Tear Jerker / Pikmin

Moments pages are Spoilers Off.

Today once again we'll carry, fight, multiply, and then be eaten. Uprooted we'll gather, and be thrown, but we won't ask you to love us...

While the Pikmin are plain adorable, it isn't all fun and games, bad things will happen.

---

• Ever heard the song Ai no Uta? The one that sounds "cute" and "calming"? Yeah...that's only if you don't know what the words actually mean. You can hear a fairly literal English cover here. The lyrics are a complete Player Punch to the gut, especially the last line.
  Pikmin: "...but we won't ask you to love us."
  • The song is just more heartbreaking/heartwarming as you analyze it. The Pikmin are doing this all because they care so much about Olimar and want to help him. So badly that they'll deliberately put themselves into danger, fully knowing that some of them will die, just to help Olimar. And they want nothing in return, not even Olimar's love or affection. And they even strive to try harder. The Pikmin are the most selfless creatures to ever evolve, and they don't even ask for recognition. If Nintendo protagonists were ranked by a Karma Meter, the Pikmin would be at the very end of the Good side.
  • The counterpart to the above song, Namida Ga Afureta, is just as heartbreaking. Translated to 'Tears Overflowing', the song is in Olimar's point of view, who regretted that he could never truly express his gratitude and love to the Pikmin he owed his rescue to at the end of the first game because of the Language Barrier Pikmin and Hocotatians have with each other being too great.
    Olimar: ...the tears overflowed, and I'm sorry for not saying something like this, I'm sorry...
    • Of course, given that in the sequel he really had all the time in the world, this leads to Fridge Heartwarming for Pikmin 2.
• The opening of Pikmin 2 is just rather tragic for poor, poor Olimar. He just barely managed to escape from being stranded on a Death World with a poisonous atmosphere and hungry predators, and as soon as he gets home what is the first thing that happens to him? He almost loses his job, his company is bankrupt, his ship (the same one he worked so hard to rebuild) is taken away from him, and he is forced to return to the dangerous planet that he almost died on! It's much worse when you remember that in the first game Olimar was mourning that he might never get to see his children again, and in the sequel he never has the chance to reunite with them before being sent away once more.
  • At the very least, he has some cold comfort in that he can still send and receive E-mails from his family despite being thousands, if not, millions of light years away from them.
• If you let yourself get attached to them, a single Pikmin death can be this.
• When a Pikmin dies its soul floats away with a depressing half moan half wail.
• The White Pikmin are just plain adorable and are happily skipping in the Pikmin selection screen, which is upsetting when you remember that one of their secondary uses is to be sacrificed to poison an enemy. The happy-go-lucky little fellows might as well about to be tossed to the hungry monsters as live bait and yet they're just so tragically, innocently cheerful.
• Bit of a minor Tearjerker, but the at the very end of Bulblax Kingdom, after delivering a hilarious Curb-Stomp Battle to the area's Emperor Bulblax as revenge from the last game, you can go beyond the boss area and see a one more treasure in the room, that being the Gyroid Bust. Like with Ai No Uta, this isn't a Tearjerker moment unless you think about the treasure's origins. The treasure is based on a Haniwa, an artifact relevant in ancient Japan used in funerals and is often buried/seen near the borders of ancient burial grounds. Given that it only spawns in the very bottom of the Bulblax Kingdom, an underground burrow/colony populated almost entirely by bulborbs... Uh, yeah.
• In Pikmin 2, when Louie is lost on the planet after being left behind, his grandma keeps on sending mail to him, worrying about him and asking why he hasn't been replying to her messages.
• The Mamuta in a way. They're actually described as peaceful, flower-loving creatures that actually help your Pikmin gain flowers, so killing them seems a little bit cruel.
• Did you forget any Pikmin out in the field at the end of the day? If so, you're treated to a cutscene of the left behind Pikmin being chased and eaten by the area's predators. Or even more heartbreaking, the remaining Pikmin desperately trying to make it back to the ship as it takes off without them... and it becomes worse in the third game, where they are given unique cries in panic when this happens.
• Bulbmin. Sure, they're part nightmare fuel, but think about it. You kill their leader and then they turn to you. You use them along with your trusted allies, and they get you out of tight spots...then, you abandon them when you leave, and they just look up at you and frantically swarm the geyser... what happens to them?
  • Given that Louie has a bulbmin recipe in his notes, it's implied he cooked and ate their mother after killing her!
  • That is, unless you throw them into a Candypop Bud and change them into a Pikmin you can bring above ground.
• Pikmin Extinction. This occurs when you lose every single Pikmin you have and having none left in the Onion. Hundreds of little plant creatures... and you're responsible for them all dying. Feel bad yet? Olimar certainly does:
  "The Pikmin have all perished because of my own carelessness. I am an utter disgrace as a leader... How can I continue to collect parts without them? Still the Onions join me in low orbit, as if this Pikmin extinction had never happened. I shan't sleep tonight..."
• The credits to the first Pikmin, arguably.
  • The third game's credits could also qualify, especially for one who grew up with the first two Pikmin games.
• Some of Olimar's Voyage Logs.
  "I wonder if I shall ever be able to escape from this world. How much suffering must I endure before I can finally see my family back home again? Still... When my heart grows too heavy, I take comfort in my efforts. I will get home... or I will expire trying."
  • Day 24:
  "I have been stranded on this planet for some time, and I have grown used to my life here. At times, I even find it quite bearable. I know that as soon as I return, I'll once again be subjected to daily ridicule by my despicable boss...If only I could be a Pikmin... NO!!! I must not think such thoughts! I have a family! I will not give up! Ever!"
  • Day 25:
  "At this point, I no longer care what happens. Surely, not even a last-minute push can guarantee my success. Now that I think about it, my wife always said that I gave up too easily... what does she know, anyway?! When did she become a licensed psychiatrist? ...now I am upset. I guess I will just go to sleep early tonight."
  • Day 28:
  "I suppose I have done well to get by without much motivation. I have made it this far without any hope."
  • If you have less than the 25 mandatory parts by day 30, Olimar manages one sentence:
  "I am so very tired."
• If you lose a large amount of Pikmin in 3, Captain Charlie may make a diary where he holds a moment of silence, then says that watching a soldier perish is something that you'll never get used to, but you have to carry on anyway.
  • Even worse in the British translation, which removes the comedic "OK, that's enough," from the dialogue.
• The Golden Ending of the first Pikmin can be pretty emotional, watching Olimar bid the Pikmin farewell as they look on sadly.
• Think Olimar gaining control of the Pikmin ruined their lives? This fan video might make you think again. It begins with a large crowd of Pikmin together simply relaxing, messing around, or even falling in love. Then a mass of Bulborbs attacks and drives them away. It only goes downhill from there. Sheargrubs eat some, a group of four is cut in half when a Snitchbug carries two away, and it's cut down to only a pair of Pikmin. Music begins playing as they finally find nectar, implying that things might start going another direction... before a Burrowing Snagret eats one of them. The last Pikmin runs in panic, finally resting to look up at the night sky all alone and think back about all of the previous tragedies. Wait, night? When the creatures get more active? It finds itself surrounded by a number of predators, before the camera zooms out to reveal a certain crashed ship. It's very slightly implied that the race somehow survived to make the Onions Olimar would later find and use to help rebuild them, but still, damn.
• After spending the whole second game with the Jerk with a Heart of Gold Hocotate ship, it was pretty jarring to see it broken and silent in the ground in Pikmin 3. Deluxe has Olimar and Louie sent to repair and retrieve it, thankfully.
• Brittany's notes on the Tremendous Sniffer (a pear). She at first compares the texture to her Aunt Bea, and likens the fruit's shape to that of her aunt's nose. After a brief tangent about her aunt's nose...
  Brittany: I miss my aunt. I want to go home.
• Let's talk about Emperor Bulblax for a bit. He's the final boss of the first Pikmin game, and any attempts to throw troops at him result in them harmlessly bouncing off. So how do you kill him? Well, there are a bunch of bomb rocks, and a yellow flower nearby... If you hadn't guessed yet, the way to beat him is giving your yellow Pikmin bomb rocks, and then throwing them at the Bulblax to eat. It's not a very sad moment if you don't care about your Pikmin, but if you do, it's unbearable. It is possible for the Yellow Pikmin to throw the bomb rock before the Bulblax can eat them, but it requires very good timing.
• The Dolphin. Olimar prizes her dearly and helped design her. During a delivery the Dolphin is cast into the atmosphere of PNF-404, breaking apart and plummeting to the surface. Olimar and the Pikmin spend weeks frantically searching for the Dolphin's scattered parts, toiling to tear down walls, build bridges, battle enormous beasts, recover the parts, and carry them back to the stricken ship. In the process dozens or even hundreds of Pikmin are eaten, crushed, buried, drowned, and burned alive as they dutifully soldier on without protest. A month later the Dolphin is finally reassembled and repaired, returning Olimar home safely... Only for the ship to be unceremoniously repossessed by loan sharks due to financial incompetence and a co-worker who can't stop devouring everything in sight. Even worse is that these blunders force Olimar to return to the Death World he spent the last 30 days on.
  • We can take comfort that Olimar doesn't seem too shaken up over it, seeing it as an opportunity to study PNF-404 while making enough bank to buy the Dolphin back.
    • Pikmin 3 sees Olimar returning to PNF-404 yet again... this time working to salvage enough treasure to be able to buy back his beloved Dolphin.
• The ending of "Olimar's Shipwreck Tale" from Pikmin 4. No matter how fast you fix Olimar's ship, the end result is the same: Olimar fails to escape the planet and is turned into a Leafling with no memory of his previous identity. If it weren't for the Rescue Corps, he would've never seen his family again, who wouldn't even have the closure of knowing what happened to him.
• The reveal that the Red Leafling is Captain Olimar himself. We all saw it coming, but that still hardly softened the blow with him remembering who he is and wanting to go back home to his wife and children before he ultimately faints.
  Leafling!Olimar (after being beaten for the last time): If I had Dandori skills like yours...maybe I could've found my way...home.
• The credits from Pikmin 4. After the Rescue Corps leave PNF-404 behind to bring Olimar home, the Pikmin look on in worry as the ship departs the planet. We then get a lovely credits sequence of the Pikmin frolicking among the flowers, happy and carefree... only for them to get devoured by the nocturnal predators of the planet. By the time night falls, none are left. It's a fairly dire reminder that despite their power as a swarm, without a leader to help them survive, the Pikmin are doomed to extinction.
• One you beat Louie's last Dandori Challenge, he gets mad and abandons Moss for the Ancient Sirehound. Moss is very depressed over being left alone once again.
• The heavy implication that the Ancient Sirehound was previously owned by humans on PNF-404 due to their aged collar. Their fur is extremely filthy and messy apart from the tail and you fight them and Louie in a pile of trash implied to be the Sirehound's home, or more accurately, what's left of it, suggesting that if humanity did die out and the Sirehound was left without an owner as a result, they've been wandering around for an unknown amount of time completely alone until Louie came along, who only saw the Sirehound as something to protect his selfish desires, which is made worse by Schnauz's and Olimar's notes on their collar both suggesting that whoever gave it to the Ancient Sirehound must have loved them very much. Let's hope they find companionship with Moss and the Pikmin at the end.
• Olimar saying goodbye to Moss. Although the Rescue Corps. successfully cure Oatchi, Yonny's medicine fails to cure Moss since her condition is hereditary. Olimar accepts this and decides it would be wrong to take her away from her home planet and natural habitat. It can hit close to home for anyone who had to let a pet go for reasons beyond their control.
• Louie's description for the Disk of Sorrowful Wisdom is a sobering reminder that even someone as selfish, reckless and dangerously impulsive as him still has people he cares about in his life. The way it's delivered in the same terse, deadpan tone as the rest of his logs makes it hit even harder, as it seems like Louie himself doesn't entirely understand his own emotions.
  Louie: Suddenly I miss Nana, and I'm overcome by all these sad feelings.

---