Louie

Template:Infobox leader Louie first appears in Pikmin 2 and serves as a partner to Captain 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.

Biography

Olimar's return

Louie's first mission for Hocotate Freight was transporting a shipment of valuable Golden Pikpik Carrots. He was supposedly attacked by a ravenous space bunny and the carrots were lost. The President of Hocotate Freight took out a giant loan to cover the losses of the carrots, and had no way to repay the loan other than sell off company assets. The only one was the S.S. Dolphin; it was immediately claimed on Olimar's return to Hocotate. Learning that the Dolphin was sold to cover the debt, Olimar was so shocked he dropped a souvenir for his son. As the bottle cap rolled past Louie, an old ship commonly called The Ship was able to use its Research Pod to suck up the rusty bottle cap. The Pod proclaimed the piece of salvage to be worth 100 Pokos, which lowered the debt to 10,000 Pokos. The President instructed Olimar and Louie to head back to the Planet of the Pikmin to search for treasure and save the company.

Paying off Hocotate Freight's debt

As Olimar and Louie head to the Valley of Repose at the start of Pikmin 2, Louie falls out of the cockpit, leaving Olimar alone. After making contact with the ship, Louie sets off to return to Olimar at the landing area. On the way he discovers the Red Onion and cultivates some Pikmin sprouts, just as Olimar had done when he was stranded in the first game. The player can reach Olimar by the use of the loyal Red Pikmin, then proceed to find the Courage Reactor, the first treasure of the game, effectively starting the adventure.

File:Research Pod.jpg

The Research Pod after having paid the debt.

The debt is eventually payed off throughout the game, treasures being found in the Awakening Wood and Perplexing Pool as well as that first area. After collecting 10,000 Pokos' worth of treasure, Olimar blasts off from the planet, noticing too late that Louie is left behind. Upon returning to the planet after the cutscene that follows, it can be seen that the treasure recovered has been used to plate the ship in gold, and outfit the President in similarly expensive gear.

The Titan Dweevil

File:Kingofbugs.jpg

Louie as he appears on top of the hoard of treasure, motionless.

After Olimar and Louie get the entire 10,000 Pokos worth of treasure, Olimar returns to Hocotate, only to find that Louie is missing. Olimar and the President of Hocotate Freight return to the planet to find him. Louie aimlessly wanders around the planet for a bit, as seen in the credit roll of the game. Olimar and the President later find him hidden deep in the Dream Den with the Titan Dweevil. They rescue him and send him to the ship's treasure hoard (since the ship used for travel is already full) calling him the King of Bugs.

It is of constant debate whether Louie was a captive of the Titan Dweevil, or in actuality controlling him. E-mails the player receives from Louie's grandmother reflect that Louie was made to play with bugs by his grandmother as a child, so he has a great deal of experience with them, therefore it is possible he had the ability to control the Titan Dweevil.

Louie's secret

Louie 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. Template:Endspoiler

Traits and abilities

• As a young boy Louie's grandmother encouraged him to eat bugs. Because of this, he is able to survive eating the creatures of the Pikmin planet.
• He also has a love of fine cuisine which drives him to create gourmet recipes for beasts on the Pikmin planet.

Behind the scenes

• Louie's name is similar to Luigi's name.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which Captain Olimar is a character, Louie appears as a trophy. His trophy reads: A new Hocotate Freight employee. Louie is responsible for Captain Olimar having to venture back to the Pikmin planet. On his first delivery, Louie was supposedly attacked by a space bunny that devoured his whole lot of pikpik carrots. Pushed to the verge of bankruptcy, Hocotate Freight takes out an enormous loan that Louie and Olimar set out to pay back.
• Also in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of Olimar's alternate costumes looks like Louie.

See also

• King of Bugs
• Louie's notes