Topic: Pikmin 3 Ending *SPOILERS* (obviously)

So if you have beaten Pikmin 3, (most likely you have if you are on this forum) you would know that the final boss is the Plasm Wraith. Now you might just think it's a reference to the scariest boss in Pikmin 2, the Water Wraith, but there is actually more meaning than that. It is a reference to the Umibouzu, a Japanese monster. The Umibouzu captures ships, kills it's captain, and steals the ship's treasures. In fact the Water Wraith's name in Japan is Umibouzu. You might be thinking, "that's neat!" but wait there's more. There are theories that the three are connected. Yes three, the Water Wraith, the Plasm Wraith, and Goolix, a secret boss from the original Pikmin. Now what do we know the Umibouzu to do? Crash ships, kill captains, and steal treasures, well they all do just that. The Water Wraith tries to kill the Captains, the Plasm Wraith takes Olimar as it's treasure, and Goolix crashes the ship. "Goolix doesn't crash the Dolphin!" think again. One of Goolix's nuclei looks just like the meteor that crashed the Dolphin at the beginning of Pikmin 1. Is it possible that Goolix was created from the asteroid, or summoned the asteroid? What if Goolix is the Water, and Plasm Wraith? Not only do they look like evolved forms out of Pokemon, but the Plasm Wraith's Mysterious life form form looks just like Goolix. Think about it and discuss your blown minds.

I was thinking of Goolix as I was running away from the Plasm Wraith. I was wondering "they look awfully similar... could this be Goolix's revenge?" Nintendo is always full of mysteries, who knows? Maybe Miyamoto will explain with the secret memos.

When you finish the game, I think only at 100%, the ending text says something like "Maybe it wasn't a crash landing after all?", and if you Talked (-) in the SS Drake, Alph would sometimes say something like: "I'm sure I didn't screw up our first landing, I have a feeling something dragged us down here."

I don't know if Miyamoto will explain, but I think it's up to the community to do their own analysis and come to their own conclusions. Looks like this is a job for Game Theory on YouTube!

^^ This.

Skip to 7:22.

Cool video, definitely supports the theory! So any ideas on the crash seen at the end of the game? Do you think all 5 explorers crashed again, and the Umibouzu is in full revenge mode? Maybe Pikmin 4 will be out not too long from now in a couple years, and it will be a final battle with the Umibouzu's true form! That would be so cool!

I don't think they are all the same being, but they are clearly related on some level. They're the only humanoid creatures in the games aside from the pikmin themselves. I also think that Mamuta and Smoky Progg are related to them in some way as well.

As soon as I saw the crash at the very end, I said, "Already setting up for Pikmin 4 huh?"

its wierd how the smoky progg is a malformed larval mamuta

....So basically this blob thing just wants a friend then? lol
(just beat the game, now I got to 100% it at some point. )

But yeah Goolix and Water did come to my mind during the first "phase". (going through that maze thing with it chasing you)
But yeah, looked like it just wanted some friends, then got mad at the end. xD

Well, don't know if anyone is still reading this topic, but after reading the theories I thought I'd chime in, as I have a very different theory about all the mysteries (gonna be rather long), and many to add as well. First off, there were two sensations that were prevalent in my mind from just playing and completing the game. The first was "this feels like a Pikmin reboot in a way", and the second, after finishing, was "was that really all?" this I felt even before seeing the object fall to the planet in the credits. It's also rather odd to me that the Umibouzu is taking so much attention. I agree that they've made it odd and interesting on purpose (not to mention manifesting creatures that weren't really there, before fighting it itself) but there's so much more. One more thing, we all need to remember that we're dealing with Miyamoto here, and he's not exactly well known for connecting story lines. I think the second trip back to the planet in Pikmin 2 was almost entirely ignored, because: A. Olimar claims this to be his third trip to the planet, not the fourth. B. The S.S. Dolphin is not only not golden, but is back to its original color. C. There would have been no need to pay off more debt with all the money from those second-trip treasures as cush against further debt (at least not so soon). Now without further ado, I will present my theory in a series of questions in reverse order, of course some will already have been asked:
1. Why, after rescuing Louie and then Olimar, do there portraits appear next to the Kopaites "as if" they are additional playable characters, yet you don't play as them in Story Mode? Remember also that, originally, four Pikmin captains, not three, were planned for the game.
2. Why is the question of the reason for the Drake's crash left completely unanswered?
3. What was the object coming onto the Pikmin planet at the end? All five coming back (yes I think Louie went back with them, he was tied up)? Olimar looking for more treasure? Someone new?
4. Why did Olimar not fret at all at the end about having basically failed his mission?
5. Why did the Drake crash? They were coming to the planet anyway. It's not like they needed to be forced.
Now for some more interesting questions:
6. Why is there collectable gold clumps in mission mode? It's exactly what Olimar would have wanted, yet it does not appear in the Story Mode. Why bother programming it into the game without using it in the plot?
7. Why are Olimar and Louie playable in Bingo Battle? Why bother programming both characters (Olimar with new voice acting to boot)?
8. Finally, why is "V1.1.0" so visible at the title screen at the bottom right hand corner?
See what I'm getting at? That's why I put the questions in reverse. I wonder if Nintendo purposefully released the game in a state you might call "incomplete" or "with the skeleton programming for more" on purpose. I think they're planning on a downloadable expansion! It's been done already, Super Luigi Bros U for Super Mario Bros U. Whilst I have few doubts about Pikmin 4 someday, I see this as a very real possability! Thoughts?

1. ...what??
2. I'm guessing that it was the power of the Plasm Wraith that threw Drake off-course. It's hard to tell if he got hit by a meteor or not in the beginning cutscene
3. It looked like a meteor, which play important roles in the first two games
4. Maybe he was just glad to be alive?
5. Isn't this almost the same as #2?
6. It's just another mechanic added to mission mode to make it more interesting and force the player to think about their strategy more. It's not in story mode because the explorers are searching for food...so a pile of gold would be irrelevant. Who knows, Olimar COULD have come across these on his own adventure. There is no way for us to know.
7. The developers obviously did not want to create two new characters JUST for bingo battle, where players would know absolutely nothing about them, so I suppose they wanted to put in characters that the players could already identify with
8. That's the version number of game. It will increase next time there is an update.

Miyamoto said that Pikmin 3 DLC is possible. The end of story mode sort of suggests that Pikmin 4 is possible, but we probably won't know for a long time.

I don't want to get into a huge debate about each individual question, that was not my point, but I'll clarify a few that you answered. Number 2 is not about the crash itself, but the question the game itself presents. Remember in Pikmin 2, when Louie presents the lame excuse that "Space-Rabbits" ate the shipment? Players may have questioned that, and, oh there it is! When you collect everything, you get the real answer: Louie ate it! So this question is to bring out the fact that the mystery, presented so overtly, has as of yet been left only as a question (Not even dealt with in Olimar's secret memos). It's quite unusual behavior for such a game. Question 7, they could have much more easily put Brittany on player 2 and the second optional captain as a different colored Charlie, perhaps. It is extra effort to put Olimar and Louie in there, they can't just transfer them from Pikmin 2. On 8, sorry I should have clarified at first, I know very well what a version number is and means, my original point was that it is rather overt comparatively with other games. Finally on 6, actually you're understating your case. The fact is that the gold clumps existed before almost anything else two E3s ago, when the first playable portions of the game were made available to fans. What I find odd is that they were left there. It would have been just as easy to put grapes in there. Would have kept the same mechanic, and made more sense with the primary plot of the game.

I did not present these questions because I thought them unassailable (for that matter might as well think that the video posted earlier is also unassailable. But some questions are obvious, such as "Why did the Emporer Bulblax just sink into the sand at the end of Pikmin 1?". Easy, Pikmin the first did not have the processing power for the Pikmin to carry that huge Bulblax corpse to an Onion, let alone most of the other boss creatures. It's only now in Pikmin 3 that it's got that ability). I've presented these questions in an attempt to share my sensation that more may be intended with this game, and that we're perhaps not going to have to wait for Pikmin 4 for some or all the questions to receive an explanation. It's good to hear that Miyamoto did talk about DLC, I guess now I'll have to see if it's just a nice doodad, or a large addition.

They did go back into debt again. Which is why Olimar isn't very happy with the president, and Louie for that metter since he seems to be doing most of the work. The Wraith absorbed the gold off the S.S. Dolphin and became gold. it did this to attract Olimar.

Yep. Olimar mentions in a data log (I think) that the president went into a new business venture (which isn't described in detail) and unsurprisingly lost all the money again.

And the Plasm Wraith being the cause of the crash is very likely. Using the Check In feature at the world map (Talk in PAL versions) during the very beginning of the game reveals that Alph felt a strange force pulling on the ship during the landing sequence.

New vid

But it was crashed at the Quaggled Mireclops, which is why Louie knew where to go when he escaped. :3