NILS Statue

The NILS Statue is a giant statue created by a human professor 12,000 years before the events of Splatoon 2. Commander Tartar, an AI created by the same professor, attempts to use the statue as a weapon to destroy Inkopolis, Inkling civilization, and life across the world.

In Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion
The NILS Statue is the location of Turf War, the final mission of the Octo Expansion. Agent 8 must completely cover the statue in ink using Marina's Hyperbombs in order to prevent it from charging a large cannon in its mouth. When they succeed the cannon fires anyway, and Pearl uses a Killer Wail to intercept its beam and destroy the statue. It then sinks back into the ocean. If Agent 8 fails to ink the entire surface or falls into the ocean at anytime during the mission, the NILS Statue destroys Inkopolis and players are given the choice to try again or skip the mission.

Trivia

 * The cannon in the mouth of the NILS Statue includes several blenders that resemble the one Agent 8 and Cap'n Cuttlefish stepped inside earlier.
 * The NILS Statue may be based on depictions of the Greek god Hermes.
 * With its extremely large size and location off the coast of a major city, it may also be a reference to the Statue of Liberty. If so, it parallels the use of the Statue of Liberty as a representation of a past human civilization seen in the film Planet of the Apes.
 * The statue may have be included as an element of vaporwave to which Octo Expansion heavily alludes.
 * If one looks through the glass on the base of the weapon, an Octoball can be seen floating around inside. They can also be seen flying out of the Statue once Pearl's Killer Wail strikes it.
 * The term "nil" means zero. This is likely a reference to Tartar's goal to destroy all life.