Characters / Splatoon – Bands

Splatoon Character Index
Playable Characters | Idol Groups | Inkopolis and Splatsville | Octarians | Salmonids | Deepsea Metro | Order Sector | Bands | Manga Characters

The music in Splatoon doesn't exist in a vacuum. They are all made and provided by real, in-universe bands who each bring their own flavor and style in their songs for everything from turf wars, to your other adventures in the single player modes.

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In General

• All There in the Manual: You won't find much about them in the games themselves barring the occasional off-hand mention. Everything you can learn about them is found in promotional posts, developer interviews and artbook information that tends to go deeper into the lore of the Splatoon world.
• Ambiguous Gender: As most of the information on the bands are translated from Japan-exclusive sources, most band members don't have confirmed genders. As such, this page refers to those without confirmed genders as "They/Them" until official translations are released.
• The Cameo:
  • Merchandise and advertisements featuring them crops up here and there across the series in multiple locations, such as billboards or shirts with their brand, or albums hidden around in the hubs of the games.
  • Signatures belonging to the bands introduced in the previous two games can be found on the exterior of Hotlantis in Splatoon 3.
• Content Warning: Something that resembles the Parental Advisory Label appears on some album arts, specifically those of DJ Lee Fish, Real Sole, the Seven Seas Crew, Turquoise October, and for whatever reason, the Squid Sisters. As the music is all sung in the world's simlish, it's impossible to tell what it is the label is trying to warn for.
• Fingerless Hands: Most of the non-Inkling/Octoling band members lack fingers, either having fins for hands, tentacles, or outright no hands at all. It begs the question how they manage to play any of their instruments despite them not really being built with their anatomy in mind.
• The Ghost: They all fill an important role as the main source of all the music across the series, with merchandise and adverts for them scattered here and there in the game hubs, and even get the occasional mention from some of the idols. They make no physical appearance, however, instead serving to give further life to the world of Splatoon outside of the Ink-sports and occasional world-threatening calamity the games show. Among these characters, only Harmony of the Chirpy Chips and Dedf1sh/Acht have made physical appearances in the games.
• Mirror Character: Many of the Splatoon 2-era Octoling music characters are specifically DJs with a Techno style (Marina, Mashup, Paul, Dedf1sh), which perhaps not-coincidentally, matches the description of the most recognizable Octarian, DJ Octavio. When the series progressed into Splatoon 3, the series stopped featuring Octoling DJs — Shiver brings a traditional Japanese flair to her music, Tao Blu of Yoko and the Gold Bazookas practices the trombone, H2Woah's Lionel is a singer, and even Marina is trying out the piano — as a reflection of how the Octarian army is less influential in the setting, and that the characters are moving on from them or haven't even interacted with the Inkadian Octarians before.
• Non-Standard Character Design: The design of the Inkling band members (and the Octolings to a lesser extent) are often noticeably different from the designs of the in-game Inklings, featuring more unique eyemask and teeth designs, atypical hair styles and even skin colors. It's justified, as these Inklings are not beholden to the limitations of the 3D models the games have, and can therefore be given more unique traits to help them stand out. This also applies to some of the other species featured, like the urchins and anemones.
• Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism: Band members run the gamut from being humanoid as Inklings/Octolings, to being basically Civilized Animals.
• Source Music: The bulk of the entire series' soundtrack is provided by these bands, and is played in-universe in all of the modes. The Turf War tracks are selected from the freshest bands out there to play during matches, all thanks to the series' theme "Splattack!" leaking online, and the Inklings playing the song during the early Turf Wars, which started the trend. Single player tracks are played within the domes as motivators for the Octarian army, and the Salmon Run music is played live by the Salmonids dedicated war band, ω-3, to motivate their army and instill fear in Inklings and Octolings.

Shop Composers

DJ Lee Fish's album art

DJ Real Sole's album art

Seven Seas Crew's album art

Various composers that provide the shop music throughout the games. DJ Lee Fish provides the song "Lookin' Fresh", used in 1, DJ Real Sole composed "New You" for 2, and Seven Seas Crew made "Dripping with Style" for 3.

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• Anonymous Band: Literally nothing is known about any of them other than "they wrote the shop themes".
• Ambiguous Situation: The variant of "New You" that plays in Shella Fresh has a brief guitar solo which matches the music on the Sunken Scroll featuring Bisk. However, it's unknown whether Bisk himself is DJ Real Sole, or just contributed his own guitar playing to the Shella Fresh version.
• Breaking Old Trends: The shop themes of Splatoon 1 and 2, "Lookin' Fresh" and "New You," shared a motif which was present in all of their respective variations. "Dripping With Style" features a new motif for its variations, reflecting Splatsville's distance from Inkopolis.
• Continuity Cameo: A distorted version of "Lookin' Fresh" can be heard from the Crust Bucket in Splatoon 2, a little reference to Crusty Sean's previous job.
• Punny Name: DJ Lee Fish is a pun on "the jelly fish". Their Japanese name is "DJ Lee F.", which can be read as "DJ Reef".
• Recurring Element: Every game has their own version of "anonymous musician(s) that wrote the shop theme with variants for the different shops". Also, a certain symbol (named "ELDRSQD-I" by Splatoon 3's locker stickers) shows up on all of their album arts.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: DJ Real Sole is this to DJ Lee Fish from the first game, to the point where "New You" is more or less a remix of "Lookin' Fresh".
• Variable Mix: All the shop songs have a different variation for every store that reflects the nature of its building and proprietor.
  • Ammo Knights has a scratchy vinyl "marching band" style with very prominent brass instruments, in line with Sheldon's military family history and his profession of selling weapons. "New You" even has a part that sounds like a reveille, played on a horn at sunrise to wake up troops.
  • Headgear shops consistently have a laid-back, minimal instrumentation, to reference the similarly-low-key personality of their employees.
  • The version of Dripping With Style used for Man-o'-Wardrobe uses simple synths, chimes, and the sound effect of a pin dropping in a silent room to reinforce Jel La Fleur's Neat Freak tendencies.
  • Crush Station has a strong emphasis on the tuba's bassy beats for its remix, which represents the giant physique of its proprietor Mr. Coco.
  • Hotlantis has chiptune segments in its mixes, referencing its relation to Chirpy Chips' chiptune music style through Harmony.

Introduced in Splatoon

Squid Squad

From left to right: Nami, Ichiya, Quinn and Murasaki

One of Inkopolis' "hottest acts," comprised of three Inklings (lead vocalist and guitarist Ichiya, keyboardist Nami, and bassist Quinn) and an urchin (drummer Murasaki). Their songs, specifically the ones from their latest album Fresh Start, are the main tracks you will hear while playing turf war in Splatoon, with their most well known song being the final minute theme "Now or Never".

After the first game, the band has disbanded due to creative differences, and the members have gone on to appear in other bands in later games.

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• All Drummers Are Animals: What Murasaki lacks in technique, he makes up for with unbridled energy. He's called "wild child" in-universe, and is often seen weeping during his drum solos.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Murasaki is implied to be the youngest member of the band. His introductory blurb by the Squid Research Lab describes him as a youngster and a wild child.
• Bootstrapped Theme: "Splattack!", both in-universe and out, is considered the main theme of the series, especially for Turf Wars. It has received a new cover in every game since its debut.
• Breaking the Fellowship: The band broke up some time before Splatoon 2, mainly due to Quinn deciding to leave due to creative differences. The members would go on to focus on their solo careers, with Quinn forming a new band in Spatoon 2, and Nami, Ichiya and Murasaki joining back together with a new member in Splatoon 3 as Front Roe.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Nami is described as the crazy one of the group, and goes by several nicknames that support this, like "Girl from Planet Namik".
• Content Leak: An In-Universe case. "Splattack!" was leaked online without a name before it was released, which contributed to its eventual popularity in Turf Wars.
• Creative Differences: In-Universe, their cited reason as to why the band broke up. More specifically, Quinn didn't enjoy being around people who showed little opposition to his direction. Splatune 3 revealed that, like many Real Life instances of "creative differences", things were heated behind the scenes, as it led to him and Ichiya getting into an inkfight against each other.
• Dub Name Change: In the Japanese version, Nami is known as "Namida" and Quinn is "Ikkan".
• Edible Theme Naming: Their Japanese names are all references related to sushi.
• Everyone Went to School Together: According to Baker from C-Side, Ichiya used to go to school with them in the Splatlands before he decided to move to Inkopolis.
• 15 Minutes of Fame: Despite Quinn's belief of the band being just a passing fad, averted. Even several years after the band's breakup, they still hold a lot of influence in the music scene; every game has their own remix of "Splattack!" and "Now or Never" by another in-universe musician, and the latter is revered as an unofficial anthem for Turf Wars.
• Ironic Name: The band is called Squid Squad, but only three out of the four members are squids. The fourth is an urchin.
• Legendary in the Sequel: A soundtrack case. While the band has since broken up, their song "Now or Never" continues to be played in later games in the form of covers from new bands, along with the covers the idol groups make for Splatfests. "Splattack!" has also gotten a remix or cover in each new entry.
• Mentor Archetype: Quinn attempted to be this to Ichiya, trying to draw out his potential.
• Non-Standard Character Design:
  • Nami's eye mask is unusual amongst Inklings, as there is no line connecting each eye, making it more like an Octoling one.
  • Murasaki subverts this. There isn't any distinction between Murasaki's face and his spines, compared to the likes of Spyke and Murch, but later illustrations with background urchins, along with Ink Theory's own Kitamura, show that this appearance is actually pretty standard for urchins.
• The Reveal: Splatune 3 reveals some rather shocking information, mainly regarding Ichiya:
  • Ichiya is not a native of Inkopolis, but from the Splatlands, and attended the same school as Baker from C-Side.
  • Most damningly, "Now or Never" wasn't written by him, but rather plagiarized from C-Side before they could release it. The information, admittedly, is of dubious authenticity, as Baker admits in their tweets on Splatune 3 that they're writing this information while drunk, but it was close enough to the truth that it still resulted in a copyright dispute between C-Side and Front Roe, Squid Squad's successor.
• Shout-Out: One of Nami's titles is "the girl from Planet Namik". That's one letter off from Planet Namek.
• The Stoic: Quinn is described as not showing much emotion, only making slight movements during performances.
• The Smurfette Principle: Nami is the only female in the band.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Ichiya and Murasaki are the musical equivalent of this. Ichiya is the main writer and composer of the band's music, but doesn't actually know anything about music theory, getting by with flashy guitar riffs and rockstar charm. Murasaki doesn't use a lot of techniques for his drumming, sticking to basic drum fills and making up for it with an uncanny sense of rhythm.

Chirpy Chips

From left to right: Sid, Clash, Harmony and Orion

Their album art in Splatoon 2

Their album art in Splatoon 3

A four-person chiptune band, made up of sea anemone singer and synth player Harmony, Inkling guitarist Clash, flapjack octopus bassist Orion, and crab drummer Sid.

Harmony has the honor of being the first Splatband character to make an official in-game appearance, specifically as the shopkeeper for Hotlantis. See here for tropes related to her specifically.

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• Ambiguous Gender: When reading a note about Chirpy Chips' new songs during Chill Season 2023, Harmony refers to Orion as "they".
  "Ugh, that was a lot. Orion talks like they're playing bass—EXTRA."
• Auto-Tune: To fit their synth-heavy instrumentation, their vocals feature heavy use of processing. They have to lipsync to pre-recorded vocals whenever they play live, as a result.
• Bioluminescence Is Cool: They can all glow in the dark, an ability they frequently use during their performances.
• Breaking the Fellowship: The band broke up before Splatoon 2, before reforming a short while later. Blitz It was apparently written during the reformation, as the energetic vocals are attributed to the band still riding the energy of getting back together.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: 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).
• Company Cross References:
  • Shellfie has a squeaky "hey!" lyric that sounds like it's sampled from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's infamous Navi voice line and sped-up.
  • Their second band art is absolutely loaded with all sorts of Nintendo paraphernalia. In front of Harmony you can see two Game Boys and one Game Boy Camera, one Game Boy Advance, and one Nintendo DS, on Clash's right, there's a Super Scope, and on Orion's left, you can see two SNES controllers and one Famicom.
• Console Cameo: Sid's shirt design looks a lot like Splatoon 1's green ZR button icon, only with Inkling lettering on it.
• Dub Name Change: Originally known as ABXY in Japan. In addition to Paruko becoming Harmony in 3, their band profile on Splatoon Base reveals the names Sid (Shikaku), Clash (Noijī) and Orion (Raian) for the remaining band members.
• Fish Eyes: Clash's right eye is consistently drawn veering upward. It serves to highlight his uncontrollably energetic personality.
• Genki Guy: Clash is described as having a very sunny and excitable disposition. He consistently has a massive, goofy grin on all the art that features him, as well as an irresistible urge to run up or down any slope he sees, particularly ones going downhill.
• Genre Mashup: Their songs incorporate traditional Rock elements like guitars and drums, combined with Chiptune's simple waveform synths.
• Meaningful Name: For both of their band names. Chirpy Chips is an obvious reference to their chiptune style, while ABXY references the buttons on Nintendo controllers (and is possibly also a reference to Japanese chiptune band YMCK).
• Non-Standard Character Design: Despite being based off of the flapjack octopus, Orion looks nothing like a typical Octoling: they're quite lanky with a long neck and twiggy limbs, and their hair has more than four tips in addition to lacking outwards-facing suction cups.
• Rage Breaking Point: The crustacean drummer Sid is normally an easygoing person that lets other people take the spotlight. Once per year though, something snaps and they get much more rancorous.
• Recurring Character: The band has appeared in all three games in some form or another, with their songs featured in Turf War battles in 1 and 2, and Harmony becoming an NPC in 3, with the band itself returning later in the second "Chill Season" update.
• Shout-Out: The image on Orion's shirt mimics the iconic prism-adorned cover of The Dark Side of the Moon.
• Stereotypical Nerd: Orion looks weird for an octopus, is socially withdrawn, and has "geeky interests" in outdated stuff.
• Sucks at Dancing: As Orion jokingly claims, the Chirpy Chips are all terrible dancers.

Hightide Era

From left to right: Kuze, Taka and Nishida

A three-person piano rock band popular in Inkopolis's indie scene. Its members are double-lined fusilier Taka, the pianist and vocalist; herring Nishida, the guitarist; and stonefish Kuze, the drummer. The name of their band refers to the full and brimming nature of their music, and the ecological realities of the world they live in.

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• Attention Whore: Though they do a good job of hiding it, Taka cares more about the accolades and fame than the music itself.
• Badass Normal: Despite not being an Inkling or Octoling, Kuze plays in a Rainmaker team with other drummers in his spare time.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Taka is naturally gifted with the piano, playing since the age of four, but ditching an academic opportunity to start playing on the streets.
• Fan Community Nicknames: invokedIn-Universe, Hightide Era's fans are known as "Eraliens".
• Hidden Depths:
  • Despite being the classically-trained artistic lead of a highly respected indie band, Taka is more interested in relatively superficial matters such as fame rather than any sort of artistic integrity.
  • Apart from being the drummer, Kuze is also into fashion and actually designed the band's outfits.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Nishida is the youngest of 247 siblings... which is subverted regarding their species; herrings typically lay an average of 30,000 eggs, which would be way more siblings than what Nishida has.
• Shrinking Violet: Nishida doesn't like to stay in the spotlight.

Bob Dub

A dub band whose song "Dubble Bath" plays in the first two games' multiplayer waiting lobby and Equip Screen.

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• Anonymous Band: The only thing known about the band's membership is that its comprised of three inklings.
• The Cameo: The Reggae tee that has been showing up in the games borrows their album art for its design.
• Dub Name Change: Originally "Cala Marley" in Japanese.
• Named After Someone Famous: Combine the first part of their American name and the last part of their Japanese one, and you get a certain renowned reggae artist...
• Punny Name: Their Japanese name is yet another "calamari" pun...
• The Song Before the Storm: Deliberately invoked by Inklings: the official website notes that their signature song Dubble Bath is played by Inklings to relax before setting out for Turf War matches, referencing the fact that this song plays in the game settings screen right before matches start.

Turquoise October

Their Splatoon 2 album art

A band of Octarians who provide the music for your adventures in Octo Canyon and Octo Valley.

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• Anonymous Band: So far, the band's membership is entirely unknown, outside of the in-universe liner notes for Splatune saying that DJ Octavio himself appears to be the group's producer.
• Ambiguous Situation: There are hints that Marina Ida was once part of the band, namely that her demo of "Ebb & Flow" has burp-bass beats and five-note jingles similar to Turquoise October's songs, as well as her tentacle tips's default color being turquoise. However, there's been no outright confirmation as of Splatoon 3's launch.
• The Cameo: The in-game "OKTOKTOKT Flyer" locker item in 3 bears a "crowd of Octotroopers" appearance reminiscent of their album art.
• Cool Shades: Their album art in Splatoon 2 depicts the stylized Octotroopers wearing dark shades similar to Callie's hypnoshades, representing the new and stylish management the Octarians have in their second comeback.
• Dub Name Change: Originally "OCTOTOOL" in Japanese.
• Freaky Electronic Music: Their music is an eccentric mix of various samples and often strange electronic sounds (most notably the "burp" beats) mashed up to create a vaguely mechanical and militaristic "marching" vibe, and it's the official soundtrack (both in-universe and out) of the "bad guys" in the first two game's Hero Modes. Most of their new songs in Splatoon 2 do mix in a bit more of a pop music flavor as a result of getting Callie into their band.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: In-universe, this is pretty much the only reason why Inklings were aware of their music even before the start of the first game; some unknown person managed to intercept Octarian signals with their radio and save them into a pirate recording that was duplicated and passed around covertly. After DJ Octavio's brief hijacking of the Inkopolis airwaves during the first Great Zapfish heist, renewed interest in Turquoise October's music led to the original recording being rediscovered and "officially" released as an album.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Their music is meant to keep their Octarian troops coordinated and inspired. But after DJ Octavio's radio hijacking stunt widened public awareness to Turquoise October, their songs have actually helped a number of Inklings develop something resembling personal discipline. Their music may have even helped Agent 3 and Agent 4 keep their heads in the game during their respective adventures to retake the Zapfish and defeat DJ Octavio.
• Recurring Riff: "Onward", a short, five note jingle that, while mostly associated with Octarians as a whole, mostly appears in songs by Turquoise October. It plays as the end of level theme in all three games, minus Octo Expansion, and pops up frequently in other Octarian related tunes.
• Sdrawkcab Speech: Some of their Splatoon 2 music feature vocals which turn out to be backwards samples taken from Squid Sisters songs, namely the parts where Callie is singing, foreshadowing her involvement with the Octarians.
• Subliminal Seduction: Something of a positive example: according to Splatune, listening to their music causes the normally hedonistic Inklings to wake up as early as 7 AM every morning, and generally just start living a more disciplined lifestyle. This implies that the music is meant in part to help Octarian troops maintain cohesion even in the face of danger.
• Translation Nod: Their Splatoon 1 album art actually appears to use the series' Wingdinglish to write their name as "Turquoise October" across all languages, rather than sticking with their original name of "OCTOTOOL" in Japanese (which is the case for their 2 album art).
• Uncertain Doom: Their fate in Splatoon 3 is unknown, as the army they provide music for has been captured by the Big Bad of the single player campaign. The Crater levels music is shown to have been made by them, with the music for the Alterna levels being made by a new band called "Octoplush", but whether they're the same band under a new name is unknown.

Introduced in Splatoon 2

Wet Floor

From left to right: Keaton, Ryley, Mizo, Candi and Neil

The main band of Splatoon 2, Wet Floor is a five-piece rock band that has become especially popular with the kids of Inkopolis, thanks to their enticing blend of different genres. They consist three Inklings (synth player Keaton, and guitarists Ryley and Mizo), cutthroat eel bassist Neil, and candy crab drummer Candi.

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• Achievements in Ignorance: According to the Splatune 2 liner notes, Ryley managed to compose the main riff of "Don't Slip" without even realizing that it was in 7/4 until she started recording it.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Keaton's skin is colored teal, and Mizo also has chalk white skin, although Inklings can change the color of their skin.
• Anime Hair:
  • Candi's... hair? (or at least a crab shell that looks the part) has its top part shaped exactly like a crab claw.
  • Mizo's hair covers the top half of his head completely, and has a glassy, shiny, translucent look that faintly reveals his eyebrows underneath.
• Dub Name Change: In Japan, Keaton is Kagi, Ryley is Ryan, Mizo is Mizole, Candi is Kazami, and Neil is Tsumabushi.
• Eyes Out of Sight: Mizo's hair covers his eyes, although its transparency means his eyebrows are still visible. Neil has a similar case, except his eyes are covered by his massive lips.
• Forehead of Doom: Ryley joins Pearl and Frye in the "girls with big foreheads" club, and might honestly rival them both in the department.
• The Gadfly: Subverted in that she doesn't cause any discord within her band, but Candi admits that she enjoys watching Ryley and Mizo bicker while she's on drums.
• Hidden Depths: Candi is spontaneous and right-brained, but in private, is very self-critical of her performance when listening to recordings.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Neil and Candi share a friendly rivalry with each other, and are respectively the tallest and shortest members of the band.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Candi is named after the candy crab, which is her species.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Keaton's skin is colored teal, the same as his ink color, an unusual skin tone to have when most regular inklings have more natural colors.
• Not a Morning Person: Neil is the only member of the band that works well in mornings.
• Rule of Symbolism: Their icon featured on their album art looks like a hyper-stylized version of a typical "wet floor" sign, natch.
• Shrinking Violet: Keaton prefers being in the studio, tinkering with the sounds of the band, over performing live.
• Theme Naming: The names of their songs seem to carry a theme of inertia or momentum, as each name holds a reference to some type of movement. Endolphin Surge is a pun on an endorphin surge, Rip Entry is a dive that results in little splashing, Undertow is a type of current, Don't Slip is a warning against slipping, and Inkoming is what one would shout about an object coming towards you at an alarming rate.
• Title Drop: Part of Inkoming!'s lyrics sounds like at least one of them yelling out "Splatoon!". Or, maybe "Splat-two!".
• Unknown Rival: Mizo styles himself as a rival to Squid Squad, specifically Ichiya, though he often finds himself unable to escape their influence. With Squid Squad having disbanded, it's hard to tell if the other band is aware of this.
• Visual Pun: Mizo's hairstyle, with its transparency, gives him a resemblance to shaved ice. It's also what his Japanese name, Mizole, refers to.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Mizo and Ryley both work together in composing, but tend to disagree with each other often, such as their opposite views on Squid Squad (Mizo styles himself as a rival to the band, while Ryley is a devoted fan). However, when they do come together, they perfectly complement each other's style.

Ink Theory

From left to right: Maya, Oonie, Yoko, Karen, Zuzu and Kitamura

An all-female six-piece jazz band. They all come from backgrounds with extensive musical training, which they make good use of in their music. They're comprised of Inkling frontwoman and trumpet player Yoko, nautilus pianist Karen, Inkling kazoo player Zuzu, urchin bassist Oonie, sea anemone percussionist Maya, and urchin drummer and mascot Kitamura.

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• A Dog Named "Dog": Oonie's name is just the phonetic rendering of the Japanese word for "urchin", making her essentially an urchin named Urchin. It's the same with her Japanese name, Aachin, which is just the pronunciation of the English term for her species.
• Beneath the Mask: Both Yoko and Karen are more insecure than they let on. Yoko is the frontwoman of the band, but feels she's overshadowed by her bandmates' personalities. Karen is supportive and seems self-assured, but fears she's not as popular as the rest of the band.
• Big Eater: Implied with Kitamura in the bands Valentine's day art, whose shown preparing to eat an ice cream sundae that easily dwarfs the rest of her bandmates' orders.
• Bilingual Bonus: The hat Yoko wears in the Valentine's Day artwork◊ has text on it that, unusually, is not in the Inkling text, but in actual Japanese. Specifically, it reads "可憐," which translates to "pretty". Coincidentally, the word is also pronounced "Karen".
• The Cameo: An urchin that resembles Kitamura◊ appears in one of the Octo Expansion chat logs, implying she was a fan of Pearl back in her metal days.
• Cephalothorax: Karen's body plan is basically this, as her "head" is just the whole nautilus, shell and all, while her "body" is just her cirri stuffed into a dress in mimicry of one.
• Chromosome Casting: Everyone in Ink Theory is female.
• Consistent Clothing Style: Yoko always wears a hat with multiple small points sticking out from the top of its crown. She's shown wearing different ones in different artworks, but they always follow that particular design without fail.
• Delicate and Sickly: Yoko suffers from an unknown condition that makes her sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure. Rainy days leave her with a dead face, and even in sunny weather she seems to struggle. It hasn't stopped her from being the competent frontwoman of a succesful jazz band, however.
• Determinator: Yoko has a condition that makes her suffer in most kinds of weather, even sunny, and she gets nervous before large performances. She's described, however, as a hard worker who gives a solid performance regardless.
• The Ditherer: The valentine's day artwork implies this of Oonie. While all of the other girls already have their orders in front of them, Oonie is shown still deliberating over the menu.
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: Zuzu has this expression in every piece of art featuring her, which emphasizes her stoic beauty.
• Dub Name Change: Maya, Oonie and Zuzu go by Mayaya, Aachin and Bibi respectively in the original Japanese. The group itself was originally known as Current Trip
• Everyone Went to School Together: Karen and Taka from Hightide Era attended the same musical academy. Taka was her senior, and seeing one of his performances is what inspired her to form Ink Theory.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Yoko's eyemask is thicker beneath her eyes compared to how other Inkling eyemasks look, giving the impression she has eye bags. Considering her condition, it makes sense she's always tired.
• Experienced Protagonist: They all have been playing music since youth, and have experience in academic music theory that gives them a strong edge in the music scene despite their recent debut. Karen, Bibi and Mayaya are specifically noted to have graduated with high honors from prestigious music academies.
• The Face: Zuzu is treated as the face of the band by their fanbase, being closer to the public than the other members, and frequently being pulled in front of the cameras.
• The Faceless: Maya has no facial features beyond a simple hole for a mouth. It makes her stand out against other more humanoid anemones like Harmony and Annie.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: If the urchin in the Octo Expansion chat log image of Pearl's past is the same one as her, then the cutesy Kitamura is a metalhead. It's supported by her new design in Yoko and the Gold Bazookas, which has her wear a black dress that's studded with spikes around the bottom.
• Guest-Star Party Member: While Ink Theory is Maya's main band, she occasionally does freelance percussion for other bands.
• Has a Type: Oonie has a habit of dating self-degrading people.
• Iconic Item: Yoko's three-pointed hat design is iconic enough to feature in all of her outfits and be the logo for the band she joined after Ink Theory.
• Kaleidoscope Hair: Yoko has a mutation that allows her hair to be multiple colors at the same time. It is not as useful as you'd think it is.
• Kazoos Mean Silliness: Averted. Ink Theory's use of the kazoo isn't meant to be any more humorous than any other band, and their kazoo player Zuzu actually inverts this trope, as she consistently appears with an eyes-half-lidded deadpan expression.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Zuzu is the most popular member of the band, is addressed by her fans with the Japanese honorific "-sama" (which is used to address someone considered to be on a higher rank than oneself), and is implied to be financially well off. There's nothing that indicates she doesn't get along with her band, however, as the Valentine's Day artwork showcases.
• Mascot: Kitamura acts as the mascot for Ink Theory thanks to her cute looks.
• Never Bareheaded: In all four artworks that she's appeared in, Yoko has never been seen without a hat of some kind.
• No Mouth: Kitamura has no visible mouth on her face. What's implied to be her signature on Hotlantis has a doodle of herself with a cat smile, however, so it seems her mouth is just not visible to the viewer.
• Non-Standard Character Design:
  • Mayaya is a sea anemone, like Annie and Harmony. Unlike them, she is much more inhuman in design, being The Faceless with tendril hands. She also lacks a clownfish partner like the other two.
  • Oonie also looks unusual compared to other urchins, partly due to her Fingerless Hands, but mostly due to her head being devoid of spines, leaving her test completely visible. It is seemingly meant to emulate Boyish Short Hair.
• Performance Anxiety: Yoko is noted to get nervous before large performances.
• Prematurely Grey-Haired: Implied with Yoko. While we never see under her hat, you can barely see in some artworks that her tentacles start to turn gray as they approach her head.
• Put on a Bus: While Yoko, Oonie and Kitamura appear in Splatoon 3 as part of Yoko and the Gold Bazookas, Karen, Zuzu and Maya are absent, having likely remained in Inkopolis.
• The Rival: With Bottom Feeders. Both debuted at around the same time, and use classical instruments but with radically different styles, and as a result tend to not get along.
• Shout-Out: Zuzu is nicknamed "Queen Bibi", in reference to Beyoncé's nickname "Queen B".
• Skintone Sclerae: Kitamura's eyes are drawn as simple circles with dots in them, with the sclerae being the same color as her face.
• Team Mom: Karen provides emotional support for the band. A good thing to have when your frontwoman tends to get nervous before large productions.
• Vague Age: Kitamura is the smallest and youngest-looking member of the band, and her cute looks contribute to her role as the band's mascot. She's noted, however, to already be living on her own, although still observing a curfew. She looks no different five years later in Splatoon 3.
• Whole Costume Reference: An In-Universe example. The group's uniform is similar to those of Hightide Era, black clothes with a tie. Theirs are gold colored however. This is because Karen was inspired by Hightide Era to form the band, and is emulating their look as a tribute.

Bottom Feeders

From left to right: Bertie, Murdoch, Finn, Tangle and Jawn

A Celtic rock band originating from a country up north, with music fusing ancient Celtic sea shanties with punk rock. Their members are betta fish fiddler Finn, mozuko seaweed vocalist Tangle, Yesso scallop guitarist Murdoch, shark bassist Jawn, and globefish drummer Bertie.

Their performances and song progression tend to change based on the mood of its members, which can to be pretty discordant at times.

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• Ambiguous Gender: Finn's gender is generally pretty unclear, thanks to incorporating masculine and feminine traits:
  • Their design suggests Tertiary Sexual Characteristics that are classically associated with femininity, incorporating high-heeled boots, a fin-like skirt, and waist-length fin-hair.
  • Finn's fins are vibrantly-colored and split near the tips. Male betta fish have this appearance; females do not.
  • For White Day,^note  in Japan, Valentine's Day is different from the west: Valentine's Day is specific to girls, who give chocolate to boys they're interested in, while White Day is specific to boys, who reciprocate the chocolate back, a Splatoon 2 artwork was drawn featuring many of the identified male Splatband characters, and Finn. But this isn't explicit confirmation, only an association (in fact, the corresponding Valentine's Day artwork features the male Quinn in it).
  • One of Baker's tweets from the Splatune 3 album seems to address Finn as a girl, but since this is written from Baker's perspective and they don't personally know Finn, this could be a possible case of Unsettling Gender-Reveal and doesn't provide any outright confirmation.
• Ambiguously Related: They all share the surname of Feeder (Bottom in Japanese), despite none of them sharing a species. It may be a shared pseudonym.
• Badass Normal: Bertie is in a rainmaker team with other drummers, capable of participating in the ink-based sport despite not being an Inkling himself.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: Compared to the more drastic name changes on the other band members, Finn's name is just the original name with an additional "n" added to it.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: They are a very dysfunctional band, with Finn often going their own way, causing he band to nearly break up several times, Tangle being derided as a terrible songwriter, and the rest of the band not really caring about the quality of their music, just being there to have fun. Despite that, they're successful and talented enough to be rivals with Ink Theory, who are by comparison better put together and have graduated from prestigious music academies.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Jawn's name in the Japanese version, Fuka, is just a Japanese word for Shark.
• Doing It for the Art: In-Universe: the main motivation of the band is to share the beauty of traditional-style music in the face of a changing world. They release their music under their own record label as a result.
• Doting Parent: Bertie has an only daughter whom he strongly cares for and adores.
• Dub Name Change: They're known as From Bottom in Japan. Bertie is "Blow", Jawn is "Fuka", and Murdoch is "Murutā".
• Foil: To Ink Theory. Both bands use traditional acoustic instruments like fiddles and pianos, but Ink Theory plays groovy modern jazz and Bottom Feeders plays hard-driving Celtic rock. Ink Theory's band art is light-colored and has them dressed up nicely; Bottom Feeders' band art is dark and features them in plain clothes. Ink Theory's band members are gentle and some of them are self-insecure; Bottom Feeders' members are brash and confident. Ink Theory is all-female; Bottom Feeders only have one known male player (Tangle), but are otherwise still masculine-coded.^note Jawn, Bertie, and Murdoch have wider and/or squarer body shapes that are typically associated with male characters (as opposed to female characters who are typically slender or curvy), and Finn's design incorporates traits of a male betta fish. Karen's motivation to start Ink Theory was because she was inspired by another band; Tangle, on the other hand, is driven to his leader position because he dislikes the current state of the musical world.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Tangle is the leader of the band, but his fellow members don't really like him all that much, and his mediocre songwriting is criticized harshly by them. An artwork celebrating White Day◊ that features the band shows Finn outright attacking him with no one present bothering to break up the fight; Bertie is watching them duke it out with an exhausted apathy, while Hightide Era's Taka looks on while sporting a grin that screams "pass the popcorn".
• Furry Reminder:
  • Finn's stubborn personality and fierce rivalry with Ink Theory matches pretty well with the species they're based on, as the tropical betta fish is aggressively territorial by nature.
  • Jawn's Trademark Favorite Food is meat, as one might expect of a shark.
• The Generic Guy: The frontrunners Finn and Tangle have most of the personality; Murdoch, Jawn, and Bertie are all primarily described in HaikaraWalker as simply being more interested in playing for fun than for quality, with just one or two slight quirks each (namely Murdoch's fondness for cute girls, Jawn's interest in Cool Bikes and meat, and Bertie being a doting father who plays Rainmaker).
• Going Commando: If you pay attention to Bertie's pose, you might notice that, beneath his kilt, he's not wearing underpants, for his green flesh is shown.
• Has a Type: Murdoch's partial to cute girls.
• Inconsistent Dub: For some reason, the English Splatbase website lists all their surnames as "Feeder", then contradicts itself on the same page by mentioning that they all have a shared last name of "Bottom" instead.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: 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.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Bertie's Japanese name, Blow, refers to the blowfish, of which his species is a member of. Tangle is named that way because he resembles a jumbled ball of mozuku seaweed. And Jawn is a Punny Name between "John" and "Jaw", referencing sharks' naturally sharp teeth.
• The Load: The rest of the band criticizes Tangle because they think his songwriting is mediocre.
• Man in a Kilt: To highlight their Celtic rock influence, Tangle and Bertie dress in red-and-green kilts. The latter visibly honors the time-weathered tradition of not wearing underwear beneath it.
• Non-Standard Character Design: In a world where marine animal life became the new dominant species, Tangle stands out among them by being a marine algae rather than an animal.
• Plant Person: Well, seaweed aren't plants, but algae, but the trope still stands for Tangle, who is a sapient mass of edible seaweed.
• The Rival: With Ink Theory. Both are bands featuring traditional instruments that debuted at around the same time, but their radically different styles result in them tending to not get along.
• With Friends Like These...: The group isn't the most functional of musical bands. It has nearly disbanded on multiple occasions, with Finn's stubbornness causing most if not all of them.

Diss-Pair

Mashup and Quinn

During a tour overseas, former Squid Squad bassist Quinn had a chance encounter with Octoling DJ and wordsmith Mashup. This mismatch made in heaven results in the discordant ditties that make up the discography of Diss-Pair's music.

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• Ambiguously Brown: Like Marina, another dark-skinned Octoling, Mashup's ethnic background is never revealed.
• Auto-Tune: Mashup's vocals are like this, which contrasts well with Quinn's more guttural ones.
• Dreamworks Face: Mashup does a smirk with a Fascinating Eyebrow on the band's album art. Amusingly, this is apparently a part of their brand, as their signature on Hotlantis in Splatoon 3 includes a doodle of the same expression.
• Dub Name Change: In Japan, Diss-Pair is 合食禁 ("gasshokukin", meaning "clashing tastes"), and Mashup is known as "Warabi".
• Inconsistent Dub: The band page for Diss-Pair on the English version of Splatoon Base calls them by their Japanese name in the blurb, while giving different English names under their images.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Marina's Japanese dialogue for the Fam Vs. Friend Splatfest reveals that she is friends with Mashup and Paul from SashiMori. That is the only time this fact is ever mentioned or acknowledged.
• Genre Mashup: Their music is best described as "Electronic Dance Music mixed with Heavy Metal in various ratios", and the entire basis of the duo is the weird combination that produces. Seasick uses electronic synths in a heavy metal-like composition, while Kinetosis is a more EDM-like with Harsh Vocals for flavor.
• Harsh Vocals: Quinn retains these as the deeper-voiced singer from Squid Squad. Both their songs incorporate deep, harsh, distorted lyrics from him.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Diss-Pair is a portmanteau of Dissonant and Pair, and made to sound like Despair, in reference to their mismatched nature as a duo, and the somewhat edgy tone of their music.
  • Their Japanese name refers to the concept of "gasshokukin", ie. food that shouldn't be eaten together, once again referring to their clashing musical styles. Mashup's Japanese namesake (the plant known in English as bracken) is a pun on this concept: octopus doesn't go with bracken.
• Odd Friendship: 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.
• The Reveal: A magazine blurb in HaikaraWalker reveals that Mashup was born to famous actors who gave him an upbringing that allowed him to listen to music from around the world, implying that even before the events of the first game, there were already Octolings living on the surface with no connections to DJ Octavio or the Octarian domes (something all but confirmed in 3 with the reveal of the Splatlands and Shiver).
• Theme Naming: The name of their songs are in reference to sicknesses. Seasick is easy enough to understand, while Kinetosis is the medical term for motion sickness.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Their first encounter was mistaken as an argument, but that vitriol is what gives their music its unique edge. It's also why Quinn seems to be staying in this band, as he cites the lack of resistance he faced while in Squid Squad as the reason for his departure. The two seem to get along otherwise, with Quinn respecting Mashup's intelligence and cleverness.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: They're described as tonally at-odds, but all the better for their mismatching.

SashiMori

From left to right: Karla, Ryu Chang, Paul and Myron "Ronnie" Swamps

Formerly a wall-of-sound hard rock band, comprised of scaly foot-gastropod bassist Karla, carp drummer Ryu Chang, and largehead hairtail guitarist Myron "Ronnie" Swamps. They reformed under a new name after ditching their former domineering singer, and replaced them with a young Octoling DJ, Paul, forming SashiMori.

Their most distinctive trait is their lack of a vocalist, as all of their song's vocals are mixed from other sources by Paul, most notably from ancient records of the human era.

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• Ambiguous Situation:
  • SashiMori's introduction post makes mention of them formerly having a lead singer, who's described to have a domineering personality, and Harsh Vocals that only their Made of Iron bassist Karla could handle. These traits match with what we know of Off the Hook's Pearl, who had a past as a metal singer, and has a fairly egotistical personality. When the developers were asked about this connection, they only gave a Mathematician's Answer as a response.
  • Paul's potential relation to Acht, as they're both incredibly skilled DJs and his beanie has a tag bearing the same logo that's on their hat, as well as both wearing black tops. The HaikaraWalker magazine points out this relation, and wonders if they're either related somehow, or simply follow the same brand. Nothing has come out of it as of Side Order.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Paul is a ten-year old Octoling, having yet to achieve humanoid form, and is in a band with three other adults; when he first approached them, they almost dismissed him under the assumption that he wouldn't be able to contribute meaningfully because of that.
• Badass Normal: Ryu Chang is apparently part of a rainmaker team called Underpass Bass Drum, somehow capable of participating in the ink-based sport without being an Inkling himself.
• Child Prodigy: Paul is already an accomplished DJ at the age of ten. He has also been seen playing chess with adults, and beating them at it.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Myron apparently did not like Paul during his early days in the band, describing him as "tiny and awful". He seems to have eventually changed his mind, however.
• Dub Name Change: Taichi Sawaberu goes by Myron "Ronnie" Swamps in English translations.
• Free-Range Children: At the young age of 10, Paul was already on the Splatoon world equivalent of Twitter, and managed to join a well respected musical act as their highly talented DJ. There's no mention as to whether his parents approved of the whole deal, assuming he has any.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Marina's Japanese dialogue for the Fam Vs. Friend Splatfest reveals that she is friends with Paul and Mashup from Diss-Pair. That is the only time this fact is ever mentioned or acknowledged.
• Made of Iron: Accurate to their species, Karla's shell is ironclad and sturdy, a trait that was beneficial in another, now disbanded band they were part of, as it allowed them to handle the singer's harsh death metal vocals.
• Mysterious Past: Not much is known about Karla's past beyond a previous membership in a metal band. Not even their age. They're noted to not have any bad intentions, though.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Non-Standard Vocal Design in this case. The female vocals in Entropical are noticably lacking in any filters that are commonly used in the rest of the vocals of other songs, sounding clearer than anything before it. As the band's introductory post explains, this is because the vocals are remixed by Paul from old human vinyls into Inkling.
• The Quiet One: Karla is noted to be quite silent, mostly responding to questions in interviews with Visible Silence.
• Sampling: They've long ago replaced their singer after getting fed up with their domineering personality, with the vocals in their songs being created by Paul through remixing other vocals from other bands. Specifically from the likes of DJ Real Sole, DJ Octavio, and ancient vinyls from the human era.
• Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism: The band members showcase this, being each a different level of anthropomorphic sea creature. Myron is just an oversized largehead hairtail wearing clothes, Ryu Chang is a humanoid carp with a beard, Paul is an Octoling who is on his way of metamorphosing into an mostly human-looking form, save for the distinctive tentacle-hair and eye markings. Karla ends up playing the trope for laughs, as they have essentialy a human body whose head is just an entire scaly-foot gastropod.
• Smart People Play Chess: Paul is shown playing what appears to be the Splatoon equivalent of chess in the White Day artwork◊ against Jawn. And judging by his Jawn's nervous sweating, Paul's winning handily.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kelp and biscuits for Paul.
• Truth in Television: One of the things said about Karla is that they've never been seen eating. This is in reference to the fact the Scaly-Foot Gastropod doesn't eat at all. It's an obligate Symbiotroph that relies on internal bacteria to produce nutrition for them.

ω-3 (Omega-3)

The band providing the music you hear on your Salmon Run shifts, comprised of three nameless Salmonids; a cellist, a timpanist, and a DJ. Their music is there to raise the morale of the Salmonid horde, encouraging them to splat those pesky Inklings and Octolings intruding on their turf.

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• The Baby of the Bunch: The DJ is the youngest member of the band — the cellist is in his 50's, and the timpanist in his late 20's — and is noted to have the temperament of a rebellious teenager.
• Boss Remix: Whenever the Salmonids come to invade Inkopolis and Splatsville during a Big Run, ω-3 trades Deluge Dirge away for Bait and Click, a remix of C-Side's Clickbait using their signature discordant soundfont. The Salmonids aren't just invading the cities, they're invading the multiplayer music too!
• The Cameo: Jammin' Salmon Station, a Salmon Run stage taking place near a broken down interstate bridge upcycled into a concert venue, bears the band's logo on the side of the building in a big orange sign.
• Cannot Spit It Out: The cellist is described as very clumsy and only capable of expressing his feelings in songs.
• Cool Old Guy: The cellist is over fifty years old and not only provides the most prominent part of Salmon Run's music: the hectic, chaotic strings, but also composes all of the music as the leader of the band.
• Creepy Circus Music: "Frothy Waters" has this vibe, being bouncier and goofier than its fellow nighttime wave song "Fishing Frenzy" while still feeling as threatening as the usual ω-3 discography. It plays in the more minigame-like waves, such as Mothership and Goldie Seeking, where the threat of being splatted is lower and the chances of earning many Golden Eggs is higher, so the vibe fits quite well.
• Dark Reprise: While Bait and Click, the Clickbait remix that plays during Big Runs, is closer to a Boss Remix, the version that plays in the lobby of Grizzco is closer to this trope. It's a stripped-back version, with the cellist taking front and center with the occasional beat of the timpanis and bitcrushed lightning sound to provide flavor, and serves to set a much more ominous tune for the Salmonids' invasion of Inkopolis and Splatsville.
• Drums of War: All their songs have loud, noticeable percussion, sounding akin to a war march. This is paired with them being a violent and wholly antagonistic faction to cephalopod society.
• Eyepatch of Power: The Valiant Green Flame Born in Jigokudani wears an eyepatch over their left eye. Although, upon closer inspection, it's actually just a collander. The eye is visible underneath.
• Fish Eyes: The DJ's eyes are facing opposite directions, a trait shared with most other members of their species that highlight their wild personality.
• The Ghost: In a manner different to the other bands. While for the other bands, their songs being played in stages can be explained away as recordings, ω-3 is implied to be physically present in the Salmon Run stages, playing their music live, but from somewhere no one can actually see.
• Hidden Depths: While their role in the Salmon Runs is more akin to that of war drummers than a musical act, their descriptions make clear they personally care about music as an art form as much as the other bands do.
  • On an individual level, the Cellist is extremely stubborn and opinionated about music, only listening to the most radical of works, but has a sensitive side that cares about the atmosphere of their venues.
• It Can Think: If you needed anymore proof that Salmonids are a sentient species, than ω-3 is the definitive proof. They're a musical act with just as much personality as the other bands in Splatoon, and even have their own merch sold in Inkopolis.
• Legacy Character: The ω (Omega) in ω-3 is a title bestowed to only the best of musical bands in Salmonid culture.
• Meaningful Name: Omega-3 fatty acids are commonly found in fish oil, such as that from salmon.
• Motif: Like the rest of the Salmonids they have a food theme, with the cellist wearing a colander over one of their eyes and using a cello that resembles a salmon steak, the timpanist having drums resembling grills and drumsticks that are just corn cobs stuck on forks, and one of the "instruments" behind the DJ being a household microwave.
• Name That Unfolds Like Lotus Blossom: Their names are 'The Valiant Green Flame Born in Jigokudani', 'The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon Emperor Hizunamasu', and 'The Firstborn Child of Alkyne, the Hidden Blade of Yakiharas'. Don't try saying that all in one breath.
• Rhyming Title: Many of their songs are titled with rhyming in the English translation. "Surge & Submerge", "Deluge Dirge", "Frantic Aspic", and "Toxic Anoxic".
• No Social Skills: The timpanist has trouble taking into account the feelings of others.
• A Pig Named "Porkchop": The DJ's name refers to Hizunamasu, a Japanese dish made from sliced salmon head cartilage, while the Cellist's name has Yakiharas, which (when its words are ordered backwards) references Shake no Harasuyaki, a dish prepared from grilled salmon belly.
• "Psycho" Strings: All of their songs play the discordant cello strings, but some of them stand out especially:
  • The music "Fishing Frenzy" is where the strings are amplified to create a whine similar to that of a rising alarm. This music only plays at nightfall, and are heavily associated with Grillers and Rush, night waves that often wipe out more Grizzco crews than any other wave. The official JP Splatoon Twitter's post even lampshades that "Fishing Frenzy" will give players nightmares even when they're not playing.
  • "Frantic Aspic" has a segment that references none other than the Jaws theme played when the shark is sneaking up on its victim.
• Red Baron: Salmonids do not have individual names, but rather go by titles related to what their tribes are known for:
  • The cellist is "The Firstborn Child of Alkyne, the Hidden Blade of Yakiharas."
  • The drummer is "The Valiant Green Flame Born in Jigokudani."
  • The DJ is "The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon King Hizunamasu."
• Sampling: "Bait & Click" borrows some sounds from "Clickbait". The remix opens with a scratchier rendition of Clickbait, and around the 50 second mark, the main synth section of Clickbait plays — only barely audible and quietly fading, with Bait & Click's cello and timpani drowning out the original song.
• Scare Chord: Featured prominently in all of their songs.
• Stealth Pun: ω-3 is a reference to the nutrient omega-3, a fatty acid that is often taken by eating fish such as salmon.
• Theme Music Power-Up: Salmonids view music as the signal that the Salmon Run has begun, and to raise the morale of their troups. Three to five Salmonids per battalion carry the duty of performing the music, with ω-3 being considered "the fattiest" among them.
• Uncommon Time: None of their songs use standard time signatures, to add to the chaotic feel of Salmon Run. Their Splatoon 3 nighttime theme, Frothy Waters, exaggerates it, as the song steadily increases in time signature every single bar.
• Variable Mix: 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.
• Visual Pun: Their band art has a noticeable form of distortion, where objects that normally have straight edges (such as the background kitchen shelf) appear to be curving towards the viewer. They're being viewed through a fisheye lens.
• With Friends Like These...: It's never said, but given the band members' clashing personalities — the cellist respects only the most radical of works, the timpanist has No Social Skills, and the DJ is disrespectful towards authority figures — it is likely that the band doesn't get along well with itself.

Acht a.k.a. Dedf1sh

^{Click here to see Acht before sanitization}

"Cool it. I'm not your enemy. Just another bystander who got sucked in."

A sanitized Octoling whose music is played in the Deepsea Metro test domes in the Splatoon 2 DLC, Octo Expansion. They eventually make a physical appearance in the Splatoon 3 DLC, Side Order, serving as Eight's guide through the Spire of Order.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: By virtue of being sanitized, their body is a bright shade of neon green. It remains that way even after the events of Side Order, implying it's permanent. Their skin was a more natural peach tone before they were sanitized.
• Ambiguous Gender Identity: Although Acht looks like a female Octoling, and was referred to with she/her pronouns in promotional material from Splatoon 2, promotional material and dialogue for Side Order use gender neutral pronouns for them instead, suggesting they're non-binary. Their Japanese dialogue also has them use ぼく (boku) as their personal pronoun; in fiction, this can indicate a tomboy or gender non-conforming person.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • The design on Acht's hat also shows up on DJ Paul's beanie, implying a connection between the two that has yet to be elaborated on. The HaikaraWalker magazine itself brings up this connection, wondering whether the two are blood-related, or simply like the same brand.
  • Octoplush has a song called #35 Caught, a named that matches Dedf1sh's Theme Naming 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.
• Ascended Extra: From existing solely as the source for the music of Octo Expansion, and never being seen at any point in the game's campaign, to a major NPC in Side Order.
• Bilingual Bonus: Shaved into Acht's undercut are katakana that together form their surname, Mizuta.
• Boss Remix: They're the one who made the "Splattack!" remix for the penultimate boss of Octo Expansion.
• Breakout Character: Acht was once a mere background character with only a single picture and few paragraphs of lore attached to their name, and outright created as an afterthought just to give Octo Expansion's music some flavor. Their popularity managed to get them a role as a major character in the Side Order DLC.
• The Bus Came Back: They return in Splatoon 3's Side Order after going entirely unmentioned since Octo Expansion.
• Connected All Along: Side Order reveals that they're an old friend of Marina's from her days in military academy.
• Cultural Rebel: They grew up in the heavily militarized Octarian Domes, attending military academy with the other octolings and Marina. They make it clear, though, that they had little interest in combat or being diligent, resulting in them constantly skipping classes and winding up in a security position later in life.
• Dark and Troubled Past: 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. 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.
• Deadpan Snarker: Their wit is rather dry, usually in regards to Marina and Pearl's eccentrities.
• Empty Shell: Acht is nothing but a shell of who they originally were, with no will of their own other than the remaining desire to create music. Their appearance in Side Order implies they've recovered from this, revealed by Marina to be due to having entered the Memverse, as it was the very intent of the simulation to help sanitized Octarians recover their memories and free will.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Under their glasses, they have the same infinity symbol shaped pupils as Marina and Shiver.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: A downplayed case, as Acht has only been sanitized since the events of Splatoon 2 (so for about five or six years), but one particular elevator conversation has them express unfamiliarity with the Brellas, which were released a while after their procedure.
• Given Name Reveal: HaikaraWalker, the Octo Expansion artbook, reveals their real name is Mizuta Ahato, or Ahato Mizuta in the English name order. The trailer for Side Order reveals their first name in English is Acht, based on the same German word.
• Leet Lingo: Their pseudonym is a corruption of "dead fish."
• Locked into Strangeness: Even though their sanitization has been undone, they keep the green skin and blue and red tentacles they had while still under Tartar's control.
• Master of All: Described as having mastered every genre of music. Their discography reflects this and features multiple contrasting styles; #8 Regret is lo-fi, #14 Crush is electro-swing, #19 Bless is an Ennio Morricone Pastiche, "Splattack - Octo" is breakcore, and so on.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Their pseudonym is Dedf1sh, referencing that they are little more than a shell of their former self.
  • Their given name also has its own meanings. "Mizuta" likely comes from Mizudako, the name of the Giant Pacific Octopus in Japanese, while "Ahato" is the Japanese rendering for "Acht", which is German for the number Eight. Their English name leans into it by just calling them Acht.
• Mission Control: Their role in "Side Order". They stay back in the elevator while Pearl and Eight go out to complete the stages, while allowing them to examine color chips and floor goals. They won't do much else for several reasons, mainly due to the injury they sustained, the fact that the elevator will return to the foyer if its left empty... and because they really like hanging around in the corner.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: 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.
• Noodle Incident: It's never explained how they managed to get into the Memverse. Marina designed it so that you can enter it through the use of a Sea-Cucumber Phone, which they would be unlikely to own considering their sanitized state and, as revealed in a Famitsu interview, still being in the Deep Sea Metro at the time.
• Non-Action Guy: The injury they sustained keeps them in the elevator, acting as Mission Control for you. Later details on their backstory imply that even without the injury, they wouldn't be of much help, as they are averse to combat and slacked off during military training (it's too much like work).
• Only Sane Woman: Well, only sane person, but they still fit the trope, as they act with some little indifference whenever Pearl and Marina start pampering each other with their usual fluff dialogue.
• Opposites Attract: A platonic case: Acht, a slacker and serial truant back in their academy days, managed to become friends with Marina, a hardworking overachiever.
• The Perfectionist: Acht's main motivation in music was the pursuit of "breakbeat perfection".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Well, red shades in this case, but it's subverted on two sides. Their shades are a very stark red color, but they are nothing but a helpful ally to Eight and Off the Hook. And on the other side, their eyes are actually yellow as seen in their pictures from before their sanitization.
• The Slacker: 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."
• Shout-Out: To deadmau5, as DJs with stage names derived from dead animals that contain Leet Lingo.
• Splash of Color: Their neon green skin and black attire contrasts strongly with the Deliberately Monochrome aesthetic of the Spire of Order, making them stand out strongly.
• The Stoic: Speaks in an even tone and always has a neutral expression on their face. It's likely a side effect of their sanitization, considering the behaviour of other Sanitized Octolings and how Acht themselves looked like before their procedure.
• Straight Man: They generally have a neutral disposition, which gives Pearl and Marina's more spirited dialogue something to bounce off of.
• Tareme Eyes: Their eyes are triangular and angled downward at the edges, giving them a downcast, nervous appearance.
• Technically-Living Zombie: Maybe. One of the things known about sanitization is that the victims lack vital signs. While they do get their memories and soul back, it isn't made clear if they also regained their vitals or are still technically dead.
• Theme Naming: Their songs are titled with a number and a single word, such as "#11 Above". When arranged in a list, they (somewhat vaguely) tell the story of their escape from the Octarian domes and subsequent sanitisation in the Deepsea Metro.
• Token Heroic Orc: The only good sanitized Octarian seen so far, having retained their free will. An intentional design by Marina, in fact, as the Memverse's purpose is to help said sanitized regain their memories and free will.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: They receive an injury to their left hand from the Jelletons when they first enter the Foyer before Side Order, rendering them out of comission for the campaign. Unusual considering the fact that they're in a virtual reality where only their mind is meant to be real, but it's never really addressed any further. Come the finale, Marina manages to heal the hand in time for Acht to join her in a performance against the Overlorder.

Introduced in Splatoon 3

C-Side

From left to right: Walter, Baker, and Kiki

The hottest musical sensation coming out of the Splatlands, C-Side is a grungy garage rock band of humble origins, comprised of bassist and vocalist Baker, drummer Walter, and guitarist and vocalist Kiki. What they lack in musical training and education, they more than make up for it with ambition and talent, allowing them to climb their way into the role of Splatoon 3's main band.

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• Admiring the Abomination: Baker's opinion on ω-3's cover of Clickbait, which is played during an invasion of the Inkling's turf comparable to an apocalypse, is simply amusement towards how "incomprehensible" it is, as well as happiness that their music is being covered at all.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Their names are either in reference to or are just the names of the respective species that they are. Baker is named after the Beka squid, and Kiki's Japanese name Kikura is the transcription of the Japanese word for Cichla, the genus that the Peacock bass falls under.
• All Animals Are Dogs: The trio appear to own three shrimp that are treated like dogs, complete with spiked collars and leashes. Figurines of them can actually be found scattered around Splatsville and its buildings, and are available as decorations for your locker as of Drizzle Season 2023.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Baker is another Inkling with an unusual skin tone in the Splatoon universe, having grey skin.
• Ambiguous Situation: 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.
• Arc Number: Fits Splatoon 3 like a glove. C is the third letter of the alphabet, they form a Rock Trio, and the band has three shrimp pets. One of their songs is called Triple Dip; another one, Paintscraper, has a verse with three audible syllables ("Hey, hey, hey!") which is repeated three times in a row.
• Asshole Victim: The Splatoon Base website says that they're extremely rude, covering other bands' songs and then insisting that their version is better — making them this trope if "Now or Never" really was stolen from them.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: In Japan, Baker and Walter are known as Beika and Uotora respectively, which are pronounced phonetically the same. Kiki meanwhile was known as Kikura, which their translated name looks like a nickname of.
• Breaking Old Trends: Their version of "Now or Never" is the first time a non-cephalopod character gets to sing the song, Kiki being a fish compared to all the previous Inkling vocalists (and Marina).
• Everyone Went to School Together: Claims that Ichiya went to school with them in the Splatlands before moving to Inkopolis.
• Fluffy the Terrible: The cichla has a menacing, standoffish appearance, and is the guitarist of an aggressive punk rock band. They have the cute-sounding name of "Kiki".
• Garage Band: They have no musical training and come from humble backgrounds, but they became one of the most popular bands in the Splatlands through sheer ambition and innate talent.
• Garage Rock: Their music reflects their amateurish and rebellious roots as a rock band of humble beginnings.
• Internal Homage: Besides the usual cover of "Now or Never", C-Side performs a homage of the first games most popular track, "Splattack!". Only, as Splatune 3 reveals, the song was not done as one, but rather as a blatant attempt at one-upping Squid Squad.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Baker is part of a band known for being troublemakers, and is very aggressive in regards to their rivalry with Ichiya. However, they're shown to be very supportive of their band members (allowing Kiki to rejoin the band after leaving it for one, and wanting to share Walter's demo of Paintscraper for others to listen to), and is plenty happy with people making covers of C-Side's music so long as it isn't outright stolen.
• Let's Duet: All of their songs are sung as a duet between the two vocalists, Baker and Kiki, which stands out especially with their covers of "Splattack!" and "Now or Never", which originally only had one vocalist singing at a time.
• Let's Meet the Meat: The shrimp look less like the actual animal, and more like those that have been prepared to be eaten, complete with having their heads cut off to preserve the flavor.
• Musical Nod: Didn't think their cover of "Splattack!" was nostalgic enough for Splatoon 1? The intro to it strongly resembles the drum lick that plays when booting up the first game.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Baker looks unique among Inklings, even in comparison to the other unusual looking splatband Inklings. Beyond their grey skin, their eyes are large and round, to the point that you can't see the bridge of the eyemask at all, and their teeth are human-like compared to the beak-like teeth of regular Inklings.
• Noodle Incident: At one point, Kiki left the band and later rejoined it. Baker doesn't say why they did this, other than fact that this is apparently not unusual for them.
• No True Scotsman: Squid Squad's music isn't as hard and aggressive as C-Side's, but it's still recognizably punk rock. Baker disagrees, considering Squid Squad's sound to be disgustingly soft.
• Out of Focus: Compared to their predecessors Squid Squad and Wet Floor, C-Side has very few references to their existence in the game. The previous two bands have had at least one Sunken Scroll dedicated to them, billboards and merchandise visible elsewhere in-game, and had their personalities revealed on their introduction, which C-Side didn't have in the game until Fresh Season 2023 added C-Side posters in Inkopolis and as a locker decoration, and for the release of Splatune 3 to reveal more information about them.
• Punny Name: "C-Side" is phonetically identical to "seaside". It also references how records and cassettes have two separate track lists on either of their sides referred to as "a-sides" and "b-sides", with the front side of the second record of a two-record set often referred to as a "c-side". A "c-side" can also mean music from well outside of mainstream attention, fitting for a band which rose from the very bottom with basically no connections. And, of course, C is the third letter of the alphabet, fitting with Splatoon 3's general obsession with that number.
• The Rival: With Squid Squad, and subsequently, Front Roe. Unlike the previous case of rivalry, which was largely one-sided on Wet Floor's Mizo's case, this one is far more personal and aggressive, with C-Side insisting that one of Squid Squad's songs is theirs.
• Rock Trio: As seen in their image here, they're a trio of ambitious, talented rock musicians.
• Singer Namedrop: Paintscraper features a lyric that almost sounds like them screaming out their band's name.
  "Hey, hey, hey! CHI-SIIIDE!!"
• Small Town Rivalry: Splatune 3 says that Baker isn't too fond of the Inkopolis music scene, with exception to Bottom Feeders.
• Super-Deformed: Baker and Kiki appear to have massive heads compared to their body size in the album art.
• Vocal Dissonance: Walter, the drummer of the band, is shown to be rather tall and intimidating looking. Their demo of Paintscraper from Splatune 3, however, shows their voice to be rather high-pitched and nasally.
• We Used to Be Friends: Their exact relationship isn't established, but Baker and Ichiya from Squid Squad used to go to school together, and were close enough to have shared knowledge of the song "Now or Never" together. Nowadays, Baker holds contempt for Ichiya, claiming that "Now or Never" was C-Side's song, while Ichiya and his band deliberately avoid the Splatsville area of the Splatlands for reasons unknown, but likely related to this.

Front Roe

From left to right: "002Wsbi" (Nami), "001Nite" (Ichiya), "004Clam", and "003Soss" (Murasaki)

After a five year breakup, Nami, Ichiya and Murasaki of Squid Squad have reunited into a new band called Front Roe, replacing their old bassist Quinn with a new member only credited as "004Clam".

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• Anonymous Band: Although it is an open secret in-universe that the band is mostly comprised of former Squid Squad members, they still make sure to avoid appearing in media, present themselves under stage names, and keep their faces hidden to the public. The Splatoon Base website suggests they took this approach as they wanted to be judged based on their current ability and not on their past popularity as Squid Squad.
• Ambiguous Situation: Sandy Side Up appears to feature Quinn's Harsh Vocals and Mashup's Auto-Tune, despite the fact that Front Roe replaced Quinn with a new member. It's possible that this is a collaboration between Diss-Pair and Front Roe, but no concrete answers have been provided, with both Quinn and Murasaki giving Non-Answers when questioned about a potential Squid Squad reunion in Splatune 3.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: Their English localized stage names only differ by one or two letters from their Japanese versions:
  • "001Ngt" to "001Nite"
  • "002Wsb" to "002Wsbi"
  • "003Soy" to "003Soss"
  • "004Clm" to "004Clam"
• The Bus Came Back: Nami, Ichiya and Murasaki return after their absence in Splatoon 2, making Front Roe basically just Squid Squad, but with Quinn replaced by a new member.
• Meaningful Name: 004Clam is the fourth member of the group, and a clam.
• Persona Non Grata: A seemingly self-imposed example, the band is performing in the Splatlands, but they're noted to be deliberately avoiding promoting any of their work in the Splatsville area, possibly due to their ongoing copyright dispute with C-Side.
• Punny Name: Their name is a pun on "roe", the type of eggs that fish lay, and "front row", which one might use to refer to the frontmost seats at a music venue.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Their album art has them all seated on a couch together. Except for 004Clam, who is instead hanging off the couch's back, which spells out how they're the odd one out in the otherwise-legendary group of former Squid Squad musicians.
  • The green goo covering their eyes gains its own symbolism with information from Splatune 3, as it reveals the group is deliberately avoiding public attention, hiding their identities.
• Stage Names: They go under aliases with a matching format: "001Nite", "002Wsbi", "003Soss," and "004Clam" are used by Ichiya, Nami, and Murasaki respectively, leaving "004Clam" as the only one whose true name is unknown.

Damp Socks feat. Off the Hook

From left to right: Marina, Vinny Mack, Pearl, Garris, and John Goose

Album art

A side project by Off the Hook, where they provide vocals for a pop rock band.

See here for tropes that specifically apply to Pearl and Marina outside of Damp Socks.

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• A Lizard Named "Liz": Vinny Mack is named after their species, the mackerel. Likewise, John Goose is named for the goosefish.
• Mentor Archetype: Pearl acts as a mentor for the newer musicians and Marina, doling out more vocals to the latter while allowing the former to shine on their without her telling them what to do.
• Power Pop: This is their primary genre, as their songs combine energetic sound with an aggressive guitar. In power pop tradition, their happy-sounding lyrics and melody are contrasted against the actual melancholic subject matter (at least, that's how they're described; it's all still illegible gibberish). Their clothes reflect pop trends too, and are flashy and fashionable: Marina wears a bright orange suit jacket with matching pants and little beneath, while Pearl gets a dress made of golden sequins and a poofy parka on top.
• Put on a Bus: Sunken Scroll 22 says Off The Hook "leapt to the world stage", explaining why they aren't present in Splatoon 3 outside their music. Sure enough, Side Order reveals that they were on a world tour.
• Renaissance Woman: With her presence in Damp Socks, Marina can now add "pianist" to her lengthy list of skills, which already included composer, DJ, lyricist, singer, hacker, newscaster, war engineer...

Yoko & the Gold Bazookas

From left to right: Tao Blu, Yoko, Tosh, Martin, Jessika, Oonie, and Kitamura

Album Art

A new band introduced with Splatoon 3's Sizzle Season update, a Ska-Band that was started when Yoko of Ink Theory took a visit to Splatsville to test her skills, and wound up in a jam session with four other musicians, calling upon Ink Theory bandmates Kitamura and Oonie to fill in the rest.

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• Breaking Old Trends: Tao Blu has infinity symbol shaped pupils, a trait that was exclusive to Octoling idols Marina and Shiver, making this the first time they've shown up on a non-idol character.
• Character Name and the Noun Phrase: "Yoko" and the "Gold Bazookas". It's a common naming scheme for ska bands, so it fits.
• Dub Name Change: In Japanese, the group is called Yoko Horns and Friends.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Tao Blu has the same pupil design as the Octoling idols: a sideways eight.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Jessika wears a frilly red-and-black dress as well as heeled shoes.
• Eyeless Face: Tosh has no eyes beneath those glasses.
• The Ghost: Tao Blu, Yoko, and Tosh are the only three depicted on the album art in-game, with the other four members only being identified through the Splatoon Base website.
• Hat of Authority: Yoko, the leader (as indicated by their band name) wears an even bigger hat this time around, which challenges the rest of her body in size and provides the band's logo.
• Inconsistent Coloring: Kitamura is colored black compared to the purple coloration she had back in Splatoon 2.
• Improbable Hairstyle: Jessika wears hair extensions that dangle two of her tentacles on hoops. The improbable part comes from the fact that, unlike real hair, inkling hair tentacles are made of living tissue, meaning they wouldn't be able to stay intact separated from the head.
• Journey to Find Oneself: Yoko's reasoning for coming to Splatsville was to "reinvent herself". It was in a jam session with some other musicians that she decided to form the new band.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Tao Blu is named for the blue-ringed octopus.
• Meaningful Name: The "Gold Bazookas" in their band name refers to their prominent usage of brass instruments, which are typically a goldish yellow in color as well as a humorous comparison of their shapes to bazookas.
• Nonstandard Character Design:
  • Tao Blu provides another example of an unusual Octoling design, this time having patterned tentacle hair rather than it being solid color or a gradient, in addition to lacking outside-facing suction cups and the tentacles having a bumpy texture to them like an actual blue-ringed octopus.
  • Martin joins Orion in being another cephalopod that doesn't resemble Inklings and Octolings in any way, being an unstylized squid with a humanoid body.
• Rockabilly: Rockagilly Blues borrows some classic rockabilly elements, such as the swing rhythm and prominent guitar usage.
• Ska: Their song Ska-Blam! has this genre's characteristic walking bass line and off-beat drum rhythm.

H2Woah

Lionel on the left, Cory on the right

Introduced in Splatoon 3's Drizzle Season 2023, this Inkopolis band — comprised of an Octoling and an anchor coral — provides a new flavor of synth rock that's hit a sudden popularity in the Splatlands.

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• Anime Hair: Cory's tentacles are styled in the shape of an afro, but one part sticks out of their forehead in the shape of a cap's brim. Combined with the flaps on the side of their head, it gives the illusion that their hair is an oversized hat.
• Dub Name Change: In Japan, Lionel is identified as "SHIMA" and Cory as "NAGARE".
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Cory is named for their species, the anchor coral.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Like with Bottom Feeders' Tangle, this band features a previously unseen new marine life species — that being stony coral.
• Not So Above It All: Inverted, as the dirty, lowbrow, rough-and-tumble Splatlanders think their lyrics and visuals are pretentious, yet still enjoy them.
• Punny Name: Their band's name is a pun on "woah", and H₂O, the chemical formula for water.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: With their rock style that puts heavy emphasis on synths and vocals, they sound quite similar to Wet Floor's instrumentation.

Riot Act

The latest musical act introduced in Splatoon 3's Fresh Season 2024. A side project by Kiki from C-Side featuring three other musicians, combining striking melodies and Kiki's edgy guitar riffs for the band's sound.

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• Dub Name Change: The band is called O.C.K. in Japanese.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Finn Feeder of Bottom Feeders provides their violin for the song "No Plan Survives." Beika alluded to wanting to collab with Finn in his Splatune 3 tweet chain, but it seems Kiki beat him to the punch.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: All of them have fairly feminine characteristics. The jellyfish has prominent eyelashes/mascara, while Kiki and the other two have haircuts associated with (alternative-fashioned/punkish) women.
• Your Size May Vary: Kiki's appearance on the C-Side album art employs a Super-Deformed appearance, but their appearance on the Riot Act album art shows them with more realistic proportions.

Octoplush

The band providing the music for the kettles in the underground facility of Alterna.

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• Ambiguous Situation: The bands album cover emulates Turquoise October's, a lineup of common octotroopers, but whether they're actually that band after getting fuzzified isn't explictly stated. DJ Octavio has no known connections to them like he did to Turquoise October, and none of their songs have the "Onward!" Recurring Riff that was omnipresent in earlier games' Octarian modes. Turquoise October does provide a song for the Crater levels, but the possibility of that being simply the last song they put out under their old name before their transformation is not out of the question.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: They're under the control of the Big Bad of Return of the Mammalians, being fuzzified Octarians like their album art indicates.
• Continuity Nod: One of their songs, Nine Out Of Tension, is a "random sound effects" song, a-la Tentacular Circus from the first game. Furthering the connection is that both of them are used for their respective games' singleplayer trailers.
• Punny Name:
  • Their name is a pun on "octopus" and "plush", referring to their fuzzy skin à la plush toys.
  • In Japanese, they're known as "MOF8". "Mofu" is a Japanese onomatopoeia for "soft", "fluffy", etc., so their title would mean "Fluffy Eight", once again referring to their status as fuzzified Octarians.

Free Association

The band that plays the music heard throughout Side Order, which appears to be a swarm of fishing lure-like objects swimming throughout the Spire of Order.

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• Dub Name Change: They're called Free Association in all languages, except in Japan, where they're referred to as Mnemonic Clouds.
• Punny Name: 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.