The upcoming Side Order DLC forSplatoon 3has the potential to expand the lore of Nintendo’s ink-filled, post-apocalyptic world as it takes a look at what would have happened if Team Order had won the final Splatfest ofSplatoon 2. While not many details about the plot of this story expansion are known, it’s set to follow in the footsteps of the popular Octo Expansion forSplatoon 2, which delivered a whole new story campaign separate from the base game. With this bar to clear in mind, it’s likely theSide Order DLCwill throw a villainous twist on the popular idol duo Off the Hook.
TheSplatoonseries has been pretty consistent with its use of idol groups playing a major role in the single-player campaigns of each entry. While the first game featured the Squid Sisters Callie and Marie as allies in the New Squidbeak Splatoon, Callie appeared as an antagonist inSplatoon 2’s campaign.Splatoon 3introduced its new idol group Deep Cut as antagonists in its Return of the Mammalians story campaign, but Off the Hook’s Pearl and Marina have never been in an antagonist role, which could change in the upcoming DLC.
RELATED:Splatoon 3’s Side Order DLC Antagonist Has a High Bar to Clear
Side Order Could Give Marina the Same Treatment as Splatoon 2’s Callie
The final Splatfest of the firstSplatoonsaw Team Callie face off against Team Marie, with the latter Squid Sister emerging victorious. As a result, the campaign forSplatoon 2incorporated the results of the Splatfest into its story and featured a missing Callie along with the Great Zapfish, which ended with the twist that Callie had been brainwashed by the villainous DJ Octavio and was responsible for carrying out his will the whole time. With Marina’s Team Order being the losers ofSplatoon 2’s final Splatfest, the fact that she didn’t appear as avillain inSplatoon 3’s storyleaves the door open for her to take on this role in the DLC.
From what has been revealed about the Side Order expansion so far, it’s clear the DLC is set to follow up on the results of Team Chaos' victory and show an alternate reality where Team Order wins. As such, it’s likely the setting will shift away from the wastes ofSplatoon 3’s Splatsvilleand the surrounding Splatlands and potentially back to the streets of Inkopolis. This setting offers the perfect environment for a villainous Marina to rise to power, setting the stage for the player to team up with Pearl and the New Squidbeak Splatoon to return Marina to her old self.
Thematically, the implications of a Team Order victory would make a dystopian society where Marina controls the population of Inkopolis seem like a natural scenario for the DLC to follow. This potential plot point is supported even further by the return to Inkopolis in thefirst wave ofSplatoon 3’s DLC. It’s unclear what reasoning Marina would have for becoming an antagonist, and with DJ Octavio taking a backseat to Mr. Grizz inSplatoon 3’s main campaign, it’s unlikely that a brainwashing plot would again be the motivation for Marina’s villainy.
If Side Order is really set in an alternate universe, some kind of multiverse elements could come into play and warrant a jealous Marina from the world ofSplatoon 3to enter this alternate realm where Team Order was the victor. There is also the possibility that Pearl ends up as the villain of this world given that she could be jealous of a Team Order victory and set out on a quest to spread chaos in a world of order. Even if just one member ofOff the HookSplatoonidolsis the villain of the Side Order DLC, it would be enough to deliver some closure to the arcs thatSplatoon 2began.
Splatoon 3is available now for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:Splatoon 3 is Leaving Money on the Table With its Current Season Structure
