Pikmin are a plant-animal life-form first encountered by Captain Olimar when his ship crash-lands on an uncharted planet in Pikmin. The Pikmin are loyal to their leaders, although their criteria for deciding a leader is unclear. They come in a number of different types, each indicating a unique set of attributes that better suit them to different environments and tasks. Most Pikmin are 1.2 cm, from the top of the head to the feet, and have a vaguely humanoid shape, allowing them to walk, run, carry, and fight. Different types can have different shapes or sizes. Atop any Pikmin's head is a stem, topped with a leaf, bud, or flower, depending on their maturity.
Captain Olimar was noted in Pikmin to wonder, a bit uneasily, why the Pikmin don't attack him, and he speculated that they might see him as a "parental figure". However, the Antenna Beetle being able to control Pikmin with its sound might prove that it is in fact the whistle that makes Pikmin non-aggressive.
Biology
Although each species have different characteristics, most Pikmin have the same general appearance: a roughly humanoid body shape, two round eyes, two arms and two legs, two hands and two feet – each with three digits – and a tall stem on which a single leaf, bud, or five-petaled flower grows. Their limbs also serve as roots when buried in the ground. In fact, Olimar refers to their entire bodies, save the stems, as ambulatory root structures.
The internal structures of Pikmin are a mystery, but certain things about them can be speculated. Since Pikmin never seem to eat anything, save nectar, they probably have a very simple digestive system, if any. As such, it is likely that Pikmin get a majority of their nutrients from food the Onions break down. Since the Onions are the center of Pikmin reproduction as well, it seems likely that Pikmin are incapable of sexual reproduction. However, in Pikmin flowering Pikmin will sometimes drop seeds when slain in battle, suggesting that they may be able to reproduce asexually, but also that they do not have defined sexes and are hermaphrodites like many plants. Pikmin also have a skeletal system, as seen when electrocuted. These bones however are incredibly flexible to the point of allowing the Pikmin to act like rubber. Pikmin don't appear to have any sort of lungs (however, the Blue Pikmin are observed to have gill structures), but their leaves, buds, and flowers appear to serve as their main means of respiration, since poison gas or water droplets collecting around them suffocates the Pikmin; inversely, walking in shallow water in which their leaf/bud/flower does not touch (as seen in the Shower Room) is fine. When killed, Pikmin disappear and a ghost resembling the original Pikmin flies into the air, sometimes after releasing a liquid of the same color as the Pikmin, possibly the Pikmin equivalent to hemolymph or blood – this is best seen when the Cloaking Burrow-nit attacks.
Pikmin start off as seeds ejected from the Onion, which, after landing on the ground, transform into sprouts. A leader must pluck a sprout so that the Pikmin may come out or alternatively have the Pluckaphone whistle blown at them to "inspire" them. While idle, the Pikmin's leaves and flowers glow that Pikmin's respective color; that, coupled with a cutscene at the end of Pikmin 2, would suggest that Pikmin are somehow bioluminescent, though what causes this and what function(s) it might serve in the wild have never been explained.
Regular Pikmin are able to carry (at least) ten times their own weight, as evidenced by the ability of Blue Pikmin to lift and toss heavy Purple Pikmin when they are drowning in water, and have even been shown to lift entire nuggets of gold roughly the size of the Pikmin. Pikmin are also capable of basic speech and can even be heard saying English phrases like "OK!", "Hi!", and "Yahoo!" after being plucked from the ground. When in a group they will sometimes sing parts of Ai no Uta in Pikmin 2. If left idle for a long time, Pikmin will moan at each other. From what is heard, it can be assumed that Pikmin language is very simple and primitive.
Stages
Pikmin can be divided into three stages. In the first of these, the Pikmin will have a leaf on their stem, which changes to a bud and then a flower as the stage increases. Leaf Pikmin are the slowest and least efficient at performing tasks, but as the stage goes up the movement speed and task efficiency increases. Along with that, Pikmin think more efficiently in both combat and task when in a higher stage as they sprout into their flower state when thinking of more elaborate plans.
Pikmin can advance their current stage in several ways. The most common way is by being fed nectar. Alternatively, they may be left underground before being plucked, where they will gradually mature with time, or, in Pikmin 3, they can be sprayed. When knocked to the ground in battle in Pikmin and Pikmin 2, they have a chance of losing their maturity and decreasing in stage. They will never revert their current stage in Pikmin 3.
In Pikmin, if a flower Pikmin is shaken off, it will revert to a bud, and the bud will revert to a leaf in the same scenario. In Pikmin 2, however, flower Pikmin revert to leaf Pikmin immediately. Like flower Pikmin, buds can be received when leaf Pikmin are allowed to stay in the ground for a certain amount of time.
Statistics
Tier: At least 10-C, 10-A with Purple Pikmin, Higher with multiple of them attacking at once
Name: Pikmin (Name of species), Red Pikmin, Yellow Pikmin, Blue Pikmin, Purple Pikmin, White Pikmin, Rock Pikmin, Winged Pikmin etc. (Not all Pikmin types have been discovered as shown in the ending of Pikmin)
Durability: At least Below Average Human level+ (Puffmin can tank hits from Pikmin and Pikmin can tank hits from Puffmin), Athlete level for Purple Pikmin, Higher for Rock Pikmin (Unlike most pikmin, Rock Pikmin can survive getting crushed by bosses that attack by crushing pikmin, such as the Shaggy Long Legs)
Striking Strength: At least Below Average Human Class+, Athlete Class with Purple Pikmin Higher with multiple of them attacking at once
All previous abilities of Red, Blue, and Yellow Pikmin. Resistance to Mind Manipulation and Corruption (Type 3, is already mind controlled and corrupted)
Weaknesses: Aside from Bulbmin, every Pikmin either only resists one elemental type or none of them. Purples and Rocks resist no elemental types, and any Pikmin that's not a blue pikmin or Winged Pikmin can drown. Though if a Winged Pikmin does get caught off guard they can fall in the water and proceed to drown themselves. However this weakness can be avoided with the help of Blue Pikmin throwing them out of the water
Gallery
The three types of Pikmin from Pikmin.
Artwork of Olimar and his army of Pikmin.
Another artwork of Olimar and his Pikmin.
Artwork of Captain Olimar and a few Pikmin. The message reads "Nice to meet you!"
