Who is Dedf1sh: An In-depth Analysis

Thanks everyone for the support on this video. Over 3,000 views on my second video on this channel is amazing! and almost 100 subs. On my first channel it took me almost a year to get even a thousand views and even longer to hit 100 subscribers. I'm working hard on the next video, but I've been having some technical difficulties which I hope I've fixed by now. It's probably going to be my longest video yet. So, I hope you all enjoy it when it's finished.

Personally, I see 14 Crush as a warning. It sounds like a jumble of happiness, which I think is fragments of Dedf1sh’s past memories. It also makes sense why the song is known as Crush. Those happy memories have been crushed into pieces, leaving Dedf1sh with only those fragments to hold on to. With this song, she’s warning others about the happiness they’ll lose by becoming sanitized.

#14 Crush sounds like Deadf1sh is lying to herself, like she’s trying to convince herself that becoming sanitized was a good thing. The song sounds happy but with an hypnotic or forceful vibe, and the la la las feels almost deafening, like she’s trying to silence the doubt in her mind.

19 is not hopeful to me at all, it feels more like she’s finally accepted that she’s apart of the mind control and has fully submitted.

My personal theory regarding Tartar's sanitization process is this: It's been implied several times that Inklings and Octolings have in intrinsic connection to music, potentially on a genetic level. Tartar's reasoning for the destruction of the world is his dissatisfaction with the culture of it. He deems Inklings and Octolings inferior, unworthy species because they "wage war over minor genetic differences" and obsess over popular culture. Films, fashion, games, and music. This idea of music's profound effect is even referenced right at the start, with Captain Cuttlefish saying he doesn't consider anyone who likes the Calamari Inkantation an enemy. Agent 8 is undoubtedly affected by it, since they were humming it while unconscious. My theory regarding sanitization is that the process scrubs this musical influence from the DNA of individuals that undergo it. It's essentially destroying the soul of the individual, removing the influence of the culture that Tartar considers the Inkling and Octoling species greatest flaw. This is also potentially reflected in the "Splattack! Octo" BGM when fighting Agent 3. It's Splattack, but it starts and stops, almost like something doesn't want that song to play, and it plays anyway. Because Agent 3 is only partially sanitized, by Tartar himself, just enough to control them. This "culture clash" is even reflected in the final scene, where Pearl's Killer Wail-enhanced "BOOYAH" overpowers and overwhelms a laser fired from a classical Greek statue. In regards to Dedf1sh, I believe that the idea that the tracks represent what she feels during the process is wrong. I believe the fact that the songs are so discordant is because she's composing with a broken soul, taking whatever snippets of emotion she has left and incorporating them into her music, resulting in a bizarre tracklist that doesn't have any cohesive style or theme. It's also likely why each song's title is just a single word. It's what she felt, but she doesn't understand these fragmented emotions enough to give it a proper title. Compared to many other Splatoon tracks, hers are the only ones named so simply.

#16 sounds like... anxiety almost. Like it's her last moments before being fully taken over by Tartar. And then #19 is when her mind is fully gone. She's been blessed by Tartar.

Crush and Regret are my personal favorite songs. Idk what it is about Regret, just seems so hypnotic, yet it fits the vibe of the deep sea metro so well, just an all-around weird song. And crush is just fun :)

If the songs were actually numerical to what Dedf1sh felt going through and after sanitization, perhaps the missing songs are not missing because we do not find them, but because there is literally nothing there to find? What if Dedf1sh lost consciousness during that time period, and the numbers missing have no songs attached?

This is a really good theory on the music. And you’re right about sanitization seemingly meant to be a longer process. I heard from Rassicas (A splatoon content creator who has found out a lot about the lore) that it might be possible the shower is for the lesser octarians while a process more complex may be required for Inklings and Octolings.

the way i hear party is similar to how some people, in a state of denial towards mistakes, will throw themselves into things that they assume will make them feel happy. i see it more of a 'how her mental state is' type of thing. like "well, i regret this decision i made, but i can make all the music i want still". she hasnt fallen to complete self-doubt or regret (kinda like denial of her situation as i said earlier)

Dedf1sh might have to be one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen in any game, just from how she's shown and presented alone. She has no direct presence in game, and yet at the same time is a constant presence throughout in the background, and we can gather a fair amount about her from what we can question and guess at. And it's no wonder that the community has latched onto her so well as a character, making their own theories, stories and continuations to a story for a character that doesn’t even appear at all in game. But that's the unique beauty of this series and the way it handles its identity, with entire characters and bands designed for the purpose of giving life to the world and explaining the culture of the inkling, octarian, salmonid and sanitised music, and there's truly nothing else quite like it out there. Back to Dedf1sh, I really hope she shows up as a composer in 3, if only so we can know more of her mysterious story. And I think she has a reasonable chance, considering her large relative popularity amongst the other bands we've been introduced to, and the ways it can be explained post Octo Expansion (for my own personal example, she could come to the surface a while after OE and start connecting with bands to relearn the surface culture and stabilise her ‘out there’ beats for a truly unique take on music that catches the attention of many inklings and octolings alike). Even though the OE story revolves a lot around the sanitised and the idea of pure order, Dedf1sh's songs always struck me as a little more chaotic and unorthodox, which would fit perfectly in 3's chaotic theming.

Also, you are criminally underrated for the quality of this video, so here’s a sub

My take on the music is that it's the range of emotions after she was sanitized, figuring out how she feels about her music and the sanitization. At first she's trying to regain what she had lost, the feelings she had for music. By "Frisk" she felt like she had gotten back to her former self, until "Regret" started sinking in. She realizes that she had changed by the process, she tries to "Party" and tries to feign ignorance about her changes. At a point she felt "Above" it and was "Awake", unfortunately she had a "Shade" of doubt. She was "Crush"ed to realize this fact and became "Salty", becoming very realistic about everything that had happened. Having noticed she can't change the past, she felt "Bless"ed finally understanding herself and how to life her life Man that was a Theory dump

me getting this recommended right after the side order trailer came out

Oh boy I wonder why this just happened to suddenly appear on my home page today

Imagine Dedf1sh as a final boss in a DLC for splatoon 3. It's a long shot but I think that'd be really cool, anyone else agree?

I hope we'll get to see more of her in splatoon 3. I feel like nintendo has more to her character and story than they shared

Dedf1sh is my favourite splatoon artist of them all. She has such good lore, and just such a sad story. Driving herself into insanity with her own deafening music, that she sought out to pioneer by removing everything else in her life. It's all just.. music. Music. More music. Everything but the music Is completely gone from her life. And it's kinda visible that she tries so hard to tell herself that It was worth it for the songs. Crush is my absolute favourite piece of splatoon music as a whole (next to tentacular circus and the pure iconicity that is splattack.) Because it just shows joy, pride, everything, but cloaked by this soaring and terrifying despair. it's honestly hard to explain. it all just feels so happy, upbeat, but... Terrifying. She has lost, given everything for the music. And she tries her best to cheer herself up with all she has left. Music. And terror.

My theory is that the soundtrack is actually a countdown from 20 to 0 with each break in the countdown being another treatment. She wanted to be partially sanitized at the start, so it came in increments instead of all at once. By the end of it, she just gave into it and just had the full thing occur thus why Shell is the way it is. This also explains Party and Regret, Party happens right after the point she wanted to be at, but then Regret is when she finally lost herself...

Crush sounds like electro swing, a genre that uses samples from older songs. The singing isn't Dedf1sh, simply old records she probably found and thought to use since she couldn't come up with much on her own with the lost memories and such. I think the song is representing how it felt going through the missions, completing some to feel joy. Only to then feel the crushing blow that is failure and having to go again. The beat itself and general sound reminds me of a soldier moving forward to complete some goal even if it's difficult... I don't know though. I'm writing this with no sleep and time to burn so maybe I'm just rambling about nothing.