Sovereign Bulblax

Sovereign Bulblax
Appears in	Pikmin 4
Scientific name	Oculus supremus (advanced age)
Family	Grub-dog
Areas	Giant's Hearth, Serene Shores (Olimar's Shipwreck Tale only)
Caves	Subterranean Swarm, Cavern for a King
Dandori Challenge stages	None
Dandori Battle stages	None
Attacks	Eats, crushes, and scatters Pikmin

The Sovereign Bulblax (コウテイデメマダラ^?, lit.: "Emperor Spotted Bug-eye") is a boss found in Pikmin 4. This creature is an Emperor Bulblax in advanced age and shares many of the same attacks as the younger version of the species, such as a loud roar. One important difference apart from its size and health is its incredible jumping ability, far greater than that of its younger counterpart. Similar to the Empress Bulblax, the Sovereign Bulblax's method of attack will change slightly depending on where it is fought. In Giant's Hearth and Serene Shores the Sovereign Bulblax will not drop boulders when it falls down after jumping. However, when encountered in Caves or through the Piklopedia the Sovereign Bulblax will spawn 7 falling boulders after coming down from a high jump.

While not officially introduced until Pikmin 4, it shares many similarities with the Emperor Bulblax variants from Pikmin and Hey! Pikmin, with vegetation on its back being much more abundant, notably featuring fiddleheads rather than Blaxcaps and Bulborels.

Stats

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
30	60	50	× 20	8000

Behavior

The Sovereign Bulblax will hide underground until something disturbs it, where it will suddenly emerge, knocking back any leaders or Pikmin who are too close. It will then start to attack leaders and their Pikmin using a variety of attacks.

The Sovereign Bulblax's standard attack is to lash out its tongue and sweep it left to right, stunning the leader and Oatchi, and capturing Pikmin, who are then eaten. It may also roar, causing Oatchi and nearby Pikmin to panic. When the Sovereign Bulblax is lower on health, it will begin to perform large leaps. A shadow warns of its landing location, and any Pikmin caught underneath will be crushed. When encountered underground or in the Piklopedia, boulders will fall soon after it lands. When under attack, the Sovereign Bulblax will jump in place. This will shake off any Pikmin on the face and crush any underneath.

When there are no targets in the Sovereign Bulblax's territory, it will patrol the area and will not retreat underground.

Appearance

The Sovereign Bulblax looks almost identical to its younger counterpart, the Emperor Bulblax. Differences include being much larger and having a lot more vegetation on its back.

Locations

Strategy

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

Using a large squad of high-damaging Pikmin, either Red Pikmin and/or Purple Pikmin, and charging them all onto the Bulblax's face using Oatchi's rush ability can deal a lot of damage very quickly. The main issue with this is the fact that the Sovereign Bulblax is much larger than other enemies and it can be hard to correctly throw all Pikmin in the player's squad onto its face. Players must also be careful of where they throw their Pikmin, as if they throw them into the Bulblax's mouth, and it does its tongue attack, a lot of the Pikmin will instantly be stuck to their tongue and will be eaten. The easiest method of dealing with a Sovereign Bulblax is by tricking it into eating a bomb rock, Ice Blast, or something else explosive in the same fashion as its smaller counterpart providing ample opportunity to attack it without fear of retaliation. Be aware that once it recovers from this stunned state, however, it's very likely it will follow up by either bellowing out and scattering your Pikmin or by leaping into the air. As soon as it begins to recover, take the chance to whistle your Pikmin back to avoid this from becoming an issue. You can eliminate this possibility if your squad is large enough by using an ultra-spicy spray prior to Rushing the Bulblax, which will usually go down if stunned by a bomb Rock.

Notes

Dalmo's Notes

“The value a living creature has within its ecosystem has no relation at all to how big or small it is. That being said, this massive mountain of a critter is truly majestic! Not only does it have the courage and means to lay waste to any opponent, it also has a roar that could make the boldest traveler start to tremble in their space suit!”

Olimar's Notes

“An Emperor Bulblax of extremely advanced age. it will no longer display the pack behavior commonly exhibited by younger members of its species. Instead, as an individual ages, it leaves the herd and exhibits more solitary behaviors.

It feeds by using its strongly developed legs to leap upon crush its prey with speed disproportionate to its massive body.

To determine the age of any given specimen, you can count the rings of hide calcified in the form of a carapace. One ring forms roughly every year the creature lives. Individuals with over a hundred age rings have been discovered so far.

The Sovereign Bulblax's back is often covered in moss and pteridophytes. On a few occasions, specimens have been found with a rare species of mushroom, called a Bulborel, growing on its back.”

Louie's Notes

“For a light appetizer, pluck the ferns off its back and lightly cook to remove any astringent flavor. The tongue, eyes, lips, meat, and fat are very tasty and can be prepared in a variety of ways. Mature specimens have a more highly developed umami favor.”

Other information

Pikmin 4 Piklopedia number: #16

Naming

See more: Emperor Bulblax#Naming.

Common name: Sovereign Bulblax. In line with the other two boss bulblaxes, sovereign is used to describe a supreme leader, or ultimate power. As the Sovereign Bulblax is a fully grown Emperor Bulblax, it is an even more powerful variant and does possess incredible power.
Japanese nickname: コウテイデメマダラ^?. It translates into "Emperor Spotted Bug-eye". The use of the word emperor in this case may be a reference to the English name of the younger bulblax.
Japanese name: ダイオウデメマダラ長寿個体^?, lit.: "Great King Spotted Bug-Eye (advanced age)". ダイオウデメマダラ^? is the Japanese name for the Emperor Bulblax. 長寿個体^? refers to how it is an Emperor Bulblax of extremely advanced age.
Scientific name: Oculus supremus (advanced age). This is the same as the Emperor Bulblax, with the added clarification that it is a specimen of advanced age.
Internal names: BIGKINGCHAPPY. KINGCHAPPY is the internal name of the Emperor Bulblax, so the "big" is added to distinguish the two, as the Sovereign Bulblax is much bigger.
Prerelease: None.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コウテイデメマダラ^? Kōtei Deme Madara	Emperor Spotted Bug-eye
Chinese (traditional)	皇帝凸眼斑蟲 Huángdì Tūyǎn Bān Chóng	Emperor Bug-Eyed Spotted Bug
Chinese (simplified)	皇帝凸眼斑虫 Huángdì Tūyǎn Bān Chóng	Emperor Bug-Eyed Spotted Bug
Dutch	Opperbulblax	Supreme bulblax
French	Empereur Bulblax Empereur bulblax (Pikmin 4)	Bulblax Emperor Bulblax emperor (Pikmin 4)
German	König Knollenauge	King Bulb-Eye
Italian	Bulbico Supremo Bulbico supremo (Pikmin 4)	Supreme Bulblax Supreme bulblax (Pikmin 4)
Korean	황제툭눈점박이 Hwangje-Tug-Nunjeom-Bag'i	Spotted Emperor
Portuguese	Bulbolhão-imperial	Imperial 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")
Spanish	Bulbo Imperial	Imperial Bulborb	"Bulbo" is the Spanish name for Bulborb

Gallery

This article or section is in need of more images. Particularly:
images of wild Sovereign Bulblaxs, such as the one in SS in OST.
You can help Pikipedia by uploading some images.

A burrowed Sovereign Bulblax.
The face of a Sovereign Bulblax.
The mossy and rocky backside of a Sovereign Bulblax.
A frozen Sovereign Bublax.
A Sovereign Bulblax using its tongue to eat anything it touches.
A Sovereign Bulblax that has been stunned by eating a bomb rock.
A Sovereign Bulblax mid jump.
The boulders that fall once a Sovereign Bulblax hits the ground after jumping.
A Sovereign Bulblax roaring...The shockwave causes Pikmin to scatter.
The corpse of a Sovereign Bulblax in the Piklopedia.