Splatoon was first created by the EAD in late 2013. The team had thought of over seventy game ideas, but decided to focus on a game involving inking turf. At first, this concept featured black and white blocks of tofu with noses that sprayed ink. The game featured a top-down view, allowing the tofu blocks to blend in with their splattered turf.
Splatoonrabbit
A later design of Splatoon featuring rabbits.
However, these characters presented a variety of problems, so development began on a different character that was vaguely humanoid in shape. A rabbit was chosen as the design, because its floppy ears would indicate what direction it was traveling when viewed from above. Many EAD developers criticized this idea, so ideas such as Mario, robots and macho men were considered. The rabbits were later scrapped in favor of a squid, because the team wanted a character that made sense in regards to the environment and gameplay mechanics. The squids at this stage appeared to be squid-human hybrids, but it was decided that instead of this design, the game would feature humanoid Inklings with the ability to transform into squids.