Pikmin (series)

For information on the game, go to Pikmin (game).

The Pikmin Series (For the Nintendo Gamecube, and possibly the Wii in the future), made by Shigeru Miyamoto who has helped make the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, stars a Hocotatian named Olimar. In each game he somehow ends up on the Pikmin Planet, which could be Earth, and needs the Pikmin to help him out with his problems. In the end Captain Olimar always goes back home to Hocotate, but the Pikmin are left behind to fend for themselves, which they aren't very good at. In the second game Olimar managed to help the Pikmin from dying out, but each color is very close to extinction, or is already extinct.

Pikmin
Pikmin are plant-like creatures who are native to the Pikmin Planet. They are generally taller than they are wide, and have stalks with a leaf, bud or flower on top of their head.

If a Pikmin has a leaf on them, that means they've probably been just born, or have recently come out of a battle where they were thrown a lot, and are the slowest. If a Pikmin has a bud on their head, that means that they were left in the ground when they were born long enough for them to become a bud, or they recently had a battle where they were thrown around a bit. Bud Pikmin are second fastest. If a Pikmin has a flower on their head, that means that they had recently eaten Yellow Nectar(Nectar is the food Pikmin eat), or they were left in the ground for a long time which let their leaves grow into flowers.It is supposedly impossible for them to go extinct forever,due to the fact that the onion shoots a seed when extictions occur.

Onions
Pikmin live in a place called an Onion. Onions looks like a circular pod with 3 legs on the ground, the pod is the color of the color of the Pikmin type that lives within it. When a creature is defeated, Pikmin carry the creature back to the respective Onion(For example, if 5 Reds and 2 Blues were carrying the creature back to an Onion, it'd be taken to the Red Onion because there are more Reds carrying it). There, the creature is harvested, in a way, and a selected amount of Pikmin seeds are shot out of the Onion, and into the ground. From there, a Captain goes up to each stalk that pokes out of the ground, and rips it out. Then, you have a new Pikmin. So in a way Pikmin don't reproduce sexually or asexually, they have a whole different way of reproducing.

Keep in mind Olimar named the Pikmin and Onions after food from Hocotate that look similar.

Pikmin Types
Each different type of Pikmin have their own special abilities, and their own special features that make them unique and invaluable. The following is a list of the current known Pikmin and what they can do.



Red Pikmin have a nose as their special body feature. In Pikmin they were a little stronger than the other 2 types of Pikmin, but in Pikmin 2 they are resistant to fire and are the second strongest Pikmin type in the game



The Yellows have ears as their distinguishing feature. In Pikmin they were able to be thrown high possibly due to their ears, which they may have flapped to make them fly higher(That isn't confirmed though) and they could carry Bomb Rocks, which were little rocks that would explode when placed on the ground. In Pikmin 2 they lost their ability to pick up Bomb Rocks, and gained the ability to withstand electricity. This was very useful because if any other Pikmin type touched electricity, they died immediately. If any Pikmin type touched any other hazard they couldn't withstand, you'd be able to save them by Whistling to them as they ran around.



The Blue Pikmin have a mouth, which no other Pikmin have. In both Pikmin games, Blue Pikmin can walk through water and can save drowning Pikmin by pressing X nearby the drowning Pikmin to disband them. Then hopefully they'll grab the Pikmin and throwing them back to land. Beware, Blue Pikmin can only throw as far as your Captain can.



The Purple Pikmin are much more bulkier compared to other Pikmin, they have hair-like things growing out of their head, and they have a pink flower or bud. The Purple Pikmin were originally first discovered by Olimar in Pikmin 2, where they could stun enemies if thrown at them, were very slow when walking around, and could carry 10 times more than any other Pikmin.



White Pikmin were also first discovered in Pikmin 2, and had big red eyes, and had a pink flower or bud. THey were the smallest of the Pikmin, but they were the fastest, and they had the ability to detect underground treasure. Also, if they were eaten they'd posion the enemy and deal some damage to them.

Story
The Story (May contain spoilers)

The story of Pikmin begins when Captain Olimar was taking an interstellar vacation and was smashed by a meteor. His ship, the Dolphin, was shattered into thirty pieces, and Olimar's life support can only last thirty days. At the beginning of his journey, he discovers the Pikmin, who help him regain his ship pieces, move obstacles, and fend off dangerous foes. In the end, Olimar escapes, but meanwhile, his company named Hocotate Freight ran into financial difficulties... Upon Olimar's return, the President of the company explains that during his absence, another worker named Louie was delivering pikpik carrots to a far off planet. During his trip, he was attacked by ravenous space bunnies, and the pikpik carrots were eaten! The loss of all of the carrots cost over 10,100 pokos! Olimar's ship is forced to be sold, and in shock, he drops a bottle cap, which was to be a souvenir for his kid. A near by ship detects that it is worth 100 pokos! That's more than a year's salary! The President quickly rushes Olimar off with Louie back to the Pikmin planet to gather more treasure! There, they meets two new pikmin, many new creatures, and dangerous holes full of deadly beasts. Once Olimar and Louie finish their quest for the remaining 10,000 pokos, Olimar leaves immediately. But... where did Louie go!? He was left behind and taken away by a hideous beast known as the Titan Dweevil. Olimar tells the President the news, and the President decides to join Olimar in his mission to rescue Louie! In the end, they succeed.

Piklopedia
In each game there were tons of different creatures Olimar and the Pikmin battled. The following section has a list of the various creatures, their scientific name(If available), they're family, a description, and a strategy on how to defeat them.

NOTE:The following list is incomplete.To see a full list,see wikipedia,or help expand it.

Arachnorbs
Beady Long Legs Scientific Name: Pseudoarachnia armoralis Description: A Gold colored spider, with 4 legs. It's central body is a big orb. It doesn't seem to have any eyes, mouth, ears or any other features. The Arachnorbs, along with Beady Long Legs don't seem to be native to the Pikmin Planet though. Don't try to eat it either, as Louie said the central orb explodes as soon as it's energy depletes. Strategy: Take a average sized group of Pikmin(Mainly Yellows and Reds, a few Purples too)of 50 Pikmin over to where Beady Long Legs is. You can tell that your going to fight an Arachnorb due to the spider webs everywhere. Also, one appears in the Perplexing Pool in the field straight from the Landing Site after day 30(Correct on the day?). To beat the Beady Long Legs, throw your Yellow Pikmin onto the central orb of the creature while it's stomping around, but make sure to not get any of your Pikmin stepped on, and call all of the Pikmin on Beady when it starts to twist up; that means it's about to throw them all off. When Beady lowers its orb, throw on all of your Pikmin while you can(Purples first, Reds second, the rest last). Remember to whistle them off before it throws them off. Continue doing this until it explodes.

Cameos

 * In Super Smash Bros. Melee, there are two Trophies that have Pikmin characters on it.
 * At the Second-hand Store in the game Nintendogs, on the top screen at the right is a stuffed Red Bulborb
 * In the Deepwood Shrine from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, there are mushroom enemies called Puffstools. These were also found in the first Pikmin game as a mini-boss who held the Omega Stabilizer.
 * In the upcoming game Super Mario Galaxy,there is a floating ship that looks just like Olimar's ship.