#olimar's voyage log

[dingusbalingus]

Olimar's Voyage Log: Day 1

My name is Captain Olimar.

While traveling through space on an interstellar vacation, my ship was struck by a meteor. The collision had knocked me out, but when I awoke I found myself on the surface of a strange planet. Though I appear to have been mostly unscathed from the impact, the same cannot be said for my ship, the S.S. Dolphin. My diagnostics indicated the Dolphin had lost 30 of its most critical parts across this planet's surface upon entry into the atmosphere. To put it simply, I've been stranded here.

To make matters worse, my atmospheric sensors indicate this planet's environment contains high levels of poisonous oxygen. The life-support systems in my suit are able to keep me alive for now, but without a means to recharge them they won't last for much longer than a month. If I can't repair the Dolphin by then....

....There is hope in this dire situation, however. Shortly after I came to, I discovered a curious bulb dormant in the ground. When I approached it, the thing shot up from the ground as if it were waiting for me, and firmly planted long, slender struts into the soil below. Though I haven't a clue as to what this object even is, whether its alive or simply a machine, it resembles a vegetable on my home planet of Hocotate that we call an onion, thus I've taken to calling it an Onion, as well.

After this discovery, a second discovery immediately presented itself. The Onion had sputtered a seed shortly after its awakening. This seed took root in the soil and, after a brief moment in time, rapidly grew into a developed sprout. This sprout emitted a soft glow, and it swayed back and forth without benefit of wind. I don't know what exactly, some instinct or gut feeling, but something compelled me to uproot the plant from the soil. And when I did, I discovered something most extraordinary....

....what came out of the soil was a living creature, not a plant. It sported a leaf on its head supported by a long stem, and featured a pointed proboscis at the end of its face. The shape of this creature resembles the Pikpik brand carrots on my home planet that I adore, so like the Onion before it I've taken to calling this creature a Pikmin.

Despite my harrowing circumstances, I could not help but be intrigued by this Pikmin... It stared at me longingly, as if awaiting my beck and call. I quickly surmised a few key things about these Pikmin. The Onion seems to act as an incubator for Pikmin seeds. A local variety of flower near our location yielded a nutrient-rich pellet, in which the Pikmin seemed to instinctively know to harvest by the Onion. This is how the Pikmin reproduce; soon enough, I found myself with a small army of Pikmin under my command. The Pikmin seem to have a natural inclination toward cooperation, they form groups to perform tasks that would be impossible for an individual. Using their skills, I was even able to retrieve the Main Engine, the single most important part of my damaged craft. It was a stroke of pure luck I even found it nearby.

Nightfall on a foreign planet frightens me a bit, so I decided that the safest thing for me was to head for the sky. Though I obviously did not expect escape from this planet to be feasible at this point in time, I can at least hover in low orbit above the planet's surface. What I did not expect, however, was the Pikmin to follow suit. The Pikmin's Onion miraculously followed me into the stars. Perhaps the Pikmin cannot survive overnight on the surface, or maybe they've decided to join me for other reasons. Regardless, It seems they will help me again, tomorrow.

A dense forest is visible on the surface below. As it holds the keys to my survival, I name it the Forest of Hope. I explore it tomorrow.

[weky-woof]

placing this from my twitter here because like! i see people say that pik4 is a retcon or that Olimar and Louie's stuff was reconned out, and because i hadn't finished the game i was just say there like "oh, probably there's some inconsistency in the story or a character, that's why people believe it" and as i kept playing i realized that... not really? the bad ending of pik1 happens canonically in pik4, Oli becomes a leafling after not making it.

some things Do change, like him not managing to take off and sending a distress signal and a lot of people coming to PNF-404 for various reasons, mostly out of self interest and also end up stranded, but you could attribute that to it just being part of this timeline. his progression in pik1 is purely dependent on the player and the way they play the game either way!

like this also doesn't mean that pik4 isn't canon, both the good timeline of the previous games AND this one are canon - pik4 is a "what if" scenario

[themoonlightphoenix]

Year 17 after obtaining Pikmin for Nintendo Gamecube

I have finally finished the game with 30/30 ship parts and 1 day left to spare. I shall honour those brave soldiers, and that one beautiful fearless idiot that walked directly into the mouth of a Bulborb, in my prayers. However, I must now begin an even harder, more frightening journey: trying to find a game on a retro console for a reasonable price. How things have changed since I first purchased Pikmin. If necessary, I could purchase Pikmin 2 for Nintendo Switch, but I do not wish to give up on my beloved Gamecube so easily.

[k1ttygam3r]

really getting into the pikmin groove and playing the first 2 games for the first time after 4 really put into perspective for me just how fucking awful olimar has it

[dragonkeeper19600]

I think we all know exactly where Louie’s priorities are.

[giulianatheordianycatgirl]

Both of them have something in common so I drew this

[hana-bobo-finch]

I adore olimar’s dynamic with louie in 4……..like he prob only knew louie for like 2 months at work but he’s like. He is my SON please treat him with KINDNESS and COMPASSION. Like “can you forgive him please” “he’s just trying to copy me he doesn’t know what he’s doing is wrong” “thank goodness he’s okay” “He’s not a bad guy he’s just louie.” And he makes the effort to try to talk to him and understand him and louie mentioned in his voyage log that olimar would tell him stories and he never got mad at him when he messed up (+ Olimar told louie that he wouldn’t get mad if he was honest with him which kinda implies people would get angry with louie a lot except for Olimar) and just snijsnjiosniojsnjisoabhuibuhiwojinniji am gonna sob. We do not deserve Olimar

[kashi-pon]

Olimar's voyage logs are so sad.

[saccharinescorpion]

the writing of Pikmin 4 is very interesting to me. the plot is extremely straightforward and simple, but there’s a surprising amount of side chatter (i’ve played over 50 in-game days so far and i think i’ve only gotten a single repeat of the-end-of-day dialogue between the crew). more than that though, there’s a lot of in-universe writing. there’s the Rescue Journal, which ostensibly is supposed to be a How To Play guide, but also includes Captain Shepherd’s diary which gives some surpririsng depth to a character that’s mostly comic relief. similarly Olimar has his voyage log, which from a gameplay point of view are meant as a guide for the player to how to approach certain areas and obstacles but also details his melancholy recollections of home

there’s also the in-game encyclopedias for monsters (the “Piklopedia”) and treasures (the Treasure Catalog), which have a description for every single entry, each written in the unique voice of their respective in-universe writers. but (spoilers) once Olimar is rescued he contributes his own entries to both encyclopedias, and an interesting dichotomy appears between the two. Olimar goes into a LOT of detail for his entries for the Piklopedia (which by the way already provided in-universe family names and scientific names for each creature) using a lot of real world biology terms the average layman probably wouldn’t know (notochord, protochordate, ambisexual, to name a few) and i can’t imagine the average 8-12 year old being familiar with. then when you move onto the Treasure Catalog a huge chunk of his notes are just him thinking about his wife and kids. it’s very cute, but there’s also a surprising amount of very mature musing-- stuff like thinking about getting older and the importance of self-care not for vanity’s sake but for the sake of your loved ones, thinking about how being ambitious in your career means exploiting those under you, thinking about the interactions between child and parent and how they change with age and perspective. thinking about fruit. thinking about his wife, son and daughter. a lot. it’s very, very cute

i know it’s trite to joke about how Pikmin, with its morbid premise and punishing gameplay, doesn’t seem like its for kids, but i really do wonder how kids react to it. can they understand the ruminating about responsibilty and adulthood? what do they think about all the melancholy and the bittersweetness? its hard for me to imagine children really connecting to something like that... but i think we underestimate children a lot. in any case, i’m glad they get the chance to play something this offbeat and thoughtful, and i’m glad i have the chance too! this weird somewhat sad atmosphere is one of things that has really endeared me to this game, and i’m glad i gave it a try

other than all of that, the character relationships are mostly pretty barebones. i did enjoy the minor subplot regarding Dingo the Rescue Corps ranger abandoning Bernard the pilot only for Bernard to return and slowly drive Dingo to madness via passive aggressive psychological warfare

[your-local-grubdog]

Pikmin 4: Heritage Theory

Warning for MAJOR Pikmin 4 spoilers, including: various end of day conversations, post-credit events, late game piklopedia and treasure hoard entries, and also the final boss.

As a sort of re-boot of the franchise, Pikmin 4 introduces a lot of new ideas to the series. Among them is the idea that the various alien species in the game are much more closely related than we first realized - and perhaps more connected to PNF-404 than we would have ever thought in the other three games. I wanted to go over the various texts in the game that touch on this idea and talk about them a little because, hoo boy, the IMPLICATIONS. I call it a theory in the title for a lack of better wording but it honestly just feels like a canon fact that's never directly stated. There's just that much evidence, much of which all but outright says what happened.

Apologies if the images are a little low quality, Tumblr crunched them up badly. I provide image descriptions so hopefully that makes up for it.

As this has many end game spoilers (which, final warning for those), I'm going to assume that anyone reading beyond this point knows the basics of the game's story, world, and characters. Thus I won't be explaining every last little thing.

Somewhat early on, Olimar makes the following observation in his Voyage Log:

[ALT ID: Olimar's Voyage Log, entry 60, "Lost Civilization": Some of the objects I call treasure seem to be more complex than they initially appear. It makes me wonder... who made these? And where are they? I don't sense their presence here at all, but I suppose they could be hiding in the shadows, secretly watching me. END ID]

This vaguely threatening entry does confirm that the characters, or at least Olimar, are aware that there was indeed a civilization on PNF-404 at some point. It should also be noted that the Japanese website includes notes from another character who is also aware of the ancient civilization, though the canonicity of it is debatable. I'll get back to that "they're in the shadows, watching" line in another post, as it presents its own can of worms. For now, what matters is that the characters are aware that this planet was once inhabited and Nintendo is drawing attention towards that.

Where this starts to get weird and interesting is with Olimar's Treasure Hoard entries on the Heroic Shield, Memory Fragment (Center Right), and Buddy Display. I can't show all of their text in just one screenshot and the pikipedia hasn't added every treasure note to the Pikmin 4 treasures as of writing, so I'll only be including the segments most related to this conversation.

[ALT ID 1: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Heroic Shield (segment): That would mean these living beings must have looked something like us... I wonder who they were and what their faces looked like. Could they have been our ancestors who migrated through space to our planet long ago? (the treasure is a pin showing the helmet of a human-style spacesuit) END ID 1]

[ALT ID 2: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Memory Fragment (Center Right) (segment): I'm amazed that such a similar species could exist in the far reaches of outer space. I've heard that organic components can travel through space on meteorites and comets. Could there be a connection between my planet and this one? (treasure is of a puzzle piece with part of a dog's face on it) END ID 2]

[ALT ID 3: Treasure Hoard, Olimar's Notes, Buddy Display (segment): I can't find any evidence of them in any of the existing creature databases. But there's something familiar about them. It's almost as if I've met them before... I guess I'll chalk it up to an ancient memory that's been imprinted on my genome. (treasure is a photograph of two earth dogs) END ID 3]

There is so much to unpack here alone. Olimar straight up theorizes that there may be a connection between PNF-404 and Hocotate, even going to far as to propose if maybe the people of PNF-404 (or at least the people who made the Heroic Shield) may be his ancient ancestors. He does also theorize that a meteorite may have carried "organic components", which is technically possible, but I'm not sure how that would occur in a way that carries said components from one non-destroyed planet to another and leading to creatures evolving in eerily similar ways. Honestly, I'll chalk that one up to an early theory of his, a red herring on Nintendo's part, and thus not something to think about too much. Especially sense, in the Buddy Display, he considers his ability to somewhat recognize Earth dogs as an "ancient memory... imprinted on my genome". While I'm not sure of the science behind such a claim, we also have to take this from a story telling perspective - which is that Nintendo is all but screaming "there is a connection here". Not just in relation to the aliens and the planets, but also in relation to the dogs.

Speaking of the dogs, Olimar's notes on the final boss of the game presents yet more evidence to a connection - this time focusing more on the connection between Earth dogs and space dogs.

[ALT ID 1: Piklopedia, Olimar's notes, Ancient Sirehound (segment): These results would indicate that 99.9 percent of the canine creature's DNA matches Oatchi's, and that the only difference between Oatchi and Moss may be the natural presence or absence of a leaf tail. END ID 1]

[ALT IDs 2 and 3, as one naturally leads into the other: Piklopedia, Olimar's notes, Ancient Sirehound (segment): If these two theories prove to be true, it would suggest the possibility that this ancient creature is a common ancestor to two canine species from vastly remote star systems. And that, perhaps, there are even more hidden secrets out there that could hint at a fascinating yet inconceivable truth the universe has yet to reveal... END IDs 2 AND 3]

I'm not sure what else to say here; the evidence speaks for itself. The Ancient Sirehound and Moss - both from PNF-404 - closely match the genetics of Oatchi, who is from an entirely different part of the universe. For the Sirehound to be genetically related to Oatchi, then members of the Sirehound's species would have had to leave PNF-404 and migrate to other planets. Their care takers - humans - would have had to go with them.

I also find it worth pointing out that the Sirehound's arena is filled with various human items, such as shoes and toys. It's honestly a little haunting to find them so deep in a dark cave, unused by humans for who knows how long. The ruined toys in particular really get to me. We don't know how old the Ancient Sirehound in particular is, but the idea that humans once hid in this cave from something or that their dog brought the items here for comfort is really depressing.

[ALT IDs: various hard-to-see images of the human items in question, including: pillows, pipes. gardening tools, a fork, adult sized shoes, baby sized shoes, various children's toys, and other objects I couldn't quite make out. All of them are either partly submerged in water or at the very edge of water, leaving them covered in mud. END IDs]

I think by now it's safe to say that, yes, humans left Earth with their dogs at some point in time. Yet there are still MORE pieces of evidence to suggest this idea, this time coming from Shepherd's family history. Because we really needed to be beat over the head with evidence, I suppose. All are presented in numerical order as shown in-game.

[ALT ID 1: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 1: Thanks to the technology that has come from space exploration, our lives have grown much easier and far safer, and on-planet rescue requests have decreased dramatically. But as migration into space continues to grow, our services continue to be needed. So I'm happy to announce we are extending our rescue services to the frontiers of space! Signed, Paniya Shepherd, 82nd Captain. END ID 1]

[ALT ID 2: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 2: We've done it at last! We have flown to space! Out in this great, limitless expanse, not a sound can be heard. And yet, I can still clearly hear the pounding of my own heartbeat. Space--how it overflows with possibilities! There can be no doubt. This is one giant leap forward for our kind. Signed, Ed Shepherd, 65th Captain. END ID 2]

[ALT ID 3: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 6: The Shepherd family has lived with dogs from the very beginning. We understand that if we love and respect these creatures as we do our own--if we pay attention and observe their behavior closely--then we can break down the walls between our species and truly understand one another. Signed, Kain Shepherd, 16th Captain. END ID 3]

[ALT ID 4: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 7: "Beyond the sky itself there lies a beautiful blue planet." Those words have been passed down from captain to captain, calling to each of us. I can't imagine what sort of place this blue planet might be, but it's said to be home to even more dogs and folks that we have here. One day, I hope to fly beyond the sky...and into space. Signed, Maris Shepherd, 7th Captain. END ID 4]

[ALT ID 5: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 8: Many years have passed since we first began to make this land our new home. Still, we need more time to complete our environmental adaptations. In the meantime, we must survive so that, one day, we can pass down this new history to our children, and pass down the ways we've learned to rescue and protect everyone. One day we will live here in peace. Signed, Mark Shepherd, 2nd Captain. END ID 5]

[ALT ID 6: Rescue Journal, Shepherd Family History, entry 9: The surface! We made it at last! Finally, we can begin making a fresh start here on this planet. Of course, it will take many long months and years before what we've built here will be anything like what we once had. But we won't be alone. Our beloved dogs will be by our side as we walk this long, difficult road. Signed, Aral Shepherd, 1st Captain. END ID 6]

There is so much here, all confirming that ancient Giyans (and Captain Shephard's direct ancestors) 1) migrated to this new planet in search of a "fresh start" and 2) proceeded to migrate to other parts of space many generations latter. It also hints that they know of a "blue planet" - a common nickname for Earth - which is home to more people and dogs. Most certainly, it is the planet they came from - making Giyans human, or at least an evolution of humanity, and perhaps all other alien races in Pikmin 4 (from Hocotations to Koppaites to Ohrians to Conohanins to anyone else from the twenty one named planets (excluding PNF-404) in the series) are also descendent from Giyans. It would explain why they all look so similar in game - though we can safely assume that Hocotations are at least descendent from Giyans based on Olimar's notes. Further more, the leafling cure requires cells from a non-leafified individual who is genetically similar to the individual in question. We're never told how Yonny gets these cells (and, given we're talking about Yonny, I'm too afraid to even ask) but the fact that the medicine works for anyone regardless of what their home planet is suggests that they are, in fact, more or less the same species.

How different the various aliens look from Humans is easily chalked up to evolution. We know minor changes in height could, theoretically, happen within just one or two generations spent on a planet with different gravity than Earth's. It would make sense that this would be exacerbated over many many more generations, especially if the gravity is much stronger. Which, to quote the Pikipedia, "According to Brittany, the gravity on Koppai is roughly ten times stronger than on PNF-404." Given their matching heights, it's probably safe to assume similar applies to the other planets, and thus over the generations the people shrunk. Again, the exact scientific validity of this is questionable, but given the semi-fantastical nature of Pikmin I believe we can suspend our disbelief enough to let this story work. We already have to do that for how the Pikmin as a species function, after all. As for oxygen becoming toxic in the 8th history entry Mark Shephard does state that "we need more time to complete our environmental adaptations". Be these natural or artificially induced (as he is only of the second generation), it is again safe to suspend our disbelief to say that humans just adapted to these new worlds. Besides, Koppaites at the very least retained (or possibly gained back?) the ability to tolerate at least low amounts of oxygen.

The real problems come in the time frame and the loss of history. It's never stated one way or the other if people are aware of their ultimate connections back to Giya, so I won't discuss that, but it is very obvious they have forgotten their connection to Earth/PNF-404. Furthermore, it's made clear that the Giyans lost the ability to travel through space by the 7th generation and only regained it by the 65th. If they had access to space flight, they would certainly have archives of their heritage - and they do indeed seem to have some idea of what it is, given how Earth has become a legend. Yet, the Shephard family history as far back as the migration to Giya was preserved - why not anything else? The inconsistencies and questions make this part of the tale hard for me to ignore, yet we have no answers. This is pure speculation, but if I had to provide an answer I think a solar flare hit Giya and destroyed their technology, making them start over. Perhaps these early Giyain-Humans were so reliant on technology at this point that there were no books or oral traditions to preserve this heritage lost when the tech was destroyed? Though, somehow, the Shephard family would have to be one of if not the exception to this. Again, the previous is pure speculation, but it's the best we can do for the time being.

There's also the question of when and how Earth dogs changed to look like the Sirehound, which would of had to happen before the migration to space given that Oatchi has the same body plan. And then why did Moss's species become so much smaller?

Still, even with all these plot holes, I think it's pretty damn clear that Nintendo intended for our favorite little aliens to be the evolutionary decedents of humans. How and if they'll use this plot point remains to be seen, but it does open up a whole bag of opportunities for the universe of Pikmin. One that, frankly, deserves to be explored.

[starlightswordfight]

headcanon that has more than definitely been brought up before but it's on the mind and I in a fit of irony am worried about losing it

captain olimar not only makes voyage logs of absolutely everything he can, he's carried this note taking habit with him long before pnf-404. at work, at home, around him you will find lists and notes and reminders everywhere because of the worry of forgetting the information!

this doesn't always work. this also leads to a lot of things being jotted down that just were not important at all

[sylunisart]

I am a bit dry on art atm so I’m gonna post some of my surname hcs since Shepherd and Dobbs canonically have established full names, I’m not including Pom because I hc Pom is a surname and her first name is Lisa.

Anyways

Olimar: Naegi(Japanese surname meaning seedling or sapling)

Louie: Asanuma(Japanese surname meaning “shallow swamp” referencing having grown up in the swamp area of Hocotate, which is implied by some of Louie’s voyage logs in game)

Alph and Yorke: Zaffre(Zaffre is another name for Cobalt, a mineral used in electronics + cobalt blue)

Brittany and Nelle: Pointer(comes from the Brittany spaniel dog breed which believe it or not aren’t true spaniels, they’re pointer dogs + pointy nose pun)

Charlie: Reyes(Spanish surname meaning “King”, I decided to reference King Charles spaniels with this)

Delta(character D): Rinmann(based on Rinmann’s green, otherwise known as cobalt green. I hc that they and the Zaffre siblings are cousins)

Collin: Peters(named after a famous collie who was a rescue dog)

Russ: Parson(referencing the man who originally developed the dog breed)

Dingo: Larrikin(Australian slang for hooligan/outlaw)

Yonny: Desrouleaux(surname meaning “of the scrolls” it is a French surname, but it is also used by Creole people)

Bernard: Bamse(named after a St. Bernard who saved a navy crew member from drowning)

Santi: Bhavaraju(Sanskrit surname meaning “one who is knowledgeable”)

[descenacre]

When there's no key event or particularly important scenario that Olimar needs to write about in his log, you get to choose between multiple non-important discoveries to write about in Today's Results.

Whether thats a new species of creature, new Pikmin type, or new discovery about the workings of the planet, Olimar will catalogue his findings into a makeshift, more organically growing field journal

Olimar will always write about a general creature family first, before moving on to specific species. After writing about either of those, he might document extra interesting behaviors or interactions if he encounters it.

If you're struggling with a particular goal or hazard, Olimar may lament "Oh, if only I had [ship part]!", or if you've recovered the part and have yet to install it, "I've recovered my [ship part part]. Perhaps I should prioritize its installation, after [issue] keeps proving to be somewhat of a persistent obstacle" If a deadline approaches, such as running out of fuel or life support, Olimar might get sentimental about his family.

The Voyage Log can indirectly give you insights into Olimar's emotions, as well as his perspective as an experienced pilot, that might be able to direct your journey moving forward.

[citruscrisp]

Hello all, I have a quick question.

So basically, I’ve played Pikmin 3 Deluxe a LOT (wow! Big shock!) But there is one thing that has bugged me after all my time playing and that is the confusing ending of Pikmin 3.

So, first, you play the main story. You unite with the Hocotatians and offer to give them a ride back. But the last voyage log that Alph writes states that Louie is not in the Drake on the way home.

So, maybe he couldn’t find him?? Maybe the writers forgot that this log existed before incorporating the side missions? Because at the start of the “Olimar’s Comeback” side mission, Louie ventures back to PNF-404 with him as if he did make it to Hocotate with Olimar.

It’s just… I think too hard, lmao. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them!

[gribok-art]

[ Pikmin ] - Voyage log

I'm so happy with the result, although I think I could have made the brush strokes on Olimar and the S. S. Dolphin more noticeable and sharper. The Onion came out really good.

I'm not sure about the grid either, but I think it makes the contrast with the blackness of the Earth better.

Here's the timelapse

[fullmoonfireball]

do you guys ever think about how there's 27 days' worth of "nothing noteworthy happened" dialogue in the original Pikmin. while they were probably intended to be scattered throughout a normal playthrough (it'd probably feel weird to have no voyage log entry on a given day), it ends up telling a version of the story where Olimar just... gives up, accepts fate- despite a loving family awaiting his return- or perhaps just paralyzed by fear, having realized how dire the circumstances are. only spurred to action by the rapidly-encroaching threat of death after a month's time.

far too little, far too late.

i don't know, i just come back to it every now and then and it fucks me up.