The line comes from Splatoon, Nintendo's colourful third-person shooter first released for Wii U in 2015, where players control Inklings who switch between humanoid kid form and squid form to swim through ink. It was used as the game's central slogan in trailers and marketing, summing up its central transformation mechanic in a single memorable phrase. Fans adopted it for gameplay videos, animations and memes, and it has stayed popular because it instantly identifies Splatoon without needing any gameplay footage.