History VideoGame / Splatoon3

* AdventurousIrishViolins: The plucky, upbeat Baby Chicks vs. Li'l Bunnies vs. Bear Cubs Splatfest adds equally plucky, upbeat violins to the battle intro theme.

* ATasteOfPower: Color Chip Saturation bonus levels effectively function like this, particularly at lower floors - for just that level, all remaining empty slots in your palette are filled with chips of the designated type, and Agent 8 can lay waste by seeing just how well chips of the same type synergize.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For unclear reasons, the first and third update seasons (Drizzle Season 2022 and Fresh Season 2023) had no accompanying season trailer. Of the first twelve update seasons, these two are the only ones that lack trailers at all.

* AscendedMeme:
** "Squidbagging", ie. spamming the swim button, is a concept created by the community as an equivalent to teabagging in other games defeated opponents. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpIFu12L1Go One particular Japanese commercial for this game]] prominently features a player squidbagging their opponents constantly, with the wobbly, sloshy sound effect of repeatedly entering swim form amplified in one instance to really set in the taunting effect.
** In Side Order, [[ScrappyMechanic Octo Expansion's 8-Balls]] make a return in the form of ∞-Balls, and Pearl reacts to their debut with anger, heavily mirroring the community's exasperation with how finnicky they are to control. Acht notes that [[AntiFrustrationFeatures these ones don't fall off the stage, though.]]

** One of the challenges is "Making it rain... here?" which adds the Rainmaker to Turf War. There's no benefit to picking it up, for the weapon fights and paints poorly, broadcasts the wielder's location to the whole enemy team, and isn't necessary to win the game. As such, both teams are incentivised to ignore the entire point of the gamemode and essentially play normal Turf War.

* CompositeCharacter: Composite Weapon, in this case: the Triple Inkstrike is a combination of the Inkstrike and Bomb Rush. It borrows much of the aesthetic of the former, summoning massive tornadoes of ink at selected locations using missiles, while taking a page of the functionality from the latter, as the missile locations are selected by throwing bombs.

* DevelopersForesight:
** During a Splatfest, you cannot challenge any member of the band performing in that hub (Shiver, Frye, and Big Man in Splatsville; Agent 1 and Agent 2 in Inkopolis Plaza; Pearl and Marina in Inkopolis Square) to a Tableturf Battle, with the attendant remarking that they're not available. You can only challenge them by taking the train to one of the other hubs.
** When scanning in an Amiibo of a Deep Cut member, they have different dialogue depending on if you did it in Splatsville or one of the Inkopolis hubs.

** During the opener to Chill Season 2022, Big Man wonders if any of the new weapons work with fins.

** The game is a bit vague about where the lockers are beyond them being in the lobby. The entrance to the locker room are the opaque glass double-doors located behind the capsule machine, and while the windows and doors do clear up when you approach them, they won't start doing this until ''after'' you've entered the room for the first time. If you're used to the visual language of video games, you might assume the dark glass means it's an inaccessible area and never even try to approach them.
** In addition to the 10% scrubbing cost for Splatfest Tees, Murch can now replace a Splatfest Tee's main ability for only 6 ability chunks, which is not outright stated by him in his dialogue for Splatfest Tees. This lets players grind cheap chunks without being forced to use the subpar Ability Doubler.

** The opening dialogue for the Baby Chicks vs. Li'l Bunnies vs. Bear Cubs Splatfest spoils that the ''Splatoon'' series takes place AfterTheEnd when most mammals are extinct when Big Man mentions that of the three options, chicks are the only ones that are still around. He also comments that the round ears of bear cubs look oddly familiar, a comment which Shiver appears uncharacteristically perturbed by -- because it's referencing [[spoiler:Mr. Grizz, the BigBad of ''Return of the Mammalians'']].

* {{Bathos}}: The game tries ''very hard'' to play off the final boss of Return of the Mammalians as a serious KnightOfCerebus. [[spoiler:Mr. Grizz is a FunnyAnimal who speaks in constant business puns and looks like an overstuffed teddy bear with a comically small head.]]
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: [[spoiler:Nobody seems to have any trouble breathing in space during the final battle against Mr. Grizz. While Agent 3's armor may provide some level of protection against the vacuum, and the Octobot King protects DJ Octavio the way any spacecraft would, Mr. Grizz, the Octarian minions he spawns, and Smallfry/Hugefry are completely exposed and completely fail to express any symptoms of decompression.]]
* BehemothBattle: [[spoiler:The final battle of Hero Mode features your Smallfry -- transformed by the energy of all marine life on Earth into a gigantic salmon called Hugefry -- duking it out with the colossal grizzly bear Mr. Grizz, who's absorbed all his Fuzzy Ooze to grow even larger than he already was. However, Hugefry only keeps Mr. Grizz distracted while you pilot DJ Octavio's Octobot King, which is dwarfed by comparison, [[AttackItsWeakPoint to do the real damage]].]]

* DevelopersForesight:
** If you turn on [[ColorblindMode Color Lock]] and go to the Site 2 boss in Alterna, [[spoiler:not only will Frye's ink be blue instead of yellow, her tentacles and clothes will be too.]]
** Characters will often make unique comments for certain player actions and accomplishments, from Cap'n Cuttlefish asking if you lost your wallet if you backtrack to a previous kettle in the Crater, to Callie and Marie praising you if you manage to beat the level "Conserve Ink-Splat Sustainably" without firing any ink at all.

* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler:Inverted. It's not [[RedHerring DJ Octavio]] despite the fact he was the mastermind behind the Great Zapfish thefts in the past. Instead, it's Mr. Grizz, a character who was established in ''Splatoon 2'' and hinted to be a villainous character given that he's a BadBoss with an agenda involving all those Golden Eggs players have been collecting in Salmon Run.]]

-->'''O.R.C.A.:''' [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins On that day...]] A massive Fuzzball [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt was born in space.]]]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler:
** The fact that the series takes place in HumanitysWake was treated as a secret in earlier games. In ''1'', you have to find one of the 26 Sunken Scrolls in a lategame level to learn that, and in ''Octo Expansion'', the reveal is an endgame story event. ''3'' starts you off on the right foot by showing [[MonumentalDamage a wrecked Eiffel Tower]] in the background of the tutorial, and in case that's too subtle, the first Alterna Log you unlock is titled "The Fall Of Humanity".
** ''Splatoon 3'', like ''2'', makes little effort to hide the fact that Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon are really Callie and Marie. This time it's little more than a formality - the girls introduce themselves by their codenames during their first on-screen appearance, they occasionally refer to each other by name throughout the stages and discuss collabing with other musical acts, their Tableturf Battle cards use their proper names, and the base where Marie and the Captain hang out for most of the campaign is actually called "''Squid Sisters Camp''". It's easy to forget ''Splatoon 1'' treated their military double lives as a surprise reveal.

* TheReveal:
** The Alterna Logs surprisingly give us one in regards to the series-wide meme of "Are you a squid or a kid?" [[spoiler:Turns out, it's both. The Inklings and Octolings aren't simply just evolved squids and octopuses but were descended from mutations of marine life created when mind-reading crystals carrying humanity's wills and desires seeped into the oceans, which when combined with the radioactive waters, explains how they and other sea-life managed to evolve so drastically in thousands rather than millions of years. The crystals in particular establish that the marine species throughout the ''Splatoon'' world aren't unconnected new species which emerged AfterTheEnd, but the true successors to humanity, casting the motives of Commander Tartar and Mr. Grizz in a very different light.]]
** The story campaign also reveals the truth behind Grizzco Industries and Mr. Grizz himself, following up on those loose plot threads from ''Splatoon 2''. [[spoiler:Grizzco is actually a front for Fuzzy Ooze production, since Golden Eggs are a key ingredient for the formula. Mr. Grizz is actually a hyper-intelligent grizzly bear and the last survivor of the doomed Ark Polaris (the wreckage of which is a Salmon Run stage from the previous game), and he wants to use said ooze to restore mammals as the dominant lifeforms on Earth.]]

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The King Salmonid's are absolutely titanic salmonids that easily dwarf the Inklings and Octolings. Megalodontia in particular is claimed to be capable of eating ships whole!

* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you complete a run at 333% Hazard Level, Mr. Grizz mentions the "boundless cosmos". Depending on whether you've completed ''Return of the Mammalians'' yet, [[spoiler:this could either be a CallBack or a CallForward to the campaign's AstralFinale.]]

* {{Kaiju}}: The King Salmonids.
** Cohozuna is a massive [[RentAZilla Godzilla-esque]] Salmonid who towers over almost everyone, Boss Salmonids included, and it's the ''tiniest'' of the bunch.
** Horrorboros is a dragon-esque salmonid who flies over the stage, and is long enough to be hit from practically anywhere on the map.
** Megalodontia takes the cake, and it does so in a single bite. It takes up entire sections of a stage with its girth, and its bite is strong enough to devour even its fellow Salmonids.

* MoneySink: The Grizzco shop has the single priciest item in the game: a gold Grizzco banner. It costs 333 Golden Scales to purchase, and you can only get Golden Scales from fighting a King Salmonid, which spawn randomly. In the best case scenario where you beat it when there are 30 seconds or more on the clock (which is insanely difficult), you'll get 13 scales. If you're at the maximum hazard level for that shift (which makes it even more difficult and requires you grind your rank high enough), then on average, 3% of those scales will be golden, making golden scales ludicrously rare. Oh, and this doesn't take into account that the golden banner must be unlocked before you can buy it, which requires spending an additional 450 bronze, 50 silver, and 4 golden scales.

* RentAZilla: One of the King Salmonids which may show up at the end of a Salmon Run game is Cohozuna, a Godzilla-esque Salmonid.

* TookALevelInKindness: It seems that Grizzco's HR department had a word with Mr. Grizz over the way he talks to his employees in the previous game. Compared to back then, his dialogue is far more friendly and personable, sometimes sharing odd musings and anecdotes, and replacing some of his more cruel quotes with more corporate friendly ones. He's still the same old BadBoss forcing you to risk your life for his profits and paying you in gachapon, but he's at least nicer about it

** Being in swim form prevents you from using the Pearl Drone's hover. This extends to the Kraken form, which can't switch back to humanoid form to hover to safety... unless the Kraken falls off the stage. If that happens, Eight's Kraken mode ends immediately to ensure you can safely return back to solid ground.

* AscendedMeme: Since the release of the base game, many fans have mocked Agent 4 for not showing up in ''Splatoon 3'' at all, apparently being forgotten by the Squidbeak Splatoon, the ''Splatoon'' world, and Nintendo themselves. The devs have gotten in on the fun; Pearl has to be reminded who Agent 4 was, if you find their Palette.

* BraggingRightsReward: Beating the Spire of Order with a Palette will reward you with a replica of that Palette's weapon to use in the game's online multiplayer; your first completion will also give you Agent Eight's getup. The reward for completing a run of the Spire of Order [[spoiler:using Agent 8's Palette with 4 hacks or less activated]] is a badge to put on your Splashtag.

* CosmeticAward: In addition to the other rewards for clearing a run, the first successful run using a given palette also unlocks a replica of that palette's weapon for your arsenal for [=PvP=]. Similar to the Hero Replicas in ''Splatoon 2'', these are all just reskins of weapons otherwise available at Ammo Knights in the main game, all of which are available by level 15 (though a new player who wants access to the Luna Blaster or the Splatana Stamper may find it faster to get the Order Replica versions rather than raise their level enough to get the originals from Sheldon).

** Replaying the first climb or revisiting the tutorial boss will automatically change your Palette to Pearl's if it wasn't already, since these events take place before you get any other Palettes.
** If you attempt to replay the final boss using [[spoiler:Eight's Palette with the Octo Shot, the game will automatically swap your Palette with Agent 4's Splattershot]] since you weren't supposed to have [[spoiler:Eight's Palette]] by that point.

** If you rotate the control stick outside of the Spire to spin around, Pearl will do a flying piroulette.

* FissionMailed: [[spoiler:After seemingly defeating Order for the first time, they end up doing a mass greyscaling which take cues from the bad endings of both ''Octo Expansion'' and ''Return of the Mammalians'', leading to the screen turning completely grey. However, with some help from Spectrum Obligato, Eight is able to use their vibe to break free and counter Order.]]

** Certain earlier floors in the tower have large translucent crates containing various items infants would like, like toys, plushies, picture books, baby mobiles, and a stack of pancakes. While this fits with how an unchanging world of perfect order would be overly focused on the past and nostalgia, it's also a clue that [[spoiler:the true form of the BigBad, Smollusk, is a rogue AI that acts like a bratty child]].

** The white laboratory-esque design of the Spire of Order's interior is comparable to the Test Chambers from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', as well as Asynchronous Rondo bearing a heavy resemblance to the upper half of [=GLaDOS=].

* TheArtifact: Stingers, like several other Boss Salmonids, are enemy personifications of the series' special weapons; in their case, the Sting Ray. However, the Sting Ray is one of the specials that was removed between games (with its role effectively taken by the Killer Wail 5.1).

* TheArtifact: Stingers, like several other Boss Salmonids, are enemy personifications of the series' special weapons; in their case, the Sting Ray. However, the Sting Ray is one of the specials that was removed between games (with its role effectively taken by the Killer Wail 5.1).

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: True to form for the series, the player character, DJ Octavio, the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and Deep Cut are the only ones who know about all the adventures you had in the crater and beyond. [[spoiler:Shiver is all too happy to declare her undying allegiance to Marie and "her assistant lady" on air, though.]] Marina also hints that she's learned about the new Agent 3's exploits after you beat her in a Tableturf Battle.

* FauxFurby: One of the locker decorations are the "Squid Friend" dolls. They are Furby-like robotic squid dolls that can sing when interacted with. There is an elongated variant that resembles the "Long Furby" memes.

! Spoilers from VideoGame/Splatoon1 and VideoGame/Splatoon2 are left unmarked.

* ItIsDehumanizing: [[spoiler:In Smollusk's "top-secwet notes" on the various Palette owners, Frye is referred to as a "chaotic mess" and "it", indicating she's so chaotic in appearance and personality that the order-obsessed Smollusk considers her more animal than person]].

* BigNo: Callie screams "OOOH NOOO!" at the very end of the level "Those Aren't Birds" when [[spoiler:the final target ''hits the fence and falls backwards into the abyss''.]] [[spoiler:The Deep Cut also do a variations of this should you failed during the final boss.]]

* BigNo: Callie screams "OOOH NOOO!" at the very end of the level "Those Aren't Birds" when [[spoiler:the final target ''hits the fence and falls backwards into the abyss''.]]

* MusicalNod:

* ScoreMultiplier: In the final score tally, you get a Tone Bonus for having at least 2 Chips from the same Tone in a row on your Palette, starting from an additional 200 points. Each subsequent Chip grants another round of Tone Bonus equal to the previous bonus +100 points, so 3 Chips would give you 500 (200 + 300) points, 4 Chips would give you 900 (200 + 300 + 400), and so forth. This makes crafting a build made entirely of a single Tone an incredibly lucrative way to rake in Prlz, as filling the entire Palette with one Tone will give you by default '''84,500 points!'''[[labelnote:*]]Some Tones do not have enough Chips to fill the entire board, however; Drone Chips only take up 35 out of 36 possible slots, for example.[[/labelnote]]

* LimitedLoadout: Each Palette can hold up to 36 chips. This may seem like a generous limit, but if you go after double-chip floors and chained [[DungeonShop Vending Machine]] purchases too often, you'll rub against the cap sooner or later. Hit that limit, and any extra Color Chips you find will be replaced with Prlz. Exaggerated by [[spoiler:Agent 8's Palette, which decreases in slot count the more hacks you have active -- to a minimum of four]]!

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Considering the special is named after it, you'd be forgiven for still pressing the "Booyah!" button when using the Booyah Bomb even though it charges up automatically this time.

** If you attempt to visit a vending machine while carrying less Membux than what you need to buy the cheapest Color Chip, Marina will remind you that you might want to stock up on cash before visiting a machine, which should help prevent accidentally visiting a machine when you don't have enough to buy a single thing.

** If you don't like a floor you're on after you've already picked it, you can turn around and walk back to the elevator, giving up half your membux and the Color Chip you obtained to go back to the floor select screen.

! '''Spoilers from VideoGame/Splatoon1 and VideoGame/Splatoon2 are left unmarked.'''

!'''Spoilers from VideoGame/Splatoon1 and VideoGame/Splatoon2 are left unmarked.'''

* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Deep Cut consists of GirlyGirl and {{Tomboy}} Shiver and Frye in addition to the male manta ray, Big Man.

* BackgroundMusicOverride: Starting with version 5.0.0, "Daybreaker Anthem", a SurprisinglyGentleSong performed by Deep Cut, plays in Splatsville after a Splatfest ends while the results are being tallied. It also overrides the default music rotation in the Battle Lobby. "Maritime Memory" is used for the same purpose in Inkopolis Plaza.

** Unlike ''1'' and ''2'', this game doesn't have a variation of a GrenadeSpam special weapon. The closest it has is the Super Chump, which fires all its bombs at once instead of as giving as many uses as the duration permits and doesn't shoot an existing bomb type.

* {{Antepiece}}: The WarmUpBoss battle serves as one for the FinalBoss, in that both are stationary {{Mook Maker}}s surrounded by a barrier that can only be destroyed by eliminating portals scattered throughout the arena and [[MusicalGameplay sync their attacks to the beat of the background music]]. The final boss has far more health and a more varied attack pattern than the tutorial boss, who mostly just summons Jelletons.

* HelpfulMook: Battering Lentos can be this, of the "Accidentally Assisting" variety due to ArtificialStupidity. On most levels, they can be baited into using their headbutts on other Jelletons, clearing space for you and even [[RingOut knocking some foes off the stage for you]]. In addition, their AI has them focus on knocking infinity balls in the direction they're facing - if positioned right, they can be tricked into knocking the balls into the goal.