mario Was In... Splatoon". Specifically, she was training at Snapper Canal, and was accidentally caught in a paint can by unaware Piantas who were transporting paint to the Mushroom Kingdom, who placed her paint can in the basement of Peach's Castle, where Mario would later meet her.
- Sequel Hook: The last image is Meggy's Splatfest equipment stored in a box, almost like she's moving. "Meggy Moves In" would later confirm that she was indeed moving from Inkopolis due to now being done with Splatfest and can't really live there anymore.
- Sore Loser: When Team Killer Ink lose the final round, their leader throws a tantrum and kicks one of her teammates in the chest.
- Spoiler Cover: If Desti's spirit and Meggy's human form isn't a spoiler for the events at the end of the Anime Arc, we don't know what is.
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Meggy comes back to Inkopolis for the last Splatfest, only to realize the other Inklings don't take kindly to her medical condition, or other humans, for that matter.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- As shown in "The Splatfest Incident", the now all-human Splat Squad is unable to swim in ink, which puts them at a critical disadvantage against most of their competition. This necessitates going to resident genius Prof. E. Gadd to invent something to even the playing field.
- One part of the first challenge features a bunch of water sprinklers, where water is a Weaksauce Weakness that inklings suffer from. While several teams are seen panicking as they get wet, the Token Human Team Splat Squad just casually walks through the water.
- Humans and Inklings, while looking slightly similar when the latter is in their humanoid forms, are two different species. While Meggy had been portrayed to being able to eat human food as an Inkling (and Axol has enjoyed burgers in the past), food that is safe for sea creatures can be potentially unsafe for human consumption. Crusty Sean, used to serving primarily the sea creatures that populate Inkopolis, can't possibly accommodate the health and safety concerns of humans with such a small human population in Inkopolis.
- Tears of Joy: Meggy's reaction when her team ultimately wins Splatfest.
- This Is Gonna Suck: SMG4 claims to have "cried for ten hours" when he was first told to make the movie.
- Took a Level in Badass: Of all the Splat Squad, Tari shows the most marked improvement compared to her rather meek portrayal in the main series, effortlessly going toe to toe with elite Inklings with a smile on her face. Lampshaded by Saiko.Saiko: Who knew you could hurt people so badly, Tari!
- Villainous Breakdown: Leader can only scream in rage as team Splatsquad defeats them, ending with her kicking one of her teammates in the chest.
- Villainous Legacy: Francis may be gone, but the impact his actions left on Meggy (her new body and Desti's death) still lingers, like it has for quite some time now.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Following Desti's funeral, the rest of the Octoposse are nowhere to be seen for reasons unknown.
- On the subject of absent team members, the old SplatSquad don't make any appearance either, apart from Meggy's flashback at the beginning. This was an absence that was carried over from the Anime Arc, where it's implied that Meggy was so obsessed with winning Splatfest that she pushed them away, leaving her with Mario, Luigi, and Tari on her team.
- Worthy Opponent: The footage of Meggy and Desti's battle in the trailer shows them complimenting each other on what worthy foes they were.
