Shiver, Frye and Big Man
Shiver Hohojiro, Frye Onaga and Big Man are a trio of characters in the Splatoon video game series. They first appeared in Splatoon 3 as an idol pop music group known as Deep Cut, in which they provide content/news updates to the player as well as being responsible for some of the music that appears during matches and Splatfests. They also serve as antagonists in the game's single-player campaign, Return of the Mammalians. Deep Cut are set to return in the Splatoon spin-off Splatoon Raiders.
Created by Splatoon 3 co-creator Seita Inoue, the group was designed as antitheses to the series' previous musical duos, with a lean more into the bad boy archetype as well as using animal motifs to represent being predators of squid and octopuses. Additionally, they were designed to centre around the game's themes of chaos and the number 3; each member's physical design and music were also inspired by a different international culture. Shiver and Frye are voiced by Anna Sato and Laura Yokozawa respectively.
Shiver, Frye and Big Man have received praise from both critics and fans, with Big Man being considered a fan favourite online, but the characters would cause intense conflict within the Splatoon community during Splatfests. Upon their reveal, Shiver was subjected to speculation from outlets about being non-binary. Nintendo would later deny these claims, but fans would continue to headcanon the concept.
Design and conception
Shiver, Frye and Big Man were created for the 2022 Nintendo Switch game Splatoon 3, being revealed in a Nintendo Direct in August that year. They form the idol group Deep Cut and are hosts of the Anarchy Splatcast news program airing in the game's hub, Splatsville, and the group's home turf is located in a region called the Splatlands. Outside of their music and hosting careers, the group are also bandits who steal valuables to support the poor of Splatsville, with their news program actually being a pirate radio broadcast that hijacks Splatsville's actual programming. The trio, who are popular among the locals of Splatsville, are descendants of families that have handled the festivals and religious ceremonies in the city for generations. The members were first acquainted in school; Shiver and Frye would later bond over their love of music, eventually meeting Big Man to accompany their music making by playing piano, eventually forming Deep Cut.Design
Shiver Hohojiro is a blue-haired Octoling with red eyes and accents. She is described as having thin, narrow eyes, with her hair covering one of them. Her outfit consists of shark tooth earrings, a blue top over a white sarashi and a shimenawa tied around her head. She also wears thick clogs, making her stand slightly taller than Frye. Her design is mainly inspired by Japanese culture. Shiver is a member of the Hohojiro family, a family of shark tamers, with Shiver a successor to the title of shark tamer. Shiver speaks with a Kyoto dialect, with 3s director Seita Inoue stating in an interview that this was due to wanting to mix up influences that were opposite to the western influences used in Splatoon 1 and 2. A popular bug involving Shiver was discovered and replicated among players in early versions of the game. The bug involved items of clothing on Shiver becoming invisible when the player views her in the Anarchy Splatcast studio through a translucent jellyfish NPC, leaving only the sarashi.Frye Onaga is a yellow-haired Inkling with purple accents and yellow eyes. She has brown skin, a wide forehead, long ears, purple fingertips and downward-turned facial features such as drooping eyes. Her outfit consists of a yellow cropped top over a cropped turtleneck, baggy trousers with holes and toeless socks, and an accessory in her hair resembling fried food. Her top lights up in-rhythm with her group's music. Frye's design is mainly inspired by Indian culture. She is a successor to the Onaga Clan, a group of eel charmers.
Big Man is large bipedal manta ray who uses his pelvic fins to walk. His body is covered in white and grey markings and he dons a red and white traditional Japanese headdress. Unlike Shiver and Frye, Big Man communicates through unconventional noises, with translations of his dialogue appearing in his text boxes. Big Man's design is also rooted in Brazilian culture. His real name is Manta Tarou Kizaemon Munekiyo, which he changed due to it being too long. He also created some music under the alias Ian BGM, which was first seen when he collaborated with the Squid Sisters for the song "Liquid Sunshine". Shiver and Frye perceived the collaboration as a betrayal and in-turn created the song "Big Betrayal" to call him out. However, Big Man amended his relation with the two by explaining the collaboration was meant to help bridge the two groups, with "Liquid Sunshine" being a charity song meant to help Splatsville. Big Man is the head of the Manta Clan, a well-known family of the Splatlands and owners of Manda Ryuu, a traditional dance school.
During certain Splatfests, the group will change their outfit to fit with the theme. During the Splatoween festival, the group wore Halloween costumes. During the Frosty Fest, the group wore masks, top hats and gowns to match with the masquerade themed outfits released around the time. During 3s final Splatfest, they wore punk era outfits; Shiver wears a Deep Cut logo tattoo and a different hair piece, Frye stylised her hair into a bun resembling tiny spikes and wear metallic wire on her ears and Big Man is fitted with spiky overalls and eye shadow.
Structurally, Deep Cut is divided between a hybrid vocalist, an MC and a DJ, with Big Man creating "EDM-based" music tracks whilst Shiver and Frye provide the vocals. According to Japanese website Real Sound, Deep Cut song titles such as "Anarchy Rainbow" and "Till Depth Do Us Part" use a kanji and katakana naming scheme in Japanese similar to the earlier work of musician Ringo Sheena. In addition, the group's style has been described as a mix of "Shōwa era delinquency and traditional Japanese culture dating back to the Edo period". On their own, Shiver and Frye form the duo Fire & Ice, which was formed when facing Off the Hook in a rap battle on the song "Suffer No Fools". During the final Splatfest, called the Grand Festival, Deep Cut formed a group with both the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook called Now or Never Seven to perform the song "Three Wishes".
Concept
Many of the themes used to design Splatoon 3 were incorporated into the creation of Deep Cut. During an interview with Famitsu, director Seita Inoue and producer Hisashi Nogami stated that the number 3 was a core concept that was applied to many aspects of the game, with Inoue adding that he believed third instalments were seen as a culmination or evolution, leaning into the idea of festivals. Inoue continued that festivals also fit into another theme of the number 3, the concept of chaos. During Splatoon 2s final Splatfest, players were given the choice between two sides to fight for: Chaos vs Order. Unlike previously hosted Splatfests, the developers of the game revealed the next game would be built up on the concept that won. Following the end of the Splatfest, Chaos became the basis on how developers approached the next entry. Much of the world design in Splatoon 3 was influenced by the concept of chaos, such as the culture of the world of Splatoon, including the hub of the game, Splatsville. The mixing of the concepts of chaos and the number 3 led to the creation of Deep Cut's name. The group's Japanese name, Surimi rengō, translates to "fish-paste union" in English, incorporating surimi as well as Japanese character for "three". Inoue mentioned that the name popped into his head after struggling to try and combine three into the name. He mentioned that their catchphrase, "hona kaisan!", came about when trying to create a greeting that rivalled previous idols' catchphrases.When initially designing Deep Cut, Inoue stated they started out as festival representatives but felt that by increasing the number of idols would mean challenging both the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook. To differentiate them from their predecessors, he played around with the concept of the group being "loveable villains" and leaned into the bad boy archetype; using motifs such as moray eels, sharks and rays in the members' designs due to those animals being predators of squids and octopuses. Inoue added that despite being "bad boys", he designed them to play a role in both the hub of Splatsville and in the story campaign as popular representatives of the people of Splatsville; he elaborated that to support their home town through financial difficulty, they became thieves to make money.
During a boss battle with Big Man during Splatoon 3s story campaign, Big Man dives into the ground and transforms into a large silhouette of a manta ray, which will split into smaller versions when attacked. Outlets such as Polygon commented on its resemblance to a boss battle during the level "The Manta Storm" from 2002's Super Mario Sunshine, in which Mario fights a similar giant shadow manta ray, with journalists highlighting both bosses use a yellow and greenish-blue ink colour scheme. When asked about the parallels in an interview, Inoue acknowledged the reference, joking that "when it to ink, manta rays and bosses, we had no choice but to do it."
The trio's music were inspired by different cultures; Shiver's singing utilising riffs reminiscent of traditional Japanese singing and Frye's vocal melody was described as " as if a desert is in sight". Their music is also influenced by Brazilian music, primarily in their beats. This is most evident in the song "Anarchy Rainbow", with the song being described as having Japanese tones and vocals mixed with Brazilian and Indian influences. The inspirations can also be seen when the trio host Splatfests, with these events resembling Carnival, although the developers have also compared them to Japanese festivals such as the Danjiri Festival and the Gion Festival. According to Nogami, the festivals took influence and elements from many different regions from both inside and outside of Japan. Their song, "Anarchy Rainbow", is seen as a reference to both the news program as well as their colourful attire. Their news program, Anarchy Splatcast, has a set resembling Kamigata rakugo. In-universe, Frye was responsible for the creation of the song whilst she was eating okonomiyaki.
Shiver is voiced by traditional Japanese folk singer, whereas Frye is voiced by singer-songwriter. Big Man's voice actor remains unknown. When asked if Shiver and Frye's designs resembling their voice actors was intentional, Inoue stated it was a coincidence, adding that the similarities were based on impressions of the voices and songs after first deciding on the designs.