Off the Hook

From Inkipedia, the Splatoon wiki

Off the Hook
SO Off the Hook.png
Off the Hook in Splatoon 3
Species Inkling (Pearl)
Octoling (Marina)
Habitat
Height
Hair color Cream/Pink (Pearl)
Plum Brown/Teal (Marina in Splatoon 2)
Plum Brown/Purple (Marina in Splatoon 3)
Eye color Light gold (Pearl)
Seafoam/Coral (Marina)
Age 21 (Pearl in Splatoon 2)
18 (Marina in (Splatoon 2)[1]
Likely 26 (Pearl in Splatoon 3)
Likely 23 (Marina in Splatoon 3)
Gender Female
Pronouns
Relations
Location Inkopolis Square, Order Sector
Shop
HP
Maximum HP
Members (Non-virtual)
Other forms
Don't get cooked... Stay off the hook!
— Off the Hook's catchphrase

Off the Hook is a pop idol duo based in Inkopolis Square consisting of Pearl and Marina. In Splatoon 2, they replace Splatoon's Squid Sisters as the hosts of Inkopolis News and Splatfest events. They return in Splatoon 3 as featured artists of the band Damp Socks feat. Off the Hook, and later in the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, still performing in Inkopolis Square during Splatfests.

Off the Hook plays a major role in the DLC campaigns Octo Expansion and Side Order.

Music

For solo songs, see Pearl and Marina.
See also: Damp Socks feat. Off the Hook
Image Fictional Band Song Name Audio
S2 Band Off the Hook.png
Off the Hook Inkopolis News
Splatfest – Theme Announcement
Color Pulse
Inkopolis News version:
Opening
FrostyFest version:
Ebb & Flow
Acid Hues
In-game version:
Muck Warfare
Now or Never!
Final Fest version:
Splatfest Victory! – Jingle
Fest Zest
Player Settings version:
Splatfest Defeat – Jingle
Party's Over
Splatfest – Final Results
Nasty Majesty
Shark Bytes
Final Fest version:
Last Battle Opening
Final Fest version:
Fly Octo Fly ~ Ebb & Flow (Octo)
Into the Light
Color Pulse (2024)
We're So Back
Off the Hook feat. Dedf1sh Spectrum Obligato ~ Ebb & Flow (Out of Order)
Off the Hook Short Order
S2 Band Dedf1sh.jpg
Dedf1sh feat. Off the Hook #47 onward

Octo Expansion

When the game starts up the first time after Version 3.1.0, Pearl starts an Inkopolis Fashion Focus about a trend of "squidkids with weird hairstyles", which are actually Octolings. As the broadcast ends, Pearl says that she "peaked" on that fashion focus and will probably never do it again.

Off the Hook makes an appearance throughout the Octo Expansion, helping Agent 8 and Cap'n Cuttlefish by giving advice and commentary on Agent 8's tests. They meet the duo after Agent 8 passes Fake Plastic Station through Cap'n Cuttlefish's walkie-talkie, as they are on Mount Nantai where the signal is the strongest. Pearl and Marina call themselves by their usernames, MC.Princess and DJ_Hyperfresh, respectively. If Agent 8 loses all of their lives in a test at least twice, Marina will offer to use Agent 8's test data and hack the Kamabo Corporation's database to trick the test into thinking Agent 8 passed. If Agent 8 has less than 2000 CQ Points to do so, Pearl will take money from her father's wallet to be transferred into CQ Points, after which Cap'n Cuttlefish can be talked to to pay the points back.

After Agent 8 collects all four thangs, Marina discovers they make a blender, and the Telephone that had them find the thangs intends to blend Agent 8 and Cap'n Cuttlefish. Before it can do so, however, Marina activates Agent 8's CQ-80's distress signal, summoning Agent 3 and breaking the blender and phone in the nick of time. Marina then tells Agent 8 that they can escape through the hole Agent 3 made. As Agent 8 escapes the facility, Off the Hook shows up with a fleet of helicopters to pick them up along with Cap'n Cuttlefish and Agent 3.

As Pearl raps with Cap'n Cuttlefish, the platform Agent 8 was on rises up and is revealed to be a huge statue of a human, with the Telephone, now known as Commander Tartar, intending on destroying all Inklings and Octolings with his blast of primordial ooze. Marina analyzes the statue and discovers that the statue is charging up by sunlight. Therefore, if they can cover it with ink, with the help of her Hyperbombs that Agent 8 has to manually detonate, then the statue will stop charging and Pearl can finish it off with a "Hypersonic Battlecry" to destroy it. After Agent 8 detonates all the Hyperbombs, the statue attempts to fire anyway, prompting Pearl to activate the Princess Cannon. As the statue fires, Pearl lets out a giant Booyah and battles with the statue's blast before pushing it back and destroying the statue with pink ink. As the statue collapses into the sea, Pearl and Marina celebrate and watch the credits with their allies.

Splatoon 3

Art of Off the Hook in Splatoon 3

Due to being on a world tour, Off the Hook does not make a physical appearance in the base game of Splatoon 3. They collaborate with the band Damp Socks, creating Damp Socks feat. Off the Hook. They perform the songs Candy-Coated Rocks and Tentacle to the Metal. At an unspecified point after completing Splatoon 3: Side Order, Off the Hook's world tour ends and they return to Inkopolis Square.

Artwork of Off the Hook appears painted on the livery of a plane in Marlin Airport.

While Pearl and Marina were confirmed to have separate homes in multiple versions of Splatoon 2, Pearl mentions that the plane Off the Hook used for their tour is "in our backyard" in Side Order, implying that Marina moved in with her at some point between the end of the former and the beginning of the latter.

Side Order

Key art for Splatoon 3: Side Order featuring Off the Hook and the Pearl Drone.

Off the Hook are the main non-playable characters of Splatoon 3: Side Order, part of the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass, which released on 22 February 2024.[2]

In the middle of Off the Hook's world tour, Pearl and Agent 8 (currently traveling with the group) suddenly find themselves transported to the Order Sector, a strange location that heavily resembles Inkopolis Square, but drained of color. When the two reunite, Pearl has been transformed into a drone for unknown reasons. The duo hears Marina calling for help from the top of the Order Sector's most notable landmark, the Spire of Order, and rush in to save her. There they meet Acht, who also heard Marina's cries and guides them on their way to the top floor.

On the Spire's top floor, the trio encounters Marina trapped in a large mind-control machine, from which they promptly free her. The machine rises, introduces itself as "Order", and ejects Pearl, Marina, and Eight from the tower.

When they get to safety in the Sector's square, Eight awakens to notice Pearl has become an Inkling again; Marina explains that Pearl's initial drone form was due to the "Dramatic Days of Orderland" module affecting her appearance and abilities and that she has reprogrammed Pearl to let her switch between Inkling and drone forms at will. She goes on to reveal that the Order Sector is located inside the Memverse, a virtual reality world of her creation. The Memverse has been hijacked and subverted by Order, who intends to use a process called "grayscaling" to brainwash everyone in the real world. Marina blames herself for this turn of events, but after Pearl gives her a pep talk, she is filled with a newfound resolve and joins the group. Pearl and Marina then ascend the Spire of Order with Eight and Acht to confront the Overlorder and escape the Memverse into the real world.

Live performances

Main article: Live performances
  • On 10 February 2018, Off the Hook had their real-life debut in a concert called "Haicalive", held at Tokaigi 2018.[3] They performed all of their songs except for "Fest Zest". New lyrics were also featured in most of their songs. They also collaborated with the Squid Sisters for the final song, "Now or Never!".
  • On 31 March 2018, at the Splatoon European Championships at Polymanga in Switzerland, a second Splatoon 2 virtual concert was held, as the first one outside of Japan.[4] It was an English version of the previous concert at Tokaigi 2018.
  • On 28 April 2018, another "Haicalive" concert was held at Chokaigi 2018. Their song Nasty Majesty was performed live for the first time.[5]
  • A fourth concert, titled "Off the Hook Live" (Japanese: テンタライブ Tentaraibu), was held at Tokaigi 2019 on 26 January 2019. It was the first concert featuring only Pearl and Marina.[6] It featured more songs from the Octo Expansion in addition to their original songs.
  • At Nintendo Live 2019 in Kyoto, an updated "Haicalive" concert was held on two consecutive days, with the first being 13 October 2019. Off the Hook's casual outfits were given a new color scheme exclusive to these performances, and songs from their previous concert were added to the setlist.
  • On 10 February 2024, Off the Hook appeared in the online Splatoon 3 Live Concert featuring Deep Cut (after the cancellation of Nintendo Live 2024 TOKYO), making their first appearance at a Splatoon live concert in five years. They now wear their outfits from Splatoon 3 and perform Candy-Coated Rocks and Tentacle to the Metal, as well as collaborating with Deep Cut for the concert's final song, a medley of Anarchy Poisons and Anarchy Rainbow.

Quotes

Click to view the quotes for Off the Hook. View the quotation page.

Splatoon Base

Combine a sassy rapper spitting fire with a super-talented (if a little forgetful) DJ, and what do you get? Off the Hook! With their vocals, Pearl's skills as an MC, and Marina's technical prowess behind the turntables, this duo has captivated both Inklings and Octolings from the jump. The multitalented pair even took over as hosts of Inkopolis News!
— Splatoon Base[7]

Gallery

Image linking to the gallery page
View the gallery

Trivia

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This trivia section is too long. Information should either be consolidated, rewritten, or otherwise integrated into the main article.
  • Off the Hook's Dutch, French, German, and Italian names are similar or identical to the English, French, Spanish, and Italian names of the Pokémon Tentacool.
  • Pearl and Marina continue some design and personality elements that the Squid Sisters have:
    • They all have beauty marks, gloves, and tights with their signature colors;
    • Pearl and Marie have uniquely light-colored tentacles while Marina and Callie have uniquely dark tentacles;
    • Pearl has pink as her signature color like Callie, while Marina has green like Marie;
    • Pearl and Marie wear a dress while Marina and Callie have puffy shorts;
    • Pearl shares golden eyes with four-pointed star-shaped pupils, and Marina shares a pair of eyelashes, with both of the Squid Sisters;
    • In their original Japanese dialogue, Pearl and Callie extend syllables with ー, while Marie and Marina extend syllables with ~.
  • In the liner notes that come with Splatune 2, Pearl's lyrics are rendered in hiragana, while Marina's lyrics are in katakana. In an interview with Famitsu, Toru Minegishi says that this is because Marina sings in a different in-universe language.[8] This is consistent with DJ Octavio's in-game text and some of Marina's text during Inkopolis News, making it seem her text is said partly in the Inkling language and partly in Octarian.
  • In Splatoon 2, when the player looks at them long enough while as an Octoling, Pearl and Marina seem to recognize the player as Agent 8, as they cheerfully laugh and strike a different pose than their usual reaction to the player being an Inkling. This does not happen in Splatoon 3, as the player acts as Agent 3 regardless of their species, but Pearl and Marina still refer to the player as "Eight" in Tableturf Battles saying that the player reminds them of Agent 8.
  • Hisashi Nogami stated that the final Splatfest in Splatoon 2 was not Pearl vs. Marina because unlike the Squid Sisters, who had a form of rivalry between them, Off the Hook is based on Pearl and Marina being together, with their bond being the strongest part of them.[Citation needed]
  • In MakoMart, there is a cereal with Pearl and Marina's logo on it. It is shown topping Crusty Sean's Galactic Shwaffle.[9]
  • As of Splatoon 3: Side Order, Off the Hook is the only idol group in the series that has yet to perform a variation of Calamari Inkantation.
  • While Pearl's outfit in Splatoon 3 features Off the Hook's normal logo, Marina has a unique, heavily stylized version on her headphones and the arches of her shoes. This version of the logo also appears on her piano during the online Deep Cut concert.
  • Off the Hook is the only idol group that did not receive updated models in Splatoon 3. The Squid Sisters were given new, higher-poly models for both their stage and Return of the Mammalians outfits, and Deep Cut debuted in Splatoon 3; Pearl and Marina's Side Order outfits use their Splatoon 2 models as a base, and their stage outfits are taken directly from 2 with minimal changes. This is most evident in their facial animations, which work by swapping out the models' faces (as most characters in Splatoon 2 did) instead of using bones for smoother, more customizable animations.

Etymology

Off the hook is an expression that can be used to express that either something is cool or that someone is out of trouble. Hook can also refer to either the tool used for catching fish or an element of a song that makes it catchy to the listener.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japan Japanese テンタクルズ
Tentakuruzu
Tentacles
Netherlands Dutch Tentacool From tentacle and cool
Canada French (NOA) Tentacool From tentacle and cool
France French (NOE) Tenta-Cool From tentacle and cool
Germany German TentaCool From tentacle and cool
Italy Italian Tenta Cool From tentacle and cool
Russia Russian Дуэт Off the Hook
Duet Off the Hook
Off the Hook duo
SpainMexico Spanish Cefalopop Pun on cefalópodo (cephalopod) and pop
China Chinese (Simplified) 腕儿姐妹
Wàn ér jiěmèi
From 腕儿 (Celebrity, 腕 also means tentacle) and 姐妹 (Sisters)
Hong Kong Chinese (Traditional) 腕兒姐妹
Wàn ér jiěmèi
From 腕兒 (Celebrity, 腕 also means tentacle) and 姐妹 (Sisters)
Hungary Hungarian Off the Hook duó Off the Hook duo
South Korea Korean 텐타클즈
Tentakeuljeu
Tentacles
Translate logo.svg Internal IdolGroup_02 (Splatoon 3)[10] -

Don't get cooked... Stay off the hook!

Language Name Meaning
Japan Japanese ぬりたく~る…テンタクル!!
Nuritakūru... Tentakuru!!
Ink it up... Tentacle!!
Netherlands Dutch Hou je cool, hou je TENTACOOL! Keep yourself cool, keep yourself TENTACOOL!
Canada French (NOA) Quand le bateau coule...
On reste Tentacool!
When the boat sinks...
We stay Tentacool!
France French (NOE) Bien dans vos baskets,
zéro prise de tête !
Well in your sneakers,
there's no fuzz!
Germany German Ihr seid cool...
Wir sind TentaCool!
You are cool...
We are TentaCool!
Italy Italian Non ci resci con le mani?
Allora tenta coi tentacoli!
You can't do it with your hands?
Then try with the tentacles!
Russia Russian Ни крючка ни сачка!
Ni kryuchka ni sachka!
[We wish you] Neither a hook nor a net!
Mexico Spanish (NOA) ¡Y sigan la onda! And follow the wave![note 1]
Spain Spanish (NOE) Y ya sabéis... ¡no os andéis
con medias tintas!
And you know... don't be
wavering around![note 2]
Portugal Portuguese Esperamos que sejam gulosos, porque não vai ser pera doce.[note 3]

Mantenham-se fresquinhos![note 4]
We hope you have a sweet tooth, because it's not gonna be a cakewalk.

Stay fresh!

Translation notes

  1. Onda has multiple meanings in Latin American slang. Its meaning here may have to do with being trendy.
  2. Medias tintas can be used to imply indecisiveness.
  3. Splatoon 2 Direct
  4. Off the Hook - Live at the Splatoon European Championship

References