Gatling Groink

The Gatling Groink is an enemy in. It is a biomechatronical creature similar in size to an adult Bulborb. It reminds of a rotund goldfish, including a skin that resembles fish-scales and sports the typical orange and white coloring of goldfish. It further has two slender legs that end in web- or fin-like feet, what appears to be a windshield between its two forward-facing eyes, two upward exhaust pipes, a rotatable fin-like tail, and a mouthplate which covers both its underside and its retractable cannon. The cannon fires mortar rounds and is placed where a fish's mouth would typically be. The origins of the mechanical parts are quite vague, much like the Man-at-Legs and Fireflinger Groink.

Gatling Groinks can usually be seen patrolling caves and are known to seek out the active leader and his Pikmin. A different variation of the groink is found stationary on top of hard-to-reach towers, giving it a wide attack range, which is especially annoying when they are in possession of a treasure and cannot merely be avoided. There are hence, two behaviors, one for walking around, shooting at short range, one for standing still and shooting enemies below at long range. This is evidenced by the fact that if a tower-standing Gatling Groink is taken down and left to be revived, it will not move from its spot. When roaming a metal-type sublevel, it is entirely possible that the Gatling Groink may walk off into the abyss, most commonly in sublevel 7 of the Subterranean Complex.

It attacks by initiating a cannon from its mouth and fires either one large or three small mortars (with little time between firings). When the shells hit the ground, they explode and scatter any of the Pikmin in range and kill those at the absolute center of the blast for the large mortar. The 3-shot mortars have one deadly mortar which will kill pikmin along the entire radius while the 2 others simply knock pikmin away.

If used correctly and carefully, the Gatling Groink's cannon can be used to kill other enemies and even airborne enemies. To do this, the Gatling Groink must fire at the active leader while he is standing near or under an enemy. If this is done correctly, it should be able to kill most large ground enemies in three to four shots. The shells will not harm the Gatling Groink itself, however. It can also destroy every type of hazard except for bomb-rocks. This can be used to the player's advantage by having it destroy the two poison gates in the Wistful Wild.

Strategy
The best method to attack it is to throw Pikmin onto its sides and back, as the front has a protective shield. With Purple Pikmin, it is possible to throw them to the left or right of the protective shield while facing the enemy, and the Pikmin will stop after passing the shield and being on the creature's side to home-in on its body and attack there.

Certainly the most effective strategy is to pummel it with heavy Purple Pikmin, as each one carries a chance of stunning the creature, preventing it from fighting back. Once defeated, this beast will begin to revive over time, just as the Spotty Bulbear does, making it crucial to carry it to the Onion or Research Pod immediately. If not, it will spring back to life within about two minutes, and then continue its attack. It is said in Olimar's notes that if its tail were incapacitated, it would be incapable of attacking, though this isn't the case in-game.

However, in the Cavern of Chaos, they are accompanied by many Dwarf Red Bulborbs, in which case using an ultra-bitter spray would be wise due to the Bulborbs. In the case of patrolling Gatling Groinks, it is also possible to attract the Groink's attention, and then move to a position in which a bottomless chasm is between the leader and the Groink. The Groink's stride is often high enough to step over the safety barriers that ordinarily stop leaders, Pikmin, and other monsters from falling into the chasms. In this case, the body will be irretrievable, although any treasures it may have been carrying will show up elsewhere on the sublevel. If two Gatling Groinks are near each other, it is possible to have one Groink kill the other by shooting it; the other Groink should then be killed with Purple Pikmin.

Another strategy is to use one lone leader as bait, to draw the Groink's attention, and then switch leaders and attack the distracted creature from behind. Idle leaders run about to try to avoid enemy attacks, so it's likely that the bait leader will suffer minimal damage from this strategy.

Against Groinks atop pillars, Yellow Pikmin are the most likely to reach them, but it is possible with other types depending on the height of the pillar. Since ultra-bitter sprays may have trouble reaching them, the decoy method is typically preferred. Placing a leader close to the base of the pillar will keep the Groink's attention, even when approached closely from behind. In some cases, such as the toybox themed sublevels, the pillar is slightly conical, and can potentially block the Groink's bullets – this allows the use of a Pikmin decoy, freeing up the second leader.

Note that using an ultra-bitter spray on a Gatling Groink that has already fired some shots will make the shots disappear. This is a good way to save Pikmin that would otherwise be on the receiving end.

Trivia

 * The Gatling Groink, along with the Spotty Bulbear in Pikmin 2 are the only enemies that can revive after being defeated.
 * In the Wistful Wild, if the Gatling Groink is in the end of day cutscene, it can actually shoot at the leaders and damage them. The leaders cannot be knocked down with this, however.
 * Its mortars can also damage enemies and even kill them very rarely, showing that if an enemy dies in the end of day cutscene their corpse vanishes.
 * The whistling heard when Gatling Groink pellets are flying is a modified version of the same whistle in Super Mario Sunshine when Bullet Bills are fired from cannons.