Jellyfish
- For the deep-sea jellyfish in Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion, see denizens of the deep.
Jellyfish are creatures that appear in the Splatoon series. They reside in Inkopolis Plaza, Inkopolis Square, and Splatsville, as well as in the background in stages, wearing various articles of clothing. Most jellyfish do not speak Inkling and cannot be interacted with beyond colliding with them,[1] though Jelonzo and Jelonzo are notable exceptions.
Description
Jellyfish bear a closer resemblance to their aquatic counterparts than Inklings and Octarians, with the most significant change being that their bodies take on a more humanoid shape. They have large, round heads, with their only facial features being a pair of very close-set eyes with diamond-shaped pupils and no visible irises. They have a pair of upper tentacles that serve as their arms, and a ring of eight lower tentacles that serve as legs. They are capable of stretching their "arm" tentacles to several times their body length at will.
Being quite gelatinous, jellyfish noticeably jiggle when they move or when they are collided with. Through their translucent skin, squishy innards can be seen. Greenish-blue skin seems to be uniform across the species, with the exceptions of Jelonzo and Jelfonzo; the former has sky blue skin with a slight purple tinge in some areas, and the latter's skin is a slightly paler blue with a more prominent purple tinge. In Splatoon 2, jellyfish in Inkopolis Square change color to match the ink color of their team during a Splatfest.
Though jellyfish have been shown to wear a variety of clothing, most only wear a t-shirt. Many of their shirts are smaller versions of clothing items used by Inklings and Octolings, such as the Pirate-Stripe Tee and the Black Squideye. During a Splatfest, all jellyfish in Inkopolis Plaza or Inkopolis Square wear a Splatfest Tee in support of their chosen team, albeit without the wristband; in Splatoon 2, some jellyfish wear sleeveless Splatfest Tees, which are otherwise unseen.
Jellyfish are capable of giving off light, possibly from bioluminescence, an ability some real-life jellyfish such as the crystal jelly possess. This is most visible in Splatfests, during which all jellyfish emit a faint glow. Callie mentions that she often mistakes Jelonzo for a "glowing ghost" in one of her comments on Bluefin Depot.
While most jellyfish have never been heard speaking, Jelonzo's voice is heard when he speaks to the player. It is somewhat high, being close in pitch to Annie's, but louder and clearer. Jelfonzo has a similar voice.
Jellyfish reproduce asexually by splitting off of one another; Live from Squid Research Lab and The Art of Splatoon 2 have both stated Jelfonzo split off from Jelonzo. This resembles the reproduction of real-life jellyfish, which spawn daily given enough food and sunlight.
Hisashi Nogami, producer of the Splatoon series, suggested in an interview that jellyfish individuals are part of a hive mind. To give an example, he states that jellyfish couples are not actually in love but want to imitate the behavior of those in a relationship.[2][3] The Art of Splatoon 2 further explains that jellyfish form colonies of which all members share a collective consciousness, though individuals still have their own personalities and interests.
Jellyfish are unable to speak in the Inkling language, other than Jelonzo and Jelfonzo. Jelonzo was revealed in The Art of Splatoon to have used a slang dictionary when learning the Inkling language, hence his broken grammar. Similarly, Live from Squid Research Lab has stated that Jelfonzo learned the language by studying ancient texts, resulting in his unusual speaking mannerisms.
Notable individuals
Jelonzo
Jelonzo is a jellyfish in Splatoon who owns Jelly Fresh, a clothing shop in Booyah Base. He speaks with broken grammar due to his lack of fluency in the Inkling language.
Jelfonzo
Jelfonzo is a jellyfish in Splatoon 2 who owns Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, a clothing shop in the Galleria. He learned the Inkling language from ancient texts, and consequently uses outdated words and grammar. He split off of Jelonzo, which, as stated by Live from Squid Research Lab, makes him Jelonzo's son.
DJ Lee Fish
While little is known about DJ Lee Fish, their name seems to suggest that they are a jellyfish. They are a musician mentioned in Splatoon, and their only known song is Lookin' Fresh, which plays in Booyah Base.
Appearances
Jellyfish do not appear in Ranked Battles in Splatoon.
Inkopolis Plaza
- Two jellyfish operate the air traffic control center above Inkopolis Tower.
- Jellyfish stroll around the plaza, wearing different pieces of clothing.
- Some jellyfish can be found sitting on benches, both inside and outside the Plaza.
- Below the Inkopolis News Studio, a jellyfish can sometimes be seen dancing beside a pillar.
- A jellyfish often stands at the train station behind the Plaza.
- Four jellyfish can be found standing near a tree outside the Plaza.
- During a Splatfest, jellyfish congregate in front of the Squid Sisters' trucks, wearing Splatfest Tees and dancing to the music.
- A jellyfish can sometimes be seen riding a skateboard in Inkopolis Plaza.
- A jellyfish can be seen touching a puddle.
Inkopolis Square
- A jellyfish can be seen looking at Off the Hook chatting inside their studio.
Urchin Underpass
- Some Jellyfish can be seen cheering from behind the secret alley windows.
Walleye Warehouse
- Outside the stage's boundaries, jellyfish can be seen walking around and spectating the current battle from the warehouse's large windows.
Saltspray Rig
- Jellyfish often stand on the towers surrounding the map, either alone or in pairs. Some of them dance.
Arowana Mall
- Many Jellyfish can be seen behind the window of the mall variant of Inkopolis Café waving at the players as they walk by.
Blackbelly Skatepark
- Some Jellyfish can be seen outside the skatepark.
Port Mackerel
- Behind the glass forming the boundary of the Stage, a jellyfish can sometimes be seen directing a forklift.
- Also behind the glass, a pair of jellyfish can sometimes be seen talking to each other. One is smaller than the other; it may be a younger jellyfish or simply a short one.
Kelp Dome
- Outside the boundary of the Stage, a few jellyfish, possibly workers for the greenhouse, can be seen.
Bluefin Depot
- Across the water, outside the bounds of the Stage, there is a lone jellyfish which can only be seen up close by zooming in with a scoped Charger. It is not always there, but when it is, it either sits peacefully by the edge or stands and stretches their tentacle into the water.
- On the opposite side, along the wall of Miiverse posts, there are sometimes a few jellyfish standing or sitting around. Some of them seem to be spray painting the wall.
Moray Towers
- There are four jellyfish next to the ramp on each side of the stage, standing next to a car inside a parking lot.
- A couple of jellyfish can be seen doing construction work on some scaffolding on a nearby tower.
Camp Triggerfish
Jellyfish can be seen across the lake at Camp Jellyfish.
- A jellyfish can be seen hopping around in a canoe.
- Other jellyfish tend to stand on the Camp Jellyfish fort.
- One or two jellyfish at Camp Jellyfish can sometimes be seen crouching by the water and noticeably vibrating. The reason for this is unknown, and it is not seen in any other location.
Flounder Heights
Jellyfish appear to live in Flounder Heights, and can be seen performing daily activities there.
- Two jellyfish can be seen behind each glass door. One appears to be dancing and cheering on battling Inklings, while the other stands with a tentacle on their "hip."
- A group of jellyfish play at the nearby playground.
- There are two balconies on either side of each team's spawn point, with a single jellyfish on each one. One of them is usually dancing.
- During a Splatfest, with the lights in the apartments on, silhouettes of jellyfish can be seen in some of the windows.
Hammerhead Bridge
- Several Jellyfish can be seen dancing or sitting down on the top railings of the bridge. One is saving another jellyfish from falling into the water by using their tentacle.
Museum d'Alfonsino
- Several jellyfish can be seen painting inside a studio outside the stage's boundaries. These jellyfish were shown in the 12 November 2015 Nintendo Direct.
- Some jellyfish in red berets and smocks usually stroll around inside an inaccessible portion of the museum.
- There are countless paintings and sculptures of jellyfish scattered throughout the stage.
New Albacore Hotel
- Jellyfish can be seen in and near the pool near the battlegrounds.
Mahi-Mahi Resort
- A few jellyfish sit in inner tubes and lie on inflatable rafts on the water.
- Some jellyfish (along with horseshoe crabs) lie on chairs and towels by the poolside; others simply walk around.
- Some jellyfish can be seen playing volleyball.
- A jellyfish wedding can be seen in the distance.
Piranha Pit
- A jellyfish stands in a raft floating on the surrounding water.
- A worker jellyfish waves at the Pit from a small platform with a tent and a couple of weapons.
- Three jellyfish are tightrope walking on top of the stage. One appears to be falling off.
Ancho-V Games
- Within the stage boundaries, jellyfish are seen working at computers in small rooms behind glass doors. There are a total of six, with two in the central area and two near each spawn point.
- Many jellyfish sit at the tables of the cafeteria below, with a few wandering around. However, unlike the ones within the stage itself, they are flat, static images instead of animated 3D models.
- There is also a room filled with jellyfish, possibly a meeting.
Manta Maria
- Up high, on the ship's masts, jellyfish can be seen balancing themselves and walking around.
- Two jellyfish can be seen skipping around on overlooks on the stage.
- A number of jellyfish can be seen on the shore, left of the stage from Team Bravo's spawn. Four can be seen sitting in benches in pairs, three can be seen inside a building, two can be seen on the walkway leading up to the ship, and five more can be seen spaced out throughout the rest of the shore.
MakoMart
- Off to the right side of Team Bravo's spawn, what appears to be a deli can be seen, with two jellyfish behind the counter, another jellyfish operating the cash register, and three jellyfish standing in line. One of the jellyfish in line is unusually fat. A similar deli exists near Team Alpha's spawn, with two more jellyfish behind counters. However, there is no jellyfish operating the cash register, and no line.
- Two jellyfish can be seen operating check-out lines.
- One small jellyfish can be seen stuck inside a crate containing large, rubber balls.
- One jellyfish employee is running a help desk at the back-right corner.
- Four more jellyfish employees can be seen around the store. One is advertising fruit, one is pushing around a shopping cart, one is talking to another jellyfish customer near the doors, and one can be seen at the back, stocking shelves.
- Two jellyfish can be seen having a conversation, with a small jellyfish in between them.
- In the store's aisles, to the left of Team Bravo's spawn, two jellyfish are seen pushing shopping carts.
- One jellyfish seems to be comparing two boxes of cereal, with a smaller jellyfish, presumably their child, jumping excitedly.
- Two jellyfish can be seen having a conversation near the soda aisle, with another small jellyfish jumping nearby.
- A fat jellyfish can be seen standing in the middle of the aisles, occasionally wiping sweat off their forehead.
- Near the Team Alpha deli, an employee can be seen talking to a much smaller jellyfish.
Wahoo World
- A number of jellyfish can be seen riding the roller coaster together.
- The shops around the stage are occupied by jellyfish. Two jellyfish occupy the shops closest to the spawn areas, the one to the left of the center, relative to Team Bravo, contains two more, while the one right of center contains three.
- The ride in the center of the stage is being ridden by three jellyfish. One of the rockets remains unoccupied.
- A carousel off to the stage's side is being ridden by three jellyfish.
- Various booths behind Team Alpha's spawn have one jellyfish apiece.
- The death drop ride is occupied by three visible jellyfish.
- A number of jellyfish can be seen riding the Ferris wheel.
- A single jellyfish can be seen walking around the docks at the side of the stage, taking in the views.
- A jellyfish can be seen on a unicycle juggling bowling pins, surrounded by a number of other jellyfish watching.
Trivia
- Jellyfish are featured in all of the arcade machine's games.
- By assuming squid/octopus form, the player can clip through the jellyfish in Inkopolis Plaza.
- Jellyfish may have large sums of money, given that they are often seen in cars, can afford to live at the expensive Flounder Heights, and Camp Jellyfish appears significantly larger and more elaborate than Camp Triggerfish.
- Jellyfish make quiet, gelatinous sounds when they move. This can be most easily heard via Recon and with Jelonzo in Jelly Fresh. Jelonzo's "BLUUH" quote may be an onomatopoeia referencing these sounds.
- According to a developers' interview, jellyfish are known to create a large amount of graffiti.[4] As such, they may be responsible for some of the graffiti in Inkopolis.
- Despite their inability to compete in Turf Wars, jellyfish select teams in Splatfests like Inklings and Octolings do, demonstrated by them wearing Splatfest Tees and, in Splatoon 2, changing color to match their chosen team. Jelfonzo was also shown in official artwork to have chosen Team Order in the Chaos vs. Order Splatfest.
- Unlike Inklings and Octarians, jellyfish do not dissolve in water, being seen unharmed in it at Mahi-Mahi Resort and New Albacore Hotel.
- According to an official post on the Nintendo Switch's News application, jellyfish might be the sponsors of the Turf War industry.[2]
- Jellyfish do not appear in Ranked Battles in Splatoon, but do in Splatoon 2. According to the developers, the reason for this (in-universe) is that Ranked Battles as a sport rose in popularity between the two games, and jellyfish only then started to take an interest in them.[3]
- According to Marina in one of her comments on Humpback Pump Track, it is typical for jellyfish to never take a day off of work, with Jelfonzo and the staff at The Shoal being examples of this.
- According to The Art of Splatoon 2, the jellyfish in Inkopolis Square that stretch their arms over the ground are sopping up puddles.
- In Splatoon 2, some of the dancing jellyfish seen in Inkopolis Square during Splatfests stand atop Inklings or Octolings.
Gallery
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Names in other languages
Translation notes
References
- ↑
Live from Squid Research Lab — You may notice some jellyfish wandering among the...
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 [Interview] Hisashi Nogami Talks Indepth On Octo Expansion (Splatoon 2): Miketendo64
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 『スプラトゥーン2』イイダの移動手段、ダウニーとスパイキーの関係性、死を超えたグリルの存在……イカ世界の深淵に迫る濃厚インタビュー！(1/4) - Famitsu.com
- ↑ 『スプラトゥーン』機能を表現するデザイン手法。キャラクター、ブキ、ギアのデザインに迫る、開発スタッフインタビュー【デザイン編】(3/4) - Famitsu.com
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