Spyke

"Now who're you, then? You a cop?"

- Spyke upon meeting the player.❌

Spyke is a character in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. In the former he is found in the back alley of Inkopolis Plaza and provides various gear-related services. In the latter, he can be seen in a café in Inkopolis Square and cannot be interacted with.

Appearance
Spyke is a sea urchin with orange skin and dark purple, spiky hair with lighter purple tips. His eyes are green and the sclerae of his eyes are purple.

In, he wears a dark-colored poncho, multi-colored bracelets, green pants, brown shoes, and clogs. Under his poncho, he wears a black undershirt. He sits on a rug that looks similar to his poncho.

In, his poncho is black and white and he wears black and silver rings on both hands. His eyes are more reflective and his irises glow in the dark, as seen when he looks up during a Splatfest.

Description
Spyke provides services that allows the player to improve the secondary gear abilities of their gear, which are unlocked by talking to him after reaching level 4.

Ordering Gear
The player can order up to three pieces of gear at one time from other players in Inkopolis Plaza, which are put in a queue. If they order more than three pieces of gear, another order will have to be canceled to make room for it, and the new order will appear at the back of the queue. After midnight (according to the system clock), the first gear in queue will be available for purchase and must be bought from Spyke that day, or he will get rid of it the next midnight for the next gear in queue. However, he will not remove gear in the player's queue on days when the game is not played.

Only gear obtained from shops plus the starting gear (White Headband, Basic Tee, and Cream Basics) can be ordered.

Unlike at the shops, the player can order an item from Spyke which they already have. If the player chooses to buy an ordered duplicate gear, it will replace the one in the player’s inventory. This can be a cheap way to "reroll" secondary gear ability slots, but only with patience — buying an ordered three-star item with three empty secondary gear ability slots only costs 15,000 cash instead of rerolling said gear for 30,000 (see below), but the slots will have to be filled through online battles.

An ordered gear can inherit less secondary gear abilities than the original gear, but leveling up slightly decreases the chance of this happening. A table detailing the odds is listed below.

The price of an ordered gear is higher than in the stores. The more stars and abilities it has, the more expensive it is. A table detailing the prices is listed below.

Aside from its price, the ordered gear's rarity only affects the number of empty secondary gear ability slots. For example, if a player at Level 10 orders a two-star gear with three filled secondary gear ability slots, the ordered gear has a 50% chance of having no secondary gear ability and two empty slots, a 45% chance of one filled slot and one empty slot (two slots in total), a 4.8% chance of two filled slots, and a 0.2% chance of three filled slots. In this case, the ordered gear will have at least two secondary gear ability slots since it is a two-star gear.

Adding Slots and Rerolling
At any level, for one Super Sea Snail, he will tweak the abilities on one piece of gear. After reaching level 20, if the player has no Super Sea Snails, they can pay with 30,000 cash for each service.
 * If the gear in question has less than three secondary gear ability slots, an empty secondary gear ability slot is added, which must then be filled through online battles.
 * If the gear in question has three filled secondary gear ability slots, he rerolls the three secondary gear abilities once, with the brand probability bonuses applied. This cannot be performed if the gear has less than three secondary gear abilities, even if the gear has three secondary gear ability slots.

Quotes
In the North American version, Spyke's dialect is similar to that of a Cockney or Australian. However, his dialogue is drastically different in the Europe/Oceania version, being more of a straight translation of the Japanese dialogue.

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🇺🇸 [[united states|us]]North America (English)
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 * "Now who're you? Not to be harsh love, but you're lookin' right moldy at the moment. I can't be dealin' wif blokes below Level 4 on the freshness scale. So maybe go do a bit of battlin' before you come back, yeah?" -Spyke when talking to a player below Level 4.
 * "Now who're you, then? You a cop? Nah, you're too fresh to be a cop. But you know what would make you EVEN fresher? Someone else's gear. That's where 'ol Spyke comes in. You ever see a bloke strollin' around the plaza in some right-fresh gear that you fancy for yourself? Just walk up to that bloke, check 'im out wif and then press  to, uh... "order" their gear from me.  Can't guarantee that I'll get you gear wif the same abilities, but it'll look just as fresh. Trust me, love. Right, then. I'll be waiting for your order." -Spyke when first talking to a player above Level 4.
 * "Blimey! That level! We've got ourselves a right-proper veteran! But ya don't seem the type to kip on your laurels, love. Your sights are set even higher, aren't they? I can tell. Just watching you makes me want to work harder. Let's scratch each other's backs as we work our way to the top, yeah? Anyway, use to check out anybody in the plaza, and then order their gear wif !" -Spyke when the player reaches Level 10.
 * "Blimey! I'm in the presence of a bloomin' STAR right now. I'm not worthy, love. I mean, you're a right LEGEND, mate. I can feel the freshness just oozin' out of ya. Yeah. I bet a legend like you is just rollin' in cash, right? Not to be too direct, love, but I've got this collection, see? A collection of rare Super Sea Snails. I could use those to give your gear some more ability slots, if you're interested. Course, I can't do it for free. That'd be crazy. But if you happened to have any cash to spare... Or even a Super Sea Snail or two of your own? Oh, and of course I'll still take orders for gear. Check people's stuff wif, and then order wif ." -Spyke when the player reaches Level 20.
 * "Wot's this rubbish, then? You're offline. Get on the Internet if you want me to take you seriously, mate!" -Spyke when the player is not connected to the Internet.
 * "YOU WOT, MATE?!" -Spyke when the player does not have enough money to pay for an order.
 * "Wot'll it be, then?" -Spyke asking what to do.
 * "You ain't ordered anyfing! Go check folks in the plaza wif, and order their stuff wif  !" -Spyke when opening the orders menu without having any active orders.
 * "So...wot gear ya want the new slot in? It'll cost ya one Super Sea Snail. Or I can reroll abilities on items wif full slots!" -Spyke when opening the slots menu.
 * "Oi, it looks like you've got abilities in all three slots. Want me to reroll 'em, then?" -Spyke when selecting a piece of gear with full secondary gear ability slots in the slots menu.
 * "Reroll 'em?" -Spyke when confirming whether or not to reroll a gear's secondary gear ability slots.
 * "Sorry. Three slots is the max. I could reroll the abilities if all three slots were full, but they're not." -Spyke when the player selects a piece of gear with three secondary gear ability slots but not all of them are filled.
 * "Add a slot?" -Spyke before adding a secondary gear ability slot to a piece of gear.
 * "Since I like ya, I'll add a slot using me own Super Sea Snail for the low price of 30000. Or if you've got a piece of gear wif three full slots, I can reroll its abilities. How's about that, then!" -Spyke when paying for a re-roll.
 * "S'all yours love." -Spyke after adding a secondary gear ability slot to a piece of gear.
 * "S'appening, mate?" -Spyke when talked to.
 * "Cheers, love." -Spyke when leaving.
 * "See somefing you fancy, love?" -Spyke when ordering from another player.
 * "It's not available, mate." -Spyke when ordering a "not for sale" item.
 * "You want this gear?" -Spyke when confirming an order from another player.
 * "All right. I can only get one item a day, so come round later, yeah?" -Spyke when an item is ordered.
 * "This is what you wanted, yeah?" -Spyke when viewing active orders.
 * "Changed your mind about this gear, then?" -Spyke when canceling an order.
 * "Right. It never happened." -Spyke after canceling an order.
 * "Been a pleasure..." -Spyke when the player is out of cash after paying for a re-roll.
 * "Been a pleasure..." -Spyke when the player is out of cash after paying for a re-roll.

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🇪🇺 [[european union|eu]]Europe and Oceania (English)
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 * "Hey there. ...Who are you? Listen, not to be harsh or anything, but you're not looking too fresh right now. I ain't in the habit of associating with folks who aren't at least Level 4 on the freshness scale, y'see? So maybe you wanna go do a bit of battlin' before you come see me again." -Spyke when the player is below Level 4.
 * "So, what'll it be?" -Spyke asking what to do.
 * "...Uh, I can't give you what you ain't ordered! Go check folks in the Plaza with, and order stuff with !" -Spyke when opening the orders menu without having any active orders.
 * "So... which gear d'you want the new slot on? It'll cost you one Super Sea Snail. Or I can swap out abilities on an item with all its slots full!" -Spyke when opening the slots menu.
 * "Ah, looks like you've got the full three slots filled with abilities. You want me to swap 'em out for ya?" -Spyke when selecting a piece of gear with full slot in the slots menu.
 * "Sorry, I can't boost your slots beyond three. If they were all full, I could swap out the abilities for ya!" -Spyke when the player selects a piece of gear with three slots but not all of them are filled.
 * "Want more slots?" -Spyke when confirming whether to add a slot to a piece of gear.
 * "There you go!" -Spyke after adding a slot to a piece of gear.
 * "Hang on... I think I smell something. You've get some Super Sea Snails on you, am I right? Could you maybe, say... let me have some of those? You know how their shells have those little lids on 'em? I can use those to add new slots to your gear. I don't need the shell lids myself, see. It's just those juicy entrails I'm after. The more slots, the more abilities your gear can hold, so this deal's a win for us both! Just trust me, yeah? So how's about it? You gonna give me some of those Super Sea Snails so I can add slots to your gear?" -Spyke on first bringing him Super Sea Snails.
 * ''"You've already got some gear just like this. Want to replace the gear you've got with this new gear?" -Spyke when buying duplicate gear.
 * "Been a pleasure..." -Spyke after buying gear.
 * "Always a pleasure..." -Spyke when the player is out of cash after paying for a re-roll.
 * "I'll see you 'round, yeah?" -Spyke when leaving.
 * "Got your eye on something?" -Spyke when ordering from another player.
 * "I can't get it in if it ain't for sale!" -Spyke when ordering a "not for sale" item.
 * "I can't get it in if it ain't for sale!" -Spyke when ordering a "not for sale" item.

Splatoon 2
In, Spyke has a very minor role, as his previous role was replaced by Murch, who works for him after being inspired by his success. Spyke made so much money during that he no longer needed to work. Sunken Scroll 5 shows that he has created a "get-rich-quick scheme" guide, and it is implied Murch has followed this guide and looks to Spyke as a role model.

In this game, Spyke can be found sitting with a laptop in an inaccessible café inbetween the Deca Tower and the Deepsea Metro entrance in Inkopolis Square, although nothing is shown on his laptop.

Trivia

 * Spyke's design is based on the phrase "street urchin", which refers to homeless children who make their living on the streets of large cities. Spyke himself is a literal street urchin: a sea urchin who makes his living working in the back alleys of Inkopolis and is apparently never seen going home.
 * Spyke was revealed during the special Splatoon Nintendo Direct on 2015-05-07.
 * During a Splatfest, Spyke can be seen tapping his hand to the beat of the music.
 * Spyke and Murch's hometowns are close to each other.
 * According to The Art of Splatoon, Spyke is good at math.
 * In, some of the Super Sea Snails next to Spyke shake, while others are only empty shells. Sea urchins in real life are also known to eat snails smaller than themselves. This may imply that Spyke removes the shells (possibly using the screwdriver next to him) and eats the snails, further hinted at by his comment that he wants their "juicy insides".
 * Spyke's location in Inkopolis Plaza is almost exactly opposite to Cooler Heads, which is run by Annie, a sea anemone. This could be a reference to sea urchins and sea anemones being natural enemies. This connection is furthered by the relationship chart, which implies that Annie is afraid of Spyke.
 * Spyke's "YOU WOT, MATE?!" in the North American version of Splatoon is a reference to a slang phrase and internet meme attributed to the United Kingdom, "U WOT M8".
 * Spyke was on Team Chaos for the Chaos vs. Order Splatfest, as it reflects how he exploits the otherwise peaceful order of Inkopolis.

Etymology
Spyke is a corruption of spike.