Unused content in Splatoon 3

This page documents content included in pre-release versions of Splatoon 3 that was not included in the released game and content that was found in the game's files that was not made available.

Multiplayer

Weapons

Unused stringer projectile tracer.

• The Tri-Stringer would originally be unable to shoot explosive arrows and had the ability to store a charge. These abilities were removed and given to the REEF-LUX 450.
• Stringer weapons have an unused projectile tracer that would appear when the weapon is charging.
• The Crab Tank's design seemed to originally be flatter. There was no Inkling seen piloting it in the announcement trailer footage. In the Return of the Mammalians trailer, some segments of the Crab Tank are colored to the rider's ink color.
• Prior to the release date reveal trailer, the Big Bubbler's base did not have a Squid Beakon attached to it.

Stages

Earlier versions of stages were shown in pre-release material. Overall, the lighting on each of the stages is different compared to the final version.

Scorch Gorge

Scorch Gorge was originally much wider and had much more elevation. The grate platforms leading to the center were center-aligned, but uneven on both sides, meaning that it could have been the second multiplayer stage to not truly be symmetrical, with the first being Saltspray Rig.

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Eeltail Alley

Main article: Eeltail Alley/Development

Eeltail Alley was also much wider, and the red rail used in that version was re-used for the Splat Zones layout of the stage.

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Museum d'Alfonsino

Museum d'Alfonsino mostly resembles the layout used in Splatoon, featuring rotating platforms near each team's spawn point. The taller platforms near the center of the stage originally had two spokes, compared to the three it has in the final version.

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Icons

Unused gear icons

Icons exist for several gear items which are unobtainable for players, meaning these icons can never be seen in-game.

Player armor

Icons exist for all gear used by the player in Return of the Mammalians, but most of it cannot be obtained to wear outside the mode. In addition, duplicate icons exist for the Hero gear that can be obtained, likely due to the fact that the gear used in Return of the Mammalians is considered a separate set of items from the obtainable Replica set.

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  Unused 2D icon for the clothing of the un-upgraded Hero gear.

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  Unused 2D icon for the footwear of the un-upgraded Hero gear.

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  Unused 2D icon for the headgear worn by the player after collecting one Armor pickup.

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  Unused 2D icon for the clothing worn by the player after collecting one Armor pickup.

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  Unused 2D icon for the shoes worn by the player after collecting one Armor pickup.

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  Unused 2D icon for the headgear worn by the player after collecting two Armor pickups.

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  Unused 2D icon for the clothing worn by the player after collecting two Armor pickups.

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  Unused 2D icon for the shoes worn by the player after collecting two Armor pickups.

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  Unused 2D icon for the headgear worn by the player during Return of the Mammalians' final missions.

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  Unused 2D icon for the clothing worn by the player during Return of the Mammalians' final missions.

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  Unused 2D icon for the shoes worn by the player during Return of the Mammalians' final missions.

Captain's gear

These icons are for the Captain's gear. The gear is used in the game by the Captain, but is not obtainable for players.

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  Unused 2D icon for the Captain's headgear.

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  Unused 2D icon for the Captain's clothing.

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  Unused 2D icon for the Captain's shoes.

Enemy Octoling gear

These icons are for the gear worn by enemy Octolings in Return of the Mammalians.

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  Unused 2D icon for the headgear worn by enemy Octolings.

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  Unused 2D icon for the headgear worn by Elite Octolings.

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  Unused 2D icon for the clothing worn by enemy Octolings.

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  Unused 2D icon for the shoes worn by enemy Octolings.

Unused Songs

In the files, there are songs with the prefix "BGM_Plaza_Shop_" with suffixes being Electronic, Toys and Board Games.

Unused Tableturf Icons

Certain cards and card sleeve designs for Tableturf Battles were changed over time.

Early (1.0.0)	Final (1.1.0)	Notes
		Callie's Tableturf Battle card sleeve was entirely replaced. The early version repurposes a Splatoon icon of her, whereas the final version repurposes one of her albums' art.
		The Octoling wears the Splatoon 2-exclusive Eminence Cuff in the early version of the Mini Splatling's Tableturf Battle card, which notably isn't available in Splatoon 3.
		The early version of the Octotrooper Tableturf Battle card is an illustration rather than a 3D cutout. It also more closely resembles the Octotrooper's appearance in the first two games rather than the design used in Return of the Mammalians.

Early Tableturf Battle icons

During the waves for the fourth set of Nintendo Switch Online icon parts, some Tableturf Card icons used different art from the final versions. The incorrect icons were eventually updated to the correct versions.

NSO icon part (Early)	Tableturf Battle card (Final)	Notes
		The Inkling's socks portion of their School Shoes + Hi Socks is miscolored in the early version of the .52 Gal card.
		The Inkling's Party Hard Hat lacks streamers on its squid-shaped banners in the early version of the Sloshing Machine card.
		The lenses of the Octoling's Ink-Tinted Goggles have different shading in the early version of the Range Blaster card.
		The Octoling's pupils resemble Marina or Shiver's in the early version of the Luna Blaster card.
		The Octoling's Suede Nation Lace-Ups have slightly different colors in the early version of the Splattershot Pro card.
		The Inkling's Button-Clown Shirt is miscolored in the early version of the E-liter 4K Scope card.
		The Classic Squiffer held by the Octoling is miscolored in the early version of its card.
		The Slosher features its Splatoon 2 color scheme in the early version of its card.
		The Explosher features its Splatoon 2 color scheme in the early version of its card.
		The Tenta Brella's colors are duller, and its Sorella logo placement is lower in the early version of its card.
		Part of the Nautilus 47 is erroneously missing the Octoling's ink color in the early version of its card.
		The Splat Brella features its Splatoon 2 color scheme in the early version of its card.
		The Inkling's eye color is different in the early version of the Splatana Wiper card.

Early special weapon badge icons

Early designs for special weapon badges were left in the game files. All of them feature Test in red at the top and use lime green instead of cyan as the accent color, as well as featuring shading that isn't present in the final version.

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  Early Big Bubbler icon. The Squid Beakon is missing and the top has a different design.

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  Early Booyah Bomb icon.

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  Early Crab Tank icon.

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  Early Ink Storm icon.

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  Early Ink Vac icon.

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  Early Inkjet icon.

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  Early Killer Wail 5.1 icon.

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  Early Reefslider icon. It's very reminiscent of the Splashdown, suggesting a completely different concept for the special.

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  Early Tacticooler icon. Different from the final version, bottles are stored inside of the cooler.

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  Early Tenta Missiles icon.

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  Early Triple Inkstrike icon. It uses an edited version of Splatoon 2's Suction Bomb Launcher icon.

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  Early Trizooka icon.

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  Early Ultra Stamp icon.

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  Early Wave Breaker icon. It suggests a completely different design for the special.

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  Early Zipcaster icon.

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  Early Rainmaker icon. It is the same icon used in Splatoon 2.

Unused emote icons

An icon for the unobtainable emote "Win Tricol", the nodding animation performed by the assisting attacking team in Tricolor battles, exists in the files.

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  Win Tricol's emote icon

Return of the Mammalians

Zapfish

Trailer footage showing the Zapfish in Alterna.

A Zapfish can be seen in an area in Alterna with upside-down buildings. However, Zapfish only appear in The Crater levels in the final game, and make no appearances in Alterna.

Yellow ink

Trailer footage of Agent 3 taking in the Alterna buildings, with an ink color not found in any levels with this background.

The Return of the Mammalians trailer shows Agent 3 taking in the sight of Alterna's buildings. There are no levels in the game that have both the buildings background and the yellow ink color.

Alterna

Trailer footage featuring an early Future Utopia Island.

Alterna's overworld seemingly went through a few changes between the trailer and the final game. The only locations shown are Future Utopia Island and the Alterna Space Center.

• The sky dome was different, being cloudier and darker.
  • The lighting was originally more overcast to reflect the different sky dome, with larger shadows.
• The terrain in Future Utopia Island is different, causing several landmarks to be positioned slightly differently.
• The numbers in the orange structure in Future Utopia Island do not overlap the white indentation in the trailer, but do in the final game.
• Red tape can be seen on a piece of corrugated sheet metal when the New Squidbeak Splatoon introduces themselves. In the final game, the tape is removed.
• The Spirit Lifter is not covered with Fuzzy Ooze in the trailer.
• The area between Rocket 01 and 02 in the Alterna Space Center sequence has graffiti on it not seen in the final game.
• The rocket's service structure, seen between Rocket 03 and Rocket 04, had less lighting, a differently placed prop, and no pipes above the player.

Salmon Run Next Wave

Sockeye Station

Sockeye Station had several differences in its background in pre-release material.

Promotional screenshot of Sockeye Station featuring an early Aji-Fry Tower.

• The Aji-Fry Tower originally did not have protrusions coming out of it.
• The left side of the fortress did not protrude outward, instead coming inward like its opposite side.
• The triangle neon sign on a pole to the right of the basket had another neon sign under it instead of a poster.
• The background nets were closer to the sandbar.
• There was no gondola.
• The outposts on the sides of the map did not exist in pre-release material.
• One of the pieces of graffiti used to glow.
• There were two cables above the basket instead of one.
• The food sculptures were different.

Enemy differences

Flipper-Flopper

In prerelease footage, the Flipper-Flopper did not rebound on dive when its ring was painted over, instead immediately going to its side. It can be presumed that there was not an animation intact for this scenario at the time.

Grizzco lobby differences

Promotional screenshot featuring Mr. Grizz without the stickers on his cooler.

The cooler that the Mr. Grizz statue rests on did not originally have stickers.

Unused customization options

Inaccessible Octo Expansion legwear

The two unique legwear types worn by the player character in Octo Expansion are also present in Splatoon 3's files, in order to be used by the Octoling Girl and Octoling Boy amiibo. If the game is modified so that these can be chosen by the player, it can be seen that both the skirt and pants have meshes to be used for both feminine and masculine styles. As the legwear is only used on the amiibo characters, the masculine style of the skirt and the feminine style of the pants go unused.

Other

Shiver's gender

When Shiver was first revealed in the Splatoon 3 Direct, neither the presentation nor most promotional material alluded to Shiver's gender, which resulted in speculation among fans about Shiver's gender, as well as the possibility of her being non-binary or ambiguously gendered.

The Japanese version of the Splatoon 3 Direct did not have Shiver use any common first-person pronouns that traditionally connote gender (such as atashi or boku). In the Direct, Shiver used the pronouns uchi (an informal pronoun usually used by younger women, especially in Kansai dialects) and onore (an archaic pronoun used poetically meaning "oneself" or "yourself"). In game, onore was used only on one occasion, in which Shiver talks about a general "oneself", rather than using the pronoun for herself. These pronouns may be portraying Shiver's Kansai dialect through the use of yakuwarigo ("role language").

Most official social media posts referring to Shiver also made no mention of her gender, except for one Nintendo Portugal message that used pela, implying Shiver to be female. In contrast, Shiver's bandmates Frye and Big Man were referred to with terms connoting female and male grammatical gender, respectively, upon their reveal.

Nintendo of America representatives soon clarified Shiver's gender after being asked, confirming her to be female and referred to using the pronouns "she" and "her" in the game.

Animations

At 1:56 in the Salmon Run Next Wave Trailer, the Booyah! animation appears to be in an incomplete state as the Inkling's mouth stays shut when it calls out happily.

• An Inkling performing a seemingly incomplete "Booyah!" animation. (link to file)

External links

• Splatoon 3 - The Cutting Room Floor
• Nintendo Switch - Splatoon 3 - The Spriters Resource