Goggles (character)

Goggles is a character from the Splatoon manga and the series' mascot. He is on Team Blue (Temporarily Mixed Team in Splatoon 3). Goggles' first appearance was in Chapter 0, a fan-made, promotional manga published in June's CoroCoro Special issue in 2015, in which he appeared wearing a different outfit, more in-sync with the promotional-art character on which he was based. He has appeared in almost every chapter since.

Description
Goggles has worn six different outfits through the course of the manga, excluding his short-lived outfits that were only featured in one chapter, like his outfit changes in Chapter 3. They all (excluding the Octo Expansion gear) share the same headgear, the Pilot Goggles, which the character was named after. In Chapter 0, he wore the Zink Layered LS and Purple Hi-Horses. Throughout the CoroCoro Cup, he wore the Armor Jacket Replica and Hero Runner Replicas. During the Hero Mode chapters, he wore the Hero Headset Replica with his goggles, Hero Jacket Replica and Hero Runner Replicas. In the Square King Cup arc and onwards (excluding the Octo Expansion arc) he wore the Eggplant Mountain Coat and Hero Runner Replicas. In the Octo Expansion arc, he wore the Sennyu Goggles, Sennyu Suit and Sennyu Inksoles. In the Hero Mode 2 arc, he wears the Hero Headphones Replica, with his goggles yet again, the Hero Hoodie Replica and the Hero Snowboots Replicas.

In Splatoon 3: Splatlands, Vol. 1, he is seen wearing his Pilot Goggles, with a Tri-Squid Tee due to his Eggplant Mountain Coat having been damaged when he tried to Super Jump to his friends, despite them being close by. After he gets his new gear, he has the Pilot Goggles, the Lime Ski Jacket, and his Hero Runner Replicas. He now wears loose denim shorts.

Personality and traits
Throughout the manga, Goggles is shown to be quite naive and often carefree, a trait that is shared with fellow teammate Bobble Hat. He often does not take things seriously and is not intimidated by strong foes, seeing battles as fun sports unlike some other inklings. He is often seen eating pickled plums or other foods. He is also shown to engage in practical jokes, albeit almost completely limited to pantsing other Inklings (notably Rider) and getting naked in public. He cares deeply about his friends and goes to extreme lengths for them, although his 'help' can lack thinking about the possible consequences.

Relationships
He is shown to get along well with the other members of Team Blue, despite Headphones and Specs taking often offense to his actions, while Bobble Hat seems to not mind his shenanigans. Rider is Goggles' best friend outside of Team Blue. Originally Rider was a rival to Goggles, but Goggles' compassion for his team members taught Rider to be nicer to his teammates. In the Splatoon 2 section of the Splatoon Manga, Goggles meets Gloves, an Inkling which prioritizes his status in society. He also has a better relationship with the S4. Eight is an Octoling who Goggles named, he also named Seven who is an Octoling as well, the two work alongside Team Blue in the Octo Expansion arc. Besides Bobble Hat, Eight seems to be the only friend of Goggles who does not mind the latter's ridiculous behavior. In the Splatoon 3: Splatlands manga, Goggles befriends Braid, a shy Inkling who strives to one day play Turf War. Braid plays alongside Team Blue to stop the New Order of Splatlands.

Trivia

 * Googles is hard of hearing and often confuses things, such as "Turf War" for "Surf War".
 * In the first volume of the manga, Goggles' info in the Inkling Almanac reveals that he is a restless sleeper.
 * According to the Inkling Almanac, the pickled plums that Goggles is often seen eating are made by his grandmother.
 * He has confused wasabi with toothpaste.
 * Goggles was on Team Chaos for Splatoon 2's final Splatfest.
 * In Splatoon 3, Goggles often mistakes several Octolings' hairstyles (specifically those of Barreleye and Shellmet) for chocolate cornets.