Pikmin Wiki
Register
Advertisement

<< Baldy Long Legs

Pikmin 3
#10 (Final Boss)


Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.



The Plasm Wraith (アメニュウドウ, Ame Nyūdou) is the final boss of Pikmin 3, and is responsible for capturing Captain Olimar. It is presumed to be an incarnation of PNF-404 itself. It is a virtually featureless, vaguely-humanoid Waterwraith-like being made entirely out of a cellular protoplasmic mass, which allows it to split different parts of its body off to create other semi-independent entities. It is fought in the Formidable Oak.

As with the final bosses from the previous games, the path leading up to it, and/or the boss fight itself, requires the knowledge and utilization of every single Pikmin type.

Background[]

When Olimar first arrived at the Formidable Oak, he saw a gold, shiny substance at the top of the tower, and decided to investigate. Louie expressed discomfort and chose to stay behind, and let Olimar go on ahead without him.

At first, the creature was curious and playful towards Olimar and did no harm to him. However, when Olimar tried to leave, the creature became aggressive, triggering his suit's auto-sleep function and dragging him back to its cave. It became protective of Olimar to the point that it would attack anything that showed interest in him. The exact reason for this bizarre behavior remains unknown.

Phase 1: Mysterious Life Form[]

Note: The following part(s) of the article is a strategy (or strategies); therefore, it is highly subjective, meaning it may not work for everyone.

In this form, the Plasm Wraith looks like an amorphous slug-like blob of translucent plasm. It follows Brittany, or whoever is guiding the Pikmin carrying Captain Olimar, through the labyrinth that is the Formidable Oak.

Just like in the first Pikmin game, the level the Plasm Wraith is fought in, the Formidable Oak, is entirely devoted to its battle. When first spotted, the creature envelopes Olimar in order to protect him, but it is defeated with Pikmin. The players then use Pikmin to carry Olimar and escape down into the nearby cave. However, the being drops from the cave ceiling and shapeshifts into a massive Goolix-like creature called the Mysterious Life Form, which will chase the player down the chasm. The player must stay ahead of it while overcoming the various obstacles present within the chasm in order to safely escape. There are a few notes that the player should take at this point...

  1. The Mysterious Life Form is invincible, unless it has Olimar, so the player must always move forward.
  2. There are multiple paths the player can take, so take whichever is easier to overcome.
  3. Every enemy in the chasm (except the Nectarous Dandelfly) is a creature made by the Mysterious Life Form; when killed, they will disintegrate into Protoplasm. If these creatures are not killed, the Mysterious Life Form will envelop and digest them in its body when it reaches them. However, it is unknown why they do not grow the Mysterious Life Form, as reabsorbing the protoplasm it shakes off grows it in its second form.
  4. The Mysterious Life Form and the Pikmin carrying Olimar will always follow Brittany, following her path exactly; this can be utilized to buy time. If Brittany is down, they will follow Charlie, and if both Brittany and Charlie are down, they will follow Alph.
  5. Many of the paths in the chasm are loops, so while Alph and Charlie are figuring out the puzzle, Brittany can go around in circles to distract the Mysterious Life Form.
  6. If Pikmin are enveloped by the Mysterious Life Form, they can be freed by continuously whistling at them. However, if the creature recaptures Olimar while any Pikmin are inside it, they will all instantly die.
  7. If the beast manages to recapture Olimar, it will stop following Brittany and try to leave the cave via a hole found at the beginning of the level. When being attacked, it will occasionally turn into an Elemental Plasm. After having sustained enough damage, the Mysterious Life Form will drop Olimar and will remain immobilized until its health gauge refills, allowing Brittany an opportunity to escape. If it is given the chance to leave the cave, the day will immediately end.
  8. A good way to escape is to do this: Have Brittany go in a circle by the place where you can find some nectar and there are some plants, near the beginning, and use the "Go Here" function of the Koppad to move her. Meanwhile, use Charlie and Alph to try to get the most amount of obstacles out of the way. This can be used to beat the Mysterious Life Form phase easily, but it may take 3 days or more to use this strategy.
  9. The Mysterious Life Form cannot enter the water, so if you leave Olimar in water you will not have to worry about the Mysterious Life Form taking Olimar. However, be warned that the Mysterious Life Form will now target the active captain, making the rest of the day slightly more difficult. (unless you leave the active captain in the water as well)
  10. A strategy using this method involves taking Olimar into the water and using him to distract the Mysterious Life Form so the captains can continue. This involves going behind the Mysterious Life Form and returning to the water everyone once in a while so it goes into an extremely long "turning around" animation, giving the other captains sufficient time to do the tasks.

After the player successfully escapes the chasm, they will appear in an arena outside. After the Mysterious Life Form gets to the exit as well, it will revert to its original humanoid shape and inhale all of its scattered plasm, subsequently growing to an immense size. It will then inhale and secure Olimar inside its body, thus commencing the final battle.

Note: If Brittany and Olimar are in water, The Mysterious Life Form will follow your ‘active player’ (the Koppatite you are playing as).

Phase 2: Plasm Wraith[]

When the Mysterious Life Form transforms into the Plasm Wraith and recaptures Olimar, proceed to throw Pikmin at its stomach. This will cause small bits of its plasmic exterior to fall off, making its health deplenish. However, Pikmin must then attack the puddles of plasm on the floor to destroy them, or the Wraith will simply reabsorb the puddles and regenerate. Although it is not necessary, you may take 20 of each Pikmin for the battle. Send the other two captains out of its reach, as this fight only requires one captain.

Be prepared to lose a lot of Pikmin during this phase of the battle. It will actively attack Pikmin, but mainly prefers to target the Captains and attack when they are close by skewering them with a rapid "needle-arm" attack. Rock Pikmin will merely be knocked down by this attack, but any other Pikmin will be skewered and eaten. You can separate the captains as a distraction, with one captain handling all the Pikmin. It is unwise to attack it head-on, as it will not be fazed by attacks, and can easily kill the Pikmin. Instead, throw just a few Pikmin at it, preferably its backside, until it tries to shake Pikmin off by twisting its body, then spinning around. This will cause additional plasm to fly off of its body. As it loses more and more plasm, it decreases in size, but it will frequently try to heal itself by reabsorbing any plasm left on the ground. Throw Pikmin at the plasm on the ground to minimize the amount of health that the Plasm Wraith can recover.

After a quarter of its health is depleted, the boss will attack by spewing large masses of plasm onto the arena, then spitting out a golden fractal-embroidered cube. The plasmic mass will form around this solid cube and form an Elemental Plasm. Each Elemental Plasm has a specific hazard associated with it. If the boss spits out a cube, quickly call all Pikmin away from it. It has many forms, each of which can only be killed with certain Pikmin types:

  1. The Elemental Plasm will protect the cube in a bubble of water. Only Blue Pikmin can break it.
  2. The Elemental Plasm will turn molten and surround the floor with fire. Red Pikmin is recommended, but a skilled player with a quick whistle may use Rock Pikmin to break it.
  3. The Elemental Plasm will form a spike underneath the cube, setting it high up in the air. The cube will then generate an electric barrier around it and the plasm. Only Yellow Pikmin can break it. But if quick enough, the player can break the cube with other Pikmin types before the electric barrier can form.
  4. The Elemental Plasm will turn into a glass cube that slowly tumbles around the stage, crushing Pikmin. Only Rock Pikmin can break it.

Destroying Elemental Plasms will leave behind a large amount of plasm that must also be destroyed. If they are left alive for longer than 20 seconds, the Plasm Wraith will reabsorb them to heal itself.

After it's been reduced to just a quarter of its health, it will create three Elemental Plasms at once. It can also become temporarily airborne, during which it can only be reached by Winged Pikmin. If it is hit with Winged Pikmin while flying, it may fall down, losing even more plasm as it hits the ground.

By the time its health meter has turned red, it will have become very small in stature, and will hardly be able to attack your Pikmin, instead choosing to run away. The speed at which it attacks and moves is greatly increased the lower its marginally small health meter becomes. Once defeated, it expels a golden cube, which dissolves to reveal an unharmed Olimar inside, and the remaining plasm on the ground crawls away and retreats back into the cave.

Defeating the Plasm Wraith immediately triggers the end of the game.

No Deaths[]

Rock Pikmin are the best type of Pikmin to use against the Plasm Wraith, as they cannot be skewered by the Plasm Wraith's needle-arms, which is its only attack. The Elemental Plasms, however, still serve a threat to the Rock Pikmin as fire and water hazards created from the Elemental Plasms will suffocate Rock Pikmin. It is possible to break the Elemental Plasm cubes before they generate elemental hazards, but be careful as the timing between the cube gaining its ability is very quick.

Super Smash Bros. series[]

Plasmwraithtrophy

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Trophy[]

A mysterious life-form in the Formidable Oak, the final area of Pikmin 3. Formed from a gelatinous substance, it normally can't be damaged at all...but with Olimar newly rescued, maybe he holds the key. When it takes humanoid form, it unleashes some terrifying attacks. You'll need all your skills to take it down and finish the game!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

The Plasm Wraith appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Primary Balanced-type Spirit.

Trivia[]

  • Even though the Plasm Wraith is defeated, it is revealed to still be alive in the final cutscene. One can notice this because the small trail of plasmic remains after its defeat slowly moves away from the site. It can also be seen when everyone is leaving the planet.
  • The Plasm Wraith was the first boss in the Pikmin series to have a clearly-defined multi-phased battle, with a "chase phase" and a "battle phase" separated by a cutscene. The second boss to do so would be the Berserk Leech Hydroe from Hey! Pikmin, which has 3 clear phases.
  • The Plasm Wraith bears a resemblance to some other enemies in the Pikmin series: its initial form is slightly reminiscent of the Goolix from Pikmin, and its final form is reminiscent of the Waterwraith from Pikmin 2.
  • The Plasm Wraith's right "shoulder" is longer than the left, making it the second abnormally-asymmetric creature in the Pikmin series, the first being the Mamuta.
  • According to the good ending of Pikmin 3, it is speculated that the Plasm Wraith is in fact an entity that is PNF-404 itself. This is further supported by the Japanese word for wraith, umibozu, which is a mythical creature that shipwrecks ships at sea and captures the captain. This behavior is what we see with the Plasm Wraith. This presumably means that the Plasm Wraith manipulates gravity to shipwreck ships that enter PNF-404’s atmosphere. This would explain why none of the landings ever go smoothly across any of the games.
    • Another speculation concludes that there are multiple Plasm Wraith’s across PNF-404 and they are all a part of the planet or a greater entity that is the planet. This would explain why there is a second enemy outside of the Formidable Oak and how the Plasm Wraith seems to have healed completely in the ending cutscene.
    • Still another speculation believes that the Plasm Wraith’s DNA is in every single lifeform on PNF-404.
  • In the secret data file reward video, "At the Oak", Olimar is seen surveying the area, while Louie is running away from something. Right as the video ends, the viewer can hear loud footsteps and the Plasm Wraith's roar, implying the capture of Olimar.
    • The said video also appears at the end of the Olimar's Assignment side story, with only one video not shown at the end of that mission.
  • If there are enough Pikmin attacking the Plasm Wraith, it'll try to walk into an elemental plasm (save for the crystal cube one) to get them off.
  • Yellow Pikmin are the only Pikmin that are needed to finish the Mysterious Life Form phase, not including Data Files.
  • The Plasm Wraith is the second creature and first final boss in the Pikmin series to have a unique variant of a life meter. In this case, its life meter has a beveled, gold coloration and corresponds to the amount of plasm left in its body. The only other creature with a unique life meter is the Waterwraith, which has 2 separate life meters, one being its own health and the other being for the health of its rollers. Interestingly, both of these creatures have the "Wraith" suffix in their names.
  • Strangely, when fighting the Plasm Wraith, the KopPad map can reveal an enemy marker off the map of the Formidable Oak. It is still, however, unknown if there is an actual enemy off the map or if it's just a glitch.
  • The Plasm Wraith's Japanese name is "Amenyuudou", which can be a portmanteau of "amoeba" (written in katakana like "ameba"), an unicellular organism usually found in water, or "ame", which means "rain", and "Nyūdō" (入道) which means "priest" or "monk". Its name could also be an allusion to Wanyūdō, the guardian of the gates of Hell in Japanese mythology.
  • The Mysterious Life-Form is made up of two "metaballs," rather than a traditional model. More information on this can be found in this video- https://youtu.be/HWrVtwhoAUA?t=12m24s.
  • it is the first boss in the series that does not give you an item that is the reason you are on the planet. (Pikmin 1 is the secret safe and Pikmin 2 is the weapons as treasure, but in Pikmin 3 Olimar who isn’t the reason why you are here.)
  • Louie tried to eat the plasm wraith.
    • His comments on it were: Despite its refreshing citrus scent, the flavor of this beast is decidedly... dangerous. The plasm wraith is essentially invincible.
  • A common theory is that the plasm wraith is the second form of the Waterwraith.

Gallery[]

Main Article: Plasm Wraith/Gallery

Advertisement