Louie

"So it turns out, this isn't Captain Olimar at all, but rather some other fellow called Louie."

-Alph

Louie (ルーイ) is the secondary protagonist in the Pikmin series, serving as Olimar's partner and co-worker. He makes his first appearance in Pikmin 2. He reappears in Pikmin 3, as a reward for defeating the Scornet Maestro, and as Olimar's teammate in Bingo Battle.

He is relatively new to the shipping business and has a ravenous appetite. He was raised by his grandmother, who made him play with bugs, as well as eat them, which he seems to partake in on PNF-404. He is also captured by first the Scornet Maestro and later the Quaggled Mireclops and is rescued by Alph, Brittany, and Charlie on both occasions.

Biography

Olimar's return

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Louie with Captain Olimar.

Louie's first mission for Hocotate Freight was to transport a shipment of valuable Golden Pikpik Carrots. He was supposedly attacked by a ravenous space bunny, and the carrots were lost. The President of Hocotate Freight took out a giant loan to cover the losses of the carrots, and had no way to repay the loan other than sell off company assets. The only available asset was Olimar's ship, the S.S. Dolphin; it was immediately claimed on Olimar's return to Hocotate. Learning that the Dolphin was sold to cover the debt, Olimar was so shocked he dropped a souvenir for his son: a bottle cap. As it rolled to a stop at Louie's feet, an old ship commonly called the Ship was able to use its Research Pod to suck up the rusty bottle cap. The Pod proclaimed the piece of salvage to be worth one hundred Pokos, which lowered the debt to 10,000 Pokos. The President instructed Olimar and Louie to head back to the Planet of the Pikmin to search for treasure and save the company from going bankrupt.

Paying off Hocotate Freight's debt

As Olimar and Louie head to the Valley of Repose at the start of Pikmin 2, Louie falls out of the cockpit, leaving Olimar alone. After making contact with the Ship, Louie sets off to return to Olimar at the landing area. On the way, he discovers a Red Onion and cultivates some Pikmin sprouts, just as Olimar had done when he was stranded in the first game. The player can reach Olimar through the use of the loyal Red Pikmin, and then proceed to find the Courage Reactor, the first treasure of the game, effectively starting the adventure.

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The debt is eventually paid off throughout the game, treasures being found in the Awakening Wood and Perplexing Pool as well as The Valley of Repose. After collecting 10,000 Pokos worth of treasure, Olimar blasts off from the planet, noticing too late that Louie is left behind.

Titan Dweevil

Olimar and the President of Hocotate Freight return to the planet to find Louie. Louie aimlessly wanders around the planet for a bit, as seen in the credits roll of the game. Olimar and the President later find him in the Wistful Wild, hidden deep in the Dream Den with the Titan Dweevil. They rescue him and send him to the Ship's treasurehoard (since the cockpit is already full), calling him the King of Bugs.

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Louie, as seen before the fight with the Titan Dweevil.

It is of constant debate whether Louie was a captive of the Titan Dweevil, or in actuality controlling it. E-mails the player receives from Louie's grandmother reflect that Louie was made to play with bugs by his grandmother as a child, so he has a great deal of experience with them, therefore it is possible he had the ability to control the Titan Dweevil. This is heavily hinted at by the sales pitch on Louie, here denoted as the King of Bugs, where the ship states that Louie had hijacked a colossal insect's brain. The fact that Dweevils naturally mimic the objects they carry is also a supporting factor. However, if Louie really was in control of the Titan Dweevil, it was still not him or the Titan Dweevil who attacked, but actually the treasures carried by the Titan Dweevil.

Louie's Dark Secret

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Louie, eating the Golden Pikpik Carrots.

Louie is actually the one responsible for the debt Hocotate Freight suffered. It was truly he who ate the load of Golden Pikpik Carrots. When he returned from his first mission, he falsified his report to the President, explaining that a "ravenous space bunny" ate all of the carrots. This is revealed in a cutscene, called "Louie's Dark Secret", unlocked by getting a pink flower for all 30 of the Challenge Mode levels.

Pikmin 3

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Louie Fainted

In Pikmin 3, Louie is found in Twilight River. After the Winged Pikmin lift a stick from the water a transmission is received. He is shown standing on a large tree stump and is mistaken as Captain Olimar due to a bad signal. He is later found unconscious on the tree stump before being abducted by the Scornet Maestro's swarm. He is freed when his captor is killed and must be carried back to the Drake. He wakes up the day after you retrieve him and lands the ship in the Garden of Hope. He then steals all of the juice and runs away, followed by a large explosion. The explosion destroyed a wall and opened a large part of the area. Louie is later found after defeating the Quaggled Mireclops, along with the remains of The Ship. Afterwards, he is kept tied up in the S.S. Drake to keep him from running off with the juice a second time.  Once retrieved, he floats around in the Drake like Charlie's rubber duckie.

In one of the game's endings, it is revealed by Alph that Louie was not on board the S.S. Drake. The reasons behind this and consequences for this are currently unknown. However, the Kopaiites and Olimar do not show much intrest in trying to rescue Louie, as Alph simply says that "I'm sure he will be fine..."

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Louie as he appears in Pikmin 3.

Louie is featured shortly in each of the Expedition Logs that you can unlock by collecting every secret memo. He is usually seen being ambushed by some enemies, like the Peckish Aristocrab or some Scornets. In the last exploration log, it is seen that he runs away before Captain Olimar gets kidnapped by the Plasm Wraith. He even said that he had a bad feeling about landing at the Formiddable Oak. He appears to have fled to the Twilight River. 

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Trophy

"A new Hocotate Freight employee. Louie is responsible for Captain Olimar having to venture back to the Pikmin planet. On his first delivery, Louie was supposedly attacked by a space bunny that devoured his whole lot of pikpik carrots. Pushed to the verge of bankruptcy, Hocotate Freight takes out an enormous loan that Louie and Olimar set out to pay back."

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Louie's trophy

Compared to Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it seems Louie looks much less detailed than Olimar's (Olimar's suit having three red buttons, pockets, and more, while Louie has no visible changes to his suit).  This is probably because Louie makes no other appearance in the game, so they kept his Pikmin 2 design.

Traits and abilities

• As a young boy, Louie's grandmother encouraged him to eat bugs. Because of this, he is able to survive eating the creatures of the Distant Planet.
• He has a love of fine cuisine, which drives him to create gourmet recipes for beasts on PNF-404.
• He has all of the same abilities of Olimar, except his c-stick sound, dismissal sound and whistle sound are different. This also goes for the President.
• According to Louie's entry in the treasure hoard, it is hinted that Louie was the one in control of the Titan Dweevil.

Trivia

• Louie's name is based on Luigi, as Olimar's name is based on Mario.
• Occasionally, Louie will mutter to himself, "Olimar-...Huh?...Olimar?" very quietly. This usually happens when he stands still for a long time. Also Luigi from the Mario series has a quote that says "Mario... Uh... Mario?"
• Pikmin 2 would have never occured if it weren't for Louie's actions.
• In Pikmin 3, Brittany states that she was surprised to hear that Louie eats meat, due to the fact that Hocotatians usually stick to a vegetable-only diet.
• In Pikmin 3 Louie's voice is very low and is the same as in Pikmin 2.
• In Pikmin 2 he only needed one Pikmin to carry him, when in Pikmin 3 he needs five.
• In Pikmin 3, while Drake is analyzing Louie, the Pikmin 2´s Treasure found theme is heard.

See also

• King of Bugs
• Louie's notes
• Titan Dweevil