Armored Cannon Beetle

The Armored Cannon Beetle is the adult stage of an Armored Cannon Larva, appearing in, with its larval stage appearing in , , and. It is a large, black, almost shiny beetle with a thick, rounded shell of armor and a blowhole above its head. It attacks by inhaling through this opening and subsequently firing a rolling rock from its mouth that travels in a straight path, which crushes any Pikmin in its path, and only stops when it hits a wall or another enemy. To defeat the creature, one must attack its abdomen: attacking other parts of the creature (like its legs) won't damage it.

This enemy is only found in The Forest of Hope, where one is guarding the Radiation Canopy, and The Distant Spring, where one has ingested the Bowsprit. As a side-note, Olimar can destroy the rocks by punching them; this does not work with the rock-producing lithopods in Pikmin 2, however. The boulders can also instantly kill a Dwarf Bulborb; the bug is left visibly flattened after being rolled over by a rock.

While this creature does not appear outside of the original Pikmin game, many other members of the Lithopod family appear throughout future titles, such as the mentioned Armored Cannon Larva and the Horned Cannon Beetle, whose appearance and behavior are very similar to the Armored Canon Beetle.

Strategy
The only way one can be defeated is by clogging the blowhole during air intake (Pikmin are impervious to harm when inhaled). This causes the beetle's internal temperature to rise dramatically, and in response the beetle will expose its burning abdomen underneath the armor to vent. The exposed abdomen leaves the beetle vulnerable to attack. However, the beetle will quickly unclog its blowhole, shield its backside, and continue its attack after excess heat has been drained. After closing its back up, your Pikmin will be knocked down, and the Armored Cannon Beetle will shoot a boulder out of its front.

If you bring 30 to 50 Red Pikmin with buds or flowers and throw quickly, the beast can be taken down on the first or second cycle. When it fires its rock, make sure you whistle your Pikmin quickly or they will be crushed. Also, Pikmin that miss the abdomen will attack the creature's armored legs. They will also be thrown out in front of the beast when it shakes off other Pikmin attacking its back. Whistle them back quickly as well.

Alternately, you may carry the Radiation Canopy without fighting the boss. Distract the beetle by making it shoot a rock at a wall, and while it's busy on its shooting animation, order some Pikmin to carry the object. You can now either continue distracting the enemy with Olimar, or go away and leave the Pikmin to it. If you choose to leave, switch the camera to the top-down view and the closest zoom level. This will make the Armored Cannon Beetle go off-camera and not attack the Pikmin as a result.

Trivia

 * The sound of the Cannon Beetle moving was done by playing a snare drum and kicking a bass drum.
 * If an Armored Cannon Beetle sucks in a Yellow Pikmin holding a bomb rock, the Pikmin will keep holding it. When the Pikmin is released, it will keep the bomb rock, and whistling it will not make it drop the explosive. This is true for both the GameCube and the Wii versions of the game.
 * By having Olimar lie down and get carried into the creature, it is possible for it to get pushed far enough to leave the arena, and be unable to return.
 * In, the enemy reel states that the Armored Cannon Beetle "developed a stronger carapace than its relatives" despite the Armored Cannon Beetle being the only lithopod that Olimar encounters in the game.
 * Its boulders are programmed to crush Dwarf Bulborbs and Dwarf Bulbears, and leaving them flattened. This can be seen for the former by leading one so it is in range to be hit by a boulder, and in the case for the latter, leading one to the Armored Cannon Beetle in The Distant Spring. They are also programmed to crush Water Dumples, despite there not being a scenario where an Armored Cannon Beetle could fire at one normally.
 * The Armored Cannon Beetle is one of only five enemies from the original that did not return in.
 * It and Goolix are the only ones of these five to not return in . However the Horned Cannon Beetle functions identically to this enemy.