Black Seahorses

The Black Seahorses are a pair of shoes in the Splatoon series.

In Splatoon, they are a 2-star item produced by Zink and come with the primary ability Swim Speed Up. They can be purchased from Shrimp Kicks for 2,000.

In Splatoon 2, they are a 2-star item produced by Zink and come with the primary ability Swim Speed Up. They can be purchased from Shella Fresh for 2,000 or from SplatNet 2 Gear Shop for 4,000.

In Splatoon 3, they are a 1-star item produced by Zink and come with the primary ability Swim Speed Up. They can be purchased from Crush Station for 2,000 or from SplatNet 3 Shop for 4,000.

Appearance

The Black Seahorses are a pair of black sneakers, with white soles and the arrow from the Zink logo, also in white, on both sides. On the tongue is the full Zink logo in black and white. There is also a small section of white just above each heel.

Splatoon

The Black Seahorses debuted in Splatoon at release.

Abilities

The Black Seahorses come with Swim Speed Up as the primary ability. As a 2-star item, the Black Seahorses come with two additional slots for secondary abilities, which may be increased to a maximum of three slots with a Super Sea Snail or 30,000 cash for each slot. Since they are made by the Zink gear brand, they have a higher chance of rolling Quick Super Jump and a lower chance of rolling Quick Respawn to fill their secondary ability slots.

Splatoon 2

The Black Seahorses return in Splatoon 2 in version 2.0.0.

Abilities

The Black Seahorses come with Swim Speed Up as the primary ability when purchased from a shop or ordered from Murch. When purchased from SplatNet 2, they come with any other primary ability normally available to Shoes. As a 2-star item, the Black Seahorses come with two additional slots for secondary abilities, which may be increased to a maximum of three slots with a Super Sea Snail for each slot. Since they are made by the Zink gear brand, they have a higher chance of rolling Quick Super Jump and a lower chance of rolling Quick Respawn to fill their secondary ability slots.

Splatoon 3

The Black Seahorses return in Splatoon 3's Fresh Season 2023 in version 3.0.0. They can be seen in the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass trailer. They can also be seen in the background of Shrimp Kicks.

Abilities

The Black Seahorses come with Swim Speed Up as the primary ability when purchased from a shop or ordered from Murch. When purchased from SplatNet 3, they come with any other primary ability normally available to Shoes. As a 1-star item, the Black Seahorses come with two additional slots for secondary abilities. The star level may be increased with Super Sea Snails for 1 (first), 1 (second), 5 (third), 10 (fourth), or 20 (fifth) Super Sea Snails per star, or by purchasing additional copies of them from Crush Station for 10,000 (first), 30,000 (second), 50,000 (third), 100,000 (fourth), or 200,000 (fifth) Cash per star. Increasing the star level to 2 stars will add another secondary ability slot for a total of three slots. Increasing the star level beyond 2 stars will increase the gear experience gained by a cumulative 3.333…% up to 10% additional experience at 5-star level. Since they are made by the Zink gear brand, they have a higher chance of rolling Quick Super Jump and a lower chance of rolling Quick Respawn to fill their secondary ability slot.

Gallery

An Inkling girl wearing the Black Seahorses, holding a .52 Gal.
Another Inkling, on the far left, wearing the Black Seahorses.
An Inkling boy wearing Black Seahorses.
Another Inkling boy wearing the Black Seahorses, firing a Splash-o-matic.
Another with a Bamboozler 14 Mk I.
An Inkling boy wearing the Black Seahorses, from the back.
An Inkling boy, on the far left, wearing the Black Seahorses in a promotional image for SquidForce.
Front view
Back view
Worn by an Inkling on the L-3 Nozzlenose D Tableturf Battle card.

Trivia

The Black Seahorses' Japanese name, Seahorse Black Leather, suggests that they are made of leather. However, the other Seahorses do not have "leather" in their Japanese name, only their color.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	シーホースブラックレザー shīhōsu burakku rezā	Seahorse Black Leather
Dutch	Zwarte sneakers	Black sneakers
French	Hippo noires	Seahorses black^[a]
German	Schwarze Low-Top-Sneaker	Black Low-Top Sneakers
Italian	Runner bianconere	Blackwhite Runners
Russian	Черные кроссы Chernye krossy	Black sneakers^[b]
Spanish (NOA)	Hipocampo negros	Hippocampus black
Spanish (NOE)	Hipocampo negra	Hippocampus black
Chinese (Simplified)	海马鞋黑色皮革 hǎimǎ xié hēisè pígé (Mandarin)	Seahorse Shoes Black Leather
Chinese (Traditional)	海馬鞋黑色皮革 hǎimǎ xié hēisè pígé (Mandarin)	Seahorse Shoes Black Leather
Korean	블랙 레더 시 호스 beulraek redeo si hoseu	Black Leather Seahorse