Ink



Ink is the main projectile used in the Splatoon series as well as a means of navigation. It comes in a variety of team-based colors that are randomized with each battle. Walls and ground alike can be covered with ink, but it goes through grates and cannot be applied to ink-resistant surfaces such as glass, tarps, and bumpers present in some stages. It allows players a degree of stealthiness, as Inklings and Octolings in squid and octopus forms can hide in their ink and ambush enemies. The signature ink colors are orange and blue in, neon pink and neon green in , and yellow and bluish-purple for.

Purposes


Ink can be used in a variety of ways, including as a projectile. Being hit by enemy ink causes players to take damage and become visible to their opponents on the map. After taking enough damage, players are splatted and eventually respawn. When attempting to swim or walk through enemy ink, Inklings and Octolings take damage, though this alone cannot splat them. Their movements also become very slow, and if they are in squid or octopus form, they are forced back into humanoid form. Equipping gear with the Ink Resistance Up ability helps to reduce the effects of being in enemy ink, and, in only, Defense Up can be used to reduce damage taken from being hit by it.

Ink can also be fired at various inkable surfaces and other characters. Once a surface is coated in ink, players of the same ink color can swim through it, allowing them to move more quickly and climb up walls. When staying still in their ink, players can hide and ambush enemies, and when swimming fast enough they only create small ripples. Equipping gear with the Ninja Squid ability hides these ripples entirely, further improving the wearer's ability to move undetected.

In, improved graphics were added to ink, including better shading, brightness, and sharpness.



Main weapons and sub weapons both require ink, with the specific amount needed varying between different weapons. Ink requirements can be reduced by equipping the Ink Saver (Main), Ink Saver (Sub), Last-Ditch Effort, and Comeback abilities. If players do not have enough ink to use a weapon, they are warned of it and their ink tank flashes with a large red "X". Ink slowly refills automatically, but swimming in one's ink refills it much faster. Ink Recovery Up increases the speed at which ink is regained.

Some devices allow ink to be used in even more ways. Inkrails and Ride rails exist for transportation, as Inklings and Octolings in squid and octopus forms can use them to get to otherwise inaccessible areas. Sponges expand for use as a platform when hit by the player's ink and shrink when hit by that of an opponent. Splat-Switches, when covered with ink, cause objects to move. Ink can also be used to spin propellers, which power the movement of various platforms. Finally, Balloon Fishes can be popped with ink to create an explosion much in the manner of player bombs.

Color sets
Neutral color values are used for objects such as barriers and the Squid Bumpers in the Shooting Range and can help with identifying a set. However, some sets seem to use different values for some objects. In, this color is also used on a few HUD elements, such as on the "GAME!" screen that appears at the end of a match, the map to indicate neutral objectives - such as un-captured Splat Zones or Towers - and to highlight the currently selected player.

Ink color names come from what they are called in files. Some names do not match the visible color; the reason for this is unknown.

Color sets used in-game are listed below.

Regular Battle

 * Pink vs. Green ( Neutral)
 * Pink vs. Turquoise ( Neutral)
 * Pink vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Turquoise vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Light Blue vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Light Blue vs. Yellow ( Neutral) (unused)
 * Blue vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Blue vs. Lime ( Neutral)

Ranked Battle

 * Yellow vs. Lilac ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Magenta ( Neutral)
 * Lumigreen vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Light Green vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Soda vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Dark Blue vs. Yellow ( Neutral)

Octo Valley

 * Orange vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Night Marigold vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Marigold vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * LumiGreen vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Night LumiGreen vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * MothGreen vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Soda vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Turquoise vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Lilac vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Dark Blue vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)

Splatfest
Splatfest color sets are downloaded, stored for Splatfest, and then removed afterwards.

North America

 * Cats vs. Dogs
 * Roller Coasters vs. Water Slides
 * Marshmallows vs. Hot Dogs
 * Autobots vs. Decepticons
 * Art vs. Science
 * Cars vs. Planes'''
 * Pirates vs. Ninjas
 * Burgers vs. Pizza
 * Naughty vs. Nice
 * Past vs. Future
 * Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Blue
 * Snowman vs. Sandcastle
 * SpongeBob vs. Patrick
 * Fancy Party vs. Costume Party
 * Early Bird vs. Night Owl
 * Callie vs. Marie

Europe & Oceania

 * Rock vs. Pop
 * Eating vs. Sleeping
 * North Pole vs. South Pole
 * Singing vs. Dancing
 * Messy vs. Tidy
 * Cats vs. Dogs
 * Zombies vs. Ghosts
 * Pro-pineapple vs. Anti-pineapple
 * Fit vs. Rich
 * Barbarian vs. Ninja
 * Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Blue
 * Hoverboard vs. Jet Pack
 * SpongeBob vs. Patrick
 * Black Tie Event vs. Fancy Dress Party
 * World Tour vs. Space Adventure
 * Callie vs. Marie

Japan

 * Rice vs. Bread
 * Red Fox vs. Green Tanuki
 * Lemon Tea vs. Milk Tea
 * Grasshopper vs. Ant
 * Boke vs. Tsukkomi
 * Squid vs. Octopus
 * Love vs. Money
 * Mountain Food vs. Sea Food
 * Red Fox vs. Green Tanuki
 * Perfect Body vs. Perfect Brain
 * Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Green
 * Go all out! vs. Focus on healing
 * Tuna Mayonnaise Onigiri vs. Red Salmon Onigiri
 * Fancy Party vs. Costume Party
 * Mushroom Mountain vs. Bamboo Shoot Village
 * Callie vs. Marie

Other

 * Yellow vs. Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Blue vs. Orange ( Neutral)
 * Dark Fuchsia ( Neutral)

Regular Battle

 * Lemon vs. Plum
 * Light Pink vs. Blue
 * Raspberry vs. Neon Yellow
 * Grape vs. Turquoise
 * Pink vs. Light Blue
 * Dark Purple vs. Orange
 * Neon Pink vs. Neon Green 
 * Sky vs. Gold (unused)

Ranked Battle

 * Slimy Green vs. Grape ( Neutral)
 * Winter Green vs. Dark Magenta ( Neutral)
 * Turquoise vs. Pumpkin ( Neutral)
 * Mustard vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Blue vs. Green ( Neutral)
 * Rich Purple vs. Green Apple ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. True Blue ( Neutral)

When modes of Ranked Battle are played in Private Battle the order of the ink colors for the teams are predetermined with the order above, Alpha vs. Bravo teams.

Octo Canyon
A note about ink in Octo Canyon is that it contains glitter, which is mostly unique to this mode. The only other time this was seen was during the Frosty Fest.


 * Yellow vs. Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Fuchsia ( Neutral)
 * Light Blue vs. Fuchsia ( Neutral)

Splatfest
Three Splatfest Ink sets use special textures: Fam vs. Friend using the same sparkly effect that can be seen in Octo Canyon, Trick vs. Treat using a more matte texture, and Chaos vs. Order using a unique metallic texture.

North America & Oceania

 * Cake vs. Ice Cream
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral)
 * Flight vs. Invisibility ( Neutral)
 * Vampire vs. Werewolf ( Neutral)
 * Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy ( Neutral)
 * Sweater vs. Socks ( Neutral)
 * Action vs. Comedy ( Neutral)
 * Money vs. Love ( Neutral)
 * Chicken vs. Egg ( Neutral)
 * Baseball vs. Soccer ( Neutral)
 * Raph vs. Leo
 * Mikey vs. Donnie
 * Raph vs. Donnie
 * Pulp vs. No Pulp ( Neutral)
 * Squid vs. Octopus ( Neutral)
 * Fork vs. Spoon ( Neutral)
 * Retro vs. Modern ( Neutral)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral)
 * Salsa vs. Guac ( Neutral)
 * Hero vs. Villain ( Neutral)
 * Fam vs. Friend ( Neutral)
 * Pancake vs. Waffle ( Neutral)
 * Knight vs. Wizard ( Neutral)
 * Hare vs. Tortoise ( Neutral)
 * Time Travel vs. Teleporation ( Neutral)
 * Unicorn vs. Narwhal ( Neutral)
 * Chaos vs. Order ( Neutral)
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Chicken vs. Egg ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Super Mushroom vs. Super Star ( Neutral)

Europe

 * Cake vs. Ice Cream
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral)
 * Flight vs. Invisibility ( Neutral)
 * Front Roll vs. Back Roll ( Neutral)
 * Warm Breakfast vs. Cold Breakfast ( Neutral)
 * Film vs. Book ( Neutral)
 * Action vs. Comedy ( Neutral)
 * Gherk-OUT vs. Gherk-IN ( Neutral)
 * Chicken vs. Egg ( Neutral)
 * Salty vs. Sweet ( Neutral)
 * Raph vs. Leo
 * Mikey vs. Donnie
 * Raph vs. Donnie
 * Pulp vs. No Pulp ( Neutral)
 * Squid vs. Octopus ( Neutral)
 * Adventure vs. Relax ( Neutral)
 * Retro vs. Modern ( Neutral)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral)
 * Eat It vs. Save It ( Neutral)
 * Hero vs. Villain ( Neutral)
 * Fam vs. Friend ( Neutral)
 * Pancake vs. Waffle ( Neutral)
 * Knight vs. Wizard ( Neutral)
 * Hare vs. Tortoise ( Neutral)
 * Time Travel vs. Teleporation ( Neutral)
 * Kid vs. Grown Up ( Neutral)
 * Chaos vs. Order ( Neutral)
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Chicken vs. Egg ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Super Mushroom vs. Super Star ( Neutral)

Japan

 * Rock vs. Pop
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral)
 * Fries vs. McNuggets ( Neutral)
 * Dexterity vs. Endurance ( Neutral)
 * Lemon vs. Without Lemon ( Neutral)
 * Warm Inner Wear vs. Warm Outer Wear ( Neutral)
 * Action vs. Comedy ( Neutral)
 * Champion vs. Challenger ( Neutral)
 * Hana vs. Dango ( Neutral)
 * Newest vs. Most Popular ( Neutral)
 * New Lifeform vs. Future Tech ( Neutral)
 * Hello Kitty vs. Cinnamoroll
 * My Melody vs. Pompompurin
 * Hello Kitty vs. My Melody
 * Squid vs. Octopus ( Neutral)
 * Mushroom Mountain vs. Bamboo Shoot Village ( Neutral)
 * Tsubuan vs. Koshian ( Neutral)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral)
 * Pocky Chocolate vs. Pocky: Gokuboso ( Neutral)
 * Hero vs. Villain ( Neutral)
 * Fam vs. Friend ( Neutral)
 * Boke vs. Tsukkomi ( Neutral)
 * Knight vs. Wizard ( Neutral)
 * Hare vs. Tortoise ( Neutral)
 * Ce vs. Pa ( Neutral)
 * No Pineapple vs. Pineapple ( Neutral)
 * Mayo vs. Ketchup ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Chicken vs. Egg ( Neutral)
 * Trick vs. Treat ( Neutral) (Rematch)
 * Super Mushroom vs. Super Star ( Neutral)

Color Lock

 * Golden Yellow vs. Eelectric Blue

Salmon Run
Salmonid Ink has a slime-like texture to it, where reflections have very little diffusion and there is a faint glow on the outer edge.
 * Orange vs. Neon Green
 * Blue vs. Neon Green
 * Pink vs. Neon Green

Octo Expansion
Unlike other ink, the Sanitized ink has a wavy effect.
 * Pink vs. Turquoise ( Neutral)
 * Peach vs. Turquoise ( Neutral)
 * Grape vs. Turquoise ( Neutral)

The battle against Inner Agent 3 uses a different selection of ink colors than the rest of Octo Expansion, seemingly referencing the primary ink colors of Splatoon.
 * Blue vs. Orange

Regular Battle and Anarchy Battle

 * Blue vs. Yellow ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Limegreen vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Purple ( Neutral)
 * Pink vs. Green ( Neutral)
 * Turquoise vs. Pink ( Neutral)
 * Turquoise vs. Red ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. Purple ( Neutral)

Global

 * Rock vs. Paper vs.  Scissors ( Neutral)
 * Gear vs. Grub vs.  Fun ( Neutral)
 * Grass vs. Fire vs.  Water ( Neutral)
 * Spicy vs. Sweet vs.  Sour ( Neutral)
 * Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate vs.  White Chocolate ( Neutral)
 * Nessie vs. Aliens vs.  Bigfoot ( Neutral)

Same Team in Tricolor Turf War
The color combination "TricolorDefault" or "TriColorSameTeamMatch" will be used if all players are from the same team in a Tricolor Turf War.
 * Teal vs. Purple vs.  Orange ( Neutral)

Regular Missions
The ink used by the Fuzzy Octarians features a marbled rainbow-like texture that mimics the iridescence of an oil spill, much like the Fuzzy Ooze itself. The Indigo color is used by DJ Octavio without the iridescent texture in his fight.
 * Blue vs. Magenta ( Neutral)
 * Green vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * LightBlue vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Blue ( Neutral)
 * Soda vs. Magenta ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. Indigo ( Neutral)

Deep Cut
The ink used in the boss fights against the members of Deep Cut contains the Deep Cut logo in a repeating pattern. The logos are slightly darker than the rest of the ink for Frye and Shiver, but the logos in Big Man's ink are yellow, as a reference to Super Mario Sunshine's Phantamanta boss.
 * Blue vs. Frye ( Neutral)
 * Lime vs. Shiver ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Big Man ( Neutral)

Salmon Run Next Wave

 * Blue vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)
 * Orange vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)
 * Pink vs. Dark Teal ( Neutral)
 * Purple vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)
 * SunYellow vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)
 * Yellow vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)

Salmon Run Training Manual
These colors are used when practicing against Boss Salmonids in the Grizzco training manual.
 * Orange vs. Dark Green ( Neutral)

Color Lock

 * Yellow vs. Dark Teal ( Neutral) (Salmon Run Next Wave)
 * Yellow vs. Blue ( Neutral) (Return of the Mammalians)
 * Lime vs. Light Pink vs.  Indigo ( Neutral) (Splatfest Battle)
 * Yellow vs. Blue ( Neutral) (Regular Battle and Anarchy Battle)

Prior to Version 3.0.0 (Splatoon 3) the color lock for Splatfest was Yellow vs. LightBlue vs. DarkBlue ( Neutral)

Getting Ready
These colors are used during the character customisation sequence and the short tutorial on the way to Splatsville.
 * WarmingUpYellow vs. WarmingUpBlue ( Neutral)

Trivia

 * According to Sunken Scroll 7 of and Callie and Marie, ink vanishes after every match. It was later confirmed with Sunken Scroll 14 in  that the cause of this is airborne microbes that consume the ink after a game.
 * While swimming, small bits of ink come off an Inkling or Octoling's squid or octopus form. This is likely because the squid and octopus forms are mainly used to submerge in ink.
 * During Haicalive at Chokaigi 2018, it was shown what it looks like when Inklings and Octolings change ink colors: their "hair" and any gear that changes due to ink color turns white, then fades to another color. This also occurred during Tentalive at Tokaigi 2019. Those are the only two occurrences where this can be seen, and there are no examples in-game.
 * Marie's ink having special properties is a trait only mentioned in certain North American localizations. In the English version, it is referred to as "low-tide" ink, which matches the theme of her solo song.
 * In Splatoon, it is possible to see a slight tint of a different ink color towards the ends of Inklings' tentacles, though it is hard to see on some color sets. This detail was removed in Splatoon 2. In, the details on Inklings' and Octolings' tentacles have become a dark rainbow-like color.
 * In Splatoon 3, every color set has an unused "Charlie" color. In Tricolor Turf Wars the Charlie color is delegated to the third team, but for other color sets it remains as unused, which is why every non-Tricolor set uses the same color for this.
 * The color used for this is
 * Splatoon 3 is the only game in the series where red ink appears outside of Splatfests.