Pikmin extinction

The Pikmin extinction cutscene in Pikmin.

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Pikmin extinction occurs when every single Pikmin of a given type is lost. There are two types of extinction: a total one, which is declared when all Pikmin are lost, and a partial one, which happens when there are no Pikmin of a certain type in the area.

On the day following the extinction, the affected Onions spew a single seed, Captain Olimar or the Hocotate ship comment on it, and afterwards, the player must regrow the corresponding armies from scratch. If they do not treat the Pikmin given to them with care, they will be easy prey to all manner of enemies and could quickly lead to another extinction. To prevent this from happening, the safest place to grow Pikmin after an extinction is The Impact Site in the first Pikmin game, and in Pikmin 2 the Awakening Wood is safe so long as one does not stray too far from the landing site.

Total extinction

To do: This also happens if there are Pikmin buried in another area, right? Care to do so?

If the player loses every one of their Pikmin in a single day, the day will end immediately, and on the following one, each Onion will produce a single seed.

In Pikmin, the following is Olimar's Voyage Log entry on the first day extinction occurs:

The Pikmin have all perished because of my own carelessness. I am an utter disgrace as a leader... How can I continue to collect parts without them? Still the Onions join me in low orbit, as if this Pikmin extinction had never happened. I shan't sleep tonight...

Partial extinction

Should the player lose all Pikmin of a given type in an area, it will be very hard to create more on the same day. If there are still other Pikmin when the extinction occurs, the day will go on, but if not, a total extinction is declared. On the following day, if the player chooses an area that contains buried Pikmin of the lost type, they may use those to continue their population of Pikmin, but if not, the affected Onions will spew out a single seed at the start of the day. In order to create more Pikmin and avoid having the Onions spew new seeds on the next day, the player can use Candypop Buds or the ability of White and Purple Pikmin to carry items to randomly picked Onions.

In Pikmin, on the night after a partial extinction, Captain Olimar writes the following on his journal:

What exactly are these Pikmin? One could classify them as both plant and animal. They mature from leaf, to bud, and finally to blossom. When all of one color are lost, the Onion instinctively puts out new seeds... How does it know to do this? What a mysterious life-form!

In Pikmin 2, if all Pikmin the player brought in a cave are lost, a Pikmin extinction is declared. The leader(s) are returned to the surface, and, provided they still have Pikmin in the area, can continue on with the day. Otherwise, a total extinction takes place. White and Purple Pikmin are not affected by partial extinctions, given their unique method of birth. In the event that the player consumes all Pikmin of one color through the use of Candypop Buds in a cave, they will be able to continue the cave. When they return to the surface, a new seed will sprout of that color and the ship will erroneously declare that all the Pikmin of that color were lost yesterday despite it being the same day.

In 2-Player Battle and Bingo Battle

In 2-Player Battle and Bingo Battle, a Pikmin extinction is another way for a player to win. Should any player lose all of their Pikmin, a Pikmin extinction is declared, and the other wins. This is not a usual way to win, but falling boulders, Bomb Rocks, Volatile Dweevils and Mines can cause massive damage for unaware captains.

Interestingly, in 2-Player Battle, a Pikmin extinction occurs if one player has one Pikmin left and it is killed by the opposing player's Pikmin, despite the fact that a Pikmin is always reborn at the player's Onion if it is killed by another Pikmin. The same does not occur in Bingo Battle, and the counter will briefly show that the leader has 0 out of 0 Pikmin, before the recently-killed Pikmin is reborn.

Trivia

• Through the use of a glitch in Pikmin 2, it's possible to have the game instantly declare a Pikmin extinction while on a cave. It involves tricking the game into letting the captains inside a cave with 0 Pikmin, which requires entering the cave and dismissing the Pikmin at the exact same time.
• If there are 100 Pikmin on the field, the Onion will instead keep the new seeds inside. This can only happen if the day after the extinction begins on an area with 100 buried Pikmin.