Olimar (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

''This article is about Captain Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Captain Olimar and Pikmin (species).''

Olimar, also known as Pikmin & Olimar (, Pikumin ando Orimā) is a playable character from the Pikmin series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Olimar's fighter design in Brawl is collectively comprised of Captain Olimar himself, the main character of Pikmin, as well as his band of multi-colored Pikmin, coming in red, blue, yellow, purple, and white. Olimar is very weak on his own, and needs Pikmin to do Smash attacks and 4/5 aerial attacks and all throws. Each Pikmin has different effects for certain attacks.

Pikmin types and effects
All types of Pikmin, will drown if the water isn't shallow. (Blue Pikmin are an exception.) Pikmin may survive if Olimar is quick to retrieve them from the water but, unfortunately, Red Pikmin will be destroyed immediately upon coming in contact with the water.

Red Pikmin Yellow Pikmin Blue Pikmin Purple Pikmin White Pikmin
 * High attack power.
 * Attacks imbued with incendiary properties.
 * Immune to fire.
 * Has the most damaging aerial attacks.
 * Are destroyed as soon as they make contact with deep water.
 * Down-aerial has meteor smash capabilities.
 * Range of attack slightly larger than usual.
 * Travel in slight arcs when thrown.
 * Attacks imbued with electrical properties.
 * Immune to electricity.
 * When used to throw enemies, enemies fly in an arc as well.
 * Has better Knockback in aerial attacks.
 * Down-aerial is a semi-spike when not sweet-spotted.
 * Does more damage and knockback when used in throws.
 * Slightly more durable than average.
 * Can swim and does not drown.
 * Grab range increases when using them.
 * Can meteor smash with down-aerial
 * Doesn’t fly far when thrown.
 * Highest attack power.
 * Slams into enemies instead of latching on when thrown. This can be used to knock an enemy off the ledge if they are grabbing it at the time.
 * Throws have more strength.
 * Down-aerial attack is semi-spike when not sweet-spotted.
 * Flies very far when thrown.
 * Quick and light.
 * Low health.
 * Normal attacks do little damage and knockback.
 * When latched onto opponent, poison does additional damage.
 * Most damaging Pikmin (can do up to 36% damage if thrown onto opponent, 54% if they don't move).
 * Pummel damage is much higher than other Pikmin.
 * Can meteor smash enemy with down-aerial.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary, a cutscene shows Olimar using his Pikmin to try to destroy a gigantic, sleeping R.O.B. However, the robot wakes up, and performs an Arm Rotor, easily shaking off and kills most of the Pikmin. Olimar cringes, and a red Pikmin taps his side, pointing out the speeding object approaching them. The speeding object turns out to be the Blue Falcon, which Captain Falcon jumps out, and uses Falcon Punch to destroy the giant R.O.B. On landing, he slides, kills the remaining Pikmin, and poses victoriously, leaving only the red one by Olimar's side alive. Afterwards, he teams up with Olimar and the Pikmin. Later, they team up with Diddy Kong, then Donkey Kong, then Samus and Pikachu, then R.O.B., to fight Meta Ridley. Towards the end, Olimar, his Pikmin, and everyone else glimpse Tabuu. In a single, devastating act, Tabuu turns everyone into trophies. All are brought back to life due to the Dedede Badges and efforts of Kirby, Luigi, Ness, and King Dedede. With the aid of Sonic, Tabuu becomes vulnerable, and a final battle between the characters and Tabuu begins.

Pros:

 * Most damaging projectiles in the game (White Pikmin can do up to 36% damage each).
 * Pikmin Pluck is very fast.
 * Tilts and smashes all have long range and decent knockback.
 * Down Smash has little vertical and much horizontal knockback.
 * Forward Smash, Pikmin Throw, his grab, and certain other moves have similar animations, making it difficult to tell what he is doing.
 * Dependence on Pikmin Throw allows Olimar to be an effective "B-Sticking" character.
 * Small target.
 * Quick attacks.
 * High priority attacks.
 * Pikmin Order gives Super Armor Frames.
 * Neutral Grab has the biggest range of all the characters, combine with very quick grab and little lag if missed, making Olimar have the best grab in the game.
 * Side throw has great knockback, can KO with it.
 * Powerful aerial attacks.
 * Racks up damage really quickly.
 * Pikmin Throw creates a mental distraction as the player feels the need to get rid of them. Allowing Olimar to have good control of the match. Also when people are returning from off the edge Olimar can throw a pikmin on them racking up some quick damage.
 * Has a decent easy to hit with spike.
 * All Pikmin have the ability to Meteor Smash the opponent, making Olimar one of the most deadly meteor smashers in the game.
 * If some of Olimar's attacks connect with a more overpowering attack, instead of taking damage, Olimar will just lose a Pikmin (or the Pikmin will just go flying off).

Cons:

 * Dependant on Pikmin for all of his smashes, grabs, specials, and 4 out of 5 aerials.
 * Very steep learning curve due to Pikmin organization.
 * Recovery length entirely dependent on number of Pikmin and can fail if there is not enough.
 * Very Light, and therefore easy to knockout.
 * Easy to juggle due to being Floaty.
 * Bad air speed.
 * If Olimar is fighting on a stage with water such as Jungle Japes and The Summit he will lose all of his Pikmin except the Blue Pikmin when he lands in the water, making him extra vulnerable (although stages with water that's shallow enough to walk in like Rumble Falls will not cause the non-Blue Pikmin to drown).
 * Dependence on tether makes him easy to edgehog against. This can be averted by having the Purple Pikmin in front to hit the enemy while edgehogging and grab the ledge, but the Purple Pikmin must be last in the Pikmin line-up.
 * Slow walking speed.

Olimar Attacks
Normal Aerial
 * Neutral attack - Olimar headbutts twice. 15% damage.
 * Dash attack - Olimar does sort of a tripping cartwheel. 11% damage.
 * Strong Side - Olimar kicks both legs forward, falling to the ground. 6% damage.
 * Strong Up - Olimar jumps a little and spins in place, hitting multiple times. The last hit has significant knockback. Similar to his neutral aerial. 11% damage.
 * Strong Down - Olimar does a headbutt along the ground. 8% damage.
 * Neutral Aerial - Olimar spins in place, hitting multiple times. The last hit has significant knockback. 12% damage.

Pikmin Attacks
All of the Following moves use the next Pikmin in the Order to perform the given attack, and the knockback and damage are dependant on the Pikmin type. That Pikmin then goes to the back of the order. Same happens for grabs. A Pikmin runs forward a bit, and if it touches an opponent it grabs him/her and bring him/her to Olimar.
 * Forward smash - throws a Pikmin in front of him, has some projectile like properties, it just deals damage and knockback, rather than latching on.
 * Up Smash - Tosses a Pikmin a short distance in to the air
 * Down Smash - Throws out Pikmin a short distance to either side (uses the next two in order). Has no vertical knockback, making it useful against heavyweights and/or characters with strong recovery.
 * Forward Aerial - Smacks a short range with a Pikmin. Swings in an arc
 * Back Aerial - Similar to the forward aerial, only behind Olimar and more of a horizontal arc
 * Up Aerial - Throws a Pikmin a short distance over his head. (multi-hit, with the last hit having some knockback.)
 * Down Aerial - Holds a Pikmin under himself. Short ranged. The first few frames can spike, but the sweet spot for spiking is diagonally below the Captain.

Grabs & Throws
Olimar himself does not do grabbing and throwing, instead he has the next Pikmin in order dash forwards and do the Grabbing and throwing for him. All Pikmin have decent grabbing range, except for the Purple Pikmin.
 * Pummel - Pikmin attacks using its element. Red Pikmin burn, white Pikmin do significant poison damage, etc.
 * Forward Throw - Pikmin leaps into the air, latches onto the opponent, and then pushes itself off.
 * Back Throw - Pikmin latches onto opponent and jumps backwards while slamming them into the ground.
 * Up Throw - Pikmin leaps into the air (while holding opponent), turns the opponent upside-down, then slams them into the ground.
 * Down Throw - Pikmin slams opponent on ground, then jumps quite high, to jump on top of opponent.

Taunts
Up: Jumps joyfully as if he had gained a new part for the Dolphin.

Side: Lays down on the ground as if he were asleep, then rolls over and gets up.

Down: Plants feet and spins his hips twice.

Idle Stance

 * Swings both of his arms front to back.
 * Rubs or cleans his helmet.

On-Screen Appearance
Jumps out of the Hocotate Ship and uses Pikmin Pluck three times.

Victory Pose

 * Victory Theme: Pikmin Main Theme
 * Olimar plucks first a white, then a blue, and after a purple Pikmin, and each jumps on him before hitting the ground, until the Purple Pikmin lands on top of him.
 * Looks forward while a red,yellow, and blue Pikmin run around him in a circle.
 * Waves his arms up as if he was exercising with a red Pikmin stretches with Olimar, while a Yellow Pikmin sits and rests.

Wii Remote Choice
Hear Olimar plucking a Pikmin followed by a whistle.

Credits Music

 * Stage Clear/Title (Pikmin)

Trivia

 * There is a glitch concerning Olimar that, when performed correctly, allows him to completely avoid Kirby's Final Smash. Olimar must have 4-5 Pikmin plucked. A moment after Kirby executes his Final Smash, Olimar must rapidly Pluck Pikmin with the Special button. If performed correctly, there will be a continuous line of Pikmin being sucked into Kirby's cooking pot. If done long enough, the damaging part of Kirby's Final Smash will start, and Olimar will be completely unharmed. If only one kind of Item pops out, it's possible that the game will begin to Lag, simply because of the sheer number of on-screen items.
 * Olimar never makes noises, but his Pikmin do.
 * In the Home-run Contest, Olimar can only use purple Pikmin.
 * When Snake uses his  Codec on Olimar, Mei Ling makes a reference to Ai No Uta, by stating that Pikmin fight, get eaten, and ect...in the same order that the song does.
 * If Kirby uses his Final Smash while Olimar is hanging by his Tether--even if Kirby and Olimar are on a Team--the Tether will "break", and Olimar in a  helpless state. Strangely, it doesn't count Friendly Fire. If Olimar uses his Tether in mid-air when this happens, Olimar will completely freeze in place.
 * As soon as Olimar's tether latches onto a  ledge, Olimar will hold his arms out in a "T", the position used by game producers while designing characters.

Strategies

 * Always have all six Pikmin. More Pikmin means more attack options and more versatility, and a better recovery.
 * After you hit/throw your opponent off the edge, and as they are coming back, throw Pikmin at them. They should have better things to do than get the Pikmin off them (like recovering) and your Pikmin should be able to rack up damage.
 * Olimar can edgeguard very well for a number of reasons. One is that he can spike with his Blue, White, and Purple pikmin d-air (but Purple works best). Another is his edgehog; in an ironic twist of fate, tether recoveries are not only easily edgehogged, but great at edgehogging. This is because while you are physically holding the edge, you are not there - you're some distance below. If it gets dangerous for you down there, press Up on the control stick and you will fly, almost instantaneously, to the edge.
 * As mentioned above, to guard against edgehogging, have a Purple Pikmin first in line. This will knock opponents off the edge, which will allow you to use Pikmin Chain.
 * Olimar's Pikmin Chain spikes if it hits a foe on the ledge, and if they start to time their invincibility frames so the Pikmin chain spike is ineffective, simply wait and recover.
 * As a rule, always remember that Olimar's recovery is horrible. If he is knocked away even a little after using his second jump and then the opponent grabs the edge, it is inevitable that he will fall to his death unless a purple Pikmin is at the end of the chain. Olimar's decent DI can be highly advantageous.
 * Don't be afraid to lose a few Pikmin by them being attacked. Just make more.
 * Because of Olimar's never-ending supply of fast, strong, and long-ranged projectiles (the Pikmin) he is great at camping.
 * After being KO'd, Olimar (as well as all other characters) have two seconds of invincibility when he returns on stage. This is the best time to pluck six Pikmin, as opponents cannot inflict damage.
 * Do most of your fighting in the air.
 * One easy way to get all white pikmin is to stand near the egde (not too close) and pluck pikmin all but white will not fall.
 * When you are on a stage where you can fall to your death, always remember that Pikmin Order will immediately summon any of your Pikmin to you if they are not following you. If you have 4/6 Pikmin with you and you need those two to recover, use Pikmin Order to get them back to you and recover to keep the fight going.
 * Use Olimar's Pikmin Chain as an offensive move. If you are on a stage where your opponent is above you, attack him with this move as it has a good knockback regardless of which Pikmin hits him. It can also be highly useful for edgeguarding, or after using his Up-Aerial when the knocback occurs.