Salmonid

The Salmonids are a race of fish creatures and the main antagonists and enemies of the Salmon Run mode in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3. Their main ink color is dark green.

Appearance and culture
Boss Salmonids and Lesser Salmonid are the same species, and what determines their appearance is what environment they are raised in. Those who are raised in a harsher environment become Boss Salmonid. Steelheads and Maws have big bodies, while Scrappers and Steel Eels have higher intelligence.

Most Salmonids are seen using cooking utensils as their weapon, with Chums and Cohocks using a frying pan, Smallfry using a spoon, Grillers using a grill, the Stinger using a stack of cooking pots, and the Flyfish using beverage coolers.

In a developer interview, it was revealed that this is due to making themselves look “tasty”. It’s explained that the Salmonids aren’t afraid of dying and regard their death to be a cycle of life and think of all life being part of this cycle. Grillers are said to be the ultimate way of doing so by the Salmonids becoming the contents of the Griller. When the Salmonids fight to death, they feel a sense of unity with themselves and the world. When they are eaten by other creatures, they see their death as a way of being one with the world.

There are floating sculptures based off of cooking utensils in the background of Salmon Run stages, where some also feature food on them. These are built by the Salmonids and symbolize with the belief of being delicious to eat.

Salmonids are an honorable clan; fighting for their clan's pride is seen as equally precious as their values. They take care of keeping their weapon in great shape. Their frying pans, as well as other weapons they wield, are passed down generation to generation.

Lesser Salmonids

 * Chum
 * Smallfry
 * Cohock
 * Snatcher
 * Chinook

Normal Bosses

 * Steelhead
 * Flyfish
 * Steel Eel
 * Maws
 * Stinger
 * Drizzler
 * Scrapper
 * Fish Stick
 * Flipper-Flopper

Event-specific Bosses

 * Griller
 * Goldie
 * Mothership

Trivia

 * The Salmonids' hair looks like a Spartan Helmet. The Spartans were a warrior city-state that valued dying for Sparta in combat.
 * The Salmonids have a trade agreement with the Octarians, where the Salmonids provide Power Eggs used as energy sources in exchange for Octarian weapons and machinery. In The Art of Splatoon 2, it is stated that Salmonids do not trade Golden Eggs, as they are too valuable.
 * The Salmonids which use a frying pan as their weapon, consisting of the Chum, Cohock and Goldie, all have two variations of the frying pan. One variant of the frying pan has an emblem resembling a Salmonid, a metal handle, a smoother shape and circular rings on the pan. The other variant lacks these features while having a wooden handle.
 * Lesser Salmonids may make upward jumps of unlimited heights to splat players staying on walls for too long.
 * The Salmonids' appearance resembles that of a salmon when it is in its spawning phase, which differs from ocean phase, where it turns more vibrant red, adopting brown and grey colors instead of the silvery color, and has a more elongated jaw that hooks downwards with bigger teeth. Some species also get hunched backs.
 * The Salmonids willingness to die may be based on how salmon partaking the salmon run die after spawning. The dying salmon play an important role in providing nutrients to life surrounding it, which may also be what the Salmonids' belief of "becoming one with the world" is based on.
 * It is unknown what Mr. Grizz does with the Golden Eggs.