(I know I said I wouldn't be doing a manifesto for the next job but there was a longer break between fighters than I thought there would be and I couldn't help myself.)
Job #105: DJ Octavio D-D-D-Drops the Sea Bass!!!
Who is DJ Octavio?
A good video game protagonist is nothing without their respective villain. Mario has Bowser, Donkey Kong has King K. Rool, Link has Ganondorf, Samus has Ridley, Fox has Wolf, Cloud has Sephiroth, and the list goes on. DJ Octavio is the Yin to the Inkling's Yang, being the head honcho behind the events of both Splatoon, and Splatoon 2. In the first game he develops an army of Octarians to rise up against the Bourgeoisie Inklings, and steals their zapfish to bring electricity to his people. While Cap'n Cuttlefish and Agent 3 are able to squash his attempts at revolution, and imprison him inside a snowglobe, he manages to somehow escape before the events of Splatoon 2. Agent 4 and Marie then discover that DJ Octavio, Callie, and the Great Zapfish are missing once again in the events of Splatoon 2 and go on another campaign to find them. With the help of the power of the Calamari Inkantation, Marie is able to free Callie from the control of DJ Octavio and his hypnoshades, and he is defeated and imprisoned once again. While DJ Octavio may not have the most complex role in the first two splatoon games, pieces of lore are hidden around the Splatoon universe which hint at a deeper significance for Octavio.
Sunken Scroll #16 in Splatoon 1 shows that not only were Cap'n Cuttlefish and Octavio counterparts of sorts, but that Octavio also had a human form, being one of two confirmed male octarians to have a human form. DJ Octavio's return in Splatoon 2 suggests that not only will his backstory be expanded on in future installments, but that DJ Octavio is here to stay, and become the Inkling's main nemesis.
Presence in Smash:
DJ Octavio is present as an advanced primary spirit in Smash, with an enhanceable form, Octobot King (the name of him in his mech) also present as an ace primary spirit. Nothing outstanding about it, but Sakurai is more than aware of him, giving him two different spirits.
His Splatoon 1 boss battle theme is also present as a music track in Ultimate. However,
his splatoon 2 boss theme is not, which is a real shame. It's one of my favorite themes in all of splatoon. The
theme when his boss battle starts to turn in your favor in Splatoon 2 is also not present, which again is a massive shame. So while he definitely has presence in Ultimate, showing his significance, there's plenty more to add to justify his inclusion.
Furthermore, his octarian army is very lacking in the spirit department. The standard Octoling Grunt (different than the playable Boy and Girl) is the only one of his units present, so we could properly represent the Octarian side of splatoon with his inclusion, and the spirits that come alongside him.
Function in Smash as a Heavy Weight:
DJ octavio is his octopus form may not qualify for the class of heavyweight, but this is where one of his greatest strengths come in. Like in both Splatoon Boss Battles, DJ Octavio would fight from within his mech, giving him not only the weight required for this job, but uniqueness to set him apart from other heavy set fighters. DJ Octavio would have a weight of
125 placing him below King Dedede and Donkey Kong, but above Ganondorf. Obviously his mech would be quite heavy, but due to its nature of levitation it wouldn't be as heavy as possible. Most of the current super Heavies fight mainly with their fists/claws or standard weapons, like King Dedede, but DJ Octavio would fight in a very different manner, using his mech to throw missiles and bombs, send out spinning fists, potentially summon octarians, and other mech related activities. DJ Octavio however still has the ability to attack opponents himself, utilizing his wasabi sticks to spice up the battle, in potential attacks like Pummels, Tilts, and Aerials.
What's that? You don't think the Octobot King alone gives DJ Octavio enough unique attributes? Well, worry no more, as there's quite a simple solution at hand. Given DJ Octavio is the general of the Octarian army, it makes sense that he would be able to modify his mech in a smash appearance to incorporate attacks done by all the other bosses in the Splatoon series as well. Want bread attacks? The
Octo Oven's got you covered. Need a unique recovery? The
Octo Shower's got you covered. Want Spin attacks? The
Rampaging Octowhirl's got you covered. Needless to say across every Octarian Boss found across both of Splatoon's campaign, DJ Octavio has more than enough moveset potential.
Potential Issues Addressed:
Do We Really Need another Splatoon character?
Splatoon is one of Nintendo's most valued recent IP's, and our selection of fighters should reflect that. While we've added an echo fighter from Splatoon in the form of Octoling, we still only have one fighter, one assist, and one stage from the series. DJ Octavio would be a villain from the series as well, setting him apart from Inkling and Octoling, and representing the enemy faction of the Splatoon series. Furthermore, Splatoon has even joined the ranks of Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing as an S tier Nintendo franchise, as shown by this
promotional art for the official Nintendo Tokyo store. Splatoon is even maintaining a strong presence on the switch, with a full fledged sequel, Splatoon 3, announced in the last Nintendo Direct. The announcement was also the closer for the direct, which is an honor shared by other prestigious games such as BotW 2 and Smash fighter reveals. The Splatoon series as a whole has also already sold more than the Star Fox, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade Chronicles, and soon to pass the Metroid series, with Splatoon only having 2 games under its belt.
His Mech is too big!!!!
While I agree that if carried over directly from Splatoon his mech wouldn't make for the best fighter, it doesn't have to be transferred over one to one. As Shown with Ridley fighters can be shrunk down, and other fighters such as Dedede show that smash incarnations of characters are capable of having unique elements. DJ Octavio himself wouldn't even need to be shrunk down, only his mech, which can be explained as him making a new mech for Smash. Bowser Jr. Shows that Mech characters are possible, and
pieces of fan art like this one show that DJ Octavio specifically can work in a mech as well.
Wouldn't He be to similar to Min Min?
While DJ Octavio's Mech does have extending spring Arms, not unlike the ones found in the ARMS universe, he wouldn't have to rely on these, or even use them for hardly any attacks at all. The Boss Battles and Mechanics found in the Splatoon universe provide more than enough potential for DJ Octavio to not have to be Min Min 2.0. I see his fists being used for a grab, and possibly one standard attack, and thats really all that would need to be present, since he has lots of other moveset potential to pull from. Furthermore, given that he would be operating with a new mech, it wouldn't beu nreasonable to nerf the distance that his mech's fist extended, making the comparison to Min Min almost null in the first place.
There aren't enough Ink Colors left to set him apart from Inkling and Octoling!
First of all, there most definitely are enough
ink colors. Additionally, since DJ Octavio doesn't transform, presumably wouldn't have an ink meter, and wouldn't be representing the Turf War side of splatoon, he may not even need an ink mechanic as versatile as Inkling and Octoling have in the first place. It would be up to whoever designs the moveset to determine how much ink is involved in his moveset, but I don't see running out of ink colors as a limiting factor for Octavio's inclusion.
Final Arguments:
1. Splatoon is an extremely profitable and relevant IP
2. Splatoon only has one unique fighter compared to lesser selling series like Star Fox and Fire Emblem, which have 3 and 6 (soon to be 7) unique fighters respectively
3. DJ Octavio's mech would set him apart from other super heavyweights in terms of both play style and appearance
4. We've yet to have a newcomer villain (unless you count Waluigi), and Splatoon is possibly the biggest first party series left without an antagonist playable.
5. He's a dubstep using Octopus DJ (need I explain myself further?)
Cool Fanart: