Octoling (enemy)

From Inkipedia, the Splatoon wiki

Octoling​

Octoling

An Octoling and Elite Octoling inSplatoon
SpeciesOctarian
Habitat
Height
Hair colorOctoling
Red (Splatoon,Splatoon 2)
Blue / Neon Yellow (Sanitized)
Red / Brown (Fuzzy)

Elite Octoling
Dark brown (Splatoon,Splatoon 2)
Dark blue / Neon Yellow (Sanitized)
Dark brown (Fuzzy)

Eye colorGreen (Splatoon)
Brown (Splatoon 2)
Pink/Magenta/Green (Splatoon 3)
Age
GenderFemale
Pronouns
Relations
LocationOcto Valley,Octo Canyon,Deepsea Metro,Alterna
Shop
HP
Maximum HP
Members
Other forms
This article is about the non-playable enemy characters found in single-player modes. For Octolings in general, seeOctoling.
For other uses of the term Octoling, seeOctoling (disambiguation).
“We've got company, bucko. Octolings ahead.”

Octolings are a variant ofOctarians who serve as elite fighters in their army, and the octopus equivalent of anInkling. They are recurring enemies inOcto Valley,Octo Canyon, theOcto Expansion, andReturn of the Mammalians. Certain missions in these modes have Octolings as the only enemies, but they can also appear in other missions.

Common enemy Octolings are voiced bykeity.pop, while Elite Octolings are voiced byMari Kikuma.[1]

Appearance and traits

Octolings are theOctarian equivalents ofInklings. Compared to the latter, they have thicker and curlier hair, with beige undersides and four tentacles instead of six (giving them eight "limbs" together with their arms and legs, as opposed to Inklings' ten), suckers above their hair rather than underneath, round ears, purple-circled green eyes without any lines joining them, pointed fingers, and no spots at the ends of their hair. Due to their clothing, their body type looks slightly curvier than the female player's, even though their in-game model is the same.

The Octolings' hair color seems unrelated to their ink, as they have their pre-set hair color regardless of the color set for the mission, and always use magenta ink.

Octolings also have an octopus form, which they can use to swim or hide in ink, but can sometimes be seen using it on dry land. Compared to playable Octolings, their tentacles are curlier and even in length, and they have the same green eyes as their humanoid form.

Like Inklings, they can walk on land in humanoid form as well as swim through their ownink in octopus form, making up a somewhat small but dangerous portion ofOctarian forces. They can use variousmain weapons as well assub weapons. With no visible target, Octolings wander alone or in small groups and ink nearbysurfaces for their convenience. Upon being engaged by the player, they make tactical maneuvers, quickly jumping in and out of their ink while shooting and throwingbombs. The best way to deal with Octolings is to catch them before they can react; once found, they are difficult to escape from, as they follow the player in octopus form and shoot at them in humanoid form.

All enemy Octolings encountered are girls, and their Japanese name, タコゾネス (Takozonesu, a portmanteau of "octopus" and "amazons"), further supports this. These Octolings are considered elites compared to theplayable Octolings, of which there are also boys, and not every Octoling girl can become a full-fledged soldier.

Elite Octolings

An Elite Octoling.
“The Octolings with seaweed on their heads are super tough!”

While normal Octolings have red hair and are fairly easy to defeat, latermissions feature Elite Octolings instead, which are faster, more resilient, and deal more damage. Further separating them from the common Octolings are their darker hair and two long strands of seaweed attached to their heads. In Japanese, they are called デラタコゾネス (Deratakozonesu), withDera being either an abbreviation for デラックスderakkusu (deluxe) or aNagoya dialect word meaning "super".

Splatoon

Promotional image forSplatoon featuring two Octolings usingOcto Shots

InSplatoon, Octolings use only theOcto Shot andSplat Bombs.

Appearances

Octolings

Elite Octolings

Equipment

Art of anInkling with the full Octoling set.

After completingOcto Valley, the player is awarded theOctoling Goggles,Octoling Armor, andOctoling Boots, based on the gear worn by the Octolings for use in online battles.

TheOctoshot Replica is given to the player byJudd atLevel 40, completing the Octoling set.

Splatoon 2

Renders of Octolings fromSplatoon 2.

InSplatoon 2, Octolings have a slightly different design of their gear, wearing theOctoling Shades,Neo Octoling Armor, andNeo Octoling Boots. Some Octolings have colored fingertips similar to that ofMarina, and Elite Octolings have dark maroon-colored hair instead of black, but otherwise function the same as they did inSplatoon. Octolings in some stages spawn far away fromAgent 4 andSuper Jump near their location to attack.

In addition to theOcto Shot, the Octolings have Octarian versions of theHero Blaster,Hero Roller, andHero Slosher. Their versions are differentiated by being red and black instead of yellow and black. They are also equipped with Splat Bombs as they did inSplatoon.

Appearances

Octolings

Elite Octolings

Octo Expansion

A group of common and Elite Sanitized Octolings.

TheOcto Expansion introduces theSanitized Octolings, using all previous weapons, as well as new mains, subs, and specials, including Octarian versions of theHerobrush,Hero Dualies, andHero Brella. They are also able to use additional subs includingBurst Bombs andAutobombs, and can now use specials, including theInkjet,Tenta Missiles,Sting Ray,Ink Storm,Splat-Bomb Launcher,Ink Armor, andSplashdown. The physical coloration of the Octolings is very different from normal ones. They are shown to have pale greenish skin, dark teal-colored fingertips and blue hair with neon yellow tips. They possess the ability to Super Jump, and inLabyrinth Station they Super Jump from beams on the roof. Enemy Octolings do not usechargers orsplatlings.

While both types of characters are called "Octolings" in English material about theOcto Expansion, the Japanese version makes a notable distinction between the player Octoling, called タコ (Tako, "Octopus"), and the enemy Octolings, called タコゾネス (Takozonesu, Octopus-Amazon").

Additionally, Marina ofOff the Hook is revealed to be a former Elite Octoling who had defected from the Octarian Army prior to the events ofSplatoon 2.

Appearances

Equipment

After completing theOcto Expansion, the player is awarded theOcto Shot Replica and theOctoling Shades,Neo Octoling Armor, andNeo Octoling Boots, based on the gear of theSplatoon 2 design Octolings, for use in online battles, if one, two, or three sets ofmem cakes are collected, respectively. TheOctoleet Goggles can be obtained as gear fromSalmon Run.

Splatoon 3

Promotional image for Return of the Mammalians featuring the new design for enemy Octolings.
Close-up of an enemy Octoling fromSplatoon 3. Note the Octoling's darker skin tone and lipstick.

Enemy Octolings return inSplatoon 3, nowaffected by theFuzzy Ooze as with otherOctarians. Their skin tone is darker than those in previous games, and they now have reddish-brown fur on their hair. They have a new outfit consisting of round goggles with Fuzzy Ooze covering the lenses, a leopard print crop top with a metal breastplate, long bandage-like fingerless gloves, short black leggings, long loose black knee-high socks and boots styled after sea mines. They also wear pink lipstick and a bracelet similar in appearance to their boots on their right hand.

Much like in the previous games, they typically wield theOcto Shot andSplat Bombs. Only inBet You Mist Us! andAfter Alterna do they use other weapons, as inSplatoon 2. These weapons include theSplat Roller,Blaster,Slosher,Octobrush,Splat Dualies, andSplat Brella, as well as various sub weapons includingBurst Bombs,Curling Bombs, andAutobombs. Exclusively in After Alterna, they use various specials including theSplashdown,Tenta Missiles,Inkjet,Ink Storm,Big Bubbler, andWave Breaker.

Unlike inSplatoon 2, Enemy Octolings use the standard multiplayer versions of weapons rather than unique Octarian versions of the Hero Weapons, since the Hero Weapons are absent fromReturn of the Mammalians.

Appearances

Audio

Press the speaker icon or descriptive text to start or pause the audio.

Quotes

“Squid Research Lab here! See this confident cephalopod? That's an enemyOctoling, and all potentialAgent 3s should keep an eye out for them. They can move and attack just like you! The only difference? They have better hair. Good luck taming those good locks!”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter[2]

Gallery

Image linking to the gallery page
➤View the gallery

Trivia

  • It is shown to be possible to hack an enemy Octoling to be playable inSplatoon andSplatoon 2 games. InSplatoon, the game loads an otherwise unused alternate model[3] supposed to be used by the player, so they can change the Octoling's skin tone, hair color, and see their eyes. InSplatoon 2, the Octoling model used inOcto Canyon has black eye markings instead ofSplatoon's purple ones, and the hair has movement physics, while it was stiff inSplatoon's models.[4]
    • This is possible because, on a technical level, the "Octoling" models are simply modified female Inkling models with a unique hairstyle; all other rigging and animations are shared. Moreover, the hack makes clear that in-game models of enemy Octolings are not intended to be playable, as their hair clips through a significant number of hats. However, the fact that they have a model specifically meant for this purpose, with unique eyes not seen at all during the single-player game, and their hair is textured and coded to function properly with the "team ink color" system despite the clipping issues, raised suspicion that it was likely that there were plans to make the Octolings playable at some point.
    • Splatoon's Octoling models were updated several times throughout updates. Early versions going back to version1.0.0 ofSplatoon 2 also contained different player model types for Octoling girls and boys and possible hair renders.
    • The model also shows Octolings having small, round ears instead of the pointy ears thatInklings have. However, this round ear model is shared with Inklings wearing gear that covers their ears. This could be because Octolings' ears were not supposed to be visible, thus using the existing model.
  • Because of their similarity to Inklings, if an Octoling touches aZapfish after its shield has been destroyed, the level is completed as if the player has touched it. However, due to the logistics of this, it can only be performed duringOctoling Invasion by prematurely destroying the shield with anInkzooka.[5]
  • At one point inSplatoon's development, Octolings' footwear looked very similar to theMoto Boots, with three straps on the side and pieces of metal on the end. This was briefly shown in a pre-release trailer forOcto Valley.[6]
  • InSplatoon 2, the only weapon classes that the Octolings do not use arechargers andsplatlings, as other Octarians (mainly theOctosniper andOctocommander, respectively) use them instead.
  • It was revealed in a Famitsu interview with the developers that enemy Octolings are slightly older thanAgent 8 and the playable Octolings, and only elite female Octolings are able to be these specific Octoling soldiers.[7]
  • In Octo Canyon, if more than one moving Octoling is on-screen, one disappears in the same way a player disappears in an online battle after disconnecting.
    • InOctoling Strike, if an Octoling falls inwater, it has a similar animation to an Inkling's when they fall in water.
  • A wig based on an enemy Octoling's hair andgoggles, which can be worn byMii Fighters, appears inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate as paid DLC, released on18 October 2021 alongside aJudd hat.The trailer uses the songOctoweaponry.

Names in other languages

Octoling
LanguageNameMeaning
Japan Japaneseタコゾネス
Takozonesu		From タコtako ("octopus") and アマゾネスamazonesu ("Amazon, strong athletic women")
Netherlands DutchOctoling-
CanadaFrance FrenchOctalingFromOctarien ("Octarian") and-ling
Germany GermanOktolingOctoling
Italy ItalianOctoling-
Russia RussianОсьмозонка
Os'mozonka		From осьмоos'mo ("octo") and амазонкаamazonka ("Amazon")
Mexico Spanish (NOA)Octoling-
Spain Spanish (NOE)OctoamazonaFromOctariano ("Octarian") andamazona ("Amazon, strong athletic women")
China Chinese (Simplified)章鱼女战士
Zhāngyú nǚ zhànshì		Octopus female warrior
Hong Kong Chinese (Traditional)章魚女戰士
South Korea Korean문어조네스
mun-eojoneseu		From 문어mun-eo ("octopus") and 아마조네스amajoneseu ("Amazon, strong athletic women")
 InternalMsn_EnmOctSoldier_01[8]
Octopus
LanguageNameMeaning
Japan Japaneseたこ
Tako		Octopus
Netherlands DutchOctopus-
CanadaFrance FrenchPoulpeOctopus
Germany GermanOktopusOctopus
Italy ItalianPolpoOctopus
Russia RussianОсьминог
Os'minog		Octopus
SpainMexico SpanishPulpoOctopus
South Korea Korean문어
mun-eo		Octopus
Portugal Portuguese (NOE)Polvo[Citation needed]Octopus

References

Leader

DJ Octavio

Great Octoweapons

Octostomp •Octonozzle •Octowhirl •Octomaw •Octobot King

Octobosses

Octo Oven(XXL) •Octo Samurai(Return) •Neo Octostomp(Redux) •Octo Shower(Supreme) •Octobot King II •Octobot King L3.Gs

Minions

Octotrooper(Shielded,Diver,Blobby,Hopper) •Twintacle Octotrooper(Rocket) •Octocopter(Rocket) •Octoball •Octopod(Oversized) •Octobomber(Rocket) •Octostamp(Amped) •Octosniper •Octorpedo •Octoling •Octostriker •Octohurler •Octomissile •Octozeppelin •Octocommander •Tentakook •Octoballer •Missile Octocopter(Speedy) •Octodisco

Machines

Squee-G(Industrial) •Flooder •Ink Piston •Octoseeker •Octowasher •Octostamp DX

Othercharacters

Agent 8 •Agent 3 •Marina •Shiver •Acht •Mashup •Paul •Tao Blu •Lionel •Turquoise October

Others

Sanitized Octarian •Fuzzy Octarian •Octoling