Rock Pikmin

Rock Pikmin
Resistance	Brute force (i.e. crushing or impaling)
Attack strength	Strong (damage values depend, see here)
Mobility	Average
Throw	Average
Digging speed	Fast (~2.0× the norm)
Carrying capacity	1

Rock Pikmin (岩ピクミン^?) are a species of Pikmin featured in Pikmin 3. They resemble small polished rocks with Pikmin eyes, limbs, and, just like the Winged Pikmin, have lavender flowers. The main part of their body seems to be a gray texture of graphite that reflects light, while the "skin" on their arms and legs appears to be smooth and gray. When Rock Pikmin are dismissed, their sprouts glow gray. Their ghosts are also shaped like small gray rocks with eyes. Just like all other types of Pikmin in Pikmin 3, Rock Pikmin have an Onion, which later in the story merges with the Master Onion, and are reproduced through collecting nutrients from pellets and corpses. Rock Pikmin are the second type of Pikmin Alph discovers in Pikmin 3, the first being Red Pikmin, and can be found in all of the game's modes.

Traits and abilities

File:Ss (2013-05-18 at 05.51.05).jpg

The Rock Pikmin showing their resistance to crushing.

Rock Pikmin, like most Pikmin types, are immune to a specific hazard. These Pikmin, in particular, are immune to blunt force; when crushed by a large object, they are simply driven into the ground and become temporarily and partially buried. When a creature with a sharp proboscis tries to impale them, they are simply knocked back without taking damage.

Rock Pikmin have very hard exteriors, which allows them to smash through glass, crystals, and even the armor of larger animals (like the Armored Mawdad and the Peckish Aristocrab's claw). However, they do not sink in water, and are thrown just as far as most Pikmin types, revealing that they do not weigh much. The damage caused by a thrown Rock Pikmin depends on the creature, but in general, stronger enemies take more hits to bring down, and some smaller creatures, like Dwarf Red Bulborbs or Skutterchucks can be dispatched with a single Rock Pikmin throw.

Despite their increased strength, they do have a setback: Rock Pikmin cannot latch onto their targets like other Pikmin and will instead bounce off and roll back. If left unoccupied, they will repeatedly attack enemies and obstacles by charging head-on into them, doing significantly less damage per time than other Pikmin types: after hitting something, they roll back and stay lying down for a bit before rushing again, making their rate of attack atrocious. On top of that, they only cause 20 points of damage, which is quite weak for how often they attack. For some reason, when Rock Pikmin are told to charge, they cause even less damage when they lunge, serving only 10 points of damage. Although, after they get up from a charge, and are left to lunge by themselves again, they will cause 20 damage, like a normal lunge.

As such, the best way to attack with Rock Pikmin is to have leaders throw them, which causes more damage than a regular lunge, and to whistle them to get up from lying down faster. That said, if they are thrown at the root of a Burgeoning Spiderwort and not directly on its berries, are told to attack the Shaggy Long Legs's hair, or are attacking another Pikmin in Bingo Battle, they will cling on like the other Pikmin types, and they won't lunge (they will lunge when attacking a leader in Bingo Battle, though).

Discovery

File:CrystalOnion.png

The gray Onion encased in crystal.

The Rock Pikmin are discovered in the Garden of Hope, the second area in Pikmin 3. They are found in a cave located north of the landing site. Residing in this cave is a Medusal Slurker that contains 6 Rock Pikmin. After defeating it, the player can use the newly-discovered Pikmin species to free the gray Onion from a large crystal. After propagating some more Rock Pikmin, they can be used to break down the crystal wall outside of the cave and free Brittany. At the end of the day, the gray Onion will merge with the red Onion. Interestingly, a few of the Rock Pikmin inside the Slurker will have a bud on top of their stem while others will have the usual leaf.

Mandatory uses

In order to progress further into the game, at least one Rock Pikmin is mandatory to have in the player's party, so the following tasks can be completed:

• Fruits
  •  Searing Acidshock (Garden of Hope): One of the two in the area is inside of a crystal.
• Enemies
  •  Quaggled Mireclops: The crystal on the head must be destroyed to finish the first phase of the battle.
• Other
  • Rock Pikmin Onion: As stated above, their Onion is encased in a crystal that needs to be destroyed in order to release it.

Recommended uses

Rock Pikmin are recommended for the following tasks, but are not mandatory.

• Fruits
  •  Fire-Breathing Feast: This piece of fruit is located inside the Armored Mawdad. Although leaders can defeat the creature by punching it (even with its armor), using Rock Pikmin is much faster.
  •  Disguised Delicacy (Distant Tundra): This fruit is encased in a crystal. It is possible to destroy the crystal with bomb rocks.
  •  Zest Bomb (Distant Tundra): Ditto.
  •  Dapper Blob (Twilight River): Ditto.
  •  Blonde Impostor: Ditto.
• Enemies
  •  Armored Mawdad: Rock Pikmin are needed to destroy the crystal armor, but the creature can be defeated if leaders punch it.
  •  Calcified Crushblat: Although the creature is covered in crystal, a bomb rock can destroy it. On top of that, Winged Pikmin can charge at its feet, removing the need to take out the crystal.
  •  Peckish Aristocrab: The claw can be destroyed to make it unable to eat Pikmin, but this is not necessary.
  •  Plasm Wraith: The crystal Elemental Plasms it releases can be destroyed by Rock Pikmin, but destroying them is not needed to win the fight.
  •  Skutterchuck: The crystal nodules it uses to attack can be destroyed to make the enemy more harmless.
  •  Shaggy Long Legs: Rock Pikmin are extremely helpful in this fight as they are immune to being crushed and they can climb up the Shaggy Long Legs.

Technical information

Rock Pikmin will deal a different amount of damage to objects, depending on what kind of attack they performed:

• They deal 20 damage when lunging by themselves.
• They cause 10 damage on a charge's first attack.
• The thrown damage depends on the enemy (refer to the "Technical information" sections for more information).

Interestingly enough, when charging towards a gate, a Rock Pikmin will deal the same amount of damage as when thrown.

Notes

Mission Mode tip

“Rock Pikmin are tough and can cause some serious damage if they land on a target!”

In Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U

Rock Pikmin are not a part of Olimar's moveset in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, but they do appear as a trophy.

3DS

	US description: “These Pikmin are made of solid rock, so they can stand up to a lot of attacks and won't get hurt when they get stepped on. They specialize in body blows, dealing a lot of damage when thrown, and they can also break right through glass and crystal. They can't latch on to other creatures, though. But that's OK—nobody's perfect!”
	EU description: “These Pikmin are made of solid rock, so they can stand up to a lot of attacks and don't get hurt when they get stepped on. They specialise in body blows, dealing a lot of damage when thrown, and they can also break right through glass and crystal. They can't latch on to other creatures, though. But that's OK – nobody's perfect!”
How to obtain: Random appearance.		Type: Fighter

Wii U

	US description: “These Pikmin are made of solid rock, so they can stand up to a lot of attacks and won't get hurt when they get stepped on. They specialize in body blows, dealing a lot of damage when thrown, and they can also break right through glass and crystal. They can't latch on to other creatures, though. But that's OK—nobody's perfect! Appears in: Pikmin 3 (08/2013)”
	EU description: “These Pikmin are made of solid rock, so they can stand up to a lot of attacks and don't get hurt when they get stepped on. They specialise in body blows, dealing a lot of damage when thrown, and they can also break right through glass and crystal. They can't latch on to other creatures, though. But that's OK – nobody's perfect! Related Games Pikmin 3 (07/2013)”
How to obtain: Random appearance.		Type: Series Related	Trophy Box: 60. Pikmin

Gallery

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  Finding the first Rock Pikmin.

• 

  Alph throwing Rock Pikmin at a glass wall to break it.

• Pikmin3 BetaCrystal.jpg

  Rock Pikmin breaking a large crystal.

• 

  The Medusal Slurker holding some Rock Pikmin.

• ZlCfzR4yh-QlUYNeZy.jpg

  A Rock Pikmin buried after being crushed.

• 

  Artwork of the Rock Pikmin from the Official Nintendo Magazine.

• 

  Early concept art of the Rock Pikmin for Pikmin 3.

• Rock-Pikmin1.jpg

  Finding the Rock Pikmin at the E3 2012 demo.

• 

  A Rock Pikmin constellation on the day selection screen.

• 

  The data file explaining Rock Pikmin's crystal-shattering hardness.

• 

  The data file explaining Rock Pikmin's power upon impact.

• 

  The data file explaining Rock Pikmin's immunity to crushing.

• RockPikmin2.png

  Leaf, bud, and flower Rock Pikmin.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• Rock Pikmin 3 Artwork 01.jpg

  Pikmin 3 artwork.

• 

  Another concept art for the Rock Pikmin.

• Rock Pikmin cold and shaked!.jpeg

  A Rock Pikmin shaking after leaving the water.

Trivia

To do: Describe the "crunching" sound better, and note which enemies make the noise, and which do not. Care to do so?

• In the happy ending of the first Pikmin game, there are four black or gray Pikmin Onions flying above the planet's atmosphere. These could quite possibly be Rock Pikmin Onions, even though the Onions' appearance in Pikmin 3 has changed.
• In Pikmin Adventure, the Knuckle Seed resembles the ability of Rock Pikmin: a straight and strong impact shot.
• Rock Pikmin release "cracking" particle effects for when they hit breakable objects.
• The stem on a Rock Pikmin's head droops lower than on other Pikmin types.
• Rock Pikmin are the only main Pikmin type not to be utilized by Olimar in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U in any way.
• As seen in this trailer, Rock Pikmin originally had four looks. In the final game, all Rock Pikmin look the exact same.
• Rock Pikmin make a different sound when eaten: there is a much more noticeable crunching sound.
• Even though they supposedly have a solid body, they still stretch and twist when plucked or when they shake off water.
• After being thrown, Rock Pikmin bounce a little when landing, but this is not the case when they are thrown on a lily pad, an elevator platform, or a cardboard box. This is likely to stop them from falling off.
• Rock Pikmin have bigger leafs, buds, and flowers than other Pikmin types. Purple Pikmin also have this quality.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Dutch	Rots-Pikmin	Rock Pikmin
French	Pikmin Roc	Rock Pikmin
German	Fels-Pikmin	Rock Pikmin
Italian	Pikmin roccioso	Rock Pikmin
Portuguese (NoE)	Pikmin Rocha	Rock Pikmin	Name taken from Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U
Spanish	Pikmin Pétreo	Rocky Pikmin
Russian	Каменный пикмин / Каменный Pikmin Kamennyy pikmin / Kamennyy Pikmin	Rock Pikmin	Names taken from Nintendo's official website

See also

• Blunt force
• Purple Pikmin
• Crystal