Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Though I have no plans of getting Splatoon Raiders, at least anytime soon (maybe when it gets a price drop), I did play the Splatfest in early July 2026 as a preview, of sorts, for the game. Naturally, people have also drawn stuff to display in the hub areas (and on the walls of the stages), and like any other Splatfest, they would be gone forever once the event ended. So while I couldn’t preserve everything everyone drew, here is what I could find roaming around the hubs.
Even when the Splatfest is itself themed around Splatoon, there are a lot of outside references people drew. Here’s what they are, as far as my knowledge on them. There seemed to be a lot of them pertaining to Sonic this time due to one of them being Team Speed:
00:08 - Din Djarin, the Mandalorian from Star Wars
00:33 - Most likely referring to Jax from The Amazing Digital Circus
00:47 - Sonic the Hedgehog
00:55 - Flowery from Deltarune
01:04 - This person again with a lot of random sprites: a Super Mushroom, Hammer, Ninji, Bob-omb, Starman, Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones, Tweeter, Fire Flower (two versions), Super Leaf, Bullet Bill, Turnip, Shine Sprite, Coin, Cape Feather, Mushroom House, Piranha Plant, Fortress, Warp Anchor, and Bowser Jr. from Super Mario; Pac-Man and a Ghost from Pac-Man; the Hyrule emblem, potion bottle, Master Sword, and Bomb from The Legend of Zelda; and Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, and Chococat from Sanrio
01:09 - ???
01:26 - The lettering reads “Tactics!”
02:00 - Kirby
02:10 - Frye is striking a pose with a sword and stating a catchphrase from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
02:16 - Susie from Deltarune
03:11 - ???
03:19 - ???
03:40 - Shadow the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog
04:42 - Homer Simpson from The Simpsons, accompanying historical figures drawn in the Simpsons style: Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, (possibly) King Tut, Mahatma Gandhi. This may be a reference to something in the TV show, but I don’t recognize it
04:47 - Ed from Cowboy Bebop; “3, 2, 1, Let’s Jam!” is from a clip from the opening theme, “Tank!”
04:53 - Origins are unclear as to where “I’m not even using 50% of my power!” comes from, as many shonen anime and manga use the phrae or variations thereof; the character is Otto Rocket from Rocket Power
04:58 - This appears to be The Mechanic from Splatoon Raiders accompanied by a Luma and Yoshi Egg from Super Mario
05:12 - HUNK from Resident Evil; the icon on the right is of the in-universe company Umbrella Corporation
05:47 - Maybe Ayato Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul?
05:50 - “A power I just can’t deny” is a line from the song “Together Forever” by Rick Astley
05:58 - ???
06:01 - Gaara from Naruto
06:11 - ???
06:32 - Mega Swampert from Pokémon (whose Ability is Swift Swim)
07:21 - Sonic the Hedgehog
07:33 - ???
07:42 - Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog
07:53 - ??? Appears to be the same person on the left at 03:19, a man wearing noise-canceling headphones holding a steering wheel seen from the front
10:07 - One of the many BTS K-pop band logos on the lower left; without knowing the colors, I don’t know what country’s flag that could be
10:21 - Edd from Eddsworld
10:24 - Batman—specifically the iconic look from Batman: The Animated Series
10:57 - Phantom of the Opera (the play)
11:44 - Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog
17:22 - Sonic the Hedgehog
18:32 - Dimentio from Super Paper Mario
18:37 - ???
19:01 - Papyrus from Undertale
19:09 - The infamous “6-7” meme that has puzzled many adults
21:22 - Sonic the Hedgehog (left) (I know this isn’t the first appearance of this artwork, but it was the first time I spotted Sonic there)
22:33 - Appears to be Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon on the lower left
22:35 - Appears to be an original character from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (left), Ragatha from The Amazing Digital Circus (right)
23:45 - Power from Chainsaw Man
25:50 - Vegitto from Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super
25:56 - Skitty from Pokémon
26:14 - Referring to the band Nirvana: the angelic figure is from the album cover for In Utero and the dollar bill attached to a string is from the album cover for Nevermind. I do not know where the rifle or the smiley face are from
26:22 - Kris and FRIENDS from Deltarune; I don’t know the specific context for this
27:59 - I’m not sure what they mean by “overdoing,” but I play mirror matches the same as I would matches between different teams
28:51 - Mario from Super Mario Bros. 3 specifically and the “6-7” meme
29:42 - Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece (far left), Kirby to his immediate right; the figure labeled “Miku” is presumably Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid synthesized singer
30:43 - Kris from Deltarune
31:14 - Ren Höek from Ren & Stimpy; this is likely a specific reference I don't know
31:49 - Lightning McQueen from Cars
32:26 - Sonic the Hedgehog
Though I have no plans of getting Splatoon Raiders, at least anytime soon (maybe when it gets a price drop), I did play the Splatfest in early July 2026 as a preview, of sorts, for the game. Naturally, people have also drawn stuff to display in the hub areas (and on the walls of the stages), and like any other Splatfest, they would be gone forever once the event ended. So while I couldn’t preserve everything everyone drew, here is what I could find roaming around the hubs.
Even when the Splatfest is itself themed around Splatoon, there are a lot of outside references people drew. Here’s what they are, as far as my knowledge on them. There seemed to be a lot of them pertaining to Sonic this time due to one of them being Team Speed:
00:08 - Din Djarin, the Mandalorian from Star Wars
00:33 - Most likely referring to Jax from The Amazing Digital Circus
00:47 - Sonic the Hedgehog
00:55 - Flowery from Deltarune
01:04 - This person again with a lot of random sprites: a Super Mushroom, Hammer, Ninji, Bob-omb, Starman, Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones, Tweeter, Fire Flower (two versions), Super Leaf, Bullet Bill, Turnip, Shine Sprite, Coin, Cape Feather, Mushroom House, Piranha Plant, Fortress, Warp Anchor, and Bowser Jr. from Super Mario; Pac-Man and a Ghost from Pac-Man; the Hyrule emblem, potion bottle, Master Sword, and Bomb from The Legend of Zelda; and Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, and Chococat from Sanrio
01:09 - ???
01:26 - The lettering reads “Tactics!”
02:00 - Kirby
02:10 - Frye is striking a pose with a sword and stating a catchphrase from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
02:16 - Susie from Deltarune
03:11 - ???
03:19 - ???
03:40 - Shadow the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog
04:42 - Homer Simpson from The Simpsons, accompanying historical figures drawn in the Simpsons style: Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, (possibly) King Tut, Mahatma Gandhi. This may be a reference to something in the TV show, but I don’t recognize it
04:47 - Ed from Cowboy Bebop; “3, 2, 1, Let’s Jam!” is from a clip from the opening theme, “Tank!”
04:53 - Origins are unclear as to where “I’m not even using 50% of my power!” comes from, as many shonen anime and manga use the phrae or variations thereof; the character is Otto Rocket from Rocket Power
04:58 - This appears to be The Mechanic from Splatoon Raiders accompanied by a Luma and Yoshi Egg from Super Mario
05:12 - HUNK from Resident Evil; the icon on the right is of the in-universe company Umbrella Corporation
05:47 - Maybe Ayato Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul?
05:50 - “A power I just can’t deny” is a line from the song “Together Forever” by Rick Astley
05:58 - ???
06:01 - Gaara from Naruto
06:11 - ???
06:32 - Mega Swampert from Pokémon (whose Ability is Swift Swim)
07:21 - Sonic the Hedgehog
07:33 - ???
07:42 - Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog
07:53 - ??? Appears to be the same person on the left at 03:19, a man wearing noise-canceling headphones holding a steering wheel seen from the front
10:07 - One of the many BTS K-pop band logos on the lower left; without knowing the colors, I don’t know what country’s flag that could be
10:21 - Edd from Eddsworld
10:24 - Batman—specifically the iconic look from Batman: The Animated Series
10:57 - Phantom of the Opera (the play)
11:44 - Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog
17:22 - Sonic the Hedgehog
18:32 - Dimentio from Super Paper Mario
18:37 - ???
19:01 - Papyrus from Undertale
19:09 - The infamous “6-7” meme that has puzzled many adults
21:22 - Sonic the Hedgehog (left) (I know this isn’t the first appearance of this artwork, but it was the first time I spotted Sonic there)
22:33 - Appears to be Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon on the lower left
22:35 - Appears to be an original character from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (left), Ragatha from The Amazing Digital Circus (right)
23:45 - Power from Chainsaw Man
25:50 - Vegitto from Dragon Ball Z/Dragon Ball Super
25:56 - Skitty from Pokémon
26:14 - Referring to the band Nirvana: the angelic figure is from the album cover for In Utero and the dollar bill attached to a string is from the album cover for Nevermind. I do not know where the rifle or the smiley face are from
26:22 - Kris and FRIENDS from Deltarune; I don’t know the specific context for this
27:59 - I’m not sure what they mean by “overdoing,” but I play mirror matches the same as I would matches between different teams
28:51 - Mario from Super Mario Bros. 3 specifically and the “6-7” meme
29:42 - Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece (far left), Kirby to his immediate right; the figure labeled “Miku” is presumably Hatsune Miku, the Vocaloid synthesized singer
30:43 - Kris from Deltarune
31:14 - Ren Höek from Ren & Stimpy; this is likely a specific reference I don't know
31:49 - Lightning McQueen from Cars
32:26 - Sonic the Hedgehog
