Parallel Canon
Can you help us get it done?
Parallel Canon is a boss featuring several enemy humanoids in Splatoon 3: Side Order. They all mimic Agent 8, with similar outfits, weapons, and Pearl Drones.
Strategy
Parallel Canon is battled in a series of waves, with the exact number of foes per wave varying depending on whether it is fought on 10F or 20F.
- The first wave is 1 or 2 enemies.
- The second wave is 2 or 3 enemies.
- The third wave is 4 or 5 enemies.
Parallel Canon always enters the arena by dropping off from a cage in the side opposite to where Agent 8 lands in. Each of Parallel Canon's bodies may be equipped with any type of main weapon, and may enter the battlefield with a Triple Splashdown. They can also summon Jelleton reinforcements.
Their drones lock onto the player at all times, making hiding from them ineffective.
Quotes
The following text is quoted from the Jelleton Field Guide.
 (1) |
They're tough opponents who look...a lot like Eight. It goes past looks too. The more powered-up your Palette is, the more resourceful they get. |
 (3) |
Don't get caught in a pincer maneuver! Use the high ground in the middle to force one-on- one skirmishes. |
 (8) |
They can do Triple Splashdowns out of nowhere?! Where'd these biters learn THAT trick? |
| Conclusion Pick 'em off one at a time! | |
Gallery
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Parallel Canon's icon
-
Boss intro
Trivia
- The Parallel Canon bosses use distorted voice clips from Inklings, both male and female. Their swim forms also identically resemble squids with black ink.
- Despite ostensibly being enemies to Agent 8, the sounds produced by Parallel Canon are notably associated with teammates in standard gameplay: as they enter battle from their cage, they emit the same alert sound heard from allies Super Jumping to the player's position; and when they are splatted, they emit the voice clips allied Inklings use when they issue an "Ouch..." signal.
- In Smollusk’s top secret notes, it is implied that Agent 4 was used as the template for the Parallel Canon. It is unclear whether Agent 4 is or is not one of the Parallel Canon themselves.
- If the player has Splatoon 2 save data on their Nintendo Switch and chose to import that save data, the main Parallel Canon has the same hairstyle as Agent 4 in that file until the player was asked to import that save data. Otherwise the main Parallel Canon has the default hairstyle. It should be noted that if the player changes their Inkling hairstyle in Splatoon 2 the change is not reflected when playing against Parallel Canon.
- Unlike other bosses which are already in the stage, Parallel Canon originally starts in their own spawn area similar to Agent 8's.
Etymology
A canon in a musical composition sense is a technique where an instrument plays a melody then different instruments copy the same melody afterwards. It can also refer to a generally accepted principle or rule, or a group of official sources regarding a work considered part of a franchise's main continuity within its fictional universe. Parallel refers to two lines that are equally distant from one another and never intersect, or two analogous, comparable elements. Parallel is also a term used in science fiction to refer to an alternate version of something, for example a "parallel universe"; as such, the boss' name alludes to the creatures being a "parallel" version of Agent 8 if Splatoon 2 "canon" had been different, as Team Chaos beat Team Order in the Final Fest.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
イカイノカノン Ikainokanon |
Otherworldly Canon |
 Dutch |
Parallelle Canon | Parallel Canon |
 French |
Canon surréel | Surreal Canon |
 German |
Paralleler Kanon | Parallel Canon |
 Italian |
Canone Parallelo | Parallel Canon |
 Russian |
Параллельные мультиканоны Parallel'nye multikanony |
Parallel multicanons |
 Spanish (NOE) |
Canon irreal | Unreal canon |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
异界卡农 Yìjiè kǎnóng |
Otherworld Canon |
|
