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Template:Infobox leaderLouie is the deuteragonist in Pikmin 2, serving as Olimar's co-worker and acquaintance. He is an employee of Hocotate Freight. Louie reappears in Pikmin 3as a side character, and as Olimar's teammate in Bingo Battle.
He is relatively new to the shipping business and has a ravenous appetite. He was raised by his grandmother, who taught him to play with bugs, as well as eat them, which he seems to partake in on PNF-404. He is also captured by first the Scornet Maestro and later the Quaggled Mireclops and is rescued by Alph, Brittany, and Charlie on both occasions.
Louie's first mission for Hocotate Freight was to transport a shipment of valuable Golden Pikpik Carrot. He was supposedly attacked by a ravenous space bunny, and the carrots were eaten. The President of Hocotate Freight took out a giant loan to cover the losses of the carrots, and had no way to repay the loan other than sell off company assets. The only available asset was Olimar's ship, the S.S. Dolphin. Because of this, it was immediately claimed on Olimar's return to Hocotate from having just rebuilt it on PNF-404. Learning that the Dolphin was sold to cover the debt, Olimar was so shocked he dropped a souvenir for his son: a bottle cap. As it rolled to a stop at Louie's feet, an old ship commonly called the Ship was able to use its Research Pod to suck up the rusty bottle cap. The Pod proclaimed the piece of salvage to be worth one hundred Pokos, which lowered the debt to 10,000 Pokos. The President instructed Olimar and Louie to head back to the Planet of the Pikmin to search for treasure and save the company from going bankrupt.
As Olimar and Louie head to the Valley of Repose at the start of Pikmin 2, the snow blurs the former's vision, causing him to clip a tree branch. When this happens, Louie falls out of the cockpit, leaving Olimar alone. After making contact with the Ship, Louie sets off to return to Olimar at the landing area. On the way, he discovers a Red Onion and cultivates some Pikmin sprouts, just as Olimar had done when he was stranded in the first game. The player can reach Olimar through the use of the newly-sprouted Red Pikmin, and then proceed to find the Courage Reactor, the first treasure of the game, effectively starting the adventure. Comically, while Olimar's field notes on the enemies in Pikmin 2 are helpful, Louie's are nowhere near helpful, as they give tips on how it is best to eat said creature (like the Fiery Bulblax, for example).
Louie at the end of the credits in Pikmin 2.
The debt is eventually paid off throughout the game, treasures being found in the Awakening Wood and Perplexing Pool as well as The Valley of Repose. After collecting 10,000 Pokos worth of treasure, Olimar blasts off from the planet, noticing too late that Louie is left behind.
Olimar and the President of Hocotate Freight return to the planet to find Louie. Louie aimlessly wanders around the planet for a bit, as seen in the credits roll of the game. Olimar and the President later find him in the Wistful Wild, hidden deep in the Dream Den with the Titan Dweevil. They rescue him and send him to the Ship's treasurehoard (since the cockpit is already full), calling him the King of Bugs.
Louie, as seen before the fight with the Titan Dweevil.
It is of constant debate whether Louie was a captive of the Titan Dweevil, or in actuality controlling it. E-mails the player receives from Louie's grandmother reflect that Louie was made to play with bugs by his grandmother as a child, so he has a great deal of experience with them, therefore it is possible he had the ability to control the Titan Dweevil. This is heavily hinted at by the sales pitch on Louie, here denoted as the King of Bugs, where the ship states that Louie had hijacked a colossal insect's brain. The fact that Dweevils naturally mimic the objects they carry is also a supporting factor. However, if Louie really was in control of the Titan Dweevil, it was still not him or the Titan Dweevil who attacked, but actually the treasures carried by the Titan Dweevil.
Louie is actually the one responsible for the debt Hocotate Freight suffered. It was truly he who ate the load of Golden Pikpik Carrots. When he returned from his first mission, he falsified his report to the President, explaining that a "Ravenous Space Bunny" ate all of the carrots. This is revealed in a cutscene, called "Louie's Dark Secret", unlocked by getting a pink flower for all 30 of the Challenge Mode levels, which is achieved by completing the stages without losing any Pikmin.
Twilight River
An unconscious Louie.
In Pikmin 3, Louie is found in Twilight River. After the Winged Pikmin lift a stick from the water a transmission is received. He is shown standing on a large tree stump and is mistaken as Captain Olimar due to a bad signal. He is later found unconscious on the tree stump before being abducted by the Scornet Maestro's swarm. He is freed when his captor is killed and must be carried back to the Drake, which displays him similarly to a newly obtained treasure, labeling him "Hocotatian." He wakes up in the early hours of the morning and mistakes the rescue as a kidnapping. So to save himself, he lands the ship in the Garden of Hope, steals all of the juice and runs away, followed by a large explosion. The explosion destroyed a wall and opened a large part of the area. Louie is found unconsious once again after defeating the Quaggled Mireclops, along with the remains of The Ship. When carried back to the Drake, he is again displayed like a treasure, but this time labeled "Food Thief". Afterwards, he is kept tied up in the S.S. Drake to keep him from running off with the juice a second time. Once retrieved, he floats around in the Drake like Charlie's rubber ducky.
After Pikmin 3
In one of the game's endings, it is revealed by Alph that Louie was not on board the S.S. Drake. The reasons behind this and consequences for this are currently unknown. However, the Koppaites do not show much interest in trying to rescue Louie, as Alph simply says that "I'm sure he will be fine..."
Louie's interrogation.
In Olimar's Secret Logs
Louie as he appears in Pikmin 3.
Louie is featured shortly in each of the expedition logs that you can unlock by collecting every secret memo. He is usually seen being ambushed by some enemies, like the Peckish Aristocrab or some Scornets. In the last exploration log, it is seen that he runs away before Captain Olimar gets kidnapped by the Plasm Wraith. He even said that he had a bad feeling about landing at the Formidable Oak. He appears to have fled to the Twilight River.
In this video, it is shown that Louie might have been planned to have Expedition Logs like Captain Olimar. This was never announced by Nintendo and was kept as a secret. This one, unlike Olimar's Logs, seem to take place during the Koppaites' hunt for fruit. This one is about him once he steals the juice from the Captains and finds the Wayward Moon, just before being kidnapped by the Quaggled Mireclops.
Louie is an unlockable character in Mission Mode, as of the December 3rd DLC. Louie is always kidnapped by an enemy, and by carrying him back will enable the player to play as Louie. He functions as any other character, and has a yellow background for his character icon in the bottom left. When saved he will say something along the lines of "Took you long enough!" or something to that effect.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Trophy
"A new Hocotate Freight employee. Louie is responsible for Captain Olimar having to venture back to the Pikmin planet. On his first delivery, Louie was supposedly attacked by a space bunny that devoured his whole lot of pikpik carrots. Pushed to the verge of bankruptcy, Hocotate Freight takes out an enormous loan that Louie and Olimar set out to pay back."
Louie's trophy
Compared to Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it seems Louie looks much less detailed than Olimar's (Olimar's suit having three red buttons, pockets, and more, while Louie has no visible changes to his suit). This is probably because Louie makes no other appearance in the game, so they kept his Pikmin 2 design.
Personality (WIP)
According to Olimar, he rarely talks and keeps to himself, not caring for social interaction. During his first meeting with Olimar, he stares off into space, only looking over four times: When Olimar first walks up to him and the President, when the President loudly demonstrates how his shipment of Golden PikPik Carrots was eaten, and twice when he hears his name mentioned. This might seem to imply that Louie has a short attention span, but he is actually very dependable and remains completely focused on whatever task is at hand, as long as there is no food involved. He is very hardy and resourceful, shown when he is able to survive alone for extended periods of time on an uncharted planet—twice. In Pikmin 3, Louie, like Olimar, uses very professional language in his radio transmissions, as opposed to the Koppaites' relatively informal banter.
Personality Discrepancies in Pikmin 3
While seeming fairly capable in Pikmin 2, Louie is essentially mindless, selfish and only focused on food in Pikmin 3. While his gluttony was the catalyst for entire conflict of Pikmin 2 , in Pikmin 3, food seems to occupy his entire existence. In addition, exploration logs left by Olimar in Pikmin 3 describe Louie as being more of a burden than anything. This is a stark contrast to Louie's role in Pikmin 2, where, despite his inexperience, Louie was considered an integral part of the team. While this apparent shift in personality could be attributed to Pikmin 3's writers looking for some cheap conflict and comedic relief, it is possible that there was a legitimate reason for the change, such as hunger.
Some fans have theorized that Louie's change was due to an outside source. A popular theory holds that Louie was somehow influenced by the Plasm Wraith. Variations of the theory range from the Wraith gaining control of Louie after he ingested a piece of it, to accusing Louie of outright dealing with the Wraith. The only solid connection between Louie and the Plasm Wraith comes from Olimar's final expedition log, where he state's that the perpetually silent Louie vocally spoke up against exploring the Formidable Oak, the home of the Plasm Wraith. At the end of the log, Louie can be seen sneaking behind Olimar before jumping up and fleeing, just before the Plasm Wraith appears and attacks Olimar.
Traits and abilities
As a young boy, Louie's grandmother encouraged him to eat bugs. Because of this, he has no qualms about eating the creatures of PNF-404 to survive.
He has a love of fine cuisine, which drives him to create gourmet recipes for beasts on PNF-404.
He has all of the same abilities of Olimar, except his c-stick sound, dismissal sound and whistle sound are different. This also goes for the President.
According to Louie's entry in the treasure hoard, it is rumoured that Louie was the one in control of the Titan Dweevil.
In Pikmin 3, Louie somehow manages to obliterate half of a cinder block. While the act takes place offscreen, a loud explosion can be heard, and flames and debris can be seen. He is apparently in possession of high-capacity explosives, possibly a mine. It is unknown why he would have these, although they may be standard gear.
Play Nintendo Description
Captain Olimar's second in command is hungry for adventure.
Louie is a great assistant if going on a mission to a dangerous planet. Just keep him away from the cargo hold, because he has some appetite control issues.[1]
Trivia
Louie's name is based on Luigi, as Olimar's name is based on Mario.
Occasionally, Louie will mutter to himself, "Olimar-...Huh?...Olimar?" very quietly. This usually happens when he stands still for a long time, something Luigi from the Mario series says as well; "Mario... Uh... Mario?"
Pikmin 2 would have never occured if it weren't for Louie's actions.
In Pikmin 2, he only needed one Pikmin to carry him when he was playable, this also accounts for when he's named the King of Bugs in the Dream Den, whereas in Pikmin 3, he needs five.
Louie was hired during the events of the first Pikmin game.
In Louie's expedition log, it is shown that he thought the Koppaites captured him and that he escaped with their treasure, implying that he did think Charlie's rubber ducky was treasure, or that he also considered their food treasure judging by his comments on the fruit in his Expedition Log.
Louie can somehow cook creatures that are not salvageable for the ship, such as Bulborb Larva and Pellet Posies.
Despite the fact that oxygen is poisonous to Hocotatians, Louie shows no signs of poisoning when he is within the S.S. Drake, which contains a higher level of oxygen suitable for Koppaites.
At one point in Pikmin 3, Louie refers to himself as Louis when being attacked by a creature. ("Louis here... Waaah!") As of now, it is unknown whether this is an alias of Louie, or simply the result of a misspelling.
