Mysterious Life-Form

Mysterious Life-Form
Appears in	Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Unknown
Family	Unknown
Areas	Formidable Oak
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages	None
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages	None
Side Story days	None
Bingo Battle stages	None
Attacks	Trap and kill Pikmin

This article is about the creature that chases Captain Olimar. For the form it takes during the final boss battle, see Plasm Wraith. For a guide on how to complete the final area, see Formidable Oak.

The Mysterious Life-Form (Mysterious Life Form in Europe, 謎の生命体^?, lit.: "Life Form of Mystery") is an enemy in Pikmin 3 and the alternate form of the Plasm Wraith. In this form, it looks like an amorphous slug-like blob of translucent plasm. It follows Brittany, or whoever is guiding the Pikmin carrying Captain Olimar, through the labyrinth that is the Formidable Oak. Once Olimar is outside, the creature turns into its original form, the Plasm Wraith.

Stats

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2000

Notes

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

“Before the Plasm Wraith reveals its true self, it appears as the Mysterious Life-Form. This giant, slow-moving creature uses its amorphous body to absorb its victims. It's best to simply avoid the Mysterious Life-Form. However, if a battle is unavoidable, wait for the creature to turn an opaque gold color before you attack. When the creature is translucent, attacking Pikmin will simply be absorbed by the Mysterious Life-Form.”

Plot

When first spotted atop the mound that forms the Formidable Oak, the Plasm Wraith transforms into a spherical blob after sucking up Olimar into its body in order to protect him, but the Koppaites order the Pikmin to destroy it. They decide to carry Olimar back to the S.S. Drake, but as the Pikmin cannot see a way back, it is decided to have them follow Brittany, and the Koppaites enter the cave system. As soon as they enter, the Mysterious Life-Form drops from the cave ceiling and begins chasing the player through the cave. The player must stay ahead of it while overcoming the various obstacles present within the cave system in order to safely escape.

Strategy

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

The point of the confrontation with the Mysterious Life-Form is not to destroy it, but to escape from it. There are a few notes that you should consider:

The Mysterious Life-Form is invincible, unless it's captured Olimar, so focus on always moving forward.
There are multiple paths you can take, so take whichever is easier to overcome.
Though the Mysterious Life-Form cannot be stopped, certain actions can slow it down. Throwing bomb rocks into the Mysterious Life-Form will briefly stun it. This can also be done with the iron ball in the cave, if it is pushed when the Mysterious Life-Form is directly in front of it.
Every enemy in the area is an illusion created by the Mysterious Life-Form; when killed, they disintegrate into plasm. If these creatures are not killed, the beast will envelop and digest them in its body when it reaches them.
The Mysterious Life-Form and the Pikmin carrying Olimar will always follow Brittany; this can be utilized to buy time. If Brittany is down, they will follow Charlie, then Alph.
Many of the paths in the area are loops, so while Alph and Charlie are figuring out the puzzle, Brittany can go around in circles to distract the creature.
If Pikmin are enveloped by the Mysterious Life-Form, they can be freed by continuously whistling at them. However, if the creature recaptures Olimar while any Pikmin are inside it, the Pikmin will instantly die.
If the creature manages to recapture Olimar, it will stop following Brittany and try to escape to the top of the area via the hole found at the dungeon's main corridor. When being attacked, it will occasionally take on a form similar to an Elemental Plasm. After having sustained enough damage, the creature will drop Olimar and will remain immobilized until its health gauge refills, allowing the crew an opportunity to escape.
The creature can take shortcuts over some walls. This is most noticeable with the wall between the room with the bridge fragments and Arachnode, and the room with the Bulborb.
If it is carrying Olimar and succeeds in reaching the hole, it will exit through it. This will trigger a cutscene where the leaders and all Pikmin go back out through the entrance to wonder where the creature and Olimar went and comment on how it is almost sunset, resulting in the day ending instantly.
If it cannot get to Olimar (for instance, if he is inside a pond), it will chase after the closest leader instead.
If it is really close, call the Pikmin carrying Olimar and let it get him. When it does, attack it, and as soon as it breaks, take advantage of it standing still and run away.

After you successfully escape the cave system, you will arrive in an arena outside near the S.S. Drake. When Olimar reaches the exit as well, the Mysterious Life-Form will come out too, revert to its original form as the Plasm Wraith, and detain Olimar inside its body, thus commencing the final boss battle.

Technical information

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	`metaboss`
HP	2000
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	100
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	0
Bomb rock explosions to kill	3
Bomb rock ingestions to kill	0
Number of direct hits on top to kill	0
Damage to leaders	10
Territory radius	0
Mission Mode value	0

Other information

Musical theme: Mysterious Life-Form

Naming

Because the explorers do not know about this form of the Plasm Wraith, they simply nickname it "Mysterious Life-Form". In Europe, it's spelled as "Mysterious Life Form". In Japan, it uses the same name, 謎の生命体^?, which translates to "Life Form of Mystery". Internally, it is called metaboss, most likely a combination between metaballs, 3D geometric functions for producing organic-looking blob objects, and "boss".

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	謎の生命体^? Nazo No Seimeitai	Mysterious Life Form
French	Organisme mystérieux	Mysterious Organism
German	Mysteriöse Lebensform	Mysterious Life Form
Spanish (NoA)	Ente misterioso	Mysterious entity

Gallery

The Mysterious Life-Form, encasing Captain Olimar at the top of the Formidable Oak.
Its translucent form.
Analysis of the Mysterious Life-Form.
Some Pikmin absorbed by the Mysterious Life-Form.
Its solid form.
The Mysterious Life-Form briefly neutralized.
Illusions of a Bulborb and some Dwarf Bulborbs absorbed by the Mysterious Life-Form.
The first data file on the Mysterious Life-Form.
The second data file on the Mysterious Life-Form.

Trivia

The Mysterious Life-Form completely passes through Candypop Buds as if they did not exist.
While the Mysterious Life-Form is reviving, a song can be heard coming from it.
Enemies absorbed by the Mysterious Life-Form get progressively smaller until they disappear.
The Mysterious Life-Form bears a striking resemblance to the Goolix, a boss from Pikmin.
The creature's cube, which is presumably its actual main body, controlling the plasm as if it were normal limbs, can also be split into 27 smaller cubes, in a 3x3x3 formation. This can be seen during its respawn animation during the chase sequence. It can further split into 216, in a 6x6x6 formation, as can be seen when it uses an elemental plasm during the Plasm Wraith boss fight. This is in addition to becoming completely hollow and having its six faces appear out of nowhere, as seen when Olimar gets captured during the chase sequence, as well as being able to physically overlap with Olimar, and, as can be seen when the creature slips away, spit out a false cube that can also overlap with objects and disintegrate.
Winged Pikmin take on their flying pose when caught.

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