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Inklings have a glaring weakness to water they are splatted instantly when more than half of their body is submerged in it. Inklings also have the ability to revive after being splatted through the use of respawn points. Inklings also have a variety of special and sub weapons that come with each main weapon ranging from shields and bombs to tactical airstrikes and ink-based bazookas. Each weapon has different attributes that affect mobility, paint output, and splatting power. In humanoid form, Inklings can splatter a special type of colored ink by using various weapons, including guns, rollers, buckets, and paintbrushes. Their increased mobility in squid form is further enhanced by their squid roll and surge abilities that grant them bursts of movement with added protection. As squids, they are able to hide in and swim through ink. As humanoids, they are able to wield weapons. Inklings can switch between humanoid and squid forms. The Inklings were designed to be teenagers since the developers wanted to give the image of a strong, rebelling character, while having the attitude of being "cool".
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When designing the Inklings the designers centered around it being female at first, which they stated was because there were not many other female leads in Nintendo games at the time. The "missile-like" shape of their head was a good complement to the Inklings' movement according to the development team. Designers came up with the idea for Inklings that were able to hide and swim in ink. This idea was worrisome to the designers, who felt that there was a mismatch between the characters' appearances and the ink-based gameplay. The player characters of Splatoon were originally based on anthropomorphized rabbits.
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