Octoling (enemy)

"We’ve got company, bucko. Octolings ahead."

- Cap'n Cuttlefish

"The Octolings with seaweed on their heads are super tough!"

- Agent 2

Octolings (Japanese: タコゾネス Takozonesu) are elite Octarian fighters, and the octopus equivalent to an Inkling. They are semi-common enemies in Octo Valley, appearing in the missions Octoling Invasion, Inkvisible Avenues, Octoling Assault, Propeller Lift Fortress, Spinning Spreaders, Octoling Uprising, Spongy Observatory, and Octoling Onslaught.

Personality and traits
Octolings are very similar to Inklings. They can walk on land in humanoid form as well as swim through their own Ink in octopus form, making up a somewhat small but nonetheless dangerous portion of Octarian forces with their Octoshots and Splat Bombs. With no visible target, Octolings will wander alone or in small groups and Ink nearby surfaces for their convenience. Upon being engaged by Agent 3 they will make tactical maneuvers, quickly jumping in and out of their Ink while shooting and throwing Splat Bombs. The best way to deal with Octolings is to catch them before they can react; once found, they are difficult to escape from, as they will follow Agent 3 and shoot at their last location if they try to escape in squid form.

All Octolings encountered appear to be female, and their Japanese name, Takozonesu (a portmanteau of "octopus" and "Amazons"), further supports this. However, there is a small amount of evidence for the existence of male Octolings; there is a slightly flatter version of the Octoling Armor worn by male Inklings, and DJ Octavio is shown to be able to assume humanoid form in.

Audio

 * [[Media:Octoling sounds.ogg|Octoling voice clips]]

Equipment
After completing Octo Valley, the player is awarded the Octoling Goggles, Armor, and Boots for use in online play. The Octoshot Replica is given to the player by Judd at Level 40, completing the Octoling set of equipment.



Variations
Normal Octolings have pinkish skin and dark red tentacles, though later missions feature Elite Octolings instead, which are faster, more resilient, and deal more damage. Further separating them from the common Octoling are their dark brown tentacles with a gold tinge and the two long strands of seaweed attached to their heads. In Japanese, they are called DeraTakozonesu (short for deluxe, or decorated Takozonesu).

Trivia

 * When an Octoling is splatted, they will fly off in the form of a small ghost, just like Inklings. They even have their own unique octopus ghost for this.
 * It is possible to hack a playable Octoling into the game. By doing this, the game loads an otherwise unused Octoling alternate model supposed to be used by the player so they can change the Octoling's skintone, hair color, and see their eyes.
 * This is possible due to the fact that, on a technical level, the "Octolings" are simply modified Inkling models with a unique hair and travel-form models; all other model rigging and animations are shared. Moreover, the hack makes clear that the current in-game models of Octolings are not intended to be playable yet; their hair model clips through a significant number of hats. However, the fact that they have a model specifically meant for this purpose, their eyes are unique despite not being seen at all during the single-player game, and the Octoling hair being textured and coded to function properly with the "team ink color" system despite the clipping issues, has raised suspicion that it is very likely that there are plans to make the Octolings playable in the future. Plus, the fact that models have been updated several times throughout updates practically confirms this.