Pikmin in other media

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Elements from the Pikmin series have appeared in several other Nintendo games. The Super Smash Bros. series in particular is well-known for having references and content of multitudes of Nintendo series and, more recently, those of other companies. Regardless, Pikmin content has made its way into other games and forms of media, be it with content directly taken from the franchise, or references.

Animal Crossing series

Animal Crossing

In the original Animal Crossing, there is an e-Reader card, Series 2, D04 with a Pikmin design, which can be used for clothes, wallpaper, etc.

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  The front of the Animal Crossing "Pikmin Pattern" e-card.

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  The back of the card.

Animal Crossing: Wild World

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, there is a furniture piece called "Pikmin". When touched, it says the word "Pikmin", seemingly being the same sound that plays when booting up Pikmin and Pikmin 2.

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  The "Pikmin" furniture piece in Wild World.

Animal Crossing: City Folk

In Animal Crossing: City Folk, there is a DLC-exclusive Red Pikmin hat, to commemorate the release of New Play Control! Pikmin, and a to-scale model of the S.S. Dolphin, to celebrate the 40th year anniversary of the Apollo 11's successful landing on the moon.

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  The Red Pikmin hat in City Folk.

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  The S.S. Dolphin in City Folk.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the S.S. Dolphin, Pikmin and Red Pikmin Hat items reappear, and two new items are added: the Blue Pikmin hat and the Yellow Pikmin hat. All of these items are received through fortune cookies.

In addition, Leif's logo, visible on his hat and cart, is the same logo used to represent Pikmin in the Super Smash Bros. series.

In 2016, around the release of the Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Welcome amiibo free update, Nintendo posted multiple patterns themed around Pikmin 3 to various social media pages. Patterns exist for all 5 of the main types of Pikmin, as well as a pattern for the face-cutout standee of the original trio of Pikmin. In addition, designs exist of a Bulborb, a Burrowing Snagret, a Female Sheargrub, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie.

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  Blue Pikmin hat.

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  Yellow Pikmin hat.

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  Red Pikmin planter.

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  The Pikmin standee design.

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  The Red Pikmin design.

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  The Yellow Pikmin design.

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  The Blue Pikmin design.

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  The Winged Pikmin design.

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  The Rock Pikmin design.

Mario series

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, if the player hits the ball into a flower bed, the three Pikmin types from the first game will fly out.

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  Pikmin hidden on the flower beds in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

Luigi's Mansion

In the GameCube version of Luigi's Mansion, there is an early trailer of Pikmin that was released before the game's final production. It can be accessed by selecting Options, and then View a Pikmin Movie.

Donkey Konga 2

The Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, and Blue Pikmin, as well as a Red Bulborb cameo as collectible badges in Donkey Konga 2. Each character's appearance on the badge is a headshot of their clay artwork from Pikmin 2. The player can obtain one of these badges by winning a mini-game, then playing a Concentration-based mini-game, "Match That Badge!" If the player flips over two identical panels of a character, including the Pikmin or Bulborb, they earn a badge of that character. If the player reaches a high score in a mini-game, they can apply a badge to their new score.

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  Red Pikmin badge.

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  Blue Pikmin badge.

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  Yellow Pikmin badge.

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  Red Bulborb badge.

Mario Kart 8

In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Olimar amiibo or the Pikmin amiibo will unlock an Olimar-styled suit for the Mii character, with the body of the costume resembling Olimar's spacesuit, and the helmet being designed to look like a space helmet. On the back of the helmet is a Red Pikmin hanging on.

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  The Olimar racing suit in Mario Kart 8.

Super Mario Galaxy

A representation of the ship in Super Mario Galaxy.

In Super Mario Galaxy's Space Junk Galaxy, there is a ship that bears great resemblance to the Hocotate ship in Pikmin 2. It serves no purpose other than as a planetoid, and hence, part of the level. It is not a precise recreation, and the main features that allow a connection to be drawn are the colors, three fins and two bubble-shaped cockpit windows. That said, during E3 2006, a booth had an early demo version of Super Mario Galaxy with a Nintendo representative explaining the game and demo. In footage from GameSpot, the representative can be heard saying “There are some familiar faces in this demo actually: in one area you can actually go to Olimar and Louie's ship from Pikmin 2, and you can run around on it and it's just floating around in space.”, confirming that the reference is intended.

Super Mario Maker

In Super Mario Maker, players can spawn and collect a Mystery Mushroom on Super Mario Bros.-themed levels, that transforms Mario into a different character. Two of the costumes are from the Pikmin series: Captain Olimar and a trio consisting of the three main Pikmin. In the latter, the three Pikmin are next to each other, in the order yellow (flower), blue (bud), red (leaf), when facing the right.

Captain Olimar's costume is available by scanning an Olimar amiibo, or by getting it randomly, while the Pikmin costume is purely random. Each character costume also has sounds and sprites that reference the original series. The following table lists the references for the two Pikmin costumes. Both costumes use the standard Super Mario Bros. Starman theme.

Action	Captain Olimar	Pikmin
Mushroom is collected	Olimar says "Olimar!". Same sound clip as when switching to Olimar in Pikmin 2.	The sound of a Pikmin being thrown plays. Only the Pikmin's sound, not the "whop" sound effect.
pose	Olimar whistles. The sound from Pikmin is heard.	The Pikmin flinch and pose as if they were whistled, all wearing flowers. The sound comes from Pikmin.
Crouch	Nothing to note.	The Pikmin lie down and pose like they do sometimes when idling in the Pikmin games.
Skidding	The sound Olimar makes when yawning while idling in Pikmin 2 plays.	Nothing to note.
Jumping	Olimar makes a sound for when he's idling in Pikmin 2.	The Pikmin make a sound from Pikmin 2.
Grabbing the flag pole	Nothing to note.	They grab the pole like they would a climbing stick.
"Level complete" jingle	Slight remix of the Koppai motif.
Death	Plays the first four notes of the leader is down jingle from Pikmin 2.	Plays the sound for when a Pikmin dies and a soul appears in Pikmin.

In addition, there are also some minor Pikmin 3 audio references. By touching the "K" in the title screen's "MAKER", an effect imitating an old movie is applied, and pressing the letter again will play a sci-fi "click" sound and remove the effect. The sound is the same sound that plays when a player touches the Go Here! button while it is grayed out. When the rocket button is held down when editing a course, a small animation is played that represents the stage being cleared, and is accompanied by a random sound. One of the possible sounds is a whimsical rocket whir, very similar to the sound the S.S. Drake makes when the cosmic-drive key is engaged. Finally, when touching the eraser icon, button sounds from Pikmin 3's user interface can be heard.

Super Mario Odyssey

The flowers that decorate some floors, especially those in the Wooded Kingdom, bear a striking resemblance to Chaenostoma cordatum, the Pikmin flower. Besides looking similar, they also trail in a similar way to the real-world plant. The flowers that make up the flower roads in the Wooded Kingdom also look like Chaenostoma cordatum, but the leafs and trail are not as similar.

Additionally, a boss in the game called the Mechawiggler heavily resembles pinchipedes, bosses in Pikmin Adventure. Both have mechanical segments with purple spherical weak points, flip themselves over when attacked, and overall look like centipedes.

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  Chaenostoma cordatum in the Wooded Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey.

Super Smash Bros. series

The Pikmin trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Of Super Smash Bros. Melee's nearly 300 trophies, two are based on Pikmin. One features a group of standing red, blue and yellow Pikmin, while the other is a trophy of Captain Olimar that can only be obtained if there is a Pikmin save on the memory card. Interestingly, Melee came out before Pikmin did.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Main article: Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in Nintendo's cross-series 3D fighting game. Captain Olimar debuts as a playable character (referred to as Pikmin & Olimar) and his home stage is Distant Planet, a stage based on PNF-404, particularly Awakening Wood. There are 21 trophies and 16 stickers from the Pikmin series in this game.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Main article: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Olimar returns as a playable character in the fourth entry of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Alph also appears as four of his alternate skins. In the 3DS version, Distant Planet returns as a stage; in the Wii U version, the Garden of Hope appears as a new stage instead.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Main article: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Olimar returns as a playable character, with Alph as four of his alternative skins. Both the Distant Planet and the Garden of Hope stages are available. Many characters from the Pikmin series are in Ultimate as spirits. A full list of them can be seen here.

WarioWare series

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

WarioWare: Smooth Moves contains a microgame called "Pikmin 2", in which the player must tilt the Wii Remote to roll the Empress Bulblax from side to side in an endeavor to squash Pikmin. The music in the microgame is the theme played on the demo screens in Pikmin, and also used as the "Louie's Dark Secret" theme in Pikmin 2. The level background resembles the last floor of the Frontier Cavern (which also has an Empress Bulblax as the boss in that sublevel), and is likely to be the same location.

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  The "Pikmin 2" microgame in WarioWare: Smooth Moves.

WarioWare: D.I.Y.

Non-Japanese versions of WarioWare: D.I.Y. contain a microgame called "Pikmin", made by 9-Volt. A target goes across the screen and the player must tap the touchscreen when it reaches the nectar, thus throwing the Pikmin towards it. If the player misses, the Pikmin will fall into the water, its soul will come out, and the microgame will end in in a loss. If the Pikmin reaches the nectar, it will flower and the player will win. An arrangement of Carry, Fight, Increase and be Eaten, also titled Pikmin, is one of the pre-made records that can be unlocked.

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  The "Pikmin" microgame in WarioWare: D.I.Y..

WarioWare Gold

The same Pikmin microgame that appears in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, titled "Pikmin 2", re-appears in WarioWare Gold, which is a compilation of past microgames. The microgame has the same music and setting, but the Pikmin are larger and more animated, and there are fewer of them. This is likely so that the Pikmin are more visible on the Nintendo 3DS's screen.

In addition, in the Toy Room game Wario's amiibo Sketch, Wario can make crude drawings of amiibo characters. The Captain Olimar amiibo and the Pikmin amiibo are compatible for this mode. Olimar's drawing shows him posing like in the amiibo, as well as the Red Pikmin and Blue Pikmin with him. The Pikmin amiibo results in a drawing without the terrain pieces, and just the Pikmin all at the same level, although the Rock Pikmin is missing.

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  The "Pikmin 2" microgame in WarioWare Gold.

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  Wario's drawing of Olimar.

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  Wario's drawing of Pikmin.

WarioWare: Get It Together!

WarioWare: Get It Together! contains a microgame called "Pikmin 2", which is different from the microgame of the same name in WarioWare: Smooth Moves. In the microgame, the player has to knock a pellet off a Pellet Posy in the Valley of Repose using the moves available to the character being played as. Various types of Pikmin appear on the ground beneath the Pellet Posy, and Red Bulborbs can sometimes be seen sleeping in the background. The music in this microgame is based on the Valley of Repose's theme.

The spot the action takes place in does not exist in Pikmin 2, but it is very similar to the spot the Burrowing Snagret can be found, overlooking the game's first Red Bulborb.

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  The "Pikmin 2" microgame in WarioWare: Get It Together!.

WarioWare: Move It!

WarioWare: Move It! contains yet another microgame named Pikmin 2 that has three versions of varying difficulty. In each, the player plays as Olimar (P2 plays as Louie) and must enter the knight stance and pluck all Pikmin sprouts on screen. The level 1 version takes place in the Valley of Repose with a Red Pikmin sprout, the level 2 version takes place in the Awakening Wood with a Yellow and Blue Pikmin sprout, and the level 3 version takes place in the Wistful Wild with a Purple and White Pikmin sprout. Every level uses a snippet of the music from its respective area.

Other game series

A Hat in Time

In A Hat in Time's soundtrack, a portion of the Snagret Hole's theme from Pikmin 2 was directly sampled for Birdhouse Peak. The gestures played by Snagret Hole's cajón also seem to have inspired the percussion; even a jaw harp layer is introduced when the player engages with an enemy.

YouTube link (at 0:49)

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy +

In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy +, the Olimar amiibo unlocks a Pikmin and Olimar-themed aircraft for players to use in the game.

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  The Olimar aircraft in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy +.

Antonblast

In Combo Mode, one of the many combo nicknames is "Bloomin'", which is stylized after the Pikmin 2 logo.

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  The "Bloomin'" combo meter in Antonblast.

Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum

Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum features many references to video game franchises, including Pikmin. At different points, golden statues of Yellow Pikmin can be seen, wearing clothes, and with a simple red diamond shape at the tip of their stem. In one location, there is a sphinx with Captain Olimar's head, sporting the sphinx's nemes and beard.

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  Yellow Pikmin in Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum.

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  Captain Olimar in Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission: Las Vegum.

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash

In Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, a "Pikmin" Figure is unlocked by scanning the Olimar amiibo in the Chibi-Capsule machine.

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  The "Pikmin" Figure in Chibi-Robo! Ziplash.

Kid Icarus: Uprising

In Kid Icarus: Uprising, when playing a competitive match with AI characters, they will be given random, Nintendo-related names, some of which include Olimar, Louie, and Pikmin.^{[source needed]}

Kirby: Planet Robobot

In Kirby: Planet Robobot, the Olimar amiibo gives Kirby the leaf ability, representing the plant theme of the Pikmin series.

Nintendogs

A Red Bulborb toy is found in all versions of Nintendogs on a shelf in the Secondhand Shop. It is only part of the pre-rendered background shots and can not be obtained as an actual item for the dogs to interact with.

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  The Red Bulborb toy in the Secondhand Shop.

Nintendo Badge Arcade

Pikmin content appears as badges in Nintendo Badge Arcade. A small variety of images exist, including Captain Olimar, an Onion, and Pikmin. They have the same style as the decoration on the side of Pikmin's boxart, and the prologue recap in the instruction manual.

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  Spritesheet of all the Pikmin badges in Nintendo Badge Arcade.

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  Crane icons.

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  Set icon.

Nintendo Labo

The house activity for the Nintendo Labo contains a few Pikmin references. The symbol for the Pikmin series, as seen in the Super Smash Bros. games, can show up as a pattern in the wrapper of a piece of candy, or in the base of a cupcake. A strawberry can also be obtained, and its model and textures look remarkably similar to the ones used for the Sunseed Berry in Pikmin 3.

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  A piece of candy with a Pikmin series icon in the wrapper, in the Nintendo Labo house activity.

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  A cupcake with a Pikmin series icon in the base, in the Nintendo Labo house activity.

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  The strawberry in the Nintendo Labo house activity.

Nintendo Land

Main article: Nintendo Land.

Nintendo Land includes a "Pikmin Adventure" mini-game, in which players play cooperatively as Miis dressed as Olimar or Pikmin to defeat a number of enemies over multiple levels.

Stellaris

One of the random events involves some of the planet's lifeforms being described similar to Pikmin. The title for this event is called "Nimkip", or "Pikmin" backwards. The text reads: “<Planet> is populated by tiny, colorful lifeforms that straddle the divide between flora and fauna. They lack any serious evolutionary potential, but their group coordination and great strength relative to their size is impressive. Science Officer <name> has taken a shine to them, admitting a particular soft spot for "the red ones".”

Additionally, one of the random system names is "Olimar".

Tetris 99

The 34th Maximus Cup of Tetris 99 is themed around Pikmin 4. The background uses the game's key art, the targeting reticle is the Rescue Corps logo, the music is the Rescue Command Post's theme, the tetromino blocks have Oatchi's face or Pikmin faces on them, as well as some details specific to the equivalently-colored Pikmin, and KO'd players have an enemy soul icon on them. Several HUD elements and sound effects are also based on or come from Pikmin 4.

Yoshi's Woolly World

In Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, the Olimar amiibo unlocks an Olimar-styled Yoshi. The Yoshi is stylized to look like Olimar, and the spikes on the back of its head have the same color as the first three Pikmin.

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  The Olimar Yoshi skin in Yoshi's Woolly World.

Console software

AR Games

In the Nintendo 3DS built-in app AR Games, a Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin appear on an AR card.

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  The Pikmin AR Card in AR Games.

System transfer

When one transfers their downloadable content from a Nintendo DSi to a Nintendo 3DS, or from a Wii to a Wii U, various types of Pikmin are seen "carrying" the data over.

In the Wii to Wii U System Transfer, first they carry the content across the Wii and into an odd ship, representing the SD card used for the transfer. Sometimes, a Pikmin will not make it onto the ship, so the ship has to reopen. Then it travels from the metaphorical Wii planet to the metaphorical Wii U planet, that looks like the sun. They then continue to carry their data to the system memory of the Wii U, completing the transfer. The only Pikmin types to be seen are Red Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, White Pikmin, and Purple Pikmin, and there are no leaders to be seen.

StreetPass

Main article: Nintendo 3DS#StreetPass.

In the Nintendo 3DS Mii Plaza minigame Find Mii, some of the obtainable items for the player's Mii are the Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin hats. This is similar to the Pikmin Hat in the Animal Crossing series, as mentioned above. These hats are obtained through the Find Mii game. Additionally, a Captain Olimar hat can be unlocked by spending Plaza Tickets, as well as a Pikmin-themed speech balloon, can be unlocked at the Exchange Booth by trading in Plaza Tickets won in some of the mini-games.

In another minigame named Puzzle Swap, there are Pikmin-themed puzzles. The first one features one of each of the three original types surrounded by Seeding Dandelions, and it is a 15-piece puzzle that does not require Streetpass exclusive-puzzle pieces. The other ones are based off of scenes from the Pikmin Short Movies.

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  The completed Pikmin Puzzle Swap puzzle.

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  The completed PIKMIN Short Movies 3D: The Night Juicer Puzzle Swap puzzle.

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  The completed PIKMIN Short Movies 3D: Treasure in a Bottle Puzzle Swap puzzle.

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  The completed PIKMIN Short Movies 3D: Occupational Hazards Puzzle Swap puzzle.

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  The Red Pikmin Hat from Find Mii.

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  The Yellow Pikmin Hat from Find Mii.

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  The Blue Pikmin Hat from Find Mii.

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  The Olimar Hat.

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  The Pikmin speech balloon.

Animated shows

The Amazing World of Gumball

The Peckish Aristocrab look-alike in The Fury.

The Amazing World of Gumball is a cartoon series that occasionally references video game content. In the episode The Fury, in a retelling scene for a fighting tournament, a creature with a very strong resemblance to a Peckish Aristocrab can be seen.

Mad

A moment from the Pikmin Pest B Gone skit.

Mad is a TV series by Warner Bros. with short animated parodies of pop culture. Pikmin is the subject of one skit, titled Pikmin Pest B Gone. It spoofs the typical TV infomercials, and in it, a farmer is distressed about his crops being constantly attacked. The narrator suggests the use of a product called "Pikmin Pest B Gone", which is essentially Captain Olimar on the S.S. Dolphin and a group of Pikmin along with an Onion. The narrator explains how the shipment may take 3 to 5 light-years to arrive, referencing the distance between Hocotate and Earth, and how the Pikmin can attack crop pests and grow in number after bringing back their bodies. The rate at which the Pikmin grow leaves the farmer worried about a new infestation – the Pikmin themselves. The narrator announces that there's a side-product called "Pikmin Pikmin B Gone", which is basically Olimar releasing Red Bulborbs from the S.S. Dolphin to bring down the Pikmin population. Now that the farmer is faced with an infestation of Bulborbs, the narrator suggests using "Pikmin B Gone B Gone". This product takes on the form of a blue S.S. Dolphin, but before he can explain what this is, the farmer decides it is best to just get rid of Olimar instead. He then grabs the Hocotatian and kicks him away.

Steven Universe

A scene showing the game covers.

Steven Universe is a cartoon series that often references video games and anime. In the season 4 short Steven Reacts, a number of game cases can be seen in the background behind Steven. The covers's designs, logos, and large "GAME" texts make them similar to GameCube cases. One of the games is titled "Pikemen 2", a clear reference to Pikmin 2.

Homestar Runner

Homestar Runner is an animated web series. To celebrate Halloween of 2021, a game titled Halloween Hide-and-Seek was released. In the game, Homestar compliments Homsar's "droopy Pikmin" costume (Homsar was actually dressed as the Gnome from Samorost).

Inanimate Insanity II

Inanimate Insanity II is an animated fictional reality show series on Youtube. In the 13th episode of the series, "Mine Your Own Business", some treasures from Pikmin 2 are shown on shelves in a closet in Meeple HQ. Amongst the treasures visible include the Sulking Antenna, Nouveau Table, Furious Adhesive, Superstick Textile, Exhausted Superstick, the Mystical Energy Series, Spirit Flogger, Omega Flywheel, Doomsday Apparatus, and the Prototype Detector.

Animatic Battle

Animatic Battle is an animated fictional reality show series on YouTube. In episode 3, titled "Seeds for Suckers", a jar of Pikmin can be seen in the background of the inside of Yoshi Egg’s shop. The jar has the text "jar of pikmin" on it and has simply drawn Pikmin in the jar, with colors such as yellow, purple, red, and blue.

Movies

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The moment when the Pikmin statue can be seen.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a feature film adaptation of the Super Mario series. The film contains many references to other Nintendo franchises in the form of background elements found throughout the film (mostly during the segments in Brooklyn). Of these, only one pertains to the Pikmin franchise. During the Plumbers' first job inside a fancy home, several sculptures can be seen. In one shot (seen when the two dangle the dog outside of the window), a sculpture of a Pikmin can be seen on the far right.

Other media

Nintendo Monopoly (2010 edition)

The Nintendo Monopoly board.

Pikmin are featured on the sides of the box packaging for Nintendo Monopoly. B. & O. Railroad has been replaced with a red "Pikmin Onion". The S.S. Dolphin is also featured as a game piece.

Sgt. Frog

The title card for chapter 42 in volume 5 of Sgt. Frog.

The title card for chapter 42, in volume 5 of the Sgt. Frog manga features Fuyuki in an Olimar-like spacesuit, and three members of the Keroro Platoon behind him, repeated several times over, and dressed similarly to Pikmin. Kururu resembles a Yellow Pikmin, due to the ears, while Keroro and Giroro resemble Red Pikmin and Blue Pikmin, though it's impossible to tell which is which. Atop the "stems", instead of a leaf, bud, or flower, they have a swirl, star, and skull, representative of the three Keroro Platoon members. Fuyuki's suit has the text "Kiyufu", which is his name with the syllables in reverse order, possibly alluring to how Olimar's Japanese name, オリマー^?, is just the reversed anagram of マリオ^?, Mario.

Steven Universe BOOM! Studios comic

The Storytime issue of the Boom! Studios Steven Universe comic.

The main page for the Storytime issue of the Steven Universe comic made by BOOM! Studios shows Steven playing a console game that resembles a Pikmin game. On the TV screen, there is a dark-skinned man in a spacesuit throwing a creature that looks like a Yellow Pikmin, except it has a pointy nose like a Red Pikmin. At the top of the screen, there is also some HUD element with bars and a sun icon, most likely the Sun Meter.

Prerelease appearances

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Sprite sheet of Captain Olimar and some Pikmin as they would appear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

This article or section is a short summary on Olimar's unused cameo at Starbeans Café. The Cutting Room Floor features more in-depth content.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has unused sprites and conversation strings for a few Nintendo characters who were initially meant to appear in the café as cameos. The sprites contain Captain Olimar and a group consisting of the three basic Pikmin types. In the unused dialog, Olimar would speak to himself about the smell of the new coffee Mario (who he would call "Marlio", an anagram of "Olimar") holds, and attempt to attack Luigi, after seeing him as an enemy. Olimar was then meant to give Mario and Luigi the UV Lamp as a gift, but in the final game, this present was turned into the Cobalt Necktie.

Stage Debut

A Red and Blue Pikmin at a swingset in Stage Debut.

Main article: Stage Debut.

The Pikmin and Captain Olimar were planned to have a significant role in the unreleased GameCube title, Stage Debut.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Inside the files for the launcher are references to "stages" and sound attenuation data that don't exist in the final game. Some of these refer to Pikmin, such as TestHayakawaVrPikmin00Stage, or VrPikminShip_Default.baatn.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

During Super Mario Galaxy 2's development, Donkey Kong and Pikmin cameos were proposed but they were turned down by Shigeru Miyamoto. He explained that there has to be a functional reason to include characters of a certain type in a game and that the overall design of the Pikmin, being thin and tall, don't fit in the Mario universe where enemies are short and easy to stomp on.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

In the files for the ring-like item selection menu, there is an unused texture called tt_map1_ia4. This is actually the icon for the Sphere Chart, used in the "Items" page of Pikmin 2's pause menu. This version is recolored red, and has the globe's holder removed. A prototype of the game contains the same texture as the one in Pikmin 2, albeit slightly darker and with no transparency.

Finally, one model in the game makes use of a texture with "fb dum" written on it, as a placeholder for a material that gets displayed with a shader. This is the exact same texture used in the files of the Waterwraith.

Debatable appearances

The following is a list of spotted potential references to the Pikmin series, but whose veracity is debatable. For most of these cases, only a few characteristics of the referenced material matches the Pikmin world equivalent – not enough to completely assume that there is a full reference.

Densetsu no Starfy R

Moe playing the game Orima Brothers in the manga Densetsu no Starfy R.

The manga based on the The Legendary Starfy series (specifically, it is loosely based on Densetsu no Starfy 4) features a possible reference to Captain Olimar in chapter seven, Tenkai-koku, Game-Ou Ketteisen. At the end of the chapter, Starfy's best friend Moe is playing a game for the Famicom. According to the cartridge it is known as "Orima Brothers" (オリマブラザーズ^?), based on the game Mario Bros.. However, this may have only been a play on "Mario" in reverse, rather than Captain Olimar. Additionally, Captain Olimar's Japanese name (オリマー^?) is spelled differently, in that it has a long vowel mark elongating the "ma".

Don't Starve franchise

The survival-game franchise Don't Starve features a character named Wormwood, a humanoid plant brought to life from magic. While boasting the appearance of a leaf Pikmin, he also has a blooming mechanic similar to Pikmin, growing a bulb and eventually a flower, which increases his running speed.

The game features harvestable plantlike creatures called Mandrakes, who die when exposed to sunlight. During the night, they can be plucked and follow behind the player, if enough are plucked they form a squad similar in appearance to those that Pikmin form, although they have no use. When daytime comes, they will root themselves back into the ground for safety.

At the end of one of the randomly-generated dungeons of the Hamlet DLC portion of the game, a boss called the Queen Womant can be found. She has an appearance similar to that of the Empress Bulblax, both being based off of a real-life queen termite. She also has similar attacks, being able to summon falling rocks from the sky as well as lesser enemies to fight. Her death animation also bears striking resemblance to the Empress Bulblax's, with her torso segments exploding into ooze leaving only the dessicated top half.

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  Official art of Wormwood from Don't Starve: Hamlet.

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  Sprite of the Mandrake mob as it appears in Don't Starve.

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  Sprite of the Queen Womant as she appears in Don't Starve: Hamlet.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

A group of Punis.

Punis are creatures in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. They follow Mario around, a bit like the Pikmin follow a leader. He can have up to 101 of them, and although the Pikmin games also have a limit of Pikmin in the hundreds, it is not 101, but rather 100 Pikmin. Some platforms need a number of Punis on top of them to press down, which can be compared to the bags in Pikmin 2. Some Punis also have spheres on top of stems on their heads, that are reminiscent of both a Pikmin's stem, and the antenna and light on leader heads.

Pokémon franchise

A non-shiny Nuzleaf.

The "Fancy Pattern" Vivillon.

The third generation of Pokémon introduced a grass/dark-type Pokémon named Nuzleaf. It has similar characteristics to Red Pikmin, having a pointed nose and a leaf on its head, and its "shiny" form has a red face and "trousers". Its highest stat is attack, and its ability, Chlorophyll, boosts a Pokémon's speed while it is sunny in battle, similar to how Pikmin grow flowers that boost speed after being buried for some time.

The sixth generation of Pokémon introduced a bug/flying-type Pokémon named Vivillon, that has several wing patterns, and the Fancy Pattern has each wing contain three different colored flowers; a white, a red, and a lavender flower. This is a possible reference to the Pikmin's flower colors from all three games: white flowers for Red, Yellow and Blue Pikmin, magenta for Purple and White Pikmin, and lavender for Rock and Winged Pikmin.

ROBLOX

ROBLOX has a gear called the "Gravity Coil". This gear is a blue spring and bears a resemblance to the Gravity Jumper in both name and design.

The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb features a boss known as Daddy Long Legs. It acts similar to the Beady Long Legs by attacking via smashing with its feet, being vulnerable to attack via the head, as well as having a similar death animation. In addition to Daddy Long Legs, Triachnid (a character from Edmund McMillen's flash game of the same name) is a boss, and shares a moveset with Daddy Long Legs, including the similarities to Beady Long Legs.

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  The Daddy Long Legs.

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  Triachnid.

Additionally, in the game's remake The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, one of the co-op babies that the 2nd player can transform into is the "Butterfly Baby" who vaguely resembles the appearance of Winged Pikmin.

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  The Butterfly Baby.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Bertie and Luv's baby in Skyward Sword.

In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, when an insect is killed, the ghost that floats up is similar to a Pikmin's soul. In addition, Bertie and Luv's daughter bears a resemblance to Captain Olimar.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Puffstool's figurine in The Minish Cap.

There is an enemy in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap called the Puffstool. It is physically very similar to the Puffstool from Pikmin, having a red cap, yellow body, two legs, and even being a similar size due to being Minish-sized. However, the two have different names in Japanese, making the reference likely unintended by the original developers.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The three Pikmin-like statues in Wind Waker.

In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker the three goddess statues resemble Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin. The statues all have a pole sticking out of their head (resembling a stem) and the Din statue has a nose, the Farore statue has ears, and the Nayru statue has a crack where the mouth should be. Each goddess also corresponds to a specific classical element, and Din in particular is associated with fire, Farore is associated with wind, and Nayru is associated with water, which could be an allusion to the Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin's abilities of being immune to fire, being thrown higher, and being immune to water respectively.

Wii Fit U

In the minigame "Puzzle Squash", there are blocks of different colors that appear to mirror the colors of the Pikmin in the first two games. In the Beginner difficulty, the blocks appear in red, yellow, and blue. In the Advanced difficulty, they appear in red, yellow, blue, purple, and white.

Yoshi's Island DS

A baby visually similar to Olimar in Yoshi's Island DS.

In Yoshi's Island DS, one of the babies kidnapped by a Toady has a face very similar to Olimar's.

Ziggurat

A group of "zombie carrot"s from Ziggurat.

The game Ziggurat has an enemy called "zombie carrot". It attacks in large groups, similar to how Pikmin attack in groups, and are carrot-shaped.

Televised programs

• In season 5, episode 6 of the television show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, the episode "Herbicidal Maniac" features one character, General Skarr, becoming a Pikmin-like creature. Billy himself looks visually similar to Olimar.
• Adventure Time is a cartoon series that sometimes references video games. The plot of the episode The Visitor bares a strong resemblance to that of Pikmin, as Martin recruits small native creatures to gather parts of his escape pod and leave the planet. This is akin to Olimar ordering Pikmin to carry ship parts back to the S.S. Dolphin, so he can escape PNF-404.

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  General Skarr from "Herbicidal Maniac".

Movies

• Bands On The Run, a 3D animated movie about Silly Bandz, a toy product, has a photo frame with a picture of Pikmin promotional art in one scene. Given the movie's development cycle of being outsourced to China and the general quality of the movie, it is likely that the animators did not have legal permission to put the picture in; the image probably came up from a simple image search and was used without any knowledge of the picture's origins.
• In Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, one of the visitors at the Player Expo is cosplaying as Captain Olimar.

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  The Captain Olimar cosplayer.

Pikmin font

The font used in Pikmin games for things like the names of areas is DFCraftSumi Std W9. While not directly Pikmin content, this font, most famously used in the Pikmin series, does appear in other media.

• In Mario Kart Wii, the stage Moonview Highway has a poster for a made-up musical called "The Mushroom Moon" using this font. This was removed in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass.
• In one scene of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, there is a series of storefronts with spooky decorations. One of the signs in the scene reads "Yokai Tofu" and the other "Cat's Tail Noodles", both using this font.
• One of the stores in Dead Rising 2 has a fitting room with a sign above it saying "Fitting Room" using the same font.

Other

• Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard: the game's gameplay is extremely similar to the Pikmin series, in that the player can throw creatures, whistle them, use pellet-like objects to make more, etc.
• Tinykin: the game's gameplay involves building an army of small creatures with varying abilities to perform various tasks similar to Pikmin. In addition the story is somewhat similar, as Milodane gets stranded on the planet and must use the Tinykin to collect pieces to eventually build a spaceship.

See also

• Reference
• Easter eggs
• Super Nintendo World