Even within the first day of Splatoon Raiders' release, the game's most dedicated fans have quickly turned their attention to character relationships, a common practice within the Splatoon community.
Splatoon Raiders places players in the role of The Mechanic, a silent protagonist who joins the idol group Deep Cut on an expedition to the Spirhalite Islands. The narrative primarily focuses on treasure collection and lore discovery, offering little explicit room for romantic subplots. However, a particular cutscene following the defeat of the first boss at Bowtlode Temple has ignited fan interest.
In this scene, Shiver, a member of Deep Cut, has a close encounter with The Mechanic, remarking, "That nearly went a lot worse. I was sure you were done for! But you’re not too shabby, are you…" This brief interaction has been enough for the fanbase to engage in speculative relationship pairings, often referred to as 'shipping'. Discussions on platforms like Reddit explore potential romantic entanglements, including the idea of The Mechanic being in a polyamorous relationship with Shiver and Frye.
This fan activity mirrors a broader trend within the Splatoon fanbase, which has a history of pairing characters. Shipping wikis dedicated to the series document numerous such pairings, including "Pearlie" (Pearl and Callie) and "M3rina" (Agent 3 and Marina). The "Polycut" pairing, referring to Deep Cut, also highlights this established community behavior. This fan engagement appears to be a significant part of Splatoon culture, comparable to the game's in-universe Splatfests.
While the game itself offers limited romantic material, the community's creativity has found fertile ground. The author of the notes expressed a personal hope for relationships involving Big Man, a manta ray character, suggesting "BigMan/Mechanic" as a potential "BigMech" ship.
Splatoon Raiders is currently available on Nintendo Switch 2.