Editing PNF-404

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[[File:Earth.png|thumb|right|350px|The planet as seen in the ending [[cutscene]] of ''[[Pikmin 2]]''. Areas resembling Australia, southeastern Asia, and Japan are clearly visible.]]

'''PNF-404''' is the planet that [[Olimar]] lands on in both ''[[Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'' and ''[[Pikmin 2]]'', and where [[Alph]], [[Brittany]] and [[Charlie]] land on in ''[[Pikmin 3]]''. It is the natural habitat of the [[Pikmin family|Pikmin]], as well as many other lifeforms, many of them predators of the Pikmin. In the first two games, the planet lacked a proper official name and was often referred to as the "'''Planet of the Pikmin'''" or the "'''Pikmin Planet'''". The inhabitants of [[Koppai]] named the planet PNF-404 when they discovered it in ''Pikmin 3''. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U|Super Smash Bros. for 3DS]]'', it is known as "'''Distant Planet'''".

In the first ''Pikmin'' game, Olimar crash lands on this uncharted planet during his vacation after his ship is struck by an asteroid. Due to the planet's atmosphere being filled with oxygen, which is toxic to Olimar and his people, he must escape the planet before his life support system fails.

In ''Pikmin 2'', Olimar returns to the planet with his new companion, [[Louie]], in search of treasure, in order to rescue the company he works for, [[Hocotate Freight]], from bankruptcy.

In ''Pikmin 3'', the inhabitants of Koppai discover the planet and name it PNF-404. They land on the planet in search for food, to save their planet from starvation.

A generic area of the planet appears in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' and ''Super Smash Bros. for 3DS'' as a fighting stage under the name [[#In the Super Smash Bros. series|Distant Planet]]. It features a forest-like location, similar to [[The Forest of Hope]] or the [[Awakening Wood]].

Although ambiguous, PNF-404 is at least very Earth-like, with similar geography and traits. Whether PNF-404 is actually our Earth or an alternate version is yet to be revealed in the games or by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], the game's creator. Either way, it is doubtful that the similarities are coincidental.

Most of the vegetable lifeforms on PNF-404 also exist on Earth, with some even sharing the names we are familiar with. Most of the charted [[plant]]s in ''Pikmin 2'' are like this, but some of the background shrubbery is also quite similar to fauna and flora found on Earth. Some of the ''Pikmin 2'' [[treasure]]s and all of the ''Pikmin 3'' [[fruit]]s are also objects that exist on Earth, and are described to be much like the ones on our planet.

In the first game, Olimar stated that the atmosphere is composed of oxygen, a component of the air that humans need to breathe, but also an extremely toxic gas to the people of [[Hocotate]]. Despite the fact that no moon is ever seen orbiting the planet in either ''Pikmin'' or ''Pikmin 2'', Olimar confirms in one of his [[Olimar's voyage log|voyage logs]] that the planet does in fact have a "pale white moon"<ref>"''Looking from this planet into the skies above, I see the pale white moon floating overhead. It brings to mind memories of the moon from back home. I bet that even now my wife and children are sitting at home, gazing up at our pale red moon... Hang on, dear ones! Your Olimar will return some day!''" &ndash; Olimar on his voyage log</ref>. It can be seen in the ''Pikmin 3'' intro [[cutscene]].

====Man-made====

Some of the elements found in PNF-404 appear to not be natural, but rather, made by sentient beings. Drawing the parallel with Earth, these objects are very likely made by man. Tin cans, as well as many other man-made objects and structures from modern times, can be found lying around (for example, parts of [[Perplexing Pool]] appear to be the remains of a bathroom), and most of the "[[treasures]]" found in the second game are man-made. These even include many items that are registered trademarks of companies on Earth, such as [[Courage Reactor|Duracell]] and [[Quenching Emblem|7-Up]].

In an interview with [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], he states that PNF-404 is in a state where humans are extinct. This explains why no human lifeforms are encountered during the entire duration of the game. ''[[Pikmin 2]]'''s areas are comparable to those in its prequel, and there are new human objects, which can only be described as remnants of society before humans died out.

There are many different creatures to what we know at the present day. Perhaps this is an entirely new age where humans have died out and many other creatures have come to coexist. The [[Geiger Counter]] is constantly in action, implying that there is strong and constant radiation. That could explain why there are no humans any more, and also why all creatures on PNF-404 look so different compared to how animals looked when humans were alive.

In the first two games, PNF-404 is made out to look like present-day Earth. From space, PNF-404's geography appears to match that of Earth's, and the second game more clearly proves this, as when Olimar lands on or leaves the planet, his ship is shown to be heading towards or coming from Africa. The [[Hocotate ship]] even states at the time of the discovery of the [[Spherical Atlas]] that it exhibits PNF-404's geography as seen from space<ref>"<i>{{Notes:Spherical Atlas/ship}}</i>" &ndash; The Hocotate ship on the Spherical Atlas</ref>: both this and the [[Geographic Projection]] are two halves to a globe that clearly shows Earth and its countries.

''[[Pikmin 3]]'' seems to retcon that in favor of an entirely new look, with it being heavily based off of scientific hypotheses of how the Earth's surface would look like in 250 million years. Almost all of the game's levels are more composed of natural elements rather than man-made remnants, and the small amounts of evidence of humanity left are heavily deteriorated, more-so than in the earlier games, to justify that it has been millions of years after humanity. All of the fruits in the game are based on real fruit, however, many of them are found in places where they wouldn't be able to grow, or with other fruit that they aren't grown near.

Analysis of data in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' has yielded the information that the Distant Planet stage is also referred to by the name "Earth" (<code>STGEARTH</code>, more precisely). This is deemed comparable to a debug name, only used while developing the game, but it makes clear that Nintendo developers see the planet as Earth.

On Nintendo Power issue #278, it is revealed the editors believe that the planet is Earth. The canon and affirmation of this statement is up for debate, however.

{{external|the ''Brawl'' and ''Smash 4'' stage|[[smashwiki:Distant Planet|SmashWiki]]|SmashWiki.png}}

As with many ''Smash Bros.'' stages, a few liberties have been taken from the original source. Firstly, rain pours from time to time, which does not occur in the ''Pikmin'' series until ''Pikmin 3''. Secondly, decorative content such as a ''Super Smash Bros.''-themed soda has been added. Finally, the Red Bulborb is much larger in ''Brawl'' than in the ''Pikmin'' games, at about four or five times the size.

''[[Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U|Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'' also contains a stage from an area in PNF-404. This one is titled exactly the same as the [[Garden of Hope]], and is much more faithful to the actual game area than the arena in the previous games.

File:Planet of the Pikmin.png|The planet as seen in ''Pikmin''.

File:PNF404pikmin1.png|PNF-404, as seen in the Nintendo Player's Guide of ''Pikmin''.

File:Pikmin3MapSimilarities.jpg|A picture showing correlation between PNF-404 and Pangea Ultima, what Earth is predicted to look like 250 millions years from now. Click for a better view.  

==Trivia==

*The name "PNF-404" fits the nomenclature used by NASA to identify less important planets. The letters and numbers that make up the name, however, have a special meaning: 404 is an [[wiki:List of HTTP status codes|HTTP status code]] that means "'''P'''age '''N'''ot '''F'''ound".

*[[Areas]]

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