Day

To do: This article has a lot of fuzzy numbers. Use exact times. Care to do so?

The Pikmin games take place over the course of several days. Dangerous creatures roam at nighttime, so exploration on the Pikmin planet only happens during the daytime, from 7 AM to 7 PM. The number of days spent on the planet is also important in some games: in Pikmin, Captain Olimar has 30 days before his life-support systems fail and he's stranded on the planet permanently, and in Pikmin 3 the number of days left is determined by how many bottles of fruit juice are left. Pikmin 2 has no day limit, and in New Play Control! Pikmin and Pikmin 3, the player is given the ability to go back in time and retry from a certain day of their adventure. A common challenge run in the Pikmin games is to complete the game taking the least amount of days possible.

The Sun Meter at the top of the HUD indicates the amount of daylight left, so effectively, the time the player has left on the current day. A number on the top right corner indicates the current day. A Pikmin game day lasts around 13 to 16 real-life minutes, varying slightly per game. In Pikmin's Challenge Mode though, every area has its own duration. As the day goes by, the lighting on the area changes much like it does on Earth, but enemy behavior and area layout remains constant all throughout.

Any important objects that are moved from their original spot will remain in the new spot on any following day. When a smaller enemy is killed, it respawns in its original place on the very next day. This is not true for larger enemies like Red Bulborbs, which take more days to respawn. Some enemies only appear in certain days. Some of the most notable enemies with this characteristic are the Smoky Progg, which disappears after day 14, the Ujadani, that only appear every 30 days, and the Goolix and Mamuta on The Impact Site, that appear in alternating days. For a list of all enemies that appear in exclusive days, please read the list of enemies on the corresponding area article.

Sunset

The Sun Meter in each Pikmin game.

When the sunset arrives, all leaders and Pikmin must stop what they are doing, retreat into the Onions and ship, and spend the night in low-orbit, due to the fact that many predators become active at night.

Phases

Countdown

Some minutes before the sun is down, a message will appear on-screen warning the player that they need to gather their Pikmin. During this time, the music changes to a calmer remix. After some seconds (around 42 in Pikmin, around 32 in Pikmin 2) a countdown from 10 takes place. The time interval between two digits is around 3 seconds in the first two games, totaling for around 36 seconds in Pikmin, and around 30 seconds in Pikmin 2, until the countdown reaches 0. Interestingly, in Pikmin, after the counter reaches 4, the player is no longer able to interact with the S.S. Dolphin.

In Pikmin 3, the warning instead comes two circles from sunset on the Meter. A large circle appears around the landing site and any stray Onions, delimiting the safe areas. There is a small counter that will go near the top of the screen, alerting the player of the number of idle Pikmin. On the KopPad, what types of Pikmin that are idle are displayed near the top of the map, along with how many. Pikmin icons will also appear larger on the radar, and the icons of those that are in risk of being left behind will also appear flashing on the KopPad.

Gathering

When the countdown finishes, two cinematic sequences take place. The first scene starts with all conscious leaders and safe Pikmin walking up to the landing site. Safe Pikmin are all of those that are in any leader's party or those that are in the safe zones. The main leader then dismisses and orders every Pikmin to get on their Onions or ship. Any Pikmin that is near an Onion, but away from the landing site will still climb to their Onion, despite not being shown. Any Pikmin that are buried will remain buried in the same spot, and can be plucked on another day. After everyone is apparently gathered, the leader(s) climb on board of the ship.

During this cinematic, a song plays that's a bit different between games. In Pikmin, it's a bit slow, and has a part that repeats twice. The cutscene is also notably long. In Pikmin 2, there are 4 songs that can play during this cinematic:

• If the player obtained no treasure, a simple and quiet remix of the main "end of day" theme plays.
• If the player has obtained some funds, the regular song takes place.
• A third, more upbeat version of the song will play when the player has collected 50 or 90% of the debt.
• The final theme plays when both leaders are down or a Pikmin extinction occurs. It's a sad and lower-beat version of the main "end of day" theme.

Lift off

The S.S. Drake and the Onion lifting off in Pikmin 3.

The second cinematic shows the ship preparing for lift off, while wild creatures draw near. If any Pikmin were left behind, they'll be shown running towards the ship in an attempt to be saved. However, it is too late, and the wandering enemies will quickly dispose of them. The ship then takes off, and the stats for that day are shown. This is when the player may save the game, and read Olimar's voyage log, mail, or the Koppaites' voyage log. The following is a list of enemies that appear in each area in Pikmin and Pikmin 3, given that in Pikmin 2, the game picks randomly from the enemies that can appear in the area, with more Pikmin left behind resulting in more enemies:

• The Impact Site: Red Bulborbs.
• The Forest of Hope: Red Bulborbs.
• The Forest Navel: Wollywogs.
• The Distant Spring: Shearwigs.
• The Final Trial: Red Bulborbs.

• Tropical Wilds: Whiptongue Bulborb.
• Garden of Hope: Red Bulborb.
• Distant Tundra: Spotty Bulbear.
• Twilight River: Orange Bulborb.
• Formidable Oak: Red Bulborb.

In the Super Smash Bros. series

This article or section is a short summary on the Final Smash. SmashWiki features more in-depth content.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, Olimar's Final Smash is called End of Day. It shows Olimar jumping into his ship then rocketing off into space as night approaches. The stage below becomes infested with mature Bulborbs that deal heavy damage to foes; following this, the ship crashes and explodes, hurting all nearby enemies. Strangely, Pikmin will be left behind and are immune to the predators, but not to other players.

Brawl trophy

File:EndofDayTrophy.jpg	Description: “Olimar's Final Smash. Dusk falls, and his spaceship makes a landing. Olimar takes the Onion, with all his Pikmin aboard, and blasts off for the stars. In Pikmin, native life-forms grew active and violent at night, making it lethal to remain on the surface—this is why Olimar would take his Onions and leave at night. This technique breaks the framework of the game. Super Smash Bros. Brawl”
How to obtain: Complete All-Star mode with Olimar.		Type: Final Smash

Smash 4 trophy

This trophy is only available in the Wii U version.

File:EndofDayTrophySSBU.jpeg	US description: “On the planet Olimar is investigating, the native creatures become extra violent at night, forcing him to retreat to orbit every evening. His Final Smash works the same way: night falls and Olimar takes to the sky, leaving his foes to the mercy of the wildlife below. Olimar returns when dawn breaks and you can adjust his less-than-safe landing!”
	EU description: “On the planet of the Pikmin, the native creatures get quite violent come nightfall, so Olimar retreats to orbit every evening. That's how his Final Smash works, too: Olimar takes off in his trusty Dolphin[sic], then in come the beasties to take care of the other fighters. When Olimar returns, make sure he touches down, er...safely!”
How to obtain: Complete All-Star mode with Olimar or Alph.		Type: Final Smash	Trophy Box: 92. Final Smashes 3

Precipitation

In Pikmin 3, almost all days will have a random chance of rain, or in the case of the Distant Tundra, snow. This change only has aesthetic impacts:

• Rain drops and snowflakes fall from the sky, naturally.
• Rainy days are darker (but not snowy days).
• The area's music is replaced with a moody theme.
• Wet surfaces and creatures are considerably shinier.

The weather change is randomly picked when the area is loading, meaning that if the day is restarted from the pause menu, it could load with a different weather condition.

Some days will be forced to have a specific weather.

• The first day will always be sunny.
• The first time Alph and Brittany land on the Distant Tundra, it will always be snowing
• On the days when the Quaggled Mireclops or the Plasm Wraith are ready to be fought, the weather is forcefully rainy. This helps set the mood and, for the Mireclop's case, helps justify the creation of puddles on its swampy arena. Even if the boss is fought on a sunny day, the battle will happen in exactly the same way, however.

Daylight

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3. Particularly: Make a Pikmin 3 animation and confirm the Pikmin 3 claims.

As time goes by, the daylight changes much as it would on Earth, with the area being slightly foggy during the morning, the most lit during the middle of the day, and darker near the night.

In Pikmin, the shadows under Pikmin and Olimar point to different directions as the day goes by. At the start of the day, they point to the southwest, at midday, to the south, and near the end, to the southeast. This is similar to sun-cast shadows on planet Earth, given that the sun rises on the east (and hence, the shadows are cast to the west), and sets on the west.

In the first game, in order to avoid rendering too many shadows at once and slowing the game down, Pikmin shadows are completely omitted if there are 51 or more Pikmin on the field. In Pikmin 2, this limit does not exist, but shadows do not change direction as the day progresses, and are cast directly under the leader or Pikmin. In Pikmin 3, all objects cast shadows, but shadows mainly remain directly below objects to more easily judge location and depth; they only elongate very near sunset.

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  Animation demonstrating the daylight as a day goes by, in Pikmin.

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  Same as the previous animation, but for Pikmin 2.

Gallery

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  The sunset in Pikmin 2.

Trivia

• The sunset cutscenes cannot be skipped in the US version of Pikmin, but they can in the European version.
• In the Wistful Wild at sunset, a Gatling Groink can shoot at and damage the leaders. They cannot be knocked down with this method, whoever.
• The European trophy description in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U incorrectly claims that Olimar uses the S.S. Dolphin during his Final Smash, when in reality, it is the Hocotate ship.
• In Pikmin 2, there is a small delay before the day time continues, when unpausing the game. By repeatedly pausing and unpausing, one can gain a slight bit of time.

See also

• Hazards
• Area