Group 2 and 2continued (Club Ink and Associates)
 
https://imgbox.com/0JKmsrUI (Splatoon 1 Group 2 and 2c)
https://imgbox.com/yuwhxVGe (Splatoon 2 Group 2)
 
This requires an essay. Most if not all the Inklings in the first lot are promotional Inklings given a name/personality.
 
Minni was supposed to be the leader of this group. Then she would recruit a large number of Inklings to sort of keep track of the populace. She moved from outside Inkopolis somewhere... the idea was that she'd be so popular among Inklings it wouldn't matter where she went she was loved. Even her brother, Dave, didn't hate her. Sibling rivalries always seemed nonsensical to me, even as I've seen it in my own family. As an only child, I realise it's a silly experience to have but I don't find the idea of the childish rivalry of name-calling to attempt to please the parents as endearing I just find it stupid. Congrats you called your lower blood relative a bunch of stupid names. What'd you accomplish? The 2-second power trip before your inevitable disappointment. Good job. You're stupid.
 
The other characters were grouped into small sub-groups based on miniature dynamics. They'd mostly keep track of info around the town. Keep in mind I'm talking about the first game's timeline, I'll talk about 2 and the paradigm shift then.
 
Kelly was Minni's best friend, ideally sneaky and more kept to herself than Minni's bold exterior image she kept on without question.
 
Annie and Dylan were the shy computer nerds. The smartest of the group. They'd be in charge of computers at HQ Club Ink... an area I can't find a suitable Gmod map to build on or make from. But this was the extent of popularity Minni's group had, enough that they'd be popular enough that all Inklings would know the name 'Club Ink' even if they never fought a single member of the 27. Mostly because I really liked the name itself (Club incorporated... it sounds like something some teenagers'd make up to sound cool)
 
Ariana, Haiysu, Cosmo, Tuxada, Nansy and later Amina were 'the girls.' Excitable, energetic, cutesy and 'the public image.' Each girl had a different attitude that complimented the PR as it were. Haiysu was loud and screamy, Ariana was the every-girl, energetic but 'normal,' Nansy was quiet and secluded, Tuxada was down-to-earth but still quite energetic (think Elli but nowhere near 'edgy and serious' but instead just energetic without going overboard) and Cosmo was 'cute.' Kinda like how Callie's 'Bomb Rush Blush' was peppy and bubbly and jumpy, this would reflect Cosmo, she'd focus her image so much on being huggable and cutesy. Amina was a later addition who was kinda like Cosmo but with elements of Tuxada, so cutesy Tuxada was Amina.
 
Connor and later on Zimu were another duo of 'the boys' to compensate for the girls. Connor was supposed to be the energetic teenager boy, and Zimu was more like Dylan, Connor but collected. The latter was supposed to know Minni from their Agent 3 stunt (more on that soon) and then grew to like Connor's peppy attitude.
 
Hassa was just supposed to be the boyfriend attachment (think Xolo) to Miranda, only both were more committed. Less teasing more they ARE in this relationship and they're gonna make it work. Miranda was Chris's (Group 7) younger sister, who was a bit meek and shy. You'll notice a common trend of pairing the energetic with the shy because it's one of the only few relationships that really worked. Similarly with Polly and Nox (the collected types) versus their paired Ilka and Ini (the more energetic types). Polly was no-nonsense to Ilka's endless optimism just like Elli/Bunni (Group 1). Nox was prestiged collected, and a bit prideful versus Ini who was younger so he was more energetic, but more shy/docile/cutesy in appearance.
 
Katie and Strike were siblings of equal ability to be athletic, and fast. Both were reflections of each other, energetic to the core and competitive like no one else.
 
Nei and Nemmi were also in a committed relationship where Miranda was overseen due to Chris being protective (I made a short comic about this) over her interactions with other people, these two had no oversight, and were free squids in that sense. Both were also energetic, where Nei was usually hesitant to jump into anything but didn't mind if it tickled his fancy, while Nemmi was the complete opposite, competitive, loud, the most affirmative of the two where she'd be dragging Nei everywhere and he wouldn't mind because he admired her determination.
 
Shou, Tat, Mono and Venom were all the 'controversial' members at the last slide in. Shou and Tat were Strike and Katie without the sibling relationship and less optimism, edgy, serious, athletic types, and Mono and Venom were the complete opposite, the most hesitant to have their image out there, the most shy, and the most rude of all the members. Mono was more optimistic comparatively since he was younger but Venom is the definition of edgy/serious. Always to himself. Accepting the others only when it was important. This was reflected in their names, Shou and Tat were Japanese names either from the promo or in Tat's case, an edgy case of bringing back a Klonoa character's name. Mono and Venom were also named so as to be 'disheartening,' monochrome or mono audio or such is 'displeasurable' unless you're going for a specific look or feel, you typically want more than mono, and venom's name is self-explanatory... even being around him feels like venom. Not so toxic he'd be shouting names up your ass but to pick any member from Club Ink to rep it he'd be the last one you'd pick. Minni just didn't want to exclude.
 
Before I continue with talking about Group 2c, I first need to explain what the hell their importance was as a group in-universe.
 
Minni would've come to Inkopolis, met all the members above prior to Zimu, Polly, Ilka and Amina, and then would've taken all of them down to Octo Valley to follow Helen. The original timeline was that there'd be 3 Agent 3's, Twanni (Group 4), Helen (Group 1) and Club Ink as a collective (minus the 4 mentioned, as they were not in the group at that point). Twanni would've dealt with Octavio 2 years prior to the events of Splatoon, Helen would be dealing with the main campaign, and Club Ink was 'following the trail' with blueprints left behind (the Sunken Scrolls, only in-universe more of them would be Octarian propaganda and less... here's a human skeleton with a Wii U and 'COME TO THE GEAR SHOP'). Then, when Helen was at Octavio, Octavio would've come prepared with a larger attack due to having dealt with Twanni before. Cue Club Ink jumping out and swarming the area which would surprise even Helen but she'd appreciate the gesture and they'd all defeat Octavio together. And then they'd never 'Agent' again.
 
...A lot of this requires a lot of suspension of disbelief which I scrapped. They're merely just an informative entity in-universe now, Minni never got the idea to go down to Octo Valley in my new part of the story, and while she still met the same people in the same way they don't play as big a role in the actual stories due to being background entities.
 
And now for the background entities to the background entities, known as Group 2c, or 2 continued. I was nuts. Most of these were me fiddling with the in-game customisation system.
 
Andy, Jim, Lloyd, George (Jorge), Cole and Russell were all meant to be friends of Dave (Minni's younger brother). He was part of Club Ink only sparsely due to it being 'his sister's thing' and he was only in it because she cared for him too much, he didn't really consider himself a part of it because these guys were his friend group instead. Their personalities are as follows, Andy was energetic, Jim was quiet/secluded, Lloyd was the 'leader' type, George was loud and boisterous (the name 'Jorge' was simply because someone I played with in a match had that name and I thought it'd make for a good nickname), Cole was loud and screamy (ironic given he's wearing the face bandanna but whatever, consider it a muffler for your own sake) and Russell was 'the smart' one. Dave in this sense was meant to be the everyman, more like Andy and George in personality but kinda like how Ariana was the 'middle' of her group. In the Splatoon 2 part of the timeline, all the other dudes wanted to be a part of Club Ink, and so he obliged and Minni let them in after the incident let everyone go (more on that later)
 
Brianna, Lily and Flynn were all supposed to be friends of Dylan (one of the computer nerd chars) before he moved out of a different miscellaneous town not named Inkopolis. He was apparently popular at his old school and teased which he didn't like (an aspect based on my own school history) and these guys mostly rubbed it all on him in an attempt for him to adjust and he couldn't have been happier. Bri was more down-to-earth but still peppy, Lily was 'the most peppy' and Flynn was basically Dylan's opposite where Dylan was normally shy Flynn wasn't but liked to rub it in his face. That's all this amounted to, they also joined up with Club Ink in the Splatoon 2 part of the timeline after the 'incident.'
 
Keith and Edna, another docile/secluded and energetic/serious duo were Nox's old friends. Nox was prestiged enough to be popular like Minni only to a more pretentious degree. Basically like royalty almost. Keith and Edna were his more 'normal' friends comparitively and they were the last that in the Splatoon 2 timeline they joined Club Ink too after the 'incident.'
 
Said incident runs as follows. So start from the point in the story where Splatoon 2 the game starts.
 
Everyone moved over to Inkopolis Square, Club Ink included, the oldies had an advantage but it was much harder to get a foot in to the new generation mostly obsessed with signing up for sketchy egg-collecting jobs. They join Salmon Run with the intent to gather information on the Salmonid and Grizzco, which gains them a few fans. But then Club Ink grows up, and after coming fruitless with literally no information, many of the existing members lost faith in Minni to actually be a part of her group and they separated majorly.
 
Many separated to be with the remainder from 2c that I didn't elaborate upon, but here is where their popularity crumbles. The 'Group 2 Splatoon 2 timeline' is the remnants. 21 members, sure, but of the original group from the first game's timeline, only 10 remained, the rest being related friends who weren't following their friends so much for news but as... friends. By the time Splatoon 3 comes around, all of them have disbanded into sub-groups since they just grew up.
 
Of the remainder from the original group 2c, the only elaboration needed that I scrapped is
 
Clive/Paul - related friends of Strike/Katie, another energetic/laid-back and no-nonsense/serious duo
Wayne - related friend of Shou, the more laid-back of the two
Kirby/Koi/Libbi - all fans of Club Ink. Kirby was bubbly/peppy energetic, Libbi was edgy/no-nonsense/serious and Koi was in the middle and the leader. When Club Ink proved themselves bad, they lost all interest in being fans and became their own entity in Splatoon 2.
 
Group 2c in Splatoon 2 after the split looks like this
 
https://imgbox.com/wsXBRnad
https://imgbox.com/Bwn3CBl7
https://imgbox.com/Z53YioHr
https://imgbox.com/8CzgATI9
https://imgbox.com/nvrMnT3C
https://imgbox.com/rVYUA45e
https://imgbox.com/PIttSVPK
 
The 3 girls (Kirby, Koi and Libbi) formed sort of their own team of the remainder of Club Ink and Team Inkspray, a rival team brought up to challenge the popularity Club Ink had in the Splatoon 1 days and both competed for the same attention. When Club Ink collapsed since the trend was long since gone, Team Inkspray disbanded for the same reasons. Team Inkspray is Group 11, and those members will be elaborated upon in their own 'plans' paste, I suppose. They built themselves not to gather news or anything, but just simply as a ragtag group of members who liked Turfing energetically.
 
This is why Strike, Katie, Clive and Paul remain, they were the most energetic of Club Ink's crew and they were welcoming to these types. Asides from them, everyone else was from Team Inkspray, or part of the 'new generation.'
 
The yellow Inkling Boys with the red and blue shirts are Ethan, and Max, Connor's younger brothers. I made it a thing where I named a whole bunch of tertiary characters that were siblings or not to the existing Splatoon 1 characters. When Splatoon 2 aged everyone by 2 years, some of these siblings became eligible to join Turf War (as in, they turned 14) so I turned them into 'fully-fledged characters.' This was the logic. Both were exactly like Connor, but a bit more energetic.
 
The duo of the orange Inkling girl and the yellow Inkling boy who remains were Elisa and Ken. Originally part of a different group, they found interest in joining because everyone else prior was depressive and moody. These guys weren't like that. Elisa was loud/obnoxious and Ken was edgy/serious.
 
When the influx of Octolings came to the surface after update 3.0, several started hooking up with friends. Both of the Octolings are Eazara, the pink girl, and Morghe, the yellow boy. Eazara was a bit more shy and docile while Morghe was also edgy/serious, both were friends with Elisa and Ken and came in due to familial ties.
 
I envision that the older members of Club Ink/Team Inkspray after Splatoon 3 was announced left Turfing after it was announced in-universe, and the 3 girls disbanded the group due to losing interest in it. They remained as friends.
 
As for the newer generation, Ethan/Max probably went their own path and the other 4 if interviewed probably had a modicum of interest in the new system (of Turf War) but saw it as a fad. They probably remained friends though.