technobyte
Senior Squid
Now that I've finished a full drawing of him, here's Lumen Inazuma, an OC/splatsona I created for myself. He's a zapling, an unofficial species related to zapfish. I've done a lot of sketches of him, but this was my first time doing a full drawing. I haven't drawn much recently so some things might look off, but I like how it turned out overall!
I'm not a great writer, but I tried my hand at making some lore for him and his species anyway. Some locations are based on the official Splatoon world map we got, so I'll leave it here.
About Zaplings
• Zaplings are a noncanon species in the world of Splatoon. They share roots with the Zapfish, but received greater exposure to the liquid crystals that leaked from Alterna and took on more humanoid appearances.
• Most Zaplings can live for up to 300 years!
• Zaplings exhibit bioluminescence in their hair-like fins, akin to the zapfish's fins. Their dark, tooth-shaped eyes have bright blue irises, and they have prominent yellow whiskers that protrude from their cheeks.
• Zaplings can produce electricity. It's not nearly as strong as a regular zapfish's, though. This electricity flows in a current throughout their bodies and can be discharged through extremities such as their fingertips, but it is strongest near their whiskers. They gain better control over its discharge as they age.
• Zapfish have an acute sense of their surroundings through their whiskers, as the current in their body can react to changes in the environment around them.
History
• Most zaplings were allies of the inkligs during the Great Turf War. Their acute senses allowed some of them to join the battlefield, but most helped with food and supplies. Many of them settled around Mount Nantai following the victory of the Inklings.
• After learning that Octarians were experimenting with using stolen zapfish for powering their machinery, many inklings were concerned for the safety of the zapfish and great zapfish. Due to their aptitude for handling electricity, many zaplings took on the task of watching over Great Zapfish and raising and protecting young Zapfish. These zaplings are commonly called Zapfish Watchers.
• During the war, some zaplings chose to side with the Octarians, typically providing them with Electricity and even smuggling Zapfish to them. It is rumored that zapling spies in support of the Octarian army were involved in the first theft of the Great Zapfish.
Lumen Inazuma
• Lumen is a lax, cunning Zapling born in a town called Sisori Town, located in the North Country
- The North border is sometimes referred to as the "North Country" and mostly encompasses the area surrounding the Great Turf War Craters (see map.) Lumen usually wears their signature parkas, made locally within his town and others. Grizzco later began shipping and distributing the parkas for inklings and eventually octolings to wear.
• When he hears about the rise of ink sports from inklings visiting the town, he later decides to visit Inkopolis after gaining an interest in turf wars.
• Upon arriving, he learns the Great Zapfish has been stolen. Due to rumors of zapling spies allied with octarians being involved and tension stirring, he decided to move to Inkopolis Square until the rumors died down. Ink sports weren't as popular here at the time, so it was less busy and he could still learn more about the life and culture of inkopolitans.
• Soon the Great Zapfish is returned thanks to the mysterious Squidbeak Splatoon, and Inkopolis Square slowly becomes a new hotspot for inklings. The Great Zapfish soon begins visiting the square, and zapfish watchers from Inkopolis begin looking for new hires to cover the area. Lumen decided to apply for the job to support his life in Inkopolis.
• In his spare time, Lumen watches ink sports until the Great Zapfish vanishes yet again, along with popular newscaster Callie! With no zapfish to manage, Lumen gets time off from work until the issue is resolved.
• To keep up his income, he considers applying at Grizzco like many other zaplings when he spots a mysterious figure disappear into a manhole near Grizzco industries. He follows them and meets Marie of the Squid Sisters, who seeks his help in locating Callie and the Great Zapfish while taking down the Octarian forces, which have been revived.
• Lumen is hesitant about the cry for help as many stories of the Octarian forces and their great octoweapons have typically inspired fear in some of the children of Sisori Town. However, he accepts, becoming Agent 4 of the Squidbeak Splatoon.
• In the meantime, rumors about zapling spies being amongst Inkopolis's zapfish watchers have started up again, so Lumen needs to move for the time being. Marie lends him a small vacation home southeast of Inkopolis (see map.)
• After getting used to wielding different weapons and engaging in battle against octarians, Lumen is able to defeat Octavio and rescue the Great Zapfish and Callie. The experience motivates him to finally participate in inksports!
• Lumen is able to return to work as Inkopolis Square's Zapfish Watcher and gets into Turf Wars.
• Lumen has mediocre results at first and begins discussing what he should main with Sheldon, who, based on his performance in Octo Canyon, recommends the Explosher.
• After maining the Explosher, Lumen significantly improves in his matches and tries out ranked battles, but he finds himself struggling to rank up
• He meets an urchin named Regina Rizo (another oc I have) that is deeply invested in inksports and is able to learn from her in-depth knowledge of ranked modes and strategies to find greater success. He motivates Gina to try inksports as well and they vow to become rivals.
There's probably different plot holes, and I'm sure I could add more, but that would probably require me to expand a bit on some of my other OCs first. Maybe one day I'll draw them and flesh out their stories when I get the time!
As a bonus, here's a few scuffed sketches of him I made:
And that's all! I never really post stuff like this, but I had fun creating him and felt like doing a bit of an infodump. I hope you enjoyed reading about Lumen! Feel free to share thoughts, reactions, ideas, etc. you have about his design or story. I'd also love if anyone created their own zapling or zapling lore. I feel like the designs have the potential to be pretty stunning.
Fun fact: His whiskers coil up when he's excited or nervous!
