Ink

For other pages associated with ink, see Ink (disambiguation).

Ink in action in a pre-release version of Arowana Mall.

Ink is the main projectile used in the Splatoon series as well as a means of navigation. It comes in a variety of team-based colors that are randomized with each battle. Walls and ground alike can be covered with ink, but it goes through grates and cannot be applied to ink-resistant surfaces such as glass, mats, and the inflatable barriers present in some stages. It allows players a degree of stealthiness, as Inklings and Octolings in squid and octopus form can hide in their ink and ambush enemies. The signature ink colors are orange and blue in Splatoon, green and pink in Splatoon 2, and yellow and purple for Splatoon 3.

Purposes

The effects of moving in enemy ink.

File:Ambush-enemies@2x.png

A squid hiding in its team's ink.

An Inkling using an inkrail.

Ink can be used in a variety of ways, including as a projectile. Being hit by enemy ink causes players to take damage and become visible to their opponents on the map. After taking enough damage, players are splatted and eventually respawn. When attempting to swim or walk through enemy ink, Inklings and Octolings take damage, though this alone cannot splat them. Their movements also become very slow, and if they are in squid or octopus form, they are forced back into humanoid form. Equipping gear with the Ink Resistance Up ability helps to reduce the effects of being in enemy ink, and, in Splatoon, Defense Up can be used to reduce damage taken from being hit by it.

Ink can also be fired at various inkable surfaces and other characters. Once a surface is coated in ink, players can swim through it, allowing them to move more quickly and climb up walls. When staying still in their ink, players can hide and ambush enemies, and when moving they only create small ripples. Equipping gear with the Ninja Squid ability hides these ripples, further improving the wearer's ability to move undetected.

In Splatoon 2, improved graphics were added to ink, including better shading, brightness, and sharpness. Also, trails can now be seen in ink where players swam.

Droplets and trails where players swam in ink is more distinct in Splatoon 2.

Main weapons and sub weapons both require ink, with the specific amount needed varying between different weapons. Ink requirements can be reduced by equipping the Ink Saver (Main), Ink Saver (Sub), Last-Ditch Effort, and Comeback abilities. If players do not have enough ink to use a weapon, they are warned of it and their ink tank flashes with a large red "X". Ink slowly refills automatically, but swimming in one's ink refills it much faster. Ink Recovery Up increases the speed at which ink is regained.

Some devices allow ink to be used in even more ways. Inkrails and Ride rails exist for transportation, as Inklings and Octolings in squid and octopus form can use them to get to otherwise inaccessible areas. Sponges expand for use as a platform when hit by the player's ink and shrink when hit by that of an opponent. Splat-Switches, when covered with ink, cause objects to move. Ink can also be used to spin propellers, which power the movement of various platforms. Finally, Balloon Fish can be popped with ink to create an explosion much in the manner of player bombs.

Color sets

For more information, see Template:InkT and Template:Ink.

Neutral color values are used for objects such as barriers and the Squid Bumpers in the Shooting Range and can help with identifying a set. However, some sets seem to use different values for some objects.

Ink color names come from what they are called in Template:S' files. Some names do not match the visible color; the reason for this is unknown.

Color sets used in-game include the following:^[Note]

Splatoon

File:CallieMarie.jpg

Callie and Marie talking about the vanishing property of ink.

Regular Battle

  Pink vs.   Green (  Neutral)

  Pink vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

  Pink vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Orange vs.   Blue (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Purple (  Neutral)

  Turquoise vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Light Blue vs.   Orange^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Light Blue vs.   Yellow (  Neutral) (unused)

  Blue^[Note] vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Blue vs.   Lime (  Neutral)

Ranked Battle

  Yellow vs.   Lilac (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Magenta^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Lumigreen vs.   Purple (  Neutral)

  Light Green vs.   Blue (  Neutral)

  Soda vs.   Purple^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Dark Blue vs.   Yellow^[Note] (  Neutral)

Octo Valley

  Orange vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Night Marigold vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Marigold vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Yellow^[Note] vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Green^[Note] vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  LumiGreen vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Night LumiGreen vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  MothGreen^[Note] vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Soda vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Turquoise vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Lilac vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Dark Blue vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

Splatfest

  Pokémon Red vs.   Pokémon Blue

  Pokémon Red vs.   Pokémon Green

  Go all out! vs.   Focus on healing

  Barbarian vs.   Ninja

  Naughty vs.   Nice

  Marshmallows vs.   Hot Dogs (  Neutral)

  Autobots vs.   Decepticons

  Cats vs.   Dogs

  Messy vs.   Tidy

  Lemon Tea vs.   Milk Tea

  SpongeBob vs.   Patrick

  Roller Coasters vs   Water Slides

  World Tour vs.   Space Adventure

  Pirates vs.   Ninjas

  Perfect Body vs.   Perfect Brain

  Tuna Mayonnaise Onigiri vs.   Red Salmon Onigiri

  Snowmen vs.   Sandcastles

  Past vs.   Future

  Hoverboard vs.   Jet Pack

  North Pole vs.   South Pole (  Neutral)

  Callie vs.   Marie

Other

  Yellow^[Note] vs.   Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

  Blue^[Note] vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Dark Fuchsia^[Note] (  Neutral)

Splatoon 2

Regular Battle

  Lemon vs.   Plum

  Light Pink vs.   Blue

  Raspberry vs.   Neon Yellow

  Grape vs.   Turquoise

  Pink vs.   Light Blue

  Dark Purple vs.   Orange

  Neon Pink vs.   Neon Green

  Sky vs.   Gold (unused)

Ranked Battle

  Slimy Green vs.   Grape (  Neutral)

  Winter Green vs.   Dark Magenta (  Neutral)

  Turquoise vs.   Pumpkin (  Neutral)

  Mustard vs.   Purple (  Neutral)

  Blue vs.   Green (  Neutral)

  Rich Purple vs.   Green Apple (  Neutral)

  Yellow vs.   True Blue (  Neutral)

When modes of Ranked Battle are played in Private Battle the order of the ink colors for the teams are predetermined with the order above, Alpha vs. Bravo teams.

Octo Canyon

A note about ink in Octo Canyon is that it contains glitter, which is mostly unique to this mode. The only other time this was seen was during the Frosty Fest. Ink in the Final Fest used a unique matte glittery texture.

  Yellow ^[Note] vs.   Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Green ^[Note] vs.   Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Light Blue ^[Note] vs.   Fuchsia (  Neutral)

Splatfest

Three Splatfest Ink sets use special textures, Fam vs. Friend using the same sparkly effect that can be seen in Hero Mode, Trick vs. Treat using a more matte texture, and Chaos vs. Order using a unique metallic texture.

  Mayo vs.   Ketchup (  Neutral)

  Flight vs.   Invisibility (  Neutral)

  Fries vs.   McNuggets (  Neutral)

  Front Roll vs.   Back Roll (  Neutral)

  Vampire vs.   Werewolf (  Neutral)

  Agility vs.   Endurance (  Neutral)

  Warm Breakfast vs.   Cold Breakfast (  Neutral)

  Lemon vs.   Without Lemon (  Neutral)

  Sci-Fi vs.   Fantasy (  Neutral)

  Film vs.   Book (  Neutral)

  Warm Inner Wear vs.   Warm Outer Wear (  Neutral)

  Sweater vs.   Socks (  Neutral)

  Action vs.   Comedy (  Neutral)

  Champion vs.   Challenger (  Neutral)

  Gherk-OUT vs.   Gherk-IN (  Neutral)

  Money vs.   Love (  Neutral)

  Flower vs.   Dumpling (  Neutral)

  Chicken vs.   Egg (  Neutral)

  Latest Model vs.   Popular Model (  Neutral)

  Salty vs.   Sweet (  Neutral)

  Baseball vs.   Soccer (  Neutral)

  Unknown Creature vs.   Advanced Technology (  Neutral)

  Pulp vs.   No Pulp (  Neutral)

  Squid vs.   Octopus (  Neutral)

  Mushroom Mountain vs.   Bamboo Shoot Village (  Neutral)

  Adventure vs.   Relax (  Neutral)

  Fork vs.   Spoon (  Neutral)

  Retro vs.   Modern (  Neutral)

  Tsubuan vs.   Koshian (  Neutral)

  Trick vs.   Treat (  Neutral)

  Pocky Chocolate vs.   Pocky: Gokuboso (  Neutral)

  Salsa vs.   Guac (  Neutral)

  Eat It vs.   Save It (  Neutral)

  Hero vs.   Villain (  Neutral)

  Fam vs.   Friend (  Neutral)

  Boke vs.   Tsukkomi (  Neutral)

  Pancake vs.   Waffle (  Neutral)

  Knight vs.   Wizard (  Neutral)

  Hare vs.   Tortoise (  Neutral)

  Ce vs.   Pa (  Neutral)

  Time Travel vs.   Teleporation (  Neutral)

  Unicorn vs.   Narwhal (  Neutral)

  Without Pineapple vs.   With Pineapple (  Neutral)

  Kid vs.   Grown Up (  Neutral)

  Chaos vs.   Order (  Neutral)

  Super Mushroom vs.   Super Star (  Neutral)

Color Lock

  Golden Yellow vs.   Eelectric Blue^[Note]

Salmon Run

Salmonid Ink has a slime-like texture to it, where reflections have very little diffusion and there is a faint glow on the outer edge.

  Orange vs.   Neon Green

  Blue vs.   Neon Green^[Note]

  Pink vs.   Neon Green

Octo Expansion

The battle against Inner Agent 3 uses a different selection of ink colors than the rest of Octo Expansion, seemingly referencing the primary ink colors of Splatoon.

  Blue vs.   Orange

Unlike other ink, the Sanitized ink has a wavy effect.

  Pink vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)^[Note]

  Peach vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

  Grape vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

Trivia

• According to Sunken Scroll 7 of Splatoon and Callie and Marie, ink vanishes after every match. It was later confirmed with Sunken Scroll 14 in Splatoon 2 that the cause of this is airborne microbes that consume the ink after a game.
• While swimming, small bits of ink come off an Inkling or Octoling's squid or octopus form. This is likely because the squid and octopus forms are mainly used to submerge in ink.
• During an Off The Hook concert, it was revealed what it looks like when Inklings and Octolings change ink colors: their 'hair' and any gear that changes due to ink color turns white, then fades to another color. This is the only time this was seen and it was not present in-game.
• Marie has her own type of ink, low-tide ink. Little is known about this type of ink, except for the fact that it can help cure Octarian brainwashing and it stuns instead of splats.
• In Splatoon, it is possible to see a slight tint of a different ink color towards the ends of Inklings' tentacles, though it is hard to see on some color sets. This detail was removed in Splatoon 2, but appears to have returned in Splatoon 3 for both Inklings and Octolings.

Gallery

• File:Splatoon Sunken Scroll 7.png

  Several ink colors and combinations, as shown in Sunken Scroll 7

• 

  Blackbelly Skatepark coated in orange and blue ink

• 

  Old version of Camp Triggerfish covered in pink and teal ink

Multiplayer ink

Regular Battle

• File:Pink vs. Green.png

    Pink vs.   Green

• File:Pink vs. Blue.png

    Pink vs.   Blue

• File:Pink vs. Orange.png

    Pink vs.   Orange

• File:Orange vs. Blue.png

    Orange vs.   Blue

• File:Green vs. Purple.png

    Green vs.   Purple

• File:Turquoise vs. Orange.png

    Turquoise vs.   Orange

• File:Light Blue vs. Orange.png

    Light Blue vs.   Orange

• File:Blue vs. Orange (Color Lock).png

    Blue vs.   Orange (color lock)

• File:Blue vs. Lime.png

    Blue vs.   Lime

Ranked Battle

• File:Yellow vs. Lilac.png

    Yellow vs.   Lilac

• File:Green vs. Magenta.png

    Green vs.   Magenta

• File:Lumigreen vs. Purple.png

    Lumigreen vs.   Purple

• File:Light Green vs. Blue.png

    Light Green vs.   Blue

• File:Soda vs. Purple.png

    Soda vs.   Purple

• File:Green vs. Orange.png

    Green vs.   Orange

• File:Dark Blue vs. Yellow.png

    Dark Blue vs.   Yellow

Octo Valley ink

• File:Octo Valley Orange.png

    Orange

• File:Octo Valley Marigold.png

    Marigold

• File:Octo Valley Yellow (Color Lock).png

    Yellow (color lock)

• File:Octo Valley Yellow Green.png

    Green

• File:Octo Valley Green.png

    Green

• File:Octo Valley Lumigreen.png

    LumiGreen

• File:Octo Valley Soda.png

    Soda

• File:Octo Valley Turquoise.png

    Turquoise

• File:Octo Valley Lilac.png

    Lilac

• File:Octo Valley Dark Blue.png

    Dark Blue

Color locked ink

• File:Blue vs. Orange (Color Lock).png

    Blue vs.   Orange (color lock for online battles)

• File:Octo Valley Yellow (Color Lock).png

    Yellow (color lock for Octo Valley)

External links

• Ink on Smash Wiki