Splatoon is one of the queerest games on the planet. I can’t quite put my finger on why though. Perhaps it’s the liberating attitude it takes when standing against authority, or the willingness to enable modern youth and provide them with a space to express themselves without compromise, or the presence of characters who are coded🎃 in ways that can’t be taken in any other way except fruity. Pearl and Marina, here’s looking at you.
There is something LGBT afoot, and there always has been in the series, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Splatoon 3 takes it to a whole new level. A brief walk around the sprawling hub world greets us with all manner of drawings that have players declaring their love for men and women, crying out for trans rights, or just having fun with modern queer trends that are popular elsewhere. It isn’t just that these have infiltrated Splatoon, but those who feel welcomed by them have come to call this game home because it represents something special, an inclusive exuberance that nothing else in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo’s library has ever come close to matching. Theꦇ Squids are alright.
Our own Lex Luddy recently wrote about how Splatoon 3 has helped her embrace a sense of fashio💮n in reality after dressing up her Inklin🌞g, and that visual identity is a big reason why this series has such staying power. I wasn’t out of the closet when the first Splatoon arrived in 2015, and found myself resorting to games to explore my own appearance and the person I hoped to see myself become after starting hormones and a social transition. Obviously I wasn’t going to transform into a weird squid creature, but the clothes and personality was𓄧 a sufficient way to express myself without fear of bigoted harassment or my own anxiety.
I could don cute skirts, awesome tops, and stylish hats to my heart’s content, and always had the freedom to switch things up to take on new skills but still be assured that I’d look amazing. Everyone else does too, and this acceptance all starts with the character creator itself. While gendered hairstyles and clothing options do exist in this world, none of them are strictly labelled or describe you as a boy or a girl. You are merely a squid, and that identity takes on whatever gender you want it🃏 to. It can be changed up whenever too, giving each squid a fluid identity that is never once set in stone. The agent you play as during the campaign goes by gender-neutral pronouns too, further cementing the idea that Splatoon never intends for its player characters to be viewed from a cisgendered perspective. Like much of modern youth, we have moved beyond the need for the labels that older generations sought to burden us with. Not once are we asked to become something we aren’t, 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 overturned monuments and rampant decay found outside the otherwise metropolitan cityscape. These squids exist and operate within the confines of a culture all of their own, a youthful combination of music, fashion, and excess that we’ve seen evolve alongside them over the past three games. They abide by no sense of authority, only existing to hang out with friends and party whenever a Splatfest comes around. It’s liberating, and the appeal this has for queer audiences is clear t𝓀o see.
The series’ wider lore might point towards where these creatures came from and whether they abide by an actual system of government, but to us they are little more than cool dudes having a good time without any of the societal baggage found in the real world. Squid Kids have grown since the first game too, more resembling Squid Teenagers ready and willing t♈o find themselves. That evolution only better serves the queer theming, and it makes perfect sense for more ambitious styles and divergent identities to emerge as we move forward. What form that takes is up to us, and I choose to view it as a foundation to experiment however I like. I’m only Level 10, but already I feel like my own distinct Squid ready to take on the world.
Current affairs, whether it be the finale of Better Call Saul or the death of Queen Elizabeth, are referenced through in-game drawings that make up much of the game’s personality. All of these are peppered in alongside admissions of queer attraction and fruity displays of affec🥀tion that players and their fellow squids are never afraid of making clear. This will only continue to grow as the online shooter evolves with future updates, whether it be through providing us with additional nuggets of lore or new clothes that emphasise self-expreꦓssion. But, even without referencing the real world with memes, Splatoon 3 still shines.
Splatoon 3 feels built for the modern zeitgeist, and those who grew up with the internet and understand how to best engage with it. Turns out that a lot of those people are alsಌo queer, and are always looking for places to further representation and unearth subtext, even more so when the base game itself is so fruity already. It’s a pl♛ace of comfort and discovery, and a breeding ground for youthful rebellion that constantly goes against the grain in spite of its family friendly image. Splatoon is for everyone, and that definition covers all the bases.
