Thesquad (alsogroup) is a term used to refer to thePikmin that are following aleader. While Pikmin are in the squad, they can bethrown,swarmed,charged, anddismissed, among other actions. Someenemies may also be followed by Pikmin or enemy squads.

In the main series[edit]

In the main fourPikmin games, the squad works more or less the same, bar some minor differences. Pikmin can be added to the squad viawhistling,plucking, withdrawing them from theOnion, or simply from bumping into an idle Pikmin. Pikmin leave the squad when they are killed, knocked down, or otherwise unable to follow the player, among other things. In the first two games, they will get distracted bynectar weed andrubble, and will leave the squad in favor of trying to obtain somenectar from these objects. In all four games, they will stop to drink nectar.

If a Pikmin is whistled, but gets stuck on a wall or similar, they will first attempt to navigate around it, but if they fail they will stop, look around, and then become idle, leaving the squad. Leaders added to the squad will behave much the same as Pikmin do, even having similar animations. Pikmin that are too far away from the leader will also eventually leave the group after some seconds. If Pikmin are following any leader when theday ends, they will be considered safe and board theirOnion.

InPikmin[edit]

Olimar and a squad of Pikmin.

InPikmin, the squad will followCaptain Olimar in a loose, roughly circular group. Pikmin of a lowermaturity will visibly lag behind. When the player presses / /, the nearest Pikmin will run to Olimar's hand, and he will pick it up. Releasing the button will throw the Pikmin. In theNew Play Control! andNintendo Switch ports, while Olimar is holding a Pikmin the player can press / to switch Pikmin types betweenRed Pikmin,Yellow Pikmin,Blue Pikmin, andbomb-rock carriers, as well as pressing / to cycle through maturity levels while holding a Pikmin.

 /+ can be used toswarm the squad Pikmin in the direction the stick is held. In theNew Play Control! port, can be held to swarm the Pikmin to where thecursor is instead. This can be used to solve puzzles, attack creatures and set one's squad to do different tasks.

Pikmin can be dismissed into groups of their color (and bomb-rock carriers) by pressing / /.

When Pikmin make contact with an object they can interact with, they will leave the squad and do that task instead. This behavior is unique to the first game.

To keep track of the squad, there are thePikmin counter andstandby Pikmin HUD indicators during gameplay, which provide information on the number of Pikmin in the squad and the type andmaturity of the closest Pikmin, respectively. If there is no Pikmin within range, the standby counter will display a hollow figure in the shape of a Pikmin.Olimar's monitor, which can be accessed by pressing / / during gameplay, provides detailed information on type and number of Pikmin currently in the player's party.

ThePuffstool also acts as a leader for squads ofMushroom Pikmin. Mushroom Pikmin will dance around the Puffstool that infected them and start following Captain Olimar to attack him when he gets close. If they are returned to normal, they will stop following the Puffstool unless they are infected again.

InPikmin 2[edit]

Olimar and a squad of Pikmin, in the second game.

The squad inPikmin 2 acts largely the same as it does in the first game. However, there are some improvements to the Pikmin's AI, such as them backing up and attempting to trace the leader's path if they run into a wall. They will not stop to do tasks if they run into an object in this game, except for uprootingnectar weed and hittingrubble. This game introduced the feature to the originalGameCube version of being able to switch out Pikmin types and maturity with and respectively, when holding a Pikmin.

This game introduced the feature of having multiple leaders. Leaders each have separate squads, and when one leader is added to the other leader's squad, any Pikmin following them will join the squad too. If leaders are switched with / / while both leaders are together, all Pikmin and the previously controlled leader will join the switched-to leader's squad.

Like inPikmin, the player can use thePikmin counter andstandby Pikmin HUD indicators to keep track of the squad in a similar fashion. Thepause menu essentially replaces Olimar's monitor from the first game, providing similar information on Pikmin type and number in the player's squad.

In this game, several enemies have squad-like interactions:

• Spotty Bulbears frequently haveDwarf Bulbears following them wherever they go.
• AdultBulbmin are also followed by up to 10 juvenile Bulbmin. When an adult Bulbmin is defeated, its juvenile Bulbmin willpanic untilwhistled, and behave like other Pikmin types when joining the leader. They will stay behind when acave is left, even if they are in the player's squad at that moment.
• AnAnode Beetle requires at least one nearby partner to generate an electric current.
• Antenna Beetles produce a sound that causes Pikmin within their range to start following them.

InPikmin 3[edit]

Once again, the squad inPikmin 3 works mostly the same as it did in the previous games. However, swarming has been replaced withcharging, which makes all Pikmin in the squad rush at a locked-onenemy,obstacle, or object. InPikmin 3 Deluxe, charging works slightly differently. Only the selected type of Pikmin will rush forward, and the player does not need to be locked on to charge.Bomb rock carriers will not follow charge orders. When going underwater, non-Blue Pikmin may refuse to follow leaders, and cannot be grabbed directly, although they can still be switched to when holding aBlue Pikmin if within range.

Leaders act the same as they did inPikmin 2, however they cannot be switched to while they are part of a squad, and will stay behind when charging. InPikmin 3 Deluxe,co-op play inStory Mode was added to the game. Leaders in this mode act, once again, largely the same as normal, except that two leaders can be controlled at once. One player can add the other to their squad using theaction menu, and selecting the golden flag. This acts mostly like having a leader in the player's squad in single-player mode, however both players can whistle, throw, and charge. To leave a squad, the leader in charge can dismiss or throw the other leader out of their squad, or they will leave if knocked down, get stuck on a wall, or similar.

In this game, thePikmin counter works as it did previously, with additional information displayed on top of the rectangular bubbles to make it easier for the player to understand their purpose. Thestandby Pikmin has been reworked, however. Three bubbles appear, with the leftmost one being more prominent and showing what type of Pikmin will be thrown next, regardless of distance, and the number of Pikmin of that type in the squad. It no longer displays the maturity of the next Pikmin to be thrown. If there is no Pikmin in the squad, a hollow Pikmin in the shape of aRed Pikmin will be shown instead. If there is any Pikmin in the squad but outside the leader's range, there will be an X on the icon, instead. Pressing / / allows the player to toggle to a different Pikmin type. The smaller bubbles represent the next two types of Pikmin.

In this game, several enemies may also have squad-like interactions:

• Spotty Bulbears frequently haveDwarf Bulbears following them wherever they go.
• Swarming Sheargrubs form swarms, moving and fleeing together if one of them is attacked. They can weigh down items together, requiring more Pikmin to carry.
• Scornets can coordinate and make formations to capture and kill Pikmin. They can be issued commands by theScornet Maestro.

InPikmin 4[edit]

Therookie Rescue Officer and a squad of Pikmin in the fourth game.

Just like the first three games, squads inPikmin 4 function similarly to their previous counterparts but they now feature bothswarming andcharging. They are both unlocked by equipping certain piecesgear, theLineup Trumpet and theCharging Horn, respectively. The Lineup Trumpet is only unlocked once all ofFrisé's side missions have been completed, or once threeship parts have been collected inOlimar's Shipwreck Tale. The Charging horn gets unlocked once a total of × 450 is collected and it costs × 20, or once one ship part has been collected in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale. Swarming can be done by holding / and then tilting /. Charging is done by pressing /. Pressing it once sends only the selected Pikmin type forward, and pressing it twice sends every Pikmin in the squad forward. The charge mechanic does not require the player to be locked onto anything, just like how it is inPikmin 3 Deluxe. Any Pikmin that aren'tBlue,Winged,Ice, orGlow will stop moving once the player enters a body of water. Additionally, non-Blue Pikmin will become unthrowable, and a blue-colored cross will appear across their little icons at the bottom right of the screen.

There are two leaders inPikmin 4: therookie Rescue Officer andOatchi. The rookie Rescue Officer controls similarly to previous leaders; they can throw Pikmin with / and they can swap Pikmin types with / /. The big differences involvedisbanding, as that requires going through the action menu. There are two types of disbanding options, with the first being to disband all Pikmin in the squad except the currently selected type (also includes Oatchi if he's not being ridden), and the second being to disband every Pikmin. They are called "Disband" and "Disband All," respectively, and these functions can be assigned to the,,,, buttons for quick usage.

Oatchi acts like both a leader and a Pikmin, as he is capable of controlling a squad of Pikmin as well as being a part of a squad. If the player is controlling Oatchi, the Pikmin in his squad will ride him instead of following behind. This allows for non-Blue Pikmin to be carried across large bodies of water and for them to be thrown. The only time they cannot be thrown is when Oatchi jumps.

InPikmin 4, thePikmin counter is more simple, as it only includes the number of Pikmin in the player's squad and the total number of Pikmin in the area. These two numbers appear at the bottom right of the screen, and they are not inside of some sort of bubble, something the previous three games have. Thestandby Pikmin HUD resembles the one present inPikmin 3, with the main differences being that the Pikmin icons face forward instead of at an angle, they don't have their stem fully present, and unlikePikmin 3, where only the selected Pikmin type's quantity was shown, the HUD now displays the quantify for adjacent types as well.

Just like inPikmin 2 andPikmin 3, several enemies have squad-like interactions:

• Spotty Bulbears frequently haveDwarf Bulbears following them wherever they go.
• In theEngulfed Castle's second sublevel, a pack ofAlbino Dwarf Bulborbs can be found following an awakeBulborb.
• AnAnode Beetle requires at least one nearby partner to generate an electric current.
• AGildemander's andGildemandwee's golden chunks cause nearby Pikmin to stop and attack them, making them leave the player's squad.

InHey! Pikmin[edit]

InHey! Pikmin, Pikmin in the squad follow Captain Olimar in a line behind him, as the game is in 2D. They visibly overlap each other to avoid taking up too much space. When Olimar walks around, Pikmin walk towards him, but aim to stay some small distance apart from other Pikmin, so they may wait still briefly if Olimar turns around. When Olimar starts climbing avine, the squad immediately jumps on to be in a tight group underneath Olimar, and will stay in this tight group for as long as Olimar is on a vine. When swimming inwater or gliding withWinged Pikmin, Pikmin in the squad will stay behind Olimar based on the direction he is moving in.

When all Pikmin are in the squad, the Pikmin counter in theHUD will be white. When some are not in the squad, it will be grey, and when some have been separated for a while, it will flash red. When a Pikmin isthrown, it will briefly leave the squad before walking back; once it reaches the group of Pikmin or Olimar, it will be counted in the squad again.

InPikmin Bloom[edit]

A squad of Pikmin inPikmin Bloom.

Squads inPikmin Bloom act entirely different to the main series games, due to the game having radically different gameplay. In this game, the term "squad" is used to refer to the Pikmin following the player'sMii. The amount of Pikmin in the player's squad determines the thickness of theflower trail the player can plant. Pikmin in the squad will show up in thegarden, and can be fed nectar. They will also take part in various animations, such as celebrating when a Pikmin becomes aDecor Pikmin, and taking part in the daily lookback in thelifelog. The maximum number of Pikmin in the squad at a time can be increased vialeveling up, to a maximum of 40 Pikmin at level 55. The player can change which Pikmin are in the squad at any time, but is impossible to have 0 Pikmin in the squad.

InPikmin Adventure[edit]

The squad inPikmin Adventure can be used to refer to the small Pikmin robots that follow Captain Olimar. They will always attempt to return to Olimar when thrown or knocked down, and do not drink nectar. If they are killed, a small colored circle of light will appear at Olimar's feet after a few seconds and another Pikmin will pop into existence. The number of Pikmin in Olimar's squad and their maturity will increase as Olimarlevels up.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	隊列たいれつ? Tairetsu	Formation
French	Groupe	Squad
German	Truppe	Troup
Italian	Squadra	Squad
Korean	대열 Daeyeol	Formation
Portuguese (NoA)	Equipe	Team
Spanish (NoA)	Equipo Pelotón Grupo	Team Platoon Group	Used inNew Play Control! Pikmin. Used inNew Play Control! Pikmin 2. Used inPikmin 3.
Spanish (NoE)	Equipo Pelotón	Group Platoon	Used inPikmin. Used inPikmin 2 andPikmin 3.

See also[edit]

• Leader
• Whistle
• Controls

• Pikmin 1
• Pikmin 2
• Pikmin 3
• Pikmin 4
• Hey! Pikmin
• Pikmin Bloom
• Pikmin Adventure
• Gameplay

• Pages that need images
• Articles with things to do