Dwarf Bulbear

Dwarf Bulbear
Appears in	Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Oculus terribilis
Family	Grub-dog
Areas	Pikmin The Distant Spring Pikmin 2 Perplexing Pool
Caves	Frontier Cavern Glutton's Kitchen Hole of Heroes Dream Den
Challenge Mode stages	Pikmin: The Forest of Hope, The Final Trial Pikmin 3 Twilight Hollow
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages	None
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages	None
Side Story days	None
2-Player Battle stages	None
Bingo Battle stages	None
Attacks	Eats Pikmin

Dwarf Bulbears (チビクマ) are enemies found in all three Pikmin games. Unlike the Dwarf Bulborbs, which are different animals entirely which mimic the appearance of their larger counterparts, the Dwarf Bulbear is a juvenile version of a larger Grub-dog, in this case the Spotty Bulbear.

In Pikmin, Dwarf Bulbears can flip themselves to dodge pikmin attacks. However they do not have this trait in Pikmin 2. If this creature (like the Dwarf Bulborbs) is petrified in the Piklopedia, when it breaks out of the stone it runs around eating any thrown Pikpik Carrot at a greater speed than normal.

Biology

Like the Spotty Bulbear, Dwarf Bulbears have a black backside with red spots and a mammalian appearance. The Dwarf Bulbear also has the mouth texture and snout structure of the Bulbear. However, they have black eyes (though in the first, they had red eyes like the Bulbear's), while the adult Bulbear has purple (or red) eyes.

The Dwarf Bulbear is also rather durable, which reflects the defensive strength of the Spotty Bulbear. Dwarf Bulbears, when not following a parent Bulbear, tend to gather in groups of two to three, though there are certain instances where they will form a massive, widespread group of more than ten total.

Olimar notes that, though the Dwarf Bulbear is nearing maturation, "It has yet to claim its own patrol route." It therefore follows a Spotty Bulbear when its patrol path intersects with the area the Dwarf Bulbears gather. This proves to give both the adult and juvenile Bulbears an advantage, as the Spotty Bulbear can recieve protection from Pikmin attacks behind it which simultaneously allows it to feed without fear of being attacked, and the Dwarf Bulbears that follow it also recieve protection which therefore allows it to feed without fear of attack.

Notes

Olimar's Notes

"A grub-dog larva in its third stage of development, this creature's body structure is nearing maturation. However, unlike mature bulbears, it has yet to claim its own patrol route, and thus is dependent upon its parents for guarding direction."

Louie's Notes

"Remove innards, stuff with sage and finely aged prosciutto, and broil until golden brown. The ultimate crowd pleasers!"

Nintendo Player's Guide

"What Dwarf Bulborbs lack in size, they make up in ferociousness. They eat Pikmin quickly and keep eating them as long as a fresh supply is available. You can flatten one of the beats in a single stomp, but only if your aim is very. Call your Pikmin of choice back if they miss."

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

"Dwarf Bulbears aren’t nearly as dangerous as their fully grown counterparts. Toss a single Pikmin onto a Dwarf Bulbear’s back to quickly defeat this small enemy."

Pikmin

In Pikmin, Dwarf Bulbears are essentially stronger versions of Dwarf Bulborbs. They have three times more health than Dwarf Bulborbs, meaning they require three pikmin thrown onto their backs to be killed. They preform backflips to shake off attacking Pikmin. Dwarf Bulbears will shriek when aggravated to alert any Spotty Bulbears in the vicinity.

Aside from Challenge Mode, Dwarf Bulbears only appear in the Distant Spring in groups of three, in place of where a Spotty Bulbear was killed the day before.

Pikmin 2

The Spotty Bulbear's behavior changes much in Pikmin 2, and so to does that of the Dwarf Bulbear. Spotty Bulbears roam the map in search of food rather than sleeping, and if they come near a pack of Dwarf Bulbears, the tiny creatures will yip and follow their parent. A group of Dwarf Bulbears can make defeating a large Bulbear especially difficult, as they will not only eat any Pikmin that fall to the ground, but may go directly for the captain and the rest of the Pikmin swarm. In order to cope with this threat, a well-timed Ultra-bitter Spray can be used to petrify the entire group of Bulbears, including the parent. With a bit of luck, a barrage of Purple Pikmin can also stun all the creatures within a small radius, even if they are not hit directly, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Also, if any number of Dwarf Bulbears are sniffing the ground and a captain happens to throw a Pikmin in their way, they will attack it, but, if they happen to see Pikmin and a Spotty Bulbear at the same time, they will eat the Pikmin thrown at them, and then run to follow the Bulbear, which they seemingly tell the captain's location to, because soon after, the Bulbear (regardless of whether it was actually looking at the captain at the time) will come over to attack him.

Despite their aggressive behavior, Dwarf Bulbears are actually notably weaker than in Pikmin, and a single Pikmin thrown onto their back kills them instantly.

There are also a number of stylistic differences between Dwarf Bulbears in the two games. In Pikmin 2, rather than doing a backflip to shake off offending Pikmin, Dwarf Bulbears will simply shake their head like Dwarf Bulborbs do, which has the same effect. Their spots also no longer shrink and expand, and their eyes are black rather than red.

Pikmin 3

Dwarf Bulbears as seen in the Pikmin 3 footage shown on Nintendo Direct 12.5.12.

In Pikmin 3, Dwarf Bulbears act very similar to how they do in Pikmin 2. They follow their Spotty Bulbear superior around the map. They do, however, get easily distracted by Pikmin, and will stop following the Spotty Bulbear if a Pikmin is attacking them.

Battle Strategy

Pikmin

Olimar can easily defeat this creature by swarming it with a large group of Pikmin. If only a few are available, have Olimar throw Pikmin onto the Dwarf Bulbear's back and then call them back to avoid Pikmin deaths. (or, just use purple Pikmin, if available, as they are usually effective in this situation.) This creature can cause the Crushing glitch to occour when defeated. However, in Pikmin 2, they're likely to be following an adult bulbear too, which make defeating them both much harder although a captain can use a bitter spray to freeze them, kill the mature Bulbear first, and finish off the dwarves.

Captains

Attacking it from behind is the most legitimate strategy when using the captains.

Glitch

There's a glitch in the Piklopedia involving Dwarf Bulbears. While eating Pikpik Carrots, the juvenile Bulbears may die spontaniously.

Gallery

• 

  A Dwarf Bulbear in the Creature Montage.

• 

  Three Dwarf Bulbears

• Dwarf Bulbear.png

  A high quality screenshot of 7 Dwarf Bulbears.

• Dwarf Bulbearz.jpg

  Official art of 3 Dwarf Bulbears from Pikmin 2.

Trivia

• Using an Action Replay to access a model test menu in Pikmin, the Dwarf Bulbear's code name is "chappb".
• In Pikmin, the Dwarf Bulbears sniffed the area with their snouts facing up, while the Dwarf Red Bulborbs sniffed with their snouts facing down.

• Even though they are the juvenile versions of Spotty Bulbears, they do not revive when they die in Pikmin 2.