Judd

"Judd the cat will tell you who won at the end of each match. No kitten!"

- Splatoon official website

Judd is a cat in the SS undefined who plays the role of judge in multiplayer matches and gives advice to Inklings and Octolings outside of them.

Appearance
Judd is a white cat with black accents. There is a mole-like spot to the left of his mouth, a small black patch just above the mole, and a larger one near his left eye, over his left ear. His forepaws and hindlegs are black, while the arrow-shaped tail is black and white-tipped. The black fur on his body may look like a snazzy tuxedo, but it is said that the pattern is naturally occurring. This could be a possible play on "Tuxedo Cat".

As depicted in the Sunken Scrolls, Judd's appearance has changed over time. Judd seems to resemble more of what he currently looks like in the present according to Sunken Scroll 25, but looks much younger and smaller in appearance. In Sunken Scrolls 4 and 15, Judd appears to be much smaller and thinner than his current form. Sunken Scroll 14, which was documented at the end of the Great Turf War, shows that between the time of scrolls 15 and 14, he has recaptured his much "heftier" appearance.

Personality and traits
Judd was born with the incredible ability to judge turf area at a glance to separate the winners from the losers. He is also a bit lazy, just like most cats, but is much more active during the night. This is shown in Splatfests, where he could be found dancing and saying "Meow!"

History
According to the Sunken Scrolls, Judd's original human owner built a capsule designed to keep him cryogenically sealed for 10,000 years when rising sea levels threatened life on land. Because of this, Judd was the only known mammal who survived the mass extinction at the beginning of the Mollusc Era. Judd's description in The Art of Splatoon 2 reveals that he was injected with an immortality drug by his owner before being sealed in his capsule.

Judd was released from cryogenic stasis around 2,000 years before the events of, as Sunken Scrolls depict Judd judging ancient Turf Wars and the Great Turf War, and seemingly participating in the Great Turf War on the Inklings' side. It is revealed in that, at some point, Judd reactivated the capsule he was cryogenically frozen in to create a clone of himself, a function his owner included in the capsule to ensure that Judd would not become lonely.

Splatoon
When he is not judging, he can be found sleeping on a blue crate on the Inkopolis Plaza, although he is said to live in Flounder Heights. The player can talk to Judd to get advice from him, as well as a potential cash bonus depending on the player's online battle vibe, which increases and decreases with wins and losses. He can only give one cash bonus per stage rotation.

Judd also rewards the player with items when he is spoken to after the player reaches a certain level. Specifically, speaking to Judd every five levels starting at Level 25 will reward the player with a new item.

After the final Splatfest, Callie vs. Marie, Judd began to give out one Super Sea Snail per thirty completed online matches when spoken to. Note that these matches can be either Turf Wars or Ranked Battles.

Splatoon 2
Judd returns in Splatoon 2 and once again plays the role of the referee, now joined by his clone Li'l Judd. Judd represents the player's team, called "Good Guys", and Li'l Judd represents the enemy team, called "Bad Guys". When the Good Guys win, Judd brandishes a flag in their ink color and Li'l Judd falls in defeat; the opposite happens when the Bad Guys win. He once again takes naps when not judging battles, and can be seen sleeping in Inkopolis Square with Li'l Judd sitting on top of him. Judd and Li'l Judd can be spoken to like in the first game, with both cats giving advice, and the player can also earn a Super Sea Snail from Judd by talking to him each time they level up starting at Level 30.

Advice

 * Judd/Quotes

Audio

 * [[Media:Judd sounds.ogg|Judd's voice clips in Splatoon]], either of which are used for the "Meow!" at the beginning of a piece of advice.

In the manga series
Judd, like in the game, judges Turf War rounds. His appearance is the same.

Trivia

 * Judd's name is derived from the word "judge," as he is the referee for all the battles in Splatoon.
 * In the North American version of Splatoon, Judd makes many cat puns in his advice. In Splatoon 2, these cat puns are present in all English localisations.
 * Along with a handful of birds and insects, Judd is one of the few non-aquatic creatures to appear in the games. As stated in a developers' interview, this is because the main characters of Splatoon were originally going to be rabbits; Judd is a leftover from that stage of the game's development.
 * Also explained in the interview is the source of Judd's name; apparently, the pattern of his fur came first, and it caused some developers to nickname him ジャッジ, or "Judge", which is his final name in the Japanese version of Splatoon.
 * Judd seems to have possessed his talent for judgment even before the supposed extinction of humanity, as in The Art of Splatoon, his abilities are demonstrated as part of an arms deal.
 * The Art of Splatoon 2 shows that Judd transmits the Battle Lobby's rules into the minds of Inklings using thought waves.
 * This could explain how the player is able to understand the dialogue shown in parenthesis when talking to Judd, who verbally is only shown to say "Meow".
 * The Art of Splatoon 2 further mentions how Judd has many connections and holds an influential position with leaders across various nations.
 * The Japanese Splatoon lore website mentions that the textbox explaining the different areas when the player first arrives at Inkopolis Square/Plaza is Judd communicating telepathically with the player.

Splatoon

 * There was a glitch in which the player could get their money back after purchasing a slot, reroll, or ordered gear from Spyke by talking with Judd after the purchase. It was fixed with Version.
 * During Splatfests, Judd could be seen dancing around happily on his pillow in Inkopolis Plaza. Instead of the usual "Zzz," he said "Meow!"
 * According to Callie and Marie, Judd lives in Flounder Heights and can be seen commuting to and from Inkopolis.
 * Cash could not be given by Judd during a Splatfest, as there was no Vibe, being replaced by Splatfest Power.
 * Judd had a noticeably different animation while declaring results in the E3 2014 Splatoon demo. In that version, he twisted his entire body toward the winning team before the final results were shown, while in the final version, he simply tucks his hands behind his back before showing the results.
 * When announcing Mahi-Mahi Resort, Marie mentions Judd is actually very slender but has very overgrown fur.

Splatoon 2

 * Li'l Judd appears to be noticeably larger while judging matches in comparison to Judd than while he is sitting on Judd in Inkopolis Square.
 * It is said by Marina that Judd poses for an online art class at Inkblot Art Academy. Japanese dialogue adds that he does this because fluffy creatures like him are so rare.
 * Also at Inkblot Art Academy, Marina implies that Judd and Li'l Judd's eyes glow in the dark.