Talk:Pikmin family

Page talk

Are the different colours sub-species or separate species of the same family? I would have thought separate species which mean an article title like Pikmin (family) or preferably just Pikmin would be more suited to the page. Discordance 01:54, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2004/10/22

The other species article (since deleted) had things added from the above page. Those were competition entries DO NOT add them here. I've only posed the link here because it's fun to read. Discordance 18:43, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't think the species names of the Pikmin are entirely accurate. I checked both games' in-game text, both manuals, the official Pikmin site, and never found scientific names listed. Google searches just came up with encyclopedia pages similar to this, just with somewhat less credibility. Whoever came up with the names probably just took the scientific names of Candypop Buds and changed the genus name to Pikminicus. I hate to be a spoil sport, but if the names don't come from an official source, they probably shouldn't be listed on the pages... —Jimbo Jambo

No, your right. These are made-up names. I rather ignored it, since they would most likely be the name given to the Pikmin if they would have them. Momentarily, I see no reason to keep this.--Prezintenden

Actually, the scientific name for a Bulbmin is Pariteus Pikminicus, but I don't know if I spelled Parasiteus or whatever right.Pikdude 00:24, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Actually what? We know the scientific name of Bulbmin already, but it doesn't tell us anything about the names of the colored Pikmin. —Jimbo Jambo

It tells us that the last part of their scientific name in Pikminicus.Pikdude 02:08, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

A scientific name is a combontation of something's genus name (generic name) followed by its species name (specific name). Pariciticus is the Bulbmin's generic name, where pikminicus is its specific name. Scientific classification works kind of like a tree, where the species would be the tip of the branch. To put it into perspective, humans (Homo sapiens) are in the same family as orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and P. abelii), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla and G. beringei), and our closest relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus), but of course have different scientific names, since we don't belong to the same genus. You're right, though, it's very possible that the colored Pikmin have "pikminicus" in their scientific names (they could all even have the same specific name if they belonged to different genuses), but we can't say anything of the sort until they're named by an official source. —Jimbo Jambo (By the way, be sure to click the link. You sound like you're into this kind of stuff, and where better to start than scientific classification?)

First of all, I don't beleive in evolution from apes. That kind of offended me. Second, oh, I just got them mixed up. Big deal, MARIO ROCKS! LUIGI ROCKS! MARIO, LUIGI, AND PIKMIN ROCK MORE! That was an entirely personal quote.Pikdude 12:19, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

since we don't belong to the same genus

Yeah... He (I assume from the name?) never said we evolved from apes. However, it is most likely that both apes and humans have the same ancestors from which we and they descend from.

Also, I am most certain that it is Parasiticus. Unlike Pariteus, it really is a Latin word.

What's up with your "personal comments/quotes" anyway? I'd find it best if you would show your, uh, passion on your own page.--Prezintenden

Onion theories

I for one are verey interested is the multi coloer onins at the end of pikmin1.Have any opinyos on them?--Last Onion 02:33, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

At the beging of pikmin1 the red yellow and blue onions were dormant But at the good ending the player would see many active multi coloer onions in the atmospher, so what dose this say about wild pikmin.

also thoughs Onions,whar did they come from.And what realy are they? If you distroy the onion you distroy there sorce of repodution.If pikmin come from onions whar do onions come from?

Could it be that its the onion that is the true speaces and the pikmin are just its mind les apndeges?Think about it: the pikmin dont seam to sleep ,eat,and might get an energy reacharge inside the onion.All the nuterance gets stuffed into the onion,ther by feeding it.How else would it know to make a singe pikmin sprout.And lift on at night.

Butt that brings up onion reprodution of wich im cluless. --Last Onion 14:30, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

I suppose it's possible that the Onions are the same species as their respective Pikmin, but have different genes activated. How a living thing will look and behave doesn't just depend on what's written in its genetic code, but also on which genes are "turned on" or "turned off." It's possible that hormonal changes early in a seed's development could cause it to grow into a new Onion instead of a Pikmin. Heck, Candypops are supposed to be related to Pikmin. Suppose the Candypops were stray Pikmin seeds that tried to propagate in areas with abnormal light levels or soil conditions, and through some ancient evolutionary adaption, changed their growth accordingly.

I read somewhere that pikmin are from the family Pikminicus or something. And Olimar wonders about something I wonder too- where do pikmin get their energy? And about the talk about the Onions, I think that they're like the queens(and maybe kings) of a pikmin coloney, like ants and bees. (It would be kind of stupid to make those links, although the Secret Insects at the Wistful Wild could use one- wait, just made it.) My theroy is that certain pikmin seeds are produced by an Onion close to death. These seeds are the ones that will grow into Onions. If this was the case in the game, the Onion would only produce one. And about the Candypop Buds, the pikmin probably have some sort of symbiosis with them.Pikdude 20:23, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and, do any of you think that pikmin might get a recharge inside the onion?Pikdude 20:25, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Idea! Seince the pikmin are so close to flowers, is it possible that a Candypop Bud is actually a fully matured pikmin? I mean, the only growth stages that a pikmin goes through is the leaf-bud-flower cycle, and that couldn't be a complete life cycle(you can make them skip the bud stage with Nectar).Pikdude 20:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but what would be below the flower? I mean, you can't have a giant pikmin. Although, that would be kind of cool.Mariomaster 21:02, 2 January 2008 (UTC) [Bowser: "Butterfly, butterfly, how I want to crush you into pulp between my jaws and massacrate you." That was an entirely personal comment.

The pikmin, except it's arms and legs would have turned into some kind of root thing. Similar to Bulbmin.Pikdude 21:22, 2 January 2008 (UTC)[Oh, so "I'll stomp you into space bits!" wasn't good enough for you?]

Yes, very similar to Bulbmin. And, it might be possible that Pikmin use Photosynthesis.Mariomaster 21:38, 2 January 2008 (UTC)[Yes, "I'll stomp you into space bits!" didn't actually seem very good.]

Ah, yes, photosynthesis! Very good, Mariomaster.Pikdude 21:51, 2 January 2008 (UTC)[I detect a Super Mario Galaxy player. Welcome to the club, mate. See you on my talk page.]

I don't doubt that Pikmin photosynthesize, but photosynthesis itself doesn't produce a whole lot of energy. The reason plants are able to pull it off so well is because most of them lead completely sedentary lives. Of course it's just a video game, but realistically, creatures as tiny and as active as Pikmin would need to eat quite a bit every day just to survive, and not to mention the water they would require. I think it's likely that most of their food comes from the Onion, which probably puts aside a certain amount from every kill the Pikmin bring back to it (while the rest goes to making new seeds).

Ah, but what if the Onions used photosynthesis? That big of a flower should be able to produce enough energy, plus, it leads a totally(well, almost, they fly away with you but that's a defense mechanism) sedentary life. Plus, when they're up in space the sun can still reach them, so they would have quite some energy stored up. That and the Pikmin useing photosynthesis should chock up about-if I have to use a storage unit-90 pikins(estimateing that an Onion produces 5 pikins per hour) and I haven't even calculated the Pikmin in there. Let's see... A Pikmin should be able to produce 1 Pikin per hour, and Pikmin in the wild would probably keep about 100 Pikmin out, so for 1 Onion and all it's Pikmin it has about 190 Pikins. But estimateing that an active Pikmin requires 1 Pikin per day, so the wild Pikmin's Pikin stock will go like this:↑190, ↓100, ↑190, ↓100, and so on. And considering the enemies the Pikmin bring- wow, I think we need another page for this. Prezintenden, please don't tell me off that "Pikmin is a game, we don't need to figure out how much an...." or anything like that. If I have time, I might figure out how many Pikins(Prezintenden, don't comment on that either) each enemy is worth, so until then, 24.63.92.5, keep checking my user page(click here to go there).Pikdude 00:26, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Okay, so a Pikmin coloney's supplies(Pikins) will only increase by 90 every day? And before you figure out how many "Pikins"(this is definetley questionable) each beast is worth, take into account that Hairy Bulborbs and Dwarf Snow Bulborbs live in colder areas, so they would have less "Pikins".Mariomaster 00:32, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Wait...what? Is a pikin supposed to be a unit of energy? And where are these numbers coming from? Putting that aside though, about the Onion: Yeah, like I said about Pikmin, I suppose it's possible that it photosynthesizes some, but it can't be very good at it. It has no leaves, and the petals are not only tiny, but seem to be too white to have much chlorophyll. Plus, even though it's stationary during the day, it has to hover in the low atmosphere all night, and nanny all the Pikmin inside it (assuming they don't just go dormant during the night, which, actually, is starting to seem more and more likely). If it uses photosynthesis at all, it probably gets most of its energy from other sources anyway, like pellets and beasts.

About the Onion: Yeah, like I said about Pikmin, I suppose it's possible that it photosynthesizes some, but it can't be very good at it. It has no leaves, and the petals are not only tiny... Are you kidding? They're nearly 5x the size of a Pikmin. And yes, a "Pikin" is an energy unit, although I would like to hear from Pikdude first..... The Onion is an alien species from another planet(possibly), so it probably has different chlorophyl, but apparently Pikdude is the expert on this paticular theroy, so I guess I have to wait fo him. My theroy about the Pikmin in the Onion is that they enter a state of hibernation, but my other one is that(warning:stupid and personal comment up ahead) they stay up and play DDR all night.Mariomaster 04:54, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

I can tell that that was Mariomaster's post. You forgot to sign your name, and when you were talking about- well, I can't really describe it, but Are you kidding? They're nearly 5x the size of a Pikmin. when you said that, he was talking about actual Pikmin. Yes, a Pikin is an energy unit, and it is very tiny, about the size of Pikmin? And it doesn't matter how low in the atmosphere you go, there's always sunlight, it's just that you can't see it, because at night, it isn't actually sunLIGHT, it's just.....sun.Pikdude 05:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)(P.S.- I moved your link. It was at the top of the page if you couldn't find it.)

Onion's petals are small compared to the Onion itself. Actual size doesn't matter, everything's relative. Oak leaves are tens of times bigger than Pikmin leaves, but that doesn't mean a tree will thrive if you strip it of all but one leaf (Pikmin leaves are probably really only useful when a Pikmin is in the ground, where is isn't constantly using up energy). Leaves are designed to have large surface areas so they can get the most light possible. The very shape of the Onions should suggest that it's not the case with them. Compare the five little petals on a Pikmin Onion to an actual onion stalk and tell me honestly that you think they're equally efficient at catching light.

And Pikdude, I remember reading somewhere that the Onions flew up to the "low atmosphere" during the night. "Low atmosphere" is certainly not space. You'd have to fly pretty far out before you could actually get out of Earth's shadow, and several days would have whizzed past by the time you got there. Besides that, the Onions would have to be completely air-tight and heavily reinforced just to stop themselves from exploding in the vacuum. Not to mention the frigid near-absolute zero temperature and absolutely lethal solar radiation they would be exposed to. Any compressed fluid in exposed parts such as the petals would instantly boil away due to the pressure, and anything left would freeze solid. I realize that we see Onions flying about in space at the end of Pikmin 1, but it's silly to realistically suggest that anything born on this planet could survive for an entire night in space without going into complete metabolic shutdown and then be able to function normally the day after. I mean, either way, it seems like a huge leap to make just to prove that Onions photosynthesize as a main means of obtaining energy.

Also, you can't really compare the size of a Pikmin to that of an energy unit...It's a unit of energy, not size. It's like saying that inches have a temperature.

Yes, energy is an ifanite element.... By the way, do you actually own Pikmin or Pikmin 2? The Onion's petals are huge. And about solar radiation... Please don't project earth's problems onto a planet in a video game. (Yes, it might actually be earth, but let's wait until that's released) The Onion is an organic unit, it obviousley has a lot of body heat, and then there's all the Pikmin inside it, so there's your answer to the cold. ::Also, you can't really compare the size of a Pikmin to that of an energy unit...It's a unit of energy, not size. It's like saying that inches have a temperature. Inches do have a temperature. If something is this many inches long, we can tell almost exactly what it's temperature will be. But, as I said before, energy is an infanite element... Energy and size do have one connection. Something this size or that size can only have this much energy. Plus, the Onion could extend it's brown stick things and soak up water. That plus the photosynthesis would equal a whole lot of energy.Pikdude 16:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Where to start?... The Onion's petals are probably only a few centimeters long, but like I said, what really matters is the relative size. There's no way you'd get me to believe that those petals are actual useful in photosynthesis unless they were much larger. Say, three to five times their current size, at least? And that would be just assuming that the Onion didn't have to use any more energy than an actual onion would, which is clearly does, considering that it houses thousands of Pikmin and can fly. Not only that, the the whole concept behind petals and leaves is different. Leaves are designed to absorb light energy to use in a chemical reaction, whereas petals reflect light, particularly ultra-violet light, to attract animals like bees and butterflies which are sensitive to it.

Solar radiation is not Earth's problem, it's a problem that any animal on any planet anywhere in the universe would have to face, especially if it wanted to fly around in space. Radiation doesn't come from holes in the ozone layer, it comes from trillions of tons of hydrogen and helium atoms undergoing nuclear fusion. I'd sooner swallow a nugget of uranium than expose myself to direct sunlight without ant sort of atmosphere or other means of protection. Even if your DNA weren't completely scrambled by X-rays, cosmic rays, and other nasty things, it would absolutely cook you if you tried to soak the light up.

About the temperature, you're assuming that Pikmin and their Onions are warm-blooded, if they even have blood. That's possible, but either way, it wouldn't really matter how much heat you produced if you tried to survive in the shade out there, unless you had fantastic insulation, which, granted, isn't awfully unlikely. The petals themselves don't seem to have any sort of protection, though.

And no, inches absolutely do not have a temperature. It's not really something that can be debated, it's just...not true. Inches are a measure of one-dimensional size, nothing more. Things that have size also have temperature (which could potentially vary from near absolute zero to so hot that atoms just fall apart, no matter how many inches in length it is), but you can't guess the temperature of something without knowing if it's alive, if it's active, what its metabolism is like, whether it produces its own body heat or whether it's cold-blooded, and of course, what the surrounding temperature is. It's just kind of tough to guess how much energy a Pikmin produces and uses within a given time frame without knowing a whole bunch of factors first, which we very unfortunately cannot find out.

The petals rotating at high speeds would produce heat. Bu that would take energy, as well as make it. (Don't ask how, I don't want to listen to a whole bunch more scientific jargon.)Pikdude 17:05, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

O.K., should you decide to continue, then note this:

• It's "theory"
• "colony"
• and "infinite"

Sorry, but I can't continue watching that.--Prezintenden