Piklopedia (Pikmin 4)

The Piklopedia is a field guide in. It is an in-game collection of all of the enemies that the player has beaten so far, as well as encountered members of the Pikmin family, pellet weed family, and candypop family.

Like the Pikmin 2 version of the Piklopedia, the subjects can be seen live rather than in pre-recorded videos, and pikpik carrots can be thrown at enemies to see their reactions. In Pikmin 4, the player can use a variety of other items as well, such as bomb rocks and lightning strikes. This also means enemies can now be defeated within the Piklopedia, a feat impossible in the previous versions. New to this version is also the ability to engage subjects with a squad of Pikmin and Oatchi. This allows the player to better study the attack patterns of especially troublesome enemies without the risk of suffering any permanent Pikmin losses.

The Piklopedia can be unlocked by rescuing the castaway Dalmo. After it is unlocked, the game will begin to keep track of entry encounters during gameplay.

Usable items
Similar to the option to throw Pikpik carrots in the original Piklopedia, there is an option to use and throw items at the creatures. These include:
 * Pikpik carrots
 * Bomb rocks
 * Ice Blasts
 * Lightning Shocks

When engaging in combat, the player is also given an infinite supply of the above items (along with Mines, Trackonators, Scrummy Bones, and Glow Seeds) to use.

When observing Pikmin in particular, the option to use Bomb Rocks or Ice Blasts is unavailable.

Area
Unlike the Piklopedia in Pikmin 2, the area does not change at all, being modeled after the Rescue Command Post from which it is accessed. The area is an oval shape with a flat grassy arena and a slope into a deeper portion.

When observing an aquatic enemy (such as the Wolpole), the latter's section will instead be flooded with water. This water can be frozen with either an Ice Blast or 100 Ice Pikmin. Other features, such as treasures for the Breadbugs or Dweevils to pick up, may also be present.

Night
The area is also able to be viewed at night for creatures present in night expeditions. Creature behavior can also change when able, such as bulborbs now being fully awake. Lumiknolls are also added and can be activated by throwing an item onto it, which in turn causes all creatures in the entry to instantly grow red eyes and try to attack it.

In some cases, creatures can only be viewed during nighttime. Those being:
 * Albino Dwarf Bulborbs
 * Groovy Long Legs
 * Smoky Progg
 * Ancient Sirehound
 * Glow Pikmin
 * Lumiknolls

Pikmin fighting
For the Pikmin's entries in the Piklopedia, 5 of the specific type will be seen fighting an enemy (or multiple of the same species) they are resistant to or strong against to demonstrate their abilities. Unless the player engages, the enemy will never actually die from the Pikmin attacking it (nor can they be whistled away before the creature is defeated, similar to wild Pikmin).

Here is a list of each type's designated enemy:
 * Red Pikmin will fight a Dwarf Bulborb.
 * Yellow Pikmin will fight a Bearded Amprat.
 * Blue Pikmin will fight 3 Wolpoles.
 * Rock Pikmin will fight a Yellow Wollyhop
 * Winged Pikmin will fight a Swooping Snitchbug.
 * Ice Pikmin will fight a Snowy Blowhog.
 * White Pikmin will fight a Moldy Slooch.
 * Purple Pikmin will fight a Waddlepus.
 * Glow Pikmin will fight a Bulborb.

If the enemy they attack has yet to be discovered and added to the Piklopedia, they will not appear and the 5 Pikmin will stand idle and cannot be interacted with at all when engaged.

Dalmo
Dalmo, the castaway used to unlock and access the Piklopedia itself, has his notes unlocked by default. His manner of describing entries resembles the Creature Log from, as he mostly provides anecdotes or personal opinions about the creature, the latter of which reflects his fondness for creatures as a whole.

Olimar
After rescuing Olimar, his notes become available. When possible, they are copied from previous Piklopedias with only minor changes. Creatures exclusive to and  have entirely new notes written in the same style, being dry scientific analysis. However, some of them also incorporate Olimar's personal theories as well. Despite most information and notes in Pikmin 2 coming from the Pikmin Player's Guide, Pikmin 4 ignores its existence. This leads to discrepancies, such as the Aspergilla genus for the Puffstool not appearing despite its use in ''Hey! Pikmin''.

Previously, the creature's family and scientific name were included within Olimar's notes, but now are listed separately like in ''Hey! Pikmin'''s Creature Log.

Louie
After rescuing Louie, his notes become available. Like Olimar's, any returning enemies who already have notes in previous games are simply reused, with the majority of his notes being cooking recipes. Some exceptions to this include the Pikmin, the Onion and the space dogs). For these creatures, his notes do not contain any information on how to cook the species and are much more apt and shorter, similarly to when he writes about a treasure that isn't edible in the Treasure Catalog.

Recipe oddities
Interestingly, Louie references ingredients found on Earth (cultivated in oxygen). These ingredients could not possibly be known by Louie, as Hocotate has a severely different climate. A possible explanation would be that Hocotatian plants might have similar appearances to those found on Earth, meaning that Louie would be using the names he is familiar with for a completely different plant.

In addition, the following notes conflict with the way enemies die in-game as they do not leave corpses:

These same sort of oddities also exist in Pikmin 2 Piklopedia as listed here. As well as Pikmin 3 Deluxe Piklopedia as seen here.
 * Baldy Long Legs
 * Bulborb Larva
 * Greater Spotted Jellyfloat
 * Groovy Long Legs
 * Lesser Spotted Jellyfloat
 * Man-at-Legs
 * Waterwraith

Unlocking
To add a creature to the Piklopedia, the player's character or Oatchi must simply be within a close enough range to the creature, typically the distance they are able to throw their Pikmin. If one of the player's Pikmin (this does not include wild Pikmin) is able to attack the creature without the player being near it, it will also count as a discovery. This also applies to when a creature is attacked using the Pebble Pitcher. There are some exceptions to this rule detailed above.

The game will keep track of these "new creature discoveries" without notifying the player, until Dalmo has been rescued and the Piklopedia itself is unlocked. Then, whenever a new creature is found, the game will have a small pop-up on the right side to notify the player. If the player rewinds time, they will lose any and all discoveries made within the reversed period.

Creatures first encountered within a Dandori Challenge or a Dandori Battle will count as a discovery, except for Pikmin. Creatures first encountered in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale will also not count as discovery.

Trivia

 * Uniquely, the Groovy Long Legs and Ancient Sirehound are only available at night, despite not being creatures seen in Night expeditions. Any Pikmin type can be selected as if it were during the day. This likely to emulate the dark caverns they belong to.
 * In the case of the Groovy Long Legs, it is also the only entry that changes the music of the Piklopedia, in this case into its own battle song.
 * Some of the enemy previews show situations that are otherwise impossible to see during gameplay:
 * The Candypop Bud's entry depicts one bud of each color the player has collected the corresponding Onion for, allowing for all eight colors to be seen in the same area. During gameplay, the most Candypop Bud colors that can be seen at once is five, in Sublevel 19 of Cavern for a King. If the player engages the Candypop Bud, only one color will spawn.
 * The Mamuta's entry depicts it sitting behind a group of buried Pikmin. The Pikmin's colors are randomized, and dependent on the Onion types that the player has collected. It is therefore possible for Pikmin of as many as eight different colors to be seen buried in front of the Mamuta, more than can ever naturally be out in the field at once. If the player engages the Mamuta, none of the buried Pikmin will be there.
 * All of the Dweevil family member’s entries depicts them carrying a randomly selected Treasure or Enemy, showing that the Dweevils can carry up to 150 times their weight as it’s possible for them to carry the King of Meats which weighs 300. The heaviest object which can be seen carried during normal gameplay is the Sovereign Bulblax in Giant's Hearth