Octolings (タコゾネス Takozonesu?, lit. Octopus Amazoness) are a subspecies of Octarians and elite fighters in their army that are the octopus equivalent to an Inkling. They are recurring enemies in Octo Valley and Octo Canyon, appearing both in special missions where they are the only enemies, as well as in normal missions. Sanitized versions of Octolings appear in the Octo Expansion, while Fuzzy versions of Octolings appear in Alterna.
Elite Octoling (デラタコゾネス DeraTakozonesu?, lit. Deluxe Octopus Amazoness) are hard version of the regular Octolings. Unlike normal Octolings, Elite Octolings have green kelp, indicating that they are more difficult.
Appearance and traits[]
Octolings are the Octarian equivalents of Inklings. Compared to Inklings, their hair is thicker and curlier, with four tentacles instead of six (added with their arms and legs, this gives them eight "limbs", as opposed to an Inkling's ten), and they have their suckers above their hair as opposed to underneath, with beige undersides. They also have small round ears, purple circled eyes with a dash on the end, pointed fingers, and no spots at the ends of their hair.
Like Inklings, they can walk on land in humanoid form as well as swim through their own Ink in octopus form, making up a somewhat small but dangerous portion of Octarian forces. All enemy Octolings encountered are female, their body features seem slightly more mature than female Inklings', though this is a result of their clothing, as the in-game model is the same. These Octolings are considered elites compared to the playable Octolings, of which there are also male versions, and not every female Octoling can become a full-fledged soldier.
Octoling hair color seems unrelated to their ink, as they have their pre-set hair color regardless of the color set for the mission.
As shown in art of the Octolings in The Art of Splatoon, their eye markings are the same as their playable counterparts, but with a purple tinge at the edge of their 'eyelashes', and they have green eyes, like the other Octarians (even in octopus form, as opposed to the Inklings' eyes, which are always grey in squid form, regardless of the player's chosen eye color).
Like Inklings, Octolings have an swim 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, they have a different octopus form, which has curlier tentacles of the same length and Octarian eyes. Their hairstyle is also not available for playable Octolings.
Elite Octolings[]
While normal Octolings have red hair and are fairly easy to defeat, later missions 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.
Sanitized Octolings[]
The physical coloration of the Octolings is very different from normal ones, due to been sterilized or disinfected and had "life's energies" purged from them. They are shown to have pale greenish skin, dark, teal-colored fingertips and blue hair with neon yellow tips.
Fuzzy Octolings[]
The Fuzzy Octolings have the red parts of their hair having reddish-brown fur and the normally beige side being light brown. In addition, they have browner skin than their hairless congeners, and their lips are purple. Their clothing has also changed, consisting of new goggles with Fuzzy Ooze appearing to cover the lenses, a leopard top, new legwear, and boots styled after sea mines.
Personality and traits[]
Like Inklings they have the ability to morph, but into an octopus. Octolings can switch between their swim and humanoid form at will. They make up an elite corps of the Octarian forces, and can use various main weapons as well as sub weapons. With no visible target, Octolings wander alone or in small groups and ink nearby surfaces for their convenience. Upon being engaged by the player, they make tactical maneuvers, quickly jumping in and out of their ink while shooting and throwing bombs. 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.
It appears that only female Octoling enemys are in Hero Mode (DJ Octavio being the only exception). Octolings may have been the main opponent of the Inklings in the Great Turf War (But according to a sunken scroll it appears that Captain Cuttlefish was friends with DJ Octavio as they are seen sitting down together having a cheerful conversation). The Octo Expansion introduced customizable male and female Octolings for players to control in multiplayer.
Strategy[]
Octolings appear to have the most aggressive AI when compared to other Octarians, and can pull off any move the player can.
To deal with the Octolings, the player should use some of the following strategies:
- The Octolings jump frequently, so the player should hit them while they are on the ground.
- Octolings shoot bombs frequently, so the player should send Seekers at them.
- If in trouble, the player should turn into a swim form and swim away. They will not pursue them when they do.
- The player should throw bombs at them if they do not have a long-range weapon. In Splatoon 2, they should throw a few autobombs and they may not ever have to directly face them. This might not always work.
- When surrounded by enemy ink, the Octolings will attempt to swim away in octopus form, however they will be trapped by the player's ink and move far slower. When they find an Octoling flailing in an attempt to get away, take the chance while it is slowed.
- In Splatoon 2, there will usually be at least one Octoling guarding each Zapfish. However, they will not be there immediately; instead, they will super jump in, and the super jump sign will appear on the ground (identical to the ones in multiplayer). The player should spray ink at it so that when they jump in, they will not be able to escape.
- In Splatoon 3, Octolings have the Heat Sensor Ability. this will make it difficult to ambush them. The Elite Octolings have an upgraded Heat Sensor Ability.
History[]
Splatoon[]
They appear in the missions: Octoling Invasion, Inkvisible Avenues, Octoling Assault, Propeller Lift Fortress, Spinning Spreaders, Octoling Uprising, Spongy Observatory, and Octoling Onslaught. The only weapons they use are the Octoshot and Splat Bombs.
After completing Octo Valley, the player is awarded the Octoling Goggles, Octoling Armor, and Octoling Boots, based on the gear worn by the Octolings for use in online battles.
The Octoshot Replica is given to the player by Judd at level 40, completing the Octoling set.
Splatoon 2[]
Two Octolings, with their new weapons from Splatoon 2.
In Splatoon 2, Octolings have a slightly different design of their gear, wearing the Octoling Shades, Neo Octoling Armor, and Neo Octoling Boots. Some Octolings have colored fingertips similar to that of Marina, and Elite Octolings have dark, maroon-colored hair instead of black.
In addition to the Octo Shot, the Octolings have Octarian versions of the Hero Blaster, Hero Roller, and Hero Slosher. They also respawn from a Spawn Point after being splatted by the player.
They appear in the missions: Octoling Strike, Parking Garage, Octoling Assault, Propellerland, Octolings Ahoy!, and Octoling Workout.
Octo Expansion[]
The Octo Expansion introduced the Sanitized Octolings using all previous as well as new weapons, subs, and specials, including Octarian versions of the Herobrush, Hero Dualies, and Hero Brella. They are also able to use additional subs including the Burst Bomb and Autobomb. They are also capable of using specials, including the Inkjet, Tenta Missiles, Sting Ray, Ink Storm, Bomb Launcher (Splat Bomb), Ink Armor, and Splashdown.
After completing the Octo Expansion, the player is awarded the Octoshot Replica and the Octoling Shades, Neo Octoling Armor, and Neo Octoling Boots, based on the gear of the Splatoon 2 design Octolings, if one, two, or three sets of Mem Cakes are collected, respectively. The Octoleet Goggles can be obtained as gear from Salmon Run.
Splatoon 3[]
Splatoon 3 introduced the Fuzzy Octolings wield the Octoshot and Splat Bombs. In Bet You Mist Us! and After Alterna, they use various weapons, much like in Splatoon 2, including the Splat Roller, Blaster, Slosher, Octobrush, Splat Dualies, and Splat Brella, as well as various sub weapons including Burst Bombs, Curling Bombs, and Autobombs.
In After Alterna, they use various specials including the Splashdown, Tenta Missiles, Inkjet, Ink Storm, Big Bubbler, and Wave Breaker.
They appear in the missions: Stamp 'Em Out, Bet You Mist Us!, Alterna Space Center: Lift, and After Alterna.
Gallery[]
Normal[]
Sanitized[]
Trivia[]
- In early Splatoon 2 stages (not including Octo Expansion), if more than one Octoling is attacking a player, one of them will explode, with the same animation as a player in online matches disconnecting or going out-of-bounds.
- Once the player completes Hero Mode, they receive three pieces of Octoling equipment for them to wear: Octoling Goggles, Octoling Armor, and Octoling Boots.
- In Splatoon 2, since the Octolings have changed their “style”, the player can obtain their gear. However, this is only possible in Octo Expansion.
Marina the Octoling.
- Besides DJ Octavio, Agent 8 from the Octo Expansion, the only known Octoling characters are Marina, Dedf1sh, the second member of the band "Off The Hook" in Splatoon 2, and Shiver, the first member of the band "Deep Cut" in Splatoon 3,
- In the original game, a glitch caused by hacking could change the player's character into an Octoling. Often, those attempts ended with a corrupted game for themselves and other users in any games they are involved with, and, at worst, they can get banned from multiplayer matches for hacking.
- In the Nintendo Direct of 3/8/18 it was shown that male Octolings do exist, besides DJ Octavio. Also announced in the direct was the Octo Expansion, a paid DLC that added a new story mode and playable Octolings.
- It also announced that 2018 was the "Year of the Octoling", as "Octo-" (as in "octopus") means "eight" in Latin.
- While both types of characters are called "Octolings" in English material about the 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."
- It is noted that Octolings may be controlled by the hypnoshades they wear, similarly to Callie in Splatoon 2's Story Mode.
- It was revealed in a Famitsu interview with the developers that enemy Octolings are slightly older than Agent 8 and the playable Octolings.
- The common Octolings are voiced by keity.pop, and the Elite Octolings are voiced by Mari Kikuma, who are also voice actress for Callie and Marie.
| Main | Major |
Acht • Agent 3 • Agent 3 (Splatoon 3) • Agent 4 • Agent 8 • Cap'n Cuttlefish • C.Q. Cumber • Deep Cut (Big Man • Frye • Shiver) • Little Buddy • Off the Hook (Pearl Houzuki • Marina Ida) • Squid Sisters (Callie • Marie) |
| Minor |
Denizens of the deep • Great Zapfish • Iso Padre • Judd • Li'l Judd • Mr. Grizz • O.R.C.A. • Telephone |
| Bosses | Story Mode | |
| Octo Expansion |
| Salmonids | Lesser | |
| Boss |
Big Shot • Drizzler • Fish Stick • Flipper-Flopper • Flyfish • Maws • Scrapper • Slammin’ Lid • Steel Eel • Steelhead • Stinger | |
| Event-specific |
Chinook • Goldie • Griller • Mothership • Mudmouth | |
| King Salmonids |
| Jelletons | Lesser |
Battering Lento • Drizzling Cappriccioso • Gushing Trionfale • Homing Arpeggio • Marching Andante • Panicking Alla Mambo • Portal • Spawning Accordo • Springing Spiccato • Spawning Accordo • Swarming Languendo • Towering Nobilmente • Whirling Accelerando |
| Boss |
Asynchronous Rondo • Marina Agitando • Overlorder • Parallel Canon • Pinging Marciale |
| Vendors |
Annie • Bisk • Cipher • Craymond • Crusty Sean • Flow • Fred Crumbs • Gnarly Eddy • Harmony • Jelfonzo • Jel La Fleur • Jelonzo • Jel La Fleur • Moe • Mr. Coco • Murch • Nails • Shelly and Donny • Staff • Spyke |
| Bands |
Acht • Bob Dub • Chirpy Chips • C-Side • Damp Socks Feat. Off the Hook • Deep Cut (Big Man • Frye • Shiver) • Diss-Pair • DJ Lee Fish • DJ Octavio • DJ Real Sole • Front Roe • Grizzco Industries • H2Whoa • Hightide Era • Off the Hook (Pearl Houzuki • Marina Ida) • Turquoise October • SashiMori • Squid Sisters (Callie • Marie) • ω-3 • Yoko & the Gold Bazookas |
| Other |
| Species |
Animals • Human • Inkling • Jellyfish • Zapfish • Octarians (Sanitized version • Fuzzy version) Octoling (Playable Octoling • Enemy Octoling) • Salmonids • Super Sea Snail • Zapfish • |