Decorated Cannon Beetle

Decorated Cannon Beetle
Appears in	Pikmin 2
Scientific name	Granitus decorum
Family	Lithopod
Areas	Valley of Repose, Wistful Wild
Caves	Frontier Cavern, Hole of Heroes
Challenge Mode stages	Brawny Abyss, Sniper Room
2-Player Battle stages	Brawl Yard
Attacks	Launches magnetic boulders

Decorated Cannon Beetles (ミヤビフタクチ^?, lit.: "Elegant Top-Mouth") are enemies in Pikmin 2. They have an appearance similar to Armored Cannon Beetle Larvae, but are red instead of green, and have orange eyes. Also, this particular species is never found buried in the ground like Armored Cannon Beetle Larvae. They, too, spit out stones, but their rocks home in on the currently active leader due to the magnetic field which envelops the boulders. However, the stones have odd characteristics. First of all, when they are found in caves which are made of metal (which is rusty, indicating it contains iron), the spacesuits are the only thing the boulders home in on. The rocks are also surprisingly frail, in that one can be destroyed by throwing a Purple Pikmin.

Stats

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health	Regen.
7	15	8	× 4	850	2.55 HP/s

Notes

Olimar's notes

“This creature is the larval form of a cannon beetle variant known for a diet consisting entirely of eating stones. The decorated cannon beetle favors stones with high iron content, which contributes to its brilliant red torso. The stones these creatures launch are wrapped in a powerful magnetic field which causes the stones to stray from their launch trajectory when other objects with high metal content, such as space suits, are nearby. Extreme caution is recommended for explorers wearing steel-plated armor in close proximity to this fearsome creature.”

Louie's notes

“Slice the meat into tender cutlets and vigorously apply a lime and pepper rub. Panfry until lightly crusted. Accompany with watercress and drizzle with freshly prepared tamarind sauce.”

Behavior

Much like the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva, Decorated Cannon Beetles will wander aimlessly in a small area while left alone. Unlike their green counterparts, they will never be found buried in the ground. When approached, the larva will spit a large rock that crushes Pikmin, killing them instantly. These boulders move slowly compared to those shot by the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva, but they home in on nearby leaders. The rocks can be destroyed if they are lead into a wall, another enemy, and the impact of a purple Pikmin is even enough to break one. If the rock collides with another creature, it will deal a large amount of damage to them, enough to kill most small enemies. Certain creatures, however, are protected from the damage, such as Anode Beetles.

When attacked, the Decorated Cannon Beetle has only one defense: a bucking motion that will send all attacking Pikmin flying out in front of it, briefly incapacitating them and possibly deflowering them, and knock any nearby leader to the ground. This is very similar to defensive attack of the Fiery and Watery Blowhogs.

Strategy

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

The best way to defeat a Beetle is to use its own boulders against itself: since the rocks follow the leader, they can be manipulated into hitting the same Beetle that shot them. However, it is impossible to get a rock out of most lower water-filled areas. As a note, the rocks it shoots cannot be petrified, but they will not hurt the leader if he lies down. The boulders also act quite well against other enemies as well, killing small ones instantly and larger ones in one or two hits. Damage is determined by the speed of the stone and where the enemy is hit: hitting an enemy in the head will do more damage. If there is not enough room to do this, you should resort to using purple Pikmin to stun and quickly defeat the creature. Take a small group with you to avoid large amounts of death from the boulders. If the creature does get a chance to spit a rock, guide your Pikmin such that they are always on the opposite side of the leader that the boulder is approaching from, and lure it towards a nearby wall.

Technical information

For information on the rocks it spits, see Armored Cannon Larva technical information.

Pikmin 2 technical information (?)
Internal name			rkabuto
Global properties (List)
ID	Japanese comment	Property	Value
s000	friction(not used)	Friction	0.5
s001	wallReflection	Unknown (wall bounce speed multiplier?)	0.5
s002	faceDirAdjust	Unknown	0.25
s003	accel	Acceleration	0.2
s004	bounceFactor	Unknown (bounce when it hits the ground?)	0.3
fp00	ライフ	HP	850
fp01	マップとの当り	Unknown (related to slopes)	45
fp02	ダメージスケールXZ	Horizontal damage scale	0.35
fp03	ダメージスケールY	Vertical damage scale	0.25
fp04	ダメージフレーム	Damage scale duration	0.35
fp05	質量	Unknown (weight?)	0.0001
fp06	速度	Move speed	60
fp08	回転速度率	Rotation acceleration	0.05
fp09	テリトリー	Territory radius	150
fp10	ホーム範囲	"Home" radius	30
fp11	プライベート距離	"Private" radius	75
fp12	視界距離	Sight radius	350
fp13	視界角度	FOV	90
fp14	探索距離	Unknown (exploration radius?)	0
fp15	探索角度	Unknown (exploration angle?)	0
fp16	振り払い率	Successful shake rate	1
fp17	振り払い力	Shake knockback	400
fp18	振り払いダメージ	Shake damage	1
fp19	振り払い範囲	Shake range	45
fp20	攻撃可能範囲	Unknown (shock attack max range?)	180
fp21	攻撃可能角度	Unknown (shock attack max angle?)	0
fp22	攻撃ヒット範囲	Unknown (attack hit range?)	25
fp23	攻撃ヒット角度	Unknown (attack hit angle?)	0
fp24	攻撃力	Attack damage	10
fp25	視界高	Unknown (height visibility?)	100
fp26	探索高	Unknown (exploration height?)	0
fp27	ライフの高さ	HP wheel height	50
fp28	回転最大速度	Rotation speed	5
fp29	警戒時間	Unknown (warning time?)	15
fp30	警戒ライフ	Unknown	100
fp31	ライフ回復率	Regeneration rate	0.0001
fp32	LOD半径	Off-camera radius	45
fp33	マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定	Collision processing radius	40
fp34	ピクミンとのあたり	Pikmin damage radius	15
fp35	石化時間	Petrification duration	1
fp36	ヒップドロップダメージ	Purple Pikmin drop damage	50
fp37	地震気絶確立	Purple Pikmin stun chance	0.3 (30%)
fp38	地震気絶時間	Purple Pikmin stun time	5
ip01	振り払い打撃Ａ	Shake mode 1 – hit count	3
ip02	振り払い張付１	Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement	2
ip03	振り払い打撃Ｂ	Shake mode 2 – hit count	3
ip04	振り払い張付２	Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement	5
ip05	振り払い打撃Ｃ	Shake mode 3 – hit count	3
ip06	振り払い張付３	Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement	10
ip07	振り払い打撃Ｄ	Shake mode 4 – hit count	3
Specific properties
None

Other information

• Size: Body length: 100mm, as per the e-card
• Pikmin 2 Piklopedia number: #16

Naming

See more: Lithopod family#Naming.

This creature's name differs from the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva's with the word "Decorated", which refers to its shiny red body. For reasons unknown, the word "Larva" is absent from its name when compared to the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva, despite it being a cannon beetle larva as well (although the word "Beetle" was dropped for Pikmin 3). In Japan, the enemy is called ミヤビフタクチ^?, which translates to "Elegant Top-Mouth", similar to the Armored Cannon Beetle's Japanese name. Its scientific name is Granitus decorum; Granitus is the genus name for the lithopod family, decorum is Latin for "decorated". Internally, this enemy is called rkabuto, which is the same as the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva's name, but starting with "r", for "red".

In the GameCube Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disc Version 18, this beast's scientific name gains chukkulinae as the species name, and the usual decorum name is moved to subspecies, making its early scientific name Granitus chukkulinae decorum.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ミヤビフタクチ? Miyabi Futa Kuchi	Elegant Top-Mouth
French	Scaracanon Paré	Decorated Cannon Beetle
Italian	Scarabeino corazzato ornato	Armored Adorned Cannon Beetle

Gallery

• 

  A Decorated Cannon Beetle in the Piklopedia.

• 

  A Decorated Cannon Beetle spitting out a rock.

• 

  A Decorated Cannon Beetle petrified.

• 

  A Decorated Cannon Beetle shaking itself.

• 

  A Decorated Cannon Beetle's corpse.

• R5.JPG

  The creature's e-card, #66 (5^th red card).

Trivia

• On the Piklopedia, this enemy cannot be destroyed with its own projectile. If pikpik carrots are thrown such that the Beetle's rock chases after them, curves, and hits its launcher, it will break without damaging the beast.
• In the end of day sequence at the Valley of Repose, a Decorated Cannon Beetle often appears. Sometimes it will shoot rocks (which occasionally strike and injure/kill other enemies), inhale, and walk much faster than normal.
• If the game is paused just as the creature makes its first dying sound, some strange noises will be heard, that get lower and lower, lasting for more than 10 seconds. This sound is the same death sound as the Ravenous Whiskerpillar's, but slowed down and normally cut off early. The same will happen with an Armored Cannon Beetle Larva.
• The Decorated Cannon Beetle's boulders act much like the red shells from the Mario Kart series, in that both home in on targets. In addition, both the creature and shells share the same red coloration. This same similarity applies to the Armored Cannon Beetle Larva and green shells.

See also

• Lithopod
• Armored Cannon Larva