O.R.C.A. has always confused me in why exactly it would make Agent 3 go through these missions and what its actual goal might be. In this video I'll explain an idea I had on what O.R.C.A.'s true intentions might be.
I can actually see some of the connections and they could actually make sense. An Orca/Dolphin would also perfectly reflect the connection between the old mammal reigned world to the new marine life reigned one.
@@ardnin maybe after the war their was a quantum space-time warping machine destroyed by the war cause a ripped across the war explains how the Steelhead boss or shark boss swim through concrete without breaking it?
Perhaps all of the stages seen in the game were created by O.R.C.A. to test Agent 3 in preparation for Mr. Grizz. Also, it hesitates when it says, "Mission... failed." It seems almost saddened that you failed because it really wants you to succeed in order to be ready for Ursine #3.
I really like this theory! I remember freaking out when I heard the fax machine sound effect… only for it to not be explained at all. The notion that the question of Chaos vs Order was intentionally prompted to Inkling society is SUPER interesting. I really like the idea of ORCA being a sort of anti-Tartar, trying to steer the cephalopods in the right direction rather than destroying them. It would be nice to have a relic of humanity that carries on our empathy rather than our malice, and it would add a really cool layer of depth to the world with those contrasting forces. At this point we’re definitely thinking harder about ORCA than Nintendo lmao but it’s very good food for thought. Nice video!
Thanks! Yeah when I first played it I was super concerned with the lack of explanation for why ORCA is doing what it's doing and I feared the devs just didn't give a shit anymore, but now that I got the idea for this theory I'm actually hopeful again the story will go in an interesting direction
agh it'd be so cool if we got a campaign where we worked with ORCA against [some revitalized version of] Tartar, something about two AIs facing off based on different interpretations of humanity sounds super cool... It'd probably be too rooted in the non-inkling world though. Maybe you could even have ORCA die at the end in some really sad cutscene after the final battle, leaving the next game's world open to a new, more terrifying force now that no one is there to protect inkling society
@@Cabalex It wouldn't even be too unrealistic that Tartar survived, considering that an AI with a purpose like the one Tartar has would have probably needed a massive database (i.e. server room?) somewhere anyway. So, Tartar "dying" was really just his "user interface" dying, not all the data stored behind it
it also makes sense for orca to be the fax machine because since humans probably put in things from pop culture like spongebob and pokemon, it would generate those splatfests as well. great video!
Thank you! Yeah, when the devs first talked about the Fax Machine during Splatoon 1 days, they mentioned how it's basically casual debates humans had in the past. Though I think they said something along the lines of the themes being like signals sent into space that bounced back and got received by the machine again thousands of years later. I could imagine that some fests were O.R.C.A.'s doing, and others might be those signals that bounced back
@@ardnin So like... The last humans on existence were making disputes (and possibly doing serious conflicts) about pineapple pizza, Hello Kitty, Sponge Bob, Toilet paper, Spoons.... That's kinda accurate to the those days 💀
HOLY CRAP. You had almost the exact same theory I had on O.R.C.A when I finished RotM. I always speculated that O.R.C.A was betraying Grizz behind the scenes since it makes the training tests and power egg gifts make complete sense. What helps supports this is that O.R.C.A seems to be content with Inklings/Octolings being the apex species. In a way, O.R.C.A is meant to be TarTar's opposite. The only part of your theory I didn't speculate on are the Splatfest connections. Despite that, I'm surprised our theories were kinda similar😅.
That was actually a lot more wholesome than I anticipated. Orca being a benevolent guide all this time. Caring for the Inklings and Octolings as true citizens of Alterna. It's actually really sweet. 😢
This could also explain why Alterna is so navigable and organized specifically for ink-mollusks. Since this was the dome where the catestrophic rocket implosion happened, for things to still be in one piece is shocking, and I can't imagine why humans would have convienent tubes connecting destroyed areas that they couldn't even use. Looking at how destoryed area 6 is, I'd bet that the last humans eventually came back here on the Submarine we see docked, and set up the bio-farms and all the prefab housing units. Heck, it's possible ORCA devised and/or built Kettletech specifically so the cephalopods could navigate the old human domes safely and quickly, along with Respawn pads to avoid needless loss of life. ORCA almost certainly has a connection or access to whatever satillites are still in orbit, which would allow it to monitor events and climate and possibly help creating the 7 rings or the 3 lights. This may also help keep it sane, compared to Tartar being stuck underground for thousands of years with a more limited sensing range.
O.R.C.A. would be the only sapient thing that actually experienced the magic LCD evolution so I guess it's not too farfetched for it to create a garden of eden for proto-fishilvization. I still feel like the reason why a lot of video game things that wouldn't make sense for human beings is cuz "it's a video game" and they didn't have time to create something that'd make sense for humans and not anything else. The tubes tho like, those are just tubes... like we have tubes now XD;
As someone who's been intrigued by O.R.C.A.'s true intentions, this was Amazing! WAY better than my idea of just being a system working for Grizz from humans.
I really hope we get to see ORCA again in DLC. They may be an AI, but they’re way better than that cucumber glowstick. Wonder if Judd’s creator was someone who helped developed ORCA, feel it’d end up motivating ORCA more to watch over the splat lands. Though there’s alot of plot holes, mostly if the creator was still alive to help Alterna (since the scientist did join Judd in the tube). They may have also been immortal like Judd, ya never know.
Some people think surviving mammals would spit in the established lore but I think of Splatoon like Spider-man logic. Magic smashed TVs turning fish into anthros makes as much sense as a radioactive spider giving spider-man powers, Spider-man's also run into dinosaurs. It's not impossible to run into a whale or even a human, but there'd have to be pretty specific circumstances. Like I'm almost certain the reason why water dissolves cephalopals is cuz it's acidic and jellyfish are one of the few animals that can survive ocean acidification. Salmonids... I can just imagine they evolved because that's what they did as they're not sapient and able to walk on land. Real life animals are evolving to deal with climate change so it's realistic to see any "extinct" animals change to do so. Or live in a pocket world like Alterna where the water isn't acidic for some reason.
It may not mean anything, but there is one weird thing I noticed, in the dreaded 'match the sculpture' level, after you finish and get to the platform with the goal, there's a telescope thingy you can use. If you do, Callie says that the shape of the sculpture looks familiar and wonders where she's seen it, to which ORCA replies with "......" (If you don't remember, the sculpture is a dolphin/orca/whale design), which just kinda struck me as strange, why is this AI suddenly dropping comedically timely silence? They could've just left that bit at Callie's line, but they specifically chose to have ORCA have a text box come up. Also correct me if I'm wrong, but ORCA communicates with everyone via radio, so where did Callie see the logo?
On my first playthrough, it worried me because I thought ORCA would play a larger role in the story and that we somehow made it upset. Now though, I see it more as "Really? I worked so hard on arranging these boxes and you can't even tell that it's me. FML." Combined with this theory, it makes the art-related levels feel different. The sculpture level being an attempt to introduce itself, and the smallfry drawing level trying to acknowledge the player's friends. I'm not the best at wording things but I hope that makes sense xD
@@problemsfan4132 Yeah, I guess remembering that, it kinda has more stock. Plus the fact that with the bad ending, it's very clear O.R.C.A. is aware of what's happening to Earth and is still documenting. Tho still nothing in the game implies it has any powers to do that much, especially not triggering a hugefry transformation.
i love this theory! amazing work! maybe orca could be almost like a reverse tar tar? tar tar observed the evolved sealife as they evolved and hated them, so maybe orca did the same but grew to like them? maybe it couldve seen some of the good in humanity in the evolved sealife, or maybe its because a lot of their evolution took place in alterna? i love the idea of orca being some kind of protector, orca was always a confusing loose end for me, so a theory not only explaining that but also explaining some other stuff in the series is amazing!
great video and pretty interesting theory ! the possibility of interference with splatfest themes is a pretty neat idea, as someone with the knowledge of how to operate fax machines would be able to insert some themes among from the ones that came back from space. also, i really the idea of orca being an intermediary between the mammal era and the mollusc era, it would be pretty fitting for a marine mammal to be the bridge between those two
I love this theory making ORCA into a hidden benevolent mastermind plus all of it just fits soo neatly hopefully the DLC will give them a bit more involvement in the story
SOMEONE FINALLY TALKED ABOUT THE FAX MACHINE SOUND This put all my random single player theories together better than I imagined, and the way you told the story made e genuinely happy. Another banger as usual!
I really hope orca is a good or at least neutral guy, having an ai companion (maybe we could chat with it like in event[0]) or a character that doesnt get killed instantly would be sick
Ok, a couple of things. First of all, "ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL" is one of the messages by the rocket announcer. Not sure what that could imply... Second of all, I have a feeling that the splatfests could have been tests on the inklings orchestrated by ORCA. It could choose themes to discern how the Inklings behaved and such. And, like another commenter mentioned, ORCA is the only way to explain the inkling-society splatfests, like Squid VS Octopus, Callie VS Marie, and and even ones like Dexterity VS Endurance. In fact, even the Chicken VS Egg Splatfest would show ORCA that a good portion of inklings believe in a spiritual world. Also also, if Alterna was the drainage for the flood then that would explain why it is filled with water. The 'snow' is just the liquid crystals, but the water itself was never really explained, especially since Alterna was built under...Mt. Fuji iirc? Also also also, the Octarians are rather deliberate with who they share their technology with, so there isn't any real explanation for why ORCA could have these devices unless... possibly ORCA actually supplied some ink-based tech to the octarians? Also also also also, if we're gonna talk about heavenly beams of light then we have to mention M.C. Princess Diaries because PeArL is clEarLy seCreTly a DeiTy obV.
I agree with most of your points accept for ORCA being magic, I think when you fail a test all that happens is the test chamber is supposed to beam you up like a teleporter from star trek but it is clogged with grizz goo which is why it splats on you.
oh yeah no I just worded that really bad, my point was exactly to proof that there is no magic in Splatoons world. It's more like ORCA might have technology that allows it to do things that would appear like magic. I really want Splatoon to stay science fiction and this magic stuff in the game actually bothered me a lot, so my hope was that ORCA would be a scifi explanation for the apparent "magic" in the game
I love how this takes what on the surface seems like a powerless observer and basically turns it into debatably the most important and influential character in the whole franchise.
This would actually reconcile a lot of the issues I had with Splat3's story which have been bugging me since it first came out! Though I do wish that, if this is true and was intentional, they had been (or maybe will in the future?) just like, a tiny tiny bit more explicit about it, so we're not left wondering whether certain things were part of a master plan or just shaky writing :P. Maybe it'll be addressed later in the dlc or something, who knows. Awesome video regardless!
this makes me imagine a DLC storyline where ORCA wants your help to kickstart the mammal revival project in a way that doesn't interfere with sea creature life on the surface, at the very least bringing back cetaceans and pinnupeds
I'll admit that while playing I thought ORCA was just a poor man's version of C.Q. Cumber but when you put it like this it sounds like the coolest thing ever. Having a direct opposite force to the likes of Tartar is such a cool idea.
I thought it was a pretty cool theory for orca to be helping you against mr grizz, but you lost me a bit when you started claiming orca had god-like power and was responsible for staging the three lights and the seven rings
Yeah I can see how that's pretty much out there, "god-like" was probably overselling it more than I actually meant it but it remains that there are these "magical" events that seem to happen in this world and in the end there has to be an explanation to these things because Splatoon is technically science fiction. I'd say that if ORCA is behind the "magic" then it isn't real magic to begin with but ORCA just making it look like it
this is amazing!! I got chills when you brought up the connection to the fax machine… if this theory ends up being true it would be such a clean, full-circle moment, and a note of hope to end on for the mollusk-era residents of earth-now I’m hoping orca will be relevant somehow in side order 😭
This is basically what my theory was after I finished the Hero Mode! I wish that this idea was more obvious or something, so ORCA wouldn’t feel so out of place in the story mode.
This is a wonderful theory! Before 2023, I made my own theory as to why O.R.C.A. seems to be helpful to you until you get the Spirit Lifter Space Station. This theory is built on the idea that O.R.C.A. is, in fact, a sentient program, like you've stated, but they did not let that sentience stray him off the path of their job. I'll write more about this later.
I think the reason why Orca created these tests and challenges to ready the evolved squid and octolings to the surface! In one of the logs, it states that during the collapse of Alterra the crystals used to create a new sky for the humans passed on to the sea creatures within the waters of Alterra. Maybe Orca wants the Inklings and Octolings to be successful and grow a society similar to humanity!
I’m kind of curious how the Japanese version writes ORCA’s dialogue, in terms of things like how oddly-placed katakana is used to make Tartar sound robotic. Do they make ORCA seem more or less robotic?
I remember vividly someone talking about how splatfest topics are generated by anomalies from outer space into fax machine creating splatfests so orca may be a device to test inklings and octolings send that data to outerspace and also send data back from outer space into splatfests and it may also be sentient Edit: anomalies are the "humans" that survived
My headcanon was always that all of the test in Alterna were basically weapon test facilities Mr.Grizz bult out of the city's supplies to test out weaponry to use in Grizzco, but this makes way more sense
I would love it if ORCA was basically just a stand-in for the devs. I love games that just have the developers in the game as NPCs and stuff. Since the fax machine gives out Splatfests and seems to like Inklings/Octoling culture I think it would be really sweet if it was basically just the Anti-TarTar.
I never thought it was that profound but you kind of convinced me with this. It is a really cool theory and I would like it to be the lore of this game. Probably either the lore will be simplier or maybe in the DLC, we get to see more...... But you know? You will call me crazy by this.... but I don't want to have a direct answer about this; at least not in the DLC. I want this to be vague and separate from the DLC (or have a second expanded DLC if nintendo sees the success of the first one). If you leave this ORCA detail as unknown, then cool theories could be valid for a long times and leave to people to make their own cool headcannons, fan stories, SFM/Gmod animations with that interesting story, etc etc etc. Really cool video; keep it up.
The though just crossed by mind, ‘What if ORCA is the one keeping Grizzco running’? I’m not sure if it makes much sense though, since ORCA would surely want to protect the Salmonids too if this theory is right. Or would they prioritise the Inklings who need the power eggs for electricity? Idk
I think the “three lights” referred to in the Splatoon 3 scrolls are referring to the three clans that Shiver, Frye and Big Man come from. I could be wrong, but during the flooding it’d make sense for the three largest clans in the region to help those in need. The lights are also shaped like their clan symbols, and while climbing the rocket it’s explained how Deep Cut uses their banditry to help those in need, similarly to how their ancestors helped people escape the flooding
This is crazy! In a good way. It's cool! I love it! O.R.C.A. is definitely one of my favorite characters. The part where they have you make a sculpture of an orca is so cute.
O.R.C.A made the songs in the hero mode that aren't played by actual characters. Hear me out. Alterna hero mode 1 sounds different from the version in the trailer. There is way less octopus noises, way more synth noises. The noises all seem to come from one place, like they are less random, and less like Turqoise October. Alterna Hero mode 2 is clearly 80's inspired. Alterna hero mode 3 has mr Grizz. Alterna hero mode 4 is just Octoling Rendevous so no suprizes there. Alterna 6 is apparently really simaler to daft punk. Alterna 11 is a mix of a bunch of sounds. You get the gist, moving on. Now think about the hub worlds. They stack on top of each other. The first one has squid sisters, second one has factory sounds. Deep cut battle doesnt actually have deep cut in it. It's just a smorgasboard of deep cut instruments, and an insert with mr grizz. Now, in the alterna log, he states that the scientists were not immune to nostalgia and created things from the human world. ORCA also said that they are keeping track of all human knowledge. You mentioned that Tartar changed directives and the same could be true for our flippered friend. ORCA is also an Ai, meaning that he probably can remember everything and use it to his advantage. It is my thinking that they use other songs to create music. All of these songs clearly are inspired by something else either from humans or from the cephlopods in Alterna as you play. There is no real pattern or theme unlike most other bands or artists because the ai created them from the collective human music playlist. The mr grizz inserts are not mr grizz directly, but because mr grizz is in alterna that is something that the ai has picked up on. Same thing with deep cut battle, and the squid sisters in the first hub world and the factory sounds in the second. None of it has squid vocals unless it was directly made by deep cut. I do not know how anomoly showdown is actually playing, or who made it, considering that mr grizz clearly doesn't have anyone backing him up and it's in space. Calimari inkantation makes sense because it could be playing through the space suit, not to mention it is literally built into the dna of inklings and octolings, so I think transending physics isnt to mch of a reach for this song.
I believe that O.R.C.A. was responsible for the Alterna music too, but not quite in the same way. In the past, it was implied that DJ Octavio produced all of Turquoise October's music. So we can assume that Turquoise October are just Octarians performing the music they're told to play. And since the first Alterna song reuses some Octarian instruments, my theory is that O.R.C.A. started producing for Turquoise October in DJ Octavio's absence. Though it's possible some are just entirely O.R.C.A. since some do sound nothing at all like Turquoise October. I would assume that all of the music associated with Deep Cut is just produced by Big Man himself. But it's not impossible O.R.C.A. gets involved too, especially in later phases of the boss fight, but it's basically just the usual Deep Cut sound. I think the sounds that you described as Mr. Grizz are just synthesizers with formant filters, they aren't supposed to have anything to do with him. But you pointing that out did make me notice the common link of that sound being used by both Deep Cut and the Alterna level music. As for the music associated with Mr. Grizz's cutscenes and boss fight, I've always just credited that to Grizzco Industries. Maybe he got someone else to produce all of that for him, maybe he found some computers and made it all himself. Maybe it goes in the small pile of Splatoon music that just doesn't get a band assigned to it unfortunately. But I'm gonna call it Grizzco.
@@HLRxxKarlI see what you mean. However, the sounds I pointed out as Mr Grizz sound nearly identical as his voice lines as the statue. The music does not change in the later phases of the deep cut fights, so implying that he gets involved later rather than now is probably incorrect. Something else to take note of is that the Crater song is obviously Turqouise October, but at this point ORCA has not yet been reactivated, so how could they have been under the control of ORCA if it wasn't on yet? Although I will say that is a pretty interesting way to look at it, but the time frame makes no sense.
@@ethanb9981 Yeah, I agree that the crater is just regular Turquoise October too. Which is why Alterna 1 is so drastically different. But the Deep Cut music literally does change as the phases do. Look it up, there's multiple music files in the game for those boss fights and people have posted cuts that include all 3 phases. And I promise you Mr. Grizz's voice is not in those songs at all. The laughing samples and the statue gibberish all come from actual recordings of a voice actor. But the things you hear in the Deep Cut boss and Alterna music are just synthesizers. They may use similar effects or sound like they're making vowel shapes, but they're still synthesizers. People have literally tracked down the exact synth presets where they got those sounds from. If they aren't using Mr. Grizz's exact voice samples or new recordings from his voice actor, it's not him.
@@HLRxxKarl I did not realise the music changed. Guess I was wrong. Anyway, the fact that it is present in both the Alterna 3 song and the deep cut battle does hold strong evidence that ORCA might be the one playing in both scenarios. However, the sounds the synth makes is undeniably similar, regardless if it comes from the same thing, so I still believe it is supposed to represent Mr Grizz. It's not like they would use the actual voice lines regardless because that's not what they use to make the other characters sing. Another thing I would like to point out is since we always get more context to what is happening to Mr grizz and Cuttlefish after the boss battle, and it specifically shows up here, wouldn't that be a connection? Could it be possible that Mr grizz is watching us fight? Just a thought. Tbh, I actually think Nintendo doesn't have anything planned for ORCA because it's clear for a lot of things in Return of the Mamillians that a lot of things might be left unanswered. Like tf happens to whatever is left of the octarian army? Is there anything left? What is DJ Octavio going to do now that his army is essentially gone? Just a lot of questions that I feel like they are not going to be answered in the DLC cause it's supposed to be centered around Off the Hook, and ROTM showed that it's really hard for them to juggle two idol groups at once, especially if one is brand new.
@@HLRxxKarl It also makes you wonder weather or not the other members of deep cut were even there because there wasn't any vocals, you would think they would sing to cheer on the members of deep cut... then who's playing their instruments?
If orca did open up the chute for the water to drain he basically killed off humans. Humans were living underground in Alterna and that’s why the building look sunk in alterna. 9:44
Thanks for making this theory. I really enjoy adventure mode than match modes because it not only has great themes on octo valley/canyon/Alterna but also lores. I Hope splatoon 3 will bring back rabbits cuz they are mammalians and it's year of the rabbit. Say can you make a vid of retranslated japanese dialogues from Alterna Story mode including final boss and such just like you did on octo expansion? that'll be cool!
I may not be as good as commenting or theorising as well as others. But, An AI that was built to help assist the last of humanity and protecting it only to see it gone in a blink of an eye. Then having a another species that while are not direct descentdents of huamns but still carried on the culture of the old world. It's pretty understandable that. It would try to prevent it from happening again. I would too try to protect the sea creatures from the deaths and destruction that the old world suffer. Orca is similar and the complete opposite of Tartar and Mr.Grizz. All of them are direct or indirect creations of humanity. War and desperation made them who they are and why they exist. Two of them are created to mayby pass on the knowledge to a new race in order to. Perhaspe prevent another catastrophe from happening again. Only to have they views changed and gone in drifferent directions. One seek to complete annihilation to create something new. Another wants to bring back something that is long gone. The goals are while evil, are still understandable given the history and circumatance of them. But ORCA has drifferent views and ways. I has saw the rise and fall of one and seeing another rise. It tries to protect the new race and prevent another destruction that it has seen before. A goal that is morrally correct and the best option that I could problably see. Over all, this is a very good theory on analyzing this character. Thank you for the video.
This is a cool theory, though you kinda lost me with the three lights thing, in the scroll the three lights are clearly the family mantles of shiver frye and big man, meanwhile i'm not seeing that *at all* in the hugefry transformation sequence, I get that the dialogue mentions it but visually I don't see the connection.
I like the theory but I’m not fully sold on orca BEING the fax machine. I also find it weird that we never truly know the location of the fax machine. Maybe the fax machine is somewhere away from the splat lands. Or if it’s even in inkadia. Still thought. I love the idea of orca being a supernatural medium between the human area and mollusk era
yeah, to be honest in hindsight I probably would've worded that differently. By now I also don't think that the entirety of ORCA is just the Fax machine, but rather I think that ORCA may have "possessed" the machine so to speak
You did unfortunately get one thing wrong. The "3 lights" are deep cuts doing. They come from ancient clans with immense power. It's shown that whenever a huge disaster is about to take place, members from the clans summon a prophecy called the 3 lights. The lights themselves are the symbols of the clans. So deep cut's ancestors stopped a flood from taking the splatlands, and deep cut made little buddy huge in order to fight mr. grizz
In my mind these powers the clans hold may in turn be related to Orca I'm personally not a fan of the idea that magic exists in the world of Splatoon, so my idea is that behind these magical abilities is actually ancient human technology that could also originate from Orca
though of course the clans wouldn't know about the technology so to them it would seem like actual magic. Orca may have given these powers to the clans in preparation for events like these to happen
Eh I don't see it. I figured the reason why Alterna missions are that way is because humans would train with paintball guns, and most likely other tools like grappling hooks and coincidentally certain mechanisms that are part of rube goldberg machines work as movement mechanics for inklings. The whole "killing" animation especially seems like Nickelodeon sliming, a fun way to punish someone for beefing it, tho in the modern world is deadly. Tho I guess this would explain the tea kettle entrances (well, unless you're just supposed to open them and not phase through the strainer because... I dunno) cuz no way a human could use that like a cephalopal. Tho that also could be explained by at one point Alterna was used as an Octarian base before they went to the Splatland surface. I dunno, would need more information cuz a lot of this can be explained by "We didn't have enough time to make assets so we focused on what was important and that's why a lot of this feels the same as the first two games" like how much of it was intentional and how much was laziness?
hi! i love this theory- but if i’m right if you get the bad ending in octo expansion, orca actually says something about a new era, so i think orca does observe the outside, and they have been hinted in the first game
Tbh orca being another ai makes me believe that theres other ais that contain humanitys knowledge tartar weren't good but he cant be the only one to contain humanitys knowledge this with possibility that humanity could've fled on spaceships with splatoons 3 interest in space makes me believe that humanity had much more vitality that we knew Who know maybe we were ailens all along 😅
