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, tarps, and bumpers present in some stages. It allows players a degree of stealthiness, as Inklings and Octolings in squid and octopus forms can hide in their ink and ambush enemies. The signature ink colors are orange and dark blue in Splatoon, neon pink and green in Splatoon 2, and yellow and bluish purple for Splatoon 3.

Purposes

The effects of moving in enemy ink.

A squid partially 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 only, 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 of the same ink color 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 swimming fast enough they only create small ripples. Equipping gear with the Ninja Squid ability hides these ripples entirely, further improving the wearer's ability to move undetected.

In Splatoon 2, improved graphics were added to ink, including better shading, brightness, and sharpness.

Droplets and trails where players swam in ink are 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 forms 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 Fishes 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. In Splatoon 3, this color is also used on a few HUD elements, such as on the "GAME!" screen that appears at the end of a match, the map to indicate neutral objectives - such as un-captured Splat Zones or Towers - and to highlight the currently selected player.

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

Color sets used in-game are listed below.

Color sets in 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 (  Neutral)

  Light Blue vs.   Yellow (  Neutral) (unused)

  Blue vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Blue vs.   Lime (  Neutral)

* These are Splatoon 1’s signature colors.

Ranked Battle

  Yellow vs.   Lilac (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Magenta (  Neutral)

  Lumigreen vs.   Purple (  Neutral)

  Light Green vs.   Blue (  Neutral)

  Soda vs.   Purple (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Dark Blue vs.   Yellow (  Neutral)

Octo Valley

  Orange vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Night Marigold vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Marigold vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Yellow vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  LumiGreen vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Night LumiGreen vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  MothGreen vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Soda vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Turquoise vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Lilac vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Dark Blue vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

Splatfest

Splatfest color sets are downloaded, stored for Splatfest, and then removed afterwards.

Splatfests in North America   Cats   Dogs   Roller Coasters   Water Slides   Marshmallows   Hot Dogs   Autobots   Decepticons   Art   Science   Cars   Planes   Pirates   Ninjas   Burgers   Pizza   Naughty   Nice   Past   Future   Pokémon Red   Pokémon Blue   Snowman   Sandcastle   SpongeBob   Patrick   Fancy Party   Costume Party   Early Bird   Night Owl   Callie   Marie

Splatfests in Europe and Oceania   Rock   Pop   Eating   Sleeping   North Pole   South Pole   Singing   Dancing   Messy   Tidy   Cats   Dogs   Zombies   Ghosts   Pro-pineapple   Anti-pineapple   Fit   Rich   Barbarian   Ninja   Pokémon Red   Pokémon Blue   Hoverboard   Jet Pack   SpongeBob   Patrick   Black Tie Event   Fancy Dress Party   World Tour   Space Adventure   Callie   Marie

Splatfests in Japan   Rice   Bread   Red Fox   Green Tanuki   Lemon Tea   Milk Tea   Grasshopper   Ant   Boke   Tsukkomi   Squid   Octopus   Love   Money   Mountain Food   Sea Food   Red Fox   Green Tanuki   Perfect Body   Perfect Brain   Pokémon Red   Pokémon Green   Go all out!   Focus on healing   Tuna Mayonnaise Onigiri   Red Salmon Onigiri   Fancy Party   Costume Party   Mushroom Mountain   Bamboo Shoot Village   Callie   Marie

Other

  Yellow vs.   Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Blue vs.   Orange (  Neutral)

  Dark Fuchsia (  Neutral)

Color sets in 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)

** These are Splatoon 2’s signature ink colors.

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.

  Yellow vs.   Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Green vs.   Fuchsia (  Neutral)

  Light Blue 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.

Splatfests in North America and Oceania   Cake   Ice Cream   Mayo   Ketchup   Flight   Invisibility   Vampire   Werewolf   Sci-Fi   Fantasy   Sweater   Sock   Action   Comedy   Money   Love   Chicken   Egg   Baseball   Soccer   Raph   Leo   Mikey   Donnie   Raph   Donnie   Pulp   No-Pulp   Squid   Octopus   Fork   Spoon   Retro   Modern   Trick   Treat   Salsa   Guac   Hero   Villain   Fam   Friend   Pancake   Waffle   Knight   Wizard   Hare   Tortoise   Time Travel   Teleportation   Unicorn   Narwhal   Chaos   Order   Mayo   Ketchup   Chicken   Egg   Trick   Treat   Super Mushroom   Super Star

Splatfests in Europe   Cake   Ice Cream   Mayo   Ketchup   Flight   Invisibility   Front Roll   Back Roll   Warm Breakfast   Cold Breakfast   Film   Book   Action   Comedy   Gherk-OUT   Gherk-IN   Chicken   Egg   Salty   Sweet   Raph   Leo   Mikey   Donnie   Raph   Donnie   Pulp   No-Pulp   Squid   Octopus   Adventure   Relax   Retro   Modern   Trick   Treat   Eat It   Save It   Hero   Villain   Fam   Friend   Pancake   Waffle   Knight   Wizard   Hare   Tortoise   Time Travel   Teleportation   Kid   Grown-Up   Chaos   Order   Mayo   Ketchup   Chicken   Egg   Trick   Treat   Super Mushroom   Super Star

Splatfests in Japan   Rock   Pop   Mayo   Ketchup   Fries   McNuggets   Dexterity   Endurance   Lemon   No Lemon   Inner Wear   Outer Wear   Action   Comedy   Champion   Challenger   Hana   Dango   Newest   Most Popular   New Lifeform   Future Tech   Hello Kitty   Cinnamoroll   My Melody   Pompompurin   Hello Kitty   My Melody   Squid   Octopus   Mushroom Mountain   Bamboo Shoot Village   Tsubuan   Koshian   Trick   Treat   Pocky Chocolate   Pocky: Gokuboso   Hero   Villain   Fam   Friend   Boke   Tsukkomi   Knight   Wizard   Hare   Tortoise   Ce   Pa   No Pineapple   Pineapple   Chaos   Order   Mayo   Ketchup   Chicken   Egg   Trick   Treat   Super Mushroom   Super Star

Color Lock

  Golden Yellow vs.   Eelectric Blue

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

  Pink vs.   Neon Green

Octo Expansion

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

  Pink vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

  Peach vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

  Grape vs.   Turquoise (  Neutral)

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

Color sets in Splatoon 3

Regular Battle and Anarchy Battle

  Blue vs.   Yellow (  neutral)

  Green vs.   Purple (  neutral)

  Limegreen vs.   Purple (  neutral)

  Orange vs.   Blue (  neutral)*

  Orange vs.   Purple (  neutral)

  Pink vs.   Green (  neutral)**

  Turquoise vs.   Pink (  neutral)

  Turquoise vs.   Red (  neutral)

  Yellow vs.   Blue (  neutral)***

  Yellow vs.   Purple (  neutral)

* Allusive to Splatoon 1’s signature Orange vs. Blue ink colors.

** Allusive to Splatoon 2’s signature Neon Pink vs. Neon Green ink colors.

*** Splatoon 3’s signature ink colors.

Splatfest

Splatfests in The Americas and Oceania   Rock   Paper   Scissors   Gear   Grub   Fun   Grass   Fire   Water   Spicy   Sweet   Sour   Dark Chocolate   Milk Chocolate   White Chocolate

Splatfests in Europe   Rock   Paper   Scissors   Gear   Grub   Fun   Grass   Fire   Water   Spicy   Sweet   Sour   Dark Chocolate   Milk Chocolate   White Chocolate

Splatfests in Japan   Rock   Paper   Scissors   Gear   Grub   Fun   Grass   Fire   Water   Spicy   Sweet   Sour   Dark Chocolate   Milk Chocolate   White Chocolate

Splatfests in Hong Kong and South Korea Shiver Frye Big Man   Rock   Paper   Scissors   Gear   Grub   Fun   Grass   Fire   Water   Spicy   Sweet   Sour   Dark Chocolate   Milk Chocolate   White Chocolate

Return of the Mammalians

Regular Missions

The ink used by the Fuzzy Octarians features a marbled rainbow-like texture that mimics the iridescence of an oil spill, much like the Fuzzy Ooze itself. The Indigo color is used by DJ Octavio without the iridescent texture in his fight.

  Blue vs.   Magenta (  neutral)

  Green vs.   Blue (  neutral)

  LightBlue vs.   Blue (  neutral)

  Orange vs.   Blue (  neutral)

  Soda vs.   Magenta (  neutral)

  Yellow vs.   Indigo (  neutral)

Deep Cut

The ink used in the boss fights against the members of Deep Cut contains the Deep Cut logo in a repeating pattern. The logos are slightly darker than the rest of the ink for Frye and Shiver, but the logos in Big Man’s ink are yellow, as a reference to Super Mario Sunshine’s Phantamanta boss.

  Blue vs.   Frye (  neutral)

  Lime vs.   Shiver (  neutral)

  Orange vs.   Big Man (  neutral)

Salmon Run Next Wave

  Blue vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

  Orange vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

  Pink vs.   Dark Teal (  neutral)

  Purple vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

  SunYellow vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

  Yellow vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

Salmon Run Training Manual

These colors are used when practicing against Boss Salmonids in the Grizzco training manual.

  Orange vs.   Dark Green (  neutral)

Color Lock

  Yellow vs.   Dark Teal (  neutral) (Salmon Run Next Wave)

  Yellow vs.   Blue (  neutral) (Return of the Mammalians)

  Yellow vs.   LightBlue vs.   DarkBlue (  neutral) (Splatfest Battle)

  Yellow vs.   Blue (  neutral) (Regular Battle and Anarchy Battle)

Others

Getting Ready

These colors are used during the character customisation sequence and the short tutorial on the way to Splatsville.

  WarmingUpYellow vs.   WarmingUpBlue (  neutral)

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

• File:Tri-Color Turf War overhead 1.jpg

  Sturgeon Shipyard covered in 3 ink colors during a Tricolor Turf War

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)

Trivia

Pearl's hair changing color

• 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 Haicalive at Chokaigi 2018, it was shown 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 also occurred during Tentalive at Tokaigi 2019. Those are the only two occurrences where this can be seen, and there are no examples in-game.
• Marie's ink having special properties is a trait only mentioned in certain North American localizations. In the English version, it is referred to as "low-tide" ink, which matches the theme of her solo song.
• 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. In Splatoon 3, the details on Inklings' and Octolings' tentacles have become a dark rainbow-like color.

External links

• Ink on Smash Wiki