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This article is about the Inklings' appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Inklings.
Attacks with a variety of weapons. Covering opponents with ink leads to more and more damage–plus these Inklings are really fashionable!
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Inkling is a Newcomer fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were revealed in the first teaser trailer for the game, which aired on March 8th, 2018.

When unlocked, the girl Inkling is fought at Moray Towers.

How to Unlock[]

Complete one of the following:

  • Play VS. matches, with Inkling being the 5th character to be unlocked after Pit.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Samus or any character in her unlock tree, being the first character unlocked.
  • Have Inkling join the player's party in World of Light.

For the first two methods, the player must fight and defeat the girl Inkling on Moray Towers

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Most attacks cover opponents in ink, causing them to take more damage from all sources.
  • Splat Roller can bury opponents for combo or kill setups.
  • Splattershot is good for inking opponents and racking fast damage on opponents who get too close.
  • Splat Bomb has multiple trajectories depending on how long the button is pressed, making it good for spacing.
  • Super Jump does not consume ink and travels far.
  • Super Jump has a small hitbox upon landing, providing some defense.
  • Down aerial can meteor smash and is disjointed.
  • Ink on the ground slows opponents who walk on it.
  • Has a notorious dash animation that lowers their hurtbox and makes it difficult to see their actions.

Weaknesses[]

  • Inklings are vulnerable to attack while recharging ink.
  • Splattershot cannot even flinch opponents at long distance.
  • Has a general lack of kill power, especially if opponents are not inked.
  • Splat Roller can be very predictable and is punishable if missed.
  • When low on ink, many attacks and special moves become much weaker or stop functioning entirely.
  • Is among the few characters who take continuous damage while swimming.
  • Has poor out of shield options.

Summary[]

The Inkling is considered a completely new addition to the roster, as the moveset takes strong inspiration from the Splatoon games. Using multiple weapons from the games (mainly the Splattershot), the Inkling has the unique attribute of mainly using ink to battle opponents, in which players who get temporarily covered in it take more damage from any attack. Some attacks, like the Splattershot and Splat Roller, even leave ink on the ground which slows down opponents who walk in it. Most of the Inkling's attacks use ink, including smash attacks, and the Splattershot may be considered the main way to quickly cover enemies entirely in ink. However, just like in its home series, the Inkling has a limited ink supply, which if it runs out, special attacks and smash attacks will become weaker, some special attacks becoming useless without it. To work around this, the player can press B while shielding to turn into the Inkling's squid form to refill the ink tank. Thusly, the Inkling's strategy works around the concept of controlling the ink supply and using the ink to keep opponents at a disadvantage in both movement and damage percentage.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Punches forth, then throws out a kick, and then rapidly fires several ink shots from their Splattershot, finishing with a thrust of the Splattershot. If ink is fully depleted, the rapid jab portion deals no damage.
  • Forward Tilt: Swings their Splattershot in a downwards arc in front of them like a club.
  • Up Tilt: Does a simple flip kick.
  • Down Tilt: Does a breakdance kick, hitting twice.
  • Dash Attack: Rams forwards with their shoulder.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash: Swings an Inkbrush forwards.
  • Up Smash: Fires a Blaster upwards, setting off an explosion of ink overhead.
  • Down Smash: Swings a Slosher to each side.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front):
  • Floor Attack (Back):
  • Floor Attack (Trip):
  • Ledge Attack:

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Turns upside down and spins around with their legs extended.
  • Forward aerial: Kicks forwards with both legs.
  • Back aerial: Swings their Splattershot behind them.
  • Up aerial: Kicks overhead twice.
  • Down aerial: Thrusts the Splattershot downwards. Is a meteor smash.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Pummel: Lifts their foot and delivers a side-stomp.
  • Forward Throw: Blasts the opponent away with the Splattershot.
  • Back Throw: Takes on their squid form and hurls the opponent backwards.
  • Up Throw: Takes on their squid form and rams the opponent upwards.
  • Down Throw: Slams the opponent into the ground.

Special Moves[]

Inkling's Special Moves
Ultimate
Standard Special Splattershot
Side Special Splat Roller
Up Special Super Jump
Down Special Splat Bomb
Final Smash Killer Wail

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Pumps the Splattershot upwards twice.
  • Down Taunt: Hops twice along with pumping their arms.
  • Side Taunt: Fires the Splattershot upwards three times.

On-Screen Appearance[]

Idle Poses[]

  • Quick look behind
  • Pose with the Splattershot

Victory Poses[]

  • Jumps twice, spins and poses with her/his Splattershot.
  • Sways the Roller happily on both sides and then rests it on her/his shoulder.
  • Throws the Slosher in the air, grabs and throws it again, then spins it on her/his finger.

In competitive play[]

Inkling was initially seen as a very promising character in the meta and a potential top tier in Ultimate. This was due to them outstanding frame data, damage output through the ink mechanic, safe aerials on shield, the ability to effectively edgeguard and ledgetrap with their great recovery and down-special, and KO confirms off of grab and Roller. In addition, their dash was highly praised as an incredible mechanic that allowed them to invalidate many attacks and projectiles. Inkling saw strong results in the first half of 2019 from players such as Cosmos, Space, Chag, and Abadango. Cosmos, in particular, saw multiple top 8 placements in many tournaments and was ranked just outside of the top 10 for the first season.

However, following the first season, results from Inkling started to decline, with her top players either doing worse in tournaments or completely dropping the character. Cosmos notably used the character less and less before ultimately dropping her in favor of Pyra and Mythra. Top players attributed these drops due to Inkling's weaknesses becoming more apparent in reducing her viability, such as her lack of strong out-of-shield options and difficulty in killing past confirm percentages. Her tier placement is debatable to this day: although some Smashers such as Tweek, ESAM and Samsora still consider her to be among the best characters in the game, others point out her weaknesses and diminishing results as evidence that she was not as strong as people had made her out to be.

Classic Mode: An Inkredible Journey[]

Inkling fights opponents with differently colored alternate costumes matching the general color scheme of the stage, referencing the concept of Turf War from the Splatoon games. The boss of this route, Marx, also fits in with this theme due to his multicolored wings.

Role in World of Light[]

The Inklings (both female and male) were among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, the Inklings were present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. They decided to submerge in a puddle of their ink to hide in the hopes they might not be imprisoned: however, this proved ineffective when the beams of light destroyed the cliff they were on and they were found. Both were then placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, except for Kirby.

In the mode proper, the female Inkling can be fought in a city area, in a space that clearly is Moray Towers.

Palette Swaps[]

The Palette Swaps for the Inkling are divided between two sexes; the default Female and alternate skin Male.

Inkling Palette (SSBU)

Trivia[]

  • Both female & male Inkling are shown in the opening cutscene of World of Light, making them the only character to have two of its skins appear side by side within the game (Bowser Jr.'s reveal has the Koopalings but not shown in-game). That's because these are technically different characters in regards to the lore.
  • While using the male inkling skin, the victory poses will be slightly different, mainly in the way they move their legs/hold their head
  • The Inkling's up and down taunt reference their pose when using the 'Booya!' or 'This Way!' communications in Splatoon and Splatoon 2 online matches.
    • The fact that Inklings are hydrophobic in Smash Bros. is also related to that in Splatoon, where they cannot swim and instantly get splat when in water
  • The third Inkling Palette Swap references the main character from the story mode of Splatoon, Agent 3. The 5th Palette Swap is based on one of the Inklings on the back of the Wii U game. The 6th Palette Swap is a reference to Specs from the Splatoon manga series.

Gallery[]

External links[]

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