Puffstool

The Puffstool is an enemy in  and  that appears to be a huge walking fungus, strongly resembling a red-capped bolete. It has twin antennae, a red-capped mushroom head, and a tender yellow torso which is vulnerable to swarming. Only minimal details of the creature's biology are supplied in-game.

The Puffstool will try to run when attacked, but due to its stumpy legs clearly not being made for sprinting, it trips easily, landing on its head with its feet in the air. Since the cap is invulnerable to Pikmin attacks (but not Olimar's punch), one must throw the Pikmin onto its undersection once it's on the ground. After a few seconds, the Puffstool will right itself up and blow out a purplish cloud of spores which cause a strange change in nearby Pikmin, which the Puffstool acts as a leader for.

In the original Pikmin, affected Pikmin turn purple, grow small brown mushroom caps on their stalks, and become aggressive. In Pikmin 4, while the Puffstool cannot affect Pikmin in the same way as before, it can still confuse Pikmin with its spores and cause them to jump around aimlessly (similar to the effects of the chemicals expelled by the Groovy Long Legs).

In Pikmin 4, a poisonous relative to the Puffstool named the Toxstool was introduced that, while possessing some differences in its coloration and behavior, mostly shares the same general physical characteristics and behavior to that of the Puffstool.

Pikmin 4 Piklopedia Notes

 * Dalmo's Notes


 * Olimar's Notes


 * Louie's Notes

Strategy
In Pikmin, to quickly dispatch the Puffstool, the player should bring a high number of Red Pikmin into its arena. First swarm its legs with a good chunk of Pikmin, though be careful when swarming because although the Puffstool flipping around won't harm Pikmin, in the GameCube and Wii versions, there is a chance that the crushing glitch may happen. Don't throw the Pikmin before its fallen over, as they'll bounce off of its cap and return to the group. When attacking its torso, the Puffstool will try to run away but flip over, legs flailing. In this state, it can be killed by throwing all remaining Pikmin on top. It will die and appear to deflate, leaving its cap, which can be carried by 10 Pikmin to their Onion. If a player is looking to minimize the risk of losing Pikmin, it is recommended to attack only with the leader. Furthermore, the Puffstool has no attacks that could harm Olimar. (Note, however, that this may consume a fair amount of time.) Should you run the risk of being attacked, however, just run away until the spore cloud dissipates. While it is also possible to drop some bomb rocks at its feet, due to the Puffstool always running, this tactic can be hard unless the creature is cornered. A successful explosion should sap away a quarter of its health if successful though.

In Pikmin 4, the overall strategy of taking down the Puffstool remains mostly the same. The key difference lies in that its past ability from Pikmin has been replaced with a different, still fairly unique hazard. The Puffstool's spores now cause Pikmin to jump around it aimlessly, with the player being unable to whistle them out of this effect. Depending on where this effect takes place, this can potentially be hazardous due to the surrounding patches of sticky mold with poison mushrooms. On top of that, two Moldy Slooches patrol the area, meaning that it is recommended to dispose of the enemy, sticky mold, and mushrooms in order to focus on the Puffstool. Unlike its less passive relative, the Toxstool, the Puffstool will not actively attempt to revive the enemy, sticky mold, and/or mushrooms around it. Oatchi, in particular, is helpful against the Puffstool due to his immunity to its spores. If looking to battle it with just Pikmin, however, White Pikmin are recommended for the aforementioned Moldy Slooches, sticky mold, and mushrooms around the field. Ice Pikmin would also help due to their freezing ability negating the Puffstool's defenses and spore attack.

Locations
Making its debut in Pikmin, a single Puffstool can be found during the game's main campaign within The Forest Navel, where it holds the Omega Stabilizer. Once defeated, its cap can be returned to an Onion, where it will produce 30 Pikmin seeds. In the game's Challenge Mode, two more Puffstools can be found in The Distant Spring. According to early screenshots (as seen on the right), a Puffstool would have appeared in The Forest of Hope on the plateau overlooking the small body of water where the trio of Burrowing Snagrets are in the final game.

After an over two-decade-long absence from the series, the Puffstool returns in Pikmin 4, being found within the game's final area: the Primordial Thicket. Similar to its appearance in Pikmin, the Puffstool appears only once during the main campaign of Pikmin 4. Unlike in Pikmin, however, bringing the Puffstool's cap back to the Onion yields 20 Pikmin seeds as opposed to 30. Curiously, however, while the Pikmin produced from the cap has decreased, the weight of the cap has increased from 10 to 12.

Trivia

 * If the player kills the Puffstool as it begins to get up, it will still do so and release its spores with its health, indicating it is dead; a similar effect occurs when a Wollyhop is defeated when jumping.
 * The Puffstool is one of the enemies with which the crushing glitch happens fairly regularly, with the frequency increased in the Wii version of the game.
 * There is an enemy in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap called the Puffstool, which has a similar look and size; however, they have different Japanese names, so the reference may have been added in localization.
 * When it flips onto its cap, it makes the same sound as the Anode Beetle flipping over.
 * Occasionally, if Pikmin are carrying the remains back to the Onion in The Forest Navel, they will be unable to cross some of the bridges that lead back to base, rendering the remains uncollectable.
 * The Puffstool's ability to control Olimar's Pikmin with its spores is possibly based on a real fungus called, whose spores take over an insect's nervous system and force it to help the mushroom.
 * In Pikmin, despite the Pikmin exposed the Puffstool's spores commonly being referred to as "Mushroom Pikmin" or "Puffmin," no official name has ever been given to them by Nintendo.
 * In Pikmin 4, while the Puffstool doesn't have its unique ability from Pikmin, it and the Groovy Long Legs both share a unique defense mechanism to expel a chemical that causes Pikmin to jump around erratically, unable to be controlled. This hazard is not found anywhere else in the game and is unique in that it cannot be dispelled through whistling.