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Inkling

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For fighter info, see Inkling (SSBU).
Inkling
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SplatoonSymbol.svg
Official artwork of an Inkling from Splatoon.
Universe Splatoon
Debut Splatoon (2015)
Smash Bros. appearances SSB4
Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance Jump Rope Challenge (2020, cameo via update)
Console/platform of origin Wii U
Species Inkling
Gender Varies
Place of origin Earth
Inkopolis (surrogate home)
Splatlands (surrogate home)
Created by Shintaro Sato
Hisashi Nogami
Tsubasa Sakaguchi
Yusuke Amano
Designed by Seita Inoue
Voice actor Yuki Tsuji
Article on Inkipedia Inkling

The Inkling (インクリング, Inkling) is the species of player characters from the Splatoon universe.

After making cameos in Super Smash Bros. 4 as a downloadable trophy and Mii Costume, Inkling transitioned into a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Origin

A green Inkling in squid form in Splatoon.

Inklings are creatures that can transform between a squid form and a humanoid form. They act as the players' avatars in the Splatoon series, although players can also choose to play as Octolings in Splatoon 2 if they have purchased and completed the Octo Expansion. Newborn Inklings initially only have access to their squid form and slowly go through a metamorphosis into their humanoid form, reaching maturity after about fourteen years.[1] Turf War battles between teams of Inklings involve using a variety of weapons to cover the map with their team's colored ink - which they can swim in while in squid form - while disrupting the other team's attempt to do the same within the time limit of three minutes. Inklings are also very fashionable, as they can be seen wearing different outfits as well as sporting different hairstyles (though alternate hairstyle options are introduced in Splatoon 2). Inklings are also colored based on the color of their team in battles.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, some of the Inklings' moveset and actions allow them to change into their squid form, including their dash, grab, and Super Jump. Squids most often use their squid legs to produce ink, as using Super Jump in Ultimate inks opponents. Inklings also dissolve in water; although this trait is not truly carried over into Ultimate, it is referenced by Inklings receiving continuous damage while swimming.

The Inkling outfits and headgear for Mii Fighters resemble the most prominent Inklings featured in promotional art, which are also used for their amiibo designs.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

As a costume

source: Nintendo Everything
The Inkling Outfit and wigs in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

The orange Inkling girl and blue Inkling boy shown in the original promotional art for Splatoon are the basis for two paid downloadable content costumes: the Inkling Outfit for Mii Gunners (with matching Inkling Wig headgear) and a standalone piece of headgear, the Inkling Squid Hat. Two QR codes were also released for those who wish to have the exact Miis used in the Inkling Outfit's advertising: one for the Inkling boy and one for the Inkling girl.

These outfits could be obtained for free with copies of Splatoon purchased from GameStop in North America before June 13th, 2015. Otherwise, they were made purchasable on the eShop beginning on June 14th, 2015.

Trophy

The Inkling trophy is automatically unlocked after purchasing the Inkling Outfit.

[1]
Inkling's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Inkling
NTSC Meet the Inklings, a mysterious race of beings that can transform into squid at will! They like to octopi their time with frantic, multicolored turf wars, and they won’t miss out on any oppor-tuna-ty to get to the top. And we wouldn’t go so far as to call them cod’s gift to fashion, but check out that fresh style!
PAL Meet the Inklings, a mysterious race of squid that can take a humanoid form at will. They like to octopi their time with frantic, multi-colored[sic] turf wars between rivals, and they won't miss out on any oppor-tuna-ty to get to the top! And we wouldn't go so far as to call them cod's gift to fashion, but check out that style!
Wii U: Splatoon (05/2015)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

Main article: Inkling (SSBU)
The default female Inkling as she appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Both male and female Inklings appear as unlockable newcomers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The initial teaser trailer for the then-untitled Ultimate featured the orange Inkling girl and the blue Inkling boy from Splatoon's original promotional art. However, they were not explicitly confirmed to be fighters until Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation. Inkling can potentially be the first fighter unlocked due to being the first character in Samus' Classic Mode character unlock tree.

As a costume

The Splatoon 2 costume set in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In addition to the returning Splatoon costumes from Super Smash Bros. 4, Splatoon 2 costumes for the Mii Gunner are available. The Splatoon 2 costumes are based on the pink Inkling girl and the green Inkling boy featured in that game's promotional art.

Spirits

Fighter spirits

Support spirit

No. Image Name Class Cost Ability Series
1,027
Orange Squid
Inkling Squid ★★★ 1 Up Special ↑ Splatoon Series

Gallery

In other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japan Japanese インクリング, Inkling
UK English Inkling
France French Fille inkling ♀
Garçon inkling ♂
Inkling girl
Inkling boy
Germany German Inkling
Spain Spanish Inkling chica♀
Inkling chico ♂
Inkling girl
Inkling boy
Italy Italian Ragazza Inkling♀
Ragazzo Inkling ♂
Inkling girl
Inkling boy
China Chinese Inkling
South Korea Korean 잉클링, Inkling
Netherlands Dutch Inkling
Russia Russian Инклинг
Portugal Portuguese Inkling

Trivia

  • The skin color for the Inkling costume in Super Smash Bros. 4 changes to match the skin color used by the Mii wearing it, mirroring the ability to customize the playable Inkling's skin color in Splatoon.
  • Oddly, the European version of SSB4 doesn't change the spelling of "colored" to "coloured" in the Inkling's trophy description.
  • Inkling and Wii Fit Trainer are the only fighters with male and female variants where the female is the default variant.
    • Inkling is also the only fighter to have male and female variants where both genders have the same voice actor.
  • Inkling is one of two fighters whose console of origin is the Wii U. The other is Alph. Unlike Alph, however, Inkling is a standard fighter in their own right (having their own character selection screen slot, being acknowledged by various battle records in-game, etc.) while Alph is only accessible as a fighter via [Captain [Olimar]]'s alternate costumes.
    • As Alph is an alternate fighter to Olimar (who instead debuted on the Nintendo GameCube), Inkling is the only standard fighter to debut on the Wii U, and Splatoon the only franchise from this console.
  • As with the other fighters with male and female variants, the default male and female Inklings have been established as separate entities, being unspecified members of a larger species and appearing together in cinematics that promote Ultimate.
  • In some languages, Inkling has two different names to refer to the female and male variants. Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Byleth, and the Mii Fighters also share this trait. While "Inkling Girl" and "Inkling Boy" have been officially used in English as well as Japanese, German and Dutch in the Splatoon series and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the English, Japanese, German and Dutch versions of Ultimate do not make this name distinction.
    • The French localizations are the only ones not to capitalize "inkling", treating it as a species name instead of a character name.
  • Inkling appears as a playable guest character in Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!, alongside Kirby, with "Splatoon 2 Medley" also being one of the game's songs.

References