Flipper-Flopper
- This article is about the Boss Salmonid introduced in Splatoon 3. For the gear item, see Flipper Floppers.
Flipper-Floppers are Boss Salmonids that appear in Salmon Run Next Wave in Splatoon 3.
Description
The Flipper-Flopper is an armored Boss Salmonid that resembles a dolphin. It attacks by throwing a ring of ink into the air, targeting a nearby player. Once the ring lands on the ground, it completely inks the ground it covers and the Flipper-Flopper will hover directly above it; after a short delay, it will dive into the circled area, instantly splatting any player that cannot escape in time.
Players can attack a Flipper-Flopper at any time while it is not submerged, though it has a large amount of health (comparable to that of a Big Shot). However, if they paint over a Flipper-Flopper's ring before it can perform its usual dive attack, it will crash into the ground. (Similarly to Splat Zones, players' ink will immediately fill the ring's area after covering enough of it.) This leaves it flopping helplessly on the ground for a while as well as breaking its armor, which greatly reduces its health. Flipper-Floppers can dive back into their ink if not defeated while vulnerable, but they never regenerate their armor and will retain any damage dealt to them, making them easily splatted by follow-up attacks.
If a Flipper-Flopper's crash to the ground would deal enough damage to reduce its HP to 0, they will still stay alive until a player damages it directly or indirectly (by Steelhead explosion or Slammin' Lid slam) in order to credit a player with the splat.
Quotes
| “ | Another new creature, known as a "Flipper-Flopper," has been observed creating a ring of ink before diving magnificently into said ring. While beautiful, this is a dangerous attack! Inklings will need to cooperate to prevent Flipper-Floppers from flipping and/or flopping. | ” |
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter[1]
| ||
The following text is quoted from the Salmonid Field Guide.[2]
Basic Information
- It swims deep below the ink, then launches high into the air before diving back down.
- It'll place a ring of ink as it jumps, showing where it will dive.
Attack Behavior
- It will ink the ground within the thrown ring, then attack anyone inside the ring as it dives in.
Elimination
- It's exposed while it's in the air getting ready to attack. That's your chance!
- If you ink the ground within its ring, it won't be able to dive back under, letting you make quick work of it.
Supporting Information
- It seems to idolize an animal said to have flourished in ancient times, which may explain why it wears a mask to make itself look more like this creature.
- It clearly attaches more importance to the beauty of its dives than its combat effectiveness.
Statistics
- See also: Salmon Run Next Wave data
Tips
- The Flipper-Flopper can be damaged and splatted before it dives into its ink ring. However, this can only be done in one cycle with a high DPS weapon such as the Hydra Splatling, the Crab Tank's turret mode, five shots from a fully charged Snipewriter 5H, or two fully-charged E-liter 4K shots.
- When a Flipper-Flopper has been damaged, ink begins to cover the Flipper-Flopper's body. If it has already lost its armor or it appears heavily inked, then it may be easier to shoot it out of the sky as opposed to inking its ring.
- Splatting certain Boss Salmonids within the Flipper-Flopper's ink ring can instantly paint it over. Maws are the best for this task due to their ease of splatting and the range of their explosion, while Scrappers and Steel Eels work just as well, but require more work with attacking their drivers. This method can be useful for weapons who struggle with painting the ground.
Badges
- Main article: Badge#Salmon Run Next Wave
Splatting Flipper-Floppers a specific number of times in Salmon Run: Next Wave will reward the player with special badges that they can use on their Splashtag.
| Flipper-Flopper badges | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Flipper-Flopper Splats x 100 | |
 |
Flipper-Flopper Splats x 1,000 | |
 |
Flipper-Flopper Splats x 10,000 | |
Gallery
-
-
The Salmonid Field Guide entry for the Flipper-Flopper.
-
The Salmonid Field Guide entry for the Flipper-Flopper.
-
The illustration in the field guide..
-
Artwork
-
The Flipper-Flopper's design.
-
The Flipper-Flopper, as shown in the first trailer for Salmon Run Next Wave.
-
The Flipper-Flopper in game.
-
The Flipper-Flopper attacking.
-
The Flipper-Flopper without its mask, making it vulnerable to attacks.
-
The icon of the Flipper-Flopper.
-
The Tableturf Battle card icon of the Flipper-Flopper.
-
The Flipper-Flopper locker decoration.
Trivia
- The "ancient animal" the Flipper-Flopper is mentioned as idolizing in the Salmonid Field Guide seems to be the dolphin. Its mask resembles a dolphin's nose, and its main mode of attack creates a ring of ink resembling the air bubble rings that real-life dolphins create seemingly for their own amusement. The Flipper-Flopper then jumps through the ring like dolphins are sometimes trained to do with hula hoops in performances at marine animal shows.
- It is also worth noting that the Flipper-Flopper wears its mask in a way that makes it resemble a dolphin even further. Being in giving its tail fin the illusion of being horizontal, and making its right flipper and mohawk replicate the dorsal fin and left flipper respectively.
- Interestingly, dolphins are classified as mammals rather than fish, so this suggests that they may have died out alongside many of the other mammals on earth.
- A Flipper-Flopper cannot target players on grates. If all alive players are on a grate, the Flipper-Flopper will stay submerged in ink, attacking only upon a player entering solid ground.
Etymology
The name comes from "flip-flop", which can mean that one alternates back and forth between two polar opposite opinions, ideas or similar. The "Flipper" part of its name comes from both a part of dolphin anatomy, and could also come from the titular bottlenose dolphin of the film and TV series Flipper.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
ダイバー Daibā |
Diver |
 Dutch |
Dompelaar | From dompelen ("to immerse in a liquid") and the suffix -aar |
 French |
Ploufion | From plouf (onomatopoeia of "splash") |
 German |
Sturmreifer | Stormhooper [a] |
 Italian |
Tuffone | From Tuffo ("to dive") |
 Russian |
Хулахлюп Hulahlyup |
Hula Squish [b] |
 Spanish |
Chapotero | From chapotear ("to paddle") |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
潜水鱼 qiánshuǐ yú (Mandarin) |
Diving fish |
 Chinese (Traditional) |
潛水魚 qiánshuǐ yú (Mandarin) |
Diving fish |
 Korean |
다이버 daibeo |
Diver |
 Internal |
SakeDolphin [3] |
