With over 15 million copies sold, Splatoon is the biggest of Nintendo's newer franchises. Splatoon 2, the Switch sequel, more than doubled the sales of the original game on Wii U. Splatoon received its first representative in Smash with the generic Inkling, the very first character announced for Smash Bros Ultimate.
However, for such a massive franchise, the series remains woefully underrepresented on the Smash roster. It's in a situation similar to where Animal Crossing was, with its lonely generic Villager, before the addition of Isabelle.
With this new expansion pass Nintendo has an opportunity to give Splatoon a second representative. But who should it be? Fortunately, there is an obvious candidate!
Before Splatoon 2 the top candidates would've been Callie and/or Marie, the Squid Sisters, who served as the faces of the game. They hosted everything from the in-game news broadcasts to the Splatfests. However, the Squid Sisters were largely replaced in that role by newcomers Marina and Pearl in Splatoon 2. In the most recent Smash presentation (where Min Min was announced) Callie and Marie received Mii costumes, suggesting that they won't be added to the roster anytime soon.
That leaves Marina and Pearl. Although there was never a straight up Marina vs Pearl Splatfest, Marina's teams won 43 Splatfests to Pearl's 37, and is widely seen as the more popular idol worldwide. Furthermore, Marina is an Octoling, not an Inkling, and provides thematic variety within the world of Splatoon.
It would be very easy to come up with a Marina moveset that incorporates Splatoon weapons that Inkling didn't use -- easier than it was to differentiate Isabelle from Villager. As a character, her dialogue already indicates that she has a preference for the Brella and Octobrush.
And, of course, as a darker skinned character Marina would bring urgently needed representation to the Smash roster. However, even if that were not the case, Marina would still be an absolutely perfect candidate among Nintendo's first party options. Maybe the roster is already set in stone and maybe it isn't, but either way folks at Nintendo should give her the consideration she deserves.
#PutMarinaInSmash
Here are some great points made by other posters:
Alternate costume (from the Octo Expansion):
However, for such a massive franchise, the series remains woefully underrepresented on the Smash roster. It's in a situation similar to where Animal Crossing was, with its lonely generic Villager, before the addition of Isabelle.
With this new expansion pass Nintendo has an opportunity to give Splatoon a second representative. But who should it be? Fortunately, there is an obvious candidate!
Before Splatoon 2 the top candidates would've been Callie and/or Marie, the Squid Sisters, who served as the faces of the game. They hosted everything from the in-game news broadcasts to the Splatfests. However, the Squid Sisters were largely replaced in that role by newcomers Marina and Pearl in Splatoon 2. In the most recent Smash presentation (where Min Min was announced) Callie and Marie received Mii costumes, suggesting that they won't be added to the roster anytime soon.
That leaves Marina and Pearl. Although there was never a straight up Marina vs Pearl Splatfest, Marina's teams won 43 Splatfests to Pearl's 37, and is widely seen as the more popular idol worldwide. Furthermore, Marina is an Octoling, not an Inkling, and provides thematic variety within the world of Splatoon.
It would be very easy to come up with a Marina moveset that incorporates Splatoon weapons that Inkling didn't use -- easier than it was to differentiate Isabelle from Villager. As a character, her dialogue already indicates that she has a preference for the Brella and Octobrush.
And, of course, as a darker skinned character Marina would bring urgently needed representation to the Smash roster. However, even if that were not the case, Marina would still be an absolutely perfect candidate among Nintendo's first party options. Maybe the roster is already set in stone and maybe it isn't, but either way folks at Nintendo should give her the consideration she deserves.
#PutMarinaInSmash
Here are some great points made by other posters:
Alternate costume (from the Octo Expansion):
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