For me, Pikmin has always been a child’s gateway into biology and science. You can see this in the guise of Captain Olimar’s journals studying the wildlife of the vibrant Planet of PNF-404. Ergo, science can be found even in the subtlest storytelling in the franchise. Pikmin has been around since 2001, so–did the Pikmin become more intelligent over time?

Now, the Pikmin themselves have altered their physical forms in a variety of ways in regard to how many subtypes there are now. What we’re exploring is something that the game rarely does go over, and it’s how you see them slowly becoming smarter–not just with tool usage, like how we determine societal progress, but even in their movements and how they’ve adapted to following orders and movements in large groups.

This can all be seen as quality-of-life improvements to the game, but I feel such things were done with a purpose in mind: to show progression of intelligence in these creatures across the franchise.

For those that played during the beginning, you know the struggle when it came with bossing the Pikmin 1‘s Pikmin around. They often were clumsy, they couldn’t really keep up with Olimar, and the most annoying was that the ones at the edges of the groups would constantly fall of slopes and ledges. However, they weren’t hopeless. They knew how to break walls, pick up items for the ships, and could take bundled sticks and make bridges out of them. The starting trek of their micro-society knowing basic construction and tool usage.

In Pikmin 2, they are noticably better at organizing. They introduced forming “lines” with the C-stick on the control in order to have better group control. They are now carrying smaller stuff for practical uses such as bombs. They seem to evolve alongside following the orders of the leader and have become more efficient by bloom status so that the leader gets the best Pikmin to throw first.

They continue to become cleverer in Pikmin 3. They are now able to form bridges from other materials, such as clay pieces from a plant pot and what I imagine was pool tile. Pikmin can construct things from scrap, and of course, the new types such as the Fairy Pikmin provide more versatility.

Finally, some of their biggest feats of intelligence arrive in Pikmin 4. We see not only more smaller tool usage like the flaming pinecone but also symbiotic harmony. The technique to cling to and ride Oatchi saves the player time and energy when traveling. Combat continues to diversify–such learning to charge at enemies in large numbers. Pikmin also understand cohesion during nighttime with multiple commanding personnel, and they even learn to transform multiple people into Pikmin’s themselves as means to help lead them when no other foreign entities are around to guide them. And no doubt they are learning through their minds the concept of “Dandori” in Pikmin 4 to help better organize.

From tool usage, rudimentary construction, to better group organization and battle tactics, Pikmin might even evolve to a point where they don’t need Hocotatians or the other alien species that explore PNF-404 to guide them, should the series continue. In the end, if it weren’t for them, the Pikmin wouldn’t have gotten as far as they are now.

What do you think? Did Pikmin become as intelligent as they are diverse? Is there more to this theory than in canon? Let us know in the comments on where you think this theory goes.

Pow Block Podcast – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush

Nintendo Pow Block is the weekly Nintendo Podcast for Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Edward Varnell and Corey Dirrig, as well as their friends from around the internet dive into the week that was in the world of Nintendo, including news, rumors, new games, discuss weekly pickups, and fan favorite segments like Question Block where they answer community questions, what they’ve been playing in Playing with Power, and their latest food quests in Snacktendo! New episodes every Monday on YouTube and podcast services.

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