Crash landing its way onto the GameCube in 2001, Pikmin quickly became one of Nintendo's
most bizarre and beloved properties by many. Taking control of a space captain
who's canonically the size of a thimble, the Pikmin games see the player traversing through
a dangerous planet with an army of aggressive multi-colored carrot creatures. Throughout their
travels, the space explorers and their obedient plants have encountered many enemies which would
like nothing more than devour or crush everything in their path. Today we're looking at the biggest
baddies of all; the bosses, and we're going to see which ones are more of a minor nuisance and
which ones are the truly threatening foes. I'm Kifinosi with 1upBinge and this
is Pikmin Bosses: Weak to Powerful. Let's start off with some ground rules.
Firstly, we are only going to be looking at the 3 main games in the Pikmin trilogy.
Spinoffs such as Hey Pikmin or the Pikmin Adventure sub game in Nintendo Land are too
different to rank fairly with the other games. Secondly, many of these bosses appear
in different games with varying levels of difficulty. For the sake of this
list, we're going to be judging them in their prime based on their most
powerful appearances in the series. Lastly, let's define what we mean by
powerful. For this list, we are going to be looking at these bosses' defensive
stats as well as their offensive abilities. Since a lot of these enemies can kill multiple
members of the Pikmin army in one fell swoop, we will also be taking into account how easy
it is for the player to evade said attacks. With those guidelines slotted down in our
Piklopedia, it's time to unearth our rankings. At the very bottom of our list we have the Giant
Breadbug from Pikmin 2. This boss is essentially a larger version of the regular Breadbugs
which are harmless bread shaped enemies that drag objects into holes in the ground. While
the Giant Breadbug can't hurt the Pikmin, the Pikmin also can't hurt it by normal means.
Instead, the Pikmin and the the Giant Breadbug engage in a battle of tug of war over the
treasure. If the Pikmin are successful, the Breabug will receive damage after
hitting itself against the pod. Do this a couple of times and the Giant Breadbug
becomes a corpse. The fact that this enemy has low defense and literally no offense makes
it an easy choice for the bottom of this list. Next up on our list we have the Mamuta from Pikmin
1. While this creature does appear in Pikmin 2 as well, it is only classified as a boss in the
first game. Out of all the bosses in Pikmin, the Mamuta is the only one that can be
inadvertently helpful to the player. Instead of killing the Pikmin that are attacking
it, the Mamuta will slap them into the ground causing the player to pluck them again. While this
can prove to be an annoyance, this can actually prove to be a benefit if you have leaf or bud
Pikmin you're looking to upgrade into a flower. The Mamuta does manage to edge out the Giant
Breadbug due to its higher defense and the fact it can actually harm the player if they're too close
to its attack range. Since it's more of a nuisance than a threat for the most part, the Mamuta
isn't a boss which will cause you much stress. The next entry on our list is the Puffstool
from Pikmin 1. It says a lot about a boss when the fire geysers that surround it are
arguably more of a hazard than the boss itself. A giant fungus with stubby little legs, the
Puffstool is a cowardly mini-boss who will run away from the Pikmin if swarmed. After a few
steps, the Puffstool trips causing Olimar to throw Pikmin on top of it. Once the Puffstool
reorients itself, it lets out a puff of gas which turn Pikmin into Mushroom Pikmin that help
defend the Puffstool. With that said, the attack is pretty easy to avoid and the Mushroom Pikmin
can be turned back to normal if fought by the regular Pikmin and called off by Olimar, so
it's not that big of an issue. Overall, the Puffstool isn't that much of a threat if you have
enough Pikmin with you to take it down quickly. Bowling into our next spot is the Armored
Cannon Beetle from Pikmin 1. A fully grown adult version of the Armored Cannon Larvae which
appears in Pikmin 2 and 3, the Armored Cannon Beetle is the only boss in Pikmin that appears
twice in the first game. Both encounters are essentially the same with the one difference
being the landscape. The Armored Cannon Beetle has one attack which is taking a large breath and
spitting out a rock in a straight line. Its body is surrounded by a protected shell which can only
be opened up by throwing Pikmin onto a blowhole on its face. Once opened, Olimar can lead the Pikmin
to the back of the beast and swarm it for damage. While the rock it shoots is large, it is pretty
easy to navigate around if you're careful with your Pikmin. Since its weak point is on its back,
and the creature is pretty slow to turn around, the Armored Cannon Beetle doesn't have much of
an offensive strategy when its being swarmed, making it a pretty easy boss fight. The Goolix from Pikmin 1 is up next. A giant
blue liquid blob, the Goolix slowly moves around and tries to engulf all the Pikmin in water
to drown them. This is a hard boss to rank because technically speaking, the Goolix has the
best defense out of any boss in the first game, being tied by only the final boss. However, the
reason it ranks so low is because if you bring an army of blue Pikmin to its arena, the Goolix
has no offense or defense and can be wailed on repeatedly until its demise. The Goolix does
pose a legitimate threat to red and yellow Pikmin who have no way of attacking it. Also,
because of its high defense, if you don't have a substantial amount of blue Pikmin in your arsenal,
there's a very good chance your army won't be able to finish the job by the end of the day. With all
that in mind, if you prepare yourself accordingly and know what Pikmin to use, the Goolix is a very
easy boss fight that won't cause you any trouble. Hovering into our next entry we have the
Ranging Bloyster from Pikmin 2. This large jellyfish-looking creature appears several times
throughout Pikmin 2 and is enthralled by shiny objects. Namely, the red and blue lights which
extend from Olimar and Louie's helmets cause the Ranging Bloyster to follow the spacemen closely.
While one character distracts the creature, the other must sneak behind it and throw the
Pikmin on its tail. As an attack, the Ranging Bloyster extends its tentacles to latch on to the
Pikmin but this is fairly easy to maneuver around. The Ranging Bloyster doesn't have high defense
but it can slowly regenerate health if left alone so it's beneficial for the player to take the
creature down quickly. All in all, this boss probably won't give you much of a problem
if you use your spacemen and Pikmin wisely. Crawling into our next spot is the first boss in
our rankings from Pikmin 3, the Bug-Eyed Crawmad. Appearing twice in the Garden of Hope, this
creature is basically a larger version of the Hermit Crawmad with two big bulging eyes that hang
from its head. If the player comes to close to the Bug-Eyed Crawmad, it will lunge from its hole and
attack any Pikmin in sight. The only way to attack the Bug-Eyed Crawmad is to throw Pikmin onto its
eyes. If the player has winged Pikmin in its army, they can do this without going in the attack range
of the enemy. Once both of its eyes are injured, the Bug-Eyed Crawmad will flip over leaving
itself open to being swarmed by Pikmin. Considering the Bug-Eyed Crawmad has low
defense and can potentially be easily avoided, this can be a pretty easy boss fight
if the player knows what they're doing. Up next, we have the Armored Mawdad from Pikmin
3. The first boss that the player encounters in the third game, the Armored Mawdad is a large
centipede creature protected by a hard outer shell. The only way to break through its exterior
is with the use of the rock Pikmin who can smash it. The Armored Mawdad can crawl up the walls out
of reach of the player but its position will be given away by the tree bark and debris which
falls from the walls and ceiling. To attack, the Armored Mawdad lunges forth at its prey
which can easily be avoided due to the few seconds it takes to position itself. While the
Armored Mawdad does have relatively high defense, its overall predictable nature makes the
fight a cakewalk for any players who were already familiar with the first two Pikmin games. The first of many arachnorb enemies on
our countdown, the Shaggy Long Legs from Pikmin 3 stomps into our next spot. Appearing
three times in Pikmin 3, these creatures come in black, white, purple and golden colors
depending on the area in which they reside. The Pikmin can climb the legs of the beast in
order to remove its hair, causing damage to the Shaggy Long Legs. While the Shaggy Long Legs can
stop on the Pikmin to crush them, if the player brings a lot of troops to the battle it won't get
much of a chance due to constantly shaking the Pikmin off of its body. The Shaggy Long Legs has
the lowest defense of any member of its family, tied only with its bald variant in mission
mode. With the exception of its gold version, the feet of the creature have small range and
won't crush that many Pikmin if caught under it. Right above its hairy brother lands the Baldy Long
Legs from Pikmin 3. As stated in the last entry, this is a hairless variant of the Shaggy Long
Legs that only appears in the game's side modes. It has the same stats as the Shaggy Long Legs
but it traverses across more of the in-game area, making it much harder for the player to
deal with. This also means when it shakes the Pikmin off of its body they are more
likely to end up in a hazardous area or next to a dangerous enemy. If we were
ranking bosses based on difficulty alone, the Baldy Long Legs would probably
rank a bit higher but since its stats are the same as its hairy counterpart,
we are going to rank them side by side. Commanding its way into our next entry is the
Scorenet Maestro from Pikmin 3. This is another boss which is difficult to rank since, technically
speaking, the Scornet Maestro does not attack the Pikmin or the player. Instead, it commands an army
of one hundred smaller Scornets to do its bidding for it. The player must avoid the onslaught of
smaller insects and attack the Scorenet Maestro, which does have high defense to its credit.
Since the Scorenet Maestro isn’t really a threat on its own, we can’t really rank it
any higher. However, due to its high defense and efficient use of its army, we can’t in
good conscience call it a weak enemy either. Swooping onto our next slot is the Vehemoth
Phosbat from Pikmin 3. While posing more of a threat than the Armored Mawdad, this boss
fight isn't so much hard as it is complicated and time consuming. Residing in dark caverns,
the Vehemoth Phosbat is invisible until the yellow Pikmin create an electrical current
to turn on the lights. In order to do this, the rock Pikmin must break down barricades
and the other Pikmin must build bridges in order to reach the electrical wires. The beast
becomes stunned when the light shines on it, leaving it open to attack. While it has high
defense, The Vehemoth Phosbat's only deadly attack is sucking up to five Pikmin at once in
its mouth. It can also spray dust onto the Pikmin but this only causes a minor distraction for
the plant creatures. The Vehemoth Phosbat also releases its offspring which eat the Pikmin,
but the small creatures are slow and weak, causing little issue for the player. If
the Vehemoth Phosbat flies off to a wall to take a rest, it will regenerate a small bit of
health, but it can only do this once. Overall, this is a fun boss fight with a lot of moving
pieces, but not exactly the most powerful foe. The Waterwraith from Pikmin 2 drips into our next
ranking. This boss stalks the player throughout every sublevel of the Submerged Castle hole
but can only be fought in the final area. This large water creature traverses around on
two large wheels which crush any Pikmin in its path. Much like the Ranging Bloyster, the
Waterwraith will only target the active player which can be a useful strategy to keep
your Pikmin troops from being squished. During the boss fight, the Waterwraith can only
be attacked by the purple Pikmin who stun it. Once stunned, the Waterwraith
turns from liquid to solid, leaving it open to swarming by every
Pikmin. Once its health is depleted, the Waterwraiwill run around in fear looking for
another spot to reconstruct its rollers. If the purple Pikmin stun it again, it will turn to solid
once more leaving itself open to attack. While the Waterwraith can certainly be deadly when its using
its rollers, its fixation on the active player and low defense make it a boss which can also be
taken care of safely with the right strategy. The next spot on our list goes to the
Man-at-Legs from Pikmin 2. A robotic member of the arachnorb family, the Man-at-Legs
acts quite differently from its other relatives. Instead of its primary offense being
crushing the Pikmin with its feet, the Man-at-Legs instead shoots lasers at our
heroes using internally built guns found in its body. To avoid the crossfire being shot
at them, Olimar and Louie must hide behind walls which block the bullets from hitting them
and their Pikmin. After unloading its ammo, the Man-at-Legs will stomp around angrily
leaving it open for attack. In order to successfully defeat the Man-at-Legs, the player
must be quick and stealthy, ideally with many flower Pikmin in its army. This battle puts
the protagonists' reaction time and navigation abilities to the test and can result in many
casualties if Olimar and Louie are not careful. Digging its way into our next entry is the
Burrowing Snagret. A boss in all three games, we're going to basing our ranking on Burrowing
Snagret's stats in Pikmin 1 where it had the highest defense. In each game, the Burrowing
Snagret's attack strategy remains similar, digging into the ground and popping up briefly to
eat the Pikmin. Chewing the Pikmin in its beak, this gives the player an opportunity to save
their Pikmin from the creature. However, the saved Pikmin will likely lose their flower
pedals and be reduced back to leaf Pikmin. Since its primary strategy is to dig into the ground and
pop up unexpectedly, the Burrowing Snagret can be a tricky enemy to fight, especially in the first
game where there's two of them in the same area. Unleashing both of them at once makes the fight
even more difficult since you have to look out for two giant snake birds to avoid and attack. It's
not hard to see why the Burrowing Snagret is one of Pikmin's most iconic boss fights considering
how memorable and challenging it is to fight. Rolling into our next spot is Empress Bulblax from
Pikmin 2. Appearing twice in the story mode and once in the challenge mode, Empress Bulblax is
the female head of the grub-dog family. She has one direct attack which involves rolling from side
to side to crush the Pikmin. Hitting the walls also causes rocks to fall from the ceiling
which can also crush Olimar and Louie's army. In her second appearance, and also in challenge
mode, Empress Bulblax will have higher defense and also be giving birth to Bulborg Larvae, which
will also attack the player. If she rolls over one of her Larvae, she will crush and kill it same
as the Pikmin, showing she is a ruthless mother as well as an opponent. The player's best strategy
is to stand in front of Empress Bulblax and throw Pikmin, preferably of the purple variety,
at her face while she's stationary. Since Empress Bulblax won't eat the Pikmin, this does
make the player relatively safe aside from the falling rocks and Bulborg Larvae. Still, her high
defense, multiple appearances and ability to crush many army members at once if you're not careful
make the Empress Bulblax a formidable enemy. Moving on to another boss
that's fond of rolling around, the Segmented Crawbster from Pikmin 2 comes in
next. Found in the depths of the Cavern of Chaos, this one-armed crustacean creature's body is
protected by a thick outer shell. Curling up into a ball, the Segmented Crawbster rolls after
the protagonists in an attempt to crush them. It can only be stopped by bumping into a wall, which
causes rocks to fall from the ceiling. However, hitting the wall also causes the Segmented
Crawbster to land on its back, leaving its belly open to an assault from the Pikmin. This boss
fight forces Olimar and Louie to be both quick and observant in order to avoid being crushed by
both the creature and the boulders. The Segmented Crawbster doesn't have the highest defense but it
since its weak spot is only open for a short time frame and must be hit while avoiding debris this
boss still manages to put up quite a challenge. Our next spot goes to the Sandbelching Meerslug
from Pikmin 3. One of the largest enemies to appear in any game, the Sandbelching Meerslug
has the highest defense of any enemy in Pikmin 3. It has two primary attacks which include
spitting rocks around the area and creating a giant sinkhole to suck the Pikmin down into
its mouth. The latter attack can be countered if the player throws a yellow Pikmin holding a
rock bomb into its mouth. While neither move is particularly dangerous in the beginning of the
fight, the Sandbelching Meerslug does become more effective as its health depletes lower and
lower. While not the hardest boss in the series, the Sandbelching Meerslug does prove to be quite
powerful due to its attack range and high defense. Popping up into our next entry is the Pileated
Sangret from Pikmin 2. Appearing twice in story mode and once in challenge mode, the Pileated
Sangret is the more mobile family member of the Burrowing Snagret. While its attack
strategy is similar to its burrowing counterpart, the Pileated Sangret is more of a challenge due
to its much higher defense and increased height, making it harder for the thrown Pikmin to reach
the head of the beast. Purple Pikmin have the opportunity to stun and make the Pileated Sangret
bounce, which certainly can be useful, but tricky to pull off due to the Pileated Snagret's height.
Overall, out of all the snake-bird creatures the player comes to encounter, the Pileated Sangret
is definitely the most challenging and powerful. Coming in next is the Beady Long Legs from Pikmin
1. Olimar’s introduction to the arachnorb family, the Beady Long Legs also appears in Pikmin 2 as
a miniboss. In the first game, the Beady Long Legs is a strong and formidable foe with high
defense and quick movement. It’s actually best to not bring too many Pikmin into this battle, as
the Beady Long Legs can stomp many of them with the soles of its feet. Its body is also higher
up than many of its family members, meaning the only Pikmin that can reach its weak point are the
yellow Pikmin. If that wasn’t enough, the Beady Long Legs will also increase in speed while its
being damaged. Despite being the first arachnorb, the Beady Long Legs stands out as being one
of the most powerful enemies in the series. The toughest member of the arachnorb family,
the Raging Long Legs from Pikmin 2 is up next. Sporting the highest defense of any boss in Pikmin
2, this arachnorb also has the largest feet of any of its family members which can crush many
Pikmin at once. Also, if left alone for a while, the Raging Long Legs will slowly regenerate
health. Despite this, the Raging Long Legs has a really large body which makes it easier to attack
than many of its family members. Unlike many other Long Legs, this also means the player doesn't have
to position itself under the base of the enemy to attack. Since it does have high defense and
can crush many Pikmin if given the opportunity, this does put the Raging Long Legs high
up on our list in terms of its raw power. In terms of pure difficulty however, the
Beady Long Legs beats this beast out. Crushing its way into our next spot is the
Quaggled Mireclops from Pikmin 3. Resembling a large spider with a chunk of land for a body,
the Quaggled Mireclops goes on a rampage after the rock Pikmin damage a crystal on its head.
Much like an arachnorb, the Quaggled Mireclops stomps around the map which not only can crush
the Pikmin but leaves holes of water in which the Pikmin can drown. In order to defeat the Quaggled
Mireclops, the player must attack its toes causing it to fall to the ground, then swarm its head with
the Pikmin. After wailing on its head for a while, the Quaggled Mireclops will extend its
tongue and attempt to eat the Pikmin, so the player must call their squad off
in a timely manner. Once destroying the crystal on its head, the Quaggled Mireclops will
become even more aggressive, rampaging around the board and using its body to crush anything
beneath it. This could cause Pikmin extinction in one fell swoop if the player isn't careful.
Because of its high defense and deadly offense, the Quaggled Mireclops proves to be one of
the strongest foes in the Pikmin trilogy. The first final boss on our list, the Plasm Wraith
from Pikmin 3 morphs into our next spot. One of the strangest enemies in all of Pikmin, and that
alone is saying something, the Plasm Wraith also proves to be one of the most challenging. Being
comprised of cellular protoplasmic mass, the Plasm Wraith can only be defeated by splitting its mass
from its core. It initially only has one attack, which is stabbing at Pikmin rapidly with its
needle arms. While it may not sound like much, the Plasm Wraith can stab up to twenty Pikmin in short
succession with this move. Later on in the fight, the Plasm Wraith will release Elemental Plasms
which create hazards that can only be destroyed by a specific type of Pikmin. If the player fails
to destroy these hazards, the Plasm Wraith will absorb them back into its body and regenerate
health. With so many moving pieces and a high offensive attack, the Plasm Wraith definitely
ranks among the harder bosses in the series. The Bronze Medal of Power is awarded
to the final boss of Pikmin 2, the Titan Dweevil. Much like the Plasm Wraith, the
Titan Dweevil uses elemental hazards to attack the player and their Pikmin. These come in the form
of four weapons which the Titan Dweevil also uses to protect its body from Pikmin attacks. These
weapons are the Flare Cannon, the Comedy Bomb, the Shock Therapist and the Monster Pump. For this
first stage of the fight, the best strategy would be to use yellow Pikmin since the electricity
is an instant kill unlike the other hazards. Once the weapons are knocked off of the body,
they will fall to the ground and might get in the way of the Pikmin fighting the boss. Once
stripped of all its weapons, the Titan Dweevil has no counter attack and can basically be wailed
on until its defeat. Due to its high defense and skilled use of weaponry, the Titan Dweevil gets
the honor of being the hardest boss in Pikmin 2. The Silver Medal of Power goes to the Smoky Progg
from Pikmin 1. This is an optional boss which can only be fought on the first 15 days in The Distant
Spring. Depending on the player's skill level, that may be a good thing considering how deadly
this beast is. The Smoky Progg doesn't really attack so much as it... well, moves around.
Its body is surrounded by a poisonous gas which will instantly kill any Pikmin that come in
contact with it. Upon hatching from its egg, the Smoky Progg will make its way over to the landing
sight and uproot any Pikmin still in the ground. Olimar must defeat the Smoky Progg in order to
bring anything back to the landing site that day. The Smoky Progg has relatively high defense
and is undoubtedly the deadliest creature in the series. Upon its defeat, the Smoky Progg
leaves behind a pearl which produces 100 Pikmin, which may or may not make up for the ce highest
defense asualties in this battle. Its easy to lose your entire Pikmin army in this fight
very quickly if you're not extremely cautious. Finally, the Gold Medal of Power goes to
the final boss of Pikmin 1, Emperor Bulblax. Emperor Bulblax also appears as a boss in Pikmin
2 but is significantly weaker than it is in the first game where this emperor has the highest
defense out of any enemy in the Pikmin series. After clearing a path in The Final Trial area,
Olimar encounters the Emperor Bulblax buried in a large area of sand. Once it emerges, it will
chase the Pikmin down and lick them with its large tongue. This does give the player an opportunity
to stun the Emperor Bulblax as throwing a yellow Pikmin holding a bomb rock into its mouth will
cause damage. Once the Emperor Bulblax's health depletes by half, it will introduce a second
attack which involves jumping up high and smashing its body down on Olimar and his Pikmin.
Many Pikmin fans consider the Smoky Progg to be the harder enemy due to its deadly nature and
appearing earlier in the game when the player is less prepared for such a battle. However, due to
its extremely high defense and still very deadly offense, we personally believe the Emperor Bulblax
stands as the most powerful enemy in the series. That about does it for our
list but before we sign off, lets plant some honorary medals
to our cast of creatures! The Darwin Medal would have to go to Mamuta.
Considering this creature’s attack is more helpful than harmful to the Pikmin, we have
to wonder why it doesn’t change its strategy. The Wrath Medal is given to the Burrowing
Snagret. Considering its multiple appearances throughout the series, and even
appearing as an assist trophy in Smash Bros, its quite clear this strange
snake bird is out for revenge. The Gluttony Medal is a hard one, as so many
of the bosses in these games are out to eat the Pikmin. However, ultimately,
we will give it to Emperor Bulblax seeing how it visibly drools upon seeing
the Pikmin. We’re also giving the Emperor Bulblax the Pride Medal since it clearly is
prideful in being the biggest grub-dog around. The Sloth Medal is awarded to Goolix. This
enemy doesn’t really attack so much as it moves around and tries to consume the Pikmin. The Envy Medal goes to Scorenet Maestro. This
particular boss wishes it could command its army of one hundred Scorenets as well as Alph, Brittany
and Charlie command their one hundred Pikmin. The Greed Medal is given to the Titan Dweevil.
This beast loves treasure as much as the Giant Breadbug and will hold on to all that it can,
as well as Louie, in order to protect itself. The Lust Medal is awarded to Empress
Bulblax. This is due to how often she gives birth in her second boss fight. We’re
willing to bet this creature is not asexual. Let us know in the comment section if you agree
with our ranking, and tell us what we should cover next. Remember to hit that notification
bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist, where we break down the morality of the characters
in your favorite games. Thanks for watching!
