Additional colors appear in the story mode campaign. These colors vary in shade slightly depending on the color of the opposing team. Known colors for Inklings and their ink include orange, blue, green, lime green, purple, turquoise, yellow, and pink. Some of the colors that Inklings can portray. Their spoken language is composed of high-pitched gargling and creature noises. They are characterized as being aggressive. Inklings evidently have no bones, excellent eyesight, and the ability to leap five feet in a single bound, as shown in 1 of the Sunken Scrolls. Their squid form resembles a brightly-colored cephalopod the same color as the Inkling's 'hair' with two long clubbed tentacles, four shorter tentacles, and two large eyes that seem to be joined. They possess pointed teeth similar in shape to a squid's beak. The humanoid form has a black marking resembling a mask around their eyes, pointed ears, and tentacles that change color in battle depending on the color of ink that their team uses.

Inklings can alternate between humanoid and squid form, which coincidentally resemble the Bloopers from the Super Mario video game series. Judd and Lil' Jud also appear is Super Smash Bros. The Squid Sisters, in addition to Octoling Boy and Octoling Girl, appear in Smash Bros. Male and female Inklings also appear as fighters in the new Super Smash Bros. One of their trick animations involves them turning into squid form. Inklings appear in a likely non-canon role in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where Inklings of both genders and several colors are new playable characters. Octarians return for the events of Splatoon's hero mode, where you have to rescue the stolen Great Zapfish. A young Cap'n Cuttlefish and his comrades won, sending the Octarians away, to live in underground for many years. One hundred years before the events of the game, Inklings and Octarians engaged in a great war referred to as 'the Great Turf War.' Initially, the Inklings were defeated due to their inability to get up early enough, but they rebounded. During this 'Mollusk Era' they developed culture, language, and especially warfare. After rising sea levels killed off the human species, and possibly most land-dwelling life on Earth, squids (and some other marine invertebrates) evolved to become the dominant species on our planet.

Yellow inkling