Judd

"Judd the cat will tell you who won at the end of each match. No kitten!"

- Splatoon's official website

Judd (Japanese: ジャッジくん Jajji-kun) is a cat in Splatoon and Splatoon 2 that plays the role of referee in Multiplayer matches. Unlike other characters, he seems to play a bigger role in Splatoon ' s story that remains a mystery.

Personality and traits
Judd was born with the incredible ability to judge turf area at a glance to separate the winners from the losers. It may look like he is wearing a snazzy cat tuxedo, but that’s actually just the naturally occurring pattern of his fur. He is also a bit lazy, just like most cats, but is much more active during the night. This is shown in Splatfests, where he can be found dancing and saying, "Meow!"

Appearance
As depicted in the Sunken Scrolls, Judd's appearance has changed over time. Judd seems to resemble more of what he currently looks like in the present according to, but looks much younger and smaller in appearance. In and, Judd appears to be much smaller and thinner than his current form. , which was documented at the end of the Great Turf War, shows that between the time of scrolls #15 and #14, he has recaptured his much "heftier" appearance.

Before Splatoon
According to the Sunken Scrolls, Judd is more than 10,000 years old, as his original human owner is implied to have built a capsule designed to keep Judd cryogenically sealed for 10,000 years. Because of this, Judd was the only land life form that wasn't buried beneath the rising sea levels during the mass extinction at the beginning of the Mollusc Era.

Judd may have been released from cryogenic stasis at around 2,000 years before the events of Splatoon, as there are Sunken Scrolls depicting Judd judging ancient Turf Wars and the Great Turf War.

Splatoon
When he's not judging, he can be found sleeping on a blue crate on the Inkopolis Plaza, although he is said to live in Flounder Heights. The player can talk to Judd and he will give advice as well as a cash bonus depending on the player's online battle vibe, which increases and decreases with wins and losses. He will only give one cash bonus per vibe per stage rotation.

Splatoon 2
Judd returns in Splatoon 2 and once again plays the role of the referee, but is now joined by a new cat that bears a large resemblance to him, except they're much smaller, their markings are less dark and seems more happier than their larger version. Judd now represents the Good Guys (the player's team) while the "Mini-Judd" represents the Bad Guys (the rival team). now falls down in defeat when the Bad Guys win, while the Mini-Judd brandishes a flag of their team's color and vice versa. He once again takes naps when not judging battles on a pillow (now green), but now in Inkopolis Square with the Mini-Judd sitting on top of him.

Judd's Advice

 * "A Splat Bomb's timer is only active while it's on the ground! So they'll explode quicker when rolled than when thrown through the air!"
 * "An Inkstrike lets you attack any location on the map! The tornado slowly expands from a central point, so try to be accurate! And don't let foes hit you while you're looking at your map! Stay alert!"
 * "Chargers deal an awful lot of damage with each shot! But even so... If you just try to splat foes in one hit, you're going to have a bad time. Try using your first blast to block off the path ahead of them with ink... Then you can take them out more easily with the second! Painting the ground like this will help your allies too, so get shooting!"

Audio

 * [[Media:Judd sounds.ogg|Judd's voice clips]], either of which are used for the "Meow!" at the beginning of a piece of advice.

Payout
After the final Splatfest, Callie vs. Marie, Judd began to give out 1 Super Sea Snail per 30 completed online matches, note that these matches can be either Turf Wars or Ranked Battles.

In the manga series
Judd, like in the game, judges Turf War rounds. His appearance is the same.

Trivia

 * Judd's name is derived from the word "judge," as he is the referee for all the battles in Splatoon.


 * The tip of his tail is designed to look like an arrow.
 * Along with a handful of birds and insects, Judd is one of the few non-aquatic creatures in the game, as he is a cat. As stated in a developers' interview, this is because of the fact that the main characters of Splatoon were originally going to be rabbits; Judd is a leftover from that stage of the game's development.
 * Also explained in the interview is the source of Judd's name; apparently, the pattern of his fur came first, and it caused some developers to nickname him ジャッジ, or "Judge", which is his current name in the Japanese version of Splatoon.
 * Cats generally have a lifespan of 15 years. Normally he may not have lived after being awakened from cryostasis and living throughout 2,000 years ago.

Splatoon

 * There was a glitch in which the player could get their money back after purchasing a slot, reroll, or ordered gear from Spyke by talking with Judd after the purchase. It was fixed with the 1.2.0 patch.
 * During Splatfest, Judd can be seen dancing around happily on his pillow in Inkopolis Plaza. Instead of the usual "Zzz," he says "Meow!"
 * According to Callie and Marie, Judd lives in Flounder Heights and can be seen commuting to and from Inkopolis.
 * Cash cannot be given by Judd during a Splatfest, as there is no vibe and it is replaced by Splatfest Power.

Splatoon 2

 * The Mini-Judd appears to be noticeably larger while judging matches in comparison to Judd than while he's sitting on Judd in Inkopolis Square.