Octolings are Mutant Human Octopi that are Originally Enemies with the Inklings during the Great Turf War. However, they're equivalent of Inklings, and thus are humanoid cephalopods, that became available as playable characters in Splatoon 2 after beating the Octo Expansion DLC. In Splatoon 3 Including the Season Pass' DLC Story Mode: Side Order, Octolings do not need to be unlocked and are playable from the start. Just like Inklings, Octolings can switch between a humanoid form and an octopus form. Their octopus form is different to the ones of enemy Octolings, with two long tentacles in the middle that helps them move, two smaller ones in front resembling a mustache, and four smaller ones on the underside, along with a pair of eyes that are separated and resemble an Inkling squid's eyes. The suction cups are located on the underside of their tentacles, as opposed to their humanoid form having suckers on the top side; their tips, as well as the top of their heads, have a ring pattern on them. Between Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3, Octolings undergo design changes reflecting their squid counterparts, generally becoming taller, and having more rounded and less squat faces. Additionally, in Splatoon 3, Octolings' tentacles have a darker color towards their tips. When splatted, they will fly off in the form of a small ghost, just like Inklings; while its eyes appear white in Splatoon 2, they are yellow in Splatoon 3, resembling the ghosts of enemy Octolings. The general UI also shows the difference between player Octolings and Inklings, such as the weapon and status indicators, the mini-map, splat messages, and splatted enemy markers replacing the squid icon symbolizing the player with an octopus.
The humanoid form has black markings around their eyes, with both styles having two sharp edges and a thicker underline, where the feminine Octoling has an added dash to their markings. Octolings do not have their markings connect over the middle, having it separated compared to Inklings. Their teeth are also different, having one sharp end tooth on their left side on the top, and another sharp tooth on the right side on the bottom. Their ears are round and asymmetrical, with the right side being flat and the left side being indented, each respectively resembling the fin and siphon on an octopus. Similar to enemy Octolings, the ends of their fingers are pointed, but the playable Octolings do not have these ends being tinted in their ink color. Their eyebrows are also different from Inklings, with males having a half oval shape and females having a curved droplet shape in Splatoon 2. In Splatoon 3, they have more options to choose from. These options are generally rounder than the Inklings' options.
Just like Inklings, Octolings are able to choose from a variety of skin tones, hairstyles, and eye colors. The options of eye color and skin tone are identical to those of the Inklings.
In Splatoon 2, both the male and female Octolings possess two different choices in hairstyle. The female Octolings' first hairstyle, called "Tentacurl", has two thin tentacles in front reaching past the shoulders and two thicker, shorter tentacles in the back, all with curled tips. Their second hairstyle, called "Pony", has two tentacles tied back into a ponytail, with the other two as sideburns. The male Octolings' first hairstyle, called "Punk", features a mostly shaved style, with one large, curled tentacle and three smaller tentacles lined up along their head to create a mohawk, possibly referencing the Octotrooper tentacle. Their second hairstyle, called "Afro", is a round mass reminiscent of a simplified octopus' mantle. This hairstyle notably molds while wearing headgear.
Splatoon 3 has four new hairstyles, to go along with the previous ones, with them all being available to both styles. The first one, called "Tentatwists", has the front tentacles being twisted in spirals. The second hairstyle, called "Octolocks", is similar to the Tentacurl hairstyle, but with the tentacles growing from the middle of the head instead of the right side, and the back tentacles being conjoined together by a mantle structure. The third hairstyle, called "Fade", is shaven all around, akin to the Punk hairstyle, but with four tentacles curling together towards the center of the head. The final hairstyle, called "Surfcurl", is also similar to Punk, but replaces the mohawk with a much thicker tentacle that has been curled into a spiral, strongly resembling a pompadour.
Some Octolings, such as Marina and Shiver have special features, such as plum colored tentacles for Marina, and triangle shaped eyebrows for Shiver, as well as infinity-symbol shaped pupils and peculiar eye markings for both of them. Like enemy ones, Octolings can also have a gradient on their fingers, including Marina and Shiver. As seen on Marina in the Dexterity vs. Tenacity Splatfest promo art, the gradient can be present on toes as well. This feature is also present in the playable Octolings for the first time in Side Order. Some Octolings have different colors on both hands, as seen on Mashup from Diss-Pair.
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