References to Splatoon in other media

This article lists all references to the Splatoon series in other media.

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
When a player builds a home for Octavian in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, they are given various Splatoon-themed items, including an ink texture for the exterior of the house.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo
On 2016-11-02, an update for Animal Crossing: New Leaf titled Welcome amiibo was released, which added compatibility with the Splatoon amiibo to unlock Splatoon-themed villagers and items.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp


Players could get Splatoon 2-themed furniture and clothing during the Splatoon 2 Crossover Event.

Splatoon 2 furniture could be obtained from Inkling's Splatted Cookies, which were available from 2018-09-13 to 2018-10-11.
 * Green spawn point
 * Pink spawn point
 * Splattershot
 * Splat Dualies
 * Splat Sprinkler
 * Splash Wall
 * Splat stage
 * Fresh graffiti wall
 * Turf War floor

A Gyroidite Scavenger Hunt was held from 13 to 2018-09-25. Players could collect Blitz Clams scattered around the map. These could also be used to craft Splatoon 2-themed clothing.
 * Pink Inkling girl wig (with King Flip Mesh)
 * White King Tank
 * Inkling girl pants
 * Mint Dakroniks
 * Green Inkling boy wig (with Squidfin Hook Cans)
 * Black V-Neck Tee
 * Yellow-Mesh Sneakers

A Fishing Tourney was also held from 19 to 2018-09-26. Players could catch Inkling Squids and Octoling Octopuses to earn Splatoon 2-themed rewards. During the event, Chip was wearing a pink Knitted Hat. Catching Inkling Squids and Octoling Octopuses give their respective female character sound effects. Here are the rewards earned from the Fishing Tourney:
 * Green Knitted Hat
 * Pink Knitted Hat
 * Green King Flip Mesh
 * Pink King Flip Mesh
 * Takoroka Windcrusher
 * Green squid dummy
 * Pink squid dummy
 * Super Sea Snail

A purple Inkling girl wig (with King Flip Mesh), White Tee and Gray Hoodie were also received as free gifts.

In celebration of the then-upcoming Chaos vs. Order Final Fest, the Splatfest Tees themed after their respective team were received as free gifts on 2019-06-25.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
When the player catches a squid in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a quote referencing Splatoon may be shown, including: When the player places a squid, firefly squid, or octopus, the back of the tank will have a small Splatoon sticker depicting a squid icon.
 * "I caught a squid! It's off the hook!"
 * "I caught a squid! I had an inkling I might!"

In addition, Blathers references Splatoon while giving a short speech about the Eusthenopteron fossil. He says:

"The Eusthenopteron is famous for being the link between fish and land animals long before dinosaurs. It seems to have strong fins capable of pulling it around areas where the water was shallow. When most creatures lived in the sea... they dreamed of land. If not for them, we mightn't be here today! Imagine if we'd not left the oceans... How might fashion and music be different in an aquatic world? How would we resolve differences? Perhaps some sort of ink-squirting contest of champions?"

Contest
""Attention aspiring squid researchers! We've just been informed that there's a Splatoon-themed drawing contest taking place in the Art Academy Miiverse community! You can get the full details on Miiverse.""

- Live from Squid Research Lab

An Art Academy drawing event called "Fresh Pics" celebrating Splatoon ' s millionth unit sold was announced by MariChan on 2015-07-31 and lasted until 2015-08-23. Entries were judged by the Splatoon development team based on skill, artistic expression, originality, and creativity.

Special Event


On 2016-06-29, along with the announcement of the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest, MariChan announced a special event called "Splatfest Memories" which lasted until 2016-07-13. A second post about the event was posted on 2016-07-07.

After the event was closed, Nintendo shared some highlights through their social media on Miiverse (via Archiverse), Tumblr, and during an episode of |The Cat Mario Show.

Song Distribution
Players of the Japan-exclusive game ''Daigasso! Band Brothers P'' were able to download additional songs from and  using "tomatoes," the game's currency. The game was taken off the Nintendo eShop on 2019-12-02. Online services were discontinued afterwards at the end of April 2020.

In September 2015, the first five Splatoon songs were added:
 * ''Splattack! (2014 E3PV) by Squid Squad
 * Hooked by Hightide Era
 * Ink or Sink by Squid Squad
 * Shellfie by Chirpy Chips
 * Calamari Inkantation by the Squid Sisters

More songs were added in December 2015, including:
 * City of Color (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters
 * Metalopod by Squid Squad
 * Seaskape by Squid Squad
 * Ink Me Up (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters
 * Calamari Inkantation (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters

In April 2016, even more songs were added:
 * Opening by Squid Squad
 * Splatfest – Match Opening by the Squid Sisters
 * Cap'n Cuttlefish's Theme
 * Octo Valley
 * Cephaloparade by Turquoise October
 * Inkstrike Shuffle by Turquoise October
 * Hero Mode – Onward!
 * I am Octavio by DJ Octavio
 * Plaza
 * Lookin' Fresh by DJ Lee Fish
 * Lobby
 * Dubble Bath by Bob Dub
 * Victory! – Jingle and Results
 * Defeat – Jingle and Results
 * Now or Never! by Squid Sisters
 * Splattack! (Jam Session) by Squid Squad
 * Kraken Up by Squid Squad
 * Split & Splat by Chirpy Chips
 * Sucker Punch by Hightide Era
 * Ink Me Up (Live) (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters
 * Now or Never! (Live) by the Squid Sisters
 * City of Color (Live) (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters
 * Maritime Memory (Live) (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters
 * Calamari Inkantation (Live) (with lyrics) by the Squid Sisters

Additionally, songs that were posted prior to this update were given longer versions. A lite version of the game, ''Daigasso! Band Brothers P Debut'', was also released. Among the free songs exclusive to it was the traditional version of Calamari Inkantation.

Contest
In July 2018, a contest was held to coincide with the release of Octotune. From 18 July until 20 August, players were able to submit up to five of their own arrangements of songs featured in the album, which would then be reviewed by the composers of the Splatoon games and put up for voting on the game's official YouTube channel. Likes that were given to the videos from 21 August at 3:00 UTC until 26 August at 14:59 UTC were counted as votes. The winners were announced on 2018-10-29, with an in-game distribution of the winning songs beginning at 9:00 UTC on the same day.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, there is an object called the "Octobrush" resembling an ink brush used in calligraphy, which is a reference to the Octobrush. There are also a number of items that can be collected, whereby number 040 is called "Spla-Teen Vogue" with its description stating: "A teen magazine featuring many models just enjoying their summer. This magazine is meant for kids, not squids."

JOYSOUND
On 2016-01-30, three Squid Sisters songs were added to the JOYSOUND service in Japan, which powers Wii Karaoke U, Karaoke JOYSOUND for Nintendo Switch, and certain karaoke machines. The lyrics are the same as the ones that were in the liner notes of Splatune.
 * Calamari Inkantation
 * City of Color
 * Ink Me Up

All three songs use a unique music video to play in the background. Calamari Inkantation uses the "Splatfest Incoming!" promotional video, City of Color uses a slightly different version of the performance seen in the Splatoon Direct, and Ink Me Up uses a montage of other promotional videos and stock footage.

The songs, with romanized lyrics, were added to the European catalogue of Wii Karaoke U on 2016-07-28 in celebration of the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest.

On 2018-02-02, Off the Hook's Color Pulse was added onto the JOYSOUND service. The lyrics are the same as the ones that were in the liner notes of Splatune with some additional lyrics. The introduction video featured on the Splatoon 2 Direct is used for the background.

Jump Rope Challenge
Costumes of various Nintendo characters were added to the game for free, a few weeks after its release. Two of the costumes were based on the Inkling girl and boy from.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features playable Inklings as boy or girl, a Battle Mode map named and based off of Urchin Underpass and a Splatoon-themed amiibo costume.

Miitomo
A series of Splatoon-themed clothing items were made available in the drop games, shops and on My Nintendo, for Miitomo. As part of a promotion for the event, Nintendo held a Twitter event where when specific tweets from @Miitomo_JP, @NintendoAmerica, and @NintendoEurope collectively reached 10,000 retweets, it granted all users a free Inkling Boy wig in the game, with 20,000 retweets granting a free Inkling Girl wig as well. Both goals were met and the wigs could be redeemed until 2016-05-30.

From 4 to 2016-07-25, Callie and Marie Splatfest Tees were made available in the gear shop for 2000 coins each to celebrate the Callie vs. Marie Splatfest. Among these were special pins that represent Callie and Marie. Marie's winning pin was given to every player to redeem after the Splatfest, with the other being made available to purchase with coins.

On 2017-11-10, as part of the promotion for Version, players were able to unlock Splatoon-themed wallpaper and flooring for their apartment by launching the app two and three times, respectively.

Nintendo Badge Arcade
From launch, Splatoon-themed badges were made available in the game. Another wave of badges was put in rotation on 2015-08-27.

Shortly after the release of Nintendo Badge Arcade in North America, Splatoon-themed badges were made available via the game's crane machines on 2015-11-12, featuring multicolored Inklings in both forms as well as blots of ink. Some of these badges also make a cameo on the title screen. Over time, more Splatoon-themed badges were put in the arcade's rotation of crane machines in North America and Europe.

On 2016-06-02, more Splatoon-themed badges were made available in celebration of the game's first anniversary in North America. This included crossovers with Nikki & Friends, WarioWare, and the Arcade Bunny himself.

On 2016-07-07, badges based on the Splatoon amiibo were first made available in Japan. Later in September, a Super Mario Maker-themed crane machine with badges based on the 8-bit Splatoon costumes in the game was added in the rotation in the West.

Ring Fit Adventure
In a free update to Ring Fit Adventure added on 2020-03-26, a rhythm game mode was added. This mode allows the player to move and exercise to music tracks from various Nintendo games, including a medley of tracks. The songs featured in the medley are Color Pulse and Inkoming!.

StreetPass Mii Plaza


On 2015-04-16, it was revealed that a Splatoon-themed hat would be added to the item list for StreetPass Mii Plaza. It is one of the many hats available to wear, acquired in Find Mii, StreetPass, or other means.

New Style Boutique 2: Fashion Forward
This game was released as Style Savvy: Fashion Forward in North America.

In celebration of the release of Splatoon, a set of six Splatoon-themed clothing items were made available to download on 2015-05-28. This set was made available in Europe on 2016-01-28. It is available in Australia as well.

In the Western versions of the game, the Inkling Girl amiibo can unlock a pair of Splatoon-themed leggings. There are five variants available to unlock.

The skin of the Inkling Girl unlocks a squid pattern and an ink splotch pattern for purses and shirts.

New Style Boutique 3: Styling Star
New Style Boutique 3: Styling Star (released as Style Savvy: Styling Star in North America) features a pattern and emblem based on Splatoon that can be unlocked with amiibo for use with custom clothing. Additionally, a variant of the Inky Leggings from the previous game is included as an item from the Purple Moon brand.

Super Mario Maker


By putting the Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl, or Inkling Squid amiibo on the Wii U GamePad, players will get the respective costumes for Mario to use. These can also be unlocked randomly by completing the 100 Mario Challenge. When wearing any of the three costumes, there are some Splatoon-themed features and sounds:
 * Level clear music for Octo Valley will play upon reaching the goal pole.
 * When falling into a pit, the sound effect for being splatted will play.
 * The Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy can take their squid forms by crouching, accompanied by the usual sound. Underwater, they will both be in squid form by default. The Inkling Squid can assume humanoid form by holding up on, and is revealed to be a dark-skinned male with a Splat Roller, the Studio Headphones, and the White Layered LS. He cannot move while doing this, however.



On 2016-07-08, an event course for Callie and Marie costumes went live called Squid Sisters Vs Bloopers. In the course, the player must choose between the left door to unlock Callie and the right door for Marie. Beating the path the player chose unlocks the respective costume and replaying the other path allows the player to unlock the other. The course is filled with SquidForce Logos, a squid is made out of coins and two item boxes and a Firefin logo is placed at the end. Their respective amiibo will also unlock their costumes. They share the same features as the other Splatoon Mystery Mushroom costumes, with some minor differences:
 * This is the first time that either can be seen going into squid form, their pupils and eye makeup separating them from other Inklings. This also confirms that their primary ink colors are not black and gray, respectively.
 * Holding up on will have them do their "Stay Fresh!" greeting.
 * The Splatfest Final Results music will play upon reaching the goal pole.

Super Mario Maker 2
Although the amiibo costumes do not return in Super Mario Maker 2, the Splatoon series is still referenced through the game's story mode, where levels are seen by anonymous designers named "Agent 1", "Agent 2", "Celebrity MC", and "Celebrity DJ". These names are based off of the aliases Callie, Marie, Pearl, and Marina go by in Octo Valley and the Octo Expansion, respectively. Additionally, the manner of speech of these four characters matches the manner of speech of the idols themselves, most easily notable with Celebrity MC, whose description for the level Swinging Claw Ropes Course contains the line "Yo, this rope course I made is straight up SLOPPY!", a direct reference to Pearl's dialogue for Goby Arena. Celebrity MC even uses the phrase "off the hook" for the level That's One Hot Car! Additionally, the Taskmaster occasionally says "take care out there" after choosing a level, which is what C.Q. Cumber says when talking to the player at the beginning of each mission in the Octo Expansion.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U


It was confirmed in the Splatoon Direct that to celebrate the release of Splatoon, players who had pre-ordered or purchased Splatoon from GameStop between 2015-05-08 and 2015-06-13 would receive a download code for Inkling Mii Fighter costumes in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. These costumes were later made purchasable for everyone on 2015-06-14.

Both the Inkling Outfit and Inkling Wig are available as one item set, and the Inkling Squid Hat is separate. These costumes are represented in the characters' respective default colours for each gender - orange for female (wearing the Fake Contacts, White Tee and Pink Trainers) and blue for male (wearing the Fake Contacts, Zink Layered LS and Purple Hi-Horses). The Inkling Squid Hat appears simply as a green Inkling squid, in the same way as its amiibo.

An Inkling trophy is given to the player if they purchase any of the mentioned costumes.

"Meet the Inklings, a mysterious race of beings that can transform into squid at will! They like to octopi their time with frantic, multicolored turf wars, and they won't miss out on any oppor-tuna-ty to get to the top. And we wouldn't go so far as to call them cod's gift to fashion, but check out that fresh style!"

- North American trophy description

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Inkling is a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Various Splatoon characters appear as Spirits in the game, with the Squid Sisters also appearing as an Assist Trophy. The game features a stage based on Moray Towers and contains music from the Splatoon series as well as remixes. In the campaign, World of Light, certain Spirits appear and take on certain roles, such as Cap'n Cuttlefish having a dojo and Sheldon having a shop.

On 2020-06-30, Callie and Marie were made available as purchasable Mii Fighter costumes for the Mii Brawler and Mii Gunner classes, respectively. Marie's outfit wields the Hero Shot from Splatoon 2.

Swapdoodle
Swapdoodle featured drawing lessons that could be purchased from its store. A drawing lesson for a Splatoon Inkling in squid form was included in the free Starter Pack. Two sets of Splatoon-themed paid lessons were also available at launch, "Splatoon Inklings and Things" and "Splatoon Inkopolis". A stationery set is also available for purchase.

Taiko no Tatsujin series
In Taiko no Tatsujin: Yellow Version (太鼓の達人 イエローVer.), one of the playable songs is Calamari Inkantation. Banapassport holders can unlock an Inkling Girl costume after playing the song. Its sequel, Taiko no Tatsujin: Blue Version (太鼓の達人 ブルーVer.), also includes a Splatoon 2 Medley. It is composed of Wet Floor's Rip Entry, Now or Never!, Victory! – Jingle, and Turf Master. All Splatoon-related content have been carried through subsequent releases of the arcade game.

The Splatoon 2 Medley is also available in Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun. The game features a pink Inkling Squid as a performing character, which has the benefit of filling the player's Soul Gauge faster and also lessening any loss in the gauge.

Tetris 99
From 12 to 2019-07-15, the 5th Maximus Cup event was held in Tetris 99 to promote final Splatfest, Chaos vs. Order. By taking part in enough online matches and collecting 100 points within the event time, players could permanently unlock a Splatoon 2 theme for the game, changing the graphics, music, and sound effects to those from the Splatoon franchise. When starting, Splattack would play. When there are 50 players remaining, Ink or Sink would play and when there are 10 players remaining, Now or Never! would play. Interestingly, the three songs used are all from despite it being a Splatoon 2 theme. Version 2.0.0 gave the theme its own targeting icon that resembles a squid. By version 2.1.0, players who did not unlock the theme from the original event can instead redeem thirty tickets to unlock it permanently.

Transformice
The Inkling's Hippie hairstyle, Octoling's Tentacurl hairstyle, and a Splattershot (based on its Splatoon 2 design) appear in the shop.

WarioWare Gold
By scanning any Splatoon or Splatoon 2 amiibo (except for those based on playable Octolings) in "amiibo Sketch", Wario will poorly draw the scanned character, and the drawing can be sold for coins.

WarioWare: Get It Together!
One of 9-Volt's Nintendo Classics microgames is named Splatoon 2. It takes place on the results screen, where Judd and Li'l Judd are calculating the final score for a Turf War battle. The player has to choose which team they think won by moving their character to the team's respective side. The player wins if the side they chose is revealed to be the winning team. The first level of difficulty takes place at The Reef, the second at Sturgeon Shipyard, and the third at Humpback Pump Track.

The microgame's description reads: "Hmm... can you tell which team inked more turf? Pick a side and head that way! The honorable Judd and Li'l Judd will deliver the final verdict."

Yoshi's Woolly World


By putting the Inkling Boy amiibo, Inkling Girl amiibo, or Inkling Squid amiibo on the Wii U GamePad, players will get the respective costumes for Yoshi to use.

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World


In addition to the three Splatoon-themed amiibo costumes from Yoshi's Woolly World, the three recolors of the original Splatoon amiibo are also compatible, along with the Callie and Marie amiibo.

Coronation Street


In the 2020-06-19 episode of the British soap opera Coronation Street, a character can be seen playing Splatoon 2 in Turf War at Camp Triggerfish with the Splattershot Jr., saying "I'm nearly at the end of this level".

Dear White People
Near the start of Volume 2 Episode 8, the character Wesley mentions leveling up in Splatoon as he and Lionel leave the room.

Osomatsu-san
There is a scene in Season 2 Episode 23 where the characters of Osomatsu-san can be seen playing Turf War.

Owarimonogatari


During Episode 3, when the characters Araragi and Ougi from Owarimonogatari are talking to each other, a game show depicting a girl which resembles Callie appears.

New Game!


In the anime New Game!, there is a scene where a magazine can be spotted which advertises a parody of Splatoon 2 called "Ikatoon 3", where 'ika' means 'squid' in Japanese.

Bluey


In Season 1 Episode 22 and Season 2 Episode 44 of Bluey, a different characters use water guns that have striking resemblances to the Splattershot. In the former episode the colors are exact and in the latter the water gun is recolored.

Monster Musume
There is a panel that shows a character from Monster Musume playing a parody of Splatoon called "Octo Game" while holding a controller that resembles the Wii U GamePad. Both Burst Bombs and rollers are mentioned.

Mousou Telepathy
Two characters from Mousou Telepathy during Chapter 488 are seen playing Turf War, where one of them is giving advice on how to play the game.

Guinness World Records 2017 Gamer's Edition
There are 2 Splatoon references in the Guinness World Records 2017 Gamer's Edition. The first reference is on the cover where a singular Inkling can be found, at the top left of the word Guinness. The other reference is in the book where, on the page about third person shooters, page 160, Splatoon is referred to as being "The best-selling third-person shooter on the Wii U." It is a very small and minor section of the page.



Guinness World Records 2018 Gamer's Edition
The Squid Sisters are mentioned in the book, as they hold the record of being the "Most viewed concert by videogame characters" according to Guinness World Records 2018 Gamer's Edition.

Guinness World Records 2019 Gamer's Edition
The Guinness World Records 2019 Gamer's Edition has a section on where the game is mentioned as having the record of "Most ink painted in a video game" according to the book. It also has a section on how many Golden Eggs have been collected in Salmon Run.

The Perfect Parent Project
In Chapter 25 of The Perfect Parent Project, it says Riley is playing Splatoon on his Nintendo.

Google
A Splatoon-themed easter egg can be found on Google, found by searching for "splatoon" or any of the games' titles, and clicking on the ink splotch animation in the game knowledge panel. This activates the easter egg, where users can click or tap to shoot globs of ink at the screen, which plays a "plop" sound and creates a splotch of ink on the page. Upon impact, the ink makes a "splash" sound. Ink splotches can be shaped normally, have a set of squid eyes in them, or can be shaped like a squid or octopus. The color of the splotches of ink correlates to the colors of the Google logo. This easter egg was released somewhere around the release date of Splatoon 3, as a tribute to the game's release. The exact release date is unknown.

My Nintendo
When accessing the main page of the My Nintendo website after logging in, the user's Mii will participate in one of a set of randomized activities. In one of these activities, they can be seen painting on an easel. If the user clicks on their Mii, the Mii reveals their artwork, chosen randomly among eight possible canvas — one of which depicts an Inkling. In another activity, the Mii can be seen playing a game on TV; one of the possible games is Splatoon 2 on a Nintendo Switch. If the user clicks on their Mii, the TV will shut off, frustrating the Mii.