Spoilers: Absolutely nothing. Inklings and Octolings only dissolve when they fall into a huge body of water, where there is more water than the ink in their body. For example, if they fall into the ocean, the ratio of water vs ink is like 99.99 to 0.001, so they dissolve. But if they just dip a finger in water, its harmless. How else would they drink soda and juice, which is just water with additives and fruit?

considering that they swim a bit before splattering when falling into water. i can imagine they have SOME resistance. but what i actually think would happen is kinda hard to describe. the part that got wet would be semi dissolved and be in a slimey state of the ink.

They actually have an organ in their body that reacts to pressure change from water causing it to expand to the point the inkling/octoling explodes; though its more around their waist/belly thats why they can dip limbs and submerge parts of themselves and be fine. I think the best example would be the pack that C.Q. Cumber has strapped to your back when you fail the mission/objective. Now just imagine it actually inside the inkling/octoling

There was a scene in the manga where the whole team was just chilling submerged in shallow water. They were completely submerged but it didnt go too far above their heads and they sunk to the bottom.

I think inklings work in a way which allows their bodies to merge and absorb small amounts of water, like a glass of it. When they're introduced to a large body of water, their body cannot absorb it which results in their body trying to spread it's molecules across the entire surface area in the efforts of absorbing it, which their bodies can't handle, causing them to be splatted.

Inkfish skin is so thin that the pressure from falling into or being submerged into water that's more than knee deep will result in their skin literally imploding from the pressure. The skin is so thin in order to allow them to transform between swim form and human form. (as confirmed by a dev interview awhile back) So no, nothing will happen if one dips their fingers or even hand in a glass of water. They may feel a bit more pressure than, say, we would, but it wouldnt dissolve them or do anything of that sorts

I have a theory that Inklings and Octolings can touch water under normal circumstances, but the water on Turf War stages are mixed with a certain chemical to prevent them from going out of bounds.

One finger: fine Two fingers: -SQUIRT- *SPLAT*

In Salmon Run, you can actually dip your feet in water, so they should be able to survive, if they dip their hands in water.

If they were splatted or fell into water, where would they respawn or would they respawn? Like outside of matches

I imagine the way it works is that inkling guts are highly hypertonic with porous skin, meaning water would flow in very quickly and basically flush out any ink and guts in the part of the body dipped in water. This is why we see ink splashing out of an inkling when they fall into water. This could also be the case with how splatting works: the enemy ink flows into the inkling and flushes out their ink, then basically filling them and popping their skin with the ink, creating the ink explosion when an inkling gets splatted. Very disturbing, but likely the truth.

I think it’s similar to an oil in an emulsion, if there’s barely any water they don’t get broken apart, but if enough water coats them they start getting split up and dissolving

Since they hold themselves together with ink, I assumed they dissolve when the amount of water (or other liquid) is enough to "disturb" the ink concentration. So a few fingers isn't an issue, but falling into a pool of water is.

This is confirmed by Judd, they simply can’t swim, touching water is okay, which is how they’re clean

The way I see it, the water in stages have some sort of damaging property to prevent the inklings from “cheating” (ie hiding in water, swimming to the enemy spawn) but outside of the games they can interact with it normally

I always imagined that inklings splat when they touch water during turf battles due to their equipment, not because of their biology.

From what I read online, inklings can survive being in water they just can’t swim

I always imagined that they die in water because they are made of ink and enough water causes them to dilute. I'd imagine that being partiality in water causes instability in that area of their humanoid form.

I have been avoiding this short for a long time because I was expecting an extremely graphic depiction of an inkling having their finger dissolved down to the bone. I am pleasantly un-mortified.

Cotton candy effect: they hand dissolves and slowly spreads but doesn’t dissolve the whole inkling

I feel like their ink based bodies can tolerate small amounts of water, but too much disrupts their biology too significantly. I think of it more like hot sauce. The body can tolerate a fair bit before you regret ever taking that first bite.

Inklings are not hurt by water itself, they are just unable to swim in it and get overhydrated when they enter in contact with water this is all due to SALT. inklings are adapted to a high osmotic pressure environiment created by their own ink which is rich in Sodium, this keeps their squishy structure in a constant balance of water and electrolites, but when they enter a low osmotic pressure environiment like regular or salt water their cells get bloated with water molecules and they take cellular damage. a little water wouldn't hurt them (like we see in game) but prolonged exposure to it and specially swimming in it would cause more serious damage although not as instant as we see in game. this is the exact same reason why we can't put salt water fish in freshwater environiments. TLDR inklings absorb and release salt constantly from both their ink and their environiment, if you put them in water it would not kill them immediately but they wouldn't be able to swim in it, just like how a human has an easier time floating in salty water compared to freshwater

my canon is that the water has to be covering majority of their body for them to dissolve. Like, a light rain wouldn't hurt, but falling in a pool would kill them.

My head cannon is just that they disolve when they are in ink producing mode to use ink weapons.

According to the Japanese script, they’re able to at least drink plenty of water fine. I think only if they’re fully submerged will they dissolve, but just their hand should be fine

They gotta be covered above their knees to dissolve iirc

I think inklings only explode because their bodies absorb water like a sponge, but also their skin is kind of like a balloon, so if there’s to much water, they pop, so just a finger in water should probably be fine

I think that Inklings and octolings actually disolve in fear like a heart attack. since they can't swim, they are afraid of going into the water and disolve in fear.

Since they are composed of ink It’s the active thrashing around in the water that makes them splat It’s like when you put honey into a drink it doesn’t dissolve into the water you have to stir it up first

They also survive rain without any problems, water is more a problem in fights, e.g. if you fall from the ship arena onto the ground you also die

In the splatoon 1 story mode it states that they can't swim because of their large heads and skinny bodies, making it impossible to float. There is nothing special about water, except that inklings don't float.

One of my friends theorized actually it's not based on how much water covers their body. Rather it's based on the water density. Inklings can drink water, and they shower too according to Marie. What my friend theorizes is if the water is fresh water, for say drinking water, showers, and sinks, they can survive. However, if the water has too much density, especially containing salt, they would dissolve. Pools and fountains are known for using chlorine to disinfect, which happens to contain sodium chloride.

It’s questions like this that gave me the mental image of Inklings showering by using highly diluted water, and utilizing how it messes with them, to basically slough off the dirty ‘skin’ like a snake

The Inklings and Octolings would be fine. Inklings can put at least 20% high in Salmon Run, possibly distributing the said water through their body to even things out. Edit: I am just now realizing that the Salmon Run water is unfiltered. So, Inklings and Octolings *should* be fine with specially filtered water!

Bro talks like an angel That's kind of adorable ngl

No issue. The cannon lore is Inklings and octolings desolve specifically in ocean water. Nintendo stated their skin is too thin to deal with the ocean water. (Now, the theory behind that is its too toxic, why they evolved to be on land)

So I believe that inklings only get splatted when they fall into saltwater. Freshwater is fine because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to drink the drinks that are available to them in the lobby.

Kind of weird how their main weakness is something that covers the majority of the planet, and basically every living thing needs to survive.

They can only dissolve in large amounts of SALT water. So this explains why there are swimsuits in splatoon, as Marie and Callie recall an embarrassing role in an advertisement.

It's all about pressure as well I think. If there's too much pressure,here goes our cute inkling

There’s got to be a inkling to water ratio. For example I don’t think little amounts of water can dissolve an inkling. The inkling probably has to be almost fully submerged in water. And normal rain would be no problem as I think that the ink storm only splats because it’s enemy ink But that’s just a theory a Game theory

It’s a pressure differential thing. If the pressure exerted onto their body is greater than X, their body cannot handle it and they splat. Water has a density high enough to cause enough pressure for them to splat. But the thing is, you need enough pressure exerted across the ENTIRE body to cause a splat. In this case, while it would likely be uncomfortable, they still have enough internal pressure elsewhere in their body that this would never be able to splat them. You need a total sum of pressure across the body to create enough pressure to overpower their internal pressure, and a simple hand in water simply cannot achieve that.

My personal headcannon is that similar to botw they are drowning but to keep a friendly pg label they just super jump to spawn before fully drowning

I assume since they have a good portion of ink making up their body then either they would be fine as they might need a large portion of water (one they can’t wipe off, so being submerged to some level) because their slat animation for water shows it takes a moment to be splatted. We can also assume rain doesn’t splat them. I think if the water distribution overwhelms the inklings ink distribution they would splat.

Is this a bad time to ask if inklings and octolings can.. pee? I mean if its water then.. would it burn them? or is it ink?

Fun fact: an inkling will spontaneously die upon contact with water due to there biology not knowing anything other than the ink they were born in

Im pretty sure inkling can interact with water, but is the amount of water overwelms them (think jumping/falling completely in water) , they would dissolve/get splatted. It would make sense since they would prolly need to drink water or need to survive rain.

Could the level of salinity of the waterbe a reason as to why they splat in large bodies of water? Or maybe the density of the liquid, since they swim perfectly fine in their ink, which is very different from ink as we know it, both natural and the one we find in pens

I think it's they can take up to a certain amount of water before they die

Bruh we are not sponges

Is nobody gonna talk about how inklings go underwater in Mario Kart and are fine?

splatoon water controversy: exists *typ has entered the chat*

if more then 30% of the inkling's body is in water they will drown

The real body of an Inkling/Octoling is just a Squid/Octopuss. They controll ink to create the bodies that we see. If they fall in water then diffusion happens and all that ink is mixed with water and their ink body dissolves. If they put hand in big body of water than it would happen but it would be slower and probably would just dissolve their hand. If it's only glass of water then the water would turn into ink or maybe it would be absorbed by ink body.

It’s probably the fact that they can’t swim and it wastes a lot of their energy

I'm pretty sure they only dissolve if their entire body is completely submerged, or all of the ink on their body can't withstand the amount of water.

(Insane splatoon theory) Inklings and octolings can turn into gas. Turf war is a sport and if they go outside the playing area the rules state they turn to gas and travel to spawn, same when they get inked by the enemy team. Also during the story modes you assess levels by going into kettles and coming out as steam to travel to the next level. Also this would mean inklings and octolings can ba a solid(kid form), liquid(squid swimming though ink) and a gas (respawning/ quick travelling / ect).

Inklings only dissolve if they're completely submerged in water, so things like rain, showers, and dipping your finger in water shouldn't affect them. At worst, their finger will dissolve but not their whole body

Thin skin allows for the Squidkid shapeshift process. In a larger body of water, the thin skin cracks under pressure, leaving the internals vulnerable to dissipation. I can imagine small bodies of water may affect the skin, but it heals so fast that nothing major occurs. It might feel funky or slimy for a hot second.

it's like people with devil fruits unless there 50% under pretty much nothing

They would be fine as in grizzco salmon runs inklings can dip their feet in water before eventually drowning

Inkling can walk slightly into water and have half their bodies submerged. Even when they fall into water they flail around for awhile before their body fully dissolves

I will never find the sense of them dying in water like they're literally squids, they're made to be in water and yet they fucking die just touching it

Inklings have a fascinating reaction to water. Despite being based on aquatic creatures, they dissolve when they come into contact with it in the game. This is a surprising and unique feature that adds a layer of complexity to gameplay. It's a strategic element that players must keep in mind, as it affects movement and positioning on the map

I think it’s same logic as sonic, it’s only the whole body

They can only splat for safety reasons like drowning because they can handle water but if drowning they can’t

Theres a comic panel out there of inklings being completely submerged in water...it feels more and more like lost media each time I remember that it's out there

i feel like they only get splatted by drowning because they dont immediately splat, they just try to keep their head above water to breathe because they canonically lost the ability to live in water

My guess for why they dissolve in water is because they instinctively go to the squid form when they are drowning, but because they are basically ink, they dissolve.

I headcanon that the reason why they dissolve in water during turf battles is because they are using all their access ink so they can't resist the water anymore.

I'm pretty sure them falling into water and dissolving is purely a game mechanic. They might not like it, but touching water is actually perfectly fine.

I'd like to think it's polluted ocean water or water with some additive that dissolves them since they drink water and other water-based liquids; distilled water probably doesn't do anything even if they're submerged

my rule of thumb is "if a person who couldnt swim at all would drown in it, an inkling would drown in it"

aware its completely false but - i like to head canon that they can touch water but just dont have the ability to swim and thats how they survive in rain, showers, or drinking but they drown swimming in large bodies of water it just makes more sense and creates less questions

Inklings can’t swim, their oil-based ink form can’t do it. But if they don’t need to swim, they’re fine

Theyre made of ink, they would begin to disolve, the only reason the explode in the game is for gameplay purposes and because its kinda funny.

I guess maybe assume it’s fine as long as they don’t drown. Like the situation with the devil fruits from one peice. That they just can’t swim in water and they drown immediately because they’re make of mostly if not all ink

I’m pretty sure it’s just that inklings can’t swim so then exploding in the water is then drowning. They specified specifically that they can’t swim somewhere.

They have drinks so under this logic taking a sip would kill them from the inside in agonizing pain

The only capacity in which water is dangerous to Inklings or Octolings is that they can't swim. You exploding when you're submerged is a gameplay-ism because they didn't want fully animated, in-depth cephalopod drownings on screen.

ignoring the fact that it only works depending on water to ink ratios, it's not like it's an all-or-nothing deal. if they wave their fingers around in a pool, for example, it's not like they'd splat entirely. they'd just lose their fingers, no? what's the water gonna do, travel up their arm and into their body like ferrofluid up a magnet?

I like to think they don't actually splat when touching water, they just can't swim, and end up splatting cause they drowned.

Honestly I personally think water dissolves that part that has been touched by water, then after a few seconds, the inkling/octoling’s system just creates a whole new body part like it was never touched

OPTION 1: Take an inkpatrone and set all the ink from it on your finger. now put your finger in a cup of water. What would happen? Exactly. The ink on your finger would dissolve. And an inkling/octoling consists fully out of ink. So the inkling would just die. Not instantly, but painfully for sure. It's unknown how fast thhe inkling/octoling would die/dissolve cause it's just his finger. OPTION 2: If the inkling/octoling dips his finger in the water, nearly or completely nothing happens. What do YOU think which option would apply? Let me know!

I believe that the cephalopods simply don't know how to swim, and them dissolving has the same logic as the fact that they poof when they fall off the stage or disconnect: it's something that they just do.

They don’t dissolve, they drown. Inklings and Octolings lost the ability to swim after evolving into their humanoid forms.

Its very inconsistent. Cephalings canonically own pools and regularly go swimming when its hot, but in gameplay water is insanely lethal.

If an Inkling were to dip their entire hand into water, their hand will dissolve leaving only the skeletal remains of what was once their hand.

They'd be fine because apparently shallow water doesn't do anything to them.

Ah, the classic Theseus's cephalopod child paradox, how much can you water an inkling before it splats.

The fact that antropomorfic MARINE creatures somehow dissolve in water is already weird enough for me to question anything else.

This is actually making me consider if inklings take showers or baths. Have they ever heard of water before….?

A lotta people have not known about this, but they only dissolve due to their inability to swim in water. If anything, if an Inkling/Octoling takes a bath nothing will happen to them because a bathtub is not deep enough. A shower, however, would make them respawn because of the constant rapid shots of water coming down, like a Hydro Splatling

Well from what i've heard the reason why they dissolve when falling in water is because of their ink sack being very fragile, so the pressure created by large bodies of water simply makes it pop

They literally drank flavored water in Splatoon 2 and Boba has the consistency of water so I think it’s only when their body ENTIRELY fuses with water.

Something tells me this is a video game character and the designers didn't think too hard about the logistics.

They’re like sponges. A little water is barely anything, but if they sit in the ocean up to their necks for a while, then they absorb too much and explode

they don't splat because of water, they splat because of pollution in the water. in the background of stages there are swimming pools proving that Inklings can swim in clean water.

This made me think of an interesting mechanic for an ink based character The ink they're made out of is water soluble, meaning they're able to dissolve in water. Water elements can make them get "thinner", giving them higher movement and attack speed, as well as transparency, but lowers their attack damage, defense, and max health If they get too thin, they die, and when they respawn, they're back to the default stats and thickness

It has been seen in the Splatoon games that the inklings can survive having up to half their body in water, but any more than that and they do collapse. But one, two fingers, or the whole hand is ok.