Pyroclasmic Slooch

Pyroclasmic Slooch
Appears in	Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Sulucina vulcanis
Family	Slooch
Areas	Tropical Wilds, Distant Tundra
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages	Tropical Forest, Thirsty Desert, Tropical Forest Remix
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages	Twilight Hollow, Shaded Garden, Tropical Wilds Remix, Distant Tundra Remix
Side Story days	Land, Sea, and Sky, The Ship Restored
Bingo Battle stages	Rusted Labyrinth, Corroded Maze
Attacks	Eats Pikmin

The Pyroclasmic Slooch (カジオコシ^?, lit.: "Fire Hazard Starter") is an enemy in Pikmin 3. It is a slug-like creature that leaves behind a dangerous trail of fire. They are black in appearance, with stripes of yellow-reddish gradient looping around their body in a pattern resembling that of flowing lava. They have two antennae near the top of their cone-shaped bodies. The Pyroclasmic Slooch is also covered in a combustible slime which it leaves behind as it moves. When killed, the Slooch shrinks considerably and loses its bright red stripes. It will also cease to burn, allowing all types of Pikmin to carry it.

Stats

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
3	6 (normally)	4	× 20  × 20	300

Notes

Alph's comments

 US version

“Structural flaw: low speed
Weight: 3

A coating of pure fire? Now THAT'S armor! Which it needs, because it's very slow to both move and attack. And even the fire armor does nothing against Red Pikmin. Back to the drawing board...”

 European version

“Structural flaw: low speed
Weight: 3

A coating of pure fire? Now THAT'S armour! Which it needs, because it's very slow to both move and attack. And even the fire armour does nothing against Red Pikmin. Back to the drawing board with this one...”

Brittany's comments

“Tons of style points for the cloak of pure fire. I couldn't pull off a look like that. I don't even like to leave the S.S. Drake when it's humid out.”

Charlie's comments

 US version

“It's tough to beat a defense made entirely out of scorching flames. If you don't take it seriously, it'll be way too hot to handle. Fortunately, I'm just hot-blooded enough to take it, so long as Brittany doesn't give me that icy stare!”

 European version

“It's tough to beat a defence made entirely out of scorching flames. If you don't take it seriously, it'll be way too hot to handle. Fortunately, I'm just hot-blooded enough to take it, so long as Brittany doesn't give me that icy stare!”

Louie's comments

“Remove tongue and discard the rest. Cook over a charcoal grill until medium rare.”

Olimar's comments

“Pyroclasmic Slooch
Sulucina vulcanis
Slooch family

A species of terrestrial snail coated in flammable mucus instead of the traditional shell. The creature stays lubricated through constant secretion of mucus so that the fires never reach its skin. The most fascinating aspect of these creatures is their instinctive ability to avoid causing widespread fires by carelessly brushing plants.”

Pikmin 3 website

“These slow-moving creatures use fire to keep away potential predators. They also use their tongues to reel in prey.”

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

“Pyroclasmic Slooches are flame-covered creatures that produce trails of fire as they move around an area, In addition to these very effective defense qualities, these creatures are able to devour any Pikmin standing directly in front of them. When battling a Pyroclasmic Slooch, use a squad of Red Pikmin to charge the creature from the rear, or throw Red Pikmin onto its back.”

Behavior

The Pyroclasmic Slooch's only threatening quality is its fire. It has very few hit points, moves at a sluggish pace, and its tongue attack is relatively slow, predictable, and can get only a few Pikmin at a time. Red Pikmin are the only type of Pikmin that can be used to consistently damage it when it sports its coat of fire. If a Slooch is lead into water, however, it can easily be attacked by any type, as its flame goes out. Though it is not too threatening when it is confronted directly, the Slooch's trail of fire can became a dangerous hazard for any non-Red Pikmin carrying items anywhere, as they will not attempt to avoid it. After being defeated, the creature's body will shrink and the trail of fire will linger behind it for a few seconds before fading.

Strategy

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

The Slooch is easy prey for Red Pikmin. Due to the creature's low speed and incredibly weak defense, you can take it out with ease with only a few Red Pikmin. It may try to shake them off, but it will likely not succeed in this provided you have at least five Pikmin on the creature, and if you swarm it with a group of 10 or more, it will likely not even be able to begin this animation. Provided you have Red Pikmin with you, its best to defeat any Pyroclasmic Slooch the first time you see it, as overlooking it may result in it catching a few Pikmin as you pass by or its fire trail later harming Pikmin on their way back to the Onion.

Other types of Pikmin can actually attack the creature if they latch on to some points of its body. Rock Pikmin will also cause impact damage if thrown at it, however they must be called back before burning to death.

The leaders can actually damage the Slooch, however, you must position yourself just right; the punch range is short, but getting too close will result in a damaging burn, provided you don't have the Scorch Guard. If done correctly, you can defeat a Pyroclasmic Slooch relatively quickly with only leaders, due to its few hit points.

Also, if a Slooch goes in some water (for example, the puddles near the bamboo gate in the Distant Tundra), its fire will go out, allowing all Pikmin types to attack it more easily. It will only return to its fiery state if it touches the flames left behind by other Pyroclasmic Slooches. Touching a fire geyser will not restore its fire.

Technical information

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	kajiokoshi
HP	300
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	10
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	1
Bomb rock explosions to kill	1
Bomb rock ingestions to kill	1
Number of direct hits on top to kill	0
Damage to leaders	10
Territory radius	300
Mission Mode value	20

Naming

A Pyroclasmic Slooch in the demo, showing the early name, "Pyroplasmic Slooch".

"Pyroclasmic" is a play on pyroclastic flow, a fast moving current of hot gas or rock commonly found in volcanoes. "Slooch" is similar to the slug. In Japan, this creature is called カジオコシ^?, which translates to "Fire Hazard Starter". Internally, its name is kajiokoshi, which matches the Japanese common name.

In prerelease footage, the Pyroclasmic Slooch's name was written as "Pyroplasmic Slooch", which could either be alluding to either plasma, a state of matter defined as a gas of ions, or plasm, a word roughly meaning "living substance".

Its scientific name is sulucina vulcanis. Vulcanis is derived from Vulcan (or Vulcānus in Latin), the Roman god of fire, in reference to the Pyroclasmic Slooch's own fire.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	カジオコシ? Kaji Okoshi	Fire Hazard Starter
French	Pyroplasmic
German	Pyrokriecher	Pyro-creeper
Spanish (NoA)	Pirobabosa	Pyroslug
Spanish (NoE)	Pirobabosa	Pyroslug

Gallery

• 

  Zooming in on a Pyroclasmic Slooch.

• 

  A close-up view of a Pyroclasmic Slooch.

• 

  Two Pyroclasmic Slooches being attacked by Captain Charlie and his group of Red Pikmin.

• 

  A Pyroclasmic Slooch at the Distant Tundra.

• 

  This Pyroclasmic Slooch can't release fire because it went in a puddle.

• 

  E3 2012 screenshot of a Pyroclasmic Slooch having caught some Pikmin with its tongue.

• 

  A Pyroclasmic Slooch in a prerelease screenshot of Pikmin 3 Deluxe.

Glitch

Blue and Yellow Pikmin on a Pyroclasmic Slooch.

If they are correctly launched on the Pyroclasmic Slooch, Blue, Yellow Pikmin and Winged Pikmin will be able to attack it without burning up.

Trivia

• The Pyroclasmic Slooch was one of the first new enemies in Pikmin 3 revealed, in Nintendo's E3 2012 presentation.
• In the Distant Tundra, there's a group of Pyroclasmic Slooches in the cave where the Bulbear and fire geysers are found. After discovering the ultra-spicy spray, the middle Pyroclasmic Slooch will sometimes drop a dose of it.