Ice

Ice is a hazard in. It is non-fatal, and cannot outright harm Pikmin, but it can freeze them solid, leaving them vulnerable to other hazards or being eaten. Ice Pikmin and Glow Pikmin are completely immune to ice, however. Ice also affects the player character and Oatchi if they do not have the Thermal Defense equipped. It is also something that can affect bodies of water, enemies, and some obstacles, mostly by having Ice Pikmin or Ice Blasts hit them.

Thermal Defense
The Thermal Defense is a piece of gear that both the player character and Oatchi can equip. It makes the wearer completely immune to ice hazards.

Ice Pikmin
Ice Pikmin are the main way of dealing with and making use of ice in the game. They are invulnerable to any ice hazards, and can freeze bodies of water and enemies.

Freezing Pikmin
Pikmin that are not Ice Pikmin or Glow Pikmin will instantly be encased in ice if they touch ice from an enemy or obstacle, and in this state they will be unable to move or act. Unlike most other hazards, this is non-fatal, and the Pikmin can stay in this state indefinitely. Also unlike most other hazards, when this happens their maturity does not decrease. The only way to unfreeze a Pikmin is by whistling it or by having it get hit by some other hazard. Bumping against one or making it touch a fire starter does not work.

Pikmin can also be frozen by Ice Blasts, even if used by the player. Wild Pikmin are also able to become frozen. Rock Pikmin become vulnerable to crushing when frozen, which is normally a hazard they're immune to. Enemies will not attempt to freeze a Pikmin that is already frozen, but may attack in other ways, like biting them.

If Pikmin are on or under water when it gets frozen, regardless of depth, they simply instantly go to the ice's surface, and if they were carrying something they become idle instead.

Freezing the leader and Oatchi
Similarly to Pikmin, the player character and Oatchi will be instantly encased in ice if they touch hazardous ice from an enemy, obstacle, or an Ice Blast. If they have the Thermal Defense enabled, they will not be able to be frozen. While frozen, they will likewise be unable to move or act, and can be unfrozen in the following ways:
 * By being whistled by the opposite character.
 * By pressing eight times when controlling them. The game displays a reminder labeled "Break" with the button.
 * By waiting 5 seconds.

Bumping them with the opposite character or making them touch a fire starter will not unfreeze them. Enemies will not attempt to freeze a character that is already frozen, but may attack in other ways, like biting them; even if an enemy hits them with another ice attack in this state, the time they have left to unfreeze naturally will not reset.

If they are on or under water that is not very deep when it gets frozen, they simply instantly go to the ice's surface. The same happens if Oatchi is swimming on the water's surface. If the player character is underneath deep water, like the coral reef to the east in Serene Shores, they will be teleported out and on top of the surface of the ice, with an animation, regardless of the state of the Thermal Defense.

They can also be encased in ice if they are inside the body of a Creeping Chrysanthemum, Startle Spore, Foolix, Burrowing Snagret, Waddlequaff, Greater Spotted Jellyfloat, or Bogswallow when they freeze, which happens regardless of the Thermal Defense being enabled. For all of these cases, if the player controls the character that is inside, the game shows a reminder with and the label "thrash", but in reality this only has an effect when inside the Foolix, which requires 8 taps of the button to break free.

Neither the player character nor Oatchi can be frozen by Ice Pikmin of the opposite team in Dandori Battles.

Freezing enemies
Most enemies can be frozen as well. Whenever an enemy gets hit by anything that contributes towards freezing it, a cyan ring will appear around its health wheel. There are a few ways for the gauge to increase.
 * Being attacked by an Ice Pikmin. Each enemy has a specified amount of hits that it can sustain before freezing.
 * Ingesting an Ice Pikmin. This increases the gauge by a value equal to 10 attacks.
 * Being hit by an Ice Blast.
 * Having an ice blast go off inside their body. This usually freezes the creature instantly.
 * Touching another enemy that is icy or attacking using ice. The gauge increases over time with direct contact. Certain instances include the Feasting Center night expedition and Sublevel 2 of The Mud Pit.
 * Touching a body of water the moment it becomes frozen. This instantly freezes the creature and has some special rules described below.

If 12 seconds go by with no progress made to the incomplete gauge, it will fully reset. Once the gauge is full, the enemy freezes entirely, and can no longer act. The only way to get out of this state is by unfreezing naturally, which happens after 6 seconds, or by losing all of its health. Throughout being frozen an enemy will shake periodically, and when there's about one second left, it will shake violently. When an enemy unfreezes by itself, the ice cracks, and any latched Pikmin will be knocked to the ground.

If an enemy is defeated frozen, it will instantly shatter into chunks of ice without leaving a corpse, instead producing a drop of nectar or ultra spicy spray for stronger enemies, similar to enemies killed while petrified by ultra-bitter spray. Moss is the exception to this, in that she will instead stop being frozen and become knocked out like normal. Any enemy that is airborne when the freezing happens, whether because it is flying, jumping, or got slightly bounced in the air by a rush slam, will fall to the ground and shatter, instantly dying.

Any enemies that are in contact with a body of water when it gets frozen will instantly freeze. In this way, they cannot unfreeze by themselves, and as soon as the water unfreezes, so do they, instantly. Enemies under the water's surface cannot be reached in this state, but any enemy that's on the surface or partially submersed can be attacked with ease. Enemies that attack using ice cannot be frozen themselves, and for the Ancient Sirehound's case, it is only invulnerable during the second phase.

Greater Spotted Jellyfloats will only freeze from "swallowing" an Ice Pikmin when the Ice Pikmin inside their body gets digested. Whenever a Foolix gets an Ice Pikmin inside its body, it will start freezing at a steady pace, freezing faster the more Ice Pikmin it has in its body. Also unique to this enemy is that regardless of how its gelatinous body is frozen, it will never unfreeze on its own, and will instead shatter, destroying the gel, when it takes enough hits, or when the leader or Oatchi inside thrash out.

Freezing obstacles
Hydro jelly can also be frozen. They use the same cyan ring system, but will never unfreeze. Some can even appear pre-frozen, typically from the cold temperature of a cavern.

If a Pikmin holding a fire starter is thrown at a frozen hydro jelly, it is instantly destroyed. This also happens when Oatchi rushes into it.

Enemies can also freeze hydro jelly with their attacks, particularly the Snowy Blowhog and the Blizzarding Blowhog.

Freezing bodies of water
Bodies of water and puddles of mud can be frozen solid, and in this state, leaders and Pikmin can safely walk on top of the ice.

To freeze one, Ice Pikmin can be thrown in, or an Ice Blast can be used. When pointing the cursor at a body of water with Ice Pikmin as the standby type, a display will appear telling the player how many Ice Pikmin are needed to freeze it, and how many are on it right now. When enough are thrown, the entire body of water instantly turns to ice. An ice blast will instantly freeze any body of water, regardless of its size. This transformation instantly makes the water flash white and then quickly fade to a normal icy look as a puff of water vapor appears near the Pikmin. What happens to different things that are in contact with the water when the freeze happens depends on the thing itself, as documented in the sections above.

With the water frozen, the Ice Pikmin that were thrown in get stuck with their upper bodies poking out of the ice's surface. When the water is no longer being actively cooled, it will start cracking after a few seconds, something that is accompanied by an on-screen notification. After a few more seconds, it unfreezes completely and returns to normal; this too receives a notification. The process lasts 8 seconds, and for thrown Ice Pikmin, it begins when they get whistled out of the water, and for ice blasts it begins immediately after the blast occurs. If an ice blast explodes on top of a frozen body of water, the countdown restarts.

Fire starters have no effect when thrown at a frozen body of water, and are simply placed down gently on the water's surface by the thrown Pikmin.

Enemies losing their ice
Enemies that have a protective layer of ice on them (i.e. Frosty Bulborb, Dwarf Frosty Bulborb, and Snowflake Fluttertail) will instantly lose it if a Pikmin holding a Fire starter is thrown at them; simply directing the Pikmin towards the creature does not do anything, and may even result in the Pikmin getting frozen. The same happens if they touch a Fire Geyser when it is spewing fire. In either case, they do not take any damage. Frosty Bulborbs will also lose their icy backs if they consume a White Pikmin.

Dry ice
Certain cave sublevels contain blocks of dry ice, which cause the area's ambient temperature to remain very cold. Non-Ice Pikmin in cold rooms that are not on Oatchi or near a fire will occasionally shiver, which is harmless but pauses their current action, slowing them down and possibly making them vulnerable to enemies. Breaking dry ice can be done by dealing 100 damage to it, which can be done by having Ice Pikmin attack it, hitting it with a bomb rock, throing a fire starterat it, or havung Oatchi rush through it. Destroying all the dry ice on a sublevel will clear the cold air. Water and hydro jellies within cold rooms will start frozen and cannot be unfrozen until the cold air is gone, which thaws them all at once.

Dry ice can be found in the Subzero Sauna (sublevel 2 and 3) and Frozen Inferno. Can also be found in the Trial of the Sage Leaf (Story 2).