The Pikmin games have a special place in the hearts of many gamers, and seeing the announcement trailer for the latest installment in the series sparked huge nostalgic feelings. As the launch of Pikmin 4 went off with a spaceship crunching bang, here’s everything you need to know about the final boss and how to defeat the big shaggy dog.
We always knew that an incredible adventure lay ahead, with an exciting new world to explore and bosses to fight, but one thing was on every Pikmin fan’s mind; what the final boss battle would look like. That question has been answered now that the game is fully released.
AdvertisementWe’d already done a fair amount of digging around, trying to figure out what the final boss of Pikmin 4 might be. While the devs hadn’t revealed the final boss prior to the launch, they have released a bunch of other information, like gameplay trailers and more. Plus, we had three previous Pikmin games that tie into the story.
Before we dive into the final boss of Pikmin 4, we must give a spoiler warning. If you haven’t got to the end of the game and you really don’t want to find out what lies ahead then the details below aren’t for you. If you don’t want to hear about the final boss, this is your chance to back out. With that out of the way, let’s get right into it.
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Who is the Pikmin 4 final boss?
Now that Pikmin 4 is out in the we’ve made it to the very end, we can confirm that the final boss fight is a big shaggy dog. It’s still a bit of a mystery in terms of what was up with it and why it had such incredible powers, but we’ll try to put forward a decent theory on it.
AdvertisementWhat we know for sure is that the dog was ridden by Louie, who had escaped to Cavern for a King after you catch up with him at Giant’s Hearth. He was up to his usual selfish tricks again, stealing juice and not caring about the lives of his fellow castaways and with Moss back with Olimar its up to you to defeat Louie and his big shaggy dog boss friend.
You essentially need the dog’s DNA to be able to make a cure for Oatchi, who has succumbed to the leafitis that has been afflicting the castaways you’ve been rescuing. Louie leads you to the final boss fight, and as mentioned above it’s got some pretty impressive fight stats.
You can read more about how to defeat it below, but once you do beat it with your various Pikmin it will revert back to being just a simple dog, which begs the question whay had come over it while Louie was riding on it. Our initial prediction that Moss could be the final boss turned out to be a little off the mark, but it was a dog and it’s possible that it was actually some residual wraith power that gave it Pikmin-like powers.
If you remember the Plasm Wraith from Pikmin 3, it also had the ability to mimic their various elemental attributes. It’s possible that some part of it remains with Louie and it’s this that powered up the big shaggy pooch.
How to defeat the big shaggy dog final boss?
AdvertisementThe key to being able to defeat the big shaggy dog final boss fight in Pikmin 4 is its tail. The quickest way to bring it down is to hurl purple Pikmin at it and then you’ll be free to do as much damage as you can while it’s vulnerable, which you can see in the video below.
It’s a long boss fight, though, on the back of all the other bosses that you will have needed to fight in Cavern for a King. This means that your Pikmin number might be deplete by this stage, so if you honestly feel soft-locked on it then you might want to rewind time and head to the surface to come back with more recruits.
During the first phase of the final boss fight, you need to let it run into one of the big stone pieces that fall from above. This will then give you an easy route to fire a couple of Purple Pikmin at its tail, before charging it with Oatchi to do big damage. Repeat this until you defeat it in simple shaggy dog mode.
For phase 2 when it gets ice powers, just wait for it to start its frosty breath attack and then make your way to it’s tail to do a similar trick with the Purple Pikmin and then the Oatchi charge. In phase 3 it’ll turn electric, so you can use the Yellow Pikmin to get rid of the electric fluff balls and then again get to the tail.
AdvertisementFor the fire phase, circle around the back of him and walkthrough the gaps or jump the fire wave to get to the tail. You can also use Red Pikmin on the fiery fur balls to get them out of the way if you need to.
For the final phase when it starts to fly, you need to avoid the energy plasma on the ground and make your way to its tail before it moves to the other side. Avoid its poison breath attack as you go and you should be able to bring it down. If your Purple Pikmin don’t make it up to the tail you can use others to get better height. It takes more of them, so you’ll need to work quickly.
Our initial theories for the final boss in Pikmin 4
To figure out who might have been the final boss in Pikmin 4, the bulk of our information prior to the launch came from the final bosses from Pikmin 1, 2, & 3. Let’s look at the one from Pikmin 1, Emperor Bulblax. It’s safe to say that we can rule Emperor Bulblax out for multiple reasons, one being that Emperor Bulblax is a regular enemy in Pikmin 2 and beyond.
Up next, we have the final boss from Pikmin 2, the Titan Dweevil. However, it isn’t a likely candidate for the final boss of Pikmin 4 either. The Titan Dweevil got defeated in Pikmin 2, and we probably won’t see it as a final boss in the latest game.
AdvertisementFinally, it brings us to the most likely candidate from the bunch, the Plasm Wraith, the final boss from Pikmin 3. Let’s explore why that’s the case. Firstly, if you remember the ending cutscene from Pikmin 3, it is clear that the Plasm Wraith is not just alive but also extremely angry. Surprisingly, this is at the bottom of our list of reasons.
One of the strongest and most convincing arguments we might have to confront the Plasm Wraith in the final boss battle in Pikmin 4 lies in the UMIBŌZU theory. This links the spaceship crashes to a mythological creature from Japanese folklore that is said to wreck ships at sea. To avoid going down a deep rabbit hole, we won’t go into too much detail, but in short, the theory suggests that the Plasm Wraith early resembles UMIBŌZU.
With hints in the trailers for the Pikmin games and the ending text scenes, the devs have made it quite clear that there is a reason why each ship that comes near the planet malfunctions or gets into an accident, causing it to hurtle toward the surface. Also, both the Plasm Wraith in Pikmin 3 and the Water Wraith from Pikmin 2 had a strong fondness for captains. But wait, there’s more.
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In Pikmin 4, Olimar seems to have transformed into a red Pikmin-like character and it seems clear that it wasn’t his own doing. You can also see that Olimar stays almost glued to the character called Moss.
AdvertisementYou’ve probably landed on the same conclusion as us. Moss could well be the final boss of Pikmin 4, but he’s the Plasm Wraith in disguise. We’ve seen that it can shapeship, so it might have adopted the form of the space dog to win over Olimar’s trust. He’s finally found a way to capture Olimar for good and is now looking for more captains.
Another possibility is that the Wraith is able to control both of them from afar once it has turned Olimar into a plant. However, there’s definitely something a bit weird about the space dog, so it’s hard not to call deception.
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What we initially thought the Final Boss Fight in Pikmin 4 would look like?
So, how will the final boss fight play out in Pikmin 4? As for us, we think it will be epic. Firstly, we expect that in the boss fight, players will have to use all the skills learned throughout their journey in the game. In other words, they’ll have to use all Pikmin types instead of just spamming one or two.
The first time we saw the use of all Pikmin types required for a final boss fight executed effectively was in Pikmin 2. The Titan Dweevil had different weapons strapped onto its body, and all Pikmin types available in the game were required to deal with each one of those weapons.
AdvertisementAs per tradition, Pikmin 4 will also be getting new Pikmin types with unique abilities. One of the most talked about Pikmin types from Pikmin 4 is the glow Pikmin, which only appears at night. Hence, we can assume that some part of the final boss battle will occur at night, requiring the glow Pikmin type.
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However, we won’t just be getting new Pikmins this time around. We also get another character, a space dog named Oatchi. He can carry items, smash large obstacles, and float on water while carrying you and all your Pikmin. Plus, he fights fearlessly against all your enemies. In other words, we can expect Oatchi to be a big part of the final battle.
The final boss fight will start as we find exactly what has happened, with either Moss or the hidden Plasm Wraith really the one capturing all the captains and causing the ships to crash. It takes Olimar away into the underground world, and we go after him.
The battle arena during the final boss battle will probably be nothing like anything we have seen in the game before. The music should be at its most impressive as we, our Pikmin, and Oatchi start the end fight. However, each Pikmin type and Oatchi have a specific role instead of being thrown at the enemy. They are required to solve a puzzles to get to it or deal with a particular ability.
AdvertisementAs it gets weakened and his HP lowers, he starts to get angry. After a short while, he reveals his true self as another form of Wraith, possibly even the same final boss as Pikmin 3. Since it’s defeat last time around it has new powers and abilities that make it even harder to beat.
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We’re expecting night to fall during the fight, and we need our glow Pikmin to fight with the improved abilities of this new Wraith form. Once the epic battle is over, we rescue Olimar and take him back to his family.
Conclusion
The anticipation for Pikmin 4 is high among fans of the series. One of the main things we eagerly await is the final boss battle. While the official details remain a mystery, we speculate that Moss is the likely final boss, who is actually the Wraith from Pikmin 3 disguised as a space dog.
As mentioned above, it’s possible that the wraith could be controlling both the Captain and the pooch, but it just looks a bit suspicious. Olimar discovers the dog while exploring and find it to be helpful, which has links to the UMIBŌZU story of a water Yokai that asks for a bucket to look like it’s about to help only to bring the ship down to its own murky depths.
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The final battle will be epic, requiring players to utilize all the Pikmin types and their unique abilities, including the new glow Pikmin. With Oatchi, the loyal space dog, by their side, players will embark on a thrilling and grand adventure to rescue Olimar.
However, this is speculation, and we might be completely wrong. Or, we might be 100% right. We’ll only be sure when the game is finally here, which isn’t that far off now. We’ll update things here when the release date comes around.
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