Mistake

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3. Particularly: Doesn't Brittany have a line that's completely empty? Add it here, if so.

At times, when making a game, development members may commit a mistake. Most of the time, these errors are detected by the quality assurance team, whose job is to play-test the game in search for such mistakes, so that they can be corrected. However, it's possible for some errors to go by undetected, or to not get fixed in time, meaning the final game is released with them still in it. For the most part, these aren't enough to affect gameplay or the game's story. In popular culture, they are also known as goofs. In the Pikmin series, there are cases of typos, grammatical errors, glitches, ways to go out of bounds, and inconsistencies.

For the sake of completion, debatable mistakes will be included on the article as well. Unless otherwise confirmed, every mistake listed here is speculative, and could in fact be purposefully made by the developers.

Pikmin

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin

Carrying path oversights

See: Path oversights in Pikmin

Leftovers

At points, leftovers from previous versions of a game may make their way into the final product in some form. This generates a minor inconsistency in the game mechanics, locations or objects, given that what's presented is different from what happens in the actual game.

Early enemy reel information

The Goolix on The Forest Navel.

Main article: Enemy reel discrepancies.

Some of the enemy reel's footage was recorded in an earlier – or at least different – version of Pikmin, and one can tell because several of the objects cannot be found in those locations in the final game. One of the most noteworthy examples would be the Goolix appearing on The Forest Navel, despite never being encountered there during gameplay. In addition, the fact that all names are sorted alphabetically, besides the Swooping Snitchbug's, gives a hint on what the creature's name was intended to be initially – possibly something beginning with "Flying". This error was not corrected in the New Play Control! port, but was in the Switch port.

S.S. Dolphin credits mistake

An early model of the S.S. Dolphin (which can be found unused in the game files) can be seen projected on PNF-404 during the ending credits, as one of the Ionium Jets can be seen with a circular top instead of an hexagonal one, and the retracted egg-whisk-like propeller can be seen as a sphere. Both of these traits are found in the unused model, but not in the final game's ship.

Pellet carrying in the instruction manual

Main article: Pellet#Three Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet.

In the instruction manual, the page that describes the Onions and pellets contains an image of three Pikmin carrying a 1 pellet. In the actual game, this is not possible – only up to two Pikmin may carry a 1 pellet at the same time.

Bomb rock warning in the New Play Control! instruction manual

In the US instruction manual for New Play Control! Pikmin, the page that explains each Pikmin type's skills has two warnings about Yellow Pikmin and bomb-rocks. One of them states “Don't stand too close! If it stands idly when thrown, call back a bomb-carrying Pikmin to have it drop the bomb.” This is a leftover from the instruction manual of the original GameCube Pikmin game, and is no longer true in the New Play Control! remake – the Pikmin keep their bomb rocks when called.

The Forest Navel geyser

The geyser at the south of The Forest Navel. It serves no real purpose.

At the south of The Forest Navel, there is a geyser on the platform where the Gravity Jumper can be found. This geyser merely shoots Olimar upward considerably high, and makes him land on the pond at the southwest. Because this does not aid the player in any way, and because there is a detailed path leading up specifically to the geyser, it is possible that this is the leftover of a previous version of the area, where that geyser actually had a purpose.

Olimar's movement

Due to errors in the vector math for the player movement, Olimar walks slower if the player tilts the analog stick in a diagonal direction. This is a common error in game development, and is usually a result of devs forgetting to normalize the player input. As such, it's faster to angle the camera such that the player has to tilt the analog stick in a cardinal direction in order to get Olimar where he needs. This oddity is not present in the New Play Control! version.

Written mistakes

• On the North American GameCube version's manual, in the page where Captain Olimar describes the game's plot, there is the typo “I then felt a premonition that my short trip would soon be become an epic adventure.”. "Be" is in one line, and "become" is in another, which could explain why this mistake was left undetected.
• On the Q&A section of the manual in the European GameCube version, there is a hint explaining how it is possible to slow down a Spotty Bulborb by holding onto its feet with Pikmin. "Holding" is spelled as "holdung", however; a trivial mistake to make on a QWERTY keyboard, given that the U and the I keys are next to one another.
• The back of the GameCube game's box, in the European version, contains a story summary with a typo in it: “Due to an unforeseeable collision with a meteor, I've crash-landed on a strange planet. My Ship is in pieces and my only hope for survival lies with odd creature I call Pikmin...”, given that "with odd creature" is incorrect. The US version's box instead states “I've crash-landed on a strange planet. My ship is in pieces—my only hope for survival lies with odd creatures I call Pikmin...”
• Andy Becraft was one of the engineers on Nintendo of America's debugging team, and is credited on Pikmin's credits sequence. In the New Play Control! version, however, his name is incorrectly written as "Beaucraft".
• If the player opens the Blue Onion's menu and attempts to take out more Pikmin than the amount in the Onion, the message "There are no blues Pikmin to take out." appears. The correct message, "There are no blue Pikmin to take out.", has been added to the New Play Control version.
• The enemy reel entry for the Smoky Progg ends with a comma instead of a period.

Ship part function inconsistencies

Some ship parts are optional and mentioned to have no relation to the flight capabilities of the S.S. Dolphin, and therefore are not needed to complete the game. However, there are multiple parts that, evidently, have an unclear purpose or no relation to the S.S. Dolphin's flight capabilities (as inferable from Olimar's descriptions for these parts), yet are mandatory. Some examples are the Analog Computer, the Libra and the Sagittarius, and the Positron Generator. To confuse things even further, Olimar hints in his second monolog for the Interstellar Radio that not all parts are needed to fly the ship, hinting that the Interstellar Radio is not mandatory, even though it is.

Other oversights

• Candypop Buds, geysers, and Iridescent Flint Beetles are internally considered bosses. Although this doesn't affect the game directly, it has the unintended side-effect of making the area's music change to the enemy variant whenever the player approaches a Candypop Bud or geyser.
• On the Fiery Blowhog's clip in the enemy reel, the camera's viewport can be seen clipping through the ground, revealing the black void below the map.
• In The Final Trial, there is a wall to the left of the landing site behind some plants with inconsistent collision; the collision extends further than the visual model.

Pikmin 2

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin 2

Carrying path oversights

See: Path oversights in Pikmin 2

General oversights

• When entering a cave or sublevel, the first leader to jump will always grunt like Olimar, and the second will always grunt like Louie. This is true regardless of the leaders that are actually on the party and the order at which they jump in, but if the second leader is fallen, only the first leader's grunt will play (still with Olimar's voice).
• The entries for the Ravenous Whiskerpillar and the Volatile Dweevil on the Piklopedia point out that the creatures have an associated Poko value of 1 and 0, respectively. These values provide no useful information to the player, given that Ravenous Whiskerpillars cannot appear underground, and Volatile Dweevils cannot be retrieved to the research pod. It is possible that they could at an earlier point in development, and that this value is a remnant of that time; other moot values, such as the Poko count of a Pellet Posy are displayed as "----", further confusing matters.
• When the Justice Alloy is collected, the Hocotate ship claims that getting bitten or stepped on will produce less pain. This is a huge simplification of the damage reduction benefit, as all damage suffered is reduced, not just from those two sources.
• The game does not distinguish between leaving a cave and starting a new day for the purpose of some cutscenes. So some dialog that makes sense at the start of a new day won't make sense when exiting a cave.
  • If the player loses all Pikmin of one type inside a cave and goes to the surface, the ship will state that there was a Pikmin extinction "yesterday".
  • If on the day the player obtains Purple Pikmin, they leave some Purple Pikmin behind before entering the Emergence Cave again, the ship will explain how the Pikmin have been stored in its hull, but greet the leaders with "Good morning!"
• Olimar's journal on The Key has him describe the Beady Long Legs as a "Pikmin-devouring spider", despite the fact that the Beady Long Legs is one of the few enemies that does not eat Pikmin in any way; it only crushes them.
• In the journal entry for the Universal Com, Olimar talks about how the ship and Louie are calling him out for being wrong about what the treasure is. This treasure is found on sublevel 12 of the Dream Den, before Louie is rescued on the final floor, making it possible to read this journal entry before Louie could possibly have commented on it.
• Olimar's journal on the Aquatic Mine has him explain the changes to the Perplexing Pool and other areas being caused by frequent tectonic shifts. However, this hand-wave would only explain how The Impact Site and The Final Trial are close enough in this game to be combined into the Wistful Wild. The artificial elements seen in some of the areas, some of which is explicitly buried into the level and patterned out like in the Awakening Wood, cannot be caused by tectonic shifting and is left unexplained.
• The Talisman of Life contains multiple Luck Wafers as claimed in the Sales Pitch, but the Luck Wafer is worth 140 Pokos while the Talisman of Life is worth just 90 Pokos.
• Louie's notes on some enemies make references to bodies or body parts that Louie couldn't possibly have collected for cooking, due to the fact that they are shown to disappear upon death, in-game. A full list can be found here.
• Buried Armored Cannon Beetle Larvae cannot be stunned with Purple Pikmin, although the game files specify that the enemy should have the same stun properties as the free-walking counterpart, which can be stunned.
• On the title screen's "Spring" theme, Anode Dweevils can be seen running around the tree trunk. These dweevils have their feelers colored yellow, whereas the ones in game have red feelers.
• On the cutscene that plays when the player clears the debt, the Hocotate ship announces the return to Hocotate and the camera shifts to the sky, where a faint image of The President is seen. This image was likely cropped from an image with a white background, as it becomes clear that the area of the image between the President's curly hair was not cropped out: it remains white. This has been fixed in the Nintendo Switch port.
• If the first Pikmin to drink nectar in a playthrough is a Bulbmin, the cutscene will play, but the sound of a regular Pikmin will be heard, instead of a Bulbmin sound.
• The tenth sublevel in the Cavern of Chaos becomes darker if the player has the Solar System as opposed to lighter. An explanation for it can be found here.
• The texture for the Geographic Projection is flipped horizontally. If one flips the treasure upright, Africa will be to the left of South America, which will be to the left of Europe, contrary to the real world. Whether this is a mistake or not is not known, since it could've been flipped on purpose to represent continents in a familiar manner to most people, considering that the treasure is only ever found upside-down.
• Recovering an enemy corpse by the ship's pod for the first time will activate the cutscene that corresponds with it. For garden-themed sublevels, this causes the camera to accidentally pan up to view the black space above the skybox.
• The cave unit that is a swamp with trunks can have the treasure in that room be placed on top of the high stump, where it can't be reached. Blue Pikmin cannot reach that high, and Yellow Pikmin cannot get close because of the water. This may indicate that the unit itself probably wasn't filled with water or needed to be drained at some point in development. This problem can happen in the sixth sublevel of Hole of Heroes.
• The cave unit that is a zigzagging metal platform with multiple corridors has no underside for the highest platform and a missing polygon on one of the beams that holds up the stage. This lack of an underside can be seen if the player changes the camera's mode to ground level view and stands at two of the low points in the stage. The easiest way to see this mistake is to enter the first layout of Rusty Gulch, as that layout contains that cave unit.
• There is no counter for Bulbmin in the cave selection screen in Challenge Mode. As a result, a player may expect that they will receive no Pikmin at all for Hidden Garden, when they actually get two Bulbmin. There is an empty space to the right of the Purple Pikmin counter, so it's possible that there could've been one intended to be there.
• Depending on the region and area, the Decorative Goo in the Treasure Hoard can appear to float or have no shadow, as explained here.
• In the Awakening Wood, there's a branch far out of bounds to the east of the Blue Onion that remains as the tallest piece of level geometry besides the Snagret Hole's tree. This branch is missing triangles on the bottom, making it look like it's floating in the air from some angles. By going to the Bulblax Kingdom's plot and switching the camera to ground level view to look at the branch, the player can see this mistake more clearly.
  • The other, smaller branch placed between the Blue Onion and the White Flower Garden is also floating off the ground, but it's much harder to notice, and can be seen from the electric gate near the Blue Onion.

• 

  The white background of the President's image was mistakenly left between his hair's curl.

• 

  The cave unit with its missing underside as seen in Rusty Gulch.

• 

  The floating branch in the upper-right corner.

Written mistakes

Typos

• It is possible to tell that the treasures exclusive to the European version of Pikmin 2 received less quality control, as quite a few typos managed to make their way into their English descriptions. This was not intended, as proven by the fact that most of the descriptions in the New Play Control! Pikmin 2 variants have been fixed. A list of these typos can be found on this category. Oddly, the US Wii version contains one of these low-quality descriptions, in the form of Olimar's journal entry for the Patience Tester.
  • Unlike all other treasures in Pikmin 2, the Empty Space Container does not to have its name in title case, in the GameCube version.
• Olimar's journal for the Memorable Gyro Block has the word "accidentally" misspelled as "accidently".
• The "Results Prior to Repaying Debt" screen on the North American and European GameCube versions says "Results Prior to Repaying Dept". The files for this menu lack a texture for a lowercase "b" entirely, which hints at the menu data having been generated without the "b" being in the string in the first place, making this a simple typo. The Wii North American re-release has corrected the typo, and the European Wii version of Pikmin 2 says "Results up to Debt Repayment" instead.
• The entry in Olimar's journal for the Flare Cannon call the Titan Dweevil "monsterous". The correct spelling of the word is "monstrous". The European GameCube version and the US Wii version have the wrong spelling, while the US GameCube version and the European Wii version use the correct one.
• The European GameCube and US Wii version of the game have the text "out.The" in Olimar's journal entry for the Fleeting Art Form, without a space between "out" and "The". The other versions lack this problem.
• The Lustrous Element's entry in Olimar's journal calls Hocotate "Hokotate" twice, exclusively in the GameCube European version.
• Olimar's journal entry for the Divine Cooking Tool calls Hocotate "Hocatate" in the GameCube version. This was corrected for the Wii release.
• Olimar's journal entry for the Vorpal Platter writes "could effortlessly sheer through the armor plating" in all versions except the Wii European one. That one uses the correct word "shear".
• Olimar's notes on the Orange Bulborb say "with deep orange body" in all versions but the Wii European release, which writes "with a deep orange body" instead.
  • Strangely, in Pikmin 3 Deluxe's Piklopedia, this typo is still present in all versions, including the European release.
• The Dwarf Red Bulborb's scientific name is Pansarus pseudoculii russus, with one 'o' in the species name, prior to the European release of New Play Control! Pikmin 2. Since all other breadbug mimics use two 'o's, this spelling is presumably a typo. The European version of New Play Control! Pikmin 2 corrects this.
• Olimar's notes on the Glowstem have the misspelling "resemblence", except in the European Wii version, which uses the correct spelling of "resemblance".

Incorrect information

• One of the advisories for 2-Player Battle says that the player can hold up to four roulette spins. This is technically correct, but misleading, as the player can actually store five powers – the four queued spins plus the current power on standby.
• The rules for 2-Player Battle say, for the boulder item, "Boulders drop on opponent", which is correct. However, the European version of New Play Control! Pikmin 2 states "Boulder drops on opponent", knocking down the number of boulders to one. In-game, several boulders fall down, not just one.
• In the English version of the Piklopedia, the Doodlebug belongs to the "flint bug family", however in other language versions it belongs to the flint beetle family. This was fixed in the Nintendo Switch port.
• In the French version of Olimar's journal for the Five-man Napsack, on the North American Wii port, it says the player must use to lie down instead of . This mistake only exists on this exact version of the journal.
• In New Play Control! Pikmin 2, with the language set to French, the pause menu incorrectly calls the Sphere Chart "Système Solaire", which is the name used for the Solar System. This does not happen in the ship's dialogs.
• In the Hocotate ship's dialog when the player collects the Brute Knuckles, the ship calls the upgrade "Rocket Punch" instead of "Rocket Fist". This mistake is only present in the US GameCube version.
• Olimar's notes on the Cupid's Grenade in all versions of Pikmin 2 except the European Wii version describe the treasure as if it was a plant that bears two different types of fruits, but this doesn't make any sense in regards to the single cherry. It's possible that the translator mistakenly thought that the entry was for the Burgeoning Spiderwort, which does have a variant that bears two different types of fruits, one of which is a suppressant and the other a stimulant.

• 

  A screenshot showing the written mistake "its" for the Open Architecture.

Missing sublevel objects

Due to the way sublevel generation works, it is possible for some important objects that are usually meant to appear to not show up at all. The following tables list known cases, along with the probabilities of that happening.

To note is that there is a related, but different problem in Hole of Heroes sublevel 6, where one of the treasures will spawn successfully, but because of the cave's layout, be logistically impossible for players to retrieve, as explained here.

Story Mode treasures

For cases where the treasure is inside of an enemy, what happens is that that enemy does not appear.

Treasure	Location	Chances of not appearing	Enemy with treasure	Notes
Pale Passion	Submerged Castle, sublevel 4	≈2.51%	Iridescent Glint Beetle	Twitch video example
Indomitable CPU	Subterranean Complex, sublevel 7	≈1.33%	Gatling Groink	Twitch video example
Harmonic Synthesizer	Glutton's Kitchen, sublevel 3	≈0.29%	N/A	Twitch video example
King of Sweets	Citadel of Spiders, sublevel 4	≈0.01%	Hermit Crawmad	Twitch video example (language warning)
Amplified Amplifier	Shower Room, sublevel 7	1/2,147,483,648	Ranging Bloyster	YouTube video example (forced seed)

Story Mode Candypop Buds

Note that some Candypop Buds will not appear on purpose if the player does not meet the maximum Pikmin requirement. This table only lists Candypop Buds that can accidentally not appear due to sublevel generation limitations.

Type	Location	Chances of not appearing	Notes
	Shower Room, sublevel 5	≈69.4%
	Frontier Cavern, sublevel 4	≈33.9%
	Bulblax Kingdom, sublevel 4	≈23.3%	There is also a ≈0.86% chance of both not appearing.
	Bulblax Kingdom, sublevel 6	≈6.3%
	Glutton's Kitchen, sublevel 5	≈0.13%
	Shower Room, sublevel 2	≈28%	This bud also has a maximum Pikmin requirement.
	Frontier Cavern, sublevel 1	≈14%	This bud also has a maximum Pikmin requirement.
	Citadel of Spiders, sublevel 2	≈1.87%	This bud also has a maximum Pikmin requirement.
	Shower Room, sublevel 6	≈59%
	Subterranean Complex, sublevel 3	≈28%
	Subterranean Complex, sublevel 4	≈0.233%	Only 1 of the 3 can be missing. YouTube clip example
	Frontier Cavern, sublevel 3	≈16%
	Frontier Cavern, sublevel 7	≈9.3%	If missing, so is the Iridescent Glint Beetle.
	Submerged Castle, sublevel 3	≈9.0%
	Citadel of Spiders, sublevel 4	≈8.9%
	Snagret Hole, sublevel 6	≈0.005%	If missing, so are the 3 Lapis Lazuli Candypop Buds.
	Bulblax Kingdom, sublevel 1	≈44%	This bud also has a maximum Pikmin requirement.
	Shower Room, sublevel 1	≈23.7%	This bud also has a maximum Pikmin requirement.
	Citadel of Spiders, sublevel 3	≈12%
	Glutton's Kitchen, sublevel 5	≈0.02%	If missing, so is the Violet Candypop Bud.
	Glutton's Kitchen, sublevel 3	≈2.5%
	Snagret Hole, sublevel 6	≈1.17%	There is a ≈0.15% chance of 2 not appearing, and a ≈0.01% chance of all 3 not appearing.
	Bulblax Kingdom, sublevel 6	≈14.5%	There is also a ≈0.57% chance of both not appearing.

Challenge Mode treasures

Treasure	Location	Chances of not appearing	Enemy with treasure	Notes
Omniscient Sphere ≥ 1	Red Chasm, sublevel 1	≈23%	Dwarf Red Bulborb	≈6.5% chance at least 4 are missing. There can be 12 missing.
Unknown Merit	Abduction Den, sublevel 1	≈15%	Swooping Snitchbug
Omniscient Sphere	Abduction Den, sublevel 1	≈1%	Careening Dirigibug	If this is missing, so is Unknown Merit.
Invigorator	Collector's Room, sublevel 6	≈0.65%	N/A
The Key	Hazard Training, sublevel 1	≈0.4%	Fiery Bulblax	If this is missing, there is no way to complete the cave.
Mirrored Element	Hazard Training, sublevel 1	1/2,147,483,648	Hydro Dweevil	Only 1 seed (0x05621066) generates the floor that's missing this treasure.
Cupid's Grenade	Hazard Training, sublevel 1	1/2,147,483,648	Dwarf Red Bulborb	If this is missing, Mirrored Element is too, but The Key is not missing.
Crystallized Telekinesis x 2	Bully Den, sublevel 1	≈5%	Anode Dweevil	If 1 is missing, both are missing.
Silencer	Bully Den, sublevel 1	≈0.00004%	Waterwraith	If this is missing, Crystallized Telekinesis is not missing.
Mirth Sphere ≥ 1	Bully Den, sublevel 1	≈0.00002%	Anode Beetle	If missing, Silencer is too; the second Mirth Sphere is also likely missing.

Challenge Mode Geyser

It is possible for Bully Den to fail to spawn the exit geyser. There is a ≈0.02% chance that when sublevel 1 generates, there is no place for the geyser to go. In this layout, nothing happens when The Key is collected.

Challenge Mode Candypop Buds

There is a ≈4.1% chance that when Concrete Maze sublevel 3 generates, only 1 Queen Candypop Bud appears instead of 2.

There is an unknown chance that when The Giant's Bath sublevel 2 generates, only 1 Ivory Candypop Bud appears instead of 2.

Biological classification inconsistencies

Biological classification in the Pikmin games matches that of the real world, with the following exceptions:

• The scientific names for the Empress Bulblax (Oculus matriarcha) and the Bulborb Larva (Oculus bambinii) indicate they are different species, even though the latter is offspring of the former and should have the same scientific name. However, creatures on PNF-404 are often very different from real-world creatures, so it giving birth to a different species wouldn't be too implausible in contrast to some other creatures. In the Japanese version, however, there are no scientific names; instead, the game features Japanese names. In these names, the Empress Bulblax and the Bulborb Larva don't specify what type of Bulborb they are speaking of; the game simply refers to them as "Dememadara" (specimen with an expanded egg sac) and "Dememadara", where Dememadara is the Japanese name for the Bulborb species. One can identify that the specimens we see in the game are Red Bulborbs, however the Piklopedia entry doesn't specify it since it's not something specific to the Red Bulborbs.
• In a very similar case, the Spotty Bulbear is claimed to have the subspecies dotticum, differing it from the Dwarf Bulbear. Not only does this not match since the dwarf variant lacks a subspecies, but it also is claimed to be a younger version of the Bulbear. An early English script shows the Bulbear's scientific name was originally just Oculus terribilis, like its younger counterpart.
• Although the Iridescent Glint Beetle is in a different family to the Iridescent Flint Beetle and Doodlebug, it has the same genus as both. This is inaccurate to real world taxonomy because family is located above genus on the classification tree, so every member of a genus must share the same family.
• Similar to the previous case, the Creeping Chrysanthemum shares a genus name with the Dandelion, even though they are in separate families; in real life, this is impossible, as different species cannot be in the same genus and different families.
• Additionally, the in-game Margaret plant is actually a yellow marguerite. Causing even more confusion, it's claimed to be in the chrysanthemum family, likely due to marguerites and chrysanthemums belonging to the same family in real life.
• The scientific names for the Fiery Blowhog (Sus draconus) and the Watery Blowhog (Sus loogiens) indicate they are different species, despite Olimar's comments on the latter stating that it is a subspecies of the former.

Infernal Vegetable

The Infernal Vegetable is a treasure in Pikmin 2, and is actually a real world bell pepper. Bell peppers are not vegetables, contrary to what is stated by both Olimar and the ship, but are in fact fruits. They can be considered vegetables for culinary purposes, but are botanically a fruit; this is actually a common misconception.

The same does not happen for the Love Nugget, a real world tomato, in which Olimar's journal explains that it is both a fruit and a vegetable. To note is that in Japan, both bell peppers and tomatoes are classified 野菜^?, which could have contributed to the localization's confusion.

e-Reader cards

All of the e-Reader cards are numbered, but there are two cards labeled with #46 (Shearwig and Wogpole), no card #57, and the numbered order makes it so some entries are not sitting next to similar creatures.

From analysis, one can conclude that the Shearwig is the real #46, since it would place it next to the Male and Female Sheargrubs. The Wogpole is meant to be card #49, so it ends up next to the Wollywog and Yellow Wollywog. The card numbered #49 is the Queen Candypop Bud, which is also in the wrong place – but if one moves that card to the missing #57 spot, it would correctly land next to the other Candypop Bud cards.

Pikmin 3

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin 3

Carrying and Go Here! path oversights

See: Path oversights in Pikmin 3

Talk oversights

See: Talk#Script mistakes

In the US version of the game, some conversation scripts attempt to switch the character's icon on the text box, but use an invalid ID, resulting in a different (and wrong) icon being used altogether.

General oversights

• The unreleased Secret File has Louie mention that he is a crew member of the S.S. Dolphin. This is incorrect, as Louie never boarded the S.S. Dolphin. Instead, he is a member of the Hocotate ship. However, since Olimar still considers himself to be the captain of the S.S. Dolphin despite no longer owning the ship, it is possible that Louie is simply mimicking Olimar in this.
• On some of the Secret Files, Olimar looks to his left to find Louie in danger. Physically, it is not possible for Olimar to see Louie on his left from their positions, in some of the videos. A list of these mistakes can be found here.
• In the Secret Files, Olimar says he is on his third trip to PNF-404. Technically speaking, this is Olimar's fourth visit, as he visited the planet twice during the events of Pikmin 2; both before and after paying the debt.
• In the US version, the "Misc. 35" log entry cuts off after the text "I think I".
• The Slapstick Crescent is a banana. In real life, most modern-day bananas, primary Cavendish, are seedless and sterile, having been specially bred for human consumption; logically, collecting the fruit would serve no purpose for the Koppaite's mission, as they would be unable to extract any seeds from it. Despite this, the fruit is still a requirement for the all-fruits ending, implying that they somehow were able to extract viable seeds from it.
• After the ship takes off in the ending cutscene for Olimar's Comeback, the camera shows many Pikmin from above, standing on leaves. Two Blue Pikmin in this scene have purple buds, instead of white.

Written mistakes

• Until Pikmin 3, Louie was always known by that name. In that game, he is still given the name Louie, but when under attack by an enemy in Mission Mode, he refers to himself as "Louis". It is currently not known if Louis is his real name and Louie is a nickname, or if this is the result of a mistranslation or typo. The E and S keys are rather close to each other on a QWERTY keyboard, making it entirely possible that this is a mere typo.
• At a few times during the course of Pikmin 3, characters may say the expression "now I think of it", when referring to something they have realized. The most common and idiomatic expressions are actually "now that I think of it" and "come to think of it". Although "now I think of it" is non-idiomatic, it is grammatically correct, so whether this is an alternate, but valid wording, or actually a mistake is up for debate.
• One of Alph's voyage logs in the European version has him mention the Captain's sleeping nightmares. In it, he writes “the Captain cried out "Elizabeth!" several times while his was sleeping.” The "his" in the sentence should be a "he".
• In another of Alph's voyage log entries in the European version, he writes "in the stomach of a such a hideous monster.", with a redundant second "a".
• In yet another, in the European version, he says “With no other leads to the cosmic drive key, we have no choice other than to put our trust him.”, without the word "in" between "trust" and "him". Pikmin 3 Deluxe uses the US text in the European version.
• In the European version, one of the random small talk conversations has Charlie say "Well, crew, this it.", without the word "is".
• In some of the Secret Files, the S.S. Dolphin's name is written as such, but in others, it is written with the European Pikmin 3 spelling, "SS Dolphin".
• In the U.S. Pikmin 3 website notes, the Whiptongue Bulborb is said to be in the "bulborb family". It is most likely the site meant grub-dog family, the family that all other Bulborbs are confirmed to be in. Pikmin 3 Deluxe also confirms the family as the grub-dog family.

Pikmin 4

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin 4

General oversights

• On the 10th sublevel of the Cavern for a King, there is a Smoky Progg that carries a Wayward Moon. This Smoky Progg is explicitly shown hatching from its egg. Because of this, it's impossible for it to be carrying the Wayward Moon that it drops, since otherwise the Smoky Progg would have to somehow eat the watermelon while still in its egg, which doesn't make much sense. It is hard to say that this was done for gameplay reasons, since this logical issue could easily be resolved by placing the treasure behind the boss gate in the same sublevel instead.
• If the game's language is set to Portuguese, the footage used in the control guide's entry "How to Use Radar Map (3)" will contain some debugging displays, made using Dear ImGui, a popular development tool for such displays.
• If the player character is inside of some creatures when they are frozen, a display will appear telling the player they can mash to thrash and escape. This is only true for the Foolix, but will still appear for other enemies, despite the fact that doing that has no effect.
• When exiting the final sublevel of Dream Home, it is possible to see the shadow of the S.S. Beagle glitch and then disappear due to the low light angle casting long shadows.

Written mistakes

• Despite the Creeping Chrysanthemum's drastically different appearance from Pikmin 2, Olimar and Louie's Piklopedia notes remain unchanged in Pikmin 4, meaning that Olimar still states that the creature has no need for leaves despite it now possessing them, and that Louie still mentions its "sizeable bulb" which is now absent.
• Olimar's notes on the Cupid's Grenade were almost entirely unchanged from his notes in Pikmin 2 (the notes from all versions except the European Wii version), meaning they still appear to refer to Burgeoning Spiderworts, with the only modification to the notes being the removal of the mention of Louie wanting to bake them into a pie. Because of this, the plant is still stated to bear two different types of berries despite the absence of Ultra-Bitter Berries in Pikmin 4.
• Nelle states that Yorke's thirteenth younger brother is good with machines, like him. Due to how oddly specific this statement is, this is most likely referring to Alph. However, Alph would rank as Yorke's twelfth younger brother, but thirteenth younger sibling and thirteenth in descending age order out of all of the brothers, so that may be why the developers didn't detect this mistake.
• Schnauz's comments on the Memory Fragment (Left Edge) notes that he sees a face. While the puzzle piece does link up with a piece that depicts a dog's face in the full assembly, this part in particular doesn't actually show the face; only the right ear of the dog is visible, yet Schnauz still has the impression that there is a face present. It's unclear if his comments suggest that he is seeing a face when there isn't, or if he's implying that he recognizes the right ear from a space dog, but Schnauz noting that he can see "part of a smile" when there is none suggests the former.
• When talking to Chet after rescuing Ren, he may say the following: "Thanks to your saving Ren, I have access to delicious foods again.". The "your" in this sentence should be a "you".

Biological classification inconsistencies

• Oddly, despite the Smoky Progg (Magovum vaporus) being stated to be an offspring of Mamuta (Hortulanus asymmetria), they have completely different scientific names.
• Tusked Blowhog, in a similar situation to the Iridescent Glint Beetle, is in a different family than the Blowhogs, but has the same genus, Sus. This does not reflect real world taxonomy, because family is located above the genus on the classification tree, and as such every member of a genus must share the same family.

Hey! Pikmin

Glitches

See: Glitches in Hey! Pikmin

Biological classification inconsistencies

• In the English version of the Creature Log the Centipare belongs to the centipare family while its adult form, the Adult Centipare belongs in the centifly family. In the Japanese, Dutch, German, Korean, and Spanish versions, both belong to the same family.
• The Fiery Blowlet, described as the infant stage of the Fiery Blowhog, has the subspecies infanta, while the adult Fiery Blowhog doesn't even have one.
• The Fiery Young Yellow Wollywog has a few errors in its scientific name. Its species name is amphicarus, which has the same name as a genus in its family. Its subspecies name, frodendum, is also wrong, as it is identical to the Yellow Wollywog's species name.
• Every member of the breadbug family is in the Pansarus genus aside from the Fiery Dwarf Bulblax, which is under Oculus. However, Oculus is a genus belonging to the grub-dog family.

Aesthetic

• Pikmin with unique voices may use the standard Pikmin voice instead. e.g.: the Winged Pikmin's "landing" voice is the same as the Red Pikmin and Blue Pikmin's.
• Despite visibly taking less steps, when Olimar is walking into the wind in Bed of Fallen Leaves and Gale-Force Glen his footstep sounds play at their normal frequency.

Cross-game

Hocotate culture inconsistencies

The UV Lamp is a form of light bulb, even though Olimar claims that that technology is unknown to Hocotatians.

There are some inconsistencies regarding the kind of materials and objects Hocotatians have and do not have on their home planet. At the very least, these constitute as mysteries, given that it is not known how comparable the objects and elements in Hocotate are to their real world counterparts.

• According to Olimar's journal for Child of the Earth, Hocotatians do not know about potatoes. However, Louie's notes for the Emperor Bulblax suggest cooking the beast with potatoes and carrots.
• According to Olimar's description of the Stellar Orb, the technology used for a light bulb is "totally unknown" to the people of Hocotate. This description was exaggerated, given that Hocotatians are familiar to the likes of light bulbs, given the UV Lamp's existence.

Enemy note inconsistencies

The Burrowing Snagret is an enemy that has been described to be covered with scales in some cases, but blue feathers in others.

• Although several in-game sources claim the Burrowing Snagret's body is lined in scales, the enemy reel entry for the creature states that it is actually covered in feathers. This could be referring to the feathers on its head, if not for the fact that it addresses blue feathers specifically.
• In Pikmin 2, Olimar provides a detailed explanation on how the Fiery Blowhog blows fire. However, his notes for the creature in Hey! Pikmin imply that he discovered that with the S.S. Dolphin II, and during his trip to the planet in the game. The fact that Hey! Pikmin seems to take place after Pikmin 2 makes this an inconsistency.

Biological classification inconsistencies

Mandiblard inconsistencies

In Pikmin 2, all mandiblards in that game are told to be in the himeagea genus. However, the Shearblug, Speargrub, and Queen Shearwig introduced in Hey! Pikmin are in a species with the same name as the genus. A genus can't also be labeled as a species, since the same level of classification can't change depending on creature. So, it can be argued that those enemies's species and genus names were swapped accidentally, and all mandiblards should be under the himeagea genus.

The members of the wracknid family also have the genus name himeagea. This is impossible, as members of different families cannot share the same genus.

Spectralids inconsistencies

In Pikmin 2, all Spectralids (Yellow, Red or Purple) were referred to as one species: "Unmarked Spectralids". Scientifically, all were classified within the flitterbie family under Fenestari prismatus. With the release of Pikmin 3, Spectralids made a reappearance in three different colors (white, yellow, and red), all defined as different species by the lock-on display. This was further proven by the Piklopedia, which gives each their own species name. However, all were classified under the flutterbie family, one letter off from "flitterbie". The Yellow and White Spectralids also share the Fenestari genus, which is shared by all members of the flitterbie family. The Red Spectralids, however, have the Fenestrati genus, only two letters off from Fenestari. Adding even more confusion, Hey! Pikmin introduces the Electric Spectralid as part of the Floaterbie family. It also shares the Fenestari genus.

Along with this, the singular and plural forms of "Spectralids" seem confused as well. All Spectralids in Pikmin 2 are referred to in plural only, so their singular term is unknown. In Pikmin 3, all were called "Spectralids" even in singular, meaning "Spectralids" is both singular and plural. However, in Hey! Pikmin, Electric Spectralid is the singular term for the creature. Although White and Yellow Spectralids appear in Hey! Pikmin, they are not included within the creature logs, meaning it is impossible to cross-reference it with the Piklopedia.

Oxygen

Oxygen is known to be poisonous to Hocotatians. There are times, however, where Hocotatians are known to interact with oxygen gas with no adverse effects.

• On Louie's notes, he mentions several plants and vegetables on his cooking recipes, although most of these ingredients need to be cultivated with oxygen. It could, however, be the case that Louie is referring to using the treasures obtained on PNF-404 as the ingredients. It is also possible that he is referring to different plants with the same name, since Onions were named for a Hocotatian vegetable, and a treasure that is a real onion is named the Onion Replica.
• Koppaites are confirmed to be able to breathe oxygen, albeit less than is present in PNF-404's atmosphere. However, when Louie is tied up on the ship, he wears no helmet, despite the fact that the ship's cockpit would most likely have a higher amount of oxygen than Louie could possibly tolerate.

Hocotate Ship inconsistency

After the debt is repaid in Pikmin 2, the Hocotate Ship changes from a rusty red color to gold. Despite this, when the ship is seen in Pikmin 3, it is instead its original red color.

Non-canon mistakes

This article or section features debatable canonical information. The content here is yet to be confirmed to be canon, but features non-canonical aspects.

The following mistakes are directly related to the Pikmin franchise, but happen outside of the main Pikmin canon games. In addition to these mistakes, some of the Pikmin series' trophies in the Super Smash Bros. games also have other flaws that are not related to the Pikmin canon. A list of such mistakes can be found here for Brawl and here for Smash 4.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophies

• Captain Olimar's main trophy is about his appearance as a fighter, which is actually a dual trophy for Olimar and Pikmin. The description starts off by calling the duo of Olimar and the Pikmin force "veteran spacefarers". The Pikmin have never traveled through space, meaning this title should only be applied to Olimar.
• The trophy for the Red Bulborb omits Pikmin from the list of relevant games, hence incorrectly claiming that the creature debuted in Pikmin 2. In reality, the only part of the trophy's subject that did debut in Pikmin 2 is solely the name of the creature, "Red Bulborb"; this enemy was known as "Spotty Bulborb" in Pikmin.
• The Careening Dirigibug's trophy states that these enemies have a chance of dropping a dud bomb-rock. However, in the games, no bomb-rocks are ever duds, outside of a rare glitch. This statement could be mistakenly using outdated information where at one point in Pikmin 2's development, the creature could throw dud bomb rocks, or the text refers to the inactive bomb-rocks usually found near the creatures.
• The pellet trophy states that pellets can be "harvested from pellet grass and flowers". It is not elaborated what either of these two sources mean, either in Brawl or any Pikmin game, but it can only be assumed the flowers are actually the Pellet Posies. However, there are no grasses that can contain pellets in any Pikmin game. The only grasses that can provide anything similar are nectar weed, which contain raw nectar, not the crystallized pellets. The Japanese name for the Pellet Posies, ペレット草^? does translate to "Pellet Grass", but the fact that there's a distinction between the "flowers" and the "grass" indicates it is a mistake nonetheless.
• The Burrowing Snagret's trophy points out that nobody ever saw its tail. However, Olimar's notes on the creature finish with a statement in which Olimar compares the Burrowing Snagret and the Burrowing Snarrow's tails and wing markings, implying Olimar has seen it. To confuse things further, if the boss is killed in Pikmin 3 it pops out of the ground, and it can be seen there that it doesn't even have a tail or wings in the first place, having a foot instead.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U trophies

• The End of Day trophy on the European version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U states that Olimar jumps aboard the S.S. Dolphin. In reality, the spaceship Olimar uses in his Final Smash is the Hocotate ship.
• The Blue Pikmin trophy states that they do more damage when thrown (via Pikmin Throw) which is untrue.
• The Hocotate Bomb is an explosive miniature item shaped like the Hocotate ship. Its trophy description states that it appears in Pikmin and Pikmin 2. Not only does the item itself not appear in any canon Pikmin game, the Hocotate ship also makes its debut in Pikmin 2, being absent from Pikmin altogether.
• The trophy for the Iridescent Flint Beetle in the European version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U advises players to flip the creature onto its back with a Purple Pikmin, and then sending other Pikmin to strike. Although using Purple Pikmin is a good strategy due to their homing properties, the creature will not stay on its back, nor will charging at it with other Pikmin be beneficial. The trophy's tactic is valid for the Anode Beetle, however.
• The Burrowing Snagret's trophy in either region of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U omits Pikmin 2 from the list of games, instead listing Pikmin and Pikmin 3. Although this does not make the list incorrect, it is likely an oversight, given that other subjects that appear in all three games list Pikmin and Pikmin 2 (the first appearances, omitting Pikmin 3 as a result), in addition to the fact that this enemy is more common in Pikmin 2 than in Pikmin 3.
• Again on the Burrowing Snagret's trophy, the description on the US region of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U claims that it belongs to the "avian" family. In reality, the creature belongs to the snavian family.
• The Plasm Wraith's trophy shows a battle on muddy, damp terrain, with some puddles. This is not the terrain used in the Pikmin 3 fight with the boss, but rather the Quaggled Mireclops's fight, where the terrain plays a big role. The Quaggled Mireclops's trophy doesn't have any terrain whatsoever.

Other

• In Pikmin Adventure, the enemy Bladed Beeb has a naming inconsistency. In the actual game cutscene, it is labeled "Bladed Beeb", but when the player taps the prize for its information, it is called a Greater Bladed Beeb. Interestingly, a similar species in the same family is spelled with "greater" in game; the Greater Studded Beeb. Because of this confusion, it is unknown which name is correct.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is a sticker based on the Pellet Posy, featuring a red-pellet Pellet Posy. However, its name is "Red Pellet Flower", tying in with a previously noted partial mistake in the pellet trophy (see the Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophies section above).

See also

• Unused content
• Easter eggs