Splatoon co-director Tsubasa Sakaguchi has explained why his team decided to use squids instead of Mii characters for the upcoming third-person shooter. The developer was initially unsure of what type of character should be at the center of the game, but as the concept solidified, Nintendo opted for squids due to their unique characteristics. Similarly, the firm recently revealed why Splatoon wasn’t built around an established property.

“So as we started adding different elements, like the ability to swim through the ink very quick, or the idea that you would get stuck in another player’s ink, or you would be able to climb the walls and stuff. After we added all of those abilities, it became a really fun game, then we realized: ‘Oh, and they should just be squids,’” Sakaguchi said.