Glitches in Pikmin 3

To do: Add these and this. Care to do so?

This article or section needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style. Notes: Some of these are not exactly glitches, they're sequence breaks that exploit similar glitches (clipping through terrain, walking on thin ledges).

This is a collection of glitches possible in Pikmin 3.

Please read the glitch notes before attempting any of these glitches or before adding your own.

Main

Counter glitch

In this case, player 1's counter shows no standby bubble for Blue Pikmin, and player 2's shows 3 Red Pikmin on standby, but 0 on the squad.

Reproducibility	Consequences	Other demonstrations
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	Miiverse post with Brittany having herself on the squad

• Effects: Makes the counter show erroneous numbers, like more Pikmin for standby than the number of Pikmin on the squad, or vice-versa
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: There is no concise way to reproduce this glitch, but so far, it was only reported to work on the Quaggled Mireclops and Plasm Wraith mission in co-op mode. Just playing through the mission as normal will be enough for the counter to eventually glitch. Although rarer, it can happen without the Quaggled Mireclops's intervention, and in single-player.
• Notes: The counter returns to normal when the standby Pikmin/leader is switched, or a Pikmin type is added to or removed from the squad. A similar glitch can also happen in Pikmin.
• Possible explanation: None.

Early Quaggled Mireclops

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Get access to the Quaggled Mireclops without having to build the blue pot.
• Prerequisites: Make sure Blue Pikmin have been discovered.
• How to: At the Garden of Hope once Louie has ran away, discover the Blue Pikmin and take a group of Winged Pikmin under the large pail underwater. By standing in that certain spot, the Winged Pikmin will go higher and higher until they are on the land above the pail. From there, have them collect the group of 10 fragments by charging, and have a small group dig up the remaining fragments. If done correctly, a leader can now be thrown across to the incomplete blue bridge. Throw a few Rock Pikmin along with the leader to get the last 20 fragments inside the crystal.
• Notes: The Peckish Aristocrab will not interfere with the Winged Pikmin, so don't worry.
• Possible explanation: None.

Early Scornet Maestro

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Get access to fight the Scornet Maestro without having to build the red bridge.
• Prerequisites: Have the second half of the Twilight River unlocked, and have three leaders ready.
• How to: First, go into the area to the side of the red bridge (the area with two Desiccated Skitter Leaves and leading to the three Orange Bulborbs). From there, throw two leaders up onto the root near the pink 5 Pellet Posy. And from there, quickly throw another leader up onto the elevated area above. This must be done quickly or else the leaders will slide back down. Then, switch to the leader up above and have them walk near the rock closest to the path. If they continue to walk, they will eventually phase through it, fall out of bounds, and appear on the path to the Scornet Maestro's lair. Have them whistle a group of Pikmin under the path. When the leader at the top enters the transition zone, all Pikmin in the group will teleport to their side.
• Notes: In versions 1.0 to 1.3, the leader takes no damage. From version 1.4 onwards, the leader loses 1/3 of their health. It is also advised to start building the bridge while the boss fight is going on, so that when it is defeated, spoils can easily be carried back.
• Possible explanation: Collision detection algorithms should be simple when it comes to scenery. While the path's wall pushes the leader back, the rock pushes them forward, resulting in no lateral movement. The forward movement, however, is still enough to move the leader forwards (considering there are no collision forces stopping them efficiently on that direction), so they slowly make progress forward, until they no longer collide with the geometry and go through.

Early Shaggy Long Legs

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Makes the player fight against Shaggy Long Legs earlier than normal, and with unlimited time.
• Prerequisites: Have access to the Distant Tundra, and have not gone there before.
• How to: In the cave were the Yellow Pikmin are found, after breaking down the exit's blockade, go out of bounds using the same method as in the Yellow Onion skip glitch, only, rather than going above the entrance, go behind it and walk around to the Shaggy Long Legs' arena. The battle will proceed as normal, only there will be an unlimited day length, and Brittany will have infinite health.
• Notes: When battling the Shaggy Long Legs before breaking the blockade, if enough Pikmin die, it will be impossible to gain enough Pikmin to push the iron ball; and if all the Pikmin die, the Yellow Onion will not eject another seed. Additionally, any Red Pikmin (obtained via the Crimson Candypop Bud) will be invisible during the cutscene where the weight is pushed.
• Possible explanation: When Brittany is in the cave, the day is set to be in a "tutorial" state, where the leader have unlimited health and the day lasts forever, as with day 1. When exiting the main entrance of the cave, it is set to end the "tutorial" state and begin the day as normal; but if one exits via the other entrance, it will not.

Early Winged Pikmin

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Allows the player to get to the Winged Pikmin's Onion without building the long blue bridge across the river.
• Prerequisites: Have the Twilight River unlocked and have two leaders.
• How to: At the Twilight River have one leader walk across the river with the Water Dumple, with no Pikmin in the area. Once near the lily pad, have the leader walk in the corner of the rock to the left of it and the lily pad. If done correctly, the leader will begin to go through the rock. An easy way to tell if the leader is clipping in the rocks is if the they're not shaking around, and is only moving out of bounds. Walk away from where you went out of bounds and the leader will fall down into an abyss. They will later respawn on the side of the river with the Winged Pikmin's Onion. From there, switch to a leader at the landing site, and have them throw across some Pikmin, preferably Rock Pikmin, to free the Onion from the Arachnode's web. Throw some in the water, and then switch to the other leader so that they can call them to the other shore.
• Notes: In version 1.0, the leader takes no damage if they fall in. However, in version 1.4 and onwards, they take damage equal to 1/3 of their total health. Even though the bridge is skipped, it is recommended to build it eventually to allow easy retrieval of items.
• Possible explanation: Collision detection algorithms should be simple, in order to not overload the console, especially for things as trivial as scenery objects such as rocks. It is possible that the gap between the rocks angles inwards, and when the leader attempts to move between them, each wall pushes them in opposite directions, which results in no lateral movement. The forward movement, however, is still enough to move the leader forwards (considering there are no collision forces stopping them efficiently on that direction), so they slowly make progress forward, until they no longer collide with the geometry and go through.

Formidable Oak backwards

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Allows the player to do the Formidable Oak cave backwards, and clear out all enemies before actually encountering the Plasm Wraith.
• Prerequisites: Have 2 leaders available, have the Dodge Whistle, and of course, have the Formidable Oak unlocked.
• How to: Take one leader and throw them onto the small root to the right of the path leading down into the Plasm Wraith arena. The placement must be perfect or else the glitch will not work. Once there, walk off and to the left, and proceed to walk up the large root of the white tree. Make sure the leader is facing away from the arena, and use a dodge roll to get on top of the rock. From there, simply whistle the other two leaders and walk inside the cave. The glitch is easier seen than explained, so watch the YouTube video above.
• Notes: It is advised to throw a leader who would be switched to directly (i.e. Brittany throws Charlie, Charlie throws Alph, and Alph throws Brittany) so that the leader thrown on the root can be switched to immediately and they won't fall off.
• Possible explanation: Although there is a ledge blocking off the exit to the cave, there is no actual barrier blocking off the cave's exit, and it functions just like an entrance. The only invisible wall present is next to the large rock, which is why the Dodge Whistle must be used to get over the rock. By going through the cave backwards, the player can clear out all the obstacles easily without having to worry about the Plasm Wraith, and can rescue Olimar from the cave within a few minutes.

Invincible Pikmin

A Red Pikmin fighting a Toady Bloyster underwater without drowning.

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Makes Pikmin invincible, able to go underwater, and after thrown, stop reacting to being whistled.
• Prerequisites: Be in an area with a crushing enemy.
• How to: Stand next to somewhere where a Pikmin will get crushed and grab it as soon as it gets crushed. Make sure the leader is out of the way, as the Pikmin will die if the leader is damaged, since they will not be able to pick the Pikmin up. If all is done correctly, you should hear the Pikmin squeal even though it is still in your hands.
• Notes: While these Pikmin can break underwater walls, they can't do so for electric gates: when thrown at this kind of gate, they will hit it, then stop, then hit it again and then they will then rejoin your party. Oddly enough, when the player throws them on again, they won't do the same.
• Possible explanation: When a Pikmin is crushed, some flags are set to make it invincible. This avoids having the Pikmin get hurt by hazards or other enemies while it's performing its crushing death animation. During this state, Pikmin are also no longer in the group, and so, can't be picked up. But if the player grabs the Pikmin at the same time it gets crushed, it will activate the invincibility flags, but skip the crushing, since the Pikmin is in a state where it cannot be harmed (i.e. grabbed by a leader).

Immortal held Pikmin

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: A Pikmin gets attacked and squeals, but remains unharmed.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: Merely hold on to a Pikmin. While holding, the Pikmin cannot be harmed. The leader can be hurt however, which will cause them to drop the Pikmin. If the Pikmin goes underwater and can drown, it will do so.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: During the "being grabbed" state, the Pikmin is ready for several things, such as being thrown, but being hurt is not one of them. The fact that it screams might not be related with handling an attack in that particular state as much as it is handling an attack at any point of the Pikmin's global logic.

Odd-colored Pellet Posies

Main article: Pellet#Other colors.

On some areas, right after the day starts, the player can pan the radar to where certain Pellet Posies are, and by looking at them on the TV screen, they will be able to see that their pellets have weird colors. The most common place to try to this on is the corpse of the Quaggled Mireclops.

Yellow Onion skip

Reproducibility	Consequences
Medium	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Allows the player to skip the Yellow Onion and continue the game without it.
• Prerequisites: Have access to the Distant Tundra, and have not gone there before.
• How to: In the cave where the Yellow Pikmin are found, go between the iron ball and the slide and walk against the wall. If done correctly, Brittany should walk against the edge of the slide, rather than sliding down. Continue pushing against the wall while going down the slide to get out of bounds; from there, walk above the blocked entrance, and the game will treat it as you have exited the cave. Use the five yellow Pikmin and the Golden Candypop Buds to reunite Alph and Brittany. The day after, the Yellow Onion will be missing from the cave, and Yellow Pikmin produced by Candypop Buds will bring their loot to the master Onion and produce more Yellow Pikmin, although it is impossible to deposit or withdraw any into the Onion, and any Yellow Pikmin will vanish at the end of the day, even if they are in your squad or close to the landing site. Once you gain access to the Twilight River and rescue the Winged Pikmin, it is possible to withdraw Yellow Pikmin by using the "take out all types" feature; every one Red and Rock Pikmin taken out with this feature takes out one Yellow as well. To deposit Yellow Pikmin, take out Winged Pikmin and begin depositing them, but then hold the button that allows you to take out all the types, and Yellow Pikmin should be put in, instead.
• Notes: If the player also skips the cutscene that plays when meeting the Yellow Pikmin, it will not be possible to use the whistle until the end of the day, unless the player holds a Pikmin and whistles (the whistle's duration will be reduced to less than a second). Also, if the player goes back with Alph and Yellow Pikmin while Brittany is knocked out, the cutscene will play with Brittany's lines, except the first one will be empty.
• Possible explanation: Some flags that the game keeps to hold track of the story mode progression might get set or not set like intended if the glitch is performed. This results in the Onion's menu using some behaviors for some flags, resulting in unintended behavior.

Aesthetic

Alph empty dialog - Bulborb

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Causes Alph to have an empty line of dialog.
• Prerequisites: Have played for a few game-days, and haven't been to the Garden of Hope in several days.
• How to: After not being to the Garden of Hope in a while, simply walk up to the sleeping Red Bulborb with Brittany or Charlie. The game will lock-on to the Bulborb automatically, and a text box of dialog for Alph will appear, but he won't say anything.
• Notes: The exact requirements are not known, but being in a day past 15 seems to do the trick.
• Possible explanation: None.

Alph empty dialog - Fire-Breathing Feast

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Causes Alph to have an empty line of dialog.
• Prerequisites: Killing the Armored Mawdad without collecting or going near enough to the Fire-Breathing Feast to trigger a line of dialog from Alph or Brittany, and rescuing Captain Charlie.
• How to: Simply walk up to the Fire-Breathing Feast with Captain Charlie, and an empty line of dialog from Alph will appear.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: None.

Confused Pikmin

This article or section is in need of more images. Particularly: Better shot. Winged Pikmin are hard to see at the best of times, and the rain's not helping. You can help Pikipedia by uploading some images.

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Pikmin following a leader will attempt to board the S.S. Drake instead of the Master Onion.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: Have an inactive leader pass through a loading zone with Pikmin in their party, through the use of the Go Here! command. Then, end the day as they are passing through.
• Notes: An attempt to recreate the glitch has had the Pikmin not return to the landing site automatically. For best results, use the loading zone west of the Twilight River landing site, past the paper bag. Winged Pikmin will reach the Drake before the cutscene ends.
• Possible explanation: During the location transitions, Pikmin and leaders are programmed to follow a strict "follow the leader's path" logic system. This doesn't get cleared when the day is terminated, which results in the Pikmin continuing to blindly follow the leaders when they find themselves at the landing site for the end of the day's cutscene.

Corrupted radar preview

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Shows a corrupted radar on the GamePad for a split second, using the object layout of Twilight Hollow Remix, but with bits and pieces of the Distant Tundra Remix's radar.
• Prerequisites: Have the first downloadable content pack; the one that adds the maps from Tropical Forest Remix to Shaded Garden Remix.
• How to: Set the game up to have Off-TV Play disabled. Enter the Collect Treasure! Mission Mode menu. Without entering any mission's briefing screen, simply pass the cursor from one mission's button to the next, letting the game load the radar preview on the GamePad every time. Go from the Tropical Forest Remix button to the Shaded Garden Remix button in this way. Finally, with the cursor on the Shaded Garden Remix button, hold left so that the cursor speeds to the Tropical Forest Remix button. As you do so, pay attention to the GamePad, and when the game shows the Twilight Hollow Remix radar pattern, it will quickly show a corrupted version of the Silver Lake Remix's radar textures, for a split-second. If you cannot get it to work the first time, try again.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: None.

Drowning cutscene glitch

File:GlitchWaterCutscene.jpeg

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
Medium	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Shows the fire effect and the water effect overlap incorrectly.
• Prerequisites: Never had a Pikmin drown before.
• How to: Go to the cave with Pyroclasmic Slooches on the Distant Tundra. Let the Slooches draw some trails of fire and get a Pikmin to start drowning. If the positioning and the camera angle line up, the fire trail will appear in the same place as the water from the camera's line of sight, but the two will overlap in odd ways.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: None.

Floating Pikmin with a paper bag

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	Demonstration of the glitch, at 19:15

• Effects: Has Pikmin floating in the air momentarily during a cutscene.
• Prerequisites: Have a paper bag in its original position.
• How to: When you're behind a paper bag, throw some Pikmin on top of it, and then have other Pikmin push the bag. During the cutscene, the Pikmin that were in the bag will remain in their place, and float in the air when the bag is no longer under them. When the cutscene ends, the Pikmin fall back down.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: During a cutscene like that one, other Pikmin do not move, as to focus exclusively on the movement of the paper bag. This includes vertical movement, so the Pikmin do not fall.

Invisible geometry

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Hides the area's geometry, making only the objects visible.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: Enter an area. If you want to see the geometry disappear on a specific part of the area, make sure you're on a different section than that (e.g. if you want to see the glitch happen in a cave, go outside, and vice-versa). Disable Off-TV Play if it's not already disabled, and use the radar's panning to place the camera on the location you want to see the geometry disappear. Look at the TV screen, press any button that makes a leader perform an action (like ) and at the same time. You should see the world disappear, although the objects stay. You'll quickly be covered by the Home screen, so to get a better look, you can, for instance, go on the web browser and press to show the game on the TV screen. The timing for this is very strict, of only 1 frame, but since you can try again right away if you fail, you should get it to happen quickly.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: When using the panning feature, the game switches geometry models in order to be able to show the player what's in the other parts of the area. When gameplay resumes, it hides all models of the sections of the map the player is not on, and returns the camera to the leaders. Because the camera doesn't go there instantaneously, but takes one or two frames before it's near the leaders, there is a small window where the camera is outside of the section the leaders are at, but with the geometry hidden.

Invisible Pikmin

File:InvisiblePikmin.jpeg

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Have Pikmin on the field that are invisible. They still behave like normal.
• Prerequisites: Have at least two types of Pikmin unlocked.
• How to: First, get out 100 (or less, although 100 is advised) of the type Pikmin you don't want invisible. Afterwards, go back into the Onion menu and deposit some Pikmin and take out a few of species of Pikmin you want invisible. Now, right as the Pikmin go inside the Onion, use the whistle. If done correctly, there will be a few invisible Pikmin of the type that was originally going to come out of the Onion.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: When a Pikmin is going in the Onion, its model becomes invisible (so it doesn't appear to clip inside the Onion), and only on the next few frames does the Pikmin actually get removed from the field. Whistling a Pikmin in this state will not fix its model, making it remain invisible.

Odd carrying positions

File:BombRockGlitch.jpeg

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Low	{{{consequences}}}	Demonstration of the glitch, at 12:55

• Effects: Makes Pikmin carry an object in a weird position, such as upside-down.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: Throw a Pikmin at an object that has fallen down, such as one falling from a Medusal Slurker or in a dirt mound. The timing is difficult, making this a glitch hard to do intentionally.
• Notes: The glitch only seems to work on objects that require 1 Pikmin to carry.
• Possible explanation: Once an object, such as a bomb rock, falls down onto the ground, Pikmin will chase after it and pick it up. However, if a Pikmin manages to pick up the object before it reaches its natural position, it accepts that as the natural position of carrying. The Pikmin are told to stick to a specific location and angle relative to the object, which could result in them being placed incorrectly.

Onion cutscene camera glitch

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Causes the player to be able to see unloaded area section geometry, because the camera fails to move to the section of the area where the current leader is and the geometry is loaded. Although the geometry won't be visible, some details will still appear, like the Onion's beam, the Pikmin flowers, or the skybox.
• Prerequisites: Be at the location of the Winged Onion or the Blue Onion, with it still entrapped.
• How to: Leave one leader inside a section of the area that isn't the section with the Onion, like inside a cave. Have the other leaders at the Onion's location, ready to free it. The idea is to start the Onion cutscene when the leader inside the cave is the active one. For the Winged Onion, the best way is to throw two Rock Pikmin at the Arachnode to bring its health down, let it scuttle and rest, throw three Red Pikmin at it, and quickly change to the leader inside the cave. For the Blue Onion, simply throw three Winged Pikmin at the Flukeweed and switch to the faraway leader before they finish pulling out the Onion. When the Onion's cutscene is over, the game will prepare to go back to the leader that was selected, and will load that section, and unload the section of the area where the Onion is. However, the camera will stay in the same spot, meaning you'll be able to see the unloaded geometry. This effect will remain until any controller input is made, or until one of the idle leaders plucks the new sprout and the new Pikmin type introduction cutscene starts. So to maximize the effects, make sure that the leaders are far away from the Onion when you switch out, so that they don't pluck the sprout.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: The Onion cutscenes erroneously do not have code to move the camera to the current leader when they are over, despite having the code to move the radar to the right place, unload and load the correct chunk of the area, etc.

Pikmin out at night

The Pikmin on the bottom-left portion of the screen have been affected by the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
Medium	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Makes a Pikmin stay idle during the nighttime cutscene, and then vanish when it's time for takeoff.
• Prerequisites: Have leaf or bud Pikmin in your party.
• How to: Have a drop of nectar on one of the Onion's legs, and have leaf or bud Pikmin with you. The best way to do this is to knock on an Iridescent Flint Beetle when it is near the Onion; this can be done on the Garden of Hope and Twilight River. End the day from the pause menu. The Pikmin in your party will make their way to the Onion's legs, but leaves and buds should stop by the nectar and begin drinking it. When they're done, they'll remain idle on their spot, and the Onion will fly off without them. When that happens, they will vanish instantly.
• Notes: This does not affect the Pikmin count; the Pikmin that go idle are not counted as dead. A similar glitch can also happen in Pikmin, although the method is different.
• Possible explanation: There is no code to handle the case in which a Pikmin going for the Onion would touch a bit of nectar, given the unlikeliness of it happening.

Pikmin with a bomb rock pose

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Makes a Red Pikmin hold its arms out as if holding a bomb rock, without the bomb rock being there.
• Prerequisites: Have access to both bomb rocks and fire geysers.
• How to: Get a Red Pikmin to carry a bomb rock. Then, make the Pikmin walk through a fire geyser while still on your group. The bomb will be dropped and ignited, but the Pikmin will keep its pose.
• Notes: Only the Pikmin's animation is affected. Throwing the Pikmin or dismissing will make its animation return to normal.
• Possible explanation: On the code that handles Pikmin dropping a bomb rock because of the fire, there is no code to update its animation. Other situations in which the Pikmin drops a bomb rock use different code.

Stretched Burrowing Snagret

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
Medium	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Stretches out the Burrowing Snagret's corpse. If it is stretched too much, it becomes invisible.
• Prerequisites: The Early Winged Pikmin glitch has to be done.
• How to: First of all, do the Early Winged Pikmin glitch, so the blue bridge won't be built. Then the paper bag in front of the Winged Onion must be pushed. After that, the Burrowing Snagret must be defeated and its corpse must be carried by 10 Winged Pikmin or more. These Pikmin will be blocked in front of the bridge which is unfinished. Whistle them and order them to carry the Burrowing Snagret again; they will pass above the lilypad with the head of the Snavian but its foot will be stuck to the lily pad. The Winged Pikmin will keep carrying the corpse, and the body between the stuck point and the head will begin stretching as the Pikmin carry it forward. If it is stretched too far, the body will eventually turn invisible. Despite this, the corpse will still be harvested once brought to the Master Onion.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: None.

T-pose Pikmin

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Shows a Pikmin in a T-pose.
• Prerequisites: None
• How to: Go to a Pikmin sprout and choose to pluck it. Just when the leader's hands make contact with the Pikmin, the creature will be shown in a T-pose (also known as blind pose or reference pose), meaning its arms will be stretched out horizontally. It will also appear at ground level instead of being underground. This lasts only for a single frame. With the KopPad's camera and a secondary leader, it is possible to see it better, especially if you snap a photo.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: When a Pikmin is plucked, its "sprout" object is removed from the world, and its "normal" object is created. It takes one frame for the object's animation to be set, so for a single frame, it uses the default animation pose, which is a T-pose, commonly used during development to make it easier to see and work with the model. This T-pose is set at ground-level instead of submerged underground.

T-pose Scornet Maestro

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Shows the Scornet Maestro in a T-pose.
• Prerequisites: Have a save file with any day after the defeat of the Scornet Maestro.
• How to: From the day selection screen, pick a day where you have not met the Scornet Maestro, preferably the first day in which it's possible to visit the Twilight River. Use the KopPad's radar app and pan to where the Scornet Maestro's arena is. If it's not already disabled, turn off Off-TV Play so you can use the GamePad and the TV. From the TV, you should be able to see the Scornet Maestro's shadow in a T-pose (with its arms spread out sideways). If you gently pan the camera around, you'll be able to bump into the Scornet Maestro itself, which will be roughly at camera-height. By unpausing the gameplay using the button on the top-right corner of the KopPad, the boss will begin to slowly drift downwards, always in the same pose, stopping when it reaches the ground.
• Notes: Something similar also happens with the Vehemoth Phosbat, in that it stays in place in its transparent state. It is not clear if it is in a T-pose or not, and unpausing the game with the KopPad's button will make it move normally.
• Possible explanation: Unlike other bosses, the Scornet Maestro is not hidden when the area is loaded and the enemy is not being used. This normally would not be a problem, as players would never be able to see it in its default pose (the T-pose), seeing as panning the radar to its arena would just reveal a black fog, due to the section never having been entered before. But if on the same save file, the boss had been encountered once, the arena will be visible on any day, including a day where the Maestro appears in its T-pose.

Unrestricted radar

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: In Defeat Bosses!, allows the player to pan the radar anywhere around the area, even out of bounds, instead of being confined by the arena. The TV screen's top-down view updates accordingly.
• Prerequisites: Have at least one Defeat Bosses! mission available.
• How to: Start a boss mission. Then, simply pan the radar around. It will be unrestricted.
• Notes: This will not work if the mission is started from the pause menu's "Retry" option; this will just restrict the radar to the arena.
• Possible explanation: The code that sets the radar's boundaries is not run on the "mission entry" code, but is run on the "mission retry" code.

Warped sunset music

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Makes the sunset theme sound warped and low-quality, as if played through a speaker.
• Prerequisites: Be on day two or further.
• How to: When the day is about to end, pause the game via the radar, and unpause it using the Alph icon on the top-right corner. When the sunset cutscene starts, it will have the same filter applied to it as the area song when heard through the KopPad's unpause feature.
• Notes: This audio is heard from the TV alone, or GamePad in Off-TV Play.
• Possible explanation: An audio filter is applied to the current area's song when the game is unpaused using Alph's icon. This change in the music is meant to reflect how the action is still happening, but the player is not in it. However, there is nothing to handle a sunset during this time, so the music filter is never removed.

Misc.

Blue Onion bump glitch

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	Demonstration of the glitch, at 2:57

• Effects: Makes a leader slide away during the Blue Onion's discovery cutscene.
• Prerequisites: Be on the day where you can open the Blue Onion, or have a save file that is after that day so you can return to it.
• How to: Throw five Winged Pikmin to the Flukeweed atop the Onion. As the Pikmin are pulling it, decide where it is that you want to make your leader slide to. The depression in the water to the south of the Onion's pond is a good place to aim for, as the leader will slide further because of the downwards slope. It is best to aim the camera that way. As the Onion is being pulled out, place your leader next to the Onion, on the side of the place you want to go towards. Make sure your leader is bumping against the Onion. When it gets pulled out, move your character towards the Onion's center while it is airborne. When it falls down, it'll bump against the leader, which will be sent sliding in the opposite direction.
• Notes: The closer to the center of the Onion the leader is, the less distance they will travel, so it is recommended not to walk too far into the Onion's landing position.
• Possible explanation: When the Onion lands, it pushes the leader. Because the landing triggers the cutscene, and because during the cutscene the game expects the leaders to be standing still, their friction must use a value different from the norm, which allows them to slide.

Brittany's pseudo-reunion

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
High	{{{consequences}}}	Demonstration of the glitch.

• Effects: Reunite Brittany and Alph in the Distant Tundra before constructing the double bridge.
• Prerequisites: Have Brittany and Alph separated at the Distant Tundra without having built the double bridge, and have obtained the Dodge Whistle with Alph.
• How to: At the Distant Tundra, with Brittany, go to the top of the slide near the Whiptongue Bulborb and dodge roll to hit the west side of the slide's edge, then walk against it. If done correctly, Brittany should not slide down, but rather be walking against the wall. Continue walking down the wall and it should be possible to get up the wall and out of bounds. Once Brittany is out of bounds, she can jump off over at the side of the river where Alph is. However, it will be impossible to call Alph (or Brittany, after switching) and they will not react to being pushed, either. After the day ends, Brittany will automatically be sent back into the cave, unless the double bridge is finished.
• Notes: If Pikmin are brought out of bounds with Brittany, they can be thrown on the partially-submerged dirt wall and it can be broken, allowing easy access between the two sides of the river. Additionally, if the light in the cave where the Vehemoth Phosbat first appears is lit, Brittany will be considered as reunited, and will return to the Drake at day's end even if the double bridge is unfinished.
• Possible explanation: None.

Crimson Banquet glitch

Reproducibility	Consequences
?	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Makes Pikmin carrying part of the Crimson Banquet survive the sunset. The pieces then become irretrievable the next day.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: Carry both the defeated Sandbelching Meerslug and the Crimson Banquet pieces towards the landing site. After the body comes out of the pathway between the arena and the mainland, call back all of the Pikmin carrying it, but not the ones carrying the fruit. The day must then end, and if done correctly, none of the fruit carriers should be lost to sunset. Come back the next day, and pieces of the fruit should be scattered around the area where the body was, but they might not be there, meaning that they are gone. You need to restart the previous day to get the fruit back.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: None.

Floating fruit

File:Floatingfruit.jpeg

Demonstration of the glitch on The Rustyard.

Reproducibility	Consequences
Medium	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Fruits will hover in the air and Pikmin will not grab onto it.
• Prerequisites: Find a fruit that is located on a ledge that is oddly shaped, like the one in the picture.
• How to: Just as the object is about to fall onto the lower ground, call back all Pikmin carrying the object. It is possible that the object will be stuck in the air beyond the ledge.
• Notes: The object will most likely remain irretrievable afterwards, so attempt the glitch where it is not harmful, like Mission Mode.
• Possible explanation: There is a certain small area located at the end of the ledge when an object is being carried back to base, acting like a sort of ramp so that the Pikmin do not fall straight down. Since Pikmin cannot actually walk on this "ramp" of sorts, the Pikmin will try to attempt to carry the fruit but won't actually be able to. Winged Pikmin, of course, will be able to free the object.

Knocked out Alph as the active leader

Reproducibility	Consequences	Demonstration
Medium	{{{consequences}}}	YouTube video

• Effects: Switches control to Alph while he is inside the S.S. Drake, knocked out. The only thing that can be done is move the camera and the cursor.
• Prerequisites: None.
• How to: On the first day at the Formidable Oak, knock out Alph as the first thing you do. This can be achieved by having Charlie hold him at the northeast corner of the Plasm Wraith's arena, against the ledge from which the boss appears, and then facing the southwest, and releasing him. He should fall off into the pit and lose some health. Once he is knocked out, get some Pikmin and approach the Plasm Wraith and Olimar at the top. After the cutscenes where the Pikmin try to carry Olimar and choose to follow Brittany, the game gives control to Alph, who is actually knocked out and at the S.S. Drake.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: The sequence of events at the Formidable Oak doesn't expect Alph to be knocked out, since that is impossible during normal gameplay. So the script simply gives control to Alph after the Brittany "flag" cutscene, without bothering to check if he's even usable.

Plasm Wraith push out

Reproducibility	Consequences
Low	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Enter the Formidable Oak during the Plasm Wraith boss fight.
• Prerequisites: Get a large amount of plasm to fall out (easiest to destroy an elemental plasm or to ground the boss (attack it with a large amount of Winged or Yellow Pikmin) when it levitates).
• How to: Fight the Plasm Wraith as normal until its health is down 1/3 of the way. When it starts to send out the elemental plasms, destroy them and stand in the puddles until the boss reabsorbs them. Very rarely, the plasm should push the player through the floor and out of the level; the player will lose 1/3 of their health, but will respawn in the final puzzle room of the Formidable Oak's dungeon.
• Notes: The room will appear like it does in story mode but with no water, enemies, or Common Glowcaps, leaving it totally dark. As the game is still in Mission Mode, the exits are blocked and the room becomes effectively inescapable. The battle outside will be completely paused until the player switches leaders. There are also reports of the outside area becoming dark (like during sunset) outside as well.
• Possible explanation: None.

Remote-controlled Pikmin

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Control Pikmin without being exactly where they are.
• Prerequisites: Obtain the Dodge Whistle.
• How to: Throw Pikmin up a ledge or over a gap, call them, and repeatedly use the Dodge Whistle against a wall. The Pikmin should roll, going farther than possible to throw. If you dismiss your Pikmin after they have rolled close to an object, such as the hay pile north of the landing site in the Distant Tundra, they will interact with it, allowing access to some areas that shouldn't be accessible.
• Notes: None.
• Possible explanation: When dodging, the Pikmin are programmed to roll with the leader, but if the leader's roll path is blocked, and the Pikmin's is not, then they will still roll.

Tremendous Sniffer without bomb rocks

Demonstration of the glitch.

Reproducibility	Consequences
High	{{{consequences}}}

• Effects: Obtaining the Tremendous Sniffer in the Twilight River without bomb rocks.
• Prerequisites: Keep the Reinforced Wall up.
• How to: At the Twilight River, approach the Tremendous Sniffer. Swarm Winged Pikmin at the Tremendous Sniffer, having them carry it into the wall. Call them back into the squad. The next day, the Tremendous Sniffer will be outside of its alcove. Alternately, throw Yellow Pikmin over the gate and have them carry it, but the only way to rescue those Pikmin is by making sure they're in a leader's group when the day ends. The Pikmin become idle if they can't get close to the leader for a few seconds, so if you want to end the day manually, make sure to whistle them and end the day right after.
• Notes: Bomb rocks can be used and still have the glitch work, just as long as you don't fully destroy the wall.The fruit will clip through the wall for a tiny bit.
• Possible explanation: The game keeps track of where the fruit is. Instead of saving exact coordinates, it might only save the "general" location. If the fruit is not moved, its "general location" is considered inside the alcove. If it gets too close to the gate, the location starts being considered the open space outside the alcove. When it loads the next day, it places the fruit in the vague location it had saved the previous day. Alternately, the game might save the exact location, but due to the carrying, the pear gets slightly embedded against the wall, and when the game loads a new day, it attempts to spawn the fruit in the same place, but to prevent it from clipping, it pushes it off and outside the wall.

Minor

The following glitches cannot easily be reproduced and/or are not noteworthy, but are documented for completion's sake.

Aesthetic

• In Arid Metropolis, if an Armored Cannon Larva detonates a bomb rock with one of its boulders, one of the explosion's spark particles will remain in place for a second after the explosion happens.
• Dodging from under the water to the shore will result in bubbles appearing on dry land. Each bubble only lasts for less than a second.
• By draining all the leaders' health, the rings that delimit a "safe zone" on the landing site will be visible during the sunset cutscene.
• If a leader is thrown onto an Arachnode's web, that leader will become flat.
• By being far enough away from the bomb rocks on top of the tin can on the Twilight River, and looking at them through the KopPad, the rocks' orange energy stripes will appear bloated and much larger than they should be.
• In the Collect Treasure! version of Beastly Caverns, if an object is delivered to the Blue Onion, and only White and/or Purple Pikmin are carrying it, it will glow red when it is being sucked in, instead of blue.
• If the day ends when the Onion begins sucking something up, its beam swirls will stay there, animated, during the sunset cutscene. An easy way to trigger this is to use the pause menu.
• If the player gets some Pikmin to carry a bomb rock, and brings them with a leader to the hole that has Medusal Slurker that is carrying a Juicy Gaggle, on the Tropical Wilds, the bomb rocks will turn invisible. The explosives are perfectly normal besides that, and exiting the cave will fix the problem.
• When playing on Rusted Labyrinth, the angle of the iron ball's lighting will be based off of player 1's camera, for both screens. This can be seen by having player 2 look at the iron ball, and having player 1 rotate the camera – the highlight will move around the ball on player 2's screen.
• Throwing Pikmin onto a small pile of fragments that is almost gone (3 out of 30 should be fine), the Pikmin will float on top of the pile. Likely a hitbox error.

• 

  Invisible bomb rock.

Gameplay

• By holding on to a leader or Pikmin while on the Sandbelching Meerslug's arena and walking about, the trajectory prediction curve will occasionally change to a tight curve with an endpoint far below the surface. At this point, throwing will result in the leader or Pikmin to perform their trajectory very quickly. This is likely because the game adjusts the throw's velocity according to the distance, which in this case, is assumed to be quite far away (underground).
• If the Quaggled Mireclops's crystal is broken while Pikmin are inside its mouth, those Pikmin will not be killed, but will not be retrievable either. At the end of the day, they will be accounted for the number of deaths by battle.
• If the Heroine's Tear is collected with Winged Pikmin, it will become impossible to obtain for the rest of the day as it will get stuck on the exits of the cave.
• When a leader uses the Dodge move against an object that can be carried with a single Pikmin, the object in question will slightly move. This trick can be used to move pieces of fruit out of the water, for example.

Hard to reproduce

• While playing through the Quaggled Mireclops mission, it's possible for the cursor for player two as Brittany to be colored all pink like normal, except for the sphere in the center, which will be blue. This happens for when the cursor is not on top of a target (i.e. on the ground).
• It is possible to lose Pikmin on the first day. When taking down the dirt wall, Pikmin that are thrown at it can end up going out of bounds and die.
• At times, when entering the hollow tree with the Medusal Slurker that has a Juicy Gaggle inside of it on the Tropical Wilds, Pikmin that come with the leader will attach to the fruit while it is still inside the creature. The carrying numbers will appear, and the Pikmin will remain grabbing on until called. This glitch might only happen if the Pikmin are thrown onto the hole that leads inside the stump.
• It is possible to go out of bounds on the Sandbelching Meerslug's arena. The method is not currently known.
• Occasionally, the Plasm Wraith will perform the animation in which it spits out an Elemental Plasm, but nothing will come out.
• At times, thrown Pikmin will remain stuck in their thrown animation. This can happen while close to an enemy corpse.
• It is possible to throw a leader onto the back entrance of the Formidable Oak while during the Mission Mode battle against the Plasm Wraith. Inside, there is a simplistic version of the cave.
• If the Armored Mawdad descends from the wall in a certain spot not far clockwise from the entrance, it will temporarily get stuck.
• It is possible for the music transition between "vulnerable boss" and "normal" in a boss fight to not trigger.
• A Rock Pikmin can get stuck on the Quaggled Mireclop's corpse in days after the fight. It cannot be whistled into the group or removed from this state.
• If a Pikmin following a leader falls into water the exact moment the leader enters a cave, the Pikmin can start drowning and flying without water.
• If a Pikmin tries to take a berry the moment it disappears, the Pikmin will try to bring that non-existent berry to the S.S. Drake.
• On the voyage log screen, the typewriter tapping sound that accompanies the text becomes delayed, and eventually lags behind. This glitch has only been proven to happen on the European version, although it might work on the American version as well.
• While on the Twilight River cave with the three Juicy Gaggles, it is possible for that section of the area to unload, which makes the leader fall through the stage. They can reappear at the path to the Scornet Maestro.
• The game can freeze a couple of seconds after the first cardboard box is pushed.
• If there are two objects compressed against the same invisible wall during the cutscene that explains that carrier Pikmin are stuck, there is a chance the objects will be launched very far away.

• 

  Brittany's cursor with a blue sphere.

Miiverse posts

The following are Miiverse posts about glitches that have no explanation or detail.

• Olimar floating
• Out of bounds at the Distant Tundra
• Floating carrying Red Pikmin
• Mysterious Life Form stuck in loading zone
• Pikmin gathering
• Lazy Pikmin refusing to dig
• Pikmin stuck in the claws of a dead Swooping Snitchbug
• Floating Juicy Gaggle
• Uncarriable Sandbelching Meerslug
• Crimson Banquet stuck inside gate
• Pellet stuck on an edge
• Some Rock Pikmin trying to push an already pushed iron ball
• Floating pellet
• Full-screen graphical glitch
• Orange Bulborb corpse stuck under a bridge
• Going out of bounds on the Garden of Hope
• Activating an electrode with only one Pikmin
• Carrying a Desiccated Skitter Leaf angled
• Floating Alph during extinction
• Some Blue Pikmin trying to push an already pushed iron ball
• Two Plasm Wraiths in Defeat Bosses! co-op
• Falling through the Twilight River after jumping on a lily pad
• Pikmin stuck on its walking animation without moving
• Fruit analysis screen with no background (2)
• Falling out of bounds
• Inside a rock at the Sandbelching Meerslug's arena
• Red Pikmin stuck on the Plasm Wraith
• Invisible Pikmin with visible flowers
• Onion spitting seeds directly downwards
• The Exploration Notes sitting on top of the radar
• Floating Yellow Pikmin
• Falling through the ground in Defeat Bosses!
• Leaders in weird floating poses during a leader knockout cutscene
• Shooting upwards whilst on a lily pad
• Nectar stuck falling
• Yellow Pikmin stuck spinning on a Swooping Snitchbug's corpse
• Vehemoth Phosbat texture glitch
• Out of bounds upstream in Twilight River
• Odd camera angle at the Formidable Oak's exit ledge
• Cursor without the outer circle
• Two "key item" icons on the radar after defeating the Armored Mawdad
• Nectarous Dandelfly with a health wheel
• Bingo Battle leader knockout in split-screen instead of full-screen
• Out of bounds atop the waterfall in Tropical Wilds
• Desiccated Skitter Leaf going through a lily pad
• Inside the Armored Mawdad's corpse
• Invisible Rock Pikmin
• Floating Yellow Pikmin thrown by Swooping Snitchbug
• Out of bounds in the Garden of Hope (2) (3)
• Charlie with himself in the group
• Carrier Pikmin stuck under a bridge
• Spray drop stuck falling
• Seeing the void
• Floating Delectable Bouquet
• Extinction in midair
• Puffy Blowhog blows leader out of bounds
• Charlie weirdly stretched and floating in the air
• Onion shooting seeds directly down (2)
• Unknown Sandbelching Meerslug bump
• Britanny floating in midair in a cutscene
• Floating unusable Red Pikmin
• Mysterious Life Form split into blobs
• Brittany's flag while she is dead, during the Plasm Wraith fight
• Orange Bulborb under the ground
• Floating Yellow Pikmin seed

See also

• Unused content in Pikmin 3