Acht, also known by their stage name Dedf1sh, is a musician in Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion whose songs can be heard around the facilities of the Deepsea Metro. Once a normal Octoling, they entered the Deepsea Metro's underground test facility and became sanitized, losing their free will.[7] They make their first physical in-game appearance within Splatoon 3's DLC campaign, Side Order, in which they assist Agent 8, Pearl, and Marina as they climb the Spire of Order.
Before the release of the Octo Expansion, a video titled "Catalog Mix" featuring short sections of some of Acht's songs was uploaded.[8] The only Dedf1sh song that was named prior to Octotune's release was Splattack! (Octo).
Appearance
3D artwork of Acht in Side Order
Though Acht never makes a physical appearance in the Octo Expansion, they can be seen using a turntable in their album artwork. They are a sanitizedOctoling with a pale green skintone; unlike other sanitized Octolings, their hair color is a gradient of indigo to red. The edges of their limbs are tinted bright red to black in a manner similar to Marina and Shiver. Shown only over the waist, they appear to wear a loose black shirt or dress that hangs over their left shoulder by a thin strap. They wear a pair of Octoling Shades as well as large, silver headphones atop a monochrome black and white baseball cap that features the same logo seen on Paul's hat. They additionally wear a cuff bracelet featuring a black to red gradient on their right wrist.
In Side Order, Acht makes their first physical appearance in the Splatoon series. Their appearance in this mode highly resembles their previous artwork-exclusive appearance; they are revealed to wear a thigh-length dress with a slit on the left side with red lace-up stitching, as well as high-heeled knee-length laced black boots. The back of their hair is mostly shaved and features a tentacle in the center back, while the two sides have shaved portions resembling the katakana "ミ" and "ズ" from top to bottom on the left side and "タ" on the right side, spelling out their Japanese last name "ミズタ" (Mizuta). They additionally have heavy bandaging on their left arm, which they explain as having originated in a Jelleton attack, and a red-tinted visor loosely resembling Octoling Shades. The tips of their tentacles, as well as the red part of their bracelet, appear to glow in the dark.
History
Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion
Unseen during the Octo Expansion, Acht (Only known as Dedf1sh before the Side Order trailer) is the producer of the music heard throughout Kamabo Co.'s facilities. Before their disappearance, Acht was a promising DJ who spent most of their days making and mixing songs.[9] They had learned every genre of music, causing their music to be described as "mimetic".[9] They are diligent and hardworking,[9] but it is said that they had "doubts and conflicts about production" so they let themself be sanitized to devote themself to nothing but music.[10] Due to their sanitization, they do not make music considering others, instead letting what comes out of their "inner self" take form.[11]
Acht makes their first physical appearance in Side Order, first encountered in the elevator inside Spire of Order as Agent 8 and Pearl board it for the first time. Though unsure of how they came to arrive in the Order Sector, they heard Marina's cries for help at the top of the Spire of Order; recognizing her as one of their old schoolmates, they went in to rescue her. However, Acht was swarmed by Jelletons upon entering the Spire, and their left arm was injured in the attack, forcing them to take seek refuge inside the elevator. They have a laid-back, somewhat sarcastic personality and tend to speak in a cool, emotionally distant manner.
During the initial battle against Overlorder, just before it can grayscale the minds of everyone on Earth, Acht suddenly appears. Pearl and Marina begin to perform Spectrum Obligato ~ Ebb & Flow (Out of Order) with them, setting the stage for Agent 8 and Acht to turn the tides and triumph.
Following the Overlorder's defeat, Acht enters the final elevator with Off the Hook and Agent 8, leaving the Memverse and returning to the real world.
Quotes
Splatoon 2
“
Everyone, meet Dedf1sh. Previously a promising, up and coming DJ, her pursuit of breakbeat perfection eventually led her to a subterranean test facility, where she was "sanitized." Though little of her former self remains, she continues crafting DJ delicacies, and the halls of the test facility echo with her bumping tracks to this very day.
You know them as Dedf1sh, underground DJ extraordinaire, but get ready to meet them as Acht, an Octoling pulled into this world like Agent 8. They've been here a while, so they have the deets on things even we at the SRL don't know about the Spire of Order, color chips, and more.
Acht, a mysterious Octoling formerly known as the musician "Dedf1sh" seems to have wandered into this world, just like Agent 8. Despite having unclear objectives, this ally will provide support to climb the Tower.
A diligent DJ who spent most of her days producing and mixing tracks. She studied all genres of music and was proficient enough to borrow whatever she wanted from any of them, drawing praise from critics and fans alike! Ultimately, she was such a perfectionist that she allowed herself to become sanitized in a subterranean test facility.
Another image of Acht in the elevator, with the Pearl Drone and Agent 8
3D artwork (version posted by Nintendo of Europe)
Side Order key art featuring Acht
Acht in the Side Order release day artwork
Young Marina and Acht together
Acht before becoming sanitized
Trivia
In their album art, Acht uses a series of turntables each with the number 8 on them and eight buttons, corresponding to an octopus' number of arms and the overall recurring number 8 through the Octo Expansion.
Acht's numbered catalog of songs in the Octo Expansion appears to be missing select numbers: 3, 7, 10, 15, 17, and 18. When adding the numbers from the title of each song and then dividing the total by the number of songs Acht has composed, the result is 8, a recurring number in the Octo Expansion.
Originally, the music in the Octo Expansion's stations was planned to only be background music without a musician or any sort of backstory. After Seita Inoue ended up liking the music a lot, he created Acht to bring more attention to it.[11]
The Octoplush song #35 caught follows the same naming convention as Acht's numbered songs.
In the Japanese script for Side Order, Acht uses ボク (boku) as their personal pronoun, which is typically considered masculine but is also used by tomboys and people who are non-gender conforming.[15]
Etymology
Acht is German and Dutch for "eight", referring to an octopus's number of limbs. Acht also means "attention, heed".
Dedf1sh is a portmanteau of "dead" (possibly in reference to their sanitization and no longer showing vital signs) and "fish". The name is likely mimicry of the DJ and musician deadmau5 as both are stylized in leetspeak, which is a nod to computer hacking evidenced by the purposeful misspelling of "dead" and their song titles.
From окто okto ("octo") and possibly октава oktava ("octave")
Chinese
水田 Shuǐ tián
Mizuta
Translation notes
↑In the Japanese version of the Side Order trailer, Acht introduces themself with their surname ミズタ (Mizuta) rather than their given name
Notes
↑Despite being referred to using she/her pronouns in side materials from Splatoon 2,[1][2], Acht is referred to with they/them pronouns in both promotional materials for Side Order[3][4] and by Pearl and Marina in the campaign itself. Acht's dialogue in the Japanese version of Side Order uses ボク (boku), typically a pronoun used by masculine characters or "tomboyish" feminine characters. A tweet from NintendoPT[5] used "o artista", which is used for men; for women, "a artista" is usually used.
Japanese
Dutch
French (NOE)
German
Russian
Chinese
Live from Squid Research Lab on Tumblr: Dedf1sh introduction
@NintendoEurope on Twitter
Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass - Side Order DLC - Nintendo Direct 9.14.2023
Nintendo Magazine 2023 winter pgs. 42-43
