Inkling

Inklings are protagonists from the Splatoon series who make some appearances in crossover games. They are a race of humanoids that can turn into squids, the color of which is based on their hair color. Inklings live in Inkopolis, where they participate in Turf Wars in which they attempt to cover as much area as possible with their ink, along with other sports and activities such as Splatfests and Salmon Run.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Inklings make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as downloadable costumes for the Mii Fighters, which were released on June 14, 2015. The Mii Gunners can wear an Inkling Outfit which changes design based on the gender of the Mii, while any Mii Fighter can wear the Inkling Wig or the Inkling Squid Hat, the former of which also changes by the gender. A trophy of the Inkling Girl can be unlocked in both versions after players download the Inkling Outfit.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate


The Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy appear as fully unlockable playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They use a variety of weapons from the Splatoon games as part of their moveset, including the Splattershot as their main weapon, the Inkbrush for their forward smash, the Blaster for their up smash, the Slosher for their down smash, the Splat Bomb, the Splat Roller, and the Killer Wail for their Final Smash. When an opponent is covered in ink, they take more damage from attacks. Inklings can also run out of ink, and a gauge showing how much ink is left is displayed next to the Inkling's profile. To refill, the player must press while shielding. The ink refills at the normal rate even while the Inkling is not standing on their ink, unlike in the original Splatoon games. The player can also play as a yellow, pink, or purple female Inkling, or a green, cyan, or dark-blue male Inkling, each wearing different accessories. Like in the original games, the ink's color corresponds to that of the Inkling.

Additionally, the Squid Sisters, consisting of Callie and Marie, collectively make an appearance as an Assist Trophy. When they are summoned, they appear in the middle of the stage (teleporting if not there already), and perform a live concert. As they are performing, the camera zooms in on them, and the blast lines get smaller and smaller, making it easier for players to be KO'd. Once the song finishes, the duo disappears, and the camera returns to normal.

In the Adventure mode, both the Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy are present when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. They both attempt to hide in ink when Galeem's beams of light are launched, but this is proven futile, as they are both hit by one of the beams and imprisoned in the World of Light, where a Galeem-serving Puppet Fighter (copy) of the Inkling Girl is created. Both Inklings are eventually freed from their imprisonment and join Kirby's team against Galeem and later Dharkon.

Super Mario Maker
Inklings appear as one of Mario's costumes in Super Mario Maker. There are three types of Inkling costumes: Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl, and Inkling Squid, the latter of which can assume humanoid form by holding up on a control stick. Along with being unlocked by scanning their respective amiibo, these costumes can be unlocked randomly by completing the 100 Mario Challenge.

The Squid Sisters also from Splatoon, consisting of Callie and Marie, make an appearance in this game as costumes for Mario.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Inklings appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Players can select both the male and female versions of Inklings, as well as a variety of different colors. Like the multicolored Yoshis and Shy Guys, the color variations of Inklings cannot be used by the CPU drivers. Inklings are the 200cc staff ghost for Excitebike Arena and Dragon Driftway. The Inkling Girl is the staff ghost for Excitebike Arena and the Purple Inkling Boy is the staff ghost for Dragon Driftway. They are equipped with their Splattershots and can turn into their squid form when performing a Trick. They come with their own themed battle course called Urchin Underpass, and have signature ATV bodies, the Inkstriker and the Splat Buggy; both vehicles are unique in that they spray colored ink from the exhaust pipes when getting a speed boost, instead of normal flames. This also marks the debut of the Inklings in the Mario Kart series. Their kart symbol is an Inkling Squid in the color of the character. Both are medium weight characters; the girl is in the same subset as Cat Peach and the female Villager, while the boy is in the same subset as Tanooki Mario and the male Villager. The Inkling can become Squids when doing certain tricks and using the Feather power up. Despite Splatoon showing Inklings get defeated as soon as they land in water, Inklings are capable of remaining underwater in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

One of Inkling Girl's animations was originally considered by some to resemble an ; it was later modified in Ver. 1.1.0.