Editing Ancient Sirehound

|attacks    = Eat, [[crush]], ram, cause stalactites to fall, [[ice|freeze]] Pikmin, launch snowy furballs, breath ice, [[electricity|electrocute]] Pikmin, create electric furballs, create electric arcs, [[fire|burn]] Pikmin, create burning furballs, create rings of fire, create [[Gloom]], cause [[panic]]

 

The '''Ancient Sirehound''' is the final [[boss]] of {{p4}}. It is a giant space dog very similar to [[Oatchi]] and [[Moss]], speculated by [[Yonny]] and [[Captain Olimar|Olimar]] to be the ancestor of all space dogs. They theorize that its descendants evolved to become smaller and were somehow dispersed across the universe, eventually becoming modern space dogs.

While it is said to be rather gentle in most cases, [[Louie]] makes it his mount and drives it into a rampage, complicating the [[Rescue Corps]]' attempts to get the cell sample they need to reverse the leaf growth on Oatchi's tail.

On the 20th sublevel of the [[Cavern for a King]], the Rescue Corps confronts Louie, who tells them to go home before he mounts the Ancient Sirehound and starts a boss battle. When defeated, the Ancient Sirehound loses consciousness and drops the [[Gift of Friendship]] and Louie, but quickly wakes up and runs away.

|hp4 = 9000 per phase (45000 in total)

As it has access to multiple elements, the [[Candypop Buds]] on the previous floor may seem useful in order to combat them. However, each Candypop Bud only yields 5 Pikmin, and there is only one of each type, meaning you can only receive a very small amount of each color. In addition, two of the buds, [[Lapis Lazuli Candypop Bud|blue]] and [[Ivory Candypop Bud|white]], are elemental hazards not present in the fight, and all the others can be avoided or even destroyed by Oatchi.

The superior combat strength of [[Purple Pikmin]] is also valuable if the player has access to them, and with 100 Purple Pikmin and use of [[ultra-spicy spray]] it is possible to beat all 5 phases in just 3 attack swarms. If the player has [[Glow Seed]]s in their inventory they should consider the use of [[Glow Pikmin]], which are resistant to most of the Sirehound's elemental attacks and can stun it with a [[glowmob]].

Although the Ancient Sirehound has strict damage gates, normally not being able to get less than 3 damage cycles per phase, there is an easy way to defeat it in as little as a single cycle. This requires a [[Lightning Shock]] and a large number of Purple Pikmin. Use an ultra-spicy spray as it's about to become vulnerable, and once the Ancient Sirehound is down, utilize Oatchi's [[rush]] to latch all Pikmin onto it. Then, immediately activate your Lightning Shock in order to stun it. This will allow you to deal massive damage without it getting up and resuming its attacks. In the case where the amount of Purple Pikmin is less than sufficient (at least 60 or less), it is still easily defeated in 2 cycles instead of the usual 3.

The Ancient Sirehound has a specific yet crucial weakness that can be exploited with the right timing and method. If it charges at Pikmin in an attempt to eat them, and only ''if'' it catches at least one Pikmin, it will briefly stop at the end of its charge to devour them. In this window, its tail becomes vulnerable and open to being pulled down. In every phase other than phase 1, the only time the Ancient Sirehound will charge at Pikmin to devour them is if Pikmin are currently affected by a hazard and are panicking. In this instance, it will pause its attacks to prepare a charge. If no Pikmin are caught in its mouth, then its tail will not be vulnerable, so it is crucial to let them get snatched. If done correctly, you can skip most of its attacks with ease.

In this phase, the Ancient Sirehound mainly attacks with a jumping slam and a charge; the former [[crush]]es Pikmin and causes stalactites to drop from the ceiling, and the latter allows it to eat Pikmin that it catches in the charge. It can also swipe at Pikmin if they're too close to it.

To fight it, the player must trick it into charging at one of the fallen stalactites, which will stun it. The player must then have at least 15 Pikmin or two [[Purple Pikmin]] grab onto its tail to flip it over and expose its belly to attack. This is the basis for dealing damage in all of the phases. As the Sirehound's health decreases, it will perform more jumping slams before charging.

The Sirehound will now begin to use a spread of five snowballs that bounce off of the walls (akin to those of an [[Arctic Cannon Larva]]) and a long-range ice breath attack; if it freezes Pikmin, it will follow up with a charge before eating the frozen Pikmin. While it will try to face the player when using the latter, it cannot turn very quickly and its tail can be pulled on as before. However, care should be taken in order to avoid being hit by stray snowballs. The Sirehound will use six, then seven, snowballs as its health decreases, and its ice breath rotation speed increases slightly. Like other ice-elemental enemies, the Ancient Sirehound is immune to being frozen by [[Ice Pikmin]] and the [[Ice Blast]], but only during this phase.

Changing its element again to fire, the Sirehound will begin to spit fireballs, stomp the ground to produce flaming shockwaves (which Oatchi can jump over), and spit up burning hairballs which produce further shockwaves if they are not destroyed before being hit by a shockwave. The shockwaves have a gap in the section behind the Sirehound and therefore cannot hit anything in that location. Additionally, it cannot turn around while performing them, which can be used to get behind it and pull on its tail.

Instead of using an element, the Sirehound starts to fly. It will lob projectiles that produce the same [[Gloom]] that the [[Smoky Progg]] uses in a circular area when they land, and will also use a beam of this Gloom to attack in a line. Despite the previous phases using hazards that Pikmin can be saved from, and the appearance of the boss being similar in color to the [[poison]] hazard, the Gloom will kill every [[Pikmin]] type and should be regarded with extreme caution.

The player must navigate between the Gloom patches, ideally by riding on Oatchi, without being hit by the beam to get underneath the Sirehound and pull on its tail once more. At low health, it will begin to panic Pikmin with its close-range roar and may quickly reposition itself to keep its distance from the player. This roar is to be treated with maximum and utmost caution, as this will cause dozens of your Pikmin to run directly into the many puddles of Gloom, insta-killing them in the process.

Despite this phase having the highest potential for danger and mass destruction of your squad, it also has the easiest weakness of all the phases. If one simply activates a [[Lightning Shock]] item while it's in the air, or utilizes a Glow Mob to stun it, the Ancient Sirehound's tail will fall down and immediately become vulnerable, allowing for a quick and harmless knockdown. If the player has enough Lightning Shocks, then it's possible for not a single attack to be performed by it.

Upon losing its last health wheel, the Ancient Sirehound will be defeated and run away, leaving behind its [[Gift of Friendship|collar]] and [[Louie]]. If one defeats it in the [[Piklopedia (Pikmin 4)|Piklopedia]], it will simply fall asleep, now docile.

=== Dalmo's notes ===

{{transcript|A coat that's dense and rough like a primeval forest, a stench like a wet canine, and a shockingly toasty body temperature... Clearly a dog in every sense. The long history of dogs being companions we can rely on triggers an instinctive reaction through our entire bodies! If I were left on this planet with this massive cutie, I'd be content!|block=y}}

 

=== Olimar's notes ===

{{transcript|1=If we harvest mesenchymal stem cells from this gigantic canine creature and cultivate them with glow sap, the generated serum should return {{color|Oatchi|green}}'s leafified tail to normal once administered. These results would indicate that 99.9 percent of the canine creature's DNA matches {{color|Oatchi|green}}'s, and that the only difference between {{color|Oatchi|green}} and {{color|Moss|green}} may be the natural presence or absence of a leaf tail.

 

If these two theories prove to be true, it would suggest the possibility that this ancient creature is a common ancestor to two canine species from vastly remote star systems. And that, perhaps, there are even more hidden secrets out there that could hint at a fascinating yet inconceivable truth the universe has yet to reveal...|block=y}}

 

=== Louie's notes ===

{{transcript|The ultimate ride, plush and comfortable. I wish I could bring it home with me.|block=y}}

* [[Cavern for a King]]: The Sirehound appears at the very last sublevel of the cave, in its 20th sublevel. It appears with both [[Louie]] and the [[Gift of Friendship]] in tow as what are usually the last possible collectibles in the main campaign.

==Other information==

|music      = ''[[Music in Pikmin 4#Ancient Sirehound|Ancient Sirehound]]''

|scientific = ''Deicanis perditum''. ''Dei canis'' is Latin for "God's dog". ''Perditum'' comes from the singular neuter form of ''perditus'', "to destroy" or "to lose". The full meaning of the name could be read as ''"God's Lost Dog"''.

|internal  = <code>BOSSINU</code>. Inu is a romanization of {{j|いぬ|inu|dog}}, so it refers to how the Ancient Sirehound is the only boss that is also a dog.

Ancient Sirehound ice attack.jpg|The Ancient Sirehound in its second phase using its ice breath.

AncientSirehound Defeated.jpg|The Ancient Sirehound sleeping after being defeated in the [[Piklopedia (Pikmin 4)|Piklopedia]].

* The Ancient Sirehound bears a great resemblance to a real-life breed of tiny dog called a {{w|Shih Tzu}}. When compared to real-life sizing, the Sirehound would be about the size of a Shih Tzu puppy. It also may be based on a {{w|Bergamasco Shepherd}}.

* The Ancient Sirehound is one of the two enemies in the ''Pikmin'' series to have sequential health meters, the other being the [[Waterwraith]]. It also has 9,000 HP for each meter, meaning the Ancient Sirehound has the highest HP of any enemy in the entire Pikmin series, with a total of 45,000 health.

** Self-resurrecting enemies from {{p2}}, such as the [[Spotty Bulbear]] and the [[Gatling Groink]], can fill their meter from empty to full, however this is technically the same meter and not a new sequential one.

** Technically, the [[Titan Dweevil]] has sequential health wheels, but those only apply to the weapons that are required to be knocked off before the boss itself can be damaged.

* When being fought in the [[Piklopedia (Pikmin 4)|Piklopedia]], it is possible for the Ancient Sirehound to jump on top of the walls surrounding the Piklopedia's walkable space. <!--Is this a considered glitch? Perhaps it should be stated if so-->

* After the [[Rescue Corps]] cure Oatchi and leave [[PNF-404]], the Ancient Sirehound is seen docilely following [[Moss]] and the Pikmin. One randomly determined straggler Pikmin will get spooked by the Ancient Sirehound and run off.