Agent 8

"Applicant 10,008, eh? That's a beakful. I think I'll just call you Agent 8."

- Cap'n Cuttlefish,

Agent 8, also referred to as Number 10,008 or Eight, is a playable Octoling and protagonist of the and.

Appearance


Agent 8 can have a variety of appearances, depending on the player's choice of gender, skin color, eye color, and hairstyle, as well as their current ink color.

In, their outfit consists of a black leather crop top for females or a slightly longer shirt for males with one long sleeve, a leather skirt for females or pants for males, high-heel boots for females or boots for males, and a type of neon yellow wristband on both their ankles and wrists. They can pick up Armor as well.

In, their ink color is faded to a beige color by default and they are dressed in a short-sleeved white jumpsuit with matching white knee-high boots, a thin, translucent brace on their left forearm, as well as an earring on their left ear. Additionally, the females have colored finger tips in the brownish color like their hair tips by default while the male version has yet to be confirmed. Depending on the color chips placed inside a palette, ink color, hair tips, and finger tips change color in response.

Personality and traits
Despite being mute throughout the game, Agent 8 shows aspects of their personality through subtle means. Agent 8 has a fondness for poetry and writes one for every mem cake collected. Throughout these poems, Agent 8 demonstrates a yearning for life on the surface, participating in Turf Wars, finding a part-time job, and dressing up in fresh clothes. This resolve is shown most strongly in the final area of the, where failing repeatedly activates a Skip Charge, showing Agent 8 with glowing eyes as they charge through the stage with the Calamari Inkantation motivating them. Their poems also show that they are considerably more compassionate and sympathetic than most other Octolings, wondering if Inklings should be considered foes and wishing that they could all get along, and feeling heartbroken at the fact that their superiors were kidnapping the Zapfish and having to refrain from saving it themself. Agent 8 also wishes to apologize to DJ Octavio for unceremoniously deserting the Octarians in pursuit of Inkopolis, as well as recollecting their old Octarian friends, specifically an Octoling warrior whom Agent 8 remembers fondly, hoping that they do not think badly of their decision.

As a result of listening to the Calamari Inkantation, Agent 8 is a big fan of the Squid Sisters, anxiously planning their greeting to the pair upon reaching the surface every night. Agent 8 seems to have known about Marina's escape to the surface and was glad to hear that she had made it safely, though she never knew her personally before the events of the Octo Expansion. Agent 8 comes to greatly admire Marina, to the point of expressing the notion of wanting to be just like her. Agent 8 was also seen to be somewhat confused by Cap'n Cuttlefish's actions and personality, as seen from near the end when they awkwardly glanced at Cuttlefish when he was rapping with Pearl and when he happily accepted being the "hype man" in the battle against Commander Tartar. The official relationship chart reveals that Agent 8 has respect for Cap'n Cuttlefish, as they think the elderly should be treated as such. It is also revealed that they think Agent 3 is cool and that Li'l Judd is adorable.

Agent 8, being an Octoling, is apparently disgusted and quite offended at how many squid-themed objects there are in Inkopolis, such as Squid Bumpers, and asks people to consider how Octolings see the world. They love the sea breeze and will go to the shore to feel it even though they cannot swim.

Agent 8 has shown a fondness for both Flow and Craymond. Interestingly, they are also said to enjoy listening to Sheldon rambling, in contrast to various other characters, possibly due to Octarian culture centering around technology and weaponry. They are also stated (in their description for the Chaos vs. Order Splatfest (in which they were on Team Order)) to be obsessed with cleaning, not being able to sleep before every nearby weapon is clean. Sheldon is therefore said to have considered hiring them.

Early life
Agent 8 was a trainee in the Octarian army and had a change of heart when they heard the Calamari Inkantation while observing the final battle of, etching it into their soul. According to Marina, Octolings that hear the song become discontent with Octarian society and choose to strike out on their own.

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion
In Octo Valley, Agent 8 encountered Cap'n Cuttlefish and Agent 3, where Cuttlefish told Agent 3 to attack Agent 8. The two battled until all three of them were attacked by someone and were knocked into the Deepsea Metro. Agent 8 then lost their memories from injuries suffered during the fall through the ceiling, and after teaming up with Cuttlefish and escaping the Abandoned Station, became a test subject of the metro.

Agent 8's role is to complete various missions in the Deepsea Metro with the premise of reaching the promised land by finding and collecting the four thangs. The missions take place in an area that is supposedly a testing lab, with a multitude of objectives varying from mission to mission.

Eventually, after collecting all four thangs, the telephone combines the thangs into, supposedly, a door to the promised land. As Agent 8 and Cuttlefish enter the contraption and it closes behind them, it is revealed to be a trap. Pearl and Marina realize the combined thangs are actually a blender, which the telephone plans to use to smoothie both Agent 8 and Cap'n Cuttlefish, with Marina only able to activate a distress signal from Agent 8's CQ-80. Smashing through the glass ceiling, Agent 3 comes to rescue and destroys the blender. They are knocked out after, leaving Cap'n Cuttlefish to stay with Agent 3 while Agent 8 is able to go on towards escaping the Kamabo Co. facilities with the blueprints provided by Agent 3's employee-model CQ-80. Close to the exit, Agent 8 is forced to defeat a partially sanitized Agent 3, whose mind had been hijacked by the telephone while Agent 8 was escaping.

Once on the surface, Pearl and Marina airlift Cap'n Cuttlefish, Agent 3, and Agent 8 to safety. Agent 8 is the first to notice the rising of the above-ground section of the facility, revealing the NILS Statue with the telephone inside, who re-introduces itself as Commander Tartar as well as its plan to destroy and recreate life on Earth. To stop the statue from charging its weapon, Agent 8 has three minutes to cover it in ink by detonating Marina's prototype Hyperbombs while the Princess Cannon, powered by Pearl's loud voice, destroys the weapon for good. This makes this battle Agent 8's first Turf War.

With the world saved, Agent 8 is finally free.

Splatoon 3: Side Order
Between the time of Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3, Agent 8 has stayed in contact with Off the Hook. In an unexpected turn of events they find themself transported to the Spire of Order, located in what looks like Inkopolis Square, but without color or signs of life. Agent 8 and Pearl, now in a drone form, head up the Spire of Order and meet Acht.

Splatoon manga
Agent 8 appears in Chapter 24 of the Splatoon manga as an Octoling boy with red eyes and the Punk hairstyle and wears the Squidlife Headphones, Null Boots Replica, and unique pants and top, and wields a Blaster. He found Goggles, who had previously attempted to land on the Grizzco boat when Super Jumping back and ended up sinking into the water. Agent 8 is shown to have a hand in machinery, like Octolings are said to, and made Goggles a new set of gear for him, a Splattershot and the same ink tank that he has. Due to forgetting his name, Cap'n Cuttlefish refers to him as Agent 8, while Goggles refers to him as Eight. A female Octoling named Seven, wearing the full outfit Agent 8 wears in the game, also appears initially from Eight's flashbacks, and is not seen physically until Chapter 26. Two other Octolings, Burns and Ponytail (nicknamed after their hairstyles), appear in Chapter 28 after the NILS Statue is destroyed and are also wearing the full outfit Agent 8 wears in the game. They are all set to be Eight's teammates where they all partake in Turf Wars after reaching Inkopolis.

As Eight and Seven wear the clothes that Agent 8 in the game wears, but without the yellow tags on their wrist and ankle, in the flashbacks taking place before they were taken to the Kamabo Co. facility, it is possible that the clothes Agent 8 wears are what younger Octolings wear. Burns and Ponytail also seem to be lacking the yellow tags when they are rescued.

Splatoon: Squid Kids Comedy Show
Splatoon: Squid Kids Comedy Show also features Agent 8 in CoroCoro's separate August 2018 issue, appearing as an Octoling boy with orange eyes and the Punk hairstyle.

Splatoon 3
"Side Order protagonist is Agent 8, a young Octoling last seen on a perilous journey together with Off the Hook. This world of order seems no less dangerous than the last place Eight ended up, but how did Eight get here to begin with?"

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

"This is Side Order protagonist, Agent 8 ("Eight" to their friends). In an unexpected turn of events, this young Octoling finds themselves transported to the Spire of Order."

- @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Trivia

 * Agent 8 is the only protagonist to:
 * not be a part of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, only being nicknamed by Cap'n Cuttlefish in a similar fashion.
 * exclusively wield non-hero weapons, wielding different sets of main and sub weapons instead while also being unarmed in certain stations and wielding the Octo Shot during the escape phase.
 * be playable in two single-player campaigns (additionally being the only DLC player character).
 * have colored fingertips (Side Order only), akin to Marina and Acht's.
 * A Splatoon 2 anniversary Famitsu interview with the developers revealed that Agent 8 does not respawn if they get splatted during the escape phases. Failing during the escape and choosing to continue playing simply has the player "go back in time" to when Agent 8 still was alive. This is also hinted in game:
 * Checkpoints encountered during the escape are flashing red, which is the same animation the checkpoints have in the tests when the player is down to their last respawn (with an exception for the Spinal Phase, as the checkpoints there show the normal animation for unknown reasons).
 * If Agent 8 gets splatted during the escape, characters will shout their name in a worried fashion.
 * If the player chooses to continue, no respawn animation plays and the game cuts back to Agent 8 already standing.
 * When Agent 8's Skip Charge fills up to 100% during the Escape phases, the beginning section of Calamari Inkantation plays.
 * The color of female Agent 8's eyes appears to be inconsistent, as she appears with grey eyes in the key art, promotional art, release art, download card, and Twitter celebration art and with orange eyes in the trailer, amiibo, and website renders.
 * The drawing of Agent 8 that appears when viewing individual mem cakes and when given a prompt to skip escape levels shows them with the lightest skin tone regardless of the one chosen by the player.
 * In The Art of Splatoon 3, Agent 8 was shown to be in an early concept for Splatoon 3's story mode.

Etymology
In research, test subjects are usually named by number, with Agent 8 being the 10,008th registered subject.

The nickname of Agent 8 was given by Cuttlefish due to being shorter to say.

Eight is a nickname derived from "Agent 8".