Reviewing Monsters - Pikmin 2: Frogs and Bosses

The second part of our coverage of Pikmin monsters! It's been pretty fun (if slow) going through all the monsters here, although I do really like the fact that the second Pikmin game has, well, the Piklopedia that really easily summarizes a lot of the monster's features for me.

Again, the same disclaimer returns here -- unlike most of the video game monster reviews, I've not played or even seen someone play through Pikmin, so most of my knowledge of this game comes entirely from me going through the bestiary on the Wiki and just completely talking about the franchise's wacky creatures from what they tell me there. It's the only 'reviewing monsters' segment in this blog that I've done in this way and I feel like it's kind of fun!

Click here and here for the first Pikmin game, and here for the first part of Pikmin 2. 

As with the previous review, I'm not going to talk about 'repeat' enemies from the first game, and for this segment of the Piklopedia, that includes: Yellow Wollywog, Wollywog, Wogpole, Honeywisp, Mamuta, Breadbug, Burrowing Snagret, Beady Long Legs and Emperor Bulblax. 

Lesser Spotted Jellyfloat (Cephalus dottalium) & Greater Spotted Jellyfloat (Cephalus vortexia)

This is a new one! The idea of fantasy jellyfish that float in the air isn't anything new -- it's always an image that I feel that we find surreal how jellyfishes themselves sort of float peacefully in the water, an image that's comparable to man-made balloons. The Lesser Spotted Jellyfloat is airborne, floats around and... inhales your poor Pikmin and digests them! Oh no! Apparently, the Lesser Spotted Jellyfloat is noted by Olimar to be endangered, because its habitat is being taken over by 'hostile immigrant species'. The Dirigibug, perhaps? Or is it its similar-looking pink cousin?

The Greater Spotted Jellyfloat is apparently larger and can suck up multiple Pikmin at once. Not a whole ton to really say here, it's neat that there's a variation with slightly different mechanics. The Piklopedia notes that they aren't native to this region, having been brought in by winds, but doesn't really elaborate on whether they are the immigrant species that are driving their lesser cousins to become endangered. Design-wise, both jellyfloats would've just been fine being airborne jellyfishes with giant balloon 'heads', but the addition of those two slug-like eyestalks just makes the design feel so much neater. 

Fiery Dweevil (Mandarachnia napalmens) & Anode Dweevil (Mandarachnia volticula)

We've got four different variants of the "Dweevil", which isn't based on a weevil at all but obviously on a spider, but the pun of 'devil' and 'weevil' is just so Nintendo that I'm going to let this one slide. It's... it's an interesting looking spider-monster, for sure. Four giant gangly legs, multiple chibi-looking eyes... and two weird hands that jut out of where the mouth should be. Huh! Apparently, Dweevils as a whole love to pick up either treasures or defeated Pikmin and put them on their bodies. We don't exactly know what they use it for, whether it's to build their nests or something, but Olimar notes that apparently the Dweevils will 'mimic them'? Okay, then. These creatures are also noted to apparently be relatively gentle, which is pretty refreshing considering how nearly every spider monster in fantasy tend to be portrayed as aggressive monsters. I'm not 100% sure if this behaviour is based on any real insect or arthropod behaviour, unless it's meant to be one of those assassin bugs that carry corpses of their prey on top of their body. 

And depending on the Dweevil, they have different elemental attacks. The Fiery Dweevil is, obviously, fire-breathing and the Anode Dweevil shoots lightning. Olimar's notes tell us that the Fiery Dweevil generates flammable gas from within its body. Louie tells us that it tastes like bacon. 

Caustic Dweevil (Mandarachnia sulfurnid) & Munge Dweevil (Mandarachnia pungetis)

The next couple of Dweevils are also basically the same design, but with different colours and elements. I'm not sure why I don't really find much to talk about here, I really do like spider monsters and Dweevils are neat-looking, but ultimately I just can't find much to say here. The Caustic Dweevil shoots out corrosive fluids that will burn a hole through your space suit, but will merely drown Pikmin. The Munge Dweevil shoots out gas that's just pungent to humans, but is toxic to Pikmin. Okay!

These two Dweevels are some of the few enemies that Louie can't find any way to cook, and apparently the side-effect of consuming it includes... 'enthusiastic dishwashing'? That's funny. 

Volatile Dweevil (Mandarachnia explodus)

Our final common Dweevil are Dweevils that have picked up 'bomb rocks', which are apparently a thing that exists as a hazard or something in the Pikmin world. Unlike the other Dweevils, these are one of those Pokemon-style questions where a species of creature is always seen with something that seems unnatural. But every single Volatile Dweevil has that bomb-rock on their body, so. It's one of those kamikaze enemies, running down at your dudes and blowing them up. Not sure how they reproduce to sustain a sufficient amount of their species, but maybe it's just Olimar mis-identifying all of the Dweevils with a bomb rock on its back as its own separate species. 

Toady Bloyster (Molluschid minionicus)

Oh, this is a new one! I like this guy, he looks like his anatomy and general, flatter body shape is based on a sea slug... but it's a terrestrial creature that goops around like a real slug! I like the slimy texture they've got on him, I like that he's got a little flower-like 'tail' (presumably for camouflage, but a fun 'land' equivalent of the coral-like protrusions that sea slugs have), I like the differently-coloured eyeballs, and they make moo-moo noises. And best of all, it feeds on Pikmin via a mass of tentacles from its mouth! Pretty nasty! Not much to say here, I just kind of really like this one -- moving the sea slug to land and then swapping out the details to 'fit' a terrestrial version of its kind is a neat concept. 

Creeping Chrysanthemum (Taraxacum rovinia)

At this point in the Piklopedia is a massive amount of plants like the Candylop Buds, the Dandelions, the Horsetail, the Glowstem (actually Christmas lights but shhh Olimar doesn't know that), the Pellet Posies... and a bunch of plant monsters! As seen on the image to the right, the Creeping Chrysanthemum tends to have most of its body underground, and only the flowers jut out. Sort of like a plant-style anglerfish. Except this guy has two adorable eyeballs in the middle of the flowers! That's cute. 

Its true body is also kind of fun, being a giant fat bulb-body resembling Totoro or one of those Kingdom Hearts bosses (we should review that game's monsters at some point too), the flower-eyes are arranged more like eyestalks, and its central flower has morphed into a giant Piranha Plant fang! A very interesting take on a plant monster. They could've had the flower merely turn into the Audrey II ripoff flytrap monster and called it a day, but giving it a huge fat central body (which the game identifies as a 'root bulb') makes it just that more unique looking. Olimar himself notes that the Creeping Chrysanthemum is sort of like a Pikmin in that regard (their humanoid bodies are also a root system, like a fantasy mandrake) and is called a 'mimic'... but it is actually a plant. Apparently this unique plant monster is so bizarrely different that Olimar has to go on a bit of a talk on how different the food chain of Planet 404 is. 

Skitter Leaf (Rus pseudoarbicans)

Oh, this one is cute! It's a leaf insect, except instead of an insect whose abdomen and legs had markings resembling a leaf, this is straight-up a leaf insect made out of leaves. Look at that 'mouth' that's just the cut-off stem of the leaf! Pokemon would do another elaborate plant-monster-that-resembles-an-insect in Fomantis and Lurantis, but the Skitter Leaf here communicates that it's actually a sentient plant that just looks like an insect much, much better than its cross-game cousins. Olimar himself even notes that the Skitter Leaf is apparently a mutated form of the real-life pond skater, which is... not what I expected this creature would be based on, but I can kind of see the anatomy. In-game, the Skitter Leaf seems to be there just as an extra ambience, since it is neither hostile nor a 'loot' enemy like a Honeywisp. 

______________________

Bosses;

And here we are, with the bosses of the game! There is a bunch of plants and the "Unmarked Spectralid", which are just straight-up butterflies, and a bunch of returning bosses from Pikmin 1, but here we go with the new bosses. 

Empress Bulblax (Oculus matriarcha)
The Emperor Bulblax is the final boss of the previous game (and shows up again here), but we've got the Empress Bulblax! And... yeah, the design is kind of obvious, taking a queen termite's iconic giant ovipositor abdomen. I suppose this is the big part of the Bulblaxes being grub-dogs, huh? The design is appropriately comical like most Bulblaxes, with the Empress's face and tiny legs looking just like a regular Bulblax whose butt just ballooned up into that giant termite butt.

I do like that Olimar notes that most people researching these monsters don't think that the grub-dogs are able to support an ant or bee-like eusocial structure... but then we get to see the Empress Bulblax, which apparently is only formed from the largest female in any given group in response to changes in the environment, like a lack of prey. So these Bulblaxes only enter a hive-style mentality when conditions are right, somewhat similar to grasshoppers transforming into locusts or something. And apparently it's Olimar's "enlightening" of the Pikmin that's implied to be why the Bulblaxes ran out of easy prey to hunt down! That's a fun little backstory. 

Giant Breadbug (Pansarus gigantus)

Okay, I get it. The regular Breadbug looks like a bread roll. Their boss, the Giant Breadbug, looks like a full loaf of white bread. I get the joke! Are there going to be bun or breadstick Breadbugs in Pikmin III? It basically behaves identically to a regular Breadbug but is bigger, and Olimar even lampshades that its body looks like "it was formed in a mold". I do like that we get a description of how juvenile species will compete for food with smaller Breadbugs, but will journey out in search of larger prey as it reaches maturity. Hilariously, despite looking like food, Louie bemoans the utter tastelessness of the Giant Breadbug's abundant meat.

Pileated Snagret (Shiropedes ambulatria)

We've had the Burrowing Snagret in the first game, and that creature also shows up here. The Pileated Snagret is honestly the same sort of weird snake-bird crossbreed, albeit with a head based on a different bird compared to the Burrowing Snagret. It's cool that they added a stronger boss version, but it doesn't really give me much to say here. I like that it's only got one tiny bird leg. Honestly, the Snagrets are just so utterly weird as fantasy enemies. I really want to know what the original inspiration beyond this boss's anatomy really is. 

Man-at-Legs (Pseudoarachnia navaronia)

Coming from the same Pseudoarachnia genus with the previous game's Beady Long Legs, the Man-at-Legs looks pretty similar, albeit it has a more generic-looking 'legs sprouting from the lower sides of the body' compared to the Beady Long Legs utterly alien-looking 'body suspended by legs' look. The Man-at-Legs is noted to be actually bio-mechanical, and the central 'orb' is noted to be mechanical with little steam-emitting exhaust vents. One of its four legs is even a steampunk robot leg. Apparently, in combat, the Man-at-Legs will open panels to unleash tiny machineguns to murder your little plant fairy friends. Oh no!

If Olimar's notes are to be believed, this isn't even an artificially transformed being, but that this species of Pseudoarcahnia will straight-up look for machinery and fuse with them at a crucial point during maturation, and that the 'machinery approached the arachnorb species and offered the symbiosis'. Bizarre! Apparently, the Man-at-Legs itself isn't even in control of the weapon, and it's automated. 

Raging Long Legs (Pseudoarachnia furiendis)

Ah, here we have something that's basically yet another variant on the Beady Long Legs, only this one's got a very cool, inky black-and-purple texture all around it and larger stompy-stomp legs. Olimar and the Piklopedia doesn't really offer us too much new information about this one, noting to the fact that not much is known about the Arachnorbs at all because they blow up when they are dissected. Interestingly, this creature is noted to be 'levelling terrain for no discernible reason'. Coupled with the cyborg symbiote Man-at-Legs, are they working to do something?

Ranging Bloyster (Molluschid predatoria)

The first real new boss here is related to the common Toady Bloyster up above, and it's basically the same slug/sea-slug monster, but much larger. The flower is also a lot more elaborate, and just like the flower-like organs in real-life sea slugs, they function as the Bloyster's gills. Interestingly, the Ranging Bloyster is noted to be particularly interested in shiny, flashing objects. Again, most of what I said with the Toady Bloyster applies here, I really like this thing from the way it adapts a real-life animal, and i absolutely love its open mouth and multi-tentacle attack thing. 

Waterwraith (Amphibio sapiens)

Okay what? The Waterwraith is an 'Amphibio sapiens', and it's... it is such a goddamn strange creature to behold especially comparing it to the rest of Pikmin's "weird mutant animals and plant" bestiary. Is it related to the amoeba-like Goolix or the enigmatic Progg from the previous game? What a freaking bizarre creature, looking like a crouching human made entirely out of water, but it's also wrapped its arms and legs around two cylindrical chunks of rock that allows it to move around like a bizarre car. Adding to its bizarreness, Olimar's Hocotate ship notes that 'it can be seen, but the sensors detect nothing'. So it's actually a projection of a creature from another dimension or something. 

Olimar himself notes that it's theorized to be the 'ectoplasmic incarnation of a kind of psychic phenomenon', so it's like, a g-g-g-ghost, zoinks! Everyone that sees this becomes afraid, panicked and sometimes go crazy. This is how you do a bizarre, sinister otherworldly being without going over the top with gore or fleshy mutations. Sometimes all the 'cute but unsettling' can be so much more creepy than all the Cthulhus and Satans out there. 

Segmented Crawbster (Parastacoidea reptantia)

Oooh, what the hell? This is a Crawbster? One of those cute hermit crabs that burry underground? It sure is a big, scary monsters whose face kind of looks like a butt I'm sorry that's my first impression and I cannot really unsee it. Its anatomy is sure interesting, having a shrimp's body and the fiddler crab's iconic 'one arm is larger than the other' thing that we see so often in fantasy bestiaries based on crustaceans. But instead of a regular claw, the Segmented Crawbster's huge claw is a giant chunk of flesh with blades jutting out of it.

If we're being honest, I don't really quite care for this one, but maybe like so many other video game bosses in Resident Evil or Zelda or whatever, maybe its in-game role or boss fight would make me like it a whole lot more? Design wise I feel it's serviceable as a giant crab-lobster creature. It's just that I can't get past that butt face, I'm sorry. It's probably meant to look like a crab shell or something, I know. 

Titan Dweevil (Mandarachnia gargantium)

And the final boss of Pikmin 2 and the final boss in the Piklopedia... is a giant dweevil. This one's actually got a pretty different body, with two claw-tipped 'arms' that dangle from its sides in addition to the four giant spider legs and the same two brush-esque mandible-hands that the regular Dweevils have. It's a pretty neat 'final boss', I suppose, and apparently it's got 'weapons' like that thing that is totally not a padlock and that thing that is totally not a tap tacked on to its main body. Apparently, the chemicals from the objects it acquires have caused some genetic changes that makes them far more deadly and aggressive.  That's what makes the Titan Dweevil danegrous, that it's using these tools from the race that once lived in LNP-404 (humans, but we're bigger!) as weapons. Honestly, nowhere quite as impactful as the Smoky Progg or Emperor Bulblax from the previous game, but still a pretty dang badass looking boss. 

And that's Pikmin 2 done! I don't really have much to say here, it's been a blast going through Pikmin's utterly creative bestiary!