Acht

Acht​

Acht

3D art of Acht

Species	Octoling (Sanitized)
Habitat
Height
Hair color	Indigo with red tips
Eye color	Yellow
Age
Gender
Pronouns	They/them
Relations
Location	Deepsea Metro, Order Sector
Shop
HP
Maximum HP
Members
Other forms

“	Cool it. I'm not your enemy. Just another bystander who got sucked in. First things first: I'm Acht.	”
— Acht introducing themselves in Side Order

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. 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.

Songs

Before the release of the Octo Expansion, a video titled "Catalog Mix" featuring short sections of some of Acht's songs was uploaded. 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 sanitized Octoling with a pale green skin tone; unlike other sanitized Octolings, their hair color is a gradient of indigo to red. The tips of their fingers 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 halftone 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 keep heavy bandaging on their left arm, which they explain as having originated in a Jelleton attack, until the second part of the first boss battle with Overlorder, and wear 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. During the Overlorder battle, they slightly move their headphones away from the right ear, revealing a set of four metal earrings, two hoops and two barbells.

Before becoming Sanitized, Acht had a peach skin tone, yellow eyes, a worried look on their face, and reddish-brown hair that faded to blue at the tips (similar to an inversion of their Sanitized appearance). Their eyes had a triangular shape, three eyelashes, and black and yellow pupils shaped like an infinity symbol, just like Marina and Shiver's. Acht also wore five piercings on each ear (six in the last page of Marina's Dev Diaries), and their back tentacles were not yet shaved. As revealed in the second-to-last page of the Dev Diaries, they used to wear the Octarian soldier uniform in a different fashion than the others, with their undershirt having a mid-length sleeve on the left arm and their shorts having a long right leg; additionally, they did not wear a glove on their left hand and instead wore a silver bracelet.

Personality and traits

Acht has a laid-back, somewhat sarcastic personality and tend to speak in a cool, emotionally distant manner, even though not completely emotionless, as they frequently cheer for Agent 8's success. They consider themselves a slacker when they were younger, as they were often skipping lectures and describing having to work in the front lines being too much work. Acht likes cramped spaces and leaning against walls. When making music, Acht is diligent and hardworking, but underwent sanitization to remove "doubts and conflicts about production" and devote themselves to nothing but music. Due to their sanitization, they do not make music considering others, instead letting what comes out of their "inner self" take form.

Acht mentions that they also have skills in hacking, but that they are not as good as Marina.

In the Japanese version, Acht's preferred personal pronoun is ボク (boku), which is typically considered masculine but is also used by tomboys and people who are non-gender conforming.

History

Early life

Acht previously worked in the Octarian army. Unlike how Octarians are expected to behave, Acht often skipped lectures and slacked off, which often landed them in the instructor's office. They express relief not having to work in the front lines, as they describe it as being too much work, having instead being assigned to do some behind-the-scenes security. They used to be friends with Marina, having borrowed records from each other. Acht was pondering if Marina, being an assigned an elite position and a diligent worker, would get into trouble with hanging out with a slacker like them. After Marina's desertion caused chaos in the army, Acht mentions that they weren't left with much else to do other than making music. They mentioned that there was a "club way down in the lowest levels of the base", that was the only place they could perform their music without being caught by their officers and high-ranking officials.

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. They had learned every genre of music, causing their music to be described as "mimetic". They are diligent and hardworking, but underwent sanitization to remove "doubts and conflicts about production" and devote themselves to nothing but music. Due to their sanitization, they do not make music considering others, instead letting what comes out of their "inner self" take form.

Splatoon 3: Side Order

Acht holding a color chip.

Acht is encountered in the elevator inside the 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 seek refuge inside the elevator.

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, resuscitating Agent 8 and setting the stage for them and Pearl to turn the tides and ultimately triumph.

Following Overlorder's defeat, Off the Hook invites Acht to join them and Eight on their world tour. Together the four enter the final elevator, leaving the Memverse and returning to the real world.

After Splatoon 3: Side Order

Having regained consciousness after arriving to the Order Sector, Acht escapes from the Deepsea Metro and reaches the surface by themself. Acht starts making music and DJing on the surface, near the Inkopolis area, with the help of Off the Hook and Agent 8. Acht also collected unpaid royalties from songs they made as Dedf1sh, securing living expenses for some time.

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.	”
— Squid Research Lab

Splatoon 3

“	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.	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

Nintendo Magazine 2023 winter

“	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.	”
— Nintendo Magazine 2023 Winter Edition

Splatoon Base

“	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.	”
— Splatoon Base

Gallery

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  Album art

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  Art from Splatoon Base

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  Dedf1sh poster at Ancho-V Games

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  The logo seen on their album

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  Acht's icon in Splatoon 3

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  Acht's icon in Side Order

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  Acht in the elevator

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  Another image of Acht in the elevator, with the Pearl Drone and Agent 8

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  3D artwork (version posted by Nintendo of Europe)

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  Side Order key art featuring Acht

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  Acht in the Side Order release day artwork

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  The top image shows the back of young Acht's head. The bottom image shows Acht staring off to the side, ignoring the lecture

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  Young Marina and Acht together

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  Acht before becoming sanitized

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  Acht wallpaper from SplatNet 3

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  The icon for Acht's Tableturf Battle card

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  Acht's Tableturf Battle card sleeve

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  A banner featuring Acht as they are seen in the key art

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  Concept art of Acht

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  Acht and Marina during the ending of Side Order

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.
• The background of Acht's album art features the Kamabo Corporation logo, also seen in places such as the CQ card and C.Q. Cumber's hat.
• 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.
• The Octoplush song #35 caught follows the same naming convention as Acht's numbered songs.
• Acht's headphones can occasionally be heard having a beat sound coming out of them with Acht bobbing their head to it.
• In-universe, Acht and Paul are speculated to be blood relatives. They notably have the same symbol appearing on their hats, and Paul's ink color looks similar to Acht's ink color before they were sanitized.

Etymology

Acht is German and Dutch for "eight", referring to an octopus's number of limbs.

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.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ミズタ アハト Mizuta Ahato	Mizuta: Derived from mizudako, Japanese for Giant Pacific octopus Ahato: Japanese rendering of "Acht" (German/Dutch for "eight")
Dutch	Smarachne	From smaragd ("emerald"), acht ("eight"), and Arachne
French	Eyte	Warped version of "eight"
German	Ahato	From the Japanese rendering of "Acht"
Italian	Acht	Same as English
Russian	Окта Okta	From окто okto ("octo") and possibly октава oktava ("octave")
Spanish	Acht	Same as English
Chinese	水田 Shuǐ tián	Mizuta
Korean	미즈타 Mijeuta	Same as Japanese