History VideoGame / Pikmin

RealTimeStrategy [[GenreBusting at its quirkiest]], the ''Pikmin'' series came about from a mix of the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]] 128'' project, Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto's childhood observations of insects at work, his hobby of gardening, and general RTS gameplay. The ''Pikmin'' games lead players into a world where they must use the different kinds of plantlike creatures called "Pikmin" to defeat enemies, produce other Pikmin, collect treasures, and survive in a strange world with even stranger creatures.

A sequel was soon created, ''Pikmin 2'', in which Olimar and his partner [[ExtremeOmnivore Louie]] went back to the planet in search of the rare treasures it held, in an attempt to bring their company back out of debt. ''Pikmin 2'' soon became even more critically acclaimed than its predecessor, gaining rave reviews for its improved length, reliability, clever challenges, and unique style. Despite this, for whatever reason, the series hit a snag here. The series went on a hiatus with only the vaguest clues that it was still around, with Miyamoto giving rather vague hints to a third game in the series. In the meantime, fans had to contend with ''nine'' or so years of waiting before ''Pikmin 3'' was revealed at ''E3'' 2011.

A fourth installment was suddenly and surprisingly announced to be "very close to completion" on September 7th, 2015, by Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto himself, but no word was said since because [[https://www.gamnesia.com/news/miyamoto-says-finishing-pikmin-4-hasnt-been-one-of-nintendos-priorities-lat it wasn't a high priority of Nintendo's]] because of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch coming out soon around the time. On September 13, 2022, ''Pikmin 4'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYR3DVFUnyc was finally confirmed to have a release window]], 8 years after ''Pikmin 3''. It is set to be released on July 21, 2023.

*** In the games, Pikmin deal with their prey by killing them and taking the corpses back to their onions to produce more Pikmin. Here, Pikmin are shown to actually ''eat'' their prey as they swarm around a carcus of a recently deceased Bulborb to feast.

A fourth installment was suddenly and surprisingly announced to be "very close to completion" on September 7th, 2015, by Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto himself, but no word was said since because [[https://www.gamnesia.com/news/miyamoto-says-finishing-pikmin-4-hasnt-been-one-of-nintendos-priorities-lat it wasn't a high priority of Nintendo's]] because of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch coming out soon around the time. On September 13, 2022, ''Pikmin 4'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYR3DVFUnyc was finally confirmed to have a release window]], 8 years after ''Pikmin 3''. It is set to be released in 2023.

* BloodySmile: Made to look like this in "The Night Juicer" after three Pikmin see (what they think) is Olimar blending a chopped-up red Pikmin and drinking it. He then turns around and gives a smirk as they see the red liquid remains on his teeth. [[spoiler:Turns out it's just Pikpik carrot juice, but the Pikmin are still freaked out.]]

** Schnauz, an [[AnimalLover animal enthusiast]], describes everything as [[AdmiringTheAbomination cute or adorable]], and seems to think that the reader would be compelled to hug the relatively giant monsters if not warned about their capabilities.

* MonsterCompendium: The Piklopedia in ''Pikmin 2'' and ''Pikmin 3 Deluxe''. It comes with view of the enemy in its habitat (''Pikmin 2'' lets you toss Pikpik Carrots to see how they attack, while ''Pikmin 3'' has a short demo video instead), and various notes depending on which captain is writing the entry:

* CaptainCrash: '''Everyone.''' It seems obligatory at this point that going towards PNF-404 (or any other planet with Pikmin on it) will result in your ship getting shot out of the sky.
** Expands to a [[SerialEscalation frankly ridiculous extent]] in ''Pikmin 4''. Not only does Olimar crash, for the fifth time in the series, and not only do the Rescue Corps crash in the process of trying to rescue him, but everyone who hears Olimar's distress signal and comes to the planet, for whatever reason, also seems to crash. At the same time, it's notably averted by the ''Pikmin 4'' protagonist, the Rescue Corps Rookie, who is the only one to ever land their ship successfully on PNF-404 their first try.

** Expands to a [[SerialEscalation frankly ridiculous extent]] in Pikmin 4. Not only does Olimar crash, for the fifth time in the series, and not only do the Rescue Corps crash in the process of trying to rescue him, but everyone who hears Olimar's distress signal and comes to the planet, for whatever reason, also seems to crash. At the same time, it's notably averted by the Pikmin 4 protagonist, the Rescue Corps Rookie, who is the only one to ever land their ship successfully on PNF-404 their first try.

** UpToEleven in Pikmin 4. Not only does Olimar crash, for the fourth time, and not only do the Rescue Corps crash in the process of trying to rescue him, but everyone who hears Olimar's distress signal and comes to the planet, for whatever reason, also seems to crash. At the same time, it's notably averted by the Pikmin 4 protagonist, the Rescue Corps Rookie, who is the only one to ever land their ship successfully on PNF-404 their first try.

** TakenToEleven in Pikmin 4. Not only does Olimar crash, for the fourth time, and not only do the Rescue Corps crash in the process of trying to rescue him, but everyone who hears Olimar's distress signal and comes to the planet, for whatever reason, also seems to crash. At the same time, it's notably averted by the Pikmin 4 protagonist, the Rescue Corps Rookie, who is the only one to ever land their ship successfully on PNF-404 their first try.

The first two games have been ported to Wii as well, with enhanced Wii Remote controls. In 2020, the third game was ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch with all DLC included and extra side missions starring series regulars Olimar and Louie; in 2023, the first two games were ported to the Nintendo Switch as well, with upscaled graphics and the motion controls from the previous Wii ports. Olimar is also a playable character in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series beginning with ''Brawl'', with Alph added as an alternate costume in ''UsefulNotes/WiiU and 3DS''. The series as a whole is represented in ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' with its own subgame, ''Pikmin Adventure'', and is also referenced a few times here and there, like in ''VideoGame/WarioWare''. It even appears as animations used to represent the transferring of your data to the 3DS and Wii U!

** ''New Play Control! Pikmin'' (UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, 2008)[[index]]

** ''New Play Control! Pikmin 2'' (UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, 2009)[[index]]

The first two games have been ported to Wii as well, with enhanced Wii Remote controls; in 2020, the third game was ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch with all DLC included and extra side missions starring series regulars Olimar and Louie. Olimar is also a playable character in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series beginning with ''Brawl'', with Alph added as an alternate costume in ''UsefulNotes/WiiU and 3DS''. The series as a whole is represented in ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' with its own subgame, ''Pikmin Adventure'', and is also referenced a few times here and there, like in ''VideoGame/WarioWare''. It even appears as animations used to represent the transferring of your data to the 3DS and Wii U!

* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'' (UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, 2001)[[/index]]

* SuspisciouslySimilarSong: In "Treasure in a Bottle", a lawyer-friendly version of ''Music/AlsoSpracgZarathustra'' plays when the Red Pikmin notices the huge ramune bottle and the marble in it.

* PlotCoupons: Each game requires the player to collect a number of items -- ship parts in ''Pikmin'', treasures in ''Pikmin 2'', and fruit in ''Pikmin 3'' -- in order to progress through the game.

->'''BUT WHY DO I LOVE IT SO MUCH"'''

* BlackHumor: A lot of the visual humor in "Occupational Hazards" revolves around droves of Pikmin dying in various accidents, such as one getting electrocuted when touching a string of electrified yellows or a group being getting eaten by a Bulborb that then snorts their ghosts out of its nostrils.

** In all three games, sleeping enemies are not woken up by the whistle even if it is directly blowed on them, which makes it much easier for a player to call Pikmin from a distance without the risk of alerting anything to chase after them.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The first day in all of the main games has no time limit and it is impossible to lose Pikmin without some sort of major glitch. Even the Dwarf Red Bulborb at the beginning of the second game cannot kill them. This allows new players to get a good grasp on commanding Pikmin without the worry that they're wasting time that could be spent doing something else. In effect, Day 1 is an {{Antepiece}} for the entire rest of the game.

* HelpImStuck: In "Treasure in a Bottle", a red Pikmin manages to accidentally get itself trapped in a bottle, and it calls for help from two other Pikmin, who luckily just happen to be walking by, to get it back out. However, the two pikmin just laugh because from their view, the pikmin looks distorted.

* HelpImStuck: In "Treasure in a Bottle", a red Pikmin manages to accidentally get itself trapped in a bottle, and it calls for help from two other Pikmin, who luckily just happen to be walking by, to get it back out.

* EyeScream: When looking under the wheel to see where the Pikmin have gone, the Bulborb sees one of the reds just in time for it to punch it right in the eye.

[[caption-width-right:350:Small in size, but big on defense.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Nature's littlest guardians.]]

* GlassSmackAndSlide: In "Treasure in a Bottle", after the red pikmin fails to push the marble out of the bottle, it rolls towards the pikmin and it tries to run away, but ends up falling down the bottle, coming down hard on the bottom and sliding down.