Why No Red Ink in Splatoon? An Inkling‘s Thorough Investigation
As a diehard Splatoon fanatic and content creator always looking to blast rivals with the freshest facts, one color has always vexed me – where is the red ink? This glaring omission stands out in the neon rainbow panoply of vibrant paints that coat the stages. Fellow gamers, grab your Krak-On Roller as we dive deep into the mysteries of the missing scarlet shade!
The Straight Splats – Why No Red?
Before piecing together the puzzling absence of red across three smash hit Splatoon titles, let‘s first establish what we definitively know:
- No Playable Red Ink – Aside from rare single player boss fights, red ink is unavailable in online/local multiplayer
- Red Saves for Splatfests – Special events let players rep red ink for their Splatfest team
- Devs Tight-Lipped – Nintendo has never explicitly commented on the decision
So red occasionally surfaces, but remains conspicuously absent as a standard color option for Inklings and Octolings. Now let‘s analyze the common theories behind this vexing vanishing act!
Avoiding Blood Connotations
The prevalent theory is that removing red ink avoids potentially horrific connections between splatting your opponents and graphic violence. Red vividly evokes thoughts of blood, injuries, and gore. As a colorful, family-friendly game, Nintendo likely wished to distance Splatoon from such visceral connotations.
A hypothetical red ink splat – too graphic for Splatoon?
However, counterarguments flourish. We still blast rivals with blue, green, yellow paints. And frankly, that looks more like painful welts than fun coloring!
Furthermore, red appears liberally across other E-rated Nintendo titles, like Mario power-ups and sports equipment in Wii Sports. Heck, Kirby is literally a pink puffball who inhales enemies and steals their powers! That hasn‘t stopped Nintendo from marketing Kirby games as family-friendly.
So while avoiding blood connotations seems reasonable, I don‘t believe that alone explains banishing red. Time to formulate a new theory….
Clashing Colors and Readability
Another potential factor is visual clarity and contrast. The standard ink colors – neon blue, green, orange, pink – all sharply stand out from each other and Splatoon‘s vibrant stages. Reds and maroons might bleed together with some backgrounds, causing readability issues.
As a passionate squid kid, I‘ve played enough Rainmaker on Musselforge Fitness to witness how blue and orange inks distinctly cover the gym floors. But imagining red smeared atop the warm wood and salmon machinery almost makes my eyes vibrate!
Nintendo designers likely wish to avoid such color clashes muddling the frenetic ink-based gameplay. Clean splits between hues helps both aesthetic cohesion and playability for Inkling battles.
But again, holes burst this theory. Color lock options let players force color matchups, resulting in identical ink shades clashing across some stages. And the neon pink can also closely match certain color palettes.
Alright, enough floundering. Time for another fresh theory from your favoriteIndentifying depth in the Splatoon universe….
Enhancing Colorblind Accessibility
One insightful explanation for red ink‘s absence relates to colorblind accessibility. Approximtely 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females have some form of color vision deficiency. That leaves a sizable portion of players potentially struggling to distinguish between standard green and red ink colors.
| Colorblind Type | Red-Green (Most common) | Blue-yellow |
| Potential Ink Confusions | Red vs Green | Blue vs Yellow/Pink |
Notice Splatoon avoids all the color combinations potentially problematic for common colorblind gamers. Perhaps Nintendo intelligently designed accessible ink palettes, especially by omitting red, the biggest culprit.
Splatoon 3 does include a specialized colorblind support mode adjusting ink hues. However, intentionally avoiding red from the start makes sense towards enabling more universal playability.
Once again however, questions arise on this theory. Would keeping red exclusively for color lock battles enable universal access? And colorblind modes can hypothetically adjust any colors sufficiently, though admittedly more combinations complicates this accommodation.
Artistic Integrity and Aesthetic Cohesion
Stepping back from technical considerations around visibility, maybe exclude red ink comes down to simpler graphic design principles – artistic vision and aesthetics.
The Splatoon series astonishes with gorgeously cohesive visual presentation. The neon-drenched urban landscapes filled with playful Inklings and Octolings enrapture players. This all fuses around a central artistic vision brimming with vibrant, youthful appeal.
Perhaps the developers simply judge red as discordant with the game worlds‘ aesthetics? I imagined our creative leads surveying the splashy neon toolkit of toys, weapons, characters and going "Ewww red, that totally clashes!" Then again, personal preference falls short explaining implementing red for Splatfests.
Nonetheless, incorporating red more prominently could arguably dampen Splatoon‘s wonderfully unified artistic flavor. Just like adding darker gray tones or muted colors could likewise spoil the visually popping fantasy. I‘ll explore artistic direction more as we investigate final theories.
Cultivating Significance through Scarcity
My last speculative explanation dives deeper into Splatoon‘s worldbuilding – that red ink‘s rarity cultivates greater significance for the moments it does appear. Recall, red only emerges for:
- Single player boss battles
- Select weapons (Hero Shot, Octo Shot)
- Splatfest team colors
Red ink finally surfaces for Splatfests
Save something special for the right moments. Like the Fresh Fish concert tees hiding in Hotlantis boutiques or gold Super Sea Snails awarded only to Splatfest kings/queens.
In the same spirit, developers may have earmarked red ink exclusively for poignant occasions in the Splatoon lore and games. Unleashing red only sparingly lets it feel momentously empowering!
By contrast, as a standard color red would grow boringly mundane. Imagine red and green inks constantly staining multiplayer – we would stop noticing anything special. Instead, surfacing for Splatfests transforms donning red into a mythical honor!
Conclusion – It‘s Not Always Black and White
So why exclude red from Splatoon ink selections? Likely a murky mixture of avoiding blood connotations, enhancing visual clarity, accommodating colorblind gamers, and reserving red for momentous moments in the lore.
Some theories shine stronger than others. But the truth probably incorporates multiple considerations. Game design and art fail to follow neat, predictable rules – much like the chaos of a 10-squid Turf War pileup!
Yet through thoughtful debate, we inch closer towards resolving Splatoon‘s scarlet mystery. And even lacking definitive answers, brainstorming hypothetical reasons presents an engaging creative endeavor. Because unlike deranged Salmonids returning after each explosion, unquenchable curiosity always respawns inside an Inkling‘s mind!
Stay Fresh!
