Soul

Multiple colors of Pikmin souls.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Hey! Pikmin.

Souls^[1] appear every time a Pikmin or enemy is killed. These ghostly spirit-like shapes ascend slowly until they fade away, reminding or alerting the player that a Pikmin or enemy has fallen.

Pikmin

This article is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.
Suggestions: Specify the shape and color of each Pikmin type, but take into account each game (New Play Control! versions too). Also, add information on how souls appear during cutscenes, like an extinction cutscene (even in multiplayer), or the end of day cutscene (see gallery).

The Pikmin ones roughly resemble a Pikmin's shape; however, they lack a leaf, bud or flower, don't have feet, and are missing any identifying characteristics such as the Red Pikmin's nose. Their appearance is slightly transparent and details vary between the games. In Pikmin, every Pikmin has a blue soul, irrelevant of the color of the Pikmin itself, while souls in all other Pikmin games, including both New Play Control! remakes, are representative of the dead Pikmin's type, differing in color and slightly in shape.

If a Pikmin dies from being thrown into the abyss, it won't release any soul in Pikmin or New Play Control! Pikmin, but it will in Pikmin 2 and New Play Control! Pikmin 2. In Pikmin 3, no soul will be seen ascending from the abyss but it will actually be visible on the radar. No soul will also appear if the Sandbelching Meerslug eats a Pikmin sprout. The fact that souls appear in the radar is particularly important during replays, since they show players where and when Pikmin had died.

In general, Pikmin souls are used as icons in menus and HUDs to represent Pikmin that have died.

Enemies

The soul of a recently defeated Dwarf Bulborb.

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 3.
Particularly: Elaborate on how they pop when they disappear. Do Pikmin souls do this? Is the pop audible?

Enemy souls have a pink-purple color and look like a bubble, and leave a transparent trail behind. Two holes resembling eyes are visible near the shape's center. Bulbmin produce a smaller version of this type of soul when they die. Enemies that do not really "die" do not leave a soul when killed: this is the case for the Spotty Bulbear and the Gatling Groink, which can revive, and the Ravenous Whiskerpillar, which seems to remain alive even after being defeated. Enemies that die while petrified release a soul, but these "non-dying" enemies do not In Pikmin 3 the souls are slightly slower moving than in the previous 2 games. The pop seen when the souls are disapearing is not audible. In addition the pop takes a long time and could be considered a fade-out. All pikmin souls in Pikmin 3 look the same with the exception of the newcomers with the winged pikmin soul having wings and the rock pikmin soul being rock-shaped.

In Pikmin 2 these souls make an eerie sound when ascending. The sound is much deeper, and the soul is much larger for bosses. In Pikmin 3, enemy souls are blue instead of purple, have small white eyes, and have a small "tail". An enemy's death in this game means that the carcass is ready to be carried – the enemy cannot be picked up until the soul is actually seen. Due to the way off-camera objects are handled, an enemy's soul will not ascend until it is once again visible on-screen.

Though a Pearly Clamclamp loses its soul when defeated, the creature still seems to be alive afterwards, acting like normal.

Gallery

A screenshot of a Pikmin soul in Pikmin.
In Pikmin, all souls of Pikmin are blueish white.
A Winged Pikmin's soul. Note the wings.
Two enemy souls as they appear in Pikmin 3.
Close-up of an enemy soul in Pikmin 3 Deluxe.
The appearance of Pikmin souls in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
The texture used in Pikmin and Pikmin 2 for the Pikmin souls.
The textures used in Pikmin for the enemy souls.
The texture used in Pikmin 2 for the enemy souls.
Souls as seen on the GamePad.
A montage showing each Pikmin's soul.
Pikmin souls in Pikmin 2 from falling into any abyss. They are quite low, so they are normally hard to see.
Left Behind.png

Souls of the Pikmin left behind during sunset, in the end of day cutscene.

Trivia

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Purple Pikmin do not release a soul when they die, but they do in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
The Pikmin souls resemble kodama, a Japanese myth about small ghosts that haunt trees.

References

^ “It looks like an indigenous creature, but it's empty. Hmm. I've seen soul-like things leaving the bodies of other creatures. Did this empty shell once house a soul too? Did other objects we've found also once have souls? Where do they go? Who decides which creatures have them? Do I have one? Hmm... I'd better get some sleep. I'm running on empty.” – Olimar in his notes on the Abandoned Husk

Navigation

[1] “It looks like an indigenous creature, but it's empty. Hmm. I've seen soul-like things leaving the bodies of other creatures. Did this empty shell once house a soul too? Did other objects we've found also once have souls? Where do they go? Who decides which creatures have them? Do I have one? Hmm... I'd better get some sleep. I'm running on empty.” – Olimar in his notes on the Abandoned Husk

[1]

Pikmin
Types	Red Pikmin • Yellow Pikmin • Blue Pikmin • Purple Pikmin • White Pikmin Rock Pikmin • Winged Pikmin • Ice Pikmin • Bulbmin • Glow Pikmin
Biology	Candypop Bud • Idle • Maturity • Onion • Flarlic • Pellet Pikmin extinction • Trip • Sprout • Seedling • Soul • Squad
Abilities	Carry • Dig • Dodge • Fight • Hide
Controls	Charge • Dismiss • Swarm • Pluck • Throw • Whistle
Other	Decor Pikmin • Leafling • Mushroom Pikmin • Pikpik carrot