Player Settings

Upon starting the Splatoon games for the first time or selecting Player Settings from the Options menu, the player is given a variety of options to customize their Inkling or Octoling.

Splatoon
In, the player can only play as an Inkling with the following options:

Splatoon 2
introduced alternate hairstyle and legwear options (with further options added in Version ), as well as adding more options for eye color. Hairstyles and legwear can also be changed on the equipment screen. The added the ability to play as an Octoling upon completion. The introduction of the Splatfest team names in Version also revealed official names for the hairstyles for the first time in the SS undefined.

Species and gender

 * Inkling girl
 * Inkling boy
 * Octoling girl (available after completion)
 * Octoling boy (available after Octo Expansion completion)

Splatoon 3
collectively refers to gender and species as styles, removes gender restriction on hairstyle and legwear, and adds more customization options. This game also allows the player to play as both Inklings and Octolings from the beginning of the game.

Inklings have 16 available hairstyles (4 of which are introduced in this game), while Octolings have 8 (4 of which are new).

The player can also change their character's eyebrows. In previous games, there is only one eyebrow shape for each style. In Splatoon 3, each style has 4 pairs of eyebrows to choose from, amounting to 16 pairs of eyebrows total. The specifics of each eyebrow shape vary from style to style.

There are 12 legwear options in total. The "classic shorts" option is still shorter on feminine styles like in previous games, while the three "leggings" options are collapsed under one "leggings" icon with an ellipsis under it.

The Smallfry companion also has customizable hairstyle, with 7 options.

Quotes
"Wow... between new features and returning favorites, it seems players will have more options than ever to create characters that express their individual styles. I'd call our mathematician for an estimate, but I'm still mad that she tricked me into dividing by zero."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"Between new features and returning favourites, players will have more options than ever to create characters that express their individual styles."

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Quotes
"Squid Research Lab here, fresh off the excitement of customizable eyebrows with another ocular observation - tricolor eyes! Apparently unique to the Splatlands, these player-selectable, triple-tone peepers are so cool, I don't even have a cornea pun to make!"

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"These player-selectable, triple-tone peepers are unique to the Splatlands!"

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Quotes
"Squid Research Lab here, bristling with excitement to reveal new hairstyles! These new looks for Inklings and Octolings are a follicular phenomena that- Pardon me. An intern SPRINTED in here waving some papers. Oh! It seems the "hair" is tentacle based. NEW TENTACLES DROPPED!"

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"Check out these four new hairstyles for Inklings and Octolings! Well, they're tentacles to be exact, but let's not split hairs."

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Quotes
"Squid Research Lab here with another hair-adjacent update. It seems that Inklings and Octolings now have full eyebrow autonomy. In layperson's terms, you can literally browse brows! OW. I told Linguistics to pinch me every time I made a pun, and they are NOT messing around."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"It seems that Inklings and Octolings now have full eyebrow autonomy. In other words, you can literally browse brows!"

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Trivia



 * There is a separate player customization screen in Octo Expansion, having the playable Octolings floating naked in a test tube full of green liquid with lime-green stains across their bodies. It is functionally identical to the normal one, except that Inklings and the legwear option are omitted. As such, if the player uses this screen to customize their Octoling, then they will always have the "classic shorts" outside of the Octo Expansion.
 * As an added detail, the selected Octoling will appear to "wake up" more and more as they are customized, going from having their eyes shut and being completely still (representing sleeping) when picking gender, to progressively opening their eyes and looking around (representing waking up) as more options are selected, to finally looking at the camera and crossing their arms with a determined expression (representing being fully awake) once their appearance is finalized.
 * In Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion and Return of the Mammalians, the player can customize Agent 3's appearance with the same limited options in.
 * In the former, the player is prompted to customize them after collecting three thangs and the choices are permanent upon completion.
 * In the latter (where they are referred to as the "Captain"), it is done by interacting with a notebook in a camp in the Crater. The customization is optional and can be changed later, unlike in Octo Expansion. If the player imported save data from the Octo Expansion and have customized Agent 3 there, the customization will carry over here; otherwise, they will have the feminine style, third-lightest skin tone, and green eyes.
 * In Splatoon, when changing the player customization, both gender Inklings have the same skin tone and eye color as the player's most recent choice. However, if it is the first time picking a character, then the default Inklings have the girl with the second lightest skin tone and orange eyes, while the boy has the third lightest skin tone and blue eyes. Both of these are based on the main Inklings often featured in promotional material.
 * In Splatoon 2, one of the Inklings and Octolings corresponds to the most recent Inkling and Octoling the player used, while the other assumes their default look. The default Inklings and Octolings have both girls with the middle skin tone and orange eyes, while boys have the third lightest skin tone and blue eyes. This is again based on the main Inklings and Octolings featured in promotional materials.
 * Additionally, when switching from an Inkling to an Octoling or vice-versa, the game will save the player's most recently used appearance as the opposite species, which is used for the single-player modes: Octo Canyon always uses the player's Inkling, while the Octo Expansion always uses the player's Octoling.
 * In Splatoon 2, the player's character animates differently for each stage of customization, such as looking down when deciding on legwear or hunching over towards the camera when picking an eye color. These animations are the same between both Inkling genders, but have slight variations for the female Octoling, who has a "shy" demeanor.
 * In the announcement trailer for Splatoon 3, there are a number of differences in the customization sequence shown.
 * There is no eyebrow selection, with the character in the trailer defaulting to the "Slit" brows.
 * The Tri-Stringer present in the trailer is also absent in the final customization screen, with the player starting out unarmed, then picking up a Splattershot Jr.
 * The third-last eye color option appears more pinkish and purple in the announcement trailer, but in the game it is more of a reddish color.
 * The third legwear option has a slightly different icon that appears to resemble shorts more than the baggy sweatpants in the final game. As the trailer never shows the actual model of the option, it is uncertain if the legwear itself was actually different from the final game, or if it was simply represented by a different icon at the time.
 * The tutorial section that occurs after customization is finished in the final game is not shown in the trailer, instead skipping to the cutscene of the player character boarding the train to Splatsville.
 * By multiplying the customization options, the number of all possible character creation combinations can be determined.
 * Splatoon offers the option between 2 genders, 7 skin tones and 7 eye colors, giving a number of 98 possible looks.
 * Splatoon 2 offered more and more options over the course of both its updates and added DLC.
 * After launch there were 2 genders, 7 skin tones, 14 eye colors, 4 hairstyles and 3 legwear options, giving a number of 2352 possible looks.
 * After Version 2.0.0 there were 2 more hairstyles and 3 more legwear options, giving a new total of 5880 possible looks.
 * Starting the Octo Expansion gives the option between 2 genders, 7 skin tones, 14 eye colors and 2 hairstyles, giving a total of 392 possible looks for the Octoling.
 * After finishing the Octo Expansion players are able to choose the legwear too, giving a new total of 1960 possible looks.
 * Adding all final Inkling (5880) and Octoling (1960) options together gives a total of 7840 possible looks for the playable character.
 * Splatoon 3 offers an even higher amount of options due to the addition of more customisation features and all hairstyles and legwear being accessible to all styles.
 * Inklings have 2 styles, 9 skin tones, 21 eye colors, 16 hairstyles, 4 eyebrow and 12 legwear options, giving a total of 290304 possible looks.
 * Octolings have only 8 hairstyles and thus only half the possible looks compared to an Inkling with a total of 145152 possibilities.
 * Adding the option of both species together means that there are 435456 possible looks for the playable character.
 * Despite Smallfry's 7 hairstyles not being part of the player character options, they are still part of the customization options available in Splatoon 3. This means that there can be a maximum of 3048192 accounts where no sequence of options is exactly the same.
 * In Splatoon 3, as the player customizes their character, the following happens in order:
 * When choosing a style, the player's character is sitting with a hooded cape, shades, and facemask on.
 * When choosing a skin tone, the player's character takes off their facemask.
 * When choosing an eye color, the player's character takes off their shades.
 * When choosing a hairstyle and an eyebrow shape, the player's character takes off their hood.
 * When choosing legwear, the player's character stands up, dropping off the cape.
 * When choosing a hairstyle for Smallfry, it stands up.
 * When both the player's character and Smallfry's appearances are finalized, the player character now wears their ink tank and the Cephalo Pods and both of them walk off together.