Big Man

Big Man​

Big Man

Species	Manta ray
Height
Hair color
Eye color	Black
Age	Unknown
Gender	Male
Pronouns
Relations
Location	Splatsville, Alterna
Shop
Members

“	Ay! (Make money! Get fish quick!) Ay! (Big Man in the house!)	”
— Big Man introducing himself in Return of the Mammalians

Big Man, alias Ian BGM, is a character in Splatoon 3 and one of the three members of the band Deep Cut, alongside Shiver and Frye, with whom he co-hosts both Anarchy Splatcast, the news show of Splatsville, and Splatfests. He is also the fourth reachable boss of Return of the Mammalians. His signature color is gray.

His voice actor is currently unknown.

Appearance

Big Man is a large dark-gray manta ray, with white dotted markings along his belly and on both sides of his pectoral fins, as well as a perpetual sheen. He stands on his pelvic fins as if they were feet, and his eyes are closer to his mouth along the bottom of his body, giving him an anthropomorphic appearance.

Where a regular manta ray's eyes and cephalic fins would be, Big Man wears a white headpiece. It appears to be carved out of bleached driftwood, with red swirls and a stylized "M" painted on it. The hat is tied to his head with a red rope between his eyes and mouth; this particular fashion of hat-securing bears a strong resemblance to classical Japanese bandit characters, such as Kabuki character Nezumi Kozō, a famous thief that wears a hokkamuri headscarf tied under his nose. The headpiece also resembles a hammerhead shark's head.

In Alterna, he wears a beige mask, which partially resembles an oni mask but with fish inspiration instead of a humanoid one. Unlike his fellow idols, it only covers his eyes and rests atop the string of his hat.

During Splatfests, Big Man's sheen is tinted his team's color, giving him a slight glow. In certain circumstances, he also wears a manta ray mask, which takes inspiration from Japanese hannya masks.

Personality and traits

Big Man is the most laid-back member of Deep Cut. While Shiver and Frye can get excited when it comes to things they care about, Big Man avoids getting worked up, often mediating the other two and bringing them back down to earth. In this way, he often acts as the voice of reason for Deep Cut, reminding Frye that it is a good idea to paint turf during Turf Wars instead of just splatting enemies, and pointing out that it is ridiculous that Shiver is still so hung up on a past Turf War loss. He is the most easily influenced out of the trio and does not like to resort to violence, although he is not above making his own threats. Big Man also loves fun and having a good time. He often speaks in puns and is the first to suggest all the good attributes of something.

This laid-back disposition does not mean he is lazy, however. Big Man is the primary lyricist and producer of Deep Cut and is a noted hard worker, having put Anarchy Rainbow through seven separate iterations over six weeks before finalizing it. He also looks up to and actively tries to learn from older musicians like Front Roe, C-Side, and a DJ from Inkopolis.

Alias

The song Liquid Sunshine credits "Squid Sisters feat. Ian BGM" as the creator. The Twitter announcement of the song describes Ian BGM as "an enigmatic Splatlandian singer", and the song's official music video shows their lyrics in gray (with Callie's and Marie's in magenta and green, respectively). Ian BGM's voice in the song matches Big Man's voice and they also say "Ay!" at one point. The name "Ian BGM" is an anagram of "Big Man", which is the case in all other languages as well. This implies that Ian BGM is actually Big Man using an alias.

History

Early life

Big Man was born into the Manta Clan, well-known for representing the Splatlands. He met Shiver and Frye through their familial ties, but remained acquaintances with them. By middle school, he had taken an interest in music, becoming skilled at the piano. This skill brought Shiver and Frye knocking on his classroom door when they decided they wanted accompaniment for their singing. This led to the formation of Deep Cut as it is known today.

After this, an older classmate asked the trio to make a cheering song for a school competition. Big Man and Frye agreed, but Shiver demanded 30,000G payment, which led to the creation of Hide and Sleek, Deep Cut's very first song. A local bowling alley commissioned a song for a commercial, to which Shiver hiked their price up to 300,000G, and what resulted was their second song, Smeared Canvas, with Big Man's lyrics being inspired by losing in the last round of bowling. The success of the commercial, and the song along with it, made Deep Cut relatively well known in the Splatlands.

Several years later, Deep Cut was made the hosts of the Anarchy Splatcast.

Big Man is also the head of the Manda Ryuu, one of the oldest dance schools in the Splatlands, and is currently the head of the Manta Clan.

Splatoon 3

By the time of Splatoon 3, Deep Cut had become relatively well known within the Splatlands for both their music and the Anarchy Splatcast. As part of Deep Cut, Big Man announces Big Runs, reports stage rotations, and hosts Splatfest events, performing his solo song, Anarchy Poisons (Boar Mix), and Anarchy Rainbow for the entire event. They are also the ones who initially report the news of the Great Zapfish's third disappearance.

Return of the Mammalians

Big Man and the rest of Deep Cut are initially hostile to Agent 3 and the New Squidbeak Splatoon, declaring that all treasure in Alterna is theirs to plunder and that they will not let anyone else have it. Later, when the New Squidbeak Splatoon team agrees to give Deep Cut the treasure (after using it to remove Fuzzy Ooze), they explain that their bandit activities were to give back to the people of the Splatlands, and never meant harm to the New Squidbeak Splatoon. They decide to become Marie's employees and the player's allies and help them in defeating Mr. Grizz. Big Man personally gives the player a version of the Hero Headset with a transparent helmet modification, presumably to help Agent 3 survive in outer space.

Boss

Main article: The Obscurest Chiaroscurist

Big Man is the fourth boss of the single-player campaign, Return of the Mammalians, and the third Deep Cut boss. His boss kettle is found at the Happiness Research Lab site.

Songs

See also: Deep Cut

Image	Fictional Band	Song Name	Audio
	Big Man	Anarchy Poisons (Boar Mix)	Anarchy Poisons (Boar Mix)
	Squid Sisters feat. Ian BGM	Liquid Sunshine	Liquid Sunshine

Quotes

For Tableturf Battle quotes, see List of Tableturf Battle rivals in Splatoon 3#Quotes.

For quotes for securing the Ultra Signal, see Ultra Signal#Deep Cut Call.

Gallery

View the gallery.

Trivia

• The boss battle with Big Man is a reference to the boss battle with Phantamanta in Super Mario Sunshine. Besides having a similar appearance of a splitting sihouette of a manta ray, the color of the ink Big Man leaves is also identical to the electric goop Phantamanta leaves (albeit with Deep Cut's symbol). His title, "The Hype Manta Storm", is also a reference to the mission, "The Manta Storm", where Phantamanta is fought.
  • His titles in the Japanese, French, German, and Italian versions also reference the Super Mario Sunshine mission.
  • Super Mario Sunshine wasn't playable in Dutch, but Big Man's Dutch title is translated directly from the English mission name in Super Mario Sunshine. Likewise, the Korean and Chinese titles are translated from the Japanese titles as most dialogues were.
• In the Japanese version, Big Man is the only Deep Cut member to use standard Japanese instead of a regional dialect, using "boku" as a personal pronoun. This is because he speaks a different language than the other members; saying the word "Ay," followed by a translation in brackets.
• Big Man is both a descendant of the Manta Clan as well as its patriarch, as shown in Sunken Scroll 12. A family tree can be seen on the left side of the scroll, indicating Big Man's lineage.
• Despite being called a manta ray, Big Man bears far more resemblance to an eagle ray, as Big Man and eagle rays have their mouths on the underside of their bodies, while manta ray mouths are positioned more between the overside and underside. In addition, eagle rays have prominent pelvic fins at the back of their bodies, which Big Man uses as his feet; manta rays' pelvic fins are minuscule compared to those of eagle rays. Big Man's coloring also resembles that of an eagle ray. He also closely resembles other oceanic rays.
• Big Man contributes to Deep Cut by creating the backing tracks Shiver and Frye sing to, described as being EDM (electronic dance music) based. He also provides vocals in some songs.
• In the second half of Splatfests, when Deep Cut performs on the combined floats, there is a brief moment where Big Man's dance startles Shiver and Frye, making them build up more distance. This suggests that Big Man either sometimes improvises out of enthusiasm or that Shiver and Frye underestimate his size.
• Big Man's musical and dancing style appears to have at least some Brazilian inspiration. Curiously, the European Portuguese translations of his Nintendo Direct reveal is the only localization where Big Man speaks normally (without any translation brackets).
• Big Man is a good pianist despite his lack of hands. He is also seen with a Nintendo Switch in the Gear vs. Grub vs. Fun Splatfest art, which indicates that his fins are able to do the same things as hands.
  • Possibly going against this, whenever new weapons are announced in Anarchy Splatcast, Big Man asks whether or not any of the newly-added weapons are fin operated, suggesting he can't use the weapons used by Inklings and Octolings.
  • The Art of Splatoon 3 reveals that Big Man is, in fact, dexterous, mentioning his skill in weaponry and musical instruments.
• Big Man used to find Shiver and Frye intimidating. When they approached him to ask about forming a band he was scared that they wanted to fight him.
• Big Man is a fan of Front Roe and "this one DJ from Inkopolis". He has learnt a lot from Front Roe in particular.
• Big Man made the demo of Anarchy Rainbow over the course of six weeks, with the process exhausting him to the point where he became "dried up like an uncooked lasagna noodle" by the end, in part because he refused to let Shiver and Frye provide vocals for it, doing them himself instead.

Etymology

"Big Man" may refer to his size and is a pun on the shortening of the word "manta".

"Ian BGM" is an anagram of Big Man, Ian = Big Man and BGM = Big Man. BGM is a commonly used acronym for "background music", which could allude to him mostly being the one who makes the background music.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	曼蛇 太郎喜左衛門宗清 (マンダ タロウキザエモンムネキヨ) マンタロー Manda Tarō Kizaemon Munekiyo Mantarō	Nickname: From マンタ; romanji: manta, or manta ray, and the given male name suffix 太郎; romanji: tarō.
Dutch	Ray	From the English word ray.
French	Raimi	From raie, or ray and "mi", of the real name "Rémi".
German	Mantaro	From Mantarochen, or manta ray.
Italian	Mantaleo	From manta, or manta ray, and "Leo", diminutive of the male given name "Leonardo".
Russian	Биг Ман Big Man	Transliteration of the English name.
Spanish	Rayan	From raya (ray) or Manta raya (manta ray) and pronounced identically to the English given name Ryan.
Chinese (Simplified)	鬼福 Guǐfú	From 鬼蝠鲼 (guǐfúfèn, "giant oceanic manta ray") and 福 (fú, "good fortune")
Chinese (Traditional)	鬼福 Guǐfú	From 鬼蝠魟 (guǐfúhóng, "giant oceanic manta ray") and 福 (fú, "good fortune")
Korean	만타로 Mantaro	Transliteration of Japanese name.
Portuguese	Big Man	Same as the English name.
Internal	IdolC	Being the third of the 3 idols and representing Team Charlie during Splatfest.

Ian BGM

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	RANOMAT	Anagram of "Mantaro"
Dutch	YAR	Anagram of "Ray"
French	Mirai	Anagram of "Raimi"
German	RANOMAT	Anagram of "Mantaro"
Italian	MALENTAO	Anagram of "Mantaleo"
Russian	БАГМИН Bagmin	Anagram of "Биг Ман"
Spanish	NAYAR	Anagram of "Rayan"
Chinese	RANOMAT	From Japanese name
Korean	RANOMAT	From Japanese name

Speech in other languages

Ay! Ay!

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エイエイ Ei ei	エイ "Ei" means "stingray." It is also a common call or cheer.
Dutch	Ay! Ay!	Ay! Ay!
French	Ay! Ay!	Ay! Ay!
German	Ay! Ay!	Ay! Ay!
Italian	Man! Man!	Likely derived from "manta"
Russian	Ик! Ик! Ik! Ik!	Hic! Hic!
Spanish	¡Zasss!	From the onomatopoeia of manta rays jumping in waves.
Chinese	鲼！ Fèn!	Chinese for "stingray"
Chinese (Traditional)	魟！ Hōng/Hóng/Gōng!	From 魟魚 /hóngyú/ "Stingray"
Korean	만타! Manta!	Manta!
Portuguese (NOE)	(Portuguese)	There is no Portuguese localization of the game, but the Splatoon 3 Direct from Nintendo Portugal depicts Big Man speaking regular Portuguese without parentheticals

Introduction in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エイ！（一獲千金　千客万来！） エイ！マンタのマンタロー！ Ei! (Ikkakusenkin senkyakubanrai!) Ei! (Manta no Mantarō!)	Ay! (Get rich quick, roaring business!) Ay! (Big Man the manta's here!)
Dutch	Ay! (We verdienen geld als water!) Ay! (Met Ray vis je nooit achter het net!)	Ay! (We make money like water!) Ay! (With Big Man you'll never miss the mark!)
French	Ay ! (Par ici la monnaie ! Par ici les poissons !) Ay, ay ! (Raimi est dans la place !)	Ay! (This way the money! This way the fish!) Ay, ay! (Big Man is in the place!)
German	Ay! (Reicher als reich, Dickster im Teich!) Ay! (Hier kommt Mantaro, der Mantastische!)	Ay! (Richer than rich, Biggest in the pond!) Ay! (Here comes Big Man, the mantastic!)
Italian	Man-man! (Soldi! E pesce, alla svelta!) Man! (È arrivato Mantaleo!)	Ay! Ay! (Money! And fish, quick!) Ay! (Big Man has arrived!)
Russian	Ик! (Живу на широкую ногу! Точнее, плавник...) Ик! (Биг Ман к вашим услугам!) Ik! (Zhivu na shirokuyu nogu! Tochneye, plavnik...) Ik! (Big Man k vashim uslugam!)	Ay! (I live in grand style! More precisely, a fin...) Ay! (Big Man at your service!)
Spanish (NOA)	¡Zasss! (¡Botín y dinero siempre es lo primero!) ¡Zasss! (¡Rayan aquí presente!)	Ay! (Loot and money are always first!) Ay! (Big Man is here!)
Spanish (NOE)	¡Zasss! (¡Un botín siempre es lo primero! ¡Lo que sea por el dinero!) ¡Zasss! (¡Ante vosotros Rayan!)	Ay! (Loot always comes first! Anything for the money!) Ay! (Before you, Big Man!)
Chinese (Simplified)	鲼！（一获千金！生意兴隆！） 鲼！（我是鬼蝠鲼鬼福是也！） Fèn! (Yīhuò qiānjīn！Shēngyì xīnglóng！) Fèn! (Wǒshì guǐfúfèn guǐ fú shìyě! )	Ay! (Rake in the cash! Business is booming!) Ay! (I am Big Man the manta!)
Chinese (Traditional)	魟！（一本萬利，財源滾滾！） 魟！（鬼蝠魟的鬼福是也！） Gōng! (Yīběnwànlì, cáiyuán gǔngǔn!) Gōng! (Guǐ fú hóng de guǐ fú shì yě!)	Ay! (Buy low sell high, let the profits roll in!) Ay! (I am Big Man the manta!)
Korean	만타! (돈 잔뜩! 손님도 잔뜩!) 만타! (만타가오리 만타로!) Manta! (Don jantteuk! Sonnimdo jantteuk!) Manta! (Mantagaori Mantaro!)	Ay! (Loads of money! Loads of customers too!) Ay! (Big Man the manta's here!)
Portuguese	Vamos ficar mais ricos do que nunca! O Big Man está aí!	Let's get richer than ever! The Big Man is here!

The Hype Manta Storm

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ふしぎせいぶつ Fushigi sei butsu	Mysterious Creature
Dutch	De mantastorm	The Manta Storm
French	La tempête de Méga Raimi	The Big Man Storm
German	Maxi-magischer Manta	Maximum magical manta
Italian	La manta tempestosa	The Stormy Manta Ray
Russian	Атака суперманты Ataka supermanty	Supermanta's attack
Spanish (NOA)	Su figura raya en lo inconcebible	His figure borders on being inconceivable
Spanish (NOE)	Su presencia raya en lo inconcebible	His presence borders on being inconceivable
Chinese	神奇生物 Shénqí shēngwù	Mysterious Creature
Korean	신비한 생물 Shinbihan saengmul	Mysterious Creature