Inkling

For fighter info, see Inkling (SSBU).

Inkling
{{{content1}}} {{{content2}}} 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	Inkopolis
Created by	Shintaro Sato Hisashi Nogami Tsubasa Sakaguchi Yusuke Amano
Designed by	Seita Inoue
Voice actor	Yuki Tsuji
Article on Inkipedia	Inkling

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

Origin

A green Inkling in squid form in Splatoon.

Inklings are creatures that can transform between a squid form and a humanoid form, which act as the players' avatars in Splatoon and Splatoon 2 (the latter of which also allows players to choose Octolings if they have purchased and completed the Octo Expansion DLC). Newborn Inklings initially only have their squid form and slowly go through a metamorphosis into their humanoid form, reaching maturity after about fourteen years. Turf War battles between teams of Inklings involve using a variety of weapons from multiple weapon classifications 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 hairstyle options are only available in Splatoon 2). Inklings are also colored based on ink battle teams from classic Splatoon.

The Inkling Outfit/Wig being orange for female Mii Gunners and blue for male Mii Gunners is a reference to the two most prominent Inklings in promotional art (including Splatoon's cover), an orange female Inkling and a blue male Inkling. These two designs are also the basis of the original Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl amiibo designs. The pose used for the Inkling trophy in SSB4 also matches the Inkling Girl amiibo. The Inkling Squid Hat, resembling an Inkling's squid form, appears to reference the design used for the original Inkling Squid amiibo, which is also green and in squid form.

As stated before, Inklings can transform into a squid showing off their ink color during certain scenarios. In 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 inks opponents. Inklings value their ink so much because they dissolve in water, a trait that is also carried over into Ultimate through Inklings taking continuous damage in water.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

As a costume

The Inkling Outfit and wigs in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Inklings 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 costume's advertising, one for the male and one for the female Inkling.

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 on June 14th, 2015.

Trophy

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

The Inkling trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

The Inkling trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Inkling

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!

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!

: Splatoon (05/2015)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

The female Inkling as she appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The Inklings, in female and male variations, are playable as unlockable newcomers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The initial teaser trailer for Ultimate, before its title was revealed, featured the default female and male Inklings in their designs from the original Splatoon, though they were not explicitly confirmed to be playable until Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation. Inkling can potentially be the first character unlocked in the game as the first character in Samus’s Classic Mode character unlock tree.

As a costume

Splatoon 2 set for Mii Gunner.

In addition to the returning Splatoon costumes from Smash 4, new costumes for the Mii Gunner based on the Inklings' appearances in Splatoon 2 are introduced.

Spirits

Fighter spirits

• 

  1,025. Inkling (Girl)

• 

  1,026. Inkling (Boy)

Support spirit

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

Gallery

• 

  The Inkling Squid Hat headgear.

• 

  Inkling costume for female Mii Gunner

• 

  Inkling costume for male Mii Gunner

• 

  Inkling Squid Hat for Mii Fighter

• 

  The male Inkling as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	インクリング, Inkling	—
English	Inkling	—
French	Fille inkling ♀ Garçon inkling ♂	Inkling girl Inkling boy
German	Inkling	—
Spanish	Inkling chica♀ Inkling chico ♂	Inkling girl Inkling boy
Italian	Ragazza Inkling♀ Ragazzo Inkling ♂	Inkling girl Inkling boy
Chinese	Inkling	—
Korean	잉클링, Inkling	—
Dutch	Inkling	—
Russian	Инклинг	—
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 Super Smash Bros. 4 doesn't change the spelling in the Inkling trophy from 'colored' to 'coloured'.
• Inkling and Wii Fit Trainer are the only characters with male and female alternate costumes where the female costume is the default costume for the fighter.
• Inkling is the only character to have male and female alternate costumes where both genders have the same voice actor.
• Inkling is one of two playable fighters in the Super Smash Bros. series whose console of origin is the Wii U. The other is Alph. Unlike Alph, however, Inkling is a playable character 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 playable character via Olimar's alternate costumes.
  • As Alph is an alternate costume to Olimar (who instead first appeared on the GameCube), the Inkling is the only original 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 versions. 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 rather than 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.