Waterwraith

This article was a featured article from 2nd of May 2011 to 14th of June 2011.

Waterwraith
File:Waterwraith.jpg
Appears in	Pikmin 2
Scientific name	Amphibio sapiens
Family	Unknown
Areas	None
Caves	Submerged Castle
Challenge Mode stages	Bully Den
2-Player Battle stages	None
Attacks	Crushes Pikmin

"What is this? I can see it with my optical receptors, but my sensors cannot detect it. Could its physical form be anchored in another dimension? Attacking it is futile. If only we could force it onto taking on a physical form, but in its current state Kzzzrt Zzzzrt! Danger! Danger! Danger!"

-Ship in the Submerged Castle, when the Waterwraith appears early.

The Waterwraith is a mysterious creature found in Pikmin 2 found in all of the sublevels of the Submerged Castle and in Bully Den in the Challenge Mode. 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. The Ship notes that although it can be seen, its sensors detect nothing, leading to the conclusion that the Waterwraith's physical form is anchored in another dimension. It is one of the most dangerous enemies, as it can kill Pikmin by just rolling over them once. When encountered in the Submerged Castle, but not in the Bully Den, its music will play - music that is played only then.

A sample of the music.

The Waterwraith's name is a combination of "water", given its watery appearance, and "wraith", which means ghost or phantom.

Killing Strategy

In the Valley of Repose.

When encountered, the beast falls from the sky, lifts up its front roller, and smashes it on the ground, crushing any Pikmin underneath. It then moves around on its stone 'rollers'. It will chase Olimar and any Pikmin nearby, with greater focus on crushing the active Captain. It is invincible to any Pikmin assault, even if petrified, except that of Purple Pikmin. When a Purple lands on or near the Waterwraith in a fashion that would stun any other beast, it turns a deep shade of purple not dissimilar to that of the Pikmin that cause this state to come about. Like this, it is vulnerable to all Pikmin attacks. When the Wraith's health has been fully depleted, the rollers crumble and the Waterwraith (now resembling a bill-less, translucent penguin) will scoot all around the cave, no longer a threat to your Pikmin. Attack with more purples and then you can easily attack it with other Pikmin. When defeated, it will vanish into nothing, and you will be troubled no more. It drops the Professional Noisemaker, a useful addition to the Exploration Kit the first time you beat it in the Submerged Castle.

A Waterwraith (rear)

Strangely, petrifying the Waterwraith makes it less vulnerable to Purple Pikmin, in which case the Pikmin must be thrown in a perfect arch for enough impact to make the creature susceptible to attack. In other words, Purples make a certain "squashing" sound when they hit an enemy or a plant; when this sound is performed, a creature may also be stunned. These effects can only occur when the Purples have a straight fall downward after their throw (the distance in which they fall vertically is irrelevant, as long as it exists). Finally, when all these circumstances are achieved, the Waterwraith may gain damage; this will not happen when Purples are thrown on it without the drop.

Note: In the Submerged Castle, you will only be able to get purples on the final sublevel via the Violet Candypop Buds.

In the Bully Den, you will already have 25 Purples, but no other color of Pikmin. Here, there are two Waterwraiths and a variety of other bugs.

The Waterwraith is one of the few enemies in Pikmin 2 which has its own background music, along with the Titan Dweevil and the Giant Breadbug. In Sublevels 1-4, when it appears, its own music track plays. When it has no rollers, a different piece of music plays, which has a more positive mood. The best way to defeat it is to get all your Pikmin and the 10 Purples that you got from the Violet Candypop Buds.

Throw a purple on it to make it vulnerable. Now swarm all your Pikmin around the rollers. You should have destroyed the rollers in about three seconds. Then just finish it off.

Glitches

The Waterwraith while sitting on petrified rollers.

While in the Piklopedia, press the "Z" button immediately upon selecting the Waterwraith to petrify its roller. When the Waterwraith itself lands, it too will be encased in stone, but the roller will revert to its normal state before the creature itself. Petrify it again, and the Wraith is normal, but not the rollers; the Wraith will have problems lifting them. Its audio will get messed up, as it cries with each attempt to pick up the front roller. It is possible to do this in the main game (and Challenge Mode) as well, but the beast won't turn purple when Purple Pikmin are thrown at it. This is because it needs to lift its rollers first. You can also make the Waterwraith float if you have AR by doing the one hit code.

Also when the Waterwraith pulls the rollers up stone it. Then when it wears off, do it again. If your timing is correct you should only petrify its rollers. The Waterwraith's arms will be stretched backwards grabbing the roller that is in mid-air while it sits on the other roller facing the ground, trying to pull back the roller.

It is possible to defeat the Waterwraith while petrified. First, it must be without its rollers, and the player must deplete its health as far as possible. Then, when frozen, if Purple Pikmin are thrown onto it, it should die in that state, shattering and leaving 6-7 pools of nectar and spray of any kind.

Yet another glitch can be performed by knocking it off its rollers, and frantically switching characters, will cause the Waterwraith to appear to "ice skate" instead of sprinting.

It is likely that if the Waterwraith's head comes into contact with the Research Pod after having lost its rollers, another glitch will occur. The outcome is a change in the way it moves: instead of walking, the creature glides along; and any Pikmin that touch it are thrown out-of-the-way, though unharmed. The amount of health it had previously to the glitch occurring determines whether or not it can be damaged once in this state.

Another glitch may occur when the Waterwraith attempts to turn around sharp corners. Instead of successfully completing a 360 degrees turn, it may get wedged in the middle of a tight space. This could either be helpful, allowing the player to avoid the Waterwraith, but this glitch could also block crucial pathways, such as a pathway to the next floor. Unfortunately, the only solution for this is to reset.

Yet another glitch happens when the Waterwraith is hit with a Purple Pikmin while running. The Waterwraith may turn clear while in the crouching position it is normally purple in.

Another possible glitch is known to happen in the Bully Den. The cause of this glitch is unknown, but the effects are strange. When both Waterwraith have had their rollers taken away, they will sometimes only frantically run away from Olimar, and will casually walk past Louie and even stop right in front of him, as if they do not even notice him. They can still be attacked, though.

Trivia

• The Waterwraith's species name, Amphibio sapiens (which translates to Wise Amphibian), is similar to the human species name of Homo sapiens (Wise Man).

• In the Piklopedia, it is possible that the Waterwraith will roll out-of-bounds.
• It is possible that the Waterwarith is part human, given its appearance.
• Theory holds that the Waterwraith may be related to fear in dark caves.