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Emperor Bulblax

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Emperor Bulblax In-game icon.
Icon for the Emperor Bulblax, from Pikmin 4's Piklopedia.
Appears in PikminPikmin 2Pikmin 4Hey! Pikmin
Scientific name Oculus supremus
Family Grub-dog
Areas The Final Trial, Giant's Hearth (night), Primordial Thicket (night), The Last Lair
Caves Bulblax Kingdom, Cavern of Chaos, Hole of Heroes, Kingdom of Beasts, Cavern for a King
Challenge Mode stages Emperor's Realm
Dandori Challenge stages Trial of the Sage Leaf
Dandori Battle stages None
2-Player Battle stages None
Attacks Pikmin (game):  Eat and crush Pikmin
Pikmin 2:  Eat and crush Pikmin, cause panic and unearth existing Mitites
Pikmin 4:  Eat and crush Pikmin, cause panic
Hey! Pikmin:  Eat Pikmin, summon Crumbugs and Sparrowheads

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 4.

The Emperor Bulblax (ダイオウデメマダラ?, lit.: "Bug-eyed Spotted Great King") is the second-largest known species of the Grub-dog family right after the Empress Bulblax. It serves as the final boss in the first Pikmin game, dropping the last ship part needed to complete the game.

The Emperor Bulblax is different than most members of the Grub-dog family as it has a sludgy and melted appearance, smaller eyes, and a purpler, more flexible tongue. Its hump seems to be embedded with stones. During the rainy season, moss grows upon its thick hide, giving its body a greenish color and serving as camouflage. It also bears Bulborels and fern-like stems. The small variant instead has much younger plants, and in Pikmin 4 lacks rocks embedded into its back.

This beast usually hides in the ground to ambush prey, catching them with its long, sticky tongue. Its soft face is its only weak point to attack, but since it doesn't discriminate much when eating things, it can be led to swallow something a bit less tasteful than Pikmin – namely, bomb-rocks.

It varies a bit between the four games, being a lot smaller in Pikmin 2 and being much weaker, to the point where the ones fought outside of Bulblax Kingdom have less health than a Fiery Bulbax, which is not considered a boss. In addition, it is tied for the least health of any boss in the game, alongside Beady Long Legs. In Hey! Pikmin, it is normally unreachable and needs to be coaxed into eating a bomb rock before any damage can be done. Pikmin 4 takes place during a rainy season, so the Emperor Bulblaxes encountered use their original camouflage method of disguising as a stone. A larger variant, reminiscent of its original appearance, exists as the Sovereign Bulblax.

Stats

To do: Find out its health in Hey! Pikmin by retreiving the value from the game files.
Care to do so?

Game Weight Max.
carriers
Seeds Value Health Regen.
Pikmin N/A N/A N/A N/A 30000 Unknown
Pikmin 2 20 30 30 Poko × 15 1300[note 1] No
Pikmin 4 15 30 20 (25 glow pellets) Sparklium × 15 3000 No
Hey! Pikmin N/A N/A N/A Sparklium Seed × 0 Unknown Unknown
  1. ^ The one in Bulblax Kingdom has 1800 HP.

Notes

Olimar's voyage log

My radar indicates that a gigantic member of the bulborb species has swallowed the Dolphin's final part. Yet, how am I to attack this gargantuan beast? Testing the explosive power of the bomb-rocks the yellow Pikmin unearth may prove valuable...

Reel notes

This massive grub-dog buries itself when hunting.

Olimar's notes

The largest member of the grub-dog family is normally found buried in the ground, with only the stalks of its eyes exposed. This camouflage allows the predator to surprise smaller creatures and use its long, adhesive tongue to capture prey. The thick hide and angular hump give the organism a distinct rocklike quality. During the rainy season, moss grows freely on its hump, making it nearly impossible to distinguish this lethal predator from a stone.

Louie's notes

To prep the tongue for cooking, marinate in olive oil and chop into cubes. Stir in a pot with carrots, potatoes, and chives, cover, and simmer over low heat for several hours. Accompany this mouthwatering, rustic stew with a hearty roll.

Hey! Pikmin logs

It usually hides underground but will pop out to strike at its prey. Anything that falls into its mouth gets swallowed, even bombs. Its mouth is so big, in fact, that I was worried it could swallow the S.S. Dolphin II whole. I-it's a good thing we didn't crash land near this monstrosity...

Pikmin Nintendo Player's Guide

The largest member of the grub-dog family is normally found buried in the ground, with only a few ridges of the back exposed. This camouflage allows the organism to jump out and use its long, adhesive tongue to prey upon small creatures that happen to pass by. The emperor grub-dog's back is also coated with a sticky secretion that allows it to attach small stones and plants that aid in masking its appearance. When spread on a seedbed, this secretion will cause the growth of a special type of mushroom, called a blaxcap, that improves its camouflage for ambush.
If you've recovered rocket parts 1 through 29, you'll be able to access the emperor bulblax's lair. The monster wags its giant tongue, and Pikmin will stick to it if they're licked. Leave yellow Pikmin armed with bomb-rocks as bait. When the bulblax swallows the Pikmin and the blast stuns the creature, throw Pikmin onto the bulblax's face.

Pikmin 2 Nintendo Player's Guide

The Emperor Bulblax's most distinguishing feature is its huge purple tongue. If your Pikmin are anywhere near the boss's mouth when it unleashes the tongue, they'll be devoured. In some cases, you'll be able to entice the large creatures into consuming bomb-rocks, which will stun them.

Dalmo's Notes

It has broad moss-covered flanks and a head like a desert, complete with big drooping jowls and small googly eyes. This creature appears to be quite moody, but it does have a cooperative streak. The way this temperamental, bulbous giant cohabitates with others of its kind is quite surprising!

Olimar's Notes (Pikmin 4)

The largest member of the Grub-Dog family is normally found burrowed underground. This camouflage allows the predator to surprise smaller creatures and use its long, adhesive tongue to capture prey. The thick hide and angular hump give the organism a distinct rocklike quality. During the rainy season, moss grows freely on its hump, making it nearly impossible to distinguish this lethal predator from a stone.

Behavior

Pikmin

The Emperor Bulblax (which may retroactively be a Sovereign Bulblax) is the final boss in Pikmin. It lies buried in the ground at The Final Trial inside the center of the sandy arena north of the landing site, visible only by the mossy growth on its back protruding from the ground. When approached, the Bulblax will rear up and roar, knocking Olimar and the Pikmin back, and will then proceed to attack by licking Pikmin into its mouth with a large purple tongue. If Pikmin are latched onto it or located under it, it will jump to shake off any Pikmin on it, and crush any Pikmin underneath. Once it reaches beneath half of its maximum health, it will add a new attack to its arsenal: jumping high up into the air, and eventually dropping onto the army of Pikmin.

One can tell when it is willing to use its tongue by observing its salivation: if it's drooling, that means it will soon attack by using its tongue, gobbling up any Pikmin in front of it. The tongue is large and has no limit on the number of deaths it can cause. When it's in a jumping phase, one can foresee a jump by knowing that its eyes widen just before it hops.

Once defeated, the Emperor Bulblax will go into a particularly long death animation, where it writhes around while drooling and appears to be sucked underground, leaving behind the Secret Safe and five randomly colored 5-pellets.

It's usually a good idea to devote a single day to removing obstacles and clearing the path, only dealing with the Bulblax the following day since the battle itself can often be time-consuming. The Bulblax must be defeated in a single day since any damage done on one day will not carry over, and if the day is ended before it is killed, then it will be at full health the next day. However, experienced players can cover all of The Final Trial in a single day, which is a must for a 6 day run.

Pikmin 2

The Emperor Bulblax's spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It uses official artwork from Pikmin 2.
The Emperor Bulblax's artwork from Pikmin 2.

In Pikmin 2, these beasts are much weaker due to their diminished size. They are found only underground. The hide is not very mossy, but the backside of the beast is still green and slimy, as well as invulnerable. Due to the hide lacking any plantlife, they use a different camouflage where only the eyestalks are exposed, blending in with the sandy floor of caves. They seem to be younger than the specimen encountered in the original Pikmin.

They still eat the now huge bomb-rocks, but must be coaxed into doing so instead as Yellow Pikmin no longer have the ability to handle those explosive objects. All other abilities are retained, except for the jumping phase. It is replaced by a roaring phase when the Bulblax is about a quarter until death; it will make other Bulblaxes join the fight and drag existing Mitites out of the ground, which will scare the Pikmin into a frenzy.

Luckily, unlike in the previous game, an Emperor Bulblax can only eat a maximum of 9 Pikmin at a time. When it dies, the Bulblax spins around and roars, whipping gobs of saliva everywhere until it shrinks down to a pre-determined size for easier carrying.

This creature is found on the last sublevel (7) of the Bulblax Kingdom, where it is larger and stronger than normal; two are found on sublevel 4 of the Cavern of Chaos and sublevel 10 of the Hole of Heroes; and three are in the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode.

Pikmin 4

Two small Emperor Bulblaxes appear as boss enemies at the final sublevel of the Kingdom of Beasts cavern. One also appears in Giant's Hearth, guarding the Rock Onion. It is necessary to defeat both to retrieve the second castaway and open the gate that leads to the exit. As is the case in the previous games, they can be tricked into eating Bomb Rocks, stunning them for a lengthy period, as well as the new Ice Blasts. In addition, be warned that they still retain the ability to wake up other Bulblax by roaring, so it is best to kill each quickly. This can be done by rushing it with Oatchi. One also appears in Giant's Hearth, guarding the Rock Onion.

Hey! Pikmin

The creature never leaves its central spot in the arena, although it can bury down. When the battle begins, the boss will idle for a bit, then start turning towards Captain Olimar. Once it is facing him, it will stop, ready a bite for a few seconds, and then lunge in, chomping at the floor. While it is getting ready to chomp, it won't rotate any further, giving Olimar and the Pikmin time to escape the area of attack. After the bite, it will simply repeat the cycle. Captain Olimar will take damage from this bite and be launched away, and if it manages to get Pikmin, it will gobble them up, up to a maximum of four. Any Pikmin that are thrown at it while its face is in reach because of a bite will just bounce back.

If the Emperor Bulblax chomps a bomb rock on the floor, it will chew on it until it blows up in its mouth. This causes a small amount of damage. Stunned, it will topple forward onto the floor, and stay there motionless for some seconds. Eventually, it will jump back up, and start burrowing into the ground. When it does this, two Crumbugs pop out from behind the grass. After some seconds, the boss will spring back out from underneath the ground and restart the cycle. While the creature is lying down, unconscious from the bomb blast, Pikmin can be thrown at its face to damage it further. To note is that when the boss collapses onto the floor, it can harm Olimar if he's underneath, but Pikmin will merely be shoved away, and also that if it manages to eat two bomb rocks, the resulting damage and stun time will be the same as if it caught just one. Amusingly, if the chomp attack captures any Crumbugs, the Emperor Bulblax will chew on them and eat them.

If its health reaches two thirds when it is being attacked by the Pikmin, it will jump up and shake them off, and will then lick its lips twice. This signals the next attack: a horizontal tongue swipe in front of it. Any Pikmin caught by this attack, up to four, will get killed right away, and Olimar can also take damage from it; bomb rocks will be ignored by this attack. From this point on, its attack pattern will also change: after it turns to face Olimar, it will instead start shaking, and then jump, and in mid-air, quickly turn to face Olimar's new position. After this, it will also perform the lip licking and tongue swiping from before, and only after that does it perform the chomp attack and restart the cycle. When it starts shaking to jump, two Sparrowheads appear from behind it, and before long, they will get near Olimar, one on each side. They will swoop down while the boss is licking its lips.

When its health reaches the final third, it will once again jump up, shaking the Pikmin off, perform the lick attack, and will burrow down and then unburrow. From here on out, four Sparrowheads will appear instead of two, with two on each side.

It can be noted that bomb rock explosions on its face will cause no damage. For unknown reasons, the boss can miss a bomb rock that is right in front of it and not eat it. This could be due to the way the physics work in this particular area, since the movement, hitboxes, etc. are all adjusted to rotate around a circular path.

Strategy

The following article or section contains guides.
The strategies shown are just suggestions.

Pikmin

Pikmin

Venture through The Final Trial with a large army composed primarily of Red Pikmin, as well as some Yellow Pikmin. As a reminder, Red Pikmin are the most powerful Pikmin type and Yellow Pikmin can carry bomb-rocks. When you enter the large sandy arena at the end of the area, don't immediately confront the Emperor Bulblax in the center of it. Instead, sneak around it and destroy the bramble gate at the back of the arena. Behind it is a large supply of invaluable bomb-rocks at your disposal that are stored in small pipe structures. Have your Yellow Pikmin claim every bomb-rock as you possibly can, and then return to the arena after dismissing them by the gate's pillars. Awaken the Emperor Bulblax safely by walking up to it after dismissing all of your Pikmin, calling them back immediately after you get up.

The Emperor Bulblax will begin the battle by turning to Olimar or his Pikmin and attempting to eat them using its tongue – this is where the bomb-rocks come into play. Get an armed Yellow Pikmin into your squad and, with good timing, have the Yellow Pikmin throw the bomb-rock it is holding into the Emperor Bulblax's gaping maw. It will eat the bomb-rock and be briefly stunned afterward by the resulting explosion, buying precious time to inflict serious damage. While the Emperor Bulblax is stunned, throw as many Red Pikmin onto its face as you possibly can. When the Emperor Bulblax comes to, it will jump to shake off Pikmin. Only call your Pikmin back before it lands to maximize the damage inflicted. If there are Pikmin under the beast, call them back before the Emperor Bulblax jumps to save them from being crushed. Rinse and repeat until the boss reaches half health.

At this point, the Emperor Bulblax will begin using a rather devastating new jumping attack. You will have to pay special attention to the Emperor Bulblax's face to anticipate what it will do. If the boss is drooling, it will use its tongue to feed on Pikmin. If it isn't drooling, exercise extreme caution because it will begin using its new attack. When its eyes widen, immediately move out of the area to avoid it landing on Olimar or his Pikmin squad. Continue attacking the Emperor Bulblax until it is defeated once and for all.

You may also let the Emperor Bulblax consume your Yellow Pikmin and the bomb-rocks they hold at the expense of it being stunned for a shorter amount of time. More bomb-rocks will equal a longer stun time, but you may also want to lower the volume of your television because the sound of many bomb-rocks exploding at once can be very loud. Throwing Pikmin into the mouth of the Emperor Bulblax will only result in Pikmin dying. Pikmin may be thrown at the face of the Emperor Bulblax at any point in time. Attacking the legs also causes the boss pain, but is not recommended for obvious reasons. Throwing Pikmin onto its head when it is distracted is riskier than using bomb-rocks, but it's much simpler and possibly the only feasible option for people attempting to accomplish a zero-death run.

In New Play Control! Pikmin, the only ways to have Yellow Pikmin stun the enemy with a bomb-rock are to either let the Pikmin be eaten or time the throw correctly so that the bomb-carrying Pikmin throws the bomb-rock into the Bulblax's open mouth. The latter option, of course, will stun the Emperor Bulblax for a longer time than simply allowing it to eat the Pikmin.

Leaders

In Pikmin, the beast cannot be damaged with Captain Olimar's punch.

Speedrunning

One of the fastest strategies to beating it in Pikmin for the GameCube is to gather several bomb-rocks, place the carrier Pikmin near it, and when it is readying to eat them, call them back so that they drop the bombs on the floor. The boss will instead gulp on the bomb-rocks and become paralyzed for a considerable amount of time. Afterward, quickly throw or swarm your Pikmin army at its face path (starting with the Reds). With enough speed, the creature should be defeated in a single cycle. This strategy will not work in New Play Control! Pikmin due to the changes of bomb rock mechanics.

Pikmin 2

Pikmin

Bring a small group of Purple Pikmin (10 or more) and toss them right in between the eyes; in no time at all, the beast will be defeated. If you don't have enough, use Red Pikmin and other Pikmin types, but be prepared to use sprays in case your numbers dwindle. One way to kill it without Purple Pikmin is to bring a group of 10 White Pikmin, as they are fast, or any of the original Pikmin, to fight and throw all on the Bulblax's face and the battle will be over in from 30 seconds to about a minute.

Where bomb-rocks are available, making it eat them is the safest strategy, and if the beast is underwater, the only strategy. By standing near a bomb-rock and running away before the boss strikes with its tongue, it is possible to make it eat the explosive instead, causing a high amount of damage. This method can be a bit time-consuming, however.

Leaders

In Pikmin 2, it is possible to kill an Emperor Bulblax without Pikmin. The first method is to lure the Bulblax into eating bomb-rocks, should there be any nearby, until it succumbs to the explosions. Another is to punch it while petrified. However, this requires about 50 sprays under non-stop punching. More damage can be dealt with the Rocket Fist upgrade; using said upgrade would require twenty fewer sprays. It is one of the only two bosses in the game the leaders can hit, the other being the Waterwraith.

Speedrunning

By far, the quickest method is to rapidly throw Purple Pikmin at it, even when buried. If the player is fast enough, it'll have suffered almost fatal damage by the time it is ready to fight and should succumb soon after.

Pikmin 4

Pikmin

The strategy is the same as in Pikmin 2. Although the Emperor Bulblax's health has been more than doubled, with a group of around 15-20 Purple Pikmin tossed on the beast, you will be able to defeat it before it can make a single attack.

Hey! Pikmin

Right when the battle starts, start moving either right or left to grab a bomb rock. The boss will be turning to keep up with you as you move. You should have enough time to grab a bomb rock. When you see the Emperor Bulblax start to growl, throw the bomb rock at the center of its shadow on the floor, and run in the opposite direction. If it didn't catch the bomb rock, hurry to grab another one on the opposite end and try again. If it caught it, stand nearby, but not under the shadow, since that will just result in you getting knocked back when the boss collapses. As soon as it does, throw Pikmin at its face.

You should bring its health down to two thirds, so when you hear the Pikmin squeal, whistle them and start running to the other corner of the arena. When the Emperor Bulblax burrows down, two Crumbugs will appear, so get ready to throw Pikmin. You can start throwing Pikmin at them while they are in mid-air for an easy kill. To take out Crumbugs on the floor, try to be at a medium distance from it, and aim a bit closer to you than you normally would, to compensate for the angled throw trajectory in this area.

With its health at two thirds, its attack pattern will change. Go to one of the corners of the arena, and grab a bomb rock while you're there if you can. Make sure you're flush to a corner when it starts shaking with its snout low since that means it will jump up to readjust its angle, and end up facing near the corner. As soon as it lands from the jump, run to the opposite corner, so you can escape both the tongue swipe attack and the Sparrowheads that will appear. Keep in mind that a Sparrowhead can still come your way, and it is possible for it to still be in attack mode, so if you see one, take it out before it touches your group of Pikmin. You can also take the chance that you're in a corner to get another bomb rock. Eventually, the boss will face you again, and you can throw another bomb rock on the floor.

When its health reaches the last third, the only change will be that four Sparrowheads will appear instead of two. Repeat the process until the boss is dead. If you want to complete the battle quickly and don't want to risk the Emperor Bulblax missing a bomb rock, you can try collecting two bomb rocks whenever possible, and when the beast is readying its chomp attack, place both bombs, in slightly different positions. This vastly increases the chances of one being snatched. Also, to note is that the creature cannot be coaxed into chomping one of the bomb rock generators, as it will not reach them.

Technical information

Creature

Pikmin technical information (?)
Internal name king
HP 30000
Pikmin 2 technical information (?)
Internal name kingchappy
Global properties (List)
ID Japanese comment Property Value
s000 friction(not used) Friction 0.5
s001 wallReflection Unknown (wall bounce speed multiplier?) 0.5
s002 faceDirAdjust Unknown 0.25
s003 accel Acceleration 0.1
s004 bounceFactor Unknown (bounce when it hits the ground?) 0.3
fp00 ライフ HP 1300
fp01 マップとの当り Unknown (related to slopes) 60
fp02 ダメージスケールXZ Horizontal damage scale 0.1
fp03 ダメージスケールY Vertical damage scale 0.15
fp04 ダメージフレーム Damage scale duration 0.35
fp05 質量 Unknown (weight?) 0.1
fp06 速度 Move speed 45
fp08 回転速度率 Rotation acceleration 0.02
fp09 テリトリー Territory radius 300
fp10 ホーム範囲 "Home" radius 30
fp11 プライベート距離 "Private" radius 70
fp12 視界距離 Sight radius 500
fp13 視界角度 FOV 130
fp14 探索距離 Unknown (exploration radius?) 500
fp15 探索角度 Unknown (exploration angle?) 120
fp16 振り払い率 Successful shake rate 1
fp17 振り払い力 Shake knockback 200
fp18 振り払いダメージ Shake damage 1
fp19 振り払い範囲 Shake range 60
fp20 攻撃可能範囲 Unknown (shock attack max range?) 130
fp21 攻撃可能角度 Unknown (shock attack max angle?) 30
fp22 攻撃ヒット範囲 Unknown (attack hit range?) 80
fp23 攻撃ヒット角度 Unknown (attack hit angle?) 50
fp24 攻撃力 Attack damage 5
fp25 視界高 Unknown (height visibility?) 50
fp26 探索高 Unknown (exploration height?) 50
fp27 ライフの高さ HP wheel height 90
fp28 回転最大速度 Rotation speed 30
fp29 警戒時間 Unknown (warning time?) 15
fp30 警戒ライフ Unknown 30
fp31 ライフ回復率 Regeneration rate 0
fp32 LOD半径 Off-camera radius 60
fp33 マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定 Collision processing radius 30
fp34 ピクミンとのあたり Pikmin damage radius 20
fp35 石化時間 Petrification duration 1
fp36 ヒップドロップダメージ Purple Pikmin drop damage 10
fp37 地震気絶確立 Purple Pikmin stun chance 0.05 (5%)
fp38 地震気絶時間 Purple Pikmin stun time 10
ip01 振り払い打撃A Shake mode 1 – hit count 6
ip02 振り払い張付1 Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement 5
ip03 振り払い打撃B Shake mode 2 – hit count 12
ip04 振り払い張付2 Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement 10
ip05 振り払い打撃C Shake mode 3 – hit count 17
ip06 振り払い張付3 Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement 20
ip07 振り払い打撃D Shake mode 4 – hit count 22
Specific properties
ID Japanese comment Property Value
fp01 要旋回角度(deg) Unknown (required turning angle?) 60
fp02 出現までの距離 Sight radius while hiding underground 60
fp03 雄たけび有効角度(deg) Unknown (roar angle?) 180
fp04 雄たけび有効範囲 Unknown (roar angle?) 300
fp05 爆弾ダメージ Bomb-rock damage 200
fp06 見えない範囲 Angle it'll spam the stomp attack at if all Pikmin and leaders near it are within that angle 80
fp07 旋回終了角度 Unknown (turning angle end?) 40
fp08 踏み潰し範囲 Range of the stomp attack 45
fp09 出現振り払い範囲 Shake range when emerging from the ground 100
fp10 出現振り払い力 Shake knockback when emerging from the ground 200
fp11 歩きアニメスピード Unknown (walk animation speed?) 1
fp12 死雄たけび率 Unknown (death roar rate?) 0
fp13 フリック雄たけび率 Unknown (shake roar rate?) 0.5
fp14 白ピクミン White Pikmin poison damage 200
fp15 bigスケール Scale (Bulblax Kingdom) 1.5
fp16 bigライフ HP (Bulblax Kingdom) 1800
fp17 big速度 Move speed (Bulblax Kingdom) 45
fp18 big回転速度率 Rotation speed (Bulblax Kingdom) 0.02
fp19 big回転最大速度 Unknown (max rotation speed in Bulblax Kingdom?) 30
fp20 big攻撃可能角度 Unknown 30
fp21 big攻撃ヒット範囲 Unknown 120
ip01 潜伏までの期間 Unknown 500
ip02 出現までの期間 Unknown 0
ip03 爆弾ダメージ時間 Time stunned after eating a bomb-rock 180

Back

The mossy growth visible when the creature is buried in Pikmin is a separate entity.

Pikmin technical information (?)
Internal name kingback
HP N/A

Other information

In the Super Smash Bros. series

The Emperor Bulblax spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, from the Collection.
The Emperor Bulblax’s Spirit.

The Emperor Bulblax appears as one of the spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Spirits mode.

It appears as a puppet fighter of a giant King K. Rool, with the attributes of making the enemy hard to launch or make flinch (super armor) and forcing the match into a stamina-based mode as opposed to the typical damage-based mode.

Naming

See also: Grub-dog family#Naming.
  • Common name: Emperor Bulblax. It is the largest male member of the grub-dog family, which earned it the title of emperor. The reason for it to be called Bulblax instead of Bulborb is unknown, but it could be due to the creature being considerably different from common grub-dogs. The term seems to be used in two ways, grub-dogs that are important to the social structure, and grub-dogs that have a protected hide and melted features. The Emperor Bulblax seems to qualify for both. The name Bulblax is only represented in the English localization, with no equivalent term in the Japanese version.
  • Japanese nickname: ダイオウデメマダラ?. It is the same as the Japanese name.
  • Japanese name: ダイオウデメマダラ?. ダイオウ? means "great king", デメ? means "bug-eyed", and マダラ? means "spots".
  • Scientific name: Oculus supremus, Oculus is the Bulborb genus, and supremus means "supreme" in Latin.
  • Internal names: The creature's internal name in both games refers to it as a king – the king of the Chappy (Bulborbs) – with the name king in Pikmin and kingchappy in the sequel.
  • Prerelease: None.

Names in other languages

The following article or section needs help from someone who can translate Korean text.

Language Name Meaning Notes
Flag of Japan Japanese ダイオウデメマダラ?
Daiō Deme Madara
Bug-eyed Spotted Great King
Flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Chinese
(traditional)
大王凸眼斑蟲
Dàwáng Tūyǎn Bān Chóng
Great King Bug-Eyed Spotted Bug
Flag of China Chinese
(simplified)
大王凸眼斑虫
Dàwáng Tūyǎn Bān Chóng
Great King Bug-Eyed Spotted Bug
Flag of the Netherlands Dutch Keizerbulblax Emperor bulblax
Flag of France French Empereur Bulblax (Pikmin)
Roi Bulblax (Pikmin 2)
Roi bulblax (Pikmin 4)
Emperor Bulblax
King Bulblax
King bulblax
Flag of Québec French (NoA) Bulblax Empereur (Hey! Pikmin) Emperor Bulblax
Flag of France French (NoE) Roi Bulblax (Hey! Pikmin) Bulblax King
Flag of Germany German Fürst Knollenauge Lord Bulb-Eye
Flag of Italy Italian Bulbico Imperiale
Bulbico imperiale (Pikmin 4)
Imperial Bulblax
Imperial bulblax (Pikmin 4)
Flag of South Korea Korean 대왕툭눈점박이
Daewang-Tug-Nunjeom-Bag'i
Flag of Brazil Portuguese Bulbolhão-real Royal big bulbeye "Bulbolhão" is the masculine augmentative form of "Bulbolho", the Brazilian Portuguese name for Bulborb
"Bulbolhão" also sounds close to "bobalhão" (a childish slang that means "silly" or "stupid", masculine form of "bobalhona")
Flag of Spain Spanish Bulbo emperador Emperor bulb "Bulbo" is the Spanish name for Bulborb

[[it:Bulbico Imperiale
Bulbico imperiale (Pikmin 4)]]

Gallery

Pikmin

Pikmin 2

Pikmin 4

Hey! Pikmin

Other

Trivia

To do: Expand on the Cavern of Chaos glitch and move it to the glitches page.
Care to do so?

See also: Sovereign Bulblax#Trivia.
  • Captain Olimar's notes for the Emperor Bulblax say that moss and plants grow on its back in rainy seasons. In Pikmin 2, these beasts only appear in caves, which, added with the presumably younger age, might explain why so much moss is absent on the beast's back, as the moss only has the cave's moisture to grow with.
  • The Emperor Bulblax's attacks and appearance may be based on the real-life frog. They both bury or immerse themselves with only their eyes and backs exposed while hunting, use their long sticky tongues to catch small things passing by (in this case, the Pikmin), they can both jump higher than most other creatures, both look similar in appearances, and both make loud croaking noises.
  • The Emperor Bulblax is one of three bosses in Pikmin to reappear in Pikmin 2, alongside Beady Long Legs and the Burrowing Snagret.
    • The Mamuta reappears, but it is not considered a boss internally in Pikmin.
  • The Emperor Bulblax is also one of three bosses in Pikmin to reappear in Pikmin 4, alongside the Burrowing Snagret and its much larger variant, the Sovereign Bulblax, based more on its original appearance in Pikmin.
    • The Puffstool, Mamuta and Smoky Progg reappear, but they are not considered bosses internally in Pikmin.
    • It is also the most commonly fought boss in Pikmin 4, with 6 appearances.
  • The Emperor Bulblax is the only final boss in the series that reappears in subsequent titles (albeit as a common boss).
    • It has appeared in every Pikmin game, except from Pikmin 3.
  • The Emperor Bulblax is one of four creatures in the whole Pikmin series to have plant-life growing on the beast, the other three being the Quaggled Mireclops, the Flatterchuck, and its much older variant, the Sovereign Bulblax.
  • There is a peculiarity pertaining to the Emperor Bulblaxes on sublevel four of the Cavern of Chaos. After waking one up, lure it to the smaller island and stand on top of it whilst the Emperor Bulblax approaches. It will repeatedly attempt to lick its target but fail each time. If the leader then walks away from the beast, it will freeze in place. Returning to the smaller island will cause the Emperor Bulblax to enter its walking animation but remain stationary.
  • In Pikmin, the creature's tongue is exactly 14.94 centimeters long.[source needed]
  • A rough copy of the Emperor Bulblax from Pikmin 2 exists in unused files in Pikmin 3.
  • In the first two Pikmin games the Emperor Bulblax's eyelids are only modelled on the outside, allowing the player to see straight through the inside of them.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ Twitter post on Twitter, published on April 26th, 2023, retrieved on May 15th, 2023