They're Inkredible!

Octoroks have been featured in nearly every Zelda game. Their abilities vary somewhat from one game to the next, but their method of attack typically involves shooting rocks or bombs from their cylindrical snouts. Octoroks often populate water-filled areas and will suprise unwanted guests by popping out of rivers and immediately firing in their direction. Octorok are also known to venture onto land and certain varieties have even gained the ability to fly. Octoroks are easy prey for Link, and the leviathan Tantalus from Skyward Sword might have been a more obvious choice for this list. Octoroks are being recognized since they’ve been a part of the series from the very beginning. They are the very first enemy most players will encounter in The Legend of Zelda, so it’s pretty cool that they are still a part of the franchise decades later.

The octopus is easily the most generic entry on this list. It doesn’t have a proper name, its backstory is never embellished, and the game it appears in is simply titled Octopus. The reason it’s being recognized is simply due to the fact that he was the first octopus to ever appear in a video game. Octopus was released as part of Nintendo’s Game & Watch series way back in 1981. The game revolved around a scuba diver who was trying to retrieve sunken treasure while the titular octopus would try to attack him with its tentacles. Today, the octopus is probably best-known from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When Mr. Game & Watch breaks open the Smash Ball, he is transformed into the octopus and is able to attack his opponents either by extending its tentacles or by ramming his opponents with its body.

Mars People are squid-like aliens that are planning on taking over the Earth. They were first seen near the end of Metal Slug 2, and their mother ship acted as the game’s final boss. Mars People use their tentacles for movement, and are known for their incredible agility and unorthodox fighting style. They’re also known to use lasers and will call for backup if things get too intense. Although they usually appear as enemies and are known to have abducted humans, Mars People had the wherewithal to align with humans in Metal Slug 6 to combat another alien race who just so happened to feed on Mars People. Outside the Metal Slug series, Mars People have gotten more attention than the protagonists have and were featured as secret playable characters in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.

Cephalopods in pop culture are often seen as dangerous or even malevolent, so it’s somewhat surprising that most of the characters on this list are so charming. The monstrous Ozumat is a pretty significant exception and is easily the most menacing entry on this list. Stories of his terror on the high seas were once relegated to myth, but the serpentine Naga people were somehow able to bend Ozumat to their will before unleashing it against their enemies. Ozumat patrols the undersea region known as Vashj’ir, shipwrecks followers of Neptulon, and serves as the final boss of the Throne of the Tides dungeon in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. That might not make a lot of sense, but the takeaway is that Ozumat is incredibly dangerous. He is known as the “Fiend of the Dark Below” and is apparently the patriarch of all kraken.

Blooper’s appearance in Super Mario Bros. marked the first time Mario had ever encountered an aquatic enemy in a game. Their distinct zig-zag patterns and erratic speeds made them effective rivals. Although they spend most of their time patrolling water stages, bloopers have also demonstrated an ability to fly through the air. In Super Mario RPG their repertoire was expanded further and the creatures began to burrow underground and shoot their opponents with ink. This ink-shooting power is harnessed in the Mario Kart series where bloopers are used to blind rival racers. Bloopers come in many shapes and sizes (an oversized blooper named Gooper Blooper has appeared in many games), but the squids are iconic in any form. In 2007, a blooper made his first appearance as a playable character in Mario Party 8.

There are a few Pokémon that would have been appropriate for this list, but none are more endearing than Inkay. They are not the most powerful fighters, but they have the ability to emit intense flashes of light from spots on their body and use the distraction as an opportunity to scuttle away and hide. Similar deimatic behaviors are often used by cephalopods in the real world. Inkay are also known for the unique way in which they evolve. After reaching level 30, Inkay can evolve to Malamar while the 3DS is held upside-down. (This evolution path would not have been possible in previous Pokémon games since it relies on the 3DS’s internal gyroscope.) Malamar is more capable than Inkay and possesses the strongest hypnotic powers of any Pokémon. I’m choosing to recognize Inkay anyway because he’s just oh so adorable.

The first Parodius game was released in 1988 with the subtitle, Octopus Saves the Earth. The game was Konami’s way of parodying their own Gradius series, and the developers thought it would be funny to make a shoot ’em up that substituted space ships with flying octopodes and penguins. Takosuke is the son of the octopus from the first game. He was first seen in Parodius Da! in 1990, where he was given a supporting role. Takosuke was a playabe character in the next Parodius game and has been an important part of the series ever since. Takosuke has even broadened his horizons beyond Parodius, and has made cameo appearances in many other Konami franchises including Goemon and Track & Field, among others. Tatosuke was even featured as a playable character in Konami Krazy Racers and Krazy Kart Racing.

Ultros is a bit of a troublemaker. He drags fighters into rivers, tries to push a five-ton weight onto a singer at the opera, devises a plan to steal precious statues, and doesn’t know how to address women without using harassing language. He has an inflated sense of self-worth and refers to himself as “octopus royalty,” but he’s basically a withering mass of tentacles with a penchant for making bad jokes. Ultros often works in tandem with a taciturn friend named Mr. Typhon. Typhon provides the muscle Ultros lacks, but their plans never play out. Although Ultros takes part in many battles, he almost always finds a way to escape. Since making his debut in Final Fantasy VI, Ultros has become a recurring character in the series and has made appearance in over a dozen games. He might be an incompetent jerkface, but he’s always entertaining.

Being an octopus has its advantages. Their limbs enhance their swimming abilities and make them effective predators. They’re also incredibly flexible since the majority of octopodes have almost entirely soft bodies with no internal skeleton. These traits are useful in an underwater environment, but they make it difficult for an octopus who’s trying to blend in with a normal suburban family. Octodad doesn’t want his wife and children to know he’s an octopus in disguise, but every mundane task he performs puts him at risk of being discovered. Incidentally, completing simple household chores is a challenge when you have eight awkward limbs to control. Octopodes are regarded as the most intelligent and behaviorally flexible of all invertebrates, but the lengths that Octodad goes to pass himself off as a human is truly remarkable.

The stars of Nintendo’s colorful shooter have the unusual ability to change between human and squid forms. While in their human form, the inklings spend their time spraying colorful ink on any surface they can find. By transforming into a squid, the inklings can swim through ink of their own color. This improves their speed and also lets them swim up walls and through gates. The inklinkgs are not able to control their human forms until age 14, but they really seem to embrace it. They retain many squid-like features in their human form, but they are a surprisingly trendy species. They’re on the cutting edge of fashion and invest a lot of time into customizing their clothing and accessories. Incidentally, the inklings seemed to spark a lot of interest within the fan art community. Who would have imagined that teenage squid girls would be so popular?