User:Phineas81707/Water body

A group of Red Pikmin drowning.

Bodies of water are the most common obstacle in the Pikmin series, since it is a feature of the terrain itself, and often impossible to remove. Water is a hazard to most Pikmin types, given that they cannot swim nor breathe underwater. Blue Pikmin, however, may cross bodies of water unhindered, making this type of Pikmin ideal for underwater tasks. Bulbmin and Glow Pikmin are also fully immune to water, but both types have limited availability and only appear during Night Expeditions and caves. Winged Pikmin can fly above the surface, allowing them to travel with the leader and carry treasure over water, though they cannot be thrown when the leader is submerged and are unable to retrieve any objects that are fully submerged. Ice Pikmin can float on water while in the leader's party, but they can't be thrown and are also unable to carry anything if water is in the way. Some bodies may be too shallow for the Pikmin to drown in, and such bodies are purely aesthetic.

In Pikmin and Pikmin 2, leaders, Blue Pikmin, and Bulbmin stick to the bottom of the terrain while underwater, and gravity acts as if they were on land. Starting in Pikmin 3, Blue Pikmin were given the ability to swim, allowing them freedom to move up and down, such as when chasing aquatic enemies. Leaders will always remain on the ground, however, and when they throw a Blue Pikmin, said Pikmin will slowly ascend and descend while underwater. In Pikmin 4, Oatchi will swim on the surface of water after learning Doggy Paddle, and while Pikmin are travelling on Oatchi's back, all types can cross the water's surface and even be thrown freely.

In Hey! Pikmin, pools of water are recurring obstacles. In order to cross bodies of water safely, Olimar must either not have any non-Blue Pikmin with him, or he must throw the ones that can't swim at Seeding Dandelions. Olimar and the Blue Pikmin can swim in water in this game, and the Pikmin will follow Olimar around and swim back when thrown underwater.'

Any Pikmin that is not immune to water will begin flailing at the surface if they find themselves submerged. They will eventually stop and drown, resulting in a Pikmin death. Pikmin in this state might be saved by having them slowly flail towards the leaders, and luring them to dry land or Oatchi's back. Pikmin in Pikmin 3 will follow leaders automatically, but in the previous games, they must first be whistled. Alternatively, if there are idle Blue Pikmin nearby, they can toss drowning Pikmin onto land in Pikmin and Pikmin 2. Some enemies can be affected by water as well. Mandiblards will steadily lose health while submerged, and certain fiery enemies become extinguished.

Navigating water bodies

Most bodies of water cannot be removed from the stage by any means. However, there are many ways to allow Pikmin of other types to avoid water if necesary:

• Draining: In Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 4, some bodies of water can be drained if the right seam is found. In Pikmin 2, these seams are found underneath clogs, while in Pikmin 4, they are usually found buried and can be drained through digging. Blue Pikmin are still required to reach drains.
  • Hero's Hideaway has a drainable sink, and in order to open the drain, a button must be pressed instead. This button is found above the water, so Blue Pikmin are not needed.
• Bridges: Many bridges allow Pikmin and leaders to cross water bodies without getting wet, allowing non-Blue Pikmin to carry treasure around the map. Most bridges are more convenient than crossing the water even for Blue Pikmin, although some bridges can only be formed with the assistance of Blue Pikmin to begin with. Others may require a circuitous alternative route be navigated first, instead presenting a shortcut for later carries.
• Freezing: In Pikmin 4, Ice Pikmin can freeze bodies of water, allowing other Pikmin to carry treasures over the body of water regardless of what routes they must follow. Freezing water can also raise the height of the terrain, making it easier to jump up a ledge with Oatchi or carry treasure across fiddly ledges. However, objects that are submerged under water cannot be retrieved while the water is frozen, and the water will quickly unfreeze once the Ice Pikmin are called from their task.

Rescue Pups

At the start of the game, Oatchi is unable to swim; if he tries, he will immediately begin drowning, bucking all Pikmin on his back into the water. Unlike non-Blue Pikmin, he will not perish if he drowns, instead teleporting back to the last piece of dry land he stood on before he fell into the water. After his first exposure to water, Shepherd will train Oatchi's Doggy Paddle skill, and will inform the player character of her success at the start of the second day following, assuming Oatchi has grown. Once Oatchi has acquired this skill, he can freely swim on most bodies of water, transporting both player and Pikmin. Upgrading Oatchi’s Doggy-Paddle allows him to swim faster and a Lv. 3 Doggy Paddle allows Oatchi to dive a short distance to perform certain tasks underwater, such as carrying or fighting.

Moss can swim by default in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale and does not need to learn how to Doggy-Paddle.

Enemies and water

For the most part, enemies are not affected by water, but some exceptions exist:

• Fiery Bulblaxes and Pyroclasmic Slooches will lose their fire if they enter water. The Fiery Bulblax will reignite if it leaves the water, but Pyroclasmic Slooches need to touch another Slooch's fire trail.
• Members of the mandiblard family in Pikmin and Pikmin 2 will lose health at a steady pace, as long as they are underwater. Shearwigs will also lose health if they fly above the water.
• Wolpoles and Puckering Blinnows will swim freely in water, but will begin flailing around if they find themselves on dry land.
• If a Mockiwi falls underwater, it will quickly lose all its health and drown.
• Young Yellow Wollywogs hop around on land, but swim when in water.
• Large Splurchins can slowly move underwater, but can't move at all when they're on land.
• Pricklepuffs will be unable to move if out of the water but can still attack Pikmin.

Reflection effect in Pikmin

The water in Pikmin has a faint reflection of the walls and leaves on the trees. This effect is actually obtained by having the walls duplicated and inverted under the ground, as well as having a white "bowl" with the shadows of the leaves. The ground texture underwater is then made translucent. Effectively, when looking at the water, the player is not seeing the reflection of objects high above, they're actually seeing through the ground, into a textured surface.

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  The reflection "bowl" underground at The Forest of Hope.

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  This image shows how the effect works, by showing how the ground is translucent.

Trivia

• In Pikmin 3, Pikmin under the effects of ultra-spicy spray will drown faster.

Glitches

There are a few glitches related to the water in the series:

• Pikmin:
  • Drowning reset
  • No drowning
  • Throwing non-Blue Pikmin underwater
  • Drowning Pikmin that are called to Captain Olimar can go through gates as if they didn't exist. This can be seen on the gate that bars access to the Armored Cannon Beetle. This has been fixed in New Play Control! Pikmin.
• Pikmin 2:
  • Drowning reset
• Pikmin 3:
  • Drowning cutscene glitch

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Spanish (NoA)	Agua	Water

See also

• Obstacle
• Clog
• Bridge
• Geyser