Armored Cannon Beetle

Armored Cannon Beetle
File:Armored Cannon Beetle(PikminNPC).jpg
Appears in	Pikmin
Scientific name	Granitus chukkulinae
Family	Lithopod
Areas	Pikmin The Forest of Hope The Distant Spring
Challenge Mode stages	None
Attacks	Launches boulders

The Armored Cannon Beetle (フタクチドックリ) is the adult stage of the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva. The beetle is first discovered during Olimar's first visit to the Pikmin Planet and is seen again in Pikmin 2 and in Pikmin 3, although only the larval stage is present in those games. It is a huge, black, shiny beetle with a thick, rounded shell of armor, and a blowhole above its head. It attacks by inhaling through this blowhole and subsequently firing a rolling rock from its mouth that travels in a straight path, which crushes any small creature in its path.

This enemy is only found in The Forest of Hope, where one is guarding the Radiation Canopy, and The Distant Spring, where one has ingested the Bowsprit. As a side-note, Olimar can destroy the rocks by punching them; however, this does not work with the rock-producing Lithopods in Pikmin 2.

Notes

Olimar's Notes

"This creature spits out massive rocks and boasts an impenetrable shell that repels all Pikmin attacks. Just before spitting out a boulder, it sucks in large breaths of air... Perhaps its air hole will provide a clue to it's weakness."

Guide Book

"This member of the lithopod family migrated to the area during a global climate shift in the atmosphere within the last century. The continental breed of this beast, known as the Greater Lithopod, had the abillity to compress inhaled air in a bladder and use the pressure to expel partially digested fragments of stone. This migrant lithopod has developed a stronger carapace then its relatives."

Reel Notes

"This migrant lithopod has developed a stronger carapace than its relatives."

How to kill

Aim for the blowhole. If it can't breathe, it can't fight.

The only way one can be defeated is by clogging the blowhole during air intake (Pikmin are impervious to harm when inhaled). This causes the beetle's internal temperature to rise dramatically, and in response the beetle will expose its burning abdomen underneath the armor to vent. The exposed abdomen leaves the beetle extremely vulnerable to attack. However, the beetle will quickly unclog its blowhole, shield its backside, and continue its attack after excess heat has been drained. However, if Olimar brings 40-60 Red Pikmin and throws quickly, he can have the Armored Cannon Beetle kill it on the first or second try. After closing its back up, your Pikmin are knocked down and the Armored Cannon Beetle shoots a boulder out of its nose that rolls until it hits a wall.  Make sure you whistle your Pikmin quickly or they will be crushed. Despite the heat radiating from its inner abdomen, you do not need Red Pikmin to attack it.

• 

  The Armored Cannon Beetle.

• 

  An Armored Cannon Beetle's exposed abdomen.

• Pikmin-armored-cannon-beetle.jpg

  This is an Armored Cannon Beetle as shown in what appears to be the beta version of Pikmin. Notice that it's cannon is larger and more defined than in the final version.

• 

  An Armored Cannon Beetle in the Creature Montage.

Trivia

• The Armored Cannon Beetle Larva is the baby stage of the Armored Cannon Beetle. This was confirmed later in Pikmin 2 by Nintendo.
• They are the heaviest enemy to carry in the series so far, with a weight of 30.
• This enemy is nowhere to be seen in Pikmin 2 or Pikmin 3.
• Using an Action Replay to access a model test menu in Pikmin, the Armored Cannon Beetle's code name is "beatle".
  • This could be a reference to the 1960s rock band "The Beatles."
• The Armored Cannon Beetle's corpse and the Pearly Clamclamp's pearl tie for second most seed's worth with 50, only being beaten by the Smoky Progg's pearl, which has 100.

• It is the only boss in story mode whose body stays intact after death and can also be harvested by an Onion.