Leader

The Pikmin Captains are the characters of whom the player has control. In the first game, there is only Olimar, an employee of Hocotate Freight who crash-landed on the planet. In Pikmin 2, Louie is added as a second character, also controlled by the player; it is possible to switch between the two playable Captains by pressing the (Y) button.

The captain is followed by Pikmin he has called out of the Onion or plucked, and by lone Pikmin he touches or whistles at. The Captain can throw Pikmin for various purposes, or attack monsters themself when they have no Pikmin.

Olimar

Captain Olimar, commonly called Olimar, is the main character of the Pikmin series. He was the one who discovered the Planet of the Pikmin. He works at Hocotate Freight and has many interests. He was also the former captain of his personal ship, the S.S. Dolphin. He has a family (wife, son, and daughter) on Hocotate.

Louie

Louie first appears in Pikmin 2 and serves as a partner to Olimar, commanding Pikmin as his sidekick. He is relatively new to the shipping business and has a ravenous appetite. He was raised by his grandmother who made him play with bugs and eat them.

After gaining 10.000 Pokos, Louie is replaced with the President. This is due to the fact that he falls out of the ship while Olimar flies back to Hocotate. Why, however, is never stated. It is unlikely that he jumped out on purpose, as he is in a rather shocked and freightened state (noticeable in the credits cutscene).

While he wanders around the Pikmin planet, he comes in contact with a colossal Titan Dweevil. Whatever his intents are with the creature, he is seen sitting on top of it. It is questionable that he is controllingg it, as there is are few reasons why he should attack the aiding Pikmin and the other captains, who don't seem to show any hatred and such to Louie.

Also, he is actually the one responsible for the debt Hocotate Freight suffers, not a "ravenous space bunny" as he lead the President to believe at the start; it was truly he who ate the load of Golden Pikpik Carrots. This is revealed in a cutscene unlocked by getting a pink flower for all 30 of the Challenge mode levels.

President

The President is the owner of Hocotate Freight, and is featured in Pikmin 2. He is called 'Shacho' in the Japanese version (which is Japanese for President) and is often called by that name because he says it when you switch to his character (although it's commonly mistaken as 'Schyaco', 'Syecho', etc.).

He runs into financial trouble after Louie ate the before mentioned Pikpik carrots. The President took out a large loan to reimburse the loss of the carrots, and has no way of repaying the enormous debt. He sold off the only company asset, the S.S. Dolphin, in Olimar's absence, but it only made a small dent in the enormous loan, as 10,100 Pokos are still owed. This, occurring after the events of Pikmin, shockes Captain Olimar who just returned to Hocotate. He is so surprised, in fact, by the news, that he drops a souvenir that he brought back from his "vacation" for his son. The souvenir, a bottle cap, (worth 100 Pokos), is collected by the ship, which then evaluates the item as a treasure, reducing the debt to an even 10,000.

The President will be the main source of mail in Pikmin 2 before you erase the debt, his news getting worse as he finds out that the loan agent he actually came to was the All-Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks, as opposed to Happy Hocotate Savings and Loan, and goes into hiding.

This article is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.