Inkling/Octoling Biology- Splatoon 2 Edition

[Cephalobro]

Something I found interesting about Commander Tartar's statement during Octo Expansion's cutscene before the climactic battle to save the world. Since Inkipedia doesn't have the quotes yet, I will explain it from memory. Basically, Commander Tartar's reason to make Inklings and Octarians become extinct in order to fill the world with his primordial ooze in the first place is because they fight over minor genetic differences. The bold part seems to imply that a mixed offspring between an Inkling and Octoling is possible and if so, that could mean that evolution made it possible through sexual reproduction.

 

[Enperry]

I'm pretty sure he was just mad that their species was wasting time with minor things like fashion.

 

[Cephalobro]

I'm pretty sure he was just mad that their species was wasting time with minor things like fashion.

Yeah, but the fact that he said that one of those things were genetic differences could imply something that we don't know of yet, fashion is obviously shown in-game already, in fact all the things he said were already shown in-game, the only thing that wasn't shown is the whole minor genetic difference, since at this point, we classify Inklings and Octarians as different species. Most species, even if they came from a common ancestor, can't even combine their genes at all. So it's definitely a big deal to both if evolution allowed different species to combine their genetics all of a sudden because of them being minor.

 

[seth_the_inkling]

Well, it's hard to say, most Inkling hairstyles have 6 tentacles in total, even the combed hairstyle for the boy having three very small ones on one part. You could argue that the banged girl, bowl cut boy, frilly girl, mohawk boy and buzz cut boy hairstyles could just be there for show and it doesn't affect their intelligence, maybe it only affects them if their tentacles are cut in their squid form. But even so, Inklings don't even know Octolings live among them. After all, they only thought that Marina had a cool hairstyle and basically nothing else, not even taking note of her eyes.

understandable. i havent really gotten my hands on a copy of splatoon 2 or 1 YET(but somehow i know a lot about it :/ ). but on another note, how would they maintain their shape? do they have a flexable, squishy membraine or exoskeleton or something? just thought of that question at the time of writing XD

 

[Cephalobro]

understandable. i havent really gotten my hands on a copy of splatoon 2 or 1 YET(but somehow i know a lot about it :/ ). but on another note, how would they maintain their shape? do they have a flexable, squishy membraine or exoskeleton or something? just thought of that question at the time of writing XD

They probably have cartilage, which could explain why they are able to maintain a humanoid shape while also transforming to be able to swim in ink or fit through tight spaces.

 

[Cephalobro]

In the risk of double-posting, someone has finally posted a translation of the Octarian becoming an Octoling part of the third Artbook, the translation will be left as spoilers due to the fact that the Artbook not been released to the general public from Europe or North America.

(Couldn't get the spoiler thing to work, so spoiler warning!)

Even with the development shown, it doesn't say anything about Octolings starting out as any other Octarian first. It states that an Octarian decides to "stretch" their body to become an Octoling. It is also said that the reason for this type of transformation is unknown and there are only theories about it, no truth to it.

Credit to kirby-generator at Tumblr for this translation.

So with that in mind, it doesn't rule out any possibilities of an Octoling hatching from an egg. As it doesn't state what isn't impossible, meaning that the Octoling from Sashimori could in fact be the indication that most Octolings do hatch from eggs and only a few start out as other Octarians.

 

[Orvenski]

Yeah, but the fact that he said that one of those things were genetic differences could imply something that we don't know of yet, fashion is obviously shown in-game already, in fact all the things he said were already shown in-game, the only thing that wasn't shown is the whole minor genetic difference, since at this point, we classify Inklings and Octarians as different species. Most species, even if they came from a common ancestor, can't even combine their genes at all. So it's definitely a big deal to both if evolution allowed different species to combine their genetics all of a sudden because of them being minor.

Yeah, but the fact that he said that one of those things were genetic differences could imply something that we don't know of yet, fashion is obviously shown in-game already, in fact all the things he said were already shown in-game, the only thing that wasn't shown is the whole minor genetic difference, since at this point, we classify Inklings and Octarians as different species. Most species, even if they came from a common ancestor, can't even combine their genes at all. So it's definitely a big deal to both if evolution allowed different species to combine their genetics all of a sudden because of them being minor.

 

[Orvenski]

I apologize for the bad formatting, but when I saw this thread I had to make a account to necro off of this question. For my reply to make sense, I first have to walk through how I believe the Inkling/Octoling biology is. I personally believe they the following main qualities that are important to this argument. Firstly, that they actually have no solid organs at all, and are kept in shape by the pressure of the ink inside the squiddo. This ink has three purposes, which are to function as a non-stabilized neural network held in the sac that is the Inkling's body, to function as a stomach acid which allows them to consume nutrients, and to keep them from just deflating. This theory explains how they function without bones and such, how they can 'respawn' (they just rematerialize a sac from the surrounding environment), and how their weapons work. Their weapons aren't actually held by the Inklings, but are actually a device that partially alters the squids DNA, allowing it to form those weapons out of their own ink. This is technically a minor alteration of DNA, and the fact that Inklings have what appear to be wars for sport against people with different ink colors (caused by small genetic modification), probably lead AI man to believe that they were fighting over tiny genetic differences. This theory also combines the fashion into actual genetic differences caused by devices similar to the ones that alter ink color and weapon selection.

 

[HighColorSunset]

Well, it's hard to say, most Inkling hairstyles have 6 tentacles in total, even the combed hairstyle for the boy having three very small ones on one part. You could argue that the banged girl, bowl cut boy, frilly girl, mohawk boy and buzz cut boy hairstyles could just be there for show and it doesn't affect their intelligence, maybe it only affects them if their tentacles are cut in their squid form. But even so, Inklings don't even know Octolings live among them. After all, they only thought that Marina had a cool hairstyle and basically nothing else, not even taking note of her eyes.

Or her (only slightly implied in English) accent.

 

[ink#0187]

Is the roller that some of the Octolings have in Octo Canyon or Octo Expansion a Carbon Roller or a re-sprited Hero Roller? It's just a little bit on the confusing side, thats why i ask.

 

[Cephalobro]

Is the roller that some of the Octolings have in Octo Canyon or Octo Expansion a Carbon Roller or a re-sprited Hero Roller? It's just a little bit on the confusing side, thats why i ask.

This is more suited for a technological thread, which now gives me a new theory/speculation/explanation to work with.