Is Li’l Judd from Splatoon 3 evil? An investigation

polygon.com:

Splatoon 3 imagines an alternate world where ocean creatures, instead of mammals, took over the land. The game is set in a post-postapocalyptic world where humanity has been wiped out and sentient ocean life has taken its place. The signature character of the series, an Inkling, can take on both the form of a kid and a squid. There are a few exceptions to the game’s theme, however, including Li’l Judd, a cat who helps referee your matches. But now, a shadow of speculation has been cast on the adorable fuzzball due to new information revealed in Splatoon 3.

Although the Splatoon series is primarily known for being a competitive online shooter, the developers manage to pack in extensive lore around the day-to-day competitions. They do this by having a pretty robust single-player campaign with a story, and by giving players the chance to discover collectibles, like scrolls, that reveal more about the game’s world. Here’s where Li’l Judd comes in.

Li’l Judd is a cat character introduced in Splatoon 2. He has an ornery reputation and is known for being bitter about being second to Judd. In Splatoon 3, you can collect a Sunken Scroll that appears to show the process of Li’l Judd being cloned from Judd. Both of them look exactly the same, sporting a cute bow-tie coloration as a pattern on their fur. The only differences are that Li’l Judd’s hair is a little less clean, his eyes are a bit beadier, and he’s smaller than Judd. The two together serve as the judges for your competitive matches in Splatoon. And, well, we have reasons to believe that Li’l Judd is evil.

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for the final boss of the single-player campaign of Splatoon 3.]

After beating the single-player campaign of Splatoon 3, Li’l