Editing Waterwraith

|image2      = Pikmin Garden Waterwraith render.png

The Waterwraith is an exceptionally dangerous [[enemy]]; when active, it will roam the sublevel, relentlessly hunting down the Leaders and their Pikmin. It will crush both other enemies and Pikmin with its stone rollers for an instant kill, and typically cannot be hurt whatsoever without the assistance of [[Purple Pikmin]] or [[#Unconventional damage|clever item use]]. When it appears, its rollers drop from the sky first, and then the creature proper, latching on to the rollers with its limbs. After a roar where it lifts the front roller and then slams it, it shakes itself to get ready to roll.

While active, it will wander the sublevel mostly at random, only paying particular mind to active leaders and Pikmin carrying [[treasure]], which it will actively pursue when in sight. If a Purple Pikmin slams nearby, it becomes a tangible, solid purple and cowers in fear. After a while it will return to its intangible form, slam the front roller again, and continue moving.

When its rollers are destroyed, it will resort to walking on its own legs. When the player is close, it will immediately run away in a panic, sometimes stopping to catch its breath. When the player is at a distance from the Waterwraith, it will walk around randomly at a leisurely pace. If the player is sufficiently far enough away from the boss, it will stop walking altogether, and will instead stand in place; in this state (see right), it also occasionally turns around back and forth. In ''Pikmin 2'', this elusive animation can only be seen by using the zoomed-out or ground-level [[camera]] settings, and by being on sublevel 5 of the [[Submerged Castle]], since it is too dark to see that far away on the [[Bully Den]]. When attacked by Pikmin, it will eventually either shake them off or start running away. When the creature is finally dead, it starts bursting into chunks which fizzle in the air until the beast disappears entirely.

Its appearance is generally humanoid in shape, with the suggestion of a head, body, arms, and legs, but without distinct characteristics, and with a watery, transparent body. As a matter of fact, its scientific name is ''Amphibio sapiens'', which is similar to the human's scientific name: ''Homo sapiens''. When hit with Purple Pikmin, it instead changes to a solid, somewhat shiny purple color. Its rollers are cylinders made of stone, with small holes on the sides for the Waterwraith's limbs to go into. These holes are in the center, except for the back roller's holes in ''Pikmin 4'', which are positioned closer to the rims. This is because in both games, the Waterwraith moves its legs around the roller to make it look like it's pedaling a bicycle.

Once defeated in the Engulfed Castle, it will not respawn in any sublevel of the cave, and on revisits will replaced on the final floor with a swarm of [[Mitite]]s.

* In ''Pikmin 2'', if you're having a difficult time avoiding the Waterwraith, you can always reset in an attempt to get an easier or more exploitable floor layout. Similarly, in ''Pikmin 4'', the [[rewind]] mechanic can be helpful with learning the layout of a sublevel and in undoing heavy losses.

* ''Pikmin 4'''s [[Pikmin family|Pikmin]] are significantly faster than their ''Pikmin 2'' counterparts, making it significantly easier to complete tasks while avoiding the wraith.

The following tips can also be used for its appearances in the [[Story Mode]]s of the games it appears in:

* You should collect treasures as quickly as possible and avoid spending time to collect corpses. If you're fast enough, you can avoid facing the Waterwraith entirely. Remember that you can return to the cave and collect anything you missed the first time around.

* It is advised to at least have the [[Rush Boots]] power up, which allows leaders to more easily outmaneuver the Waterwraith. In ''Pikmin 2'', the [[Solar System]] also helps to illuminate distant areas, allowing easier tracking of the wraith.

* In ''Pikmin 4'', due to the Engulfed Castle's Waterwraith never respawning after being killed, you can ignore all the cave's treasures and rush to the final floor to kill the wraith, making collecting the cave's treasures easier, allowing you to take as much time as you want due to the lack of any Waterwraith.

When a Purple Pikmin lands on or near the Waterwraith in a fashion that could stun any other beast, it turns a deep shade of purple, that in ''Pikmin 2'' is colored not too differently to that of the Purple Pikmin themselves. In this state, it is vulnerable to ''all'' Pikmin attacks. When the Waterwraith's [[health]] in this form has been fully depleted, the rollers crumble and the creature starts running aimlessly around the cave, no longer a threat to your Pikmin. Attack with more Purple Pikmin and then you can easily attack it with other Pikmin. When defeated, it will vanish into nothing, and you will be troubled no more. In ''Pikmin 2'', it drops the [[Professional Noisemaker]], a useful addition to the [[Exploration Kit]], when it is killed.

In ''Pikmin 2'', the Waterwraith's rollers can be both damaged and swarmed when it is stunned, allowing a very speedy dispatch of the Waterwraith's first phase. In ''Pikmin 4'', despite the Waterwraith's rollers completely crumbling upon the end of its first phase, nothing can damage its rollers while it's stunned, making attacking the wraith's body the only option of attack.

With good timing, you can keep the Waterwraith stunned by continuously pelting the creature with Purple Pikmin, all the while making sure to whistle them back to your side soon after they land to prevent from getting shaken off and knocked down.

=== Dalmo's notes ===

{{Transcript|A living thing is a living thing, even if it transcends our understanding. This unnerving creature is translucent and has no actual physical body to speak of. Yet, somehow, it clutches its rollers with zealous devotion. It's both eerie and fascinating, don't you agree?|block=y}}

 

 

 

 

{{Transcript|Inedible. Known to cause mass hysteria, followed by leg spasms and internal thunderings.|block=y}}

|internal  = Its internal name in ''Pikmin 2'' is <code>blackman</code>. The "man" part is naturally because of its human-like frame, and "black" is presumably due to the fact that it can turn purple when attacked by [[Purple Pikmin]] &ndash; [[Pikmin 2 prerelease information|during development]], Purple Pikmin were much darker and given the name "black". Interestingly, the names of the creature's animations inside the game's files refer to it as "Kagebōzu" ({{j|かげボウズ|Kagebōzu}}), which means "Shadow Bouzu". This indicates that, during development, the Waterwraith's Japanese name was meant to be different. Interestingly, there exists another type of yokai known as Oonyuudou, described as an unclear shadow or a giant rather than a monk, if it was originally called shadow, it may be in reference to this other yokai. ''Pikmin 3''{{'s}} [[Plasm Wraith]] is named after this other yokai in the Japanese version, {{j|アメニュウドウ|Ame Nyuudou|Candy Nyuudou}}. In ''Pikmin 4'' its internal name was changed to <code>AMEBOZU</code>.

* In ''Pikmin 2'', if Purple Pikmin are forced to appear in the cave earlier than sublevel 5 and the Waterwraith is defeated then, it will still drop the [[Professional Noisemaker]]. Despite this, the treasure will not be detected by the radar until the showdown with the wraith in the final floor; this is likely to prevent the spot where the Waterwraith falls down from on each floor from being marked to the player as a spot where treasure is.

* If the player reaches the final floor of the Submerged Castle before the Waterwraith makes its first appearance, the boss battle will play out as usual, and the ship will not trigger the cutscene to declare it a danger.{{cite youtube|6UrIdb6FDDI|of a speedrunner discovering the Submerged Castle for the first time, but not encountering the Waterwraith until the final floor|h=1|m=54|s=12|published={{date|29|November|2018}}|retrieved={{date|4|June|2020}}}}