Candypop family

Artwork of the three primary Candypop Buds.

Candypop Buds (ポンガシグサ^?, lit.: "Puffed Grain Weed") are large flowers with fleshy petals and are found in all three main Pikmin games. When Pikmin are tossed into these gigantic blossoms, they spit out new Pikmin seeds which match the color of the flower's petals. These new Pikmin are born in the leaf stage. The Candypop Buds expel the seeds after five Pikmin are thrown in, or a few seconds after the first throw; the exception being the Queen Candypop Bud, which does so after the first Pikmin is thrown.

In Pikmin, Candypops can transition up to 10 Pikmin in one load, and will wither after 50 Pikmin are thrown in. Both of these numbers were reduced to 5 in the second and third games. In these two games, using Pikmin of the same type as the flower does not count against this limit, although they will still be reverted to leaf Pikmin and planted in the ground. In Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin holding bomb-rocks will not be taken in by Candypop Buds, merely sliding off the top; the same will happen to thrown leaders in Pikmin 3. However, in Pikmin 3, if a Pikmin holding a bomb rock is thrown in a Candypop Bud, it will extend upwards before wilting away, killing the Pikmin with it without leaving a soul behind.

In Pikmin 2, Candypop Buds are never found above ground and only appear in caves, where they will respawn when the cave is reentered. In some caves, Violet Candypop Buds and Ivory Candypop Buds will only appear if the player has less than a certain number of Pikmin. To unlock a Candypop Bud's entry in the Piklopedia, the player must throw at least one Pikmin inside and wait for a seed to be spat out.

In Pikmin 3 they have a different appearance, consisting of a large bucket-like cup in the middle of the flower, most likely as a "target" for leaders to aim Pikmin at. They also behave slightly differently, as they are always closed, opening only when a leader is nearby, and when they wither, their roots remain in place. Also, if two players throw Pikmin in a Candypop Bud at the same moment in Bingo Battle, the Candypop Bud will spit out seeds for both teams, depending on the number of Pikmin that were thrown in by each of them.

Notes

Reel notes

“Could this be the next stage in Pikmin evolution? Like the Pikmin themselves, it has many mysteries.”

Olimar's voyage log

“When I throw Pikmin into this flower, they are popped right back out. I have named this very peculiar bloom the candypop bud. It's strange... No matter what color Pikmin I throw in, the ones that pop out match the flower's color!”

Members

Crimson Candypop Bud

Main article: Crimson Candypop Bud.

When Pikmin are tossed into a Crimson Candypop Bud, an equal number of Red Pikmin seeds are spat out. These plants are generally not needed with good planning, but they are more useful if one is far from the Onions and has a small number of Red Pikmin on hand.

Golden Candypop Bud

Main article: Golden Candypop Bud.

Golden Candypop Buds release Yellow Pikmin seeds when Pikmin are thrown in. While large numbers of Yellow Pikmin are not often needed, use of the Golden Candypop Bud is required to obtain the Chronos Reactor in Pikmin. This particular Candypop Bud is very rare in Pikmin 2, making only one appearance inside the Glutton's Kitchen on sublevel 3. In Pikmin 3, Golden Candypop Buds often appear near electrodes.

Gray Candypop Bud

Main article: Gray Candypop Bud.

Official family unknown

Gray Candypop Buds spit out Rock Pikmin seeds when Pikmin are thrown in. Gray Candypop Buds are uncommon in Story Mode, but a cluster of four appears in the southernmost region of the Tropical Wilds, in an arena with a Calcified Crushblat. Since only Blue Pikmin and Winged Pikmin can reach the arena, and Rock Pikmin are the best type to defeat the enemy, these candypop buds are useful.

Ivory Candypop Bud

Main article: Ivory Candypop Bud.

Ivory Candypop Buds produce White Pikmin seeds when Pikmin are thrown in. This Candypop Bud is the only method of obtaining White Pikmin in Story Mode. Many Ivory Candypop Buds are found in the White Flower Garden on sublevel 3 when the player has 19 or fewer White Pikmin, and on sublevels 3 and 4 of the Subterranean Complex.

Lapis Lazuli Candypop Bud

Main article: Lapis Lazuli Candypop Bud.

Lapis Lazuli Candypop Buds produce Blue Pikmin seeds. They're particularly useful if the player needs more Blue Pikmin to carry an object through water.

Pink Candypop Bud

Main article: Pink Candypop Bud.

Official family unknown

Pink Candypop Buds release Winged Pikmin seeds when Pikmin are tossed in. They can only be found in the Formidable Oak in Story Mode, but are found more frequently in Mission Mode.

Queen Candypop Bud

Main article: Queen Candypop Bud.

Queen Candypop Buds are unique in the Candypop family. Their petals are white with colored spots which cycle between red, yellow, and blue. When a Pikmin of any type is tossed in, nine seeds which match the color of the spots are ejected, giving players an eight-Pikmin gain. After the seeds are ejected, the Queen Candypop Bud wilts. These flowers are generally found in rest sublevels of caves, to let the player increase their Pikmin population.

Violet Candypop Bud

Main article: Violet Candypop Bud.

Violet Candypop Buds spit out Purple Pikmin seeds when Pikmin are tossed in. This Candypop Bud is the only way to obtain Purple Pikmin. Many Violet Candypop Buds and Queen Candypop Buds can be found on sublevel 8 of the Subterranean Complex, making it the ideal location for growing more Purple Pikmin.

Maximum Pikmin requirement

Some Violet Candypop Buds and Ivory Candypop Buds will only appear if the player has less than 20 of the equivalent Pikmin type. If the player has 20 or more of that Pikmin type, the Candypop Bud will not spawn, and no other object will take its place. This can be seen, for instance, in the second sublevel of the Citadel of Spiders: the Violet Candypop Bud always appears in dead ends, and if the player is over the maximum Pikmin requirements, there will be an empty dead end in the sublevel.

Interestingly, only the Pikmin inside the cave and the Pikmin inside the Hocotate ship count toward this limit. This means that Pikmin sprouts in an overworld area, including the area the cave is in, will not count. The game will only check for the requirement at the start of the sublevel.

The following sublevels have Candypop Buds that do not appear if the player has 20 or more of the equivalent Pikmin type:

• Violet Candypop Bud:
  • Emergence Cave, sublevel 2
  • Frontier Cavern, sublevel 1
  • Hole of Beasts, sublevel 2
  • Citadel of Spiders, sublevel 2
  • Glutton's Kitchen, sublevel 2
  • Shower Room, sublevel 2
• Ivory Candypop Bud:
  • White Flower Garden, sublevel 3
  • Bulblax Kingdom, sublevel 1
  • Snagret Hole, sublevel 2
  • Shower Room, sublevel 1

Since the only Candypop Buds affected by this are in early sublevels, this limit likely exists to stop players from easily obtaining a large number of Purple Pikmin or White Pikmin by repeatedly entering and leaving the same cave.

Pikmin discovery requirement

In general, Candypop Buds of a specific type will not spawn unless the corresponding Pikmin type has been discovered. In Pikmin, it is possible to go to The Forest Navel and The Distant Spring without discovering Yellow Pikmin or Blue Pikmin, and this causes the Golden Candypop Buds or the Lapis Lazuli Candypop Buds, respectively, to not spawn. Similarly, in Pikmin 3, Candypop Buds will not spawn if their respective type of Pikmin has not been discovered.

However, there are some exceptions in Pikmin 2. Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin are discovered after throwing Pikmin inside of a Violet Candypop Bud and an Ivory Candypop Bud, respectively. Therefore, the game must spawn Violet Candypop Buds in Emergence Cave sublevel 2 before Purple Pikmin are discovered and Ivory Candypop Buds in White Flower Garden sublevel 3 before White Pikmin are discovered. For some reason, if the player skips discovering Purple Pikmin in Emergence Cave by utilizing glitches, then other Violet Candypop Buds will still spawn. If it were possible to never encounter Red Pikmin, Crimson Candypop Buds would also still appear. On the other hand, until White Pikmin are discovered, the only Ivory Candypop Buds to spawn are the White Flower Garden sublevel 3 ones.

Relations to the Pikmin family

Olimar notes in the enemy reel that Candypop Buds could be the next step in Pikmin evolution, and in his Piklopedia notes that Candypops could be the same species. This theory is further cemented by the fact that Candypop Buds occasionally emit the same sparkles that come from the top of Onions, use similar sounds to the Pikmin, and the buds in Pikmin 3 use the same texture for leaves as the Pikmin do.

Technical information

Pikmin technical information (?)
Internal name	pom
HP	N/A

Pikmin 2 technical information (?)
Internal name			pom
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	99999
fp01	マップとの当り	Unknown (related to slopes)	30
fp02	ダメージスケールXZ	Horizontal damage scale	0.1
fp03	ダメージスケールY	Vertical damage scale	0.1
fp04	ダメージフレーム	Damage scale duration	0.35
fp05	質量	Unknown (weight?)	0
fp06	速度	Move speed	0
fp08	回転速度率	Rotation acceleration	0
fp09	テリトリー	Territory radius	1
fp10	ホーム範囲	"Home" radius	1
fp11	プライベート距離	"Private" radius	75
fp12	視界距離	Sight radius	0
fp13	視界角度	FOV	0
fp14	探索距離	Unknown (exploration radius?)	0
fp15	探索角度	Unknown (exploration angle?)	0
fp16	振り払い率	Successful shake rate	0
fp17	振り払い力	Shake knockback	0
fp18	振り払いダメージ	Shake damage	0
fp19	振り払い範囲	Shake range	0
fp20	攻撃可能範囲	Unknown (shock attack max range?)	0
fp21	攻撃可能角度	Unknown (shock attack max angle?)	0
fp22	攻撃ヒット範囲	Unknown (attack hit range?)	0
fp23	攻撃ヒット角度	Unknown (attack hit angle?)	0
fp24	攻撃力	Attack damage	0
fp25	視界高	Unknown (height visibility?)	0
fp26	探索高	Unknown (exploration height?)	0
fp27	ライフの高さ	HP wheel height	0
fp28	回転最大速度	Rotation speed	0
fp29	警戒時間	Unknown (warning time?)	0
fp30	警戒ライフ	Unknown	0
fp31	ライフ回復率	Regeneration rate	0
fp32	LOD半径	Off-camera radius	60
fp33	マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定	Collision processing radius	55
fp34	ピクミンとのあたり	Pikmin damage radius	15
fp35	石化時間	Petrification duration	1
fp36	ヒップドロップダメージ	Purple Pikmin drop damage	N/A
fp37	地震気絶確立	Purple Pikmin stun chance	N/A
fp38	地震気絶時間	Purple Pikmin stun time	N/A
ip01	振り払い打撃Ａ	Shake mode 1 – hit count	0
ip02	振り払い張付１	Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement	0
ip03	振り払い打撃Ｂ	Shake mode 2 – hit count	0
ip04	振り払い張付２	Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement	0
ip05	振り払い打撃Ｃ	Shake mode 3 – hit count	0
ip06	振り払い張付３	Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement	0
ip07	振り払い打撃Ｄ	Shake mode 4 – hit count	0
Specific properties
ID	Japanese comment	Property	Value
ip01	吸い込みピキ数(pom)	Number of Pikmin a non-Queen can convert	5
ip02	吐き出し回数(pom)	Number of times a non-Queen spits Pikmin	1
ip11	吸い込みピキ数(pop)	Number of Pikmin a Queen Candypop Bud can convert	1
ip12	吐き出し回数(pop)	Number of times a Queen spits Pikmin	1
ip13	吐き出し倍数(pop)	Number of Pikmin a Queen spits	9
fp01	開花時間	Unknown (flowering time?)	1
fp02	色換え時間	Color change interval, for Queens	2.6
fp03	白黒出現率	Unknown (Purple and White incidence?)	0

Naming

The name of the plants' family is derived from "candy", given their intense colors, and "pop", referring to the way they spit out Pikmin seeds. Members of this family use the word Flora as the genus in their scientific name, which is simply the English word "flora".

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	Fleur Cracheuse	Spitter Flower
German	Königinblumen	Queen Flower
Italian	Cromanvillea	From "bougainvillea", a genus of flowers that resemble Candypops, and the greek root "chromo" which means "color"
Korean	뻥튀기초

Gallery

• 

  The data file on Candypop Buds.

• 

  A misplaced Candypop Bud in teki5, showing the root.

• 

  In Pikmin 3, Candypop Buds are closed, even when Pikmin are near it...

• 

  ...but open up if a leader approaches.

• 

  A Gray Candypop Bud after ingesting a bomb rock.

• 

  A Candypop Bud wilting.

• 

  Another picture of a wilting Candypop Bud.

• 

  After the Candypop Bud wilts, the leaves below it become smaller.

Trivia

• In sublevel 5 of Glutton's Kitchen, a Queen Candypop Bud may fall from the ceiling. It is possible to notice that it has a green root. There are also several Candypop Buds in sublevel 6 of Bulblax Kingdom. Here, if the camera is zoomed in, and if the Candypop Bud is distant enough, the root might be visible.
• In Pikmin, Candypop Buds are technically bosses. As such, approaching them will change the area's music to the battle variant.
• There is an unused Candypop Bud-like object named "NamaPongashi" in Pikmin 3's files. Pikmin that are thrown in die, but new seeds do not come out.

See also

• Pellet
• Pellet Posy