Plasm Wraith
| Plasm Wraith | |
|---|---|
| |
| Appears in | Pikmin 3 |
| Scientific name | Unknown |
| Family | Unknown |
| Areas | Formidable Oak |
| Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages | None |
| Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages | None |
| Side Story days | None |
| Bingo Battle stages | None |
| Attacks | Burn, drown, electrocute, crush or eat Pikmin |
- This article is about the creature itself and the final boss battle. For information on the entity that chases the leaders during the puzzles in the Formidable Oak, see Mysterious Life Form.
The Plasm Wraith (アメニュウドウ?, lit.: "Rain Monk") is the final boss in Pikmin 3, and is responsible for capturing Captain Olimar. It is a virtually-featureless, vaguely-humanoid Waterwraith-like being made entirely out of a cellular protoplasmic mass, which allows it to split different parts of its body off to create other semi-independent entities.
The Plasm Wraith is encountered at the Formidable Oak, having taken Olimar captive with what appears to be curiosity rather than maliciousness. Efforts to rescue Olimar cause the being to become the Mysterious Life Form and slowly ooze towards the captain, attempting to retake him, until he reaches the outside of the oak. Once this occurs the Plasm Wraith takes its golden humanoid form, locks Olimar in its core, and begins to attack.
As with all final bosses thus far, the path leading up to it, and/or the boss fight itself, requires the knowledge and utilization of every single Pikmin type.
Background
When Olimar first arrived at the Formidable Oak, he saw a gold, shiny substance at the top of the tower, and decided to investigate. Louie expressed discomfort and chose to stay behind, letting Olimar go on ahead without him.
At first, the creature was curious and playful towards Olimar and did no harm to him. However, when Olimar tried to leave, the creature became aggressive, triggering his suit's auto-sleep function and dragging him back to its cave. It became protective of Olimar to the point that it would attack anything that showed interest in him. The exact reason for this bizarre behavior remains unknown.
Strategy
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The following article or section contains guides. |
When the Mysterious Life Form transforms into the Plasm Wraith and recaptures Olimar, proceed to throw Pikmin at its stomach. This will cause small bits of its plasmic exterior to fall off, making its health go down. However, Pikmin must then attack the puddles of plasm on the floor to destroy them, or the Wraith will simply reabsorb the puddles and regenerate health. Although it is not necessary, you may take 20 of each Pikmin for the battle. Send the other two leader out of its reach, as this fight only requires one leader.
Be prepared to lose a lot of Pikmin during this phase of the battle. It will actively attack Pikmin, but mainly prefers to target the leaders and attack when they are close, by skewering them with a rapid "needle-arm" attack. If any Pikmin aside from Rock Pikmin are in range of this attack, they will be skewered and eaten. You can separate the leaders as a distraction, with one leader handling all the Pikmin. It is unwise to attack it head-on, as it will not be fazed by attacks, and can easily kill the Pikmin. Instead, throw just a few Pikmin at it, preferably its backside, until it tries to shake Pikmin off by twisting its body. This will cause additional plasm to fly off of its body. As it loses more and more plasm, it decreases in size, but it will frequently try to heal itself by reabsorbing any plasm left on the ground. Throw Pikmin at the plasm on the ground to minimize the amount of health that the Plasm Wraith can recover.
It can also become temporarily airborne, during which it can only be reached by Winged Pikmin. If it is hit with Winged Pikmin while flying, it may fall down, losing even more plasm as it hits the ground.
Defeating the Plasm Wraith immediately activates the game's ending.
Elemental Plasms
After a quarter of its health is depleted, the boss will attack by spewing large masses of plasm onto the arena, then spitting out a golden fractal-embroidered cube. The plasmic mass will form around this solid cube and form an Elemental Plasm. Each Elemental Plasm has a specific hazard associated with it. If the boss spits out a cube, quickly call all Pikmin away from it. Once the battle reaches its final stage, up to three different Elemental Plasms can be created at once. The less plasm in the Elemental Plasm, the less time is needed to destroy it. It has many forms, each of which can only be destroyed with certain Pikmin types:
- A bubble of water, with the cube in the middle. Blue Pikmin must be thrown in, so they can swim to the core and shatter it.
- A bed of fire surrounding the cube. Red Pikmin are recommended, but Rock Pikmin can get the job done as well, provided they are whistled back before they burn to death upon touching it.
- An electrical sphere. The Elemental Plasm will form a spike underneath the cube, setting it high up in the air, and will then generate an electric barrier around it, making it resemble a plasma globe. Only Yellow Pikmin can reach high enough and sustain the forcefield.
- A crystal cube with the Elemental Plasm inside. The cube slowly tumbles around the stage, crushing Pikmin. Only Rock Pikmin can break it, chipping away different shards at a time.
Destroying Elemental Plasms will leave behind a large amount of plasm that must also be destroyed. If they are left there for longer than 20 seconds after being initially spat out, the Plasm Wraith will reabsorb them to heal itself. After the boss been reduced to just a quarter of its health, it will create three Elemental Plasms at once.
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
The Plasm Wraith appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a collectible trophy and as a Smash Tour trophy. When used in Smash Tour before a battle, it heals the player every time they shield an attack.
Trophy information:
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 US description:
“A mysterious life-form in the Formidable Oak, the final area of Pikmin 3. Formed from a gelatinous substance, it normally can't be damaged at all...but with Olimar newly rescued, maybe he holds the key. When it takes humanoid form, it unleashes some terrifying attacks! You'll need all your skills to take it down and finish the game!
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 EU description:
“A mysterious life form in the Formidable Oak, the final area of Pikmin 3. Formed from a gelatinous substance, it normally can't be damaged at all...but maybe the newly rescued Olimar holds the key. When it takes humanoid form, it unleashes some terrifying attacks. You'll need all your skills to take it down and finish the game!
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| How to obtain: Random appearance. | Type: Series Related | Trophy Box: 61. Distant Planet & Indigenous Creatures | |
Gallery
The Plasm Wraith and Olimar; notice how it seems to take care of him.
The Plasm Wraith.
The Plasm Wraith floating.
- ZlCfzRFkNf89-j2J r.jpg
The Plasm Wraith in the process of reabsorbing used plasm.
- ZlCfzRFkL-UfxCXIVz.jpg
Fire Elemental Plasm.
Electrical Elemental Plasm.
Water Elemental Plasm.
Crystal Elemantal Plasm.
- ZlCfzRFkNyoOhnWt0p.jpg
The Plasm Wraith flying.
The Plasm Wraith defeated.
The creature at the end of the game.
- 500px-Pikmin3 AmenyuudouNeedleAttack.jpeg
The Plasm Wraith about to use its stabbing attack.
- ZlCfzRFkLIsEoOydSh.jpeg
The Plasm Wraith attacking.
Trivia
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To do: Expand information on the unused enemy bubble, and add it to the glitches article. |
- This creature, along with the Titan Dweevil, are the only creatures so far in the series to exhibit the ability to harness all of the main hazard elements; all other element-based enemies are only able to wield one element.
- When the Plasm Wraith is idle, its right shoulder is bigger than its left shoulder, making it the fourth asymmetric creature in the Pikmin series; the first being the Mamuta, second the Segmented Crawbster, and third being the Peckish Aristocrab.
- When its health is at its lowest, regardless of how much damage is caused to it, it will only die after twirling itself and shaking off attacking Pikmin. At that point, it will throw away plasm and shrink to a size too small to live.
- Even though the Plasm Wraith is defeated, it is revealed to still be alive in the final cutscene. One can notice this because the small trail of plasm remains after its defeat slowly moves away from the site. It can also be briefly glimpsed as the S.S. Drake leaves the planet, already fully reformed and angrily wobbling at the leaving ship.
- The Plasm Wraith bears a resemblance to some bosses in the Pikmin series: in its final form, it resembles the Waterwraith from Pikmin 2.
- In the secret file reward video, "At the Oak", Olimar is seen surveying the area, while Louie is running away from something. Right as the video ends, the viewer can hear loud footsteps and the Plasm Wraith's roar, implying the capture of Olimar.
- The Plasm Wraith's health wheel is actually of a beveled, gold look, and corresponds to the amount of plasm left in its body.
- Strangely, when fighting the Plasm Wraith on the Defeat bosses! Mission Mode, the Koppad map can reveal an enemy marker off the map of the Formidable Oak. It is, however, unknown if there is an actual enemy off the map or if it's just a glitch.
- The Plasm Wraith's Japanese name is "Amenyuudou", which can be a portmanteau of "amoeba" (written in katakana like "ameba"), an unicellular organism usually found in water, or "ame", which means "rain", and "nyuudou" which means "priest" or "monk". Its name could also be an allusion to Wanyūdō, the guardian of the gates of Hell in Japanese mythology.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 French |
Spectroplasme | Spectroplasm; combination of specter and plasm. | |
 Portuguese (NoE) |
Espetro de Plasma | Plasm Wraith | Name taken from the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophy. |
 Spanish (NoA) |
Plasmaespectro | Plasm wraith |
