Emperor Bulblax
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Appears in | Pikmin, Pikmin 2 | ||
| Scientific name | Oculus supremus | ||
| Family | Grub-dog | ||
| Areas | The Final Trial | ||
| Caves | Bulblax Kingdom, Cavern of Chaos, Hole of Heroes | ||
| Challenge Mode stages | Emperor's Realm | ||
| 2-Player Battle stages | None | ||
| Attacks |  : Eats and crushes Pikmin  : Eats and crushes Pikmin, causes panic and summons Mitites
| ||
The Emperor Bulblax (ダイオウデメマダラ?, lit.: "Bug-eyed Spotted Great King") is the second largest known species of the Grub-dog family right after the Empress Bulblax. It serves as the final boss in the first Pikmin game, dropping the last ship part needed to complete the game.
The Emperor Bulblax is different than most members of the Grub-dog family as it has a sludgy, melted appearance, smaller eyes, and a more flexible tongue. Moss grows upon its thick hide in both games, giving its body a greenish color and serving as camouflage, although in the first game it even bears tall mushrooms and fern-like stems. Although these growths are missing in Pikmin 2, they are replaced by what appears to be rocks embedded into its back.
This beast usually hides in the ground to ambush prey, catching them with its long, sticky tongue. Its soft face is its only weak point to attack, but since it doesn't discriminate much when eating things, it can be led to swallow something a bit less tasteful than Pikmin – namely, bomb-rocks.
It varies a bit between the two games, being a lot weaker and smaller in Pikmin 2, even having less health than a Fiery Bulblax – an enemy which is not considered a boss. In addition, it has the least health of any boss in the game.
Stats
| Game | Weight | Max. carriers |
Seeds | Value | Health | Regen. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 30000 | Unknown |
|
20 | 30 | 30 |  × 15
|
1300[note 1] | No |
- ^ The ones in the Bulblax Kingdom have 1800 HP.
Notes
Olimar's voyage log
Reel notes
Olimar's notes
Louie's notes
Pikmin
The Emperor Bulblax is the final boss in Pikmin. It lies buried in the ground at The Final Trial inside the center of the sandy arena north of the landing site, visible only by the mossy growth on its back protruding from the ground. When approached, the Bulblax will rear up and roar, knocking Olimar and the Pikmin back, and will then proceed to attack by licking Pikmin into its mouth with a large purple tongue. If Pikmin are latched onto it or located under it, it will jump in order to shake off any Pikmin on it, and crush any Pikmin underneath. Once it reaches beneath half of its maximum health, it will add a new attack to its arsenal: jumping high up into the air, and eventually dropping onto the army of Pikmin.
One can tell when it is willing to use its tongue by observing his salivation: if it's drooling, that means it will soon attack by using its tongue, gobbling up any Pikmin in front of it. The tongue is large and has no limit on the amount of deaths it can cause. When it's in a jumping phase, one can foresee a jump by knowing that its eyes widen just before it hops.
Once defeated, the Emperor Bulblax will go into a particularly long death animation, where it writhes around while drooling and appears to be sucked underground, leaving behind the Secret Safe and five randomly coloured 5-Pellets behind.
It's usually a good idea to devote a single day to removing obstacles and clearing the path, and then deal with the Bulblax the following day, since the battle itself can often be time-consuming. The Bulblax must be defeated in a single day, since any damage done on one day will not carry over, and if the day is ended before it is killed, then it will be at full health the next day. However, experienced players can cover all of the Final Trial in a single day, which is a must for a 6-day run.
Pikmin 2
In Pikmin 2, these beasts are much weaker, most likely due to their diminished size. They are found only underground, with only their eyes exposed as a form of camouflage, but emerge in the same manner, sans the leader knockback. The hide is not very mossy, but the backside of the beast is still green and slimy, as well as invulnerable. This could mean that the Pikmin 2 versions may just be younger than the one in Pikmin.
They still eat the now huge bomb-rocks, but must be coaxed into doing so instead, seeing as Yellow Pikmin no longer have the ability to handle those explosive objects. All other abilities are retained, except for the jumping phase. It is replaced by a roaring phase when the Bulblax is about a quarter until death; it will make other Bulblaxes join the fight and drag existing Mitites out of the ground, which will scare the Pikmin into a frenzy.
Luckily, unlike in the previous game, an Emperor Bulblax can only eat a maximum of 9 Pikmin at a time. When it dies, the Bulblax spins around and roars, whipping gobs of saliva everywhere until it shrinks down to a pre-determined size for easier carrying.
This creature is found on the last Sublevel (7) of the Bulblax Kingdom, where it is larger and stronger than normal; two are found on Sublevel 4 of the Cavern of Chaos and Sublevel 10 of the Hole of Heroes; and three are in the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode.
Strategy in Pikmin
Pikmin
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The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin. |
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This article or section needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style. |
When you enter the sandy arena, it is best to sneak around the beast, and take down the bramble wall behind it. Once destroyed, there will be many Bomb-rocks available to use, found inside the strange pipe structures. Give them to your Yellow Pikmin, and dismiss them in an open area, where you can easily select one from the group. Bring your large army of Red Pikmin along with you as well, since they are the most powerful Pikmin. Awaken the beast by throwing a Pikmin onto the moss patch, and wait for it to ready its tongue for an attack. With proper timing, throw a bomb-rock carrying Pikmin in front of it so that it will throw the rock into its mouth, stunning the Bulblax for a period of time. If the Pikmin gets consumed with the bomb rock, the stun will not last as long, so be careful.
Once stunned, throw your group of Red Pikmin onto the Emperor Bulblax's cheeks. Throwing Pikmin onto its back will bounce them right back off. When the Bulblax gets back up, it will hop into the air to shake off Pikmin. If there are no Pikmin under it, wait until it is in the air before your call your Pikmin back, to maximize damage; otherwise, call them back before he jumps so that no Pikmin are lost. Keep repeating this process until the final boss has reached half health, where it will begin using its high-jumping attack.
Now you will have to be a little more cautious. You can tell whether or not the Emperor Bulblax will jump into the air if it is not drooling when it sees your Pikmin. If you see its eyes go wide open, flee from the arena, as that is an indicator that it is about to jump into the sky. If the Bulblax is drooling, proceed to use the strategy used before, and eventually the Emperor Bulblax will be defeated.
Pikmin can also be thrown into his mouth while he is preparing to stick out his tongue and still give a stun-like effect. Once the bomb-rocks explode, it/they will stun the Bulblax (the more bomb-rocks, the longer the stun), providing a good time to toss as many Red Pikmin, as they are stronger than other Pikmin, as possible onto his face. Doing this repeatedly will have him beaten easily.
A slightly faster method would be to leave a Yellow Pikmin with a bomb-rock behind him when he has turned around. All of the Red Pikmin (which should be able to amount to 85 or so) then swarm the Bulblax as soon as it notices the Yellow Pikmin, as attacking its legs also hurts it. However, careful timing is necessary when calling back the Pikmin. The stomping attack will be especially dangerous, as the Pikmin are right beneath the creature, and the attack can be initiated very quickly.
It is also possible to beat the Bulblax by throwing Pikmin onto its head when it is distracted. It is more risky than using bomb-rocks, but much more simple and possibly the only feasible option for people trying to do a zero-death run.
In New Play Control! Pikmin, the only ways to have Yellow Pikmin stun the enemy with a bomb-rock is to let the Pikmin be eaten, or to time the throw correctly so that the bomb-carrying Pikmin throws the bomb into the Bulblax's open mouth, which will stun it for a longer duration that allowing it to eat the Pikmin.
Leaders
In Pikmin, the beast cannot be damaged with Captain Olimar's punch.
Speedrunning
One of the fastest strategies to beating him in Pikmin for the GameCube is to gather several bomb-rocks, place the carrier Pikmin near it, and when it is readying to eat them, call them back so that they drop the bombs on the floor. The boss will instead gulp on the bomb-rocks and become paralyzed for a considerable amount of time. Afterwards, quickly throw your Pikmin army at its face path (starting with the Reds). With enough speed, the creature should be defeated in a single cycle. This strategy will not work in New Play Control! Pikmin.
Strategy in Pikmin 2
Pikmin
Bring a small group of purples (10 or more) and toss them right in between the eyes; in no time at all, the beast will be defeated. If you don't have enough, use reds and other Pikmin, but be prepared to use sprays in case your numbers dwindle. One way to kill it without purples is to bring a group of 10 whites, as they are fast, or any of the original Pikmin, to fight and throw all on the Bulblax's face and the battle will be over in from 30 seconds to about a minute.
Where bomb-rocks are available, making it eat them is the safest strategy, and if the beast is underwater, the only strategy. By standing near a bomb-rock and running away before the boss strikes with its tongue, it is possible to make it eat the explosive instead, causing a high amount of damage. This method can be a bit time-consuming, however.
Leaders
In Pikmin 2, it is possible to kill an Emperor Bulblax without Pikmin. The first method is to lure the Bulblax into eating bomb-rocks, should there be any nearby, until it succumbs to the explosions. Another is to punch it while petrified. However, this requires about 50 sprays under non-stop punching. More damage can be dealt with the Rocket Fist upgrade; using said upgrade would require twenty less sprays. It is one of the only two bosses in the game the leaders can hit, the other being the Waterwraith.
Speedrunning
By far, the quickest method is to rapidly throw Purple Pikmin at it, even when buried. If the player is fast enough, it'll have suffered almost fatal damage by the time it is ready to fight, and should succumb soon after.
Technical information
Creature
| Pikmin technical information (?) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal name | king
| ||
| HP | 30000 | ||
| Pikmin 2 technical information (?) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal name | kingchappy
| ||
| Global properties (List) | |||
| ID | Japanese comment | Property | Value |
| s000 | friction(not used) | Friction | 0.5 |
| s001 | wallReflection | Unknown (wall bounce speed multiplier?) | 0.5 |
| s002 | faceDirAdjust | Unknown | 0.25 |
| s003 | accel | Acceleration | 0.1 |
| s004 | bounceFactor | Unknown (bounce when it hits the ground?) | 0.3 |
| fp00 | ライフ | HP | 1300 |
| fp01 | マップとの当り | Unknown (related to slopes) | 60 |
| fp02 | ダメージスケールXZ | Horizontal damage scale | 0.1 |
| fp03 | ダメージスケールY | Vertical damage scale | 0.15 |
| fp04 | ダメージフレーム | Damage scale duration | 0.35 |
| fp05 | 質量 | Unknown (weight?) | 0.1 |
| fp06 | 速度 | Move speed | 45 |
| fp08 | 回転速度率 | Rotation acceleration | 0.02 |
| fp09 | テリトリー | Territory radius | 300 |
| fp10 | ホーム範囲 | "Home" radius | 30 |
| fp11 | プライベート距離 | "Private" radius | 70 |
| fp12 | 視界距離 | Sight radius | 500 |
| fp13 | 視界角度 | FOV | 130 |
| fp14 | 探索距離 | Unknown (exploration radius?) | 500 |
| fp15 | 探索角度 | Unknown (exploration angle?) | 120 |
| fp16 | 振り払い率 | Successful shake rate | 1 |
| fp17 | 振り払い力 | Shake knockback | 200 |
| fp18 | 振り払いダメージ | Shake damage | 1 |
| fp19 | 振り払い範囲 | Shake range | 60 |
| fp20 | 攻撃可能範囲 | Unknown (shock attack max range?) | 130 |
| fp21 | 攻撃可能角度 | Unknown (shock attack max angle?) | 30 |
| fp22 | 攻撃ヒット範囲 | Unknown (attack hit range?) | 80 |
| fp23 | 攻撃ヒット角度 | Unknown (attack hit angle?) | 50 |
| fp24 | 攻撃力 | Attack damage | 5 |
| fp25 | 視界高 | Unknown (height visibility?) | 50 |
| fp26 | 探索高 | Unknown (exploration height?) | 50 |
| fp27 | ライフの高さ | HP wheel height | 90 |
| fp28 | 回転最大速度 | Rotation speed | 30 |
| fp29 | 警戒時間 | Unknown (warning time?) | 15 |
| fp30 | 警戒ライフ | Unknown | 30 |
| fp31 | ライフ回復率 | Regeneration rate | 0 |
| fp32 | LOD半径 | Off-camera radius | 60 |
| fp33 | マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定 | Collision processing radius | 30 |
| fp34 | ピクミンとのあたり | Pikmin damage radius | 20 |
| fp35 | 石化時間 | Petrification duration | 1 |
| fp36 | ヒップドロップダメージ | Purple Pikmin drop damage | 10 |
| fp37 | 地震気絶確立 | Purple Pikmin stun chance | 0.05 (5%) |
| fp38 | 地震気絶時間 | Purple Pikmin stun time | 10 |
| ip01 | 振り払い打撃Ａ | Shake mode 1 – hit count | 6 |
| ip02 | 振り払い張付１ | Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement | 5 |
| ip03 | 振り払い打撃Ｂ | Shake mode 2 – hit count | 12 |
| ip04 | 振り払い張付２ | Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement | 10 |
| ip05 | 振り払い打撃Ｃ | Shake mode 3 – hit count | 17 |
| ip06 | 振り払い張付３ | Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement | 20 |
| ip07 | 振り払い打撃Ｄ | Shake mode 4 – hit count | 22 |
| Specific properties | |||
| ID | Japanese comment | Property | Value |
| fp01 | 要旋回角度(deg) | Unknown (required turning angle?) | 60 |
| fp02 | 出現までの距離 | Sight radius while hiding underground | 60 |
| fp03 | 雄たけび有効角度(deg) | Unknown (roar angle?) | 180 |
| fp04 | 雄たけび有効範囲 | Unknown (roar angle?) | 300 |
| fp05 | 爆弾ダメージ | Bomb-rock damage | 200 |
| fp06 | 見えない範囲 | Unknown (blind angle?) | 80 |
| fp07 | 旋回終了角度 | Unknown (turning angle end?) | 40 |
| fp08 | 踏み潰し範囲 | Unknown (range of the stomp attack?) | 45 |
| fp09 | 出現振り払い範囲 | Unknown | 100 |
| fp10 | 出現振り払い力 | Unknown | 200 |
| fp11 | 歩きアニメスピード | Unknown (walk animation speed?) | 1 |
| fp12 | 死雄たけび率 | Unknown (death roar rate?) | 0 |
| fp13 | フリック雄たけび率 | Unknown (shake roar rate?) | 0.5 |
| fp14 | 白ピクミン | White Pikmin poison damage | 200 |
| fp15 | bigスケール | Scale (Bulblax Kingdom) | 1.5 |
| fp16 | bigライフ | HP (Bulblax Kingdom) | 1800 |
| fp17 | big速度 | Move speed (Bulblax Kingdom) | 45 |
| fp18 | big回転速度率 | Rotation speed (Bulblax Kingdom) | 0.02 |
| fp19 | big回転最大速度 | Unknown (max rotation speed in Bulblax Kingdom?) | 30 |
| fp20 | big攻撃可能角度 | Unknown | 30 |
| fp21 | big攻撃ヒット範囲 | Unknown | 120 |
| ip01 | 潜伏までの期間 | Unknown | 500 |
| ip02 | 出現までの期間 | Unknown | 0 |
| ip03 | 爆弾ダメージ時間 | Time stunned after eating a bomb-rock | 180 |
Back
The mossy growth visible when the creature is buried in Pikmin is a separate entity.
| Pikmin technical information (?) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal name | kingback
| ||
| HP | N/A | ||
Other information
- Technical name in The Official Nintendo Player's Guide: Emperor Grub-Dog
- Size: Body length: 130mm, as per the e-card
- Pikmin 2 Piklopedia number: #73
- Musical theme:
Naming
The Emperor Bulblax is the largest male member of the grub-dog family, which earned it the title of emperor. The reason for it to be called Bulblax instead of Bulborb is unknown, but it could be due to the creature being considerably different from common grub-dogs. In Japan, it is given the name ダイオウデメマダラ?, where ダイオウ? means "great king", デメ? means "bug-eyed", and マダラ? means "spots".
In the scientific name, oculus supremus, oculus is the name used for members of the grub-dog family, and supremus means "supreme" in Latin. The creature's internal name in both games refers to it as a king – the king of the Chappy (Bulborbs) – with the name king in Pikmin and kingchappy in the sequel.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
ダイオウデメマダラ? Daiō Dememadara |
Bug-eyed Spotted Great King. デメマダラ? is a combination of デメ? (lit.: "protruding eyes") and マダラ? (lit.: "spots"). |
 French |
Bulblax Empereur (Pikmin), Roi Bulblax (Pikmin 2) | Emperor Bulblax (Pikmin), Bulblax King (Pikmin 2) |
 German |
Fürst Knollenauge | Lord Bulb-Eye |
Gallery
Pikmin
The Bulblax licking the ground.
Stunning the Bulblax with a bomb-rock.
Calling Pikmin back to safety.
The Emperor Bulblax being stunned, and attacked in Pikmin.
Emperor Bulblax hiding itself in Pikmin.
Emperor Bulblax in the enemy reel from Pikmin.
Pikmin 2
The Emperor Bulblax in the Piklopedia from Pikmin 2.
An Emperor Bulblax being defeated in the last sublevel of the Bulblax Kingdom.
The creature on the Piklopedia.
An Emperor Bulblax in Sublevel 4 of the Cavern of Chaos.
An Emperor Bulblax in Pikmin 2. Note the smaller size compared to Pikmin.
The Emperor Bulblax hiding in the ground.
The Emperor Bulblax lashing out its tongue.
The Emperor Bulblax when defeated.
The creature's e-card, #13 (19th yellow card).
Trivia
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To do: Expand on the Cavern of Chaos glitch and move it to the glitches page. Also, find a source for the statement about the creature's tongue. |
- Captain Olimar's notes for the Emperor Bulblax say that moss and plants grow on its back in rainy seasons. In Pikmin 2, these beasts only appear in caves, which, added with the presumably younger age, might explain why so much moss is absent on the beast's back, as the moss only has the cave's moisture to grow with.
- The Emperor Bulblax's attacks and appearance may be based off of the real-life frog. They both bury or immerse themselves with only their eyes and backs exposed while hunting, use their long sticky tongues to catch small things passing by (in this case, the Pikmin), they can both jump higher than most other creatures, both look similar in appearances, and both make loud croaking noises.
- The Emperor Bulblax's Latin name, Oculus Supremus, is roughly translated as "Supreme Eye".
- The Emperor Bulblax is one of three bosses in Pikmin to reappear in Pikmin 2, alongside Beady Long Legs and the Burrowing Snagret.
- The Emperor Bulblax is the only final boss in the Pikmin series to not exploit all elements.
- The Emperor Bulblax is one of the two creatures in the whole Pikmin series to have plant-life growing on the beast, the other being the Quaggled Mireclops.
- In the Cavern of Chaos, there is a sublevel with a pool with 2 Emperor Bulblaxes. Go onto the smallest island after waking one up. It will attempt to use the tongue, only it will not wave, just poke out and go back in its mouth. Walk away and it freezes but if you go back on the island it keeps playing the walking animation but does not go anywhere.
- In Pikmin, the creature's tongue is exactly 14.94 centimeters long.
- A rough copy of the Emperor Bulblax from Pikmin 2 exists in unused files in Pikmin 3.
