Unused content in Splatoon 3

This page documents content included in pre-release versions of that was not included in the released game and content that was found in the game's files that was not made available.

Weapons

 * The Tri-Stringer would originally be unable to shoot explosive arrows and had the ability to store a charge. These abilities were removed and given to the REEF-LUX 450.
 * Stringer weapons have an unused projectile tracer that would appear when the weapon is charging.
 * The Crab Tank's design seemed to originally be flatter. There was no Inkling seen piloting it in the announcement trailer footage. In the Return of the Mammalians trailer, some segments of the Crab Tank are colored to the rider's ink color.
 * Prior to the release date reveal trailer, the Big Bubbler's base did not have a Squid Beakon attached to it.

Stages
Earlier versions of stages were shown in pre-release material. Overall, the lighting on each of the stages is different compared to the final version.

Scorch Gorge
Scorch Gorge was originally much wider and had much more elevation. The grate platforms leading to the center were center-aligned, but uneven on both sides, meaning that it could have been the second multiplayer stage to not truly be symmetrical, with the first being Saltspray Rig.

Eeltail Alley
Eeltail Alley was also much wider, and the red rail used in that version was re-used for the Splat Zones layout of the stage.

Museum d'Alfonsino
Museum d'Alfonsino mostly resembles the layout used in, featuring rotating platforms near each team's spawn point. The taller platforms near the center of the stage originally had two spokes, compared to the three it has in the final version.

Unused gear icons
Icons exist for several gear items which are unobtainable for players, meaning these icons can never be seen in-game.

Player armor
Icons exist for all gear used by the player in, but most of it cannot be obtained to wear outside the mode. In addition, duplicate icons exist for the Hero gear that can be obtained, likely due to the fact that the gear used in Return of the Mammalians is considered a separate set of items from the obtainable Replica set.

Captain's gear
These icons are for the Captain's gear. The gear is used in the game by the Captain, but is not obtainable for players.

Enemy Octoling gear
These icons are for the gear worn by enemy Octolings in Return of the Mammalians.

Unused Tableturf Battle icons
Certain cards and card sleeve designs for Tableturf Battles were changed over time.

Early Tableturf Battle icons
During the waves for the fourth set of Nintendo Switch Online icon parts, some Tableturf Card icons used different art from the final versions. The incorrect icons were eventually updated to the correct versions.

Early special weapon badge icons
Early designs for special weapon badges were left in the game files. All of them feature Test in red at the top and use lime green instead of cyan as the accent color, as well as featuring shading that isn't present in the final version.

Unused emote icons
An icon for the unobtainable emote "Win Tricol", the nodding animation performed by the assisting attacking team in Tricolor battles, exists in the files.

Zapfish
A Zapfish can be seen in an area in Alterna with upside-down buildings. However, Zapfish only appear in The Crater levels in the final game, and make no appearances in Alterna.

Yellow ink
The Return of the Mammalians trailer shows Agent 3 taking in the sight of Alterna's buildings. There are no levels in the game that have both the buildings background and the yellow ink color.

Alterna
Alterna's overworld seemingly went through a few changes between the trailer and the final game. The only locations shown are Future Utopia Island and the Alterna Space Center.


 * The sky dome was different, being cloudier and darker.
 * The lighting was originally more overcast to reflect the different sky dome, with larger shadows.
 * The terrain in Future Utopia Island is different, causing several landmarks to be positioned slightly differently.
 * The numbers in the orange structure in Future Utopia Island do not overlap the white indentation in the trailer, but do in the final game.
 * Red tape can be seen on a piece of corrugated sheet metal when the New Squidbeak Splatoon introduces themselves. In the final game, the tape is removed.
 * The Spirit Lifter is not covered with Fuzzy Ooze in the trailer.
 * The area between Rocket 01 and 02 in the Alterna Space Center sequence has graffiti on it not seen in the final game.
 * The rocket's service structure, seen between Rocket 03 and Rocket 04, had less lighting, a differently placed prop, and no pipes above the player.

Sockeye Station
Sockeye Station had several differences in its background in pre-release material.


 * The Aji-Fry Tower originally did not have protrusions coming out of it.
 * The left side of the fortress did not protrude outward, instead coming inward like its opposite side.
 * The triangle neon sign on a pole to the right of the basket had another neon sign under it instead of a poster.
 * The background nets were closer to the sandbar.
 * There was no gondola.
 * The outposts on the sides of the map did not exist in pre-release material.
 * One of the pieces of graffiti used to glow.
 * There were two cables above the basket instead of one.
 * The food sculptures were different.

Flipper-Flopper
In prerelease footage, the Flipper-Flopper did not rebound on dive when its ring was painted over, instead immediately going to its side. It can be presumed that there was not an animation intact for this scenario at the time.

Grizzco lobby differences
The cooler that the Mr. Grizz statue rests on did not originally have stickers.

Inaccessible Octo Expansion legwear
The two unique legwears worn by the player character in are also present in Splatoon 3 files, in order to be used by the Octoling Girl and Octoling Boy amiibo. If the game is modified so that these can be chosen by the player, it can be seen that both the skirt and pants have meshes to be used for both feminine and masculine styles. As the legwear is only used on the amiibo characters, the masculine style of the skirt and the feminine style of the pants go unused.

Shiver's gender
When Shiver was first revealed in the Splatoon 3 Direct, neither the presentation nor any promotional material alluded to Shiver's gender, which resulted in community speculation about Shiver's gender, as well as the possibility of her being non-binary or ambiguously gendered.

The Japanese text version of the reveal Direct did not have Shiver use any common first-person pronouns that traditionally connote gender (such as atashi or boku). In the Direct, Shiver used the pronouns "uchi" (an informal pronoun usually used by younger women, especially in Kansai dialects) and "onore" (an archaic pronoun used poetically meaning "oneself" or "yourself"). In game, "onore" was used only in one occasion, in which Shiver talks about a general "oneself", rather than using the pronoun for herself. These pronouns may be portraying Shiver's Kansai dialect through the use of yakuwarigo ("role language").

Most official social media posts referring to Shiver also made no mention of her gender, except for one Nintendo Portugal message that used "pela", implying Shiver to be female. In contrast, Shiver's bandmates Big Man and Frye at reveal were referred to with terms connoting male and female grammatical gender.

Nintendo of America executives were shortly after interviewed about Shiver's gender and confirmed that she identifies herself as female and is referred to using the pronouns "she" and "her" in-game. In dialogue in the final game, she is referred to with female pronouns.

Animations
At 1:56 in the Salmon Run Next Wave Trailer, the Booyah! animation appears to be in an incomplete state as the Inkling's mouth stays shut when it calls out happily.