Westley’s primary memory before graduating from junior high was an extended field trip to Inkopolis. He and River were in advanced classes where they were allowed to learn Inklish and permitted them to take a field trip to the city. The two strayed from the group for hours, eventually ending up on a farm—The Larson Family Farm, primarily known as Lars Acres. Their youngest son, Stewart, was often sent out randomly to man the farmstand near the entrance and was noticed by the stray cephalopods.

Wes found the Inkling cute, and River convinced him to ask him out. So, he ran over and awkwardly browsed his wares for a bit, but Wes spent more time approaching the Inkling, running away, and having the other Octoling push him back. Stew was oblivious to their hijinks, often zoned out whenever he was at work. Still, Westley eventually approached the boy but grew anxious and messed up his Inklish, eventually growing so embarrassed that he went silent. The Inkling was weirded out and felt like he noticed Wes staring at the lemons he had displayed, so he gave them to him for free. He often hated being the face of the farm and wanted the interaction to end but was also genuinely curious about his weird actions.

The Octoling was happy with the lemons and ran back to his friend, who coerced him into getting what he wanted. So, he ran back over to Stewart and asked for his number, and while the Inkling was confused, he still wrote it down and handed it to him. Stewart eventually noticed they were foreigners and after River explained they got lost, the Inkling offered to drive them back to the city. It wasn’t until the Octolings returned home that Ravi realized he didn’t even have a phone to contact him.

Alas, the exchange faded away as the two kids focused on their futures and finally joined the army that summer, and after waking up in the Metro, the memory was gone. And though Stewart had no memory issues, he often blocked out memories from his childhood and didn’t recognize Wes. By coincidence, Stew was the Inkling who took in Westley after finding him sleeping in an alley one evening. Despite his weird hair, attire, broken Inklish, and inability to pay rent, the Inkling shared his apartment with him.

After realizing the boy was conflicted about his name, Stewart shared the one he had given himself: Ravioli. He explained the name came from his earrings and gave him one to share. The Inkling introduced him to the city, its norms, and his many friends. Westley, now Raviyoli, was delighted to have a friend and feel like a normal “squid kid,” though, as their time together continued, he found himself falling for him. Since he knew his friend was straight, he never mentioned it, but since the Inkling had no problem with physical contact with him, Raviyoli would easily get carried away. Meanwhile, Stewart was always oblivious to the foreigner’s feelings.

Eventually, Raviyoli started looking into details that could help him remember his past and felt like Stewart was somehow the key. However, when Stew came home to his roommate digging through his belongings, he became irrationally angry, and they got into a fight, even though the Octoling wasn’t in the wrong. He just wanted to know more about his best friend, but Stewart got too caught up in his feelings, and though he started feeling bad, he abandoned his best friend instead of telling him the truth about his past.

Quickly after, Ravi fell into a depression and eventually came clean to his friends about what happened. He could no longer sleep at night, and while he was hurt, he was more worried about Stewart. As his peers grew more interested in Splatsville, he decided to move there with Wyatt as a mental reset, but no matter what, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Inkling. Despite all that happened, he can’t bring himself to hate him. The most he could bring himself to do was add a “Y” in his name so whenever he signs something, he doesn’t think about him. He wanted a new name together, but “Ravioli” held too much sentimental value.

Raviyoli has always been afraid of Salmonids and thus extensively plays ranked modes and turf if he doesn’t have friends to form a team with him. After moving to Splatsville, he tried to overcome his fear by joining Wyatt and Alaias. However, the day he tried to do a run without them, he encountered Grillers followed by the Cohozuna, had a panic attack, and blacked out. When he woke up, night had already fallen, and the helicopter had left. When he looked up, however, he was met by Radian, who sat beside him with his Griller.

The Octoling was scared shitless by the terrifying Inkling and his Salmonid, though Radian’s demeanor, despite weirding him out, eventually calmed him down. Raviyoli returned home and, about a week later, ran into the man again at the record shop where he works. Unbeknown to the Octoling, Radian would only roam at night, breaking various laws, often accompanied by his Griller. Though the store was closed, the Inkling forced his way inside and, after recognizing the store clerk, began to interrogate and tease the man about their previous meeting. Raviyoli was already having a terrible day and broke down at Rad’s words.

They ended up arguing, and the Octoling unintentionally started spilling all his emotional baggage and history onto the weird Inkling. Radian, who normally disregarded other people’s feelings, was quickly overrun with guilt as the boy explained his previous friends and living arrangements back in Inkopolis. For hours after close, they continued talking, and the Inkling took Ravi around the badlands with his Griller, dropping him back home afterward.

After the Octoling lightened up, they became friends, but Radian returned to teasing and making oddly flirtatious comments towards him. Still, he’s become part of his primary friend group. Ravi’s friends were always a little skeptical about him, especially Alaias, but when Radian reunited with his best friend and moved in with him, they grew more accustomed. Now that he lives with Cyrus, he’s almost been domesticated as he no longer has to sell his body for money in order to support himself.

While Radian is cruel to most people, Ravi has noticed that he’s the one person he’s sweet to. He can’t help but be flattered by it and has been continuously appreciating Rad’s infatuation and odd compassion towards him. However, when Radian started liking him, he never got the subtext because he was so used to Radian’s flirtations and sex jokes. Still, when the Inkling anxiously confessed after months of trying to ignore it, Ravi happily returned his feelings. Since neither of them had been in a relationship before, they never talked about what they were despite fooling around on the daily. Shortly before Raviyoli threw a party celebrating his birthname, they decided they were boyfriends after months of their relationship being up in the air.

River and Westley were best friends growing up and had been neighbors since birth. River was two years older, and Wes would follow him around like a baby duck. They did everything together and when Ren was born, she joined their crew. However, the moment Wes left the army to pursue his dreams, River hated him for not only deserting his crew but abandoning him too. He figured if Wes wanted to leave, he would’ve told him first.

River eventually left the Octarian army a year later and met Stewart, which is how he mistakenly ended up with his old friend again. However, due to his amnesia and River’s new look, the other Octoling didn’t recognize him. River hasn’t told anyone of his history with the other boy but spends most of his time working himself to death to ignore the fact that his best friends are gone, as he feels like he has no other purpose.

Westley has a sister who’s two years younger than him. He and his sister were heavily gifted and through grade school always excelled in the higher class, hence how they often had classes with River. The two were opposites—Ren was the introvert and Wes was the extrovert, but he always looked out for her and scared off anyone who’d potentially make her uncomfortable. Growing up, people often thought they were twins because they had the same nose, despite Ren being several shades darker than her brother. She styled the mohawk that most male Octolings wore because she loved matching with him.

When Wes went into the army, Ren joined him shortly after because she didn’t want to be alone, but also assumed it might help her figure out what she wanted to do when she grew up. Unlike Wes who was dying to be enlisted, Ren was nervous about the opportunity, but she grew to appreciate the experience and loved the friends she made there. However, because her brother was stronger in the STEM fields, they rarely saw each other because they were in different sectors. After every Octoling went through the basic training for the first year, she stopped seeing him and River around, and only had rumors to go off for how he was doing.

When she heard Westley bailed after hearing the Calamari Inkantation, she left without second thoughts. With the only difference not including the Deep-Sea Metro, Ren got in an accident on the way to the surface and ended up with a less-severe case of amnesia. She remembered her name but couldn’t recall her home or the boy she had been so close to her whole life. She’d always carry around the mem cake of him, hoping she’d find the Octoling who’d make her tentacles pink.

She quickly moved to Splatsville to escape the memory of her life falling apart after she got to Inkopolis. However, when she was battling in Inkblot Art Academy, the match transformed into a squid party. She noticed a student on the map who didn’t have a weapon, wanted to be included in the party, and joined regardless. Lionel, known as Nelly to most, loved everything white and sparkly as he was wearing a blinding white outfit. He noticed Ren’s pristine Tri-Stringer and approached her, complimenting her on how she took such good care of her weapon and while Ren was caught off-guard, she was amused by his energy. They eventually started dating after Nelly’s month-long flattery succeeded and she realized he wasn’t her “gay best friend,” although his love of fashion and bling made him appear as such.

When Westley threw his iconic name party, Nelly got an invitataion from Howdy, and begged her to accompany him. She spent most of the party in swim form inside Nelly’s designer duffle bag, until she got bored, toured the house, and trespassed by the pool for a while. Westley noticed her and shortly after their conversation began, Ren noticed the color of his tentacles and realized it was him.

After a sob fest, her brother explained all that had transpired in those six years and introduced her to his friends. She’s a little overwhelmed by the large social circle but loves how desperate her brother is to make her feel included. They all love her and she practically has an army of 20-year-old men who would kill for her. Despite having her own place, Ren tends to trail Westley around Splatsville, as she did when they were kids.

Ravi was always conflicted about CQ for how he regulated the stations within the Deep-Sea Metro, but he realized the older man was only doing his job. He had no knowledge about Tartar’s plan within Kamabo Co. and, until talking to Agent 8 (Raviyoli), who explained how his life was at risk, had no strong feelings about it.

One night when Raviyoli returned to the metro to collect his mem cakes and work towards obtaining the golden toothpick, he found CQ in the relatively barren train, now in his humanoid form. Until then, the Octoling didn’t know he had the same ability as him, and though he was caught off guard, it gave him an excuse to learn more about him.

The two became friends and eventually broke out of their boss/employee relationship. Though CQ doesn’t indulge in turf wars, Ravi will invite the sea slug to the surface to show him around as his roommate did for him. CQ prefers to stay in the metro or at least come to the surface at night, but he enjoys following the Octoling around. Out of all his friends, CQ is the most mature with the best advice. Though he’s not good at expressing emotions, he’s always there for Raviyoli, who he still can’t break the habit of calling Eight.