Emperor Bulblax
14.jpg
Appears in N/A
Scientific name Oculus supremus
Family Grub-dog
Areas The Final Trial
Attacks Eats Pikmin, crushes Pikmin, causes panic, summons Mitites

Pikmin 1

The Emperor Bulblax is the final boss in the first Pikmin game. He lies dormant in his arena at The Final Trial until approached, at which he will wake up and start attacking. He resembles a huge, flabby Bulborb with small red eyes and an thick, moss-colored hide, which is the only visible part of him when he sleeps, and also invulnerable to attacks. As Olimar's notes state, moss can only grow on it in the rainy season, and other plants can also grow on the hide which means that it is the rainy season in Pikmin. His attacks are different depending on his "mood". This mood is initially characterized by salivation: he will attack by using his tongue. After taking damage, this phase will end, and Bulblax will use his jump attack. As defeating him when he is doing this is very difficult, you should pay attention to his mood. If you evade several of his jumps, he will go back to his eating mood.

The best strategy to beating him is to have Yellow Pikmin grab any nearby bomb-rocks, and let him eat them. He will be stunned by the explosion (the more bomb-rocks, the longer the stun), providing a good time to toss as many Pikmin as possible onto his face. Doing this repeatedly will have him beaten easily. Alternatively, you can throw yellows with bomb-rocks in front of him and call them to you as soon as the Bulblax prepares his attack; the yellows will leave the bombs and these will explode as soon as the Bulblax touches them with his tongue. This method is harder, but the effects are the same and without Pikmin loss, which is helpful for zero-death runs.

Pikmin 2

In Pikmin 2, these beasts are much weaker, most likely due to their diminished size. They are found only underground, unlike in the first game, with only their eyes exposed as a form of camouflage, but emerge in the same manner. They still eat bomb-rocks, but must be coaxed into doing so instead, seeing as Yellow Pikmin no longer have the ability to handle those explosive objects. All other abilities are retained, except that their jump height is greatly reduced and they cannot lick their own faces. The hide is not very mossy, but the backside of the beast is still green and slimy, as well as invulnerable. This could mean that the Pikmin 2 versions may just be younger than the one in Pikmin 1.

Where bomb-rocks are available, making it eat them is the safest strategy, but can be time-consuming. Some of the game's Emperor Bulblaxes, once reduced to half health, roar, which has several effects: it causes your Pikmin to panic, summons another Bulblax to the fight if there is one in the area, and may bring Mitites burrowing out of the ground. By far the quickest method of defeat is using Purple Pikmin:s simply throw them at the eyes, not whistling them, and the beast will die before it can retaliate. Only 10 are required for this quick and easy kill. If the Bulblax has already emerged, you can wait until it retreats back into its state of camouflage, or just throw purples at it then, being sure that they hit the ground or the beast with an impact, stunning it and dealing massive damage. When it dies, the Bulblax spins around and roars, whipping gobs of saliva everywhere until it shrinks down to about half it's original size for easier carrying.

This creature is found on Sublevel 7 of the Bulblax Kingdom, where the only larger specimen is; two are found on Sublevel 4 of the Cavern of Chaos and Sublevel 10 of the Hole of Heroes; and three are in the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode.

{{notes:enemy/{{{2}}}|block=y}}