Empress Bulblax
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|---|---|---|---|
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| Appears in | Pikmin 2, Pikmin 4 | ||
| Scientific name | Oculus matriarcha (Pikmin 2) Oculus kageyamii matriarchia (hypertrophic, gravid) (Pikmin 4) | ||
| Family | Grub-dog | ||
| Areas | None | ||
| Caves | Frontier Cavern, Hole of Beasts, Hole of Heroes, Kingdom of Beasts, Cradle of the Beast, Cavern for a King | ||
| Challenge Mode stages | Emperor's Realm | ||
| Dandori Challenge stages | None | ||
| Dandori Battle stages | None | ||
| 2-Player Battle stages | None | ||
| Attacks | Crush Pikmin, cause boulders to fall, birth larvae | ||
The Empress Bulblax (クイーンチャッピー?, lit.: "Queen Chappy") is a boss in Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 4. Its markings and general features are similar to those of the Bulborb, but its body is much larger and composed of five distinct segments; the comparatively tiny legs dangle above the ground.
Unlike most bosses, its behavior is different each time it is encountered. In the Hole of Beasts, it must be woken up before battling, rolling from side to side to crush any Pikmin under its weight. In the Frontier Cavern (as well as the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode), it will already be awake and giving birth to Bulborb Larvae. In the Hole of Heroes, it does the same while also causing boulders to fall when it hits a wall.
Stats
|
The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 4. |
| Game | Weight | Max. carriers |
Seeds | Value | Health | Regen. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
20 | 30 | 30[note 1] |  × 15
|
5000[note 2] | 1.5[note 3] |
|
20 | 40 | 50[note 4] |  × 20
|
5000 | No |
- ^ This enemy cannot be delivered to Onions in-game. This information is obtained from the game files.
- ^ In the Hole of Beasts, this enemy has 3300 HP instead.
- ^ In the Hole of Beasts, this enemy regenerates 1 HP per second instead.
- ^ This enemy cannot be delivered to Onions in-game. This information is obtained from the in-game Piklopedia.
Notes
Olimar's notes
Louie's notes
Dalmo's notes
Olimar's notes (Pikmin 4)
“Initial observations placed doubt on the capability of the Grub-Dog family to support a strong ant-or beelike social structure, but recent studies show the family is capable of such complexity for brief periods when certain external parameters are met.
The egg sac of the largest female Grub-Dog within a given range swells to dramatic proportions in response to environmental changes, such as the sudden depletion of prey species. These females temporarily take on the role of pack matriarch.
Also, in pack formation, it has been observed that nearly all males not involved in species reproduction undergo natural sex changes. The characteristics of such specimens are quite intriguing indeed.”Louie's notes (Pikmin 4)
Pikmin 2 Nintendo Player's Guide
Pikmin Garden
Text
“餌の枯渇などの環境変化の際に、周辺で最も大きなメスの卵嚢が肥大化し、イモムシのような姿に変化したデメマダラ。大量の子を産み落とし、この個体を女王とした社会形態を取るようになる。
特徴 その1 子を産む
- 大量のベビーチャッピーを産み出し、最大でおよそ50匹ほどの群れを構成する。
- (Image text: 子を餌の豊富な場所へ送り出す生存戦略とも、同族の非常食にするためとも考えられている)
特徴 その2 転がる
- 体が大きくなり過ぎて、歩くことはできない。体をくねらせたり、転がらせて移動する。
- (Image text: 斑紋がない幼生に気づかず、つぶしてしまうこともある)”
Translation
“During environmental changes such as food depletion, the egg sac of the largest female in the vicinity becomes enlarged, transforming this Bulborb into a caterpillar-like form. It produces a large number of offspring and a social form is established with this individual as the queen.
Feature #1: Producing offspring
- It gives birth to a large number of Bulborb Larvae and forms a pack of up to about 50.
- (Image text: "It is thought that this may be a survival strategy to send the young to a place where food is abundant, or to provide emergency food for its own kind")
Feature #2: Rolling
- Its body grows too large to walk. It moves by twisting its body and rolling around.
- (Image text: "Larvae without spots may go unnoticed and be crushed")”
Strategy
|
The following article or section contains guides. |
Pikmin 2
To defeat the Empress Bulblax, throw (preferably Purple) Pikmin onto its face and call them back before it throws them off. After shaking Pikmin off, the boss rolls from side to side across the chamber in an attempt to crush its aggressors, smashing into walls, and making rocks fall from the ceiling in most encounters in the game. Although risky, the Bulblax can be petrified if the spray is released on the middle of its elongated torso.
The Empress Bulblax is one of the few bosses that can vary depending on where the player encounters it: for the Hole of Beasts fight, it is easier to throw the Pikmin on the Empress Bulblax's side to the left and retreat to the alcove in the wall between attacks. Here, it is also effective to swarm the body from the left at the start of the battle, before the boss wakes up. Doing this will deal heavy damage if many Pikmin manage to latch onto the Empress.
This is not as effective in the later two battles, as the Pikmin have less time to attack the enemy before it shakes the Pikmin off, and they have the Empress continuously giving birth to Bulborb Larvae. These are easily defeated by their own mother's rolling; alternatively, in the Frontier Cavern, since the number that can exist is finite, they can be lured away from the Empress with one leader while the other fights the boss, resulting in a fight that is about as easy as in the Hole of Beasts. For the Hole of Heroes fight, the player starts off behind the Empress, and it can make boulders fall after hitting the walls; these are most easily avoided by moving behind the exit hole, itself behind a gate. All rules apply here the same as the Frontier Cavern fight, but trapping the larvae is nearly impossible, and requires a decoy leader who is in good condition.
When defeated, four of the Empress Bulblax's front body segments explode, leaving only the segment attached to the head, which can be returned to the Research Pod and cashed in for × 15.
During the fights with the Bulborb Larvae, it is suggested that a leader should distract the larvae, preferably at full health and with the Metal Suit Z obtained, as the larvae can deal a lot of damage otherwise.
When going for the quickest kill possible, (using a captain to bait the Bulborb Larvae away if necessary) swarm all Pikmin against the side. For a safer strategy, c-stick throw the Pikmin at the head and wait for the beast to roll completely. Repeat 3-5 times to win the battle with no losses.
Pikmin 4
The strategy for the Empress Bulblax are largely the same in Pikmin 4, but it should be noted that Rock Pikmin are near-flawlessly effective against the beast, as they are immune to crushing and cannot latch onto the boss, which makes it impossible for the Empress Bulblax to throw them off. Rock Pikmin are reccomended for both their appearances in Kingdom of Beasts and Cradle of the Beast. Rock Pikmin come at the disadvantage of dealing only half the damage they typically do against the Empress during their regular headbutts, it is more efficient to leave Rock Pikmin to rack up risk-free chip damage while more damaging types like Red Pikmin or Purple Pikmin focus on beating the beast. A rush from a large number of Rock Pikmin also makes for an excellent opener to the fight, but be warned the Empress will begin rolling immediately if you do this. Rock Pikmin are also surprisingly effective against the Empress' children due to their ability to deal damage immediately on contact instead of having to latch on and attack.
It should also be noted that Pikmin thrown off of the empress when she rolls will typically almost always be thrown forward to safety if thrown onto her face, this (combined with the existence of Rock Pikmin) makes it possible to maximise damage output by attacking the empress during her roll, instead of sitting idle during her only attack. If the player deals enough damage while she is rolling, the Empress will more quickly begin rolling again after stopping, making this strategy extra risky (but coming with the benefit of giving her no time to spawn more larvae). Using a combination of Rock Pikmin and Purple Pikmin will help take advantage of the small windows where the Empress stops rolling using their heavy contact damage, particularly Purple Pikmin deal quite a lot of damage to the beast.
In the final cave of the game, Cavern for a King, an Empress Bulblax is encountered on one of the deeper floors, and is fought in a square arena exactly as large as the Bulblax, necessitating the constant use of geysers to dodge its attacks, as well as having to contend with falling boulders and Bulborb Larvae. This is the trickiest and toughest fight against it in the entire franchise if played as expected, particularly since it is unlikely that the player will have access to Rock Pikmin during the encounter. It should be noted that there is an exit located at the rear-end of the arena, which can allow for an easy escape without having to deal with the typically tricky geyser timing. The player can attack it from the rear with a rush while mounted on Oatchi, recall their Pikmin before it rolls, and simply exit the arena. This can take some time, but is considerably more reliable than other strategies.
The quickest way to defeat it without items is as-intended, tackling it head-on (or side-on) by constantly swapping sides of the arena to dodge the attacks. Rush Boots are heavily reccomended as otherwise the window for dodging the attacks is very slim, be wary of Bulborb Larvae also as they can easily pick Pikmin off of Oatchi's back. When it comes to attack the boss when it stands still, hitting it with a rush of all your Pikmin will leave a dent in the Empress's HP. Alternatively, throwing Purple Pikmin can be a less risky, more precise method to piling on lots of damage at once. Another quick way is to simply use items, stunning the boss or chipping its HP a little with bombs before sending in an entire squad of Ultra-spicy sprayed Pikmin will typically be enough to beat it before it can even react.
If the player is struggling especially hard with the Cavern for a King variation of this boss, or brought Winged Pikmin with them to quickly beat several other bosses, the player can simply attack the boss from behind since Winged Pikmin do not mind the ledge. Ultra-Spicy Spray makes this strategy even more reliable. The player should take care, however, as falling boulders can still hit them from below.
In other media
Pikmin comic
In the Pikmin comic strip "Too Stuck to Pluck", an Empress Bulblax tries to pull a Red Pikmin into its underground nest while the new Rescue Officer pulls it in the opposite direction.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Empress Bulblax appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
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Description:
“A member of the grub-dog family, transformed by environmental factors. Due to her ridiculous size, the empress bulblax can no longer walk on her tiny legs. She just wiggles around, rolling from left to right. Although the female continues spawning bulborb larvae, she unfortunately rolls over them with her massive body.
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| How to obtain: Random appearance. | Type: Fighter Related | |
WarioWare series
The Empress Bulblax makes a cameo appearance in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, in a micro-game simply called Pikmin 2. In this micro-game, the player must tilt the Wii Remote to squish some Pikmin. This micro-game returns in WarioWare Gold.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Empress Bulblax appears as a Primary Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after enhancing a Red Bulborb spirit. Its unique trait allows fighters to gain a large boost to their overall stats upon eating a food item.
| Spirit info | Augmented Fighter info | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Type | Class | Slots | Fighter(s) | Stage | Music | Rules/Hazards | Conditions | Image |
| Empress Bulblax | Shield | ★★★★ | 2 | None (Enhanced from the Bulborb Spirit) | 
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Technical information
| Pikmin 2 technical information (?) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal name | queen
| ||
| Global properties (List) | |||
| ID | Japanese comment | Property | Value |
| s000 | friction(not used) | Friction | 0.5 |
| s001 | wallReflection | Unknown (wall bounce speed multiplier?) | 0.5 |
| s002 | faceDirAdjust | Unknown | 0.25 |
| s003 | accel | Acceleration | 0.1 |
| s004 | bounceFactor | Unknown (bounce when it hits the ground?) | 0.3 |
| fp00 | ライフ | HP | 5000 |
| fp01 | マップとの当り | Unknown (related to slopes) | 90 |
| fp02 | ダメージスケールXZ | Horizontal damage scale | 0 |
| fp03 | ダメージスケールY | Vertical damage scale | 0.05 |
| fp04 | ダメージフレーム | Damage scale duration | 0.35 |
| fp05 | 質量 | Unknown (weight?) | 0.01 |
| fp06 | 速度 | Move speed | 125 |
| fp08 | 回転速度率 | Rotation acceleration | 0.1 |
| fp09 | テリトリー | Territory radius | 200 |
| fp10 | ホーム範囲 | "Home" radius | 25 |
| fp11 | プライベート距離 | "Private" radius | 70 |
| fp12 | 視界距離 | Sight radius | 200 |
| fp13 | 視界角度 | FOV | 90 |
| fp14 | 探索距離 | Unknown (exploration radius?) | 50 |
| fp15 | 探索角度 | Unknown (exploration angle?) | 120 |
| fp16 | 振り払い率 | Successful shake rate | 1 |
| fp17 | 振り払い力 | Shake knockback | 300 |
| fp18 | 振り払いダメージ | Shake damage | 1 |
| fp19 | 振り払い範囲 | Shake range | 120 |
| fp20 | 攻撃可能範囲 | Unknown (shock attack max range?) | 150 |
| fp21 | 攻撃可能角度 | Unknown (shock attack max angle?) | 25 |
| fp22 | 攻撃ヒット範囲 | Unknown (attack hit range?) | 150 |
| fp23 | 攻撃ヒット角度 | Unknown (attack hit angle?) | 25 |
| fp24 | 攻撃力 | Attack damage | 10 |
| fp25 | 視界高 | Unknown (height visibility?) | 50 |
| fp26 | 探索高 | Unknown (exploration height?) | 50 |
| fp27 | ライフの高さ | HP wheel height | 50 |
| fp28 | 回転最大速度 | Rotation speed | 10 |
| fp29 | 警戒時間 | Unknown (warning time?) | 15 |
| fp30 | 警戒ライフ | Unknown | 500 |
| fp31 | ライフ回復率 | Regeneration rate | 0.00001 |
| fp32 | LOD半径 | Off-camera radius | 300 |
| fp33 | マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定 | Collision processing radius | 250 |
| fp34 | ピクミンとのあたり | Pikmin damage radius | 50 |
| fp35 | 石化時間 | Petrification duration | 1 |
| fp36 | ヒップドロップダメージ | Purple Pikmin drop damage | 50 |
| fp37 | 地震気絶確立 | Purple Pikmin stun chance | 0 (0%) |
| fp38 | 地震気絶時間 | Purple Pikmin stun time | 10 |
| ip01 | 振り払い打撃Ａ | Shake mode 1 – hit count | 30 |
| ip02 | 振り払い張付１ | Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement | 5 |
| ip03 | 振り払い打撃Ｂ | Shake mode 2 – hit count | 35 |
| ip04 | 振り払い張付２ | Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement | 10 |
| ip05 | 振り払い打撃Ｃ | Shake mode 3 – hit count | 45 |
| ip06 | 振り払い張付３ | Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement | 15 |
| ip07 | 振り払い打撃Ｄ | Shake mode 4 – hit count | 50 |
| Specific properties | |||
| ID | Japanese comment | Property | Value |
| fp01 | ローリング時間 | Determines how many rolls it completes (only with base fp06 value) | 3.5 |
| fp02 | 出産間隔 ( sec ) | Birth interval | 2 |
| fp | Forest 1 Life | HP on the Hole of Beasts | 3300 |
| fp | 出産数 ( Max ) | Max births until it falls asleep | 50 |
| fp | 出産数 ( Min ) | Min number of Larvae on the cave with which it will wake up again | 25 |
Other information
- Size: Body length: 480mm, as per the e-card
- Pikmin 2 Piklopedia number: #70
- Pikmin 4 Piklopedia number: #14
- Musical theme:
Naming
- See also: Grub-dog family#Naming.
- Common name: Empress Bulblax. It is the female counterpart to the Emperor Bulblax, and is indeed a large Bulborb. Unlike the other two Bulblaxes, which share at least some features, the Empress seems to have the name only for its role in the ecosystem.
- Japanese nickname: クイーンチャッピー?, lit.: "Queen Chappy".
- Japanese name: デメマダラ（卵嚢肥大個体）?, lit.: "Spotted Bug-eye (specimen with enlarged egg sac)".
- Scientific name: Oculus kageyamii matriarchia (hypertrophic, gravid). Oculus kageyamii is the scientific name of the Bulborb species, and matriarchia being similar to the English word "matriarch", which is the female leader of a community. 'Hypertrophic' relates to hypertrophy, but since there is no mention of the Empress Bulblax suffering from hypertrophy it could simply be in reference to its size, such the Titan Blowhog and Blizzarding Blowhog. 'Gravid' simply means pregnant. Before Pikmin 4, the scientific name was simply Oculus matriarcha.
- Internal names: Its internal name is simply
queen. - Prerelease: In the unused early English script inside Pikmin 2's files, Olimar refers to the Empress Bulblax as "Queen Bulborb", a straightfoward translation of the Japanese nickname, and the species name is misspelled as matriarhca.[1]
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
クイーンチャッピー? Kuīn Chappī |
Queen Chappy | "Chappy" is the Japanese name for Bulborb |
 Chinese(traditional) |
王后恰比 Wánghòu Qiàbǐ |
Queen Chappy | "Qiàbǐ" is the Chinese (traditional) name for Bulborb |
 Chinese(simplified) |
王后恰比 Wánghòu Qiàbǐ |
Queen Chappy | "Qiàbǐ" is the Chinese (simplified) name for Bulborb |
 Dutch |
Keizerinbulblax | Empress bulblax | |
 French |
Reine Bulblax Reine bulblax (Pikmin 4) |
Bulblax Queen Bulblax queen (Pikmin 4) |
|
 German |
Fürstin Knollenauge | Lady Bulbeye | |
 Italian |
Bulbica Imperiale Bulbica imperiale (Pikmin 4) |
Imperial Bulblax Imperial bulblax (Pikmin 4) |
|
 Korean |
여왕차피 Yeowang-Chapi |
Queen Chappy | "Chapi" is the Korean name for Bulborb |
 Portuguese |
Bulbolhona-real | Royal big bulbeye | "Bulbolhona" is the feminine augmentative form of "Bulbolho", the Brazilian Portuguese name for Bulborb "Bulbolhona" also sounds close to "bobalhona" (a childish slang that means "silly" or "stupid", feminine form of "bobalhão") |
 Spanish |
Bulbo emperatriz | Empress bulborb | "Bulbo" is the Spanish name for Bulborb |
Gallery
Pikmin 2
Artwork of the Empress Bulblax.
The Empress Bulblax in the Piklopedia.
The Empress Bulblax in the Hole of Beasts.
The Empress Bulblax in the Frontier Cavern, surrounded by its Bulborb Larva offspring.
The Empress Bulblax as seen from above.
The Empress Bulblax's corpse.
Prerelease screenshot showing the Empress Bulblax beginning to roll.
The Piklopedia icon of the Empress Bulblax in the Nintendo Switch version of Pikmin 2.
An Empress Bulblax petrified in the Frontier Cavern.
Pikmin 4
The Empress Bulblax's Piklopedia icon.
The Empress Bulblax rolling over several Pikmin and Bulborb Larvae.
The Empress Bulblax as seen from behind.
A sleeping Empress Bulblax in the Piklopedia.
An Empress Bulblax corpse in the Kingdom of Beasts.
A defeated Empress Bulblax in the Piklopedia.
Other
The Empress Bulblax's e-card, #14 (20th red card).
Trivia
- Empress Bulblaxes can apparently shed their skin, as there appears to be a shed skin on the floor on the last sublevel of the Hole of Beasts, right underneath the Research Pod.
- It is impossible to wake up the Empress Bulblax in the Piklopedia in Pikmin 2, no matter how many Pikpik carrots are thrown at it. The only other enemies who will not attack in the Piklopedia are the Titan Dweevil and the Segmented Crawbster.
- The Empress Bulblax is the only member of the Grub-dog family that cannot kill Pikmin by eating them.
- The creature resembles a real-world pregnant queen termite.
- The Empress Bulblax gives live birth to its larval-form offspring. This is not only unique to the Pikmin franchise, but also to Earth lifeforms.
- In Pikmin 2, the Empress Bulblax's specific epithet, matriarcha, indicates that it is considered a different species from its offspring, the Bulborb Larvae (bambinii), which is a biological impossibility. Pikmin 4 corrects this by updating the specific epithets of both the Empress Bulblax and the Bulborb Larvae to that of the Bulborb (kageyamii), establishing that they are all different forms of the same species.
- The Japanese Louie's notes mentions cooking the ovaries of the creature instead of its liver. This was also the case for the prototype version of Pikmin 2's English script.[2]
- In Pikmin 2, the Empress Bulblax bizarrely does not appear to have a soul; when defeated, one does not rise from its corpse. While there exist other enemies that similarly don't have souls, they explicitly are only incapacitated when defeated, unlike the Empress Bulblax, which is clearly dead. This oddity is shared with the Toady Bloyster and Ranging Bloyster (both also only exhibiting this anomaly in Pikmin 2), along with all members of the arachnorb family regardless of game.
See also
References
- ^ Pikmin 2/Early English Script on The Cutting Room Floor
- ^ Pikmin 2/Early English Script/Louie's Notes on The Cutting Room Floor
