Marie

"I'm Marie. I know you're probably a bit starstruck, but I need you to get over it."

- Dialogue in Octo Canyon

Marie is a part of the Squid Sisters pop idol duo and a host of Inkopolis News, alongside her cousin Callie. Her signature color is lime green.

She is voiced by Mari Kikuma.

Appearance


Marie is a very fashionable Inkling and has a more laid-back design in comparison to her cousin. Her tentacles, which are light gray, are tied in a large bow on the right side of her head, with the ends wrapped around to the other side and curling up slightly at the ends, along with a bang swept to the left of her face. Marie also has a faint green tinge at the ends of her tentacles. She has large, downturned eyes with gold irises and light-brown pupils in the shape of a plus. Her eye markings end in small, slightly curved points, her eyebrows are large and oval-shaped, and she has a beauty mark on her right cheek. Her ears are slightly narrower, longer, and downturned than those of the average Inkling, and on them, she wears a pair of chunky, milky white earrings.

Her outfit, which appears to be a romper with a skirt covering the smaller, less-sequined shorts with green lacing in the back, is black with a reflective texture as if covered in sequins. The skirt is bowl-shaped, like her hat, and the underside of the skirt which is seen while Marie is jumping occasionally is green on the inside. On the front of the dress are three bright green marks, which, somewhat morbidly, are made to look like the cuts made in squid when it is cooked. With this outfit, she wears lime green tights, black shorts, white gloves, and a small, white, pointed neck accessory giving the impression of a shirt collar. On her feet, Marie wears a pair of black wedge shoes with a leathery texture, which has a shiny green material on the bottom and two green buttons on either side of the ankle. She wears a green and white hat resembling a calamari ring, sometimes used as a hairband, which is not attached and can be seen flying off her head for a moment when she jumps. It was revealed in that she has scars from when Callie hit her with a bug net when they were children.

During a Splatfest, any part of Marie's appearance that is normally lime green changed to match the color of her Splatfest team, including the ends of her tentacles. This reflects her normal ink color, as proven by her amiibo figure and her squid form in Super Mario Maker and Miitomo.

As a child, Marie wore traditional Japanese-style clothing and her tentacles were much shorter and messier. Her first outfit, shown in Sunken Scroll 17, consisted of a black yukata with a white polka dot pattern at the bottom and a pair of thick black zōri with pink thongs. On the left side of her head, she wore a green and white accessory that simply looked like a smaller version of her current calamari hat. For her second outfit, which was shown in promo art for the Grasshopper vs. Ant Splatfest, Marie wore a white yukata with a seashell pattern in lime green, navy blue, and dull purple. The calamari accessory had taken on a dark purple tint in addition to its existing colors.

While posing as Agent 2, Marie wears what seems to be a green shirt, a green hat with a logo similar to the Firefin one, and a white facemask. Her attire suggests she is trying to hide her identity from fans that happen to see her.

In Splatoon 2, Marie once again dons traditional Japanese-style clothing that resembles the outfit she wore as a child. Her outfit consists of a black and dark grey kimono with gold triangle patterns around the waist and carries a green parasol with the Cuttlegear brand logo on it. She wears traditional Japanese sandals, or 'geta', and a different, pink, headpiece described in The Art of Splatoon 2 as being reminiscent of cooked shrimp. The kimono bears the Kensaki (Toni Kensa) family emblem, although the connection is unknown.

Personality and traits
Marie is seemingly quieter and not as excitable as her cousin, and usually only gives a half-smile, if at all. She can be sarcastic from time to time, and is slightly prone to complaining, but is usually in a mild mood. Overall, her disposition is laid-back and friendly, although she can be grumpy sometimes. She is also an expert at doing impressions, as mentioned by Agent 1.

She dislikes overly-thrilling activities and can even be somewhat lazy. She also does not seem to be a big fan of vegetables, especially tomatoes, even to the extent of saying that she would rather eat a Splattershot than vegetables.

She has shown a demonstrably cheekier side, as seen in the Pokémon Red vs. Pokémon Blue Splatfest ending dialogue, where Callie asked how to change the name of Marie's Vulpix she traded her from "BLUEISBEST" and Marie hurriedly ends the broadcast, slyly avoiding the question. In addition to this, when reattempting the final boss fight of, at one point her dialogue reads: "Octavio, stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!", laughing at the fact that DJ Octavio's "fists" need to be shot back at him. She states that she 'can't throw shade without Callie' in Octo Canyon, further implying her cheeky side.

When anticipating an announcement (for example, the theme of a Splatfest, or the contents of an update), she often repeats herself in excitement. (Ex. "What is it? What is it?!")

She mentions several times on Inkopolis News that her preferred weapon class is the charger. Given the existence of the Hero Charger and her role as Agent 2, Marie possibly used a charger in Octo Valley. In Splatoon 2, she mentions that she is "more of a charger girl", and in the final battle, Tide Goes Out, she is shown using the Hero Charger.

Despite her constant teasing of Callie, it is said in the Squid Sisters Stories that Marie's worry for Callie overshadowed everything. This further implies their relationship.

Many of Marie's Splatfest choices are lazy, smart, and sassy, as seen with her choices of Save It, Perfect Brain, and Marie. Marie states that she hates pineapple on pizza and even wonders about getting a slice of 'pineapple-free pizza from the future' while alone in Octo Canyon. Marie also stated that she would rather join team Future than team Past so she can 'give out messages and print out pizza slices'.

Marie hates Callie's puns, often calling them "punbearable", although while at a live concert Callie states that Marie has her own "signature puns". This implies that Marie truly cares about what Callie likes, although she is prone to cheekily insult the things Callie does like; Marie may be acting cheeky to help raise her popularity.

Early life


Marie was raised in Calamari County, regularly counting the stars with her cousin Callie at night. At a young age, she became interested in singing and entered Inkopolis' first annual Youth Folk-Singing Contest with Callie. Their stunning performance earned them a standing ovation from the audience, as well as a first-place trophy and certificate.

After moving to Inkopolis, Marie worked at Walleye Warehouse with Callie. She resented this job, saying that the best thing about it "was quitting" and burning her uniform, despite thinking that her co-workers were nice. Eventually, Marie joined Callie in creating the Squid Sisters, slowly rising in notoriety to become Inkopolis' premier pop icons.

Splatoon


By the events of, the Squid Sisters had become household names in Inkopolis Plaza, with one of their celebrity jobs being hosting Inkopolis News. Marie usually interjected sarcastic statements regarding stage news, often groaning at Callie's puns, but was known to also make silly, nonsensical, or even off-topic comments herself. She also helped to announce updates and Splatfest news and could be seen chatting with Callie in the Inkopolis News Studio. Whenever a Splatfest occurred, Marie and Callie could be seen singing and dancing to City of Color atop trucks in the Plaza equipped with platforms and stage equipment. While Callie won 25 Splatfests across all regions, Marie only won 18.



Marie also made a major appearance during Octo Valley. After initially making a news broadcast about the disappearance of the Great Zapfish, she appeared as Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, led by her grandfather, Cap'n Cuttlefish, with Callie as Agent 1. Throughout Octo Valley, Marie was heard communicating to Cuttlefish, Callie, and Agent 3 regarding the looming Octarian menace. Once Cuttlefish was kidnapped after Agent 3 defeated the Octomaw, the two agents acted as Agent 3's mentors in his place, albeit in disguise, not revealing their true identities.

The group eventually reunited during Enter the Octobot King!. As the final phase of the battle with DJ Octavio began, Marie and Callie performed the Calamari Inkantation, revealing their true identities as the Squid Sisters, freeing Cuttlefish, and spurring Agent 3 to defeat Octavio. The two revealed the Great Zapfish's return on Inkopolis News, not disclosing their part in its rescue, and performed Maritime Memory over the credits.

After Splatoon
As detailed in the Squid Sisters Stories, by nine months after the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest, the Squid Sisters rocketed to even greater fame as the biggest stars in Inkling society. However, after they released their first solo recordings, they began following separate paths. Marie began putting on solo concerts, appearing on music shows, and even starting a career in theater. Their schedules allowed for little quality time spent together, but when they were together their relationship seemed to be intact. Unfortunately, shortly after planning a trip home to Calamari County together, Callie disappeared. Fearful for what may have happened to her, Marie soon found that DJ Octavio had escaped his prison and the Great Zapfish had disappeared again. With Cap'n Cuttlefish not around, Marie moved to Inkopolis Square, taking a break from her career and going into hiding.

Splatoon 2


In, Marie recruited Agent 4 in Octo Canyon to help rescue Callie and the Great Zapfish, taking Cap'n Cuttlefish's role as their main advisor and guide. After beating the Octo Shower, she and Agent 4 received a call telling them to leave Octo Canyon and never look back. However, Marie quickly realized that the caller was Callie since she held the phone upside-down; a trait that Callie has admitted to having. During Tide Goes Out, they learned that Callie had been brainwashed by DJ Octavio using his hypnoshades and were forced to fight him and Callie. Marie was able to shoot off the hypnoshades with a Hero Charger filled with "low-tide ink", slowly bringing Callie back to her senses and reuniting the Squid Sisters. After Octavio was defeated for the second time, the Squid Sisters made a new single, Fresh Start, which is played over the credits.

Marie stayed at Cuttlefish Cabin to look after Octavio while waiting for Cuttlefish to return, where she was later joined by Callie. They provided various stats and information about the player during their conversations with Agent 4.

Octo Expansion
Marie did not make a physical appearance during the Octo Expansion, but after all the stations in the Deepsea Metro were cleared, she stumbled upon Marina's chat room under the username of "Agent 2". Accidentally discovering Cap'n Cuttlefish chatting there, she initially worried about it being a dating site, but quickly dispelled these fears when she found out that Cuttlefish and Agent 3 were fine. She attempted to convince Cuttlefish to return home for seaweed stew before signing off and later shared this information with Callie in Tentakeel Outpost.

Splatoon 3
Marie makes an appearance in the "Return of the Mammalians" trailer, confirming that she plays a role in the story mode. She is seen holding an umbrella similar to the one from Splatoon 2 and her outfit is similar to the one from Splatoon.

In the manga series
She, along with Callie, first appeared in Issue 1 of the CoroCoro manga Splatoon, where she announced the CoroCoro Cup. She and Callie are hosts and commentators for that tournament. She now often appears in issues starting with Issue 2.

In the Hero Mode issue, she takes the role of Agent 2, together with Callie, who is Agent 1. They appear in the fight against DJ Octavio and battle alongside both Agent 3s, Goggles and Rider, with Marie using the Hero Charger.

Marie doesn't make another appearance in the manga until Volume 11, where she reunites with Goggles and recruits Gloves as Agent 4. During this arc, she plays the same role she did in the game.

Trivia

 * Marie seems to be cross-dominant; she has been shown writing with her right hand but holding chopsticks with her left.
 * The Art of Splatoon 2 states that Marie's kimono has the Kensaki family emblem embroidered upon it. It is unknown whether she is related to Toni Kensa, known as Tataki Kensaki in Japan. Worth noting is that the armor found in Octo Canyon has the Toni Kensa logo and uses the iconic monochromatic color palette and that both Marie and the Toni Kensa advertisement models have white hair, otherwise unseen on other Inklings.
 * Marie states in Into the Octo Oven that she refuses to eat the ends of loaves of bread.
 * Marie was on Team Order for the Chaos vs. Order Splatfest, as she likes to keep things nice and neat, even stitching up her conversations with Callie with a solid one-liner.
 * When attacked by Agent 4 in Octo Canyon, Marie will block their attacks with her umbrella. It is not possible to get any ink on her, unlike Callie, who can be covered.
 * In Octo Canyon, Marie is seen to have a caged pet. Artwork suggests the pet is an evolved form of a scallop that gained the ability to fly with its shells acting as wings. The creature also appeared in Splatfest art, starting with Grasshopper vs. Ant, where Callie is seen catching it and Marie is shown with it caged. It is also shown hiding Marie's lab coat pocket in Art vs. Science.
 * According to The Art of Splatoon 2, Marie enjoys watching the TV drama that Callie acts in.
 * Dialogue in Tentakeel Outpost reveals that Marie's favorite band is the Chirpy Chips.

Etymology
"Marie" derives from the French for "star of the sea" or the Egyptian for "beloved". When placed next to each other, Callie and Marie's names form a pun on "calamari", an Italian squid dish literally meaning "squid". Ironically, Marie never realized this until saying the word out loud during the rematch of Tide Goes Out.

"Hotaru" is derived from the real-world firefly squid which translates to ホタルイカ hotaru-ika in Japanese.