Waterwraith

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

The Waterwraith, writes Olimar, "may be the ectoplasmic incarnation of a kind of psychic phenomenon". It is found only in the Submerged Castle (all sublevels), and in the Bully Den in 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. The following is a sample.

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

Strategy

In the Piklopedia.

When encountered, the beast falls from the sky. This will give two falling noises followed by two explosion-like sounds and then a noise like a scream underwater. Be careful when you hear this. After that, the Waterwraith will move 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 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 they're thrown (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 last sublevel (5) via the Violet Candypop Buds.

In the Bully Den, you will already have 25 purples, but no other type 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 is in the last Sublevel, normal boss music plays and when it has no rollers, a different kind of the normal boss music plays, which has a more positive/silly mood.

Notes

Ship's dialogs

“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 to take on physical form... But in its current state... Krzzzt-zrrrk!

Danger! Danger! Danger!”

Olimar's notes

“All that is known about this creature stems from a few sightings deep underground. All reported sightings feature the same core set of details: a giant, viscous form with a clear, hazy sheen not unlike hard candy. One theory holds that it may be the ectoplasmic incarnation of a kind of psychic phenomenon, but as is usually the case with such theories, it is very difficult to prove. All witnesses report being suddenly overcome with fear upon sighting the creature, approaching a state of panic and near insanity. In fact, every report contains an inordinate amount of extremely vague details, which has led to suspicions that exhaustion and fear have caused some simple natural phenomenon to be viewed as a living creature.”

Louie's notes

“Inedible. Known to cause mass hysteria, followed by leg spasms and internal thunderings.”

Glitches

The Waterwraith while sitting on petrified rollers.

The Waterwraith is the cause of a few glitches in Pikmin 2. It's possible to petrify its rollers, by petrifying the creature on the Piklopedia just as its archive is opened, and by petrifying different portions of its body at different times. It's also possible to have it slide instead of walking, should the leaders be switched back and forth while far apart. If the player is hidden on one of the pipes on level 4 of the Submerged Castle, it can get stuck; it can also get stuck at random while turning against sharp corners.

Trivia

• The Waterwraith is similar to the Goolix, as both enemies are watery in appearance and can only be defeated by a certain type of Pikmin.
• The Latin name in this boss's Piklopedia entry translates into "Water Man".
• The French name in this boss's entry translates into "Water Specter".
• This is the only boss to have two life meters.
• From sublevel 1 to 4, it might be best to do the Frontier Cavern first, because there you can get the Repugnant Appendage. That will make you walk faster, and you can go hide easily. Having Bulbmin in your team might be a bit better, because those will not be able to leave the cave, and can be crushed without any decrease of Pikmin. Also, going to the Subterranean Complex to get the Stellar Orb is helpful, because the Stellar Orb lights up the area. It is very helpful to be able to see farther, since the Waterwraith can easily sneak up on you.
• In the game's files, the Waterwraith's model contains a dummy texture, that reads "fb dum". This is the texture applied to the model before the shaders are applied:

This article was a featured article from 24th March 2010 to 23rd September 2010.