There aren\u2019t many Nintendo villains that I truly fear. The kid-friendly nature of most Nintendo games means that even the toughest boss fights are still meant to be beaten. But after decades of playing Nintendo games, I have finally met my match \u2014 and in Splatoon Raiders <\/em>of all games. The looter shooter features one enemy so tough and dastardly that I still can\u2019t defeat it after over 40 hours of grinding.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No, I\u2019m not talking about any of the campaign\u2019s fearsome Mythic Salmonids. I\u2019m talking about the tiniest fish in the entire game: the dreaded Smallfry of Pudyin Den.<\/p>\n The fight occurs in one of the final Salmonid Dens that you can unlock during the main campaign. Most Salmonid Dens throw you into a small arena primarily full of one type of enemy. You have to collect a certain number of Power Eggs within a set time limit to clear the dungeon. Pudyin Den is a little different. You only have to defeat one single enemy and collect 10 Power Eggs. That would be simple if your enemy wasn\u2019t a superpowered pipsqueak.<\/p>\n The overpowered Smallfry is basically Splatoon Raiders<\/em>\u2019 take on Tonberry from Final Fantasy. It\u2019s tiny, but has ridiculously high HP and can splat you in nearly one hit if it gets to you. He\u2019s hard to take down on standard difficulty, but it\u2019s a winnable fight once you grind enough. It\u2019s a much harder task on Ultra Spicy, which is set at Salmonid Level 76. Smallfry takes a lot of direct hits to take down, but he moves around so erratically that it\u2019s hard to nail him. You only have 50 seconds to take it down. I\u2019m currently at level 50 + 41 and I have only ever gotten six Power Eggs out of the sucker. It is the bane of my existence.<\/p>\n What\u2019s even more challenging is that the fight is designed to work against your best battle instincts. Having tons of gadgets active can actually make it harder to see the Smallfry and land direct shots on it. Trying to clear it with a squad is an almost impossible task, too. I\u2019ve called in a team to help me on several occasions and only gotten two eggs out of it thanks to the HP boost Smallfry gets in multiplayer. If you want to defeat it, you\u2019ll likely need to rely on your skills \u2014 or at least boost your weapon power to an unimaginable degree.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, the Splatoon community seems as delighted by the all-powerful Smallfry as it is frustrated. It has already become a bit of a meme on the Splatoon subreddit, with some fans calling it John Smallfry. My favorite interaction I\u2019ve seen is on a post where a player begged for advice on how to beat the fight. \u201cSuper spicy?\u201d a reply said. \u201cYou\u2019re cooked bro.\u201d<\/p>\n While it\u2019s certainly a challenge, it\u2019s one that is pushing the community to think smarter about their builds. One commenter noted that they won the fight by modding a gadget to freeze enemies, and then using a weapon that does extra damage against frozen enemies. That kind of ingenuity is where you can see Splatoon Raiders\u2019 <\/em>strengths on display. It\u2019s an action RPG that pushes you to create smart solutions to hard problems rather than just brute forcing your way through a dungeon.<\/p>\n If you can beat Pudyin Den on Ultra Spicy, you are a true master of Splatoon Raiders<\/em>. I\u2019m not worthy yet, but I will not give up until I destroy John Smallfry.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/splatoon-raiders-pudyin-den.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/splatoon-raiders-pudyin-den-battle.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n