Water Dumple In-game icon.

Artwork of a Water Dumple in Pikmin 3.

Appears in PikminPikmin 2Pikmin 3
Scientific name Ichthyosa felinis
Family Grub-dog
Areas The Distant Spring, Valley of Repose, Perplexing Pool, Distant Tundra, Twilight River
Caves Frontier Cavern, Citadel of Spiders, Shower Room, Cavern of Chaos, Hole of Heroes, Dream Den
Challenge Mode stages Creator's Garden
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages Silver Lake, Forgotten Cove
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages Silver Lake, Thirsty Desert
Side Story days None
2-Player Battle stages Tile Lands
Bingo Battle stages None
Attacks Eats Pikmin

Water Dumples (ダンゴナマズ?, lit.: "Dumpling Catfish") are enemies in all three Pikmin games. They are members of the grub-dog family, and act like Bulborbs. They are most commonly found in the water, but can survive on land as well. They resemble blue cat- or shellfish, with relatively large mouths, whisker-like features, and tentacles at the rear of their abdomen. They are weaker and slower with each successive game, but can always be defeated easily if the player is cautious and swarms them. Just like Bulborbs, Purple Pikmin will work particularly well if this creature is found on land. A Water Dumple can be defeated easily by leaders as it has few hit points.

Stats

Game Weight Max.
carriers
Seeds Value Health Regen.
  5 10 5 N/A 200 Unknown
  5 10 5   × 3 200 No
  (?) 5 10 (normally) 5   × 30
  × 30
200 No

Notes

Reel notes

This aquatic creature is a close relative of the bulborb.

Olimar's notes

A resident of freshwater pools and marshes, this aquatic creature regularly feeds on insects that land on the surface of the water. It shares a nearly identical skeletal structure with its close relative and terrestrial cousin, the bulborb. This may offer clues to its evolutionary origin and suggests that it only recently emigrated to an aquatic habitat.

Louie's notes

Deep-fry dumples without batter for all of the flavor with half the fat!

Nintendo Player's Guide

"The swimming version of a Dwarf Bulborb has a large mouth and a big appetite. Since Water Dumples are blue, they blend in with the water. Squash them with blue Pikmin or draw them out of the water and hit them with purples. Beware they can spot you from a greater distance than other enemies can."

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

"Water Dumples are compact aquatic creatures capable of quickly devouring a small group of Pikmin. Given their size, these enemies are surprisingly powerful, so it's best to overwhelm them before they have a chance to attack.

When you encounter a Water Dumple, flank the creature and send a squad of Blue Pikmin charging in from the rear."

Behavior

Pikmin

In Pikmin, Water Dumples are found in or near bodies of water and always in groups. They have one simple bite attack that can grab only a few Pikmin at a time, and if attacked, they may shake any Pikmin off of their bodies. Though similar in stature to Dwarf Bulborbs, Water Dumples cannot be defeated by one Pikmin thrown directly onto their back, but can be defeated rather quickly, regardless. If a Water Dumple spots a Pikmin or leader, it will give chase and continue for a considerable distance.

Pikmin 2

Water Dumples are very much unchanged in Pikmin 2. They are more fragile (but still sturdier than all varients of Dwarf Bulborbs), and they are found more frequently on land due to the many caves they appear in that contain little or no water.

Pikmin 3

Water Dumples are similar to their previous appearances in Pikmin 3, but they have gone through a few notable changes. They are found alone or much more spread out in several areas, but still found in water in almost all cases. Since they are frequently single targets, they are also slightly stockier. Most notably, Water Dumples can now counter Pikmin very easily if attacked from the front; with its simple bit, one creature can shake a huge army off its face before taking much damage at all, leaving the attackers vulnerable.

Strategy

The following article or section contains guides.
The strategies shown are just suggestions.

Pikmin

Swarming a Water Dumple with a large army of Pikmin is usually very effective. If these enemies are in large groups, however, and you have few Pikmin, it is likely that some Pikmin will be eaten, as the Dumples attack with quick lunges. In such a case, separate the creatures by luring them away from the group one after another. If you lure a Water Dumple too far out, it will lose interest and begin to return to the group or its original location. When this happens, swarm them from behind to ensure a quick and safe victory.

Pikmin 2

The basic strategy for defeating Water Dumples is unchanged; swarm with a large group of Pikmin. However, a few new strategies are brought to the table. If you have Purple Pikmin at your disposal, use them to stun the creature from a distance, and then continue pelting it for a quick defeat. This way is safest, as the creature should not be able to regain its sense fast enough to fight back against the Pikmin. Also, now with stronger punches, it is possible to take out Water Dumples effectively with a leader. This may take a while, but if it is your best option for some reason, just circle the creature, punching it and backing off when it shakes or bites.

Pikmin 3

One new precaution must be taken with Water Dumples: don't send your squad in from the front. Doing so will result in the Dumple shaking off all Pikmin, no matter how many, and following up with bites. It is best to approach it from the rear and charge from there, or just throw Pikmin onto its back and whistle them back off if/when it attempts to shake them off.

Technical information

Pikmin technical information (?)
Internal name namazu
HP 200
Pikmin 2 technical information (?)
Internal name catfish
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 200
fp01 マップとの当り Unknown (related to slopes) 20
fp02 ダメージスケールXZ Horizontal damage scale 0.2
fp03 ダメージスケールY Vertical damage scale 0.25
fp04 ダメージフレーム Damage scale duration 0.3
fp05 質量 Unknown (weight?) 0.01
fp06 速度 Move speed 60
fp08 回転速度率 Rotation acceleration 0.1
fp09 テリトリー Territory radius 280
fp10 ホーム範囲 "Home" radius 80
fp11 プライベート距離 "Private" radius 70
fp12 視界距離 Sight radius 200
fp13 視界角度 FOV 180
fp14 探索距離 Unknown (exploration radius?) 200
fp15 探索角度 Unknown (exploration angle?) 180
fp16 振り払い率 Successful shake rate 1
fp17 振り払い力 Shake knockback 80
fp18 振り払いダメージ Shake damage 1
fp19 振り払い範囲 Shake range 25
fp20 攻撃可能範囲 Unknown (shock attack max range?) 50
fp21 攻撃可能角度 Unknown (shock attack max angle?) 25
fp22 攻撃ヒット範囲 Unknown (attack hit range?) 50
fp23 攻撃ヒット角度 Unknown (attack hit angle?) 25
fp24 攻撃力 Attack damage 10
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 50
fp28 回転最大速度 Rotation speed 10
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 40
fp33 マップとのあたりポリゴンの選定 Collision processing radius 40
fp34 ピクミンとのあたり Pikmin damage radius 15
fp35 石化時間 Petrification duration 1
fp36 ヒップドロップダメージ Purple Pikmin drop damage 50
fp37 地震気絶確立 Purple Pikmin stun chance 0.3 (30%)
fp38 地震気絶時間 Purple Pikmin stun time 5
ip01 振り払い打撃A Shake mode 1 – hit count 1
ip02 振り払い張付1 Shake mode 1 – Pikmin requirement 1
ip03 振り払い打撃B Shake mode 2 – hit count 1
ip04 振り払い張付2 Shake mode 2 – Pikmin requirement 2
ip05 振り払い打撃C Shake mode 3 – hit count 2
ip06 振り払い張付3 Shake mode 3 – Pikmin requirement 3
ip07 振り払い打撃D Shake mode 4 – hit count 2
Specific properties
ID Japanese comment Property Value
fp01 ぼんやり時間 Unknown (idle time?) 2
fp02 白ピクミン毒 White Pikmin poison damage 300
fp03 回転終了角度 Max angle it will rotate at, on the spot 90
Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name namazu
HP 200
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill 3
White Pikmin ingestions to kill 1
Bomb rock explosions to kill 1
Bomb rock ingestions to kill 0
Number of direct hits on top to kill 0
Damage to leaders 10
Territory radius 300
Mission Mode value 30

Other information

Naming

In the name "Water Dumple", the word "water" is naturally related to its tendency to be submerged, while "dumple" is the word "dumpling" without the -ling suffix. "Dumple" is not a word that exists in the English language, but it derives from dumpling because of the creature's Japanese name: ダンゴナマズ?, which translates to "Dumpling Catfish". It could be said that the creature's simple round shape is what inspired the word "dango" for the Japanese name. The "catfish" part is because the real world catfish, in that the Water Dumple has fish characteristics, mostly in terms of being underwater, and cat-like whiskers.

Its scientific name is Ichthyosa felinis, which means "cat fish"; "ichthys" is Greek for "fish", and "felinae" is the subfamily of cats, where "felinis" comes from. Internally, it is known as namazu in Pikmin and Pikmin 3, which is part of its Japanese name, but in Pikmin 2, this word is translated, making it catfish.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
  Japanese ダンゴナマズ?
Dango Namazu
Dumpling Catfish
  French Bouledeau Portmanteau of "Boule" (ball) and "eau" (water). Also a pun on "bulldog".
  German Wasser-Klößling Water Dumple
  Italian Idrotalpa Hydro-mole
  Korean 둥글메기
Doong geul mae gi
'둥글' means Round, '메기' means Catfish.
  Spanish (NoE) Mole acuática Aquatic mole

Gallery

Trivia

See also