Commander Tartar

"I am Tartar, an AI construct created 12,000 years ago by a brilliant professor. My prime directive is to pass humanity's vast knowledge on to the next worthy lifeform. When your kind became self-aware, I hoped that my long wait was finally over. But as I observed your evolution, I WAS DISGUSTED! You wage war over minor genetic deviations. You obsess over trivial fashion choices. And so I created a new prime directive: destroy this world and start anew! From the best and brightest test subjects, I created a sludge of supreme DNA. A primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge. Today is the day my vision becomes reality, as I destroy Inkopolis and everyone in it!"

- Tartar revealing his true plans.

Commander Tartar (also known as the Telephone for the majority of the game) is the overarching antagonist in the Splatoon videogame series, appearing as the main antagonist of Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion. He is an ancient AI created to pass down humanity's knowledge, who, upon becoming disappointed in both the Inklings and Octolings, seeks to wipe out all the planet's life to remake it in his own image.

Biography
He introduces himself as a friendly telephone at the beginning of the game that guides Agent 8 through the Deepsea Metro, motivating the agent with an imminent "Promised Land" that Captain Cuttlefish deduces to be the Surface and Inkopolis. However, this is nothing more than a farce, as the "Promised Land" is, in fact, a giant blender that Tartar seems to use to murder Octolings and use them to create the "ultimate lifeform", which he wants to create after he wipes the world out. If his labeled number for Agent 8 is any indication (10,008), then it is possible he could have blended up to ten thousand Octolings up until Agent 8 stopped his plans. This possibility is increased by the fact that he mentions Agent 8 was the test subject who came closest to stopping his maniacal plans.

Tartar is also capable of brainwashing. Before Agent 8 reached him, he had Agent 3, the playable character from the original Splatoon, infected and brainwashed to do Tartar's desires. He had them fight Agent 8 before the latter broke Agent 3 out of it. In the past, 12,000 years ago, Tartar was created by a professor who wanted to better the future and pass on the knowledge of humans. Tartar calls him brilliant at one point, but it is incredibly likely that he was programmed into caring for him. Tartar is seen to break free of his programming when he creates his own directive (going against his professor's will) to destroy the planet's life.

His fight is versus a giant statue of a human head he had turned into a weapon that vaguely resembled Julius Caesar. The machine was named Nils, meaning "end", rather unsubtly indicating the reason for its existence.

Personality
While disguising himself as the Telephone, he uses "cool" lingo for Agent 8's presumed comprehension. However, this is all a farce: he despises that lingo and is a cold, murderous and calculating machine. Tartar shows no remorse for attempting genocide on the planet: he despises all living species and treats them like objects. Unlike DJ Octavio, he is a dead serious villain at all times, and his plan is on the largest scale, and wouldn't have the largest body count, of any Splatoon villain thus far. The repurposing of the human statue into a weapon as well as the possible manipulation of over ten thousand Octolings suggests that he is also an extremely intelligent being.

Quotes
"Professor… our reunion beckons…"

- Tartar's last words, hinting he still loves his creator.

Trivia

 * Tartar is the only Splatoon boss who is not a member of a fish species.