Water

From Pikipedia, the Pikmin wiki

Jump to navigation Jump to search

A group ofRed Pikmin drowning.

Water is the most commonhazard andobstacle in thePikmin series, since it is presented mostly through bodies of water that are a part of theterrain itself. Water is a hazard to most Pikmin types, given that they cannot swim nor breathe underwater. The main exception to this isBlue Pikmin, which are unaffected, making this type of Pikmin ideal for underwater tasks.Bulbmin andGlow Pikmin are also water-resistant, but the former type is only found incaves and the latter can only be used eitherat night or in caves.Winged Pikmin can also fly above the surface, making it possible to traverse bodies of water with them in the group, though they cannot bethrown when the leader is underwater.Ice Pikmin are the only type that can float on water, but they cannot attack or carry anything unless theyfreeze the water first. The amount of Ice Pikmin it takes depends on the size of the water, but when the water is frozen, it will stay frozen until the Ice Pikmin are recalled. Despite their buoyant-nature, Ice Pikmin can still drown if they are soaked by a water hazard, knocked into a water body, or run into one if they arepanicked.

Water in and of itself is not harmful to the Pikmin. Some bodies may be too shallow for the Pikmin to drown in, in which case they are completely harmless.Geysers also spew out water with immense force, but all Pikmin types can still ride them.Rain inPikmin 3 also has no adverse effect on the Pikmin.

InPikmin andPikmin 2, leaders, Blue Pikmin, and Bulbmin stick to the bottom of the terrain while underwater, and gravity acts as if they were on land. InPikmin 3 andPikmin 4, Blue Pikmin were given the ability to swim, allowing them freedom to move up and down, such as when chasing aquatic enemies. Leaders will always remain on the ground, however, and when another leader or Blue Pikmin is thrown, they will slowly ascend and descend. A similar behaviour can be observed inPikmin 4, where Blue Pikmin entering the water after a throw will descend significantly slower.

InHey! Pikmin, pools of water are recurring obstacles. In order to cross bodies of water safely, Olimar must either not have any non-Blue Pikmin with him, or he must throw the ones that can't swim atSeeding Dandelions. Olimar and the Blue Pikmin can swim in water in this game, and the Pikmin will follow Olimar around and swim back when thrown underwater.

Some enemies can be influenced by water as well. AMandiblard will steadily losehealth while submerged, and certain fiery enemies become extinguished.

As a hazard[edit]

Drowned Red Pikmin.

Any inapt Pikmin type that touches water will begin flailing at the surface. They will eventually stop and drown, resulting in a Pikmin death. Pikmin in this state might be saved by having them slowly flail towards the leaders, and luring them to dry land. Pikmin inPikmin 3 will follow leaders automatically, but in the previous games, they must first bewhistled. Alternatively, if there are idle Blue Pikmin nearby, they cantoss drowning Pikmin onto land inPikmin andPikmin 2.

A drawing that represents Pikmin who were killed from drowning.

Drawing of drowning Pikmin in thehigh scores menu ofPikmin 2.

Bodies of water are not the only way Pikmin can suffer from a water hazard. Some enemies have attacks that wet vulnerable Pikmin in such a way that a bubble of water forms around the top of their stem. This is enough to leave them choking and running in panic. If they're whistled in time, they will instantly return to normal, but if not, they will eventually collapse and die. These water attacks will cause damage toleaders as well, and can knock them down.

Some bodies of water may cover the way to an important part of the area, where non-Blue Pikmin are needed. These pools might have aclog, which can be destroyed in order to drain the water, abridge that can be built and used to cross over, or somelily pads can be taken to ride through and across a stream. Alternately,Winged Pikmin may be used, as they can fly above the surface of the water.

Sources[edit]

AWhite Pikmin choking in a water bubble caused by the Watery Blowhog.

Most commonly, water can be found as natural bodies of water, like lakes or puddles. Some other sources of water exist, and can affect Pikmin that are not Blue Pikmin or Bulbmin.

Watery Blowhog – anenemy that can blow streams of water.
Hydro Dweevil – an enemy that sprays some watery liquid if provoked.
Skeeterskate – an aquatic enemy capable of spitting water from afar.
Goolix – a minorboss inPikmin with a water-like gelatinous body.
Titan Dweevil – the final boss inPikmin 2 has a weapon that sprays huge globs of water around the arena.
Plasm Wraith – the final boss inPikmin 3 can spit out Elemental Plasms that morph into huge bubbles of water.
Water spout – an obstacle inPikmin 4 that spews jets of water.

Blue Pikmin[edit]

Some Blue Pikmin underwater.

Main article:Blue Pikmin.

Blue Pikmin, along withBulbmin andGlow Pikmin, are the only types of Pikmin that can breathe underwater. Blue Pikmin and Bulbmin can walk on the floor of bodies of water without a problem, and inPikmin 3 andPikmin 4, can also swim through them. Glow Pikmin float through the water in the same ghost-like manner as they do through air. Bubbles of water that would choke other Pikmin also do nothing to Blue Pikmin, Bulbmin and Glow Pikmin. InPikmin andPikmin 2, Blue Pikmin that are pointed to drowning Pikmin will go to them, grab them, and throw them to shore, although Bulbmin will not.

Ice[edit]

Main article:Ice.

A group of 5 Ice Pikmin floating in water.

A group ofIce Pikmin floating in a frozen water body.

InPikmin 4, bodies of water are able to be frozen. They can be frozen using eitherIce Pikmin or anIce Blast, though the Ice Blast will be temporary. Freezing a body of water allows for it to be crossed. If there are anyenemies,treasures, or other collectables inside or on the water body while it has frozen, they will also become frozen. Frozen collectibles become stuck, meaning they cannot be collected. Frozen enemies will act the same as if they were frozen any other way.

Oatchi and Moss[edit]

At the start of the game,Oatchi is unable to swim; if he tries, he will immediately begin drowning, bucking all Pikmin on his back into the water. Unlike non-Blue Pikmin, he will not perish if he drowns, instead teleporting back to the last piece of dry land he stood on before he fell into the water.

After Oatchi has grown up and has encountered water,Shepherd will inform therookie Rescue Officer about her breakthrough with Oatchi's fear of water, unlocking the Doggy-Paddle skill.

Once Oatchi has acquired this skill, he can freely swim on most bodies of water, transporting both the rookie and Pikmin.

Upgrading Oatchi’s Doggy-Paddle allows him to swim faster and eventually dive a short distance to perform certain tasks underwater, such as carrying or fighting (Though diving cannot be done manually while controlling Oatchi).

If the rookie stops riding Oatchi while he is swimming, Only Blue Pikmin and Glow Pikmin will follow, and other Pikmin types will remain floating safely on Oatchi's back. Oatchi will follow the rookie along the surface, and can be ridden even from deep water, which makes the rookie and the Pikmin swim towards Oatchi. Note that if Oatchi is carrying any Pikmin on the surface, he cannot be ordered by the rookie.

Moss can swim by default inOlimar's Shipwreck Tale and does not need to learn how to Doggy-Paddle.

Enemies and water[edit]

For the most part, enemies are not affected by water, but some exceptions exist:

Fiery Bulblaxes andPyroclasmic Slooches will lose their fire if they enter water. The Fiery Bulblax will reignite if it leaves the water, but Pyroclasmic Slooches need to touch another Slooch's fire trail.
Members of themandiblard family inPikmin andPikmin 2 will losehealth at a steady pace, as long as they are underwater.Shearwigs will also lose health if they fly above the water.
Wolpoles andPuckering Blinnows will swim freely in water, but will begin flailing around if they find themselves on dry land.
If aMockiwi falls underwater, it will quickly lose all its health and drown.
Young Yellow Wollywogs hop around on land, but swim when in water.
Large Splurchins can slowly move underwater, but can't move at all when they're on land.
Pricklepuffs will be unable to move if out of the water but can still attack Pikmin.

Reflection effect inPikmin[edit]

The water inPikmin has a faint reflection of the walls and leaves on the trees. This effect is actually obtained by having the walls duplicated and inverted under the ground, as well as having a white "bowl" with the shadows of the leaves. The ground texture underwater is then made translucent. Effectively, when looking at the water, the player is not seeing the reflection of objects high above, they're actually seeing through the ground, into a textured surface.

The reflection "bowl" underground atThe Forest of Hope.
This image shows how the effect works, by showing how the ground is translucent.

Glitches[edit]

There are a fewglitches related to the water in the series:

Pikmin:
- Drowning reset
- No drowning
- Throwing non-Blue Pikmin underwater
- Drowning Pikmin that are called to Captain Olimar can go through gates as if they didn't exist. This can be seen on the gate that bars access to theArmored Cannon Beetle. This has been fixed inNew Play Control! Pikmin.
Pikmin 2:
- Drowning reset
Pikmin 3:
- Drowning cutscene glitch

In theSuper Smash Bros. series[edit]

This article or section is a short summary on water attacks.
SmashWiki features more in-depth content.

A few attacks in theSuper Smash Bros. series are considered "water" attacks, and carry some special properties. Blue Pikmin are completely immune to water attacks, and will not suffer damage nor will they flinch, if hit by one. Unlike other Pikmin types, when Blue Pikmin attack enemies, their attacks do not have their element's properties, meaning that Blue Pikmin attacks are not considered water-based.

Some stages have pools of water in their layout – if the water is deep enough to swim through, then doing so with non-Blue Pikmin will have them begin losing HP until they die. Red Pikmin will instantly perish, a trait that is original toSmash. Shallow water does nothing to these Pikmin.

Trivia[edit]

Pikmin inPikmin andPikmin 2 will only start drowning in water that is at least deep enough to cover the distance between a Pikmin's feet and waist from the ground to the surface of the water. This can be most easily observed in Pikmin inThe Final Trial, and inPikmin 2 in sublevel 6 of theHole of Heroes and sublevel 9 of theDream Den.
InPikmin 3 andPikmin 4, Pikmin under the effects ofultra-spicy spray will drown faster.