Pikmin

Plot

The main protagonist is Captain Olimar, an employee of the Hocotate Freight Company who flies a rocket ship called the S.S. Dolphin. He has a wife, son, and daughter. In Pikmin 2, co-worker Louie places the company in debt after losing a shipment of gold Pikpik brand carrots to a ravenous space bunny. Olimar's Japanese name, Orimā, is a syllabic anagram of Mario.

Pikmin 3 introduces Alph the engineer, Brittany the botanist, and Captain Charlie from the planet Koppai. Olimar and Louie appear later in the story and are playable in Bingo Battle Mode and downloadable missions; Olimar's expedition logs offer advice. In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, Olimar and Louie are playable in Olimar's Comeback side story. In Pikmin 4, the main character is customizable and works as a rookie in the Rescue Corps, tasked with rescuing other members and Olimar.

The player character and the dog Oatchi are the two playable characters in the main story. Louie appears in a more antagonistic role. Olimar is playable in the Olimar's Shipwreck Tale side story. After crash-landing in Pikmin, Olimar names the plant-like beings Pikmin because they resemble Pikpik carrots.

They are as tall as a US dime and follow commands to attack, defend, or retrieve artifacts. They are weak alone but effective in hordes, communicating with squeaky noises; commands are given via a whistle.

Development

The first game, Pikmin, was released on October 26, 2001. Its plot follows Captain Olimar crash-landing on an unknown planet and befriending plant-animal creatures he names Pikmin after Pikpik carrots. He must gather missing spaceship parts before his air supply runs out. The game has three endings: reclaiming all thirty parts yields the best ending where Olimar waves goodbye; reclaiming at least twenty-five parts yields a normal ending; failing to reclaim twenty-five parts results in Olimar crash-landing, succumbing to oxygen poisoning, and being converted into a Pikmin-Hocotatian hybrid.

Pikmin was ported to the Wii in 2009 as a New Play Control! title and later made available on the Wii U's Virtual Console in North America in 2016. An HD remaster was released for Nintendo Switch in 2023. Pikmin 2, released in 2004, takes place immediately after the first game. Olimar returns to Hocotate to find his employer in debt.

The company president orders Olimar and Louie to return to the Pikmin planet to gather treasure, which is human garbage like bottle caps and gadgets. The player controls both Olimar and Louie, alternating between them. Unlike the first game, Pikmin 2 has no deadline.

Legacy

Olimar appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008, commanding Pikmin in battle. He can pluck new Pikmin from the ground, up to six in Brawl and three in later games. Super Smash Bros. Brawl includes a stage called Distant Planet based on the Pikmin home planet; this stage returned in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, while Super Smash Bros. for Wii U added a stage based on Pikmin 3.

Both stages returned in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Alph from Pikmin 3 appears as an alternate costume for Olimar starting with the 3DS and Wii U games. Pikmin appear in the Nintendo 3DS AR Games application. They cameo during data transfer from a Nintendo DSi to a 3DS, with various Pikmin carrying data.

A similar animation occurs when transferring data from a Wii to an SD card using the Wii U transfer application. The Game Boy Advance e-Reader included Pikmin 2-E minigames exclusive to Japan.