Emperor Bulblax

Pikipedia Notes
This beast usually hides in the ground to ambush prey, catching it with its long, sticky tongue. Its soft face is its only weak point to attack, but since it doesn't discriminate much when eating things, it can be led to swallow something a bit less tasteful than Pikmin.

Body Details
The Emperor Bulblax's nose is like a stub that is close to a dog's nose. Its back has green moss and plants on its back with some glowcap-looking things. It always squints its eyes and can bury itsself underground with only its squinting eyes being shown.

Olimar's Notes
The largest member of the grub-dog family is normally found buried in the ground, with only the stalks of its eyes exposed. This camouflage allows the predator to surprise smaller creatures and use its long, adhesive tongue to capture prey. The thick hide and angular hump give the organism a distinct rocklike quality. During the rainy season, moss grows freely on its hump, making it nearly impossible to distinguish this lethal predator from a stone.

Pikmin 1 Notes
The Emperor Bulblax is the final boss in Pikmin 1. It lies buried in the ground at The Final Trial, visible only by the mossy growth on its back protruding from the ground. When approached, the Bulblax will rear up and roar, knocking Olimar and the Pikmin back, and will then proceed to attack. His attacks are different depending on his "mood". This mood is initially characterized by salivation: he will attack by using his tongue, gobbling up any Pikmin in front of him, even as many as all 100 if the player is careless. After taking damage, this phase will end, and Bulblax will use his jump attack. As defeating him when he is doing this is very difficult, you should pay attention to his mood. If you evade several of his jumps, he will go back to his eating mood. It is possible to identify the jumping mood beforehand, as the creature drools far less during the phase.

The best strategy to beating him is to have Yellows grab any nearby bomb-rocks, toss the Pikmin in front of him, and either allow them to throw the bomb-rocks at him or call them back so that they drop them in his path just before he attacks with his tongue (this does not apply in the New Play Control); alternatively, the Bulblax may be allowed to eat the Pikmin while they are holding the bombs, although this is not an option for players attempting zero-death runs and is just generally not recommended for Players wishing to conserve Pikmin. Pikmin can also be thrown into his mouth while he is preparing to stick out his tongue and still give a stun-effect. Once the bomb-rocks explode, they will stun the Bulblax (the more bomb-rocks, the longer the stun), providing a good time to toss as many Reds as possible onto his face. Doing this repeatedly will have him beaten easily.


 * It is also possible to beat the Bulblax by throwing Pikmin onto its cheeks when it is distracted. It is more risky than using bomb-rocks but much more simple and probably the only option for people trying to do a zero-death run.

Once defeated, the Emperor Bulblax will go into a particularly long death animation, where it writhes around and appears to be sucked underground, leaving behind the Secret Safe and four randomly coloured 5-Pellets behind (which are then obsolete, since there is nothing left to kill-it is possible that they were intended to up the player's score or help a player who has managed to lose so many pikmin to the Bulblax that they are unable to retrieve the part.)

It's usually a good idea to devote a single day to removing obstacles and clearing the path, and then deal with the Bulblax the following day, since the battle itself can often be time-consuming. The Bulblax must be defeated in a single day, since any damage done on one day will not carry over, and if the day is ended before it is killed, then it will be at full health the next day. However, experienced players can cover all the Final Trial in a single day.

Pikmin 2 Notes
In Pikmin 2, these beasts are much weaker, most likely due to their diminished size. They are found only underground, unlike in the first game, with only their eyes exposed as a form of camouflage, but emerge in the same manner. They still eat bomb-rocks, but must be coaxed into doing so instead, seeing as Yellow Pikmin no longer have the ability to handle those explosive objects. All other abilities are retained, except that their jump height is greatly reduced and they cannot lick their own faces. The hide is not very mossy, but the backside of the beast is still green and slimy, as well as invulnerable. This could mean that the Pikmin 2 versions may just be younger than the one in Pikmin 1.

Where bomb-rocks are available, making it eat them is the safest strategy, but can be time-consuming. Some of the game's Emperor Bulblaxes, once reduced to half health, roar, which has several effects: it causes your Pikmin to panic, summons another Bulblax to the fight if there is one in the area, and may bring Mitites burrowing out of the ground. By far the quickest method of defeat is using Purple Pikmin: simply throw them at the eyes, not whistling them, and the beast will die before it can retaliate. Only 10 are required for this quick and easy kill. If the Bulblax has already emerged, you can wait until it retreats back into its state of camouflage, or just throw purples at it then, being sure that they hit the ground or the beast with an impact, stunning it and dealing massive damage. When it dies, the Bulblax spins around and roars, whipping gobs of saliva everywhere until it shrinks down to about half its original size for easier carrying.

This creature is found on the last Sublevel (7) of the Bulblax Kingdom, where the only larger specimen is; two are found on Sublevel 4 of the Cavern of Chaos and Sublevel 10 of the Hole of Heroes; and three are in the Emperor's Realm in Challenge Mode.

Reel Notes
This massive grub-dog buries itself when hunting.

Louie's Notes
To prep the tongue for cooking, marinate in olive oil and chop into cubes. Stir in a pot with carrots, potatoes, and chives, cover, and simmer over low heat for several hours. Accompany this mouthwatering, rustic stew with a hearty roll.