Man-at-Legs

Man-at-Legs
Appears in	Pikmin 2, Pikmin 4
Scientific name	Pseudoarachnia navaronia
Family	Arachnorb
Areas	Hero's Hideaway (Olimar's Shipwreck Tale)
Caves	Subterranean Complex, Hole of Heroes, Ultimate Testing Range, Cavern for a King
Challenge Mode stages	Secret Testing Range
Dandori Challenge stages	None
Dandori Battle stages	None
2-Player Battle stages	None
Attacks	Fire explosive projectiles

The Man-at-Legs (ダマグモキャノン^?, lit.: "Cannon Orb Spider") is a member of the Arachnorb family, and first appeared as a boss in Pikmin 2 and reappears in Pikmin 4. It's one of two bio-mechanical creatures featured in either game, having a mostly mechanical torso sheathed in metal with four spindly legs – three of them are organic and spider-like, while the other one is mechanical; this makes attacking its feet impossible. Several exhaust pipes on its body continually emit steam. Unlike other Arachnorbs, it has no flat footpads to stomp Pikmin with, instead relying on its long-ranged attacks and speed, quickly skittering around the room to easily catch up to and outmaneuver its prey. When attacked, or sometimes randomly, it stops in place, the panels of its underbelly separate and a machine gun-like weapon extends out, tracking any nearby targets via a laser sight before rapidly firing a barrage of explosive rounds at whatever it finds to fire at. After firing a few dozen shots, with minimal breaks in-between, it sheathes its weapon before continuing to move about. While moving, it will occasionally stand still to rest, and in Pikmin 2, makes strange mechanical noises while doing so, much like the roar-like noises made by its relatives in the same game.

Its interior appears to be filaments of biological matter that stretch to allow its gun to fold out. The creature is not without its flaws, though: it takes a few seconds to pull out its gun before it starts attacking, providing a clear signal of when retreating should be done, and it cannot lead its shots, meaning that if one circles the Man-at-Legs smoothly enough, preferably without any Pikmin, it'll be unable to land a single bullet. The Man-at-Legs' gun also has a maximum range to which it can target prey from, though due to how large its maximum range is, this limitation can only be seen with the Man-at-Legs in the Subterranean Complex. In typical Arachnorb manner, it leaves no body behind upon dying. However, instead of slowly disintegrating like its two relatives, it freezes and releases lots of steam while shaking a bit, before exploding violently.

This boss is found buried in the ground, dormant, always in areas that have raised ground or some objects that can be used as shields against its rounds. As a side note, it cannot be petrified while it is dormant.

Stats

Game	Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health	Regen.
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2800	No
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5000	No

Notes

Olimar's notes

“This species of the arachnorb family fuses with machinery at a crucial point in the maturation process, giving it the ability to fire energy bursts from the launcher beneath its orbular torso. However, the man-at-legs itself is not in control of this weapon. Instead, the mechanical portions of its structure appear to automatically acquire and attack targets. The man-at-legs has a gentle disposition, and as a member of the arachnorb species, it has no natural enemies. It is particularly difficult to understand why this species would develop such awesome offensive capabilities, leading to rumors among the scientific community that it was the machinery that approached the arachnorb and proposed the symbiotic relationship.”

Louie's notes

“Although the meat is a bit on the metallic side, the oil makes a mouthwatering gravy or lubricative vinaigrette.”

Dalmo's notes

“Having a body made up of living cells, a metabolism, and the ability to produce offspring might be considered necessary traits to determine if something is truly alive. But this rapid-fire cannon blows away conventional definitions! Is it a machine AND a creature?! What a fascinating possibility!”

Olimar's notes (Pikmin 4)

“This species of the Arachnorb family fuses with machinery at a crucial point in the maturation process, giving it the ability to fire energy bursts from the launcher beneath its orbicular torso.

However, the Man-at-Legs itself is not in control of this weapon. Instead, the mechanical portions of its structure appear to automatically acquire and attack targets.

The Man-at-Legs has a gentle disposition, and as a member of the Arachnorb family, it has no natural enemies.

It is particularly difficult to understand why this species would develop such awesome offensive capabilities, leading to rumors among the scientific community that it was the machinery that approached the Arachnorb and proposed the symbiotic relationship.”

Pikmin 2 Nintendo Player's Guide

“Lasers and machine-gun fire give the Man-at-legs the edge over any other spiderlike creature. Seek shelter when the mechanoid is in firing mode, then toss Pikmin at its body. Only when the body sinks to its lowest point will you be able to hit it with purples.”

Pikmin Garden

Text

“3本の脚と内臓以外は、機械に侵食されてしまったダマグモの一種。融合された生体部分には意思はなく、自律した機械部分が体を操っている。

特徴 その1 機械との融合

生体部分の生命活動で発する熱で、機械部分が動力を得ている。

(Image text:

• 吹き出す蒸気の力でタービンを回して発電する
• 体内にランチャーが内包されている
• 融合初期は、機械の足が先導する)

特徴 その2 キャノン

胴体下部のランチャーから高速のエネルギー弾を発射する。”

Translation

“A kind of Arachnorb that has been eaten away by machinery except for three legs and its internal organs. The fused biological parts have no will, and the autonomous mechanical parts control the body.

Feature #1: Fusion with a machine

The mechanical parts are powered by the heat generated by the biological parts' vital activity.

(Image text:

• "The power of the blowing steam is used to turn a turbine to generate electricity"
• "The launcher is contained within the body"
• "In early stages of fusion, the mechanical leg leads the way")

Feature #2: Cannon

It fires high-speed energy projectiles from a launcher in the lower part of its torso.”

Strategy

This article or section needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style.

1. When the creature has fully risen from the ground and starts aiming, the player should run for cover behind an object. Once it starts walking around, it should be chased. It is most easily attacked when it stands still and lowers its head. When it shakes the Pikmin attacking it off in a fury, the player should hide again, and repeat the cycle.
2. A large mob of Purple Pikmin thrown at this enemy while it lies dormant in the ground should drop its health to a substantial fraction. Once it has risen fully, the first or third strategy should be used.
3. The creature is attacked until it has stood up all the way, and at that point it is petrified. As soon as the spray wears off, it should be petrified again. However, occasionally the Man-at-Legs will exit the stun and start shooting immediately, without the aiming laser.
4. Before the creature opens fire, the player can dismiss their Pikmin away from the Man-at-Legs and run in tight circles around its legs. As long as a leader is closer to the creature than the Pikmin, he will be shot at, and with skill, unharmed. This strategy is easier to perform after obtaining the Rush Boots.

Unfortunately, the player faces the Man-at-Legs in a watery area two out of three times, leaving the aforementioned strategy of Purple Pikmin useless. In such circumstances, it is best to attempt the "Hit and Run" technique of number one. The fourth method is effective, but hard to perform at times.

Pikmin 4

In Pikmin 4, while the boss behaves nigh-identically, the circumstances around it have made the boss much more complex and gives more efficient ways of dealing with it. One piece of information players should know is that the boss has been given heavy defense when hidden in the ground, even a rush of Rock Pikmin will only deal a small amount of damage, making the beginning strategy of using Purple Pikmin rather inefficient.

Low Deaths

It is much easier to beat this boss with low deaths than it was in Pikmin 2, in fact, there are two reliable strategies to doing this based off of the player's preferences

Using Oatchi, the player can simply throw Pikmin onto the beast, or charge the Winged Pikmin useful for the rest of the cave, then keep running in a circle around the beast making sure the player's entire squad is stored on Oatchi's back. The Man-At-Legs cannot fire ahead of the player, making this strategy flawless for a death-free defeat. This even works without Rush Boots or Doggy Paddle upgrades, although these upgrades are still advised because it is much easier for Oatchi to get shot with slower speed. The player must make sure to keep running and stay aware of their surroundings, however, as stopping even for a moment can lead to a massacre.

Without Oatchi, Pots or Dirt Walls serve as cover. The player must watch out as the health of these objects is limited; an in-tact dirt wall is only guarenteed to stop 1 round of bullets, and a damaged one will break just before the Arachnorb stops firing. It also takes around 3 pots to stop a round of bullets. This requires the player to pay attention to their positioning and switch cover when necessary. It should be noted the Man-At-Legs starts firing slower and less accurately, then picks up the pace as its magazine runs low in an attempt to kill Pikmin with its last few shots, this lets the player conserve health of their cover by wasting a few bullets before the Man-At-Legs goes into rapid fire. Make sure that you keep piling damage on the beast, since if all your cover breaks, you will be forced to use much less advantageous cover in the vacinity or you will be caught in fire. Like in Pikmin 2, dismissing a squad of Pikmin and running around closer to the boss can distract it from the dismissed squad, but be careful not to dispand to close to the boss or collect dismissed Pikmin as the Man-at-Legs can choose to fire Pikmin instead of the player if close enough. When fought in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale the Lineup Trumpet can be used, with enough skill, to help your squad avoid the bullets without Moss or cover, but this is quite difficult. It's recommended that a Lightning Shock is used, since there's 3 lighting shocks and 4 bosses, one of which is not requierd.

Fast Defeat

Using items, this boss can be beaten quite quickly. Of course, Lightning Shocks are quite useful as they are against other enemies, but using items such as these is a waste since this boss can be defeated just as quick using a single Ultra-spicy spray. Since Spicy spray quadrouples the damage of Winged Pikmin, as little as 60 units affected by a single dose can defeat the creature before it can fire a single bullet, although more is always better.

Although it may seem surprising, a similarly fast defeat is actually possible without items. There are two key strategies which use a combination of Pikmin's abilities to completely shut down the boss's attacks.

Ice and Purple Pikmin: A squad compisition of about 15 Ice and 35 Purple Pikmin is reccomended, do not use too many Ice Pikmin as you dont want to freeze the boss too fast. Simply coax the Man-At-Legs into waking up, dont worry about dealing too much damage here as the boss has a huge defense boost anyway. Once the boss is on its feet, begin to throw your Ice Pikmin, aiming to freeze the boss in the middle of its shake animation. If you manage to do this, you are in a prime position to chuck Purple Pikmin until the boss is defeated. The rest of your squad could be used for Winged Pikmin who are useful for the rest of the cave.

Winged and Rock Pikmin: A squad compisition of about 70 Winged and 30 Rock is reccomended, less rocks are needed as the same Rock can be thrown multiple times in a volley. Simply charge your Winged Pikmin at the Man-At-Legs, making sure to whistle them back before they are shaken off. Do not let the boss firing scare you, just make sure the Winged Pikmin stay on the beast as much as possible, their homing AI lets them target the creature themselves most of the time given they are close enough. At the same time, circle the boss and chuck your Rock Pikmin at it repeatedly, again, do not get scared by the boss firing, just keep chucking and circling the boss. With enough skill in execution, the boss will be met with so many targets it can no longer aim properly, defeating it as fast as at the beginning of its first round of bullets with few to no deaths.

Notes

Unlike in Pikmin 2, it is possible to fight the boss while it is firing. Distracting the bullets by trying to catch the boss's attention can let Winged Pikmin keep wailing on the boss even as it shoots at you, Rock Pikmin are also pretty effective at this. Commanding Oatchi to attack the boss will make him automatically run around to catch the boss's attention, making these strategies less risky.

Technical information

Pikmin 2 technical information (?)
Internal name			houdai
Global properties (List)
ID	Japanese comment	Property	Value
s000	friction(not used)	Friction	0.5
s001	wallReflection	Unknown (wall bounce speed multiplier?)	0.5
s002	faceDirAdjust	Unknown	0.25
s003	accel	Acceleration	0.1
s004	bounceFactor	Unknown (bounce when it hits the ground?)	0.3
fp00	ライフ	HP	2800
fp01	マップとの当り	Unknown (related to slopes)	10
fp02	ダメージスケールXZ	Horizontal damage scale	0.1
fp03	ダメージスケールY	Vertical damage scale	0.1
fp04	ダメージフレーム	Damage scale duration	0.5
fp05	質量	Unknown (weight?)	0.0001
fp06	速度	Move speed	250
fp08	回転速度率	Rotation acceleration	0.2
fp09	テリトリー	Territory radius	800
fp10	ホーム範囲	"Home" radius	75
fp11	プライベート距離	"Private" radius	70
fp12	視界距離	Sight radius	600
fp13	視界角度	FOV	180
fp14	探索距離	Unknown (exploration radius?)	800
fp15	探索角度	Unknown (exploration angle?)	7
fp16	振り払い率	Successful shake rate	1
fp17	振り払い力	Shake knockback	500
fp18	振り払いダメージ	Shake damage	0
fp19	振り払い範囲	Shake range	25
fp20	攻撃可能範囲	Unknown (shock attack max range?)	75
fp21	攻撃可能角度	Unknown (shock attack max angle?)	25
fp22	攻撃ヒット範囲	Unknown (attack hit range?)	10
fp23	攻撃ヒット角度	Unknown (attack hit angle?)	0.004
fp24	攻撃力	Attack damage	10
fp25	視界高	Unknown (height visibility?)	50
fp26	探索高	Unknown (exploration height?)	40
fp27	ライフの高さ	HP wheel height	115
fp28	回転最大速度	Rotation speed	60
fp29	警戒時間	Unknown (warning time?)	15
fp30	警戒ライフ	Unknown	50
fp31	ライフ回復率	Regeneration rate	0
fp32	LOD半径	Off-camera radius	175
fp33	マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定	Collision processing radius	75
fp34	ピクミンとのあたり	Pikmin damage radius	20
fp35	石化時間	Petrification duration	1
fp36	ヒップドロップダメージ	Purple Pikmin drop damage	50
fp37	地震気絶確立	Purple Pikmin stun chance	0 (0%)
fp38	地震気絶時間	Purple Pikmin stun time	5
ip01	振り払い打撃Ａ	Shake mode 1 – hit count	10
ip02	振り払い張付１	Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement	30
ip03	振り払い打撃Ｂ	Shake mode 2 – hit count	15
ip04	振り払い張付２	Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement	37
ip05	振り払い打撃Ｃ	Shake mode 3 – hit count	25
ip06	振り払い張付３	Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement	50
ip07	振り払い打撃Ｄ	Shake mode 4 – hit count	30
Specific properties
ID	Japanese comment	Property	Value
fp01	ベース係数	Unknown (base coefficient?)	9
fp02	上げ減速係数	Unknown	-0.1
fp03	下げ加速係数	Unknown	0.5
fp04	最低減加速係数	Unknown	-2
fp05	最高減加速係数	Unknown	10
fp06	足の振り上げ	Unknown (feet swing?)	40
fp10	射撃On:Max	Max shooting duration before a pause (does not increase overall shooting duration)	2.5
fp11	射撃On:Min	Min shooting duration before a pause	0.5
fp12	射撃Off:Max	Max time the pause lasts while shooting	1
fp13	射撃Off:Min	Min time the pause lasts while shooting	0.06
fp20	Last 2 Territory	"Territory" property (fp09) on the Hole of Heroes	130

Other information

• Size: Leg span: 170mm, as per the e-card
• Pikmin 2 Piklopedia number: #76
• Pikmin 4 Piklopedia number: #44
• Musical theme:
  • Pikmin 2: Common boss battle
  • Pikmin 4: Boss battle (cave)
    • Olimar's Shipwreck Tale: Boss battle (Olimar)

Naming

See more: Arachnorb family#Naming.

• Common name: Man-at-Legs. It is a pun on "man-at-arms", a professional soldier during the Middle Ages, with the word "Legs" referring to it being a member of the arachnorb family.
• Japanese nickname: ダマグモキャノン^?, lit.: "Cannon Orb Spider".
• Japanese name: アシボソエンマツユハライ^?, lit.: "Narrow-legged Yama Tsuyuharai".
• Scientific name: Pseudoarachnia navaronia. Navaronia is most likely a reference to the famous novel The Guns of Navarone, referring to the Man-at-Legs's own gun.
• Internal names: Internally, the boss is called houdai. ほうだい^? means "artillery battery", once more referring to the creature's firepower. In Pikmin 4 its internal name is DAMAGUMOCANNON.
• Prerelease: None.

Names in other languages

The following article or section needs help from someone who can translate Korean text.

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ダマグモキャノン? Dama Gumo Kyanon	Orb Spider Cannon
Chinese (traditional)	加農炮球蛛 Jiānóngpào Qiú Zhū	Cannon Orb Spider
Chinese (simplified)	加农炮球蛛 Jiānóngpào Qiú Zhū	Cannon Orb Spider
Dutch	Ketelpoot	Boilerleg
French	Mécano-pattes (Pikmin 2) Mécanopattes (Pikmin 4)	Mecha-legs (Pikmin 2) Mechalegs (Pikmin 4)	The names are both a compound of "mécano" (mechanic) and "pattes" (legs, paws)
German	Weberbauer	Weaver builder
Italian	Ragno-macchina	Machine spider
Korean	박거미캐넌 Bag-Geomi-Kaeneon	Gourd Spider Cannon
Portuguese	Aracnomáquina	Arachnomachine	The name is a compound of "aracno" (arachno-) and "máquina" (machine)
Spanish	Arañator	Spidertor	The name is "araña" (spider) with the suffix "-tor", referencing the pop culture character The Terminator

Gallery

Pikmin 2

• 

  Artwork of the Man-at-Legs.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs in the Piklopedia.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs in the Secret Testing Range, firing its weapon.

• 

  A dormant Man-at-Legs at the Subterranean Complex. Notice the web-like design on the floor.

• 

  A dormant Man-at-Legs up close.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs emerging from the ground.

• 

  Animation of a Man-at-Legs emerging.

• 

  The inside of the Man-at-Legs.

• 

  The Man-at-Legs' skin compared to a Beady Long Legs'.

• 

  Olimar and Louie fighting two Man-at-Legs at once in an unused cave meant for enemy testing (last_4, sublevel 21).

• 

  The Piklopedia icon of the Man-at-Legs in the Nintendo Switch version of Pikmin 2.

Pikmin 4

• 

  Renders of the Man-at-Legs, from the Japanese Pikmin Garden website.

• 

  Render of the Man-at-Legs firing, from the Japanese Pikmin Garden website.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs buried in the ground, dormant.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs in the Piklopedia.

• 

  The Man-at-Legs in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale's Hero's Hideaway.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs with its gun drawn, preparing to fire.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs firing.

• 

  A Man-at-Legs defeated, and about to explode.

• 

  Oatchi about to get shot by a bullet from a Man-at-Legs.

Other

• 

  The Man-at-Legs' e-card, #32 (10^th blue card).

Trivia

• The overall appearance of the Man-at-Legs is likely based on the Martians from the novel The War of the Worlds. Both have a combination of mechanical and organic aspects (the Man-at-Legs is part machine, part organic, while the Martians are life-forms piloting robots). They both initially only have their head visible, but eventually raise it by lifting their legs out of the ground, which are disproportionately thin and tower over the humanoid characters. They also both attack the humanoid characters with a gun, and the Man-at-Legs releases steam while the Martians release smoke.
• The Man-at-Legs also shares numerous similarities with the OG-9 homing spider droid, being quadrupedal spider-like walkers with abdominal laser cannons. Both were released relatively close to each other, the Spider Droid preceding the Man-at-Legs by 2 years in Attack of the Clones.
  

  The Secret Testing Range Man-at-Legs standing on air.
• In Pikmin 2, the Man-at-Legs can be lured to stand outside the boundaries of its Secret Testing Range arena, causing it to walk on air.
• In Pikmin 2, like the Raging Long Legs, the Man-at-Legs uses Beady Long Legs' "roar" at a different pitch. There are no adjustments to make it sound more mechanical.
• In Pikmin 2, spider web patterns are seen on the floor of its Subterranean Complex arena, similar to the shadows of webs in the Beady Long Legs and Raging Long Legs arenas and the web that the Groovy Long Legs hangs from.
  • Additionally, the metal that makes up the web pattern and that appears under the Man-at-Legs' resting place in all its arenas looks very similar to the Man-at-legs, and its texture is named houdaimetal in the game's files, implying the two may be related.
• In Pikmin 2, the holes in the Man-at-Legs' main body's metal plating reveal an appearance almost identical to to the Beady Long Legs' waxy shell underneath. This detail is not kept in Pikmin 4, where it is visually implied to simply be more of the creature's flesh.
• An unused cave in Pikmin 2's files reveals that two Man-at-Legs were to be fought in the same sublevel.^{[source needed]}
• It is unknown how Louie knows how to cook this beast, as it explodes upon death.
• This is the only member of the arachnorb family that is not stated to be inedible or otherwise nearly unpalatable and unpleasant to consume according to Louie's notes on it, since he calls the oil a "mouthwatering gravy" and never mentions any unfortunate side effects of consuming the oil.
• This member of the Arachnorb family is very different from its other relatives; it is the only one that doesn't crush Pikmin nor fall from the sky (instead it comes out of the ground) and it is also the smallest known member.
• Only in Pikmin 2, when its health reaches approximately 1/3rd, its mechanical leg's joints will start smoking.
• Pikmin standing directly against certain walls of the arena may be invulnerable to the bullets it shoots due to a glitch with their hitboxes.^{[source needed]}

See also

• Gatling Groink
• Beady Long Legs
• Raging Long Legs
• Baldy Long Legs
• Groovy Long Legs