Purple Pikmin are a troglobitic species of Pikmin in the Pikmin series, and they first appear in Pikmin 2. They have a dark purple body and six trichomes protruding from their heads, which they use as feelers. The main distinct characteristics that Purple Pikmin have are their heavier weight and strength, allowing them to carry objects more easily, although they are the slowest. The strength and weight of one Purple Pikmin is the equivalent of ten individual Pikmin. Because of their strength, Purple Pikmin are required to obtain a number of treasures that would otherwise require over 100 Pikmin to carry, exceeding the game's limit of how many Pikmin can be present at once.
Mainline appearances[]
Pikmin 2[]
A Purple Pikmin, upon being discovered in the Emergence Cave for the first time, in Pikmin 2
In Pikmin 2, Purple Pikmin are first found in the Emergence Cave. Because Purple Pikmin are required to obtain a number of treasures, two of which are needed to gain access to new areas, they are necessary to complete Pikmin 2. While it is possible to clear the debt in the first area without a Purple Pikmin specific treasure, this takes a substantial amount of time to finish, as eventually the only form of income that remains are enemy corpses.
Purple Pikmin share a number of similarities with White Pikmin. They can only be obtained via certain Violet Candypop Buds and have magenta flowers rather than white. Purple Pikmin, like White Pikmin, are stored in the ship, instead of inside of their own Onion.
Retrieval of the Doomsday Apparatus treasure requires the use of one hundred Purple Pikmin. The best place to acquire this imposing sum would be the Subterranean Complex. Take just a few Pikmin into the cave and skip sublevels until you reach the eighth one, with an exit geyser, Candypop Buds and some eggs. Use the Queen Candypop Buds first and the Violet Candypop Buds afterwards to produce large amounts of Purple Pikmin. Purple Pikmin are also required to defeat the Waterwraith.
Pikmin 3[]
In Pikmin 3, Purple Pikmin appear in Mission Mode and Bingo Battle only. They can be obtained through the same means in the previous game as well as pre-spawned sprouts.
Purple Pikmin have lost all of their abilities aside from carrying 10x units relative to other Pikmin. However, they still land with a thump, despite the thump itself doing absolutely nothing. Many players have found this to be a nuisance, as the mid-air stall causes them to slide off enemies and become vulnerable to attack, since they can no longer stun. After landing, they also do not instantly latch on, as if they are waiting for impact damage or the stun. This makes them much less effective in combat. They are still 200% slower than Red, Blue, Yellow, and the newly introduced Rock and Winged Pikmin types.
Crossover appearances[]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Purple Pikmin are among the Pikmin part of Olimar's moveset, and can be pulled out of the ground from his Pikmin Pluck move. Purple Pikmin have the shortest throw distance and the smallest grab range. When thrown at an enemy, rather than latching on, they will deliver a blow with knockback, stopping the opponent in their tracks. They are the most durable Pikmin type and deliver the highest amount of knockback in Olimar's smashes and aerial attacks. Purple Pikmin are also the only Pikmin that will be plucked by Olimar in the Home-Run Contest.
There is an obtainable trophy of a Purple Pikmin. Like many other trophies, it is obtained as a random drop in any of the single-player modes.
Abilities[]
Due to their weight, they cannot be knocked back by windy attacks from Blowhogs, or explosions from Gatling Groinks (they still may die from the latter, however). They are not affected by the roars of Emperor Bulblaxes or the odors of Mitites, either. Their weight, however, slows them down; even with flowers, Purples can run only half as quickly as Red, Blue and Yellow Pikmin, and one-fifth as fast as whites; furthermore, they move even slower when carrying items. This can be avoided by using an Ultra-Spicy Spray on them, which regulates their speed to be equivalent to that of any other type of Pikmin (aside from White Pikmin, of course). This can result in a player accidentally leaving a purple Pikmin behind, especially with a leaf, while crossing an area. Also due to their weight, their throw arcs are very low, and they stop mid-throw to perform a ground pound. In addition, unlike the other Pikmin species found in the game, Purple Pikmin do not have an immunity to any hazards, possibly due to their advantage of being able to deal more damage and lift more than other Pikmin; however, they also have resistance to wind, which has been removed in Pikmin 3.
To compensate, Purple Pikmin are notorious for their effectiveness on the battleground, as when thrown, they will land with a resounding thump, stunning and seriously injuring beasts. This strong landing destroys Eggs immediately, defeats Mitites in a wide radius, instantly grounds airborne enemies, and can immediately deactivate fire geysers and electrical nodes. In fights, Purple Pikmin are undoubtedly the strongest, having twice the attack power of an average Pikmin.
The strong landing also deals more damage than swarming, but the numerical value changes depending on the enemy itself. Most enemies are dealt 50 damage, but the Segmented Crawbster, Waterwraith, and Emperor Bulblax are only dealt 10 damage for a throw.
It should also be noted that when a stun is in effect, enemies will not take any impact damage. Instead, that impact damage is stored, and the next time the enemy takes damage (either a basic attack, or impact damage when un-stunned), all of the stored damage is added to the hit. When an enemy is affected by the thud of a Purple Pikmin, their stun will disable for a split second.[1]
Purple Pikmin are strangely not affected by the hormones that Mitites release, making them the perfect way to extinguish them. Another interesting ability of the Purples is that they rarely stumble while traveling. Other Pikmin will occasionally trip and stay immobile for a little bit before returning to the rest of the pack, but Purples rarely stumble, and when they do, they move about half as far as any other type. This may be due to their immense weight, causing greater resistance to inertia.
Notes[]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy[]
| Image | Title | Appears in | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Purple Pikmin | GCN Pikmin 2 | Random drop |
| Description | |||
| A type of Pikmin, much heavier and slower than other Pikmin. When thrown, they impact with such force that they may kill or stun enemies. They're also incredibly strong--one of them can carry an item that normally would require ten Pikmin. While they're more powerful fighters than their red cousins, their slow speed hampers their effectiveness. | |||
Trivia[]
- In the beta version of Pikmin 2, you can see that Purple Pikmin can still do their ground pound move, but deal less damage to enemies. They also did not possess their ability to lift 10x as much weight as normal Pikmin.
- Even though Purple Pikmin are naturally purple, Mushroom Pikmin, or Puffmin, are also purple, albeit a different shade.
- Reggie Fils-Aime, after the announcement of Pikmin 3 in E3 2012, said "I feel just like a purple Pikmin." The phrase went viral shortly after.
- On the official Pikmin 2 website that was released shortly after the game's original release, there was a page that had Pikmin sprouts that, when moused over, would pop out of the ground and display info on that Pikmin type. When the Purple Pikmin sprout was chosen, it would pop out of the ground and for a single frame, reveal it has a mouth that resembles a Blue Pikmin's gills.
- The only time that explosions will knock purple Pikmin back is if the explosion has landed close enough to them to kill. Therefore, if you see a purple Pikmin fly into the air after being near an explosion, you can be sure that it will die once it hits the ground.
- When first encountered in Pikmin 2, the Purple Pikmin performs a movement where it lifts and stomps one leg, similar to that at the start of sumo matches.
Gallery[]
References[]
| Pikmin species |
|---|
| Red Pikmin • Yellow Pikmin • Blue Pikmin • Purple Pikmin • White Pikmin • Rock Pikmin • Winged Pikmin • Ice Pikmin • Glow Pikmin • Mushroom Pikmin • Bulbmin • Pikpik Carrot Pikmin |