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The Empress Bulblax (クイーンチャッピー, Kuīn Chappī) is a boss in Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 4. Her markings and general features are similar to those of the Bulborb, but her body is much larger and composed of five distinct segments similar to that of a termite queen; her comparatively tiny legs dangle above the ground.
Unlike most bosses, her behavior is different each time she is encountered. In the Hole of Beasts, she must be woken up before battling, rolling from side to side to crush any Pikmin under her immense weight. In the Frontier Cavern (as well as the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode), she will already be awake and giving birth to Bulborb Larvae. In the Hole of Heroes, she does the same while also causing boulders to fall when she hits a wall.
Notes[]
Olimar's Notes[]
"Initial observations placed doubt on the capability of the grub-dog family to support a strong ant- or beelike social structure, but recent studies show the family is capable of such complexity. The egg sac of the largest female grub-dog within a given range swells to dramatic proportions in response to environmental changes, such as the sudden depletion of prey species. These females temporarily take on the role of pack matriarch. Also, in pack formation it has been observed that nearly all males not involved in species reproduction undergo natural sex changes. The characteristics of such specimens are quite intriguing indeed."
Louie's Notes[]
"For a sophisticated delicacy, make a pate de foie gras from this massively obese creature's liver and spread it over a sesame cracker."
Dalmo's Notes[]
"The striking polka dots along that expansive hide provide the very image of royal splendor. While that regal presence essential for queenly quality might throw you off guard, her grand, lumpy figure has more that just visual impact. When provoked, this charmer will roly-poly over and squash any threats! Approach with the utmost caution!"
Nintendo Player's Guide[]
"The rolling wonder squashes Pikmin and its own larvae. Attack one end of the creature by tossing a small group of purples at it, but call the off to your pilot's side before it shakes them off. If they are thrown off, they may land near the creature's rolling midsection."
Battle Strategy[]
Pikmin 2[]
To defeat the Empress Bulblax, throw Pikmin (preferably the purple type) onto her face and call them back before she throws them off. After shaking Pikmin off, the boss rolls from side to side across the chamber in an attempt to crush her aggressors, smashing into walls, and making rocks fall from the ceiling in most encounters in the game. Although risky, the Bulblax can be petrified if the spray is released on the middle of her elongated torso.
The Empress Bulblax is one of the few bosses that can vary depending on where the player encounters her: for the Hole of Beasts fight, it is easier to throw the Pikmin on the Empress Bulblax's side to the left and retreat to the alcove in the wall between attacks. Here, it is also effective to swarm the body from the left at the start of the battle, before the boss wakes up. Doing this will deal heavy damage if many Pikmin manage to latch onto the Empress.
This is not as effective in the later two battles, as the Pikmin have less time to attack the enemy before she shakes the Pikmin off, and they have the Empress continuously giving birth to Bulborb Larvae. These are easily defeated by their own mother's rolling; alternatively, in the Frontier Cavern, since the number that can exist is finite, they can be lured away from the Empress with one leader while the other fights the boss, resulting in a fight that is about as easy as in the Hole of Beasts. For the Hole of Heroes fight, the player starts off behind the Empress, and she can make boulders fall after hitting the walls; these are most easily avoided by moving behind the exit hole, herself behind a gate. All rules apply here the same as the Frontier Cavern fight, but trapping the larvae is nearly impossible, and requires a decoy leader who is in good condition.
When defeated, four of the Empress Bulblax's front body segments explode, leaving only the segment attached to the head, which can be returned to the Research Pod and cashed in for 15.
During the fights with the Bulborb Larvae, it is suggested that a leader should distract the larvae, preferably at full health and with the Metal Suit Z obtained, as the larvae can deal a lot of damage otherwise.
When going for the quickest kill possible, (using a captain to bait the Bulborb Larvae away if necessary) swarm all Pikmin against the side. For a safer strategy, c-stick throw the Pikmin at the head and wait for the beast to roll completely. Repeat 3-5 times to win the battle with no losses.
Pikmin 4[]
The strategy for the Empress Bulblax are largely the same in Pikmin 4, but it should be noted that Rock Pikmin are near-flawlessly effective against the beast, as they are immune to crushing and cannot latch onto the boss, which makes it impossible for the Empress Bulblax to throw them off. They are also, however, only actually recommended by the game for the earliest encounter with her.
In the final cave of the game, Cavern for a King, an Empress Bulblax is encountered on one of the deeper floors and is fought in a square arena exactly as large as the Bulblax, necessitating the constant use of geysers to dodge her attacks, as well as having to contend with falling boulders and Bulborb Larvae. This is the trickiest and toughest fight against her in the entire franchise if played as expected, particularly since it is unlikely that the player will have access to Rock Pikmin during the encounter. It should be noted that there is an exit located at the rear-end of the arena, which can allow for an easy escape without having to deal with the typically tricky geyser timing. The player can attack her from the rear with a rush while mounted on Oatchi, recall their Pikmin before she rolls, and simply exit the arena. This can take some time but is considerably more reliable than other strategies. or leave the sublevel and return with a lot of Rock Pikmin, 33 at minimum or 100 if you have that many, and rush or throw them at the Empress Bulblax and get your character in the arena and attack the Bulborb Larvae so you don't lose your Rock Pikmin (having more will make it a little or a lot depending on how many).
Crossover appearances[]
WarioWare series[]
The Empress Bulblax is playable in the Pikmin 2 microgame in the Wii title, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and in a remake of the microgame in the Nintendo 3DS title, WarioWare Gold. Incidentally, these are Empress Bulblax's only playable appearance. The object is for Empress Bulblax to squish every Pikmin before the timer runs out. In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Empress Bulblax is controlled by tilting the Wii Remote, while in WarioWare Gold, she is controlled by rotating the system.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Empress Bulblax is featured in the form of a trophy, which is acquired as a random drop.
Trophy description []
"A member of the grub-dog family, transformed by environmental factors. Due to her ridiculous size, the empress bulblax can no longer walk on her tiny legs. She just wiggles around, rolling from left to right. Although the female continues spawning bulborb larvae, she unfortunately rolls over them with her massive body."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Empress Bulblax is one of the only enemies in the Piklopedia whose attacks cannot be activated. The others are the Titan Dweevil and the Segmented Crawbster.
- The Empress Bulblax is the only member of the Grub-dog family that does not kill Pikmin by eating them.
- The Empress Bulblax gives live birth to her larval-form offspring. This is not only unique to the Pikmin franchise, but also to Earth lifeforms.
- Oddly, her offspring, Bulborb Larva, doesn't share the same scientific name. That's one of a few taxonomy rules the Pikmin franchise breaks.
- The Empress Bulblax's scientific name, Oculus matriarcha, translates into 'Eye Matriarch'. Oculus translates into eye, and matriarcha is similar to matriarch, referring to her title of "Empress".
- In some caverns, if you look below where the Research Pod is, you'll see what appears to look like a drawing of the Empress Bulblax.
- In an earlier version of the Pikmin 2, the Empress Bulblax is called the "Queen Bulborb."
- Though never seen above ground, the Empress Bulblax's corpse was intended to produce 30 seeds if brought to the Onion.
- Empress Bulblax looks similar to a Termite queen because of her giant belly and method to birth Bulborb Larvae.
- It's plausible that she can mate with the Emperor Bulblax.
External links[]
- Empress Bulblax on the MarioWiki