Splatoon Fanart By NeoJay

2 new wpn classes

Juggernaut - water jug hammer

Turf board - hover board / surf board with water jets

Double sided Markatana - jotter class lightweight fusion. Attacks faster and swings twice but does half the damage of the original.

(Markatana 2.0 reworked incoming since we now know how swords work in Splat)

Bubble bands - working concept for “gloves” / dauber wpns. Unconfirmed wpn as of now.

Pallet board - sub wpn concept for reflecting enemy projectiles. Unconfirmed.

Expired Octolings. Another look at the “zombie” theme for potential hero mode shenanigans. They would use bones and ink to create monstrous anomalies. Idea was too similar to the dlc enemies so it’s scrapped for now. Using this energy on “exolings” check other posts.

Light saber inspired hero markatana.

I don’t believe this is the first stage I’ve shown but sharing this concept because we might actually see something like it in the real game. I’ve scrapped my idea for an airport stage bc I thought it wasn’t splatoon appropriate but there’s yet another idea I liked that I can actually say I’m happy to see.

But back to this stage. This train station is huge and underground. Idk how safe battling would be here but for safety reasons let’s just imagine that when trains are arriving there’s a clear shield wall around the rails. When trains are gone you can still fall out of bounds though.

Light spoilers for DLC SIDE ORDER below. (Speaking of the general story)

Brief story time of bts hero shenanigans.

I’ve recently finalized a few facets of how I’d want the story to play out for sneo. The story has been under a few revisions over the years but in the last six months I think I’ve landed on something quite cool. Took my time thinking of ideas for my story so that Splatoon 3 could run its course and so that I wouldn’t have any overlap with cannon to the point I’m telling their story twice. And after finishing the dlc I’m now going back to the drawing board on some details.

Not sure if I’ve ever specified how the world of sneo compares to the cannon world but the universe of sneo (the neoverse I like to call it nowadays) is like an alternate timeline in a new dimension. So both sneo and cannon exist at the same times. Even tho sneo is slightly more futuristic, time works differently in the neoverse and the entire first story takes place and ends just moments before Octo expansion and beyond as of right now. This may all be kind of complicated to drop so suddenly but I do plan to explain all the cool bits when I get to covering the story. This worlds version of alterna logs are called “think pieces,” small cards that hold the knowledge of everything that happens around the neoverse.

I’d like to take this opportunity to go over a few of Splatoon neo’s scrapped storylines. Starting off with the one most closest to the current Splatoon cannon story.

1: “Homecoming”

“In this version of sneo story 1 the hero will come across databanks that detail the specifics of the universe they reside in. A world created by a long gone scientist that hoped to store souls inside a super computer called the “LOTUS” so that one day when the earth heals itself after the incoming devastation humans can return with a fresh slate to try life again without destroying the planet. The Lotus will be tasked with monitoring the planet for the next spiritually awakened intelligent life form to rise and humanity will live on again.

Someone in the real world (cannon) finds out about this device and hacks their way into it to use the power contained for their own nefarious acts. They promise a group of Octolings a better life and a do-over if they fight for his cause. The Octolings were easily on board as their leader was power hungry and would do anything to claim more turf. Little did they know that they would be an army fighting against their own best interests. At the end the Octoling army would be helping destroy their original world to make space for the return of humanity. This entity would use this group of Octolings to start trouble that leads to another global extinction of intelligent life. This biomass would then be modified by the Lotus and edited to reassemble human dna from scratch. “

This iteration of the story looks similar to alterna when it comes to humanities last ditch effort to survive. This story had too much back and forth between realities so the newer story will be much more simple and contained. Think of the lotus as a super computer that can simulate realities. It’s also based on fusing nature and technology. The lotus is so powerful that it can spawn constructs from within itself to the outside world if it has all the necessary matter. The greater villain would’ve used this technology to create an octoling anomaly that would go on to destroy the earth and collect back human dna from inklings / Octolings. Another similarly to tartar using agent 3 as a host body to go about their plans. There was also a huge focus on dna and GMO. Genetically modified Octolings would be a threat of Octolings that turn themselves into “super soldiers” for their cost. (Kinda like how color pallets work in side order)

A digital world and humans returning. It hit both marks but this inspired me for the better to create something more focused and not trying to explain “what should come next for a Splatoon 3.” Honestly shocked how I could’ve guessed the cannon story but back then I tried to make my story more of a “Splatoon 3” before Splatoon 3 existed. But overall I’m just glad to see the devs explore ideas I’ve once wished for. Really like a dream come true and s3 has my second favorite story mode of them all after Octo ex. (Close ties between all 5 don’t judge)

2: “Out of order”

“The neoverse inkopolis was overrun by chaos so bad that there had to be crack downs on turf wars. An octoling army gladly took the job of enforcing rules and curfews to please city officials. They were hypocritical and broke the same rules they enforced but higher ups didn’t seem to care. The hero fellow neighborhood watch gear up to figure out what’s going on in this city. They end up finding back to back scars of corporate greed. The city is so nice and clean because all of its trash goes underground into less fortunate habitats.

The hero finds out that the leader of the octoling army was bribing higher ups so that they could slowly take over the city without force. This octoling leader was universally feared and didn’t need to use brain washing to get their way. But they needed saving too. As fearsome as she is, she wasn’t immune from fearsome control themself.”

This version of the story played into fear vs respect heavily. We’d see the villain scare the city into submission while she figures out how she will save it from the entity that is above her. She’s like a trojan horse to the world and she hides in the deep sea, away from civilization in case she fails her mission and is turned into a weapon of destruction. As harsh as she may seem, she’s only following orders to keep whatever peace there is left to be had.

A lot of aspects of this version will return. Took me months to create a backstory of the new villain but she will probably get a post just like this one explaining all her scrapped stories and evolution. I really can’t wait to introduce her.

To not bore yall too much we will end things here for now. Now that splat 3 is pretty much complete with story for now I’m feeling a lot more confident telling the story I’m crafting now. Can’t lie, telling the same story as the cannon was a big fear of mine so I just stalled until things came out.

Splatoon neo is still alive. Unfortunately nowadays I find myself just sketching away and making complete works a lot less as you can tell. Hope this was a cool update for dlc time. As the storyline gets confirmed for sure I will try to make more text posts about it even if there’s no drawing to come with. I do plan on covering hero mode with a lot of drawings and possible 3d work if the artblock gods will let me. Could even be a comic covering it all.

Also decided to share this last thing. Splatoon neo will have more than one story once the first once is finished. It will probably take over the name “cross contamination” from that one sketch and be a direct sequel. It’s only been thought of for about a month so far so it’s still to early to spill details but heres some concepts of the new species I will introduce called “exolings” for now and a mystery inkling who shows up. They’re very “alien”-like in nature.

I’m nearly finished the complete plot of sneo hero story. Currently planning on how all my ideas will coincide with each other.

Hero: “Cross Contamination” - A sub plot that introduces Toxic Octolings and shows the failures of a scientist attempting to create genetically modified Octolings. Much like sanitized Octolings, the toxic octos have been contaminated and now show off zombie-like behaviors.

“Hero Team Up” - A pair of heroes on their night shift protecting the city. The left hero is physically exhausted from the mission. Neon Octolings shown carrying the new “Dauber Glove” weapons.

“Part time environmentalist” - Sketches for a story in which the main character works at a water plant facility. Currently scrapped idea as it introduced a convoluted storyline. Reworked into the Hero Night Shifts. (Protecting the Microbiome) “Water jug ink hammer” and “stream shot” seen as weapons. May be explored in the future.

“Tree Octoling Trio” - First concept for the Tree Octoling in the story. The hero will arrive to a zoo-like Forrest enclosure in search of a hidden treasure. The tree Octoling is protecting it, and has never seen an outsider before. Their natural instinct to protect their turf kicks in and a battle starts. Tree octopuses do not exist, but this one has been created in irony of that fact. They represent a successful genetic modification experiment by the scientist.

“Hype Mode” - A new mechanic that lets the player trade their heart for stat boosts. More details coming in the sneo mechanics updates.

Edit: this mechanic will be reworked into what we will call “flow state”

“Lock Jaws” - Splatoon Neo’s second official special. Will be seen after the “Supersize: Streamshot Deluxe” is shown off. The user summons a ghostly koinobori (carp/koi fish streamer ‘kite’.) The lock jaws which is made of holo ink swims through the air and surfaces to latch onto its target. Holo ink allows inklings to cast 3D projections of ink. It’s seen in many specials, but in this case, holo ink casts into a koi fish. Once locked, the enemy player will lose access to its special, sub weapon, and given negative effects such as dizziness and dillution. (Dillution makes you take more damage and deal less damage when affected)

“Turf Board” - New weapon class of surfboard + hoverboard weapons. It will be a usable method of transportation in battles. Comes with its own ink tank to let you “hover” from its fountain mechanism. Ink saver main will be your friend with this wpn as the hover mode will burn through ink. I haven’t finished the mechanics and balancing but I could see this letting you hover for at least 5 seconds. As a turfing weapon it can shoot out two streams of ink. The win animation will definitely look like how people dance with sign advertisements. Vehicles will show up in the “raceway” stage as obstacles you can drive around with ink like the turf board.

And finally,

“Neon Lotus” - Album cover concept 1. The twins have their final designs pretty much complete and they have a few songs in the works already. Their album vibe is inspired by old school sonic graphics. Surprisingly it’s harder for me to create songs for the twins vs ultramarine. It’s about 4 to 6 in difference. I’m definitely a perfectionist to neon lotus but I’m sure they’ll come out great. Over time I’ll be sharing more audio clips for both bands songs.

Splatoon Neo - Hero Mode: Cross Contamination (Concept)

As the hero is starting to get used to their surroundings, their journey leads them into a wasteland. This abandoned area used to be called home by many. Now the location is off limits to the average person as it has become where all the waste, trash, and toxic materials of the surface world ends up.

You must be saturated in ink to even withstand the harsh conditions down there. Without your ink mucus protecting you, you’d undoubtedly breathe in lethal materials. And even after all of that, you’re not the only thing “alive” down there… Unwelcoming, glowing red eyes stare back at you from the shadows. Unveiled to be infected octopus creatures that can barely hold themselves up- like zombies. Being an outiser, you activate their fight or flight response and in an instant they’re attacking you as an army. No longer slow and sluggish, but equal in athleticism to the hero.

Your Captain assures you there’s no brain activity detected in these creatures. Their theory is that these Octolings have been contaminated by standing water. They look familiar to ones he’s faced before but not quite. Collect “think pieces” and the Biologist will explain what’s happening.

—

Author’s Notes:

Here’s our first look at world 2 of story mode. After you win the treasure map from the carnival of world 1 you’d end up here. The general order of story mode is finished so I’ll be sharing sketches as I confirm plot points. This area has no name yet but it is the Neoverse (Splatoon Neo universe) equivalent of a Octoling colony such as Octo Valley. With each world the story gets more convoluted. This section will show the failures of genetic modification experiments and the failure of a world that portays itself as green and clean. The vibe is very different from world 1 but they connect on the theme of environmental hazards. Will share the designs of the Octolings found in this area once I decide on a name for their “species”

“Neighborhood Watch” - Concept for Hero mode Protagonist

Story Demo:

In this world, Octolings way of life now would be threatened by a change coming from forces which they have little understanding of. In order to not lose everything they have some players will work in teams of 4 to watch over the city by night. As in, there will be a future concept for a hero multiplayer mode. It’s still a fresh idea in my mind but I wanted to share it because it sounds cool and I like how multiple agents look working together. The main goal of the hero force would be to keep unauthorized tech off the steets for the safety of turf wars. The protagonist will work with an outsider that knows and recognizes Octoling tech well to get to the source. (Which will be the main hero mode missions)

I sketched these two while brainstorming for the hero mode story I wanna tell. Agent number reserved for their proper introduction but I’m sure it’s not hard to guess. The protagonist is kinda rhe embodiment of the whole cities want for survival. So one “number” that represents all numbers.

They’re waiting to receive the location of the next enemy sighting from their leader. I imagine they’d stake-out and travel through a cityscape much like spider-man for their overworld missions. Orange looks good as default ink colors, but I can see the Hero rocking Black ink a lot of the times especially for the fact that the octoling’s hairstyle is based off of ferrofluid using my previously explained tentacle/hair techniques.

I’m torn between how I want to represent the agent as one main default look (the way all the others are just the default hairstyle mainly) The inkling girl to the right would be the more traditional way to do things. Chances are I might represent the heroes in both genders as a duo team and maybe even do both Octolings seeing as the story has big plots stemming from Octoling history. Most of the hero concepts i drew are an Octoling girl which I’ll be sharing over time. The Octoling boy above gives the stern energy of agent 3 with the spiky hair and I really like that about his design so chances are he will be the main male agent.

Introducing the brand new Markatana! Make your mark by slashing through your enemies!

Introducing the Shower Slosher, a XL bucket that’ll leave opponents drenched in your ink!

https://youtu.be/i8Ksxs_bAk8