Kirbnation, aka Another Shiver/Agent 4 Fan

“We Wanted This…?”

Alright, gotta say that despite the fact I do have some gripes with how the Salmonids were handled in Raiders (Namely the brushing under the rug of the morality behind Deep Cut’s antics and the writers seemingly being afraid of giving them any humanity whatsoever…)

The new Salmonid lore we did get goes hard as Hell. At least with my own interpretation. Like, ancient civilisation attempting to create an artificial god who drags them into their own destruction and damnation is the most metal thing Splatoon has done so far. Almost adds a layer of tragedy to them, y’know?

[WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SPLATOON RAIDERS]

So first off, who exactly is Corey?

Corey Shores is the poor pathetic man (/affectionate) you see here before you

Before getting into how he got stranded on the Spirhalite Islands, let’s go a little bit into his personal life. Corey grew up in Splatsville, where he lived at home with his mother, father, and two siblings (never really developed them but I imagined them as younger sisters). Corey also had a girlfriend. After taking the job as a helicopter pilot for Grizzco, everyone around him made it clear how much they disapproved of his job choice. "You’ve gotta get a better job," his entire family warned him, "those Salmonids will eat you alive." In Corey’s defense, he DID actually listen to their concerns and was extremely careful to not to let anything happen to him. Until the day he flew into a severe storm and got himself stranded on an island filled with Salmonids that wanted him for breakfast. Not his best decision.

It was a day before the fated flight that a trio of interesting characters came to visit Grizzco and asked around for a private flight to some nearby islands. Naturally, the other pilots weren’t willing to risk their already cheap and faulty helicopters for some private excursion. Corey accepted but only because he was the last pilot available, and this trio misinformed him on what the flight was about. His girlfriend tried to talk him out of it when she found out but Corey was already contractually bound to the trio's desire and couldn’t do anything about it. Corey reminded his girlfriend about a promise he’d made her take back when he first started his job: that if he never returned from a Grizzco shift, she should assume the worst and move on, even if it turned out he was still alive.

The morning of the flight, Corey admittedly had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he met the trio and began the flight. However it was too late to back out, and so the Grizzco helicopter set out for the Spirhalite Islands. It was a few hours in when the storm suddenly came upon them. It was then that the trio revealed themselves as Deep Cut (something that meant nothing to Corey as he didn’t know who they were at the time) and that they were too important to die like this. Deep Cut stole the last three parachutes in the helicopter (which they were unaware they were taking the last ones so it wasn’t done with malicious intentions) and took a leap of faith as the helicopter started spinning out of control. Deep Cut landed safely on an uninhabited island while Corey had a hard crash into another island that was home to a hidden Salmonid village. Neither party knew if the other had survived.

Deep Cut was eventually found and rescued after a few days by Shiver's shark Master Mega and Frye's Moray Eels (and just in time for Big Man too because the girls were about to use him as a floatation device to get home), and to their credit they DID look around for any remains of the helicopter or Corey, but found nothing on the nearby islands. Deep Cut ended up going home to Splatsville, hiding the fact that they wanted to go treasure hunting so they were forced to cover up what happened to Corey. After all, Grizzco pilots have a lot of accidents in the field, from old helicopters spontaneously breaking down or a King Salmonid looking for an extra bite to eat. A pilot disappearing wasn't unheard of in the least.

Corey meanwhile woke up on a secluded beach not too long after crashing, and immediately began working on trying to repair the helicopter. A few days in, around the same time Deep Cut got rescued, Corey ran out of emergency food rations. Apparently Frye had been snacking on them during the flight, not knowing what they were, and left Corey with about half of what he needed to make it. Corey was forced to super-jump to the top of a large cliff that hid his beach from the rest of the island in search of food. In his first foraging effort, Corey did find food - but he also found Salmonids with it. (It should also be noted that Corey has no weapon on him. He's a pilot, he's not allowed to have one with him on the job.)

Corey is constantly caught in an "eat or be eaten" situation with the Salmonids, where every few days, when he’s forced to restock on his food supply, a patrol of Salmonids hunt him down in an attempt to catch him. Some of the younger Salmonids think it’s a game while the bigger Bosses see him as a tasty treat. Every now and then, the Salmonids will succeed in cornering and/or capturing Corey, much to Corey’s horror every time as he has no idea if these Salmonids are going to use him as a chew toy or outright try to eat him. A couple notable examples of this would be the time the smaller Salmonids caught Corey in a net and tied him upside down from a tree branch for attack practice and the time Corey was caught off guard by a Salty Tongue who wanted some octopus for lunch. Every time however, Corey has managed to escape, either because the Salmonids let him go out of boredom or because he fought his way out of the Salmonid's mouth (or belly, in the case of the Salty Tongue this may or may not be important for another post I’ll be writing in the future). After the Salty Tongue incident, Corey realizes that the Salmonids are starting to slowly wear him down over the now three weeks he’s been trapped on the island, and that if he’s not even more careful, there won’t be a successful escape next time. To avoid becoming someone’s next meal, he reluctantly decides to skip some of his own meals to make his food last longer, which ultimately slows down work on the helicopter due to a lack of energy.

Meanwhile, the Salmonids are worried about their village’s future. It’s been kept secret for so long that if Grizzco discovered it, it would devastate that island's Salmonid population. They believe Corey (whose pilot outfit is a literal Grizzco suit) must be some kind of scout sent to search for them, and that others will soon follow, looking for him. One of the Salmonids, a Steelhead general covered in battle scars, warns the others that if they don’t take Corey out now, Corey will take out their village. This isn’t true, as Corey can barely handle the Salmonids by himself, but the Salmonids aren’t aware of this, much less that Corey doesn’t even know about their village even existing. The patrols slowly shift from capturing Corey to finding out where he’s been hiding.

Over on Corey’s end, he’s gone through a couple of changes. The first change is his hairstyle. Somewhere on the island, during one of the Salmonids ambushes, Corey lost his ponytail holder. He finds a plastic bag that’s washed up on shore and wraps it around his head like a bandana. The second change is that, at the beginning of the fourth week of him being stranded, Corey realizes the helicopter cannot be repaired at this rate. Key parts are lost in the water or absolutely unusable because they’re damaged beyond recognition. Corey also begins to realize that no help is coming. There is no rescue. Slowly he accepts he’s never going home, and the feeling of homesickness nags at him constantly. Corey misses his family. He misses his girlfriend who has 100% moved on with a broken heart by now. He misses running down to the store and buying groceries and not having to gather what food he can fit in his arms and run for his life. He misses having a stable roof over his head and not having to live in the remains of a helicopter. He misses feeling safe.

One thing Corey does notice on his next few food foraging runs is that the Salmonid patrols are almost nonexistent. It’s gone from "I need to grab as much as I can and run" to "it’s too quiet, where are the Salmonids?" and it’s starting to scare Corey. However, he’s grateful for the little break in action, and lets his guard down a little too much. Corey heads back to the cliff hiding his beach and super-jumps down it with his food, unaware that the Salmonids have been following him and now know where he is. The problem for the Salmonids is that they can’t scale down the cliff, and there are plenty of small cracks for Corey to hide in as his octopus form to avoid getting caught. So the Salmonids return to the village and plan an attack from the sea.

Corey goes to bed that night, unaware that the Salmonids, led by the Steelhead general, are coming. They silently emerge from the waters surrounding the beach, leaving Corey with only one possible way of escape - the cliff, where more Salmonids are lying in wait for their eight-limbed prey at the top. The attack begins with a Chum Salmonid jumping on Corey while he sleeps. Corey naturally wakes up in a panic and flees the helicopter, only to find himself surrounded by dozens and dozens of Salmonids. This is WAY more than he’s ever encountered so far, and he already knows his outcome is hopeless, especially with no weapon. Corey is backed into a corner and forced to fight his way through a horde of Salmonids with his life on the line. He's bitten and hit with frying pans and spoons as he pushes through, but all Corey knows is that he's got to at least try to survive. One Salmonid bites down hard on Corey's right arm near his elbow, and it's the worst pain Corey has ever felt as he struggles to free himself. Somewhere in the mess, Corey encounters the Steelhead general. The Steelhead is enraged that one of Grizzco's filthy little workers would DARE step foot on HIS island. With an extra powerful bomb, the Steelhead blows up Corey's helicopter along with half the beach. Corey is caught up in the blast, sending him flying into the cliff. The blast further damages his right arm and severely injures his left leg. With the beach now in flames and the Salmonids coming closer, Corey is forced to make the most awkward and agonizing super-jump of his life to the top of the cliff - right into the trap of the awaiting Salmonids. He just barely escapes the onslaught of frying pans and teeth and takes off running into the woods as far as his very injured body can take him into the night.

Corey doesn't stop running until daybreak out of the sheer terror that the Salmonids are following him (they are but they're taking their time because they know he's injured and won't make it much farther). It's here that he finally stops from exhaustion, and his injured leg gives way, causing him to collapse with a cry of pain. Corey is so exhausted and in pain that he gives up all hope of survival and accepts whatever fate befalls him first - succumbing to his injuries or being ripped to shreds by the Salmonids tracking him. His left leg hurts to move, and he can't even move or feel his right arm anymore. His pain level isn't even including all of the bites and bruises he has. More than even he wishes he was back home in Splatsville as he stares up at the sky.

It's now mid-morning, and the Salmonids finally track down Corey, who is still conscious and is watching them approach with a look in his eyes that can only be described as "beyond fear." Corey does make an attempt to move away but with half of his humanoid limbs not working and causing him immense pain, he's forced to stay put. A net is thrown over him for easier capture, and the Salmonids drag him closer to them (and yes this causes him pain too). Corey is then haphazardly thrown into one of those Mothership styrofoam coolers (and yes this is also causing him pain) and feels himself being carried off to who-knows-where before finally blacking out.

Corey wakes up a day or two later, finding himself loosely tied to the railing of what looks like an old bed inside a hut. His injured leg has a couple of pieces of driftwood tightly tied to it to keep it straight, and his right arm is tightly wrapped in bandages. He still can't feel it or move it. Corey has no idea where he is or why his good arm and leg are tied to the railing, and he calls out a hello. A couple of Salmonids appear at his bedside, causing him to freak out. Another bigger Salmonid shows up and attempts to calm down Corey, who is absolutely convinced that he's about to be killed. She starts to tend to his injuries, trying to show Corey that she means no harm. At this point, there's a small crowd of curious Salmonids gathered in the hut's doorway, wondering when the injured Octoling is going to be brought out for dinner - either as a guest or as the dish itself. Corey eventually calms down but is still incredibly stressed out. He's also VERY aware of the fact that one of the Salmonids just outside the hut is the Steelhead general, who very much wants him dead.

A few days pass, and it's determined by the Salmonid medics that Corey's arm isn't healing. Instead, it's getting worse. With the little bit of Salmonid language he's picked up, Corey doesn't fully believe them. It was just a bite and an explosion, how bad could it be- OH GOODNESS, OH SHOOT, I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO DESCRIBE THIS. And so the decision is made the amputate Corey's very clearly dead arm. Without anesthesia. One of the medics promptly bites off Corey's arm just above his elbow, and Corey passes out from the shock.

Corey later wakes up to a wrap around where his arm used to be, accepting this as preferable to dying. It's a few more days of recovery, and Corey is untied and allowed to leave the bed. He now walks and runs with a permanent limp from the explosion, but he's able to move around. He's shown around what he later learns is a hidden Salmonid village. Not everyone there is happy he's there, however, and more than a couple of times, a Salmonid will try to bite at him as he passes by. Corey walks on eggshells around everyone, scared that one wrong move will wind him up on a dinner plate. It's one afternoon that he spots a Scrapper having trouble repairing its shield and goes over to help fix it. Corey is successful, and more Salmonids start to see his usefulness in the village. He's given the role of fixing various Salmonid technology around the place, mainly from Salmonids who return from Salmon Runs. In exchange, Corey is given food and shelter. He's not sure how long he'll be seen as useful, but he's determined to make that last as long as possible. Meanwhile, the Steelhead general and a few others journey to the center of the Spirhalite Islands to pick up a seasoned salt crystal from the giant Power Egg resting deep within the islands. This specific crystal has been struggling to grow to maturity on its own, but the Salmonids believe that, with the right host to incubate it, the crystal can not only thrive but also be a way for the village to keep in touch with the Power Egg. And the Steelhead general has just the perfect applicant for this in mind: Corey.

Oh, I guess it's my turn. My name is Monica. I'm Number 8 of the Elite Octobeak Squadrons, but now I'm currently Agent 8. I used to be an enemy of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. However, after I was tricked into traveling back in the past to the Great Turf War and ventured through the Deepsea Metro, I officially became Agent 8.

I grew up in the capital of the Octarian Empire, called Octopolis City. My mother was a soldier in the local army. After my father was killed trying to protect a Zapfish from Agents 1 and 2, my mother had an arranged marriage to my stepfather, and I was introduced to my stepbrother, Eddison. We did NOT get along at all. We were constantly fighting. This hatred towards each other continued after our city's dome was destroyed and we became two of the first volunteers for the Genetically Modified Octoling Project.

On my 14th birthday, the late Agent 4, named Maya, invaded Octopolis City, stole the weapons we now know as the three Hero Shots, and caused mass chaos. Combined with already failing infrastructure, so many innocents died that day... My own mother was fatally stabbed by Maya in an attempt to protect me from the rogue agent's rampage. Thanks to her sacrifice, I was able to escape before the whole dome collapsed, but for a year and a half I resented the Inklings...

Fast forward a year and a half, and Eddison was sent out to assassinate Maya. I, meanwhile, had the joy of tracking down her two apprentices, Jewel and Derek, capturing them, and bringing them back to the current capital of the Octarian Empire, New Octopolis City. For the next month, I and my two underlings, Alecs and Kimberly, clashed with Jewel, Derek, and the new Agent 4, Autumn. Once we momentarily captured Autumn, but ultimately lost when we three Octolings fell into Octo Canyon's ink lake, and Jewel and Derek won the fight for Autumn's freedom.

Sometime after Derek's capture and eventual rescue, I was sent into the past the change the outcome of the Great Turf War in the Octarians' favor. However, I wasn't aware that the changes would cause the other agents to make their own trip back in time to stop me from altering the timeline. Jewel was captured by the Octarians upon her arrival, while Derek and Autumn were found by the Inkadian army. Eventually, a raid on our fortress happened, and Autumn and Derek freed Jewel, reuniting her with the other agents. I, on the other tentacle, remained with the Octarians, and waited out the Great Turf War so I could strike and cause the necessary alterations so the Octarians could win. I ignored the agents' warnings that this would somehow cause my death - I was only focused on finding a way to get my mother back. However, I really should've listened to them, and I was snatched up and used as a power source for a new version of one of the Great Octoweapons - the Octostomp! Once the agents defeated this Neo Octostomp and saved me, the four of us found a way to travel back to the newly fixed present, which had changed back to the Inklings being victorious.

After that, Jewel, Autumn, Derek, and I fell into a hole during a fight. I lost my memory, and unofficially became Agent 8. The four of us traveled through the Deepsea Metro together and cleared various trials to obtain the Four Thangs...which created a giant blender and almost turned the four of us into a delicious sanitization smoothie. We all escaped, but not before Jewel, Autumn, and Derek got sanitized while I hopped on another train to find help. I got into a fight with them, regained my memories, helped undo their sanitization, and begrudgingly joined a temporary truce with the agents until we got to the surface. Our return to Inkopolis City was put on hold when Commander Tartar launched an attack. We were ultimately victorious, and I moved in with Jewel, Derek, and Autumn in the apartment we all lived in at the time.

We had a bunch of more adventures together before the invasion on Inkopolis City. I'd rather not talk about that right now, too many painful memories - and I mean literally painful, it REALLY hurt - even if it did ultimately save the New Squidbeak Splatoon from certain death.

There's more I'd like to tell you about, like what happened to my stepbrother Eddison after the invasion, but I think that should be saved for another time. Thanks for letting me talk about myself! I'll see you next time!

Apparently I’ve never shared this fact online before, (at least not on my still-currently-active accounts), but every year, I have a tradition of redrawing the first artwork I ever did of my sona on the day I first incepted her. Seeing the same artwork evolve through the years is beautiful, and it’s reassuring to see that, even when you feel like you’ve gotten stagnant, you are always improving.

Heya! I'm Evelyn, but you can call me Hunter! I'm the new Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. I'm originally from Splatsville, but I live in Inkopolis City now, and have been for the past six years.

I first came to Inkadia during a small vacation my family took when I was 8 years old. We were a part of a small tourist group from the Splatlands, and this was me and my four siblings' first time in Inkadia. We had a great time! We went all over Inkopolis City. I specifically remember going to The Shoal in Inkopolis Square in our guided tour group. I didn't realize at the time, but I met Jewel, Autumn, Derek, and Monica briefly as they were leaving and we were entering. The next morning, however...well that was a different story.

Inkopolis City was attacked by a massive Octarian army. In the scramble for the tourist group to escape back to Splatsville before anyone got hurt, I got separated from my parents and my siblings, and was trapped in the crossfire. I saw MANY things an eight-year-old shouldn't have to ever see before the New Squidbeak Splatoon could arrive...

In the chaos, I was saved from certain death by Derek. I and many other lost or orphaned children got placed in the care of a local daycare, where we waited in fear of what would happen to us as we took shelter. Unfortunately, the New Squidbeak Splatoon was ultimately unsuccessful in fighting off the Octarians, and the whole of Inkopolis City fell under their control. Hammerhead Bridge was destroyed in the process, under the orders of DJ Octavio and Skylar Rose, the leader of the genetically modified Octolings, and all transportation between Inkadia and the Splatlands was practically impossible for a couple of years until the bridge was fixed. I lost all contact with my family that day.

Once DJ Octavio was dethroned and went into hiding after Skylar Rose took over the domes, Inkopolis City slowly regained its freedom. It took a couple years for the city to heal, and Inkling-Octoling relationships were strained for a while. Some of the soliders didn't want to accept that they were supposed to surrender. There was also The Thing, who had originated in the Octarian domes and was now causing problems in Inkopolis, and let me tell you from my firsthand experiences with it that it loved causing chaos.

Adjusting to living in Inkopolis City from Splatsville was also hard. I moved in with Captain Cuttlefish shortly after the soldiers began either leaving or settling in as citizens after defecting. During my stay with him, I discovered a journal left behind by Maya, the former Agent 4. I began reading it as a comfort, and actually learned some combat skills from it. I also started going to school in Inkoplis, and ended up meeting some of my best friends: Abigail, Brian and his twin sister Emma, Cleo, and Dae. I'd tell you about our adventures together, but I think I've kept you all for too long. Thanks for hanging out with me, I enjoyed it! I hope you did too! See ya around!

Would you rather:

Fight a tough group of Octarians and Octolings?

or

Fight a tough group of Salmonids?

(you can’t choose neither btw :p)

Jewel, Derek, and Monica: Salmonids

Autumn: Oct- wait what-

*POOF!*

Autumn: OH SHARKBAIT!

Jewel: Get off me, I can't see!

Derek: Hey wait, why didn't we get weapons for this? And wait, where's Hunter and Stitches-

Monica: Well, Kirb never said we get weapons to do this with, so I guess it's hand-to-hand combat!