Splatoon 4 amiibo Guide — Every amiibo That Works and What They Unlock

Nintendo loves amiibo and Splatoon has one of the best amiibo programs of any series. Each Splatoon character amiibo unlocks exclusive gear, lets you save outfit presets, and in some cases gives you special photo modes. Here's what works, what unlocks what, and whether it's worth tracking down specific figures.

The amiibo system in Splatoon works consistently across all three games and the pattern holds for 4. Tap a compatible amiibo to the NFC touch point on your controller. The first time you tap a new amiibo, it unlocks exclusive gear. Subsequent taps let you save and load outfit presets, take photos with the character as a prop, and earn in-game coins.

Every Splatoon amiibo ever released works in Splatoon 4. That includes the Inkling Girl, Inkling Boy, and Inkling Squid from the original Splatoon. The Inkling Girl unlocks the School Uniform set, the Inkling Boy unlocks the Samurai set, and the Inkling Squid unlocks the Squid Amiibo set. These are full three-piece gear sets with unique abilities. The School Uniform has Comeback as the headgear main, the Samurai set has Stealth Jump, and the Squid set has Ninja Squid.

The Splatoon 2 lineup expands further. The Octoling Girl, Octoling Boy, and Octoling Squid each unlock special Octo gear. Octoling Girl gives you the Octo Layered LS, Octoling Boy gives the Neo Octoling Armor, and the Octoling Squid has the Octoling Shades. The Octo Expansion amiibo unlock the Octo Shot Replica and the Golden Toothpick, a headgear item with special significance for completing the expansion's toughest challenge.

The Splatoon 3 amiibo continued the trend. The new amiibo for Splatoon 3's side order DLC gave exclusive color variants of existing gear. All of these also work in Splatoon 4. The Smallfry amiibo is unique, it doesn't unlock gear but instead lets you take photos with Smallfry as a companion. If you have the Smallfry amiibo, it's the best one for photo mode.

Non-Splatoon amiibo don't unlock gear but some have Easter eggs. The Super Smash Bros. Inkling amiibo works as a Splatoon Inkling amiibo for photo purposes. The Super Mario series amiibo don't do anything special in Splatoon. Neither do Zelda or Animal Crossing amiibo.

For outfit presets, you can save three per amiibo figure. This is actually more useful than it sounds. Save a Turf War build on one slot, an Anarchy build on another, and a Salmon Run generalist build on a third. Tap the amiibo at the start of a session and you're instantly geared. No scrolling through the menu.

The photo mode with amiibo lets you place the character in Inkopolis Plaza or on the battle maps in replays. The character strikes a pose and you can move the camera freely. This is how people make those Splatoon screenshot edits you see on social media. The Octoling and Inkling amiibo have different pose sets.

If you're collecting specifically for Splatoon 4, the priority is: any Splatoon character amiibo for gear unlocks is good. The Octoling three-pack gives you the most gear in a single purchase. The Inkling Squid amiibo is arguably the most iconic. The Smallfry amiibo is a nice-to-have for photo mode enthusiasts but doesn't unlock gear. Original Splatoon 1 amiibo are harder to find and more expensive, but the gear sets they unlock are some of the best looking in the game. The Splatoon 2 Octoling amiibo are easier to find and the gear is more versatile. The Splatoon 3 amiibo with the Side Order flavor are the most modern designs.