Ink Vac

The Ink Vac is an upcoming special weapon in. Its name was revealed three days after the gameplay of it in the release date trailer of Splatoon 3.

Appearance
The Ink Vac is based on a diesel-powered backpack vacuum cleaner. The backpack consists of the ink canister and the engine. The ink canister is white with a Dolphin logo on the front (facing away from the user's back), a cyan cap at the top, and two cyan-and-black backpack straps (which also connect to a black board covering the engine's back). As the Ink Vac absorbs more enemy ink, the canister gets filled by glowing ink of the Ink Vac user's color and the canister seems to shake more intensely. The engine is cyan with a control panel on the left side (if viewed from the user's back), a gauge with a starter rope on the front, some warning labels on the right side, a black tube frame, and a black board on the back. Coming out of the engine's right side is a hose connecting it to a massive nozzle. The nozzle is cyan-and-black with another Dolphin logo on the right side, one handle at the top, another handle at the back, some orange bolts securing the nozzle, and a pair of wheels at the bottom of the nozzle's orange tip.

Description
When deployed, the Ink Vac creates a vortex that sucks in enemy ink, which can be used to protect allies from it. Whenever the Ink Vac sucks ink, it creates distinctive sounds that can be heard by both teams, potentially cuing opponents to stop shooting at the vortex to prevent fueling the explosive shot at the end of the special. After a brief delay, at the end of the special's duration, the Ink Vac shoots out a projectile of ink that displays a radius upon impact (similar to the Splashdown) before exploding shortly afterwards, splatting opponents within the radius. The radius increases with more enemy ink sucked before shooting the explosive projectile. Opponents caught within the pre-explosion radius appear to be applied with a Toxic Mist-like effect, though it is uncertain whether it only slows them down or if it also makes them lose ink. As of the Release Date Revealed trailer, the Ink Vac appears to be a part of the Splat Charger's kit.