Splatoon is a series known for its aquatic anthropomorphic characters. From octolings to squid kids and salmonoids, the lobbies and towns are filled with fish-adjacent friends, as well as a couple of mammals here and there. Splatoon 3 is no different, bringing back some familiar faces and some new ones.
Some of Splatoon 3's most creative designs go into the shopkeepers of Splatsville. Unlike the superstars such as Deep Cut that fit into the octoling and squidling category, the shopkeepers tend to be more unique. They are based on real sea creatures, though their anthropomorphized designs may make some fans not recognize this.
Harmony And Mr. Coco
Harmony is the shopkeeper of Hotlantis, where players can purchase items to decorate their lockers in Splatoon 3. Among the shopkeepers, she is one of the most difficult to place in terms of what sea creature she is supposed to be. However, Harmony has been confirmed as a sea anemone, as her pink hair emulates how the creatures look. Her companion is a clownfish, which are fish that typically make sea anemones their home. According to HaikaraWalker, a Japanese art book about Splatoon, the clownfish has turned gray and is dying from neglect.
Mr. Coco is a shoe shopkeeper and far easier to place among sea creatures. He is based on the coconut crab. Like his in-game design, coconut crabs are enormous. In real life, they can be a variety of colors. Due to their size, their only natural predators are humans and other coconut crabs. Unfortunately, their species is considered vulnerable due to over-hunting and habitat loss.
Sheldon And Jel La Fleur
Sheldon has been the weapons shopkeeper since the original Splatoon. He can be quite hard to identify, but it is the top of his head that reveals he is a horseshoe crab. While the "shell" aspect may be a play on the word for ammunition, it can also be a play on the shells horseshoe crabs have. Unlike horseshoe crabs, Sheldon is missing the 10 eyes that his real-life counterparts have. It's possible he's hiding the other eight under his clothes.
Jel La Fleur, who oversees a clothing store, resembles many of the jellyfish people that can be found around in the Splatoon series. They walk around the main squares and can be seen in the backgrounds of various stages. Most cannot speak inkling but Jel La Fleur is one exception. As for what particular jellyfish they may be based on, that is unknown.
Gnarly Eddy And Murch
Gnarly Eddy runs the headgear shop, and he is a nautilus. Unlike some other shopkeepers, this makes Gnarly Eddy more closely related to the inkling races since he is a type of mollusk. Nautili are most known for their spiraled shells. Interestingly, they also have far more tentacles than squids or octopi, having about 90 thin ones altogether.
Murch is a banded sea urchin. His hair mimics the black spines of sea urchins, even adding the iconic bands they have. Banded sea urchins typically are a mixture of yellow and black colors, so Murch's orange skin color may be a reflection of that yellowness. His species is also known to have nasty venomous stings.
Other Splatsville Creatures
Outside the shopkeepers, there are some other interesting faces in Splatsville. Staff characters like Marigold are goldfish. The top of their heads and color scheme particularly resemble Ranchu goldfish, which are sometimes kept as pets in fish tanks.
Cap'n Cuttlefish, who peaks his head out in Splatsville at the beginning of story mode is based on real cuttlefish. His beard is meant to resemble the mollusk's tentacles. He is the grandfather of Callie and Marie, who are squidlings, which means either that families in Splatoon can compromise on more than one sea creature type or Callie and Marie were adopted.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.
