Flipper-Flopper

Not to be confused with the gear item, the Flipper Floppers.

Flipper-Floppers are Boss Salmonids that appear in Salmon Run Next Wave in Splatoon 3.

Description

The Flipper-Flopper is an armored Salmonid that resembles a dolphin. It attacks by first shooting a ring of enemy ink towards the player; after a short delay the Flipper-Flopper will belly-flop onto the circled area, splatting any player who cannot escape in time. However, if the circled area is covered in player ink before the belly flop, the Flipper-Flopper's armor will break upon hitting the ground and it will flop there, where it can be quickly splatted if the damage that it receives from hitting the ground does not splat it first. The ring's area will be immediately filled by the players' ink after inking enough of it, similar to Splat Zones. If not splatted after losing its armor, the armor will presumably not return.

Quotes

“	Another new creature, known as a "Flipper-Flopper," has been observed creating a ring of ink before diving magnificently into said ring. While beautiful, this is a dangerous attack! Inklings will need to cooperate to prevent Flipper-Floppers from flipping and/or flopping.	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

The following text is quoted from the Salmonid Field Guide.

Basic Information

• It swims deep below the ink, then launches high into the air before diving back down.
• It'll place a ring of ink as it jumps, showing where it will dive.

Attack Behavior

• It will ink the ground within the thrown ring, then attack anyone inside the ring as it dives in.

Elimination

• It's exposed while it's in the air getting ready to attack. That's your chance!
• If you ink the ground within its ring, it won't be able to dive back under, letting you make quick work of it.

Supporting Information

• It seems to idolize an animal said to have flourished in ancient times, which may explain why it wears a mask to make itself look more like this creature.
• It clearly attaches more importance to the beauty of its dives than its combat effectiveness.

Gallery

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  Salmonid Field Guide artwork

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  The Flipper-Flopper's design.

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  The Flipper-Flopper in game.

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  The Flipper-Flopper attacking.

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  The Flipper-Flopper vulnerable to attacks.

Trivia

• According to the Salmonid Field Guide, the "ancient animal" the Flipper-Flopper idolizes is possibly a dolphin. Due to the mask it wears looking similar to the animal's head, and the Boss's attack of jumping through the ring of ink it fires, similarly to some dolphin performances at marine animal shows in real life.