Agent 3
Hero of Octo Valley, later the Captain
- Species
- Inkling
- First seen
- Splatoon (2015)
- Affiliation
- New Squidbeak Splatoon
The player-character of Splatoon 1, recruited by Cap'n Cuttlefish to rescue the Great Zapfish. Sanitized and turned against Agent 8 in the Octo Expansion, and by Splatoon 3, the Captain of the squad.
Agent 3 is the original. An anonymous Inkling who followed an old squid down a manhole in Inkopolis Plaza, they were handed a Hero Shot and a mission: recover the Great Zapfish from the Octarians. Over the course of Splatoon 1's Octo Valley they did exactly that, fighting through kettle after kettle, toppling four rebuilt Great Octoweapons, and defeating DJ Octavio in the Octobot King while the Calamari Inkantation played over the radio.
The silent hero
Like all Splatoon protagonists, Agent 3 never speaks, and their appearance is whatever the player chose. But the series has treated them as a specific person ever since. Cap'n Cuttlefish adores them. Callie and Marie, as Agents 1 and 2, consider them a comrade. And the Octarians remember them well enough that Octavio's return in Splatoon 2 comes with a grudge.
Sanitized
Agent 3's second appearance is the Octo Expansion's most shocking twist. When Commander Tartar's blender is about to liquefy Agent 8 and Cuttlefish, Agent 3 crashes through the facility to save them, destroying the machine but taking a faceful of sanitizing ink in the process. Mind-controlled, they hunt Agent 8 through the escape sequence and then fight them in a duel that remains one of the hardest battles in the series. Agent 8 wins; Agent 3 recovers; the two share a nod on the surface.
The Captain
By Splatoon 3, Cap'n Cuttlefish has handed over the reins, and the original Agent 3 is the New Squidbeak Splatoon's Captain. The role is largely supportive: they help set up the Alterna camp, offer wordless encouragement to the new Agent 3, and appear in the credits. Their silence is finally a leadership trait. They are the veteran who has seen everything and does not need to say so.
Agent 3 returned to the spotlight in Splatoon 3's "After Alterna" bonus stage, a famously brutal challenge that the Captain seems to regard as a rite of passage.
Legacy
Every later agent is measured against them. Agent 4 inherited their job, Agent 8 inherited their enemy, and the new Agent 3 inherited their number. They are the first kid who wandered into a war and finished it before dinner.