Spotty Bulbear

Spotty Bulbears are enemies in the four main Pikmin games that resemble Bulborbs with a different color and stature, and larger mouths with wider lips. They are black with red spots, and their face is a creamy yellow or orange. Its large mouth allows it to eat Pikmin more rapidly and easily, making it a rather formidable foe. These enemies are often found with a number of following Dwarf Bulbears, which are supposed to follow this guardian as a source of protection and general aid.

Behavior
In, Spotty Bulbears largely spend their time sleeping, only waking up if disturbed by the Pikmin or Olimar. They have piercing red pupils when awake and actively pursuing prey. They have slightly more health than their Spotty Bulborb counterparts, making confrontation riskier. The red spots on their back constantly change in size, even after the creature's death. They have a noticeable regeneration factor, healing if the player takes too much time to kill them.

In, Spotty Bulbears never sleep, spending all of their time patrolling the map in search of prey. They have far greater maneuverability than other Grub-dogs, freely wandering the entire map in search of prey, often followed by multiple Dwarf Bulbears. In any sublevel or area where a Spotty Bulbear is active, extreme caution must be taken until it is safely disposed of, as it is capable of attacking and killing Pikmin who are currently working on tasks or even simply idling, thanks to its high mobility. Most notably, one will appear in the Perplexing Pool after Day 30. Its mobility means that it can even wander into the landing site to eat Pikmin idle by the Onions and the Ship, making it a priority target.

Spotty Bulbears in do not truly die when defeated, instead falling unconscious. When lying unconscious, its health will steadily regenerate as it attempts to revive itself. If the body is not destroyed, either by depositing it in an Onion, the Research Pod, or defeating the creature while it is petrified, it will eventually wake back up, requiring a repeated "kill", a trait it shares with Gatling Groinks. In the event that the body cannot be destroyed, leaving the area while it is down, such as entering a cave or proceeding to a deeper sublevel, is advised.

In, Spotty Bulbears are much rarer. Only one can be found during the main game, behind a bamboo gate in one of the Distant Tundra's caves, although they are markedly more common in Mission Mode. In this game, they have a notable resistance to bomb rocks, and are generally less persistent, stomping their foot in anger and disengaging a chase if they cannot reach their intended target, compared to the previous game, where they would try forever. They keep their sleepless wandering, but they also have a number of new weaknesses:
 * They no longer revive when killed.
 * When a Bulbear snatches Pikmin, it stops to fling them into the air and land them down its throat. Then, it pauses for about two seconds. If it has eaten a large amount of Pikmin recently, it may burp. This small sliver of time should be enough for a wary player to escape or attempt an attack.
 * They will instantly die if they ingest a bomb rock.
 * Bulbears now emit a heavy, snarly breathing noise when giving chase, which can be heard from a distance, alerting players of their presence. When in a dark area, their glowing purple eyes can also be seen from a distance.
 * If a Bulbear spots the player, it will now give a glance at the group, making it much easier to tell if the Bulbear can see its prey or not.
 * They can be briefly stunned if their eyes are attacked, like other large grub-dogs in Pikmin 3.

In, Spotty Bulbears are a bit more common than in Pikmin 3, thought still not as common as in the first 2 games. They can be found both above and below ground, featuring most prominently in the Giant's Hearth, where 3 of them appear. They also appear in some harder Night expeditions. They are changed very little behavior-wise from Pikmin 3, though they can no long be stunned via attacking their eyes. While they still wander during the day, they now follow predictable routes through smaller areas, rather than being able to roam anywhere as in Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3.

Pikmin
The exact same strategy for the Spotty Bulborb is effective here, but take care of the Bulbear's increased health. A large group of Red Pikmin or three bomb-rocks will do it in.

Pikmin 2
Spotty Bulbears are always awake in this game and are constantly roaming the map, making a surprise attack nearly impossible. It is possible to trick the Bulbear into attacking and missing, allowing the leader access to its backside, but they frequently have Dwarf Bulbears following them, making this tactic risky. Another means of accessing its rear is to split the leaders, using the one without Pikmin as a distraction. If Purple Pikmin are available, they make the battle easier as they can injure and stun the adult and children, but with other types it may be wise to use an ultra-bitter spray. It is often effective to switch roles with and hunt the Bulbear itself before it can pick up any Dwarfs, and then stun and attack it.

If time is not a concern, leaders can be used to punch and kill the Dwarf Bulbears and even the adult without the risk of losing Pikmin. The Rocket Fist upgrade makes this especially easy.

In the Perplexing Pool, you can trap the Bulbear in between the wall and the small maze next to the bridge. It will be unable to get out, so it won't be an issue anymore unless you want to kill it. Just begin to rain Pikmin down on its head, it should shake once or twice before dying. You then can carry its corpse and the 10-pellet it dropped out of the area and they will be able to get to the Onion. In most caves, leaving a Pikmin on one side of the wall that the Bulbear cannot reach allows a slight edge. Be quick and you can severely damage, if not kill it, with few losses.

To defeat the Spotty Bulbears in the Subterranean Lair in Challenge Mode, lure all three close to one another, then hit them all with a single shot of ultra-bitter spray to petrify all three at once, hopefully along with the dwarf compainions.

Since Bulbears follow the active leader, they can be lured into falling into bottomless pits that are between the leader and the beast. Any treasures the creature would drop will be, unlike in Pikmin, safely returned to the sublevel for collection. One such level is sublevel 3 in the Dream Den.

If you want to get rid of the posse of dwarfs following the Spotty Bulbear, you can bring twenty Purple Pikmin and sneak up on the farthest dwarf in the group. Throw the purple on its back and it will die instantly. Do this to all the dwarfs without the Spotty Bulbear "noticing" and then you can defeat it with ease.

Pikmin 3
A Spotty Bulbear appears inside a dark cave in the Distant Tundra. It is accompanied by the usual Dwarf Bulbears and some Fiery Blowhogs. In the cave, there are 10 bomb rocks. It will take 3 bomb explosions to kill the Bulbear, but if the Bulbear eats a bomb rock (regardless of whether or not a Pikmin is carrying it), it will instantly die. The remaining bombs can be used to deal with the other enemies.

For a head-on attack, make sure all other enemies are dead before facing it as otherwise shaken off Pikmin may become eaten or set on fire. Chuck Pikmin at its eyes until you hit them. Don't throw any more Pikmin until it's ready to attack again. This keeps it flinching over and over. Whistle some Pikmin when your standby group is small. Rock Pikmin and Red Pikmin can help defeat it quicker, as can an ultra-spicy spray.

If it does eat Pikmin, it chucks them in the air and may burp afterwards. This time is enough to escape or whistle the Pikmin back to hit its eyes again.

Trivia

 * In the enemy reel in, Bulborbs are often present in places that Bulbears inhabit in the final version. This suggests that Spotty Bulbears were likely intended to be much rarer during Pikmin's development, or potentially were implemented far later in development.
 * The enemy reel also notes that Spotty Bulbears display "indefatigability," suggesting a degree of tirelessness or persistence. While this is inaccurate in, as they sleep just as often as Spotty Bulborbs and disengage chases just as quickly as them, this notably does apply to their depictions in the rest of the games, where they never sleep and are always found patrolling areas. It particularly applies to their revival mechanics in , as well.
 * The Spotty Bulbear was one of four enemies that were planned, but ultimately removed, for the roulette wheel in ' 2-Player Battle, along with the Antenna Beetle, and Fiery/Hydro Dweevils.
 * If a Spotty Bulbear bumps into a member of the grub-dog family that is sleeping, it will wake them up, although they will almost immediately go back to sleep unless a Leader or Pikmin are nearby. The only grub-dog it cannot wake up are Orange Bulborbs, which are, ironically, established as being the lightest sleepers. This behavior can only be seen on sublevel 9 of the Hole of Heroes, although it's inability to wake up Orange Bulborbs can also be seen on sublevel 2 of the Emperor's Realm.
 * The Spotty Bulbear and the Gatling Groink are the only enemies that can revive in . Both of these enemies are also, notably, the only ones in the game that can freely roam the areas they are found in.
 * Like their younger counterpart, the coloration of the Bulbear's eyes has changed multiple times throughout the series. They are red/indigo depending on circumstance in Pikmin, always indigo in Pikmin 2, and purple in Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 4.
 * In, the pupil color of Spotty and Dwarf Bulbears changes depending on the circumstance. They are a piercing, bloodshot red if actively pursuing prey, and indigo when not, such as when returning to their territory to fall back asleep.