Are you feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?
As those of you playing Splatoon know, every time you boot up the game, you are spawned in a plaza called Inkopolis. It resembles real-life Shibuya Crossing a little bit:
Here, players have access to Splatoon’s many shops and modes. What makes Inkopolis cool is that it’s populated by other players, too. You can also walk up to anyone you want, and the game will show you two things: what that person is wearing, and what that person has drawn on Miiverse:
This is where things get kind of silly. Splatoon players are referencing a few key things in mass numbers, resulting in Splatoon-specific memes. You’ve got obvious jokes, like ones about being a kid or a squid, or jokes about ink. Players are also turning pretty much every popular franchise you can name into Squid Kids. But, overwhelmingly people reference one thing: Spongebob Squarepants, the Nickelodeon cartoon about a a goofy, optimistic sea sponge and his cast of friends. One of these friends includes an octopus called Squidward. He is the guy on the left here:
Squidward is defined by a few things: he’s cynical, he’s pretentious, and is just an overall party pooper. You wouldn’t think he would fit in in a cheery world like that of Splatoon—he’d probably hate it! But players are drawing him EVERYWHERE anyway. Here are some of the many Squidward Miiverse posts I’ve seen in Splatoon so far, plus some general Spongebob jokes, too:
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
every splatoon meme in one place pic.twitter.com/FJLtZEPh3i
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 31, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
What makes Splatoon’s obsession with Squidward particularly hilarious is that he’s not even a squid to begin with. But I won’t be a Squidward about that—I actually quite like seeing Squidward everywhere, as I used to watch Spongebob almost daily as a kid.
In any case, Squidward is of course not the only thing you’ll find in Splatoon. Here are some of the best Miiverse drawings, period, that I’ve seen while playing Splatoon or that other people have shared on social media:
素晴らしいセンスだ #スプラトゥーン pic.twitter.com/djdCFMnYJ3
— くらっち/暫くお休み (@kurattikyo) May 29, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/605371221388070913
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) June 1, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) June 1, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) June 1, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) June 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/605153321507155968
https://twitter.com/embed/status/605148475429298176
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 31, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604713089490153472
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604984909514608640
Ha. http://t.co/yUxaYFEm6W pic.twitter.com/UBGG3nkYLV
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 31, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604777145357987841
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 30, 2015
Priorities! #Splatoon @xpatriciah pic.twitter.com/urv07Xyltr
— Mark Lawson (@Born2beSlicker) May 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604564203777622017
I've been playing splatoon for like an hour and have already found sonic fanart pic.twitter.com/oaxaoV58v4
— ✿ nina freeman ✿ (@PersocomNina) May 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604492676176609281
https://twitter.com/embed/status/604421645604773888
— Patricia Hernandez (@xpatriciah) May 29, 2015
