Sovereign Bulblax

The Sovereign Bulblax is a boss found in. This creature is an Emperor Bulblax in advanced age and shares many of the same attacks as the younger version of the species, such as a loud roar. One important difference apart from its size and health is its incredible jumping ability, far greater than that of its younger counterpart.

While not officially introduced until Pikmin 4, it shares many similarities with the Emperor Bulblax variants from and, with vegetation on its back being much more abundant, notably featuring fiddleheads rather than Blaxcaps and Bulborels.

Behavior
The Sovereign Bulblax will hide underground until something disturbs them, where they will emerge throwing everything nearby off of it. They will then start to attack the player and their Pikmin using a variety of attacks. The Bulblax will usually use the standard tongue lash, stunning the leader and Oatchi, and capturing Pikmin, who are then eaten. When it has been damaged enough, the Bulblax roars, causing all Pikmin and Oatchi to Panic. If the Bulblax has half hp, it will start to charge a jump, with Collin warning the player to run away. This jump is not as accurate as it is in Pikmin, but it can still crush without limit. When underground, boulders will fall soon after it lands. When under attack, the Bulblax will jump in place. This will shake off any Pikmin on the face, and crush any underneath. When the player leaves the Sovereign Bulblax's territory, it will patrol the area and will not retreat underground.

Appearance
The Sovereign Bulblax looks almost identical to its younger counterpart, the Emperor Bulblax. Differences include being much larger and having a lot more vegetation on its back.

Locations

 * Giant's Hearth
 * Subterranean Swarm
 * Cavern for a King
 * Serene Shores (Olimar's Shipwreck Tale only)

Strategy
Using a large squad of high-damaging Pikmin, either Red Pikmin and/or Purple Pikmin, and charging them all onto the Bulblax's face using Oatchi's rush ability can deal a lot of damage very quickly. The main issue with this is the fact that the Sovereign Bulblax is much larger than other enemies and it can be hard to correctly throw all Pikmin in the player's squad onto its face. Players must also be careful of where they throw their Pikmin, as if they throw them into the Bulblax's mouth, and it does its tongue attack, a lot of the Pikmin will instantly be stuck to their tongue and will be eaten. The easiest method of dealing with a Sovereign Bulblax is by tricking it into eating a bomb rock, Ice Blast, or something else explosive in the same fashion as its smaller counterpart providing ample opportunity to attack it without fear of retaliation. Be aware that once it recovers from this stunned state, however, it's very likely it will follow up by either bellowing out and scattering your Pikmin or by leaping into the air. As soon as it begins to recover, take the chance to whistle your Pikmin back to avoid this from becoming an issue. You can eliminate this possibility if your squad is large enough by using an ultra-spicy spray prior to Rushing the Bulblax, which will usually go down if stunned by a bomb Rock.

Trivia

 * It's possible that the name Sovereign Bulblax can be retroactively attributed to the large Emperor Bulblax encountered in Pikmin.
 * Both are roughly the same size and feature the same tall vegetation on their backs, along with crushing prey with high leaps. Both are also only ever encountered on their own rather in packs. The Emperor Bulblax from Hey! Pikmin could also potentially count as one, as it shares all of these traits as well.
 * The Sovereign Bulblaxes in Pikmin 4 also shares an odd quirk with the one found in Pikmin, in that it will not make any attempt to crush a leader underneath itself, only hopping if Pikmin are below it.
 * In French, the Emperor Bulblax is named the King Bulblax in Pikmin 2, but are still named Emperor Bulblax in Pikmin. In Pikmin 4 this trait is carried over, with the small Bulblax being named King Bulblax, and the large Bulblax being named Emperor Bulblax, making the French release of Pikmin 2 the first game to distinguish between the two Bulblaxes.