What is a Pikmin?

Explores whether Pikmin are plants, animals, or something entirely different, promising a scientific investigation into their true nature.

Game Theory returns after 14 years without covering the beloved Nintendo franchise Pikmin, a real-time strategy game where players control an army of cute plant-like creatures.

While Pikmin seem to be plants based on their appearance with flowers on their heads, their behavior suggests they have animal-like qualities such as walking and communicating.

The video aims to definitively determine what Pikmin actually are by examining scientific evidence and game documentation.

Pikmin have flowers on their heads, which immediately suggests a plant classification based on appearance alone.

• Blue Pikmin have tiny holes on their skin called stomata that allow them to breathe on land, the same structures found in real plants • Pikmin have pigments in their skin that perform a photosynthetic-like process, using carbon dioxide and light to make their own food

The combination of flower appearance, stomata for respiration, and photosynthetic ability provides strong botanical evidence for plant classification.

Based on these characteristics alone, Pikmin would appear to be plants.

Pikmin can walk and move around to find food or shelter, a defining characteristic of animals that plants cannot do since they make their own food through photosynthesis.

• Blue Pikmin evolved mouth-like structures on their faces that function as gills, similar to fish • Winged Pikmin have actual wings for flight • When electrocuted in Pikmin 2, Pikmin show a visible skeletal system beneath their skin

In every mainline game, Pikmin actively eat nectar, a sugary substance, and immediately become stronger and faster afterward, demonstrating the animal need to consume energy from food.

The evidence for animals is equally strong or stronger than plant evidence, creating a fundamental contradiction since photosynthesis and eating are mutually exclusive adaptations.

Plants and animals shared a common ancestor approximately 1.6 billion years ago, and even today some species have evolved traits typically associated with the other kingdom.

• Venus fly traps evolved the ability to eat insects for nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients while still gaining most energy through photosynthesis • Alysia chlorotica sea slugs are animals that feed on photosynthetic algae and steal chloroplasts from them, using photosynthesis themselves and surviving up to 9 months without eating

Given enough evolutionary time, Pikmin could be either plants that developed animal abilities like walking and eating, or animals that acquired photosynthesis and flower growth.

Pikmin occupy an extreme middle ground that seems impossible, possessing traits from both kingdoms simultaneously.

The Pikmin games take place on a planet called PNF 404, which is heavily implied to be Earth based on Earthlike fruits, brand name products like Juracell and Seven Up, and a familiar large pale moon.

• The world map in Pikmin 3 shows South America rotated sideways, Australia and Antarctica smooshed together, and Antarctica colored green • This matches exactly what scientists predict Earth's continents will look like 250 million years in the future, a configuration called Pangaia Proxima

PNF 404 is Earth approximately 250 million years in the future, perhaps after humanity has wiped itself out, allowing bizarre new creatures to evolve over that vast timescale.

Over 250 million years without human interference, all sorts of wacky creatures and mutations could develop, making Pikmin's hybrid nature plausible.

Captain Olimar's scientific notes state that Pikmin bodies originally evolved from plant roots that developed structures analogous to muscles and neural networks similar to brains over centuries or millennia.

The accepted theory is that Pikmin evolved from terrestrial root vegetables, confirming they are plants that have evolved animal-like features over evolutionary history.

This official classification aligns with the combination of plant and animal characteristics observed, providing an authoritative explanation for their hybrid nature.

To understand Pikmin fully, determining what specific root vegetable they evolved from becomes the next investigative priority.

• Pikmin bodies look remarkably similar to carrots in shape and appearance • Captain Olimar named the creatures Pikmin after realizing they resembled Pikpic carrots from his home planet

Carrots produce white flowers with five petals that look almost identical to Pikmin flowers, though carrot flowers are normally tiny and not commonly seen.

Carrots are biennial plants with a 2-year cycle where they focus on root and leaf growth in year one, then bloom in year two, mirroring Pikmin's progression from leaves to buds to flowers.

Over 250 million years, carrots could have evolved the abilities to walk, talk, and move, making them perfect progenitors for modern Pikmin.

Rock and ice Pikmin have bodies made of stone with no plant-like traits, yet they are classified as true Pikmin species, creating a contradiction with the carrot evolution theory.

Rock and ice Pikmin are part of a parasitic subset called hermit Pikmin, similar to hermit crabs, suggesting parasitism plays a role in Pikmin evolution and diversity.

• Filianche Acyptia is a parasitic plant that infects carrots and other crops by attaching to roots and absorbing nutrients • This parasite affects gene expression in carrots, particularly carotenoid genes responsible for orange color, potentially explaining Pikmin color variations • The parasite causes stunted growth in its hosts, possibly explaining why Pikmin are so tiny

A parasitic plant infecting carrots over 250 million years could have transformed them into the Pikmin, with the parasite creating their unique dual nature.

The Onion is confirmed in the game to be a living thing, serving as the Pikmin's home, nest, and birthplace, though it is not classified as a Pikmin itself.

• If non-Pikmin creatures fall into the Onion, they are transformed into Pikmin or leaflings with leaves growing from their heads • In Pikmin 4, people transformed into leaflings have their bodies injected with Pikmin DNA and become completely unrecognizable

Transformed leaflings behave strangely, becoming obsessed with bringing more creatures to the Onion to support its mission, suggesting the Onion controls their behavior like a parasite.

The Onion is the true parasite that evolved from an organism infecting carrots, slowly transforming them into Pikmin while creating a parasitic relationship where Pikmin are dedicated to and dependent on the Onion for survival.

Pikmin are evolved carrots that were transformed over 250 million years by parasitic infection from the Onion, creating creatures both plant and animal in nature.

• Pikmin follow orders and bring food, batteries, and materials back to the Onion • They collect raw materials to create more Pikmin under the Onion's control • The Onion learned to create Pikmin even from non-living materials like rock and ice

The Onion's parasitic control and ability to create new minions from any material means nothing is safe from becoming Pikmin, with no intelligent being able to resist its influence.

A humorous warning about the Onion's potential anger over the countless Pikmin drowned throughout the games, concluding with the signature Game Theory tagline.