Agent 8

Agent 8, also referred to as Number 10,008, is a playable Octoling and is the protagonist of Octo Expansion.

Appearance
Depending on the player's choices, they can have different eye and skin colors, as well as being either a boy or a girl. They have angled eyes with black markings around their eyes (with a dash at the end for the female only), a sharp tooth on the opposite side of their teeth bottom and on top, a flat, pointed ear on the left and human-like, rounded ear on the right, small suckers, semi-pointed fingers. The female’s hairstyle features two thin tentacles with two suckers parted way in the front that curl at the tips reaching slightly past their shoulders and two larger but shorter tentacles in the back that too curl at the tips, each with a single sucker. Alternatively the female can have a ponytail hairstyle with two tentacles tied in the back with two small tentacles as sideburns. The male’s hairstyle features a mostly shaved cut with one main tentacle mohawk down the center that curls at the end, in the back he has three small tentacles in a column. Alternatively, the male can have an afro, reminiscent of an Octopus's mantle. They all have gray under their hair, and ring-like spots at the ends of their tentacles. They wear a black leather crop top with one long sleeve, leather skirt or pants and boots, and a type of neon yellow bracelet on both their ankles and wrists; if they pick up Armor, their shirt will now have both sleeves on and reach down to their wrists and pants or skirt. When they're damaged, their sleeve will fall off and reveal a padded undershirt, they'll be in a weakened state similar to Agent 4.

Personality
Despite being mute throughout the game, Agent 8 shows aspects of their personality through subtle means. Agent 8 has a fondness for poetry and writes one for every Mem Cake collected. Throughout these poems, Agent 8 demonstrates a yearning for life on the surface, participating in turf wars, finding a part-time job, and dressing up in fresh clothes. This resolve is shown most strongly with the final area of Octo Expansion, where failing repeatedly activates a Skip Charge, showing Agent 8 with glowing eyes as they charge through the stage with the Calamari Inkantation motivating them. Despite this, Agent 8 also wishes to apologize to DJ Octavio for unceremoniously deserting the army in pursuit of Inkopolis, as well as recollecting their old Octoling friend and hoping that they don’t think badly of their decision. As a result of listening to the Calamari Inkantation, Agent 8 is a big fan of the Squid Sisters, anxiously planning their greeting to the pair upon reaching the surface every night. Agent 8 appears to have known about Marina’s escape to the surface and was glad to hear that she had made it safely. Agent 8 is also seen to be somewhat confused of Cap'n Cuttlefish's actions and personality as seen from near the end that they awkwardly look down at the platform where they once stood when he was rapping with Pearl and was seen glaring at him in confusion when he asked what he could do to stop Commander Tartar and happily accepts being the hype man.

Interestingly, Agent 8 is said to enjoy listening to Sheldon rambling in contrast to various other characters, possibly due to Octarian culture centering around technology and weaponry.

History
Agent 8 was an Octoling soldier for the Octarian army and had a change of heart when Calamari Inkantation was etched into their soul. In Octo Valley, Agent 8 encountered Cap'n Cuttlefish and Agent 3, Cap'n Cuttlefish had them attack Agent 8 and both of them battled until all three of them were attacked by "someone" and were knocked into the Deepsea Metro. Agent 8 lost their memories from injuries suffered during the fall through the ceiling and became a test subject of the metro. According to Marina, Octolings that hear the song become discontent with Octarian society and choose to strike out on their own.

They are called Agent 8 by Cap'n Cuttlefish in reference to them being identified as subject number 10,008 in the testing facility, since Agent 8 forgot their real name after losing their memory.

Role
Agent 8's role is to complete various missions in the Deepsea Metro with the premise of reaching the promised land by finding and collecting the thangs. The reasons for these missions are not yet known, other than its purpose is for selecting out the best test subjects, where those who succeed in assembling the thangs get their DNA added to the green sludge as revealed by Commander Tartar. The missions take place in an area that is supposedly a testing lab. They seem to have varied objectives, unlike Hero Mode, where the objective is to rescue the Zapfish.

After Agent 8 collects all the thangs and almost gets blended by it, the objective changes to escape the facility to the surface by their own means after Agent 3 manages to reveal a new path. There are a set of different Phases that Agent 8 has to navigate through, each with their own objectives. When Agent 8 reaches the surface they have to fight Commander Tartar and the NILS statue to defend Inkopolis from being destroyed.

Splatoon 2 Manga
Agent 8 appears in Issue 14 of the Splatoon 2 manga as an Octoling boy with red eyes with the mohawk hairstyle and wears a pair of Squidlife Headphones and a pair of Null Boots Replica with the unique pants and top and wields a Blaster. He found Goggles who had previously attempted to land on the Grizzco boat when super jumping back and ended up sinking into the water. Agent 8 is shown to have a hand in machinery, like Octolings are said to, and made Goggles a new set of gear for him, a Splattershot and the same ink tank that he has.

Trivia

 * Agent 8 was first revealed as a character on March 8, 2018, along with the rest of the Octo Expansion.
 * They notably look very different from the Octolings seen in the hero modes for Splatoon and Splatoon 2.
 * Their rounded ears could be based on the dumbo octopus, a deep sea creature which relates to the theme of the deep sea in Octo Expansion.
 * The left ear is more indented than the other ear, referencing the octopus’s siphon that lies on one side.
 * They are the first playable character to use dialogue.
 * Their name could possibly be a reference to the number of limbs an octopus has.
 * The Spawn Point lights have an 8 as their design, referencing Agent 8.
 * Agent 8's name is supposed to be their subject number shortened for convenience by Cap'n Cuttlefish.
 * Agent 8 is the only agent to not wield the Hero Weapons and instead wield different sets of standard main and sub-weapons.
 * They are the first player to have a fixed first-person camera view so the player can select Agent 8's gender, skin, eyes, and hair.
 * They are the first playable character to wield the Octo Shot as well as be unarmed in certain levels.
 * Unlike Agent 3 or Agent 4, Agent 8 is the only playable character to not have a weapon in the hub world, though they still have an ink tank on.
 * It's unknown if Agent 8's outfit was what they wore when they were part of the Octarian army or was when they fell into the Deepsea Metro given the tags on their wrist and ankle.
 * After escaping the Deepsea Metro, if Agent 8 watches Off the Hook with the zoomed in view, they will respond differently showing that Pearl and Marina recognize them.
 * In a Splatoon 2 Anniversary Famitsu interview with the developers it is revealed that Agent 8 dies and doesn't respawn if they get splatted during the escape Phases. It is further explained that during multiplayer battles and the test stations Agent 8 gets resurrected at the respawn points, but failing during the escape and choosing to continue playing just has the player "go back in time" to when Agent 8 still was alive.