Splatoon is one of the strangest games in the world. However, I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s the liberating attitude you take when you go against authority, or the willingness to empower modern youth and give them space to express themselves without compromise, or the presence of characters coded in ways which cannot be understood in any other way. way except fruity. Pearl and Marina, this is what you are looking at.
Something LGBT is going on, and it always has been in the series, but Splatoon 3 takes it to a whole new level. A short walk through the sprawling hub world greets us with all sorts of drawings depicting players declaring their love for men and women, screaming for trans rights, or just having fun with modern queer trends popular elsewhere. It’s not just that these Splatoon infiltrated, but those who have been made to feel welcome by them have come to call this game home because it represents something special, an inclusive exuberance that nothing else in the Nintendo library has ever come close to. brought. The squids are okay.
Our very own Lex Luddy recently wrote about how Splatoon 3 has helped her embrace a fashion sense into reality after dressing her Inkling, and that visual identity is a big reason why this series has such lasting power. I wasn’t out of the closet when the first Splatoon arrived in 2015, finding myself resorting to games to discover my own appearance and the person I hoped to become after starting hormones and social transition. It was clear I wasn’t going to turn into a weird squid creature, but the clothes and personality were a sufficient way to express myself without fear of bigoted harassment or my own fear.
I could put on cute skirts, awesome tops and stylish hats to my heart’s content, and always had the freedom to change things up to gain new skills, but I could still be sure that I would look great. Everyone does, and this acceptance all starts with the character creator himself. While gender-specific hairstyles and clothing options exist in this world, none of them are strictly labeled or described to you as a boy or a girl. You’re just a squid, and that identity takes on whatever gender you want. It can also be changed at any time, giving each squid a fluid identity that is never set in stone. The agent you play during the campaign also uses gender-neutral pronouns, reinforcing the idea that Splatoon never intends to view its player characters from a cisgender perspective. Like much of the modern youth, we have gone beyond the necessity of the labels older generations have tried to saddle us with. Not once are we asked to become something we are not, and that rules so hard.
Splatoon 3 also sees this place fall even deeper into the apocalypse. Chaos has been welcomed, and this perspective is seen in the toppled monuments and rampant decay outside the otherwise metropolitan cityscape. These squids exist and operate within the confines of a culture all their own, a youthful combination of music, fashion and excess that we’ve seen evolve alongside them over the past three games. They have no sense of authority, they only exist to hang out with friends and party when a Splatfest comes along. It’s liberating, and the appeal this has to a queer audience is clear to see.
The wider knowledge of the series may point to where these creatures came from and whether they adhere to a real system of government, but to us they’re little more than cool dudes having a good time without the social baggage that comes with the real world. can be found. Squid Kids have also grown since the first game and are more like Squid Teenagers ready and willing to find themselves. That evolution only fits better with the queer theme, and it makes perfect sense that more ambitious styles and diverse identities emerge as we progress. What form that takes is up to us, and I choose to see it as a basis for experimenting however I see fit. I’m only level 10, but I already feel like my own separate squid ready to take over the world.
Current affairs, whether it be the finale of Better Call Saul or the death of Queen Elizabeth, reference in-game drawings that are a big part of the game’s personality. All of these are laced with confessions of queer appeal and fruity displays of affection that players and their fellow squids are never afraid to make clear. This will only continue to grow as the online shooter evolves with future updates, be it by giving us additional knowledge or new clothing that emphasizes self-expression. But even without referencing the real world with memes, Splatoon 3 still shines.
Splatoon 3 feels built for the modern zeitgeist and for those who grew up with the internet and know how to best interact with it. Turns out a lot of those folks are queer too, always looking for places to dig up further representation and subtext, even more so when the base game itself is already so fruity. A place of comfort and discovery, it is a breeding ground for youthful rebellion that, despite its family-friendly image, is constantly going against the grain. Splatoon is for everyone, and that definition covers all bases.
0 Comments