Inkling (SSBU)

Inkling in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Splatoon
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Killer Wail

“	Attacks with a variety of weapons. Covering opponents with ink leads to more and more damage—plus these Inklings are really fashionable!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Inkling (インクリング, Inkling) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Although the default form is female, both male and female forms of this character are playable. They were first characters that were suggested to appear in the then unnamed Ultimate in its first teaser trailer at the end of the March 8th, 2018 Nintendo Direct, and officially announced as a newcomer in Ultimate's E3 2018 trailer , alongside Daisy and Ridley. Inkling is classified as fighter #64.

Yuki Tsujii voices both genders of Inkling, via voice clips from Splatoon.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Inkling being the 5th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Samus or any character in her unlock tree, being the first character unlocked.
• Have Inkling join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Inkling must then be defeated on Moray Towers.

Attributes

Inkling is a character that excels greatly in many areas, but is typically defined by her quick, slippery movements and fast attack speed. As a result, her attributes are overall consistent with combo-heavy middleweights, with a focus on a fast approach "footsies" playstyle: the Inkling has very fast overall mobility due to her very high initial dash (16th highest) and running speeds (22nd highest), alongside high air speed (12-16th fastest, tied with Sonic, Mario, Little Mac and Donkey Kong). However, the rest of her traits are mostly average, with middling air acceleration, fall speed, walk speed, and weight. As a result, Inkling has can easily traverse large distances very quickly, but can have issues changing directions in midair; additionally, her weight and fall speed do not give her much of an advantage with escaping combos.

Inkling's greatest strength, is, fittingly, her general movement and attack speed. While her range is rather lacking, this is made up by her moveset's overall quick speed, which allows her to put her mobility to good use and rush opponents down in a flurry of moves. Additionally, she boasts a strong ground and aerial offense, with many of her moves being capable of stringing together; coupled with her down throw, which is an effective combo initiator till high percents and can even KO through its setups, the Inkling's rushdown abilities are very effective. As a result, opponents can have a tough time finding openings in the Inkling's offense, since her speed and low landing lag allow the Inkling to weave around her foe very easily, and her combo ability easily turns any mistake on their end into a potential combo starter.

The Inkling's damage racking potential is further enhanced by her unique ink mechanic, lifted from her game of origin, Splatoon. Select moves in her moveset will cover opponents in ink, which increases damage and knockback dealt to them up to a maximum of 1.5x, though this will wear off over time. When an opponent is fully inked, her combos are capable of effectively dishing out surprising amounts of damage over a short period on careless opponents. As a downside, this ink mechanic also affects the power of certain moves such as her neutral attack infinite, forward throw, special moves and smash attacks, which lose significant KO power or damage without ink (and with some moves, completely fail to do damage). Due to this, the Inkling has to recharge her ink tank by putting herself into a "charging" stance once she runs out of ink; as this makes her wide open with no escape options till the charge animation ends, the Inkling has to manage her ink supply with care.

Inkling also has powerful offstage capability due to their attributes. They boast a lengthy, albeit somewhat linear recovery with them being able to double jump out of their Splat Roller in combination with Super Jump, allowing it to be less predictable, and coupled with the sheer speed of the moves makes it difficult to challenge them with an offstage edgeguard. They also have one of the best air speeds supplementing this, and likewise can edgeguard very proficiently themselves with their Splat Bombs, their aerials, and their Splattershot, to name a few.

Even with her fantastic set of strengths, there are some detrimental aspects of her moveset. Inkling's main weaknesses are that they have to be resourceful with their tools and not waste ink with a wrong decision for a punish that can last quite a while, as without ink, they see trouble scoring kills with their Splat Roller, have mediocre damage, and contain a lack of access to their ranged tools.

It is currently unknown how well Inkling will fare in the meta, but early looks at them in local and regional tournaments have shown promising results, with names such as Armada, Abadango Cosmos and Xzax using her as their main. Their potential in doubles was noted by Sakurai himself as being one of their strengths, allowing teammates to rack up damage even faster.

Update History

2.0.0

• Shortened the amount of time Inkling is unable to grab a ledge after using neutral air (60 frames → 56).
• Splat Roller:
  • Splat Roller has altered knockback (60 (base)/80 (scaling) → 25/105). This decreases the bury duration at lower percents, but increases it at higher percentages.
    • Decreased base knockback allows combo potential at mid percentages.
  • Splat Roller hitboxes were moved back, giving it less range.
  • The ink from the Splat Roller no longer launches specific characters such as Ice Climbers much higher when using their respective up specials on the ink.

Moveset

• Inkling will transform into squid form while dashing and dodging. This allows Inkling to avoid some projectiles and attacks while dashing due to a lower hurtbox, but only for a slight few frames, making it unviable as an actual tactic.
• Inkling takes continuous damage while swimming in water. This trait is shared with Charizard, Sonic, and Incineroar.
• Inkling can crawl and wall jump.
• Some of Inkling's attacks use up and apply ink. Attacks that use ink each use a set amount of the Ink Tank. If the Inkling does not have enough ink for a move, it will deal less damage and knockback, and certain moves will have no effect at all.
• The Ink Tank can be gradually replenished at any time by holding the special button while shielding, or via the Splattershot only when the Ink Tank is completely empty. This lowers the Inkling's hitbox, but lacks any defensive options apart from canceling the charge (which is punishable). It is also restored to full capacity when the Inkling is KO'd.
• The Inkling's Ink Tank is shown in the HUD and while charging ink. The red line on the tank is the minimum ink needed to throw a Splat Bomb. Once the Inkling runs out of ink, the Ink Tank will flash with a red "X" both in the HUD and on the Inkling's model.

The specifics of the ink mechanic are explained in detail after the moveset table.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	A two-hit combo consisting of a quick finger jab then a kick, then a roundhouse kick if the button is held. If the button is mashed, the second hit is followed by a rapid series of spurts from the Splattershot that concludes with a single blast that launches the enemy. The rapid jab covers opponents in ink. If the Inkling's Ink Tank is empty, the neutral infinite and finisher deals no damage and knockback. The first hit can jab reset.
			2%
			3.5%
			0.4% (loop), 2.5% (end)
Forward tilt			9%	Swings the Splattershot downwards. It has average knockback and can be angled up or down.
Up tilt			6%	A backflipping kick. Can combo into itself up to three times at 0%, or two at low percents. Has blind spots directly beside the Inkling, and is unable to hit prone opponents.
Down tilt			3% (first hit), 6% (second hit)	A breakdance that hits in front of Inkling. Hits twice.
Dash attack			8%, 6% (late)	A lunging elbow strike after transforming back into humanoid form from squid form.
Forward smash		Inkbrush	16% (ink, sweetspot), 14% (ink, sourspot), 12% (no ink, sweetspot and sourspot)	Swings an Inkbrush in front, which covers opponents in ink. Has a sweetspot at the brush tip. The hitbox does not cover the splatter of paint from the Inkbrush. KOs at 90% at the edge of Final Destination (with ink available).
Up smash		Blaster	4% (hit 1), 15% (hit 2, ink); 10% (hit 2, no ink)	Fires a burst from a Blaster above the head, which covers opponents in ink. There is a hitbox next to the Inkling that launches the enemy into the air before the shot goes off, setting the enemy up for the attack; this hitbox can even hit prone or buried opponents. KOs at 116% on Final Destination (with ink available).
Down smash		Slosher	12.5% (hit 1, ink), 11% (hit 2, ink); 10% (hit 1, no ink), 9% (hit 2, no ink)	Empties out a Slosher on both sides, starting with the front then the back, which covers opponents in ink. The back hit deals less damage and knockback. The first hit KOs at 104% on Final Destination (with ink available).
Neutral aerial			7%	Turns upside down and does a spinning breakdance kick in a helicopter fashion. Despite its appearance, it has no lasting hitbox, and the move only covers the Inkling's legs. Can combo into forward tilt and down tilt.
Forward aerial			10%, 7% (late)	A dropkick. Has some startup and acts as a sex kick. One of the Inkling's most reliable aerial KO moves. KOs at 136% at the edge of Final Destination.
Back aerial			10%	Inkling swings the Splattershot straight behind the back. One of the Inkling's most reliable aerial KO moves.
Up aerial			4.5% (hit 1), 6.5% (hit 2)	After a brief pause, performs two spinning kicks that swing in a helicopter fashion. The first hit has set knockback and sends at the autolink angle, allowing it to set up into almost any tilt or a grab. The hitbox can be misleading, as it mainly covers directly above the Inkling.
Down aerial			12% (sweetspot), 10% (sourspot)	Briefly rears back before swinging the Splattershot straight below. The sweetspot is at the gun's tip and will meteor smash, while the sourspot deals strong horizontal knockback.
Grab			—	Reaches out to seize the opponent.
Pummel			1.2%	Stomps on the opponent's foot.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1, ink), 3% (hit 2)	Fires the Splattershot directly at the opponent, angled diagonally upwards. Hits twice, with the second hit covering the opponent in ink. Without ink, the first hit deals no damage. Can be followed up with dash attack.
Back throw			9%	Transforms into squid form, then spins and uses the tentacles to toss the opponent behind. KOs at 129% at the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2)	Tosses the opponent upward, then turns into squid form to headbutt them from below. Sends the opponent directly upwards. Can combo reliably into neutral aerial and up aerial at low to mid percents.
Down throw			7%	Slams the opponent head-first into the ground with one hand. Sends the opponent in front, allowing it to combo into forward or down tilt.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Shoots the Splattershot on both sides of the Inkling.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Shoots the Splattershot on both sides of the Inkling.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Shoots the Splattershot on both sides of the Inkling.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Swings the Splattershot.
Neutral special		Splattershot	0.3% (above Ink Tank line), 0.2% (below Ink Tank line), 0.1% (almost empty)	Rapidly fires the Splattershot in front of Inkling, which covers hit opponents in Ink at a fast pace. Only causes hitstun at very close range (3 character lengths), and slowly pushes opponents back at any further distance. Due to its high fire rate, it can lock opponents in shieldstun. Can be angled up and down, but the projectiles disappear after a set distance. Slowly loses travel distance and damage once the Ink Tank goes below the labeled line. If this move is used without any ink, the Inkling will begin charging ink.
Side special		Splat Roller	11% (grounded, ink), 2-3% (moving after Ink Tank is empty)	Takes out a Roller and begins to slide it across the ground. The roller spreads ink across the floor, with inked surfaces slowing opponents down. The move will bury grounded opponents and cover them in ink, allowing for followups; buried opponents can be hit by the Roller again to deal good knockback. The amount of ink opponents get covered in is determined by how fast the Inkling is moving while using the move. The Inkling can turn while using the move and can change velocity by pressing forward or back. In the air, the Splat Roller can only be used once before landing and deals no damage, but grants horizontal movement and a hop that does not use a mid-air jump, allowing it to extend Inkling’s recovery. Pressing the special button will put the Roller away. Without ink, the Roller will not deal damage (unless the Inkling was moving before running out of ink), and the Inkling will slowly walk forward with a dejected look; this also stops most aerial momentum. Overall, the Splat Roller is one of the core components of the Inkling's metagame, and is primarily used to finish off opponents at higher percents with a smash attack.
Up special		Super Jump	6% (close), 8% (far), 8% (landing hit)	The Inkling shoots upwards in squid form. The move deals minor damage and knockback on startup, and also when the Inkling lands, giving it some safety. The rising and falling animation themselves do not deal damage.
Down special		Splat Bomb	9.4-15%	Flings a pyramid-shaped ink bomb, which explodes on contact or after a fixed time. The trajectory of the bomb depends on how long the player holds the special button: a toss upward with no charge, and a long-distanced throw forward if fully charged. The bomb gains damage as it is charged, and also covers opponents in ink, the amount of which is determined by how long the move was charged. Has multiple uses, including edgeguarding, setting traps, or KOing at high percents. If the Ink Tank is below the labeled meter, the Inkling will be incapable of throwing a bomb, and will instead look back at the Ink Tank, leaving Inkling open for attack. When fully charged, the bomb KOs at 143% at the edge of Final Destination.
Final Smash		Killer Wail	1% (hits 1-32), 8% (final hit)	Pulls out the Killer Wail, a large megaphone-like machine, which proceeds to launch a beam of damaging soundwaves, which after a short period of time, are replaced with ink. The player has full control of the Inkling while it is active, and can also move the beam's angle up and down. The looping hits cover opponents in ink, but only the final hit has KO potential, KOing at around 60%.

Ink mechanic

Inkling has a unique mechanic: a handful of her attacks will cover opponents in ink. Characters affected by ink are shown being coated with varying amounts of brightly colored liquid (which varies on the Inkling's alternate costume), and can be repeatedly inked until they are fully coated. Inked opponents take additional damage proportional to the amount of ink covering them. However, the damage/knockback multiplier (up to 1.5x) is maxed out after the victim is coated by roughly 60% of the maximum value. Applying more ink only lengthens the duration of being coated, and has no further effect on damage and launch rate.

Ink gradually disappears over time, from around 5s for the smallest application, to around 20s for a completely covered character. Ink can also be applied onto some Assist Trophies.

Once the Inkling runs out of ink, the only ways to regain charge are to be KO'd, or manually recharge it by holding the shield and special button at once (or via the special button with an empty tank). The charge animation lowers the Inkling's hurtbox enough to dodge grabs and projectiles, but it can can only be done on the ground, prevents the Inkling from dodging or moving, and has noticeable ending lag, making it very punishable.

The ink mechanic affects:

• All smash attacks. Without ink, all of them do significantly lower damage and knockback, but still feature "ink splatter" effects.
• All special attacks. Without ink, her special moves (apart from Super Jump) are negatively affected:
  • Splattershot will gradually lose damage and range once it passes the line of the Ink Tank, and will not fire any projectiles when no ink is remaining. Pressing the special button once this happens will cause the Inkling to charge ink.
  • Splat Roller will slowly lose speed once it passes the line of the Ink Tank, and becomes completely harmless when no ink remains. This will also cause the Inkling to walk forward slowly and dejectedly.
  • Splat Bomb cannot be thrown if the Inkling has less ink than the line of the Ink Tank. If attempted, the Inkling will quickly look back at her tank, leaving her open.
• Forward throw. Without ink, the Splattershot's hitbox deals no damage and will not cover opponents in ink.
• Neutral attack infinite. Without ink, the infinite and infinite finisher will have no hitboxes at all, and therefore deal no damage or knockback.

On-screen appearance

Lands with a splash of ink in squid form before transforming back, then flaps both arms excitedly before drawing the Splattershot. This is the Inkling's entrance animation from Octo Valley in Splatoon.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Raises the Splattershot several times into the air in a celebratory cheer. Based on the "C'mon!"/"This Way!" signal from Splatoon and Splatoon 2.
• Side taunt: Fires the Splattershot into the air with one hand while making a "gun" sign with the other hand.
• Down taunt: Jumps happily on the spot while smiling. Based on the "Booyah!" signal from Splatoon and Splatoon 2.

Idle poses

• Briefly looks the other way, then turns back
• Casually poses with the Splattershot pointing upwards, with the other hand on resting on Inkling’s hip.

The Inkling Boy has an altered standing stance, where he does not shake his hips as much as the Inkling Girl. However, this does not apply when holding a small item.

Victory poses

All of Inkling's animations are based on the victory poses when using particular weapons in Splatoon and its sequel. The animations vary slightly between female costumes and the male costumes.

• Jumps for joy, spins around, and poses with the Splattershot. Directly based on the victory animation when using a Shooter-type weapon in Splatoon 2. The initial animation is based off the male Inkling's animation with the weapon of the same type in Splatoon. This pose is slightly altered for the male Inkling.
• Sways the Splat Roller from side to side, before striking a pose while resting the Roller's handle against a shoulder. This victory pose combines the victory animations in Splatoon and Splatoon 2 when the Inkling uses a Roller-type weapon.
• Spins the Slosher on one finger. Directly based on the female Inkling’s victory animation when using a Slosher-type weapon in Splatoon.

A remix of the Online victory jingle introduced in Splatoon.

• 
• 
• 

Classic Mode: An Inkredible Journey

Inkling fights fighters with differently colored alternate costumes, referencing the concept of Turf War from the Splatoon games.

Round	Battle Type	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Normal	Lucario and Sheik	Yoshi's Island	Splattack!
2	Normal	Greninja	Magicant	Ink or Sink
3	Normal	Wario and Duck Hunt	Norfair	Metalopod
4	Normal	Giant Yoshi	Summit	Seaskape
5	Normal	Shulk, Ness, and Mewtwo	Fountain of Dreams	Kraken Up
6	Free-for-All	2 Inklings	Moray Towers	Ink Me Up
Bonus Stage
Final	Boss Battle	Marx	?	Calamari Inkantation

Note: Every stage except for the Bonus Stage plays a track from the Splatoon universe, no matter what universe it originates from. The boss battle against Marx also plays Calamari Inkantation instead of his standard boss theme.

Role in World of Light

The Inklings (both female and male) were among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, the Inklings were present when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. They decided to each hide in a puddle of their own ink; however, this proved ineffective when the beams of light destroyed the cliff they were on. Both were then placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, except for Kirby.

In the mode proper, the female Inkling can be fought in a city area, in a space that clearly is Moray Towers.

Spirits

Inkling's Fighter Spirits can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. They are also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Inkling in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As Fighter Spirits, they cannot be used in Spirit Battles and are purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, the Squid form of the default Inkling appears as a Support Spirit.

• Inkling Girl Spirit.png

  1,025. Inkling (Girl) Spirit [Classic Mode]

• Inkling Boy Spirit.png

  1,026. Inkling (Boy) Spirit

• 

  1,027. Inkling

Alternate costumes

All of the Inkling's alternate costumes feature wearable gear that can be found in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Each of the costumes has a different Ink color, which matches the color of their hair and squid form.

Gallery

• 

  Inkling character poster, as posted on the official Splatoon Twitter account.

• 

  Inkling artwork, as posted on the official English Nintendo Versus Twitter account.

• 

  Inkling’s amiibo.

• 

  Inkling's fighter card.

• 

  On Moray Towers.

• 

  Male Inkling using his forward smash on Luigi at Luigi's Mansion.

• 

  Dodging Squirtle's Water Gun on Pokémon Stadium 2.

• 

  Down smash on 3D Land.

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  Two Inklings on Moray Towers.

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  Using Splat Roller on Link, Samus and Mario on Figure-8 Circuit.

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  Watching Young Link drink Lon Lon Milk on Temple.

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  Inkling, Link, Pikachu and Bowser being attacked by Rathalos on Tortimer Island.

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  Getting Screen KO'd on Moray Towers.

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  With Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Ice Climbers, Pit and Villager on Battlefield.

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  With Kirby, Mario, Link, Marth, Pit, Ridley and Villager on Battlefield.

Trivia

• Inkling can swim in water in Ultimate. This contradicts attributes established in Splatoon, in which Inklings can only swim in Ink (in Squid Form) and dissolve when they touch water. However, in reference to this attribute, Inkling takes gradual damage while swimming in water.
• Inkling is currently the only newcomer in Ultimate to have received a Smash Bros. 4-style character poster to promote their inclusion as a playable character.
• Inkling is the first newcomer in Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii Fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. 4. The others are Chrom, King K. Rool, and Isabelle.
• Inkling was the only newcomer to be in the panoramic group artwork when it was first shown off in the E3 2018 Direct, due to being the only newcomer revealed at the time.
• Inkling is currently one of the only three newcomers in Ultimate to not have splash art and an introduction tagline, the others being Daisy and Joker.
• Inkling is one of two newcomers (the other being Ridley) to be in a veteran's gallery on the official website, specifically Young Link's.
• Coincidentally, Inkling's fighter number, 64, is the same as the number of her costume in Super Mario Maker.
• Inkling is the only character to have an alternate costume appear in the World of Light introduction cutscene, as male Inkling appears alongside the default female Inkling.
• When Inkling is KO'd in Stamina Mode, a ghostly squid can be seen drifting out of the KO explosion. In Splatoon, this occurs when an Inkling's health is depleted (known in that game as being "splatted").
• Inkling is one of the few fighters to spin forwards instead of away from the screen in their Star KO (similarly to how Star KOs acted in Smash 4). This trait is shared with Cloud, Corrin, Incineroar and Shulk.
• Depending on which costume the player chooses when doing Inkling's Classic Mode route, two different colors of Inkling will appear as the penultimate battle. The orange, pink, and purple Inklings face off against their yellow and green counterparts, the blue and yellow Inklings face off against the orange and green ones, and the green, cyan, and indigo Inklings face off against the orange and blue ones.
• Inkling is the only non-DLC newcomer to be a sole representative of a new universe.
• Inkling and Pokémon Trainer are the only characters to have alternate costumes with different animations. Several of the male Inkling's animations are altered from the female Inkling's animations, including his idle pose, victory poses and Screen KO.
• In Spanish and Italian, the voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" ("la Inkling chica"/"el Inkling chico" and "la Ragazza Inkling"/"il Ragazzo Inkling"). She shares this trait with Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, and the Mii Fighters.