Agent 3 (Splatoon 3)
Hero of Alterna
- Species
- Inkling or Octoling
- First seen
- Splatoon 3 (2022)
- Affiliation
- New Squidbeak Splatoon
The newest recruit to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, who descended into Alterna with a Smallfry sidekick, faced Deep Cut, and climbed Mr. Grizz's rocket to stop the Return of the Mammalians.
The new Agent 3, sometimes called Neo Agent 3 by fans to keep them separate from the original, is the protagonist of Splatoon 3's Return of the Mammalians. For the first time the player can choose an Inkling or an Octoling, a small change that says a great deal about how far the world has come. Either way, they are a kid who wandered up to the Crater outside Splatsville, met an old squid in a shack, and got a number.
Little Buddy
Agent 3's defining companion is Smallfry, a tiny Salmonid the player nicknames Little Buddy, who rides on their head, can be thrown at enemies, and chews through the Fuzzy Ooze that coats Alterna. The bond between agent and fish is the emotional throughline of the campaign, and its payoff, when Smallfry feeds on Mr. Grizz's fuzz and grows into the colossal Hugefry, is one of the series' best moments.
Alterna
Descending from the Crater, Agent 3 finds Alterna, the underground human refuge, overrun with fuzzy Octarians and Grizz's ooze. With the Squid Sisters, the Captain (the original Agent 3), and a rescued Cuttlefish in support, they clear site after site, read the Alterna Logs, and face Deep Cut three times as the trio defends its treasure. The story mode is the most open the series has offered, with a sprawling hub and levels that double as weapon tutorials.
The rocket
The finale is a climb up Grizz's launching rocket. Agent 3 ascends with Octavio's Octobot as a platform, Deep Cut and the Squid Sisters singing, and Hugefry at their side, and defeats the last mammal at the top. The rocket falls back to earth. Agent 3 returns to Splatsville and, as always, goes back to Turf War.
Character
Neo Agent 3 is as silent as their predecessors, but the campaign frames them as an explorer more than a soldier. They are the first agent whose war is not against the Octarians at all, and the first to make an ally of a Salmonid. Their mentor is the original Agent 3, which gives the game a nice sense of a torch being handed on. After Alterna, the bonus stage, is theirs to attempt, and the Captain seems quietly proud when they clear it.