Discussing Inkling/Octoling Biology

[BlackZero]

Sea cucumbers can switch between liquid and solid forms. It could be that Inklings developed a similar ability. They switch between forms by liquefying, arranging themselves into the other form, then solidifying again. This could also explain how they can "swim" in ink. They liquefy when they're in the ink so they blend in, yet still hold their molecular structure together like a sea cucumber can in sea water. Sea cucumbers can control this process neurologically, but there may something in the ink that forces a shift in matter states, hence why Octoweapons sink into the ink: the material they're made of liquefies, yet retains its overall structure. After they get out, the material solidifies.

Octolings could also have a similar ability, hence the diversity in their appearance. Inklings could shapeshift into similar forms, but elect not to due to the rule of cool. In either case, it would only be a matter of liquefying, reshaping, then solidifying. They could change into several other forms this way, but simply choose not to.

Sauce: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ea-cucumbers-radially-different/#.Vjp7HreFNok

Spoiler

"It is this ability which interested Greg Szulgit and Robert Shadwick of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. Echinoderms have a compound in their tissue called collagen, which can change, under neurological control, from “liquid” form to “solid” form and back again. This ability allows sea cucumbers to in effect liquefy their bodies and pour themselves into a crack in a rock, then wedge themselves in by solidifying their tissue, to prevent a predator from pulling them out.

Other responses to stress include ejecting water (see photograph) or more drastically, by ejecting their internal organs (which are later regenerated).

Writing in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Szulgit and Shadwick report that the change from elastic liquid form to stiff solid form is caused by the changes in the linkage of long collagenous fibers which run through the tissue."[\spoiler]

 

[Globin347]

Firstly, I'd like to state that as flareth mentioned, squids do have a hard, internal shell called a pen, preventing them from fitting into small openings like the octopi, which have no such thing.

Anyway, any theories that the Inkling's clothing is made of ink I can prove wrong: when an inkling is splatted, the clothing remains intact (even if it falls in water.) Also, the gun inexplicably appears at spawn alongside the clothing, so the clothing being made of ink does not explain this.

Anyway, my main counterpoint to the morpha theory at this point boils down to why the inklings can only assume three forms.

Morpha itself, as paragon brought up) is unable to solidify it's false body enought to prevent link from grabbing it's true body. Admittedly, this is likely in part due to the incompressible nature of water, but water has been compressed to form cutting devices.

Between this and the fact that morpha is comprised of effectively a blob like body with no clear orfices, I suspect that morpha is in many ways a very primitive creature. This would explain why it has only enough control over the water to form tentacles.

The inklings, however, assume a very complex form, with clearly defined joints, mouths, etcetera. If they have this much control, what is preventing them from taking any form they wish?

The other point is that the scroll shows clearly defined organs (if not all of them.)

Now, on to black zero's points.
This liquification idea provides a biomechanical means to explain the solidifying, liquifying, and shape shifting of the inklings. However, I do not believe that this adequetly explains all the gameplay.

Firstly, the octoweapons are clearly made of metal. I find it difficult to imagine that ink can effectively liquify solid steel, and then put it back together in exactly the same fashion as before. Really, the only way to liquify steel is to melt it, and this would require temperatures that would destroy organic cells (and a great deal of energy that would melt the surroundings as well.)

Also, as you mentioned, sea cucumbers have neurological processes available to separate their cells. Steel has no such thing...

But then again, the alternate hypothesis is that the ink warps the space-time continuum to expand space, allowing the solid steel objects to sink into a pool of ink that is far deeper on the inside than on the outside, which might be even more ludicrous.

Second, liquification alone as the justification for the ink would violate conservation of mass. When inklings go from squid to kid, they get smaller. Of course, my ideas rely on the inklings being able to compress their organs for a short time. The rainmaker, however, is about the same size as the inklings, and would nearly double the mass being liquified when being carried. Yet, the squid is shown to be the same size with the rainmaker as without it. I find it difficult to believe that all this ink and liquified rainmaker (which is heavy enough to prevent super jumping) could be effectively compressed into such a small size. Ink, after all, is mostly water, which is known for it's resistance to being compressed.
Of course, the ink would have to be compressed anyway, since squid form is still smaller than kid form, but limited space warping (silly as the idea is) makes this a little more plausible... sort of.

Thirdly, I do not believe that the inklings would evolve a culture telling them to only assume certain forms. I do not believe that inklings would evolve to be only able to assume certain forms when they could otherwise shapeshift into anything (which is why I believe that inklings have organs and some muscle tissue spread throughout their bodies: this would make their bodily functions more effective and restrict them to only a few forms (assuming they can compress their organs enough to go squid.)

Also, sea cucumbers are simple animals which don't need much in the way of organs. Inklings do enough running, thinking, breathing to require lungs, a complex brain, and an efficient digestive tract, at least. Also, it is likely some of their ink contains hemoglobin, hemocyanin, or a similar oxygen-capturing protien, thus functioning as blood. (Although actual cephelapods have hemocyanin, I suggested hemoglobin because it is more efficient, which might help with the sustained activity demonstrated by the inklings. Real octopi and squid tire easily because of their inferior blood protiens.)

Of course, that the liquification process exists is inevitable: it is the simplest justification for the kid/squid transformation, and the squid's ability to go through grates (with thin bars.) Unlike the sea cucumber, inklings cannot hold their bodies together underwater. However, they can hold their bodies together in enemy ink, althoygh they are weakened. The fact that enemy shots can splat them may be related to the fact that the enemy ink is coming at them pressurised and at high speed. However, I doubt that an inkling could hold itself together were it to br fully submerged in enemy ink.

And now I am considering an older theory I read: that "splatting" is at least partially a reflex, rather than entirely due to outside force. This would help inklings keep their major organs intact as they relocate to more ink to reform, although it would rely heavily on space warpage and compression to fit the organs in there. This would mean that the "soul" would require a great deal of energy to keep up, and might be unhealthy to continue for more than a few seconds anyway.

On the subject of the soul... if it does indeed contain organs, it would have to be dense. So how does it float? I suggest it does so in the same manner that moe floats. If anyone knows what that is, let me know.

Edit: don't take thus too seriously. Once again, the other theory is that the ink can expand the space-time continuum. This may be even more silly than liquifying solid steel without altering it's structure.

 

[ThatSquidYouKnow]

Okay. Look at this:

Spoiler: Large Image

See how that knee is bent really weird and the right arm as well? This shows that they are really flexible and helps support that they have no bones, which has already been confirmed. Now look at this:

Spoiler: Large Image

Notice how the "head" looks thick? The Inkling also lost all of it's clothes. Now, I'm no Inkling expert, but I believe that all the gear is stored in that mantle. I have no basis, but I'm just guessing. But then again, maybe we're all just overthinking a fictional character in a game where cats can talk and there is a weird living sea urchin who lives in alleyways. I mean, after all, it's only just a game. And I personally think that if it remains a mystery, then it'll make the game more fun. For everyone.

 

[Globin347]

Sure, the knee is bent weird, but it is still bent only at the joint. While it is confirmed that inklings have no bones, we on this post have speculated that the ink can solidify enough to form "pseudo bones" while in humanoid form. Of course, it is likely that inklings are more flexible than humans, as their bones are only being made of compressed fluid...
although, the pose in that picture doesn't seem particular impossible. I may not have a firm grasp of anatomy, but i'd bet that at the very least someone with flexibility training could do it.

 

[Flareth]

Now look at this:

Spoiler: Large Image

Notice how the "head" looks thick? The Inkling also lost all of it's clothes. Now, I'm no Inkling expert, but I believe that all the gear is stored in that mantle. I have no basis, but I'm just guessing. But then again, maybe we're all just overthinking a fictional character in a game where cats can talk and there is a weird living sea urchin who lives in alleyways. I mean, after all, it's only just a game. And I personally think that if it remains a mystery, then it'll make the game more fun. For everyone.

Ah, I forgot about the mantle. I imagine that clothing+gun+internal organs would make that cavity quite cramped, and looking at both the squid form & various different real-world squid, it doesn't look like any squid's mantle cavity is big enough for anything more than their organs. Good guess though, I'd have never considered it as an option.

(Well, yeah, we're over-analyzing the innards and workings of squidpeople, but... I mean, it's not like Nintendo would issue a 78-page article on the entire biology of Inklings and send it to every scientific journal in Japan, awesome as it might be.)

*edit*
@Globin347 It's actually not that difficult even for someone as flexible as a brick, like myself. Though I must say it does look kinda weird on first glance.

 

[BlackZero]

Sure, the knee is bent weird, but it is still bent only at the joint. While it is confirmed that inklings have no bones, we on this post have speculated that the ink can solidify enough to form "pseudo bones" while in humanoid form. Of course, it is likely that inklings are more flexible than humans, as their bones are only being made of compressed fluid...

RL squids and octopodes use hydrostatic skeletons that operate just like that. Small land animals use a similar principle. If we assume Judd is the size of an actual house cat, Inklings are rather small, thin-framed critters. I think their mass would be low enough to make a hydrostatic skeleton viable, though I'm no expert.

Ah, I forgot about the mantle. I imagine that clothing+gun+internal organs would make that cavity quite cramped, and looking at both the squid form & various different real-world squid, it doesn't look like any squid's mantle cavity is big enough for anything more than their organs. Good guess though, I'd have never considered it as an option

I wouldn't rule out advanced technology. Bear in mind, this takes place in the very distant future, and Octolings can apparently bend light to cloak the kettles leading to their lairs. They also seem to have levitation technology given that OctoValley doesn't seem to touch the ground. I don't think it's unreasonable to say they developed or copied human designs for technology that converts matter into data like the transporters from Star Trek. Their equipment gets stored in a small device when they're in squid-mode and re-equipped when they become humanoid. I mean, DJ Octavio can theoretically fire an infinite number of missiles from his floating DJ booth. That smacks of Star Trek replicator technology to me.

 

[Globin347]

...BlackZero, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but what exactly is this hydrostatic skeleton? Do you mean that they can compress muscle tissue or some fluid? Real life cephalopods aren't composed of ink.

I would like you to explain this in more detail, if it wouldn't be too much trouble.

Edit: based on the sunken scrolls, I would say that inklings are about the same size as humans, because multiple scrolls depict judd as looking like a normal housecat. So, either the game is extremely stylized, or judd really let himself go.

Of course, the scrolls which depict judd as a normal cat aren't interspersed chronologically with those that depict him in his in-game form.

Sorry for this inconvenience, but I find it difficult to work with links on a phone. Scrolls #4 and #15 depict judd as a normal-shaped housecat, compared to inklings who appear human sized in comparison.

Scrolls 14 and 25, on the other hand, seem to imply that the inklings are indeed very small.

This contradictory evidence will prove troublesome.

http://splatoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Sunken_Scrolls

 

[aceofscarabs]

I figure they have a method of making some of the ink solidify into a gel-like state when they become humanlike.

 

[BlackZero]

I would like you to explain this in more detail, if it wouldn't be too much trouble.

Sure. Muscles can only contract, so they need something to pull on in order to move limbs. For soft bodied animals like octopodes & squids, they have a body cavity filled with coelemic fluid for their muscles to attach to and pull on. They can also adjust the hydraulic pressure of these cavities to expand/shrink body parts.

The problem is, it only provides an anchor point for muscles and doesn't offer much structural support without water to minimize the effects of gravity. There are small land animals with hydrostatic skeletons and helical muscles to simulate a solid skeleton, but the key word there is small. It wouldn't provide much support for a human-sized Inkling. That's why I believe they are so small: their existing skeletal structure would support them if they were little. Even thick liquids (like tar) don't hold their shape very well without rigid support when held in large containers, which would contradict the statement that Inklings don't have bones.

This is also supported by Inklings not suffering fall damage. Smaller animals with less mass have lower terminal velocities and are subject to less impact force. They can withstand falls from greater heights proportional to their body size than humans.
Sauce: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=394297

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Interesting theory.

But if you compare sizes with Judd, you would see that Inklings are indeed as big as human kids at least.
Unless you want to make the suggestion that Judd is as big as a baby kitty.
In which case, Inklings would be dwarf-sized.
Still far from mini-creatures, like insects and the like.

But then again, maybe we're all just overthinking a fictional character in a game where cats can talk and there is a weird living sea urchin who lives in alleyways. I mean, after all, it's only just a game. And I personally think that if it remains a mystery, then it'll make the game more fun. For everyone.

Why can't we have fun discussing biology?
Sure maybe we are overthinking things? But what's wrong with that?
As long as it doesn`t get out of hand and remains civil, I see no problem with that.

 

[Dolphoshi]

Firstly, I'd like to state that as flareth mentioned, squids do have a hard, internal shell called a pen, preventing them from fitting into small openings like the octopi, which have no such thing.

Anyway, any theories that the Inkling's clothing is made of ink I can prove wrong: when an inkling is splatted, the clothing remains intact (even if it falls in water.) Also, the gun inexplicably appears at spawn alongside the clothing, so the clothing being made of ink does not explain this.

The inklings, however, assume a very complex form, with clearly defined joints, mouths, etcetera. If they have this much control, what is preventing them from taking any form they wish?

Thirdly, I do not believe that the inklings would evolve a culture telling them to only assume certain forms. I do not believe that inklings would evolve to be only able to assume certain forms when they could otherwise shapeshift into anything (which is why I believe that inklings have organs and some muscle tissue spread throughout their bodies: this would make their bodily functions more effective and restrict them to only a few forms (assuming they can compress their organs enough to go squid.)

And now I am considering an older theory I read: that "splatting" is at least partially a reflex, rather than entirely due to outside force. This would help inklings keep their major organs intact as they relocate to more ink to reform, although it would rely heavily on space warpage and compression to fit the organs in there. This would mean that the "soul" would require a great deal of energy to keep up, and might be unhealthy to continue for more than a few seconds anyway.

Edit: don't take thus too seriously. Once again, the other theory is that the ink can expand the space-time continuum. This may be even more silly than liquefying solid steel without altering it's structure.

what I theorized is that the squids ink is basically their cells, and different cells are tougher in different ways so the cells that are clothes are designed to be tougher to keep things from hurting them (disease and enemy ink).
as for the any form unless they are scientists I doubt they would know everything they need to be able to have a different form, the culture thing we do that already I can bring up the topic of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and I would get who are we to change nature, and seeing how the inklings have squidmas (refight the DJ to see this) they have a religion of some sort so changing form completely would may get, (insert squid sounding god) made us this way and we shouldn't change it no matter what.
As for the water thing I think that the only reason they die is because they just can't swim so before they submerge they pop the "soul" (reflex is they likely to save themselves from drowning) but since we pierced the skin the ink comes out (our blood would do something simliar if you peeled all of our skin) that would explain why the clothes stay in the water for a bit as well as the weapon besides all living molecules need water to survive (to carry out a lot of cell functions) if it was really toxic to the inklings why would they have some in the middle of a mall or have waterslides (splatfest)
As for ink ... still have no idea (someone could go ask deadpool)

 

[BlackZero]

Unless you want to make the suggestion that Judd is as big as a baby kitty.
In which case, Inklings would be dwarf-sized.
Still far from mini-creatures, like insects and the like.

I think they're smaller than humans, as squid anatomy doesn't seem conducive to terrestrial environments on a large scale. Granted, even house-cat sized Inklings may be too large for a hydrostatic skeleton. For them to be human sized would mean that they somehow developed a hydrostatic skeleton that can provide the same structural support as a solid skeleton while lacking the physical properties of a solid skeleton.

We can argue that they evolved to live on land, but I don't think that's a green light to stray too from their squid origins. Evolution is something that does its own thing, it doesn't have an end goal per se. I don't think we can argue that Inklings are squids with specific parts overhauled for living on land by simply saying they evolved that way. That suggests an evolutionary goal that natural evolution doesn't demonstrate.

The photograph in Sunken Scroll 15 makes them look human sized compared to the cat, but it doesn't explicitly state the cat is Judd. It could be a breed of super-tiny hyper-adorable minicats used as a platoon mascot because it's markings resembled Judd's. After all, that cat doesn't look like any other image of Judd in the scrolls, namely the photo of him in Scroll 25. Just my SWAG.

But then again, maybe we're all just overthinking a fictional character in a game where cats can talk and there is a weird living sea urchin who lives in alleyways. I mean, after all, it's only just a game. And I personally think that if it remains a mystery, then it'll make the game more fun. For everyone.

I think of these types of discussions as "edutainment." We've been discussing concepts in real world physics and biology in the context of a fun video game. I don't think anyone here is taking this discussion as a serious thesis on the zoology of Inklings. It's just fun to kick ideas around and learn a few things about real world science in the process.

 

[Flareth]

I'm admittedly having a rough time believing that they have a hydrostatic skeleton if all known images of them indicate that they're too big for it to be effective. Hence why I'm of the opinion that their pen is used as a quasi-backbone, but I understand that it alone wouldn't keep the Inklings upright.

Is there anything else in a squid's body that could hypothetically change over 12000 years or so to form some sort of internal skeletons? I can only think of the pen and the beak, but both would have to be mutated pretty severely for that, and in either case would probably result in the squid form looking very weird.

 

[ThatSquidYouKnow]

I wasn't trying to be mean. I LOVE overthinking things. Just sometimes, I fell like I'm overthinking something that I shouldn't be.

 

[BlackZero]

Is there anything else in a squid's body that could hypothetically change over 12000 years or so to form some sort of internal skeletons? I can only think of the pen and the beak, but both would have to be mutated pretty severely for that, and in either case would probably result in the squid form looking very weird.

Well there is this little guy: http://speculativeevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Megasquid

And this guy: http://speculativeevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Squibbon

Don't know how scientifically plausible they are though. The tree squid makes me think of the Nortwest Tree Octopus. Anyway, they were on the Discovery Channel, so it must be true though. \sarcasm

In all seriousness, I guess it would be possible for squids to use circular and helical muscle tissue for support, but I'm not a biologist. The guy in this article seems to think it's plausible, though: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/28/highereducation.science

Spoiler

"A thing like that presents all sorts of challenges. First of all, it has to be strong enough to stand up, because it has no skeleton. When I first did the calculations I got a mass limit of about one tonne. But in the molluscs you get some muscles that are capable of exerting extremely high stresses," he says.

Tinkering with the muscle fibre length possible in a sea creature left him with tissue that would bear much greater stress - and presented him with a boneless eight tonne squid

Not exactly Oxford or an oceanic institute, but food for thought nonetheless.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I was actually thinking of something...
Namely, the Regeneration Process
Aka, recovering the body when an Inkling or Octoling is splatted.

The only way we have seen Inklings regenerate, is through the so-called "Respawn Pads".
It attracts the "Soul Squid" and regenerates the body.

But what if there is no Respawn Pad? How do they regenerate then?

TamarinFrog has the idea, that they cannot regenerate, when there is no Respawn Pad nearby, aka they die.
But I dunno, I have a different idea.

What if Respawn Pads are there to merely "accelerate" the Regeneration Process, by having the Function to attract selected Soul-Form Squids, and supply the necessary ink to do it quickly?
What if there is a natural regeneration process that just takes longer, and is arguably more painful as well?

With Respawn Pads supplying the necessary ink, there is no need for the Inkling or Octoling to needlessly strain himself or herself.
But without Respawn Pads, I claim they must use the Ink in their own Ink Sacs to reform their bodies.
And a large amount of Ink is needed to reform a lost body.
Ergo, it could take its sweet time for an Inkling or Octoling to regenerate naturally.
And since it must produce so much Ink as fast as possible, to keep its organs protected, it must put the Inkling/Octoling under a lot of strain, possibly even pain.

Since doing it too slow would give potential predators the perfect time to deal the finishing blow to the exposed organs.
And keeping inner organs exposed to outside air isn't something they would want for longer than necessary.
Unprotected organs can very easily fall victim to various diseases.

Originally I also had the idea of the organs having to be submerged in their own ink at all times.
If outside of their ink for too long, they could die like a fish without water.
But I am unsure about that.

Either way, organs being exposed to the outside, is something Inklings and Octolings want to avoid at all costs.


The Soul-Form might be their last, fragile line of defense, keeping their organs safe, while their Ink Sac franticly produces the necessary ink to regenerate the body.
That is, if there is no Respawn Pad to do it for them.

 

[Dolphoshi]

I was actually thinking of something...
Namely, the Regeneration Process
Aka, recovering the body when an Inkling or Octoling is splatted.

The only way we have seen Inklings regenerate, is through the so-called "Respawn Pads".
It attracts the "Soul Squid" and regenerates the body.

But what if there is no Respawn Pad? How do they regenerate then?

TamarinFrog has the idea, that they cannot regenerate, when there is no Respawn Pad nearby, aka they die.
But I dunno, I have a different idea.

What if Respawn Pads are there to merely "accelerate" the Regeneration Process, by having the Function to attract selected Soul-Form Squids, and supply the necessary ink to do it quickly?
What if there is a natural regeneration process that just takes longer, and is arguably more painful as well?

With Respawn Pads supplying the necessary ink, there is no need for the Inkling or Octoling to needlessly strain himself or herself.
But without Respawn Pads, I claim they must use the Ink in their own Ink Sacs to reform their bodies.
And a large amount of Ink is needed to reform a lost body.
Ergo, it could take its sweet time for an Inkling or Octoling to regenerate naturally.
And since it must produce so much Ink as fast as possible, to keep its organs protected, it must put the Inkling/Octoling under a lot of strain, possibly even pain.

Since doing it too slow would give potential predators the perfect time to deal the finishing blow to the exposed organs.
And keeping inner organs exposed to outside air isn't something they would want for longer than necessary.
Unprotected organs can very easily fall victim to various diseases.

Originally I also had the idea of the organs having to be submerged in their own ink at all times.
If outside of their ink for too long, they could die like a fish without water.
But I am unsure about that.

Either way, organs being exposed to the outside, is something Inklings and Octolings want to avoid at all costs.


The Soul-Form might be their last, fragile line of defense, keeping their organs safe, while their Ink Sac franticly produces the necessary ink to regenerate the body.
That is, if there is no Respawn Pad to do it for them.

actually i think they just die becuase in the single player mode you have three strikes then you game over maybe the respawn pads in multiplayer are very good but the ones in single player run out of ink and thats why you game over and it might be that the ink in the respawn pads are special because if they needed a lot of ink why don't they just land in a huge area of ink they have painted so i think the ink in there is special

 

[Globin347]

Firstly: to Dolphoshi. Genetic modification is a new technology developed long after religion had been established. The inklings, on the other hand, would have had these abilities long before they had the chance to develop religion, and would already consider shape changing to be "natural" when religion began to develop. As such, I do not consider culture or religion a valid explanation for why inklings can assume only three forms.

Also, even if the clothing patterns were copyrighted designs, we would undoubtedly see some inklings using their own "designs", unless you are propising that calamari country has outlawed changing your skin pattern to any deaign not owned by another individual.

Edit: You have a point. Perhaps the ink in the spawn points contains more "ink celks" or whatever. But if the spawn point ran out of ink, the inklings wouldn't have to die to justify losing the level. If you are sitting in enemy tertitory defenseless for hours to days on end, you can't do much when the enemy finds you. Also, if the inklings die in this situation, why did they develop the splat reflex in the first place?

Of course, the idea that they would die isn't entirely out of the question...

Now, to BlackZero.
I don't think you should be so afraid to stray from squid biology. We are already talking about creatures composef heavily of a substance that either warps the space-time continuum or can liquify solid steel while keeping it's shape.
Of course, you wouldn't want to stray too far, but I think that assuming that inklings have the ability to form a stronger fluid skeleton than their ancestors isn't ouside of the bounds of reason.

On the subject of evolution, I remember seeing an obscure theory stating that 12,000 years isn't enough time for any significantly different new species to evolve, let alone something as bizzare as the inklings.

If this is true, than it would suggest that the inklings are actually a human genetic experiment... although this idea creates far more problems than it solves. Food for thought, though.

Anyway, I also suspect that the ink can hold together well enough to simulate muscle tissue. It would be awkward to fit a full body's worth of muscle in squid form, I presume. Also, inklings never seem to slosh around, even if they are made of paint.
Of course, the ink cells seem unable to hold themselves together when exposed to a great deal of water or foreign ink.This doesn't have a great deal of bioligical plausibility, but it feels like it fits the inklings.

Edit: now thst I think about it, the inklings seem to be able to hold dynamo rollers in squid form just fine. However, I still think that ink makes up much of an inklings body, because they would have much less trouble with enemy fire if the ink only formed their skin.

and when they were splatted, they would become walking skinned squid people with exposed muscles and organs.

And this game would be really creepy.

And PETA would sue Nintendo for promoting animal violence.

...now that I think about it, perhaps the inklings have some sort of telepathic control over (relatively) small amounts of the ink. They obviously can't go waterbender with it, but this might explain how they hold themselves together so well (when dry.)

Now, to Paragon-Yoshi.
That's not a bad idea. It would explain ehy the inklings developed the splat reflex in the first place, while explaining the need for spawn points. And yes, I am pretty sure the splat reflex is indeed a reflex, at least partially: when falling out of bounds, inklings splat long before they hit the ground.

Also, organs in general need to be contained. They need blood to supply oxygen, and some sort of containment to keep them from drying out, among other things. Inklings may be able to quickly create a pool of ink to hide and retain moisture in, but a predator might smell the exposed organs and fish them out, as you mentioned.

 

[adamjoseph]

I'm pretty sure the whole game is just an elaborate and very expensive puppet show.

 

[Flareth]

So respawning is essentially a form of autotomy, then? With the spawn pad used to artificially accelerate the process?

Spoiler

Kinda like how in-game the Inklings can refill their ink tanks automatically, but diving into the ink speeds up the process.

I can see that as a probability. Who knows what effects that might have on an Inkling's health, though.

I wouldn't say that they're necessarily a human experiment. From what I understand, the Scrolls are worded in a way that suggests the Inkling species didn't arise until after humanity went extinct. It also seems that the scientists of the day were more concerned about the rising sea levels rather than genetic engineering.

I agree that 12000 years is an awfully short time for squid to "evolve into" squidpeople. Is it a stretch to think their time systems are markedly different from ours? (Although that's less Inkling biology and more Inkling... horology?)