Carry
In the Pikmin games, Pikmin are able to carry objects or living beings. When ordered to handle with an entity that can be carried, a Pikmin will grab on to it. Further Pikmin can be issued to carry the same thing, at which point they'll grab a free spot on the entity's perimeter to help carry. If it's too heavy, the Pikmin will just stand in place, periodically trying to pull it up, but once enough Pikmin grab onto the object, they will be able to carry it.
When called, the Pikmin will drop the entity and come to the Captain's side, regardless of whether they were carrying it or not. If only some of the Pikmin are called, and the remaining Pikmin aren't enough to carry it, they'll drop it to the ground and stop in place, unable to continue.
Destination
Depending on what is being carried, the Pikmin can either take it to the ship (or Pod) or one of the Onions. The Pikmin will follow one of several set paths (normally the shortest, unless it's unavailable) toward the destination. If the path the Pikmin choose is blocked by a gate or missing bridge, the Pikmin will idle in a circle in front of the obstacle, waiting for it to be cleared. [1]
Onions
When carrying entities that will be deposited in an Onion, the destination Onion is calculated based on the Pikmin carrying it. The Onion will match the color of the Pikmin type that makes up the majority of the carriers. If the number is a tie, the color will be decided randomly between the tying types.
White and Purple Pikmin don't count for the calculation. As such, only the main 3 colors can have an influence on the chosen Onion. If only White or Purple Pikmin are carrying it, a random Onion will be chosen (out of all discovered Onions at that point).
When a random onion needs to be picked, it'll be decided every time a tie is generated. In other words, if a tie-breaking Pikmin is added, the color will be the one matching the new majority. If a Pikmin that doesn't break the tie is added, the destination will not change. Hence, the only way to change the color the game picked is by breaking a tie and then creating a new one, or by calling all Pikmin to the Captain's side and ordering them to carry it again.
Examples
The first columns indicate the number of Pikmin of each type that is carrying the entity.
| Pikmin carrying | Resulting Onion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Yellow | Blue | Purple | White | |
| 10 | 5 | – | – | – | Red |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Blue |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | – | – | Random between Red and Yellow |
| – | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | Random between Yellow and Blue |
| – | – | – | 1 | 20 | Random between available Onions |
Carrying numbers
Each entity has a minimum strength and maximum number of carrier Pikmin. If the minimum number is not met, it can't be carried. If the maximum number of carriers is already met, any new Pikmin will ignore the entity. If too many Pikmin are issued to carry a thing at once, and the maximum number is filled, the remaining Pikmin will sigh and become idle. In Pikmin 2, they'll also come to the Captain's side if they're close by. This can also happen if there is a free spot, but the carrying Pikmin are moving too fast or too clumsily; after a while the extra Pikmin might give up on finding a spot.
To find out the minimum strength and maximum number of carriers on a ship part, treasure or enemy, visit the appropriate page and read the "Weight" and "Max. carriers" attribute on the infobox at the top-right corner of the article.
The "strength" is the total calculated Pikmin strength, so Purple Pikmin count 10 towards this number, instead of 1 like all others.
On-screen numbers
When something is being carried, two numbers will appear on top of it, one on top of a dash, one below. The number on the top indicates the minimum strength needed to carry the entity (i.e. the weight), whereas the bottom number shows the total strength of the Pikmin currently grabbing hold of it.
In Pikmin, the top number is always blue and the bottom one is always red, but in Pikmin 2, the numbers are:
- Pale blue when the carriers are stopped, or the strength number is being changed.
- White when carrying something that doesn't go into an Onion.
- The same color as the destination Onion when being carried to one.
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To do: Explain how the numbers are shown in the NPC! versions of each game. |
Speed
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To do: Find out more about this, as well as how the speeds are calculated, |
In Pikmin 2's files, White Pikmin have a carrying speed number set to 3.0, Purple Pikmin to 0.6. However, this value isn't an actual speed multiplier, but maybe a speed adder.
List of entities
Pikmin are able to carry the following:
- To the ship:
- To Onions:
Trivia
- If the player is close to a group of Pikmin carrying an object, the music will change to a slightly more upbeat and cheerful variation.