Maws
- This article is about the Salmonid boss in the Salmon Run series. For the Octoboss in Splatoon, see Octomaw. For the Splatoon mission by a similar name, see The Ravenous Octomaw!.
Maws are Boss Salmonids that appear in Salmon Run and Salmon Run Next Wave in Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3.
Description
Maws are large, coral-colored Salmonids that swim through the floor and walls in search of a player. They will not switch targets unless they re-submerge and find someone closer or if their old target is splatted. While underground, they are invulnerable, and a fishing bobber is visible in their place, making them easy to track. Once locked onto a location to jump out of, bright rings will appear. When they emerge, they leave an ink circle and splat any players caught in their jaws. If a bomb is thrown into the ring before they emerge, they will eat the bomb and be defeated. Shooting at it while exposed can splat it, but this is usually time-inefficient.
Quotes
The following text is quoted from the Salmonid Field Guide.
- Basic Information
- Lurks under the surface of the ink.
- Can swim in ink to scale walls.
- Attack Behavior
- Appears from directly beneath its prey and swallows it in an instant.
- Elimination
- You can deal damage by shooting ink at it when it surfaces to attack, but defeating it this way will take some time as it is rather robust.
- To bring it down in one fell swoop, trick it into swallowing a bomb by placing one at its point of attack.
- Supporting Information
- In order to sustain its large size it must perpetually roam around searching for prey to consume.
- Uses sonar to detect the location of suitable prey whilst submerged.
Statistics
- See also: Salmon Run data
| HP | Damage | Attack/Defeat/Total  |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1200 | One-hit splat | 15 / 3 / 18 | 3 |
- See also: Salmon Run Next Wave data
Tips
- The only weapon capable of damaging a submerged Maws is the Grizzco Splatana with its charged slash, which will destroy it in one hit.
- You can also splat a submerged Maws with a Slammin' Lid.
- The predictable movement of the Maws means it is easily avoided and can be lured to the egg basket, making it a quick source of Golden Eggs.
- Maws can splat players when they have just taken off with the Inkjet or Booyah Bomb.
- Players using the Splashdown while Maws are directly below them are splatted if they land in its jaws.
- It is possible to escape a Maws' jaws if the player is not too close to the center of the Maws and reacts quickly.
- This is much more difficult in Splatoon 3 as a Maws will now pull the player towards its mouth when it attacks.
- Sometimes this flings the player over the Maws and can be used to get out of a tricky situation.
- It is also possible to dodge roll out of a Maws' jaws using dualies.
- This is much more difficult in Splatoon 3 as a Maws will now pull the player towards its mouth when it attacks.
- A Maws will still be eliminated if it eats a player as well as a bomb at the same time, which can be used in a desperate situation if a player is unable to escape.
- Maws cannot swim on grates and will follow the player using the ground below, or switch targets if the player is not reachable. They can, however, swim on uninkable terrain such as that found on Wahoo World during Big Run, and can surface to attack the player there as well.
- Maws will swim up Fish Sticks to reach their targeted player and will surface to attack if the player is standing at the top.
- If a player with a Dynamo Roller is still rolling when eaten by a Maws, if aimed correctly, the roller will splat it without harming the player.
- This is very difficult to do, and is easier if the Maws is weakened.
Badges
- Main article: Badge#Salmon Run Next Wave
Splatting Maws a specific number of times in Salmon Run: Next Wave will reward the player with special badges that they can use on their Splashtag.
| Maws badges | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Maws Splats x 100 | |
 |
Maws Splats x 1,000 | |
 |
Maws Splats x 10,000 | |
Gallery
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3D artwork.
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A Maws in 2D artwork for Salmon Run, with other Salmonids and Inklings.
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Cropped version of the aforementioned art to only feature the Maws.
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A Maws in artwork created for the cover of The Art of Splatoon 2.
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Concept artwork
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Promotional screenshot of a Maws about to splat an Inkling.
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A Maws just after jumping up.
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A Maws' warning circles and bobber, as seen during a communication lag.
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A Maws' entire body seen during a communication lag.
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The Salmonid Field Guide entry for the Maws in Splatoon 2.
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The Salmonid Field Guide entry for the Maws in Splatoon 3.
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The Salmonid Field Guide entry for the Maws in Splatoon 3.
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The field guide illustration of the Maws.
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The mem cake of a Maws.
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Unofficial render of the Maws' game model from Splatoon 2.
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The icon for the Maws used in SplatNet 2.
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The Maws' icon in Splatoon 3.
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The Maws locker decoration.
Trivia
- When introducing the different Boss Salmonids during the second training mission in Splatoon 2, Mr. Grizz refers to all of them as "it", except Maws, which he calls "she" and the Flyfish, which he calls "him". This makes them the only two Salmonids with a confirmed gender in the North American version.
- In the North American version, Agent 8 refers to Maws as "erupting eel", as shown in its mem cake description.
- Its behavior of leaping up out of ink and swallowing the player, as well as being splatted by swallowing a bomb, is very similar to that of the Octomaw, a boss in the Splatoon single-player campaign.
Etymology
A maw is the name of the open jaws of a deadly animal, such as a shark, a sea creature which Maws mirror in behavior. The name being the plural form of "maw" may be a reference to the film Jaws, which starred a shark as an antagonist.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
モグラ Mogura |
Mole |
 Dutch |
Snaai | From haai ("shark") and snaaien ("to snag, to snack") |
 French |
Gobb | From gober ("to swallow") |
 German |
Grablax | From graben ("to burrow") and Lachs ("salmon") |
 Italian |
Boccalone | Big Mouth [a] |
 Russian |
Жуй-Горбуш Zhuy-Gorbush |
Chewing pink salmon |
 Spanish (NOA) |
Mandíburo | From mandíbula ("jaw") and tiburón ("shark") |
 Spanish (NOE) |
Fáucex | From fauces ("jaws") |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
鼹鼠鱼 yǎn shǔ yú (Mandarin) |
Mole Fish |
 Chinese (Traditional) |
鼴鼠魚 yǎn shǔ yú (Mandarin) |
Mole Fish |
 Korean |
두더지 dudeoji |
Mole |
 Internal |
Sakediver [1] |
Translation notes
- ↑ Boccalone is also a common nickname for the Largemouth bass
