Octotroopers are Octarian fighters that are the basic front-line infantry units of the Octopus Army, and pose little threat to the player individually; but often appear in large groups and/or accompanying more dangerous foes, such as the Twintacle Octotrooper or Octosniper.
Appearance
Octotroopers appear to be single tentacles with green eyes with purple rings and purple-lipped mouths, with tiny legs. Their tentacles are red on the top, and white on the bottom. They are most commonly seen riding a small, conical hovercraft with an ink shooter mounted on the front. However, they also sometimes appear on stationary, three-legged platforms that are much taller than the diminutive hovercrafts.
Battle
As the basic, front-line units of the Octopus Army, Octotroopers have extremely limited mental and physical abilities, especially individually.
In Splatoon
In combat, the Octotrooper is an unformidable enemy. Their main form of attack is firing slow-moving ink shots out of their weapons. These ink shots, while very easy to avoid, deal respectable damage, splatting the player in two shots. However, as a player can simply jump into their own ink to wash it off, the Octotrooper will only rarely have the chance to splat a player. Octotroopers tend to stand stationary while firing, making them easy to locate, and splat about as easily as a normal Inkling in multiplayer. They fire rather slowly, and due to their open, uncovered position atop the hovercraft they ride, they are a large target to hit. An Octotrooper can move with their hovercraft at about running pace, but only for pre-combat patrols--in combat they will advance more cautiously. Should a player vanish, the Octotrooper will move to the player's ink and use their gun to replace it with purple Octarian ink. As they do this, they will be distracted and vulnerable while focused on laying down friendly ink for them to traverse through, even smiling as they spread it about before advancing.
Agent 3 fighting two Octotroopers.
The Octotrooper's greatest weaknesses are its simple-mindedness and predictable tactics. An Octotrooper will take a very brief moment to even notice the player, and after the player vanishes they will become confused for a moment before returning to their duties, showing the Octotroooper, like a very young child, has not yet developed a concept of object permanence. Additionally, if the player throws a Splat Bomb, the Octotrooper will gape and stare at the bomb as it sails overhead, completely ignoring the chance to shoot the player. Mobile Octotroopers are smart enough to run from Splat Bombs once they land; however, at their slow speed this often doesn't get them out of harm's way, and, even worse, may cause them to fall off the level in their haste to flee. Octotroopers using the stationary platforms will simply stare at the bomb until it explodes.
In Splatoon 2
While Octotroopers are still among the least formidable foes an inkling will face (at least individually), they have been given new equipment and tactics for Splatoon 2's hero mode.
Firstly, basic Octotroopers (and all single-tentacle variants), now can deploy with either of two weapons: the same single-shot slow-flying ink gun from Splatoon 1 or a faster-firing variant with projectiles that bounce and roll instead of flying directly at the target. The weapon equipped to an octotrooper is now clearly indicated by the design of their hovercraft or turret: the body is made from what appears to be a blue recycling bin for the traditional straight-shooting gun, but looks like a gumball machine loaded with pink gumballs for the rolling shots. Twintacle Octotroopers retain the classic silver look for their vehicles and emplacements, and receive a buff to HP relative to their single-tentacled brethren, as can be tested in the practice range by the Ammo Knights Enhancifier at the beginning of Octo Canyon.
Secondly, Octotroopers have improved AI, allowing them to spot an inkling by their ink being shot, a squid moving quickly in ink by their ripples, improving their targeting, and increasing the amount of time an inkling needs to hide before they let their guard down.
Trivia
- Sometimes, an Octotrooper (or group of Octotroopers) may teleport into a location near the player, usually as a scripted sequence. This can be easily observed in Level 1: The Octotrooper Hideout.
- Octotroopers are versatile, general-purpose opponents, so they can be deadly despite their weakness as individuals.
Types
In addition to the basic Octotrooper, the Octopus Army has created several variants on the basic Octotrooper model for more specialized tasks:
- Turret Octotrooper - Octotroopers placed on tall, stationary swivel turrets in strategic locations instead of their standard-issue hovercraft. Often seen on small, moving, upside-down or uninkable platforms, where an Octotrooper on a standard hovercraft could easily fall off or otherwise be forced out of their strategic position.
- Shielded Octotrooper - Octotroopers with large riot shields on the front of their hovercraft or turret. In Splatoon, this shield blocks all attacks and must be circumvented; in Splatoon 2 these shields can be destroyed with large quantities of ink, though it is often more effective to simply circumvent the shield as in the previous game.
- Snorkel Octotrooper - Octotroopers with snorkel masks. Can hide in octarian ink and surface for a surprise attack.
- Twintacle Octotrooper - Elite Octotroopers with two tentacles, one dedicated to mashing the fire button. Have rapid-fire capabilities.
- Octo Paratrooper* (Speculative Name) - Octotroopers with balloons attached to their hovercraft, allowing them to deploy from the air, floating down safely to the ground. These balloons sometimes hold items (usually salmon eggs), which can be collected if and when the balloon is popped, in which case they are orange and bear the usual GrizzCo markings of other balloons in Hero Mode. Otherwise, they are green and printed with a tentacle pattern in a slightly darker shade of green. If the Octarian attached to the balloon is popped, the balloon will float upward until it disappears, leaving only a short window to shoot it and collect any contents therein. (Other units, notably Octopods, have also been seen using the same balloon-based deployment strategy)
- Octohopper - Octohoppers that jump up and down and pour ink onto players like a Slosher.
*Only appear in Splatoon 2
These variant types can be further mixed and matched as needed to provide further tactical versatility to Octarian forces. The following mixes can be seen seen in Hero Mode:
- Shielded Turret Octotrooper
- Twintacle Turret Octotrooper
- Shielded Twintacle Octotrooper
- Snorkel Twintacle Octotrooper
Names in Other Languages
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | タコトルーパー Tako Torūpā |
Octopus Trooper |
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