Soul

Multiple colors of Pikmin souls.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Hey! Pikmin.

Souls appear every time a Pikmin or enemy is defeated. These ghostly spirit-like shapes ascend slowly until they fade away, reminding or alerting the player that a Pikmin or enemy has fallen.

Pikmin

This section is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it. Suggestions: Specify the shape and color of each Pikmin type, but take into account each game (New Play Control! versions too). Also, add information on how souls appear during cutscenes, like an extinction cutscene (even in multiplayer), or the end of day cutscene (see gallery).

The Pikmin ones roughly resemble a Pikmin's shape; however, they lack a leaf, bud or flower, don't have feet, and are missing any identifying characteristics such as the Red Pikmin's nose. Their appearance is slightly transparent and details vary between the games. In Pikmin, every Pikmin has a blue soul, irrelevant of the color of the Pikmin itself, while souls in all other Pikmin games, including New Play Control! Pikmin and Pikmin 1 (Nintendo Switch), are representative of the dead Pikmin's type, differing in color. In Pikmin 3, the design of the souls is slightly changed, lacking arms and having rounder heads. Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin have unique souls as well; Rock Pikmin's souls are larger and more angular, much like the Rock Pikmin themselves, and Winged Pikmin's souls have a pair of translucent, fluttering wings. In Pikmin 4, Rock and Winged Pikmin's souls look the same as the other types, as do Ice Pikmin's souls. The only unique souls in the game are Glow Pikmin's, resembling faceless orbs with ghostly tails, as well as lacking the Pikmin's trademark stems. They also have a small "bursting" animation when they disappear.

If a Pikmin dies from being thrown into the abyss, it won't release any soul in Pikmin or New Play Control! Pikmin, but it will in Pikmin 2 and New Play Control! Pikmin 2. In Pikmin 3, no souls will be seen ascending from the abyss but they will be visible on the radar. No soul will also appear if the Sandbelching Meerslug eats a Pikmin sprout. The fact that souls appear in the radar is particularly important during replays, since they show players where and when Pikmin had died.

In general, Pikmin souls are used as icons in menus and HUDs to represent Pikmin that have died.

Enemies

The soul of a recently defeated Dwarf Bulborb.

Enemy souls have a pink-purple color and look like a bubble, and leave a transparent trail behind. Two holes resembling eyes are visible near the shape's center. Bulbmin produce a smaller version of this type of soul when they die. Enemies that do not really "die" do not leave a soul when defeated: this is the case for the Spotty Bulbear and the Gatling Groink, which can revive, and the Ravenous Whiskerpillar, which seems to remain alive even after being defeated. Enemies that die while petrified release a soul, but these "non-dying" enemies do not.

In Pikmin 2 these souls make an eerie sound when ascending. The sound is much deeper, and the soul is much larger for bosses. In Pikmin 3, enemy souls are blue instead of purple, have small white eyes, and have a small "tail". They also burst with an audible pop after a few seconds, a trait exclusive to enemies' souls. An enemy's death in this game means that the carcass is ready to be carried – the enemy cannot be picked up until the soul is actually seen. Due to the way off-camera objects are handled, an enemy's soul will not ascend until it is once again visible on-screen.

In Pikmin when Pearly Clamclamp loses its soul when defeated, the creature still seems to be alive afterwards, acting like normal. This is no longer the case in Pikmin 4.

Gallery

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 2. Particularly: Clear screenshots of every variety of Pikmin's souls.

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  In Pikmin, all souls of Pikmin are blueish white.

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  A screenshot of a Pikmin soul in Pikmin.

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  Pikmin souls in Pikmin 2 from falling into any abyss. They are quite low, so they are normally hard to see.

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  Souls of several Pikmin as seen in one of the graphics in Pikmin 2's Debt/Treasure completion results.

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  A Winged Pikmin's soul. Note the wings.

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  A montage showing each Pikmin's soul in Pikmin 3.

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  Souls as seen on the GamePad.

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  The soul of a boss in Pikmin 2.

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  Two enemy souls as they appear in Pikmin 3.

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  Close-up of an enemy soul in Pikmin 3 Deluxe.

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  The texture used in Pikmin and Pikmin 2 for the Pikmin souls.

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  The textures used in Pikmin for the enemy souls.

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  The texture used in Pikmin 2 for the enemy souls.

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  The appearance of Pikmin souls in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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  A large group of Pikmin souls ascending into the air.

Trivia

• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Purple Pikmin do not release a soul when they die, but they do in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• The Pikmin souls resemble kodama, a Japanese myth about small ghosts that haunt trees.
• In Pikmin 4, enemies that usually don’t leave behind souls, such as Man-at-Legs or Smoky Progg, will leave a soul if defeated while frozen.
• In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cockroach souls resemble eyeless Pikmin 4 enemy souls.
• According to the log of the Abandoned Husk, Olimar has seen "soul-like things leaving the bodies of other creatures".

See also

• Health
• Pikmin extinction