the mario movie has made my creative juices FLOW and i gotta write down my ideas while its still flowin

introducting; the splatoon movie!

takes insp from the mario movie except we can stick a bit closer to the source material since theres a perfectly good story to adapt right there!

> heros journey; three starts of struggling to fit in, constantly losing turf war and anarchy battles and feeling that they're not good enough. has trouble working with weapons and is having a hard time getting fresh enough to get better gear, they're dejected but they keep trying (kinda like how mario hates being seen as small and doesnt know when to quit, which helps him in the final fight against bowser)
> also doesnt want to be an agent at the start, and does not like the work at all. this changes through the movie as their skills improve and they bond with cap'n, and by the end they want to stay an agent. they want to keep helping inkopolis is something like that were to happen again

> music would be a large part of it and would obviously be tied into the story. any music used would not be generic pop songs oh no. we'd get new covers of the classic splatoon songs, and maaaaybe some official english covers of certain ones (specifically the 2 final boss themes because they'd be special enough, but maybe also the turf war themes too idk). keeping them in inklish/octarian tho would be funny (but people would probably complain that "the music was all gibberish and i couldnt understand a thing, ruined the experience for me." despite the fact that thats the point. its a language only the characters can understand >:/ )

> certain things like the dialogue during missions and stuff would have something to replace the text box, to show who's talking when they're not visible. something based on their icons probably, but animated alongside the text


INTRO
> we'd start similarly with a look into the villains domain, except theres a major change with how they're portrayed (bowser is a bad guy, that much is clear from his intro. i, however, wanna do something different with octavio that they probably wouldnt do; paint him in a more sympathetic light. he's still in the wrong, but you'd be able to see that he thinks this is the best and that theres no other option)
> a glimpse into the domes. we'd see different octarians doing their thing, some are training, some are working on fixing things. the lights flicker as power goes out for a moment, before coming back on. the lights dim significantly (during this part we could have a few cameos of confirmed dome octos in the background, like dedfish, marina, eight, etc). we follow an elite octoling (shown by the kelp attached to their googles) as they rush through and make their way to what we can assume is a castle of sorts. they make their way to the throne room or whatever and give their report about some of the domes failing power and stuff. we'd see only a tiny glimpse of octavio, most likely a tentacle on his throne or something as he listens and then dismisses the octarian. they bow/salute/whatever and leave, and we shift to one of the other octos in the room who asks octavio what they're gonna do. we see that specific scarred tentacle, probably curled in a thinking pose, as he responds. we swap to a tv/screen whatever that changes from whatever it previously had on, to a grainy image of the great zapfish. swap back to octavio, this time we see his face shaded, eyes glowing and vibrant against the darkness, as he says... something about taking what they deserve or something along those lines. back to the zapfish image, close up on the zapfish as it transitions into the next scene

ACT 1
> next scene would maybe be a recreation of the original intro scene, showing off different parts of inkopolis before the camera swivels to the train. it pulls in, and several species of sea life including several inklings rush out. and last to come out, looking nervous and awestruck at the same time, is 3. the rest of act one would be all about 3 getting acclimated to inkopolis.

> the audience would get put into 3's shoes as we're introduced to the world through their eyes. theres some commotion and 3 asks one of the inklings near them whats going on. they respond with "the next turf war is about to start!" 3's like "..whats that??" the shocked inkling then drags 3 to it saying they'll show them! we then get a bunch of gorgeous cinematic shots as a turf war starts. basically making it look even more intense then the actual gameplay, like what they did with the mario movie

> when it ends 3 is all... how to i play?? and we get some exposition, they gesture to the big screen in the square and we get some squid sisters telling us the next maps and what time the battle starts and stuff, and the inkling pushes 3 into ammo knights. sheldon would give more expostion, give us our first "...you dont seem fresh enough for most of these, so i can only really offer you a splattershot jr! perfect for beginners such as yourself!" and then we'd get a montage of 3 in several matches as they try and get the hang of it. they fail spectacularly. at the end as the sky starts to darken they walk out of the lobby dejected, and make their way back to their apartment. we'd get a shot of the lobby, as the octarian ufo makes its way out. the scene would pan to the sewer cover, as cuttlefish watches on with some murmurs of "..not good.. not good at all.."

ACT 2
> 3 wakes up to very loud noises outside. they make their way out quickly, trying to ask someone near them whats going on only to be ignored, everyone being too loud to make out any clear sentences before the crowd falls quite, the large screen changing from whatever ad it was to the usual squid sisters news jingle. this is where we get the usual "the great zapfish is missing!" broadcast but with the added twist that "all turf wars and ranked matches are postponed until further notice" which causes chaos to resume. as 3 tries to do.. something, their eyes lock onto cap'ns as they notice him through the crowd, watching them from the sewer. 3 looks confused, looking away for a moment and looking back only for cap'n to disappear. everyone starts to disperse and 3 makes their way over, glancing around for a sec and looking down at the pipe, before changing to their swim form and making their way down. could probably have some cool pipe animation here idk.

> now we in octo valley! some cinematic shots of the domes and stuff as 3 looks around, until they come face to face with cap'n and get a bit of a fright, quickly stepping back. he goes into his usual agent spiel (except because nintendo, most likely the main branch and not the american or localized ones, would be in on this, we'd get stuff thats a lot closer to the japanese version of splatoon rather than the localized! so no squid racism for gramps) and recruits 3 on the spot and finally bestows onto them the title "Agent 3" (up until this point they are either nameless or just havent had a name said yet, as to keep with them being referred to by their agent number. if push comes to shove we can refer to them as Sango, grab that from their future dj-ing). 3 is.. hesitant, but is quickly thrust into a training level of sorts to get them situated. basically so cap'n isnt just throwing them in the deep end, it'd be a repurposed kettle filled with training dummies and a plush zapfish at the end. we'd probably get a bit of a training montage as it takes 3 a few attempts to get the hang of it, but they finally manage to get to the zapfish and "save" it. they are then thrust into the real deal, and come face to face with their first real octarian. they make their way through the level, with several close calls, but make it in the end. they're obviously tired and panting, and when they ask cap'n how many more times they gotta do it, he gestures to the vast amount of kettles, leading to 3 to groan. they'd go through more offscreen with some kind of transition in the background to show time moving forward, and we'd get back to them as they're making their way to a boss kettle.

> either at this point or a little before, or maybe later on, we'd go back to octavio as he watches this little squirt make their way through the kettles. probably some smart little quip about seeing how they like this with some dj-ing references sprinkled in, as he presses a button and calls for whoever he's speaking to "get the wasabi supply unit onto preparing and reactivating the great octoweapons."

> also before this point or at some point idk, we'd get some exposition from gramps. he'd basically tell us stuff we learn about from the scrolls (either started by 3 asking about him, or finding one of said scrolls and getting cap'n to ramble on about it). actually this might be good to have around the third or fourth bosses, so we can get that mic drop of cap'n being in the war and his history with octavio, right before he's kidnapped by said octoling.

> anyways we'd get sections for all 4 octobosses, either split between acts 2 and 3, or all of 'em in act 3 with some sort of pacing to keep it from getting too rushed. (the fights would be spread out over a couple of days, with the same "turf wars are postponed" inbetween as 3 makes their way to the sewer grate each morning.) 3 is able to take them down with cap'n maybe telling them their weaknesses, or some short story about when he saw them during the great war that leads to 3 figuring out their weaknesses. after each boss is defeated (or maybe after the third or fourth) we'd go back to octavio who is ******. "who does this little upstart think they are, huh? ohoho if they want a real fight then i'll give 'em a real fight... get the octobot ready and the fish to the arena! we've got a concert to do" or something along those lines, basically prepping for his boss fight. this would maybe also finally be when we get a good look at octavio, though he's probably fairly shrouded in darkness so his details are bit hard to make out.

ACT 3
> this could then fade into the gramps exposition because maybe it fades from octavio to the photo of him and craig from the scrolls, specifically it'd do that thing where one detail remains pretty much the same between the fading of scenes and for this it'd be the helmet, basically meant to draw your attention to it and be like "hey... isnt that the same headpiece that octo guy was wearing?"

> after this three would be ushered to go and rest and prepare to take on the final few kettles. after they leave, however, is where we'd get a bit more canon divergence, as after cuttlefish watches them leave, a large shadow would be cast upon him as a familiar laugh rings out, with the phrase octavio says ingame when he kidnaps craig. craig would turn slightly, with some sort of dialogue about "knowing it was you", we see from craigs perspective the clearest image we've seen of octavio so far, before an elite gets in the way and craig is knocked out probably
(this scene would either be pretty short, or maybe we'd get some more exposition between craig and octavio referring to their shared history. if i could have it my way i'd make it so that craig shows genuine remorse for what happened, and almost gets octavio to stop, only to heck it up in the end (probably by saying that they won fair and square, or unintentionally mocking them in some way) and octavios previous resolve swiftly returning.)

> when 3 arrives the next day craig is nowhere to be seen, which confuses them for a moment, but the see a note that he left behind that says for them to go ahead, so they do just that. they finish up the last few kettles with some new, unfamiliar but also strangely familiar voices helping guide them through it (probably set up earlier idk i dont know how the main story goes for s1 between the recruiting and final boss), as the final boss kettle looms above them. they super jump to it (showing their skills have gotten way better since they first started) and they quickly enter the kettle, only for it to quickly fly away. and here we get the cinematic recreation of that final boss fight, with 3 standing met face to face with the great zapfish when they exit the respawner. they make a step towards it, only for craigs voice to call out to them from across the arena, saying not to get any closer and that its a trap. the mystery voices have their own little dialogue as 3 moves their focus from the tied up cap'n, back to the zapfish in front of them. only to get a fight when it's suddenly sucked up and away from them, and they watch in horror as it disappears into the giant mech hovering above them. lights on the mech start to go, as a voice calls out to the dome audience, and we get a slow pan as the mech moves to show 3 its pilot; dj octavio, leader of the octarians. final boss starts, and is a recreation of the game with some added twists. the phases would probably be shorter to fit the run time, and the voices helping 3 would be telling them to "hang on a little longer!" 3 would be confused but would continue on, dodging attacks, reflecting the fists with their ink, and hitting back the giant bomb in the worlds weirdest game of catch.

> but eventually, just as their fatigue is really starting to show, octavio halts. obviously confused, as his music has abruptly cut off. before he can say or do anything other than a "where mah beats?" or similar, a familiar tune would start playing and his posture would shift from confusion, to confusion, shcok, recognition, and some mystery emotion 3 (and the audience) cant quite pinpoint. we'd get cap'n breaking out of his restraints to dance, giving us the exposition of "that heavenly melody! its the one and only squid sisters!!" finally revealing the mystery voices identities. any exhaustion 3 previously felt is washed away as the song continues. we'd get a shot of the audience also being confused before the song is the only thing they know. another marina cameo here as she absolutely vibes to it, battle forgotten. back to octavio, as he too just barely holds himself from falling victim to the fresh beats, and he prepares to start attacking again. but he's distracted, unable to keep himself from dancing along to the beat, while 3 is focused and ready as ever. its a quick defeat

> either it'd go straight to the next scene or we'd get 3 and craig reuniting, craig telling them they've grown a lot since he first saw 'em, and then they'd talk about what to do next, eying the wreck of the octobot king as octavio lies dazed in the cockpit, and the great zapfish is making its way out with the bot now inactive and no longer keeping it in. and then fade to the next scene

> classic squid sisters broadcast, where instead of the "turf wars postponed" they say they're delighted to report, as you could probably see, that the great zapfish has returned! and that turf wars and ranked matches are finally back in session. they probably throw around some theory about it having disappeared as some sort of vacation before going back to their regular scheduled map rotations. we'd then swap back to octo valley, 3 returning after taking a good long rest, to the new addition of a snowglobe with the disheveled octarian shogun within it, next to cap'ns hut. we'd get that final bit of dialogue, including the "isnt he cute?" (because i am keeping that in and giving the gays a little crumb of "history says they were best friends (but they were totally lovers)". we'd maybe get something from craig like "now that thats all said and one, i suppose you'll be wanting to stop agent work and go do whatver kids these days are doing" only for 3 to vehemently disagree and say they wanna stay with the nss and keep doing whatever they can.

> if theres still time, or during the credits, we'd get to see 3 return to turf wars with their new hero shot replica (craig said they weren't allowed the real thing due to regulations and stuff, but that maybe they'd like the next closest thing) and get pitted against their teammates from earlier in the movie that put them down and stuff. 3 is absolutely ready to wipe the floor with them, using their new skills. and they easily do.

> post credits scene would either be the above, to give people the satisfaction of 3 finally overcoming their ****** teammates
> or it'd be octavio, either setting up for s2 with callie and marie visiting the thing and callie being her usual bubbly self, ending on octavio looking contemplative and then smirking or something (setting up her eventual kidnapping and "brainwashing")
> or it'd just be some hijinks of craig, 3, and octavio. giving us another side to our favourite vindictive octogramps (and showing that maybe, just maybe, he still cares for craig, even after all these years. linking back to previous scenes between the two if there were any that weren't cut for time)