The Bulborb Theory (Pikmin 4)

A theory I'm calling: The Bulborb Theory, that revolves around all 4 Pikmin games, but honestly, is mostly speculative. You've been warned.
Hello!
#pikmin #pikmin4 #pikmin2 #pikmin3 #pikmin3deluxe #nintendoswitch #gamecube #theory #nintendo

[@Fort-eh5we]

I love eating PNF404 wildlife😋😋

[@Danerboots]

Ok louie

[@ellueccid8625]

Me too

[@KarielMora]

Same

[@GOOPREALM5000]

Assuming this is all true, if Pikmin, Onions, Candypop Buds etc. were all just simply left behind when the humans booked it, it's very posisble that they could've evolved to be much smaller than originally as well. Maybe about the size we see them in Pikmin Bloom and similar experiences.

[@VarietyTelevision]

Good point!! Didn't even think about Bloom, honestly.

[@GOOPREALM5000]

@@VarietyTelevision That's understandable, as far as we know it isn't canon. There wouldn't be a reason to put it in the video. Great theorycrafting, by the way!! You're definitely well researched.

[@VarietyTelevision]

@@GOOPREALM5000 I really appreciate that, and I'm super glad you enjoyed it!

[@gelogelo318]

The fact that the spiders specifically the man at legs/titan dweevil have weapons made me think it *BACKFIRED* and killed all of humanity, and the rest were left were the others (Koppaites, etc.) (Pun intended, agree with rest of the theory)

[@VarietyTelevision]

That's a thought I had as well!! It reminded me of the movie '9'.

[@syweb2]

Cool video, love the theory, here are my thoughts while watching: 3:19 Potentially. It looks like a Shih Tzu, which is already a pretty small dog, the main difference being that it's bipedal and also maybe biologically immortal? You discuss the bipedalism later, but you seem focused on comparing it to an "average dog" when paying attention to what breed it most closely resembles would be a pretty good research route. 9:00 The larger Bulborbs and Blowhogs are specifically due to hormonal abnormalities or polyploidy - Jumbo Bulborbs never fully mature and cannot reproduce, and Titanic Blowhogs suffer from a shortened lifespan due to their fire breath putting more strain on their organs. 9:45 Read its Piklopedia page, the spider's body gets co-opted by a machine midway during its life, turning it into a cyborg. It's not even pretending to be natural, the machine and the spider are essentially two different entities. 10:05 Are you saying hoarding behaviors don't appear in nature? The TItan Dweevil a) isn't a cyborg, it just uses tools, and b) isn't even related to Arachnorbs, it's a Dweevil, and bugs hiding under or picking up objects in order to mimic them, build a nest, or some other purpose aren't super uncommon. 10:14 SHOW ME ITS GUN, _PLEASE._ I SEE NO GUN HERE. The objects it carries are: a water faucet, a gas canister, a portable stove, an old precursor to the vacuum tube... and Louie. None of them are fully integrated into its body. 10:17 Part of that can be chalked up to game design - it's a Final Exam Boss, of course it's going to have all of the hazards. The Piklopedia also mentions that Titan Dweevils don't _only_ collect those four treasures, they collect lots of things and prefer shiny objects. I will be honest, everything you said about the Titan Dweevil and Man-At-Legs sounds like you had a conclusion and then squinted at them until they fit that conclusion. You could have gone in a different direction with Man-at-Legs that supported this theory without disregarding the Piklopedia, like how the fact that multiple of them exist means that it isn't a freak accident of a gun robot latching onto a spider and instead there is something _making_ whatever armaments are hijacking these arachnorbs. 12:20 Great dissection of _why_ Pikmin separate out what they carry, love the speculative explanation here. I diagnose you with "didn't do enough research and/or observation". I prescribe some Piklopedia, taken once ocularly each [unit of time] for [duration]. My thoughts on the arachnorbs in regards to this theory are that their ancestors went in a wildly different direction with the materials they consume and use to make up their bodies, since more "conventional" materials were either now hazardous or hard to come by, so those that could succeed using alternative sources of nutrition and structural support were more likely to survive and propagate.

[@moomosa2950]

I feel like grub dogs are a case of convergent evolution. There’s clearly an evolutionary pressure to be bipedal, and it’s a lot easier to lose legs than develop into a species that starts as grubs and are birthed by one massive queen.

[@VarietyTelevision]

It's possible, what prevented me with going with that idea is the fact that they've evolved on different planets. We don't really know what pressures being a dog on Hocotate poses, but I doubt it's anything like PNF-404. They are domesticated, whereas bulborbs and breadbugs are wild. Breadbugs are foragers and scavengers, and bulbors are predators. There's a lot of differences to ultimately lead to them evolving similarly by matter of convergence, at least to me.

[@syweb2]

@@VarietyTelevision Convergent evolution happens all the time, and we know dogs became bipedal _before_ going to Hocotate, so whatever pressures caused that would be _on_ PNF-404, and not Hocotate, so they would likely apply to the creatures that remained on the planet.

[@ForgedinPrint]

Something you didnt mention but could add to this as well is that they instinctively follow your characters and seem to havs zero self preservation

[@VarietyTelevision]

Very true. Almost as if them being easily replaceable was necessary to their design.

[@ForgedinPrint]

​@@VarietyTelevision Coming from this angle, honestly it feels like pikmin are an offensive force while the spiders were a defensive force. War is often an arms race as much as it is an actual war. The pikmin listening to their human leader charging into an enemy base, full of spiders, both sides evolving to counter the other. I'd also like to suggest an awful lot of mobs seem to be evolved specifically for the pikmin/leader of them. The whistle bug, the guys that swap between leaders based on who's in charge, the rock throwers that shoot homing rocks and so on. It legit feels like at some point a war had happened if that is how we approach it. A long and brutal war too. I say long because even in sci-fi evolving bio-weapons usually doesn't happen overnight. It's usually years of production to get them out there. If there is enough time to have that many types than clearly it's at least a decade or two.

[@VarietyTelevision]

@ForgedinPrint I'm so glad somebody else sees this. The clues are all there!! The Gildemander is another good example, it uses waves to interfere with the Onions and Pikmin directly cutting out communtication.

[@Green561]

already know this is gonna be a banger

[@VarietyTelevision]

I appreciate that! Glad you could check it out!!

[@NilBreak]

I came here for the Pikmin theory, but never expected to hear Hunnid P. 😂

[@CraigG1017]

I think Bulborbs are mammals and once all had hair. Why? Because the hairy bulborbs are, well, hairy. I think all bulborbs had hair and lost it over time. They might a relative of dogs or rescue pups. Of course, the hairy Bulborbs are still hairy. But they are a whole different species of the Bulborb. I think this Bulborb just has a diffrent skin pattern and kept the hair from the older Bulborbs. It kept the hair because it makes it warm in the cold, while the other Bulborb's stayed in warmer areas and had no need for hair. That's why lost it and that means that Bulborb's were once creatures in cold area's like Distant Tundra or Valley of Repose. This is my theory about the ancient Bulborb's.

[@jollythewolf4998]

I always imagined the man at legs to be some kind of assassination machine due to it being like a highly mobile spider like thing with a machine gun that is always dormant making itself small enough to be easily hidden and only activating when it’s been found

[@syweb2]

The machine hijacks a spider, they don't start off as one entity.

[@blankblank6214]

I don't know man I'm pretty sure spiders will evolve to have firearms

[@VarietyTelevision]

I guess it can't be helped

[@1800mexicano]

I've been wanting to get back into Pikmin ever since I started with Pikmin 2 on my 10th or 11th birthday. Finding your channel makes me want to even me. I love theory crafting You get a sub from me my friend

[@VarietyTelevision]

I really appreciate that, and I'm glad I could help get you back into Pikmin!!

[@TL4546b]

My theory is that PNF 404 isn’t future Earth, it’s an alternate timeline. Humans lived among the creatures of the Pikmin world, so they got annoyed as the creatures bit and burned them. So, they created the Pikmin, tiny humanoids to protect their homes against the creatures, like living mouse traps.

[@TA_Flame]

In Pikmin 3, Olimar states that Rock Pikmin and Winged Pikmin are new. Either the Onion can also evolve, and thus make new types, or those types have always been around, and just never found. Also in 3, why does the Onion fuse together? It didn't happen in the first 2.

[@VarietyTelevision]

We know that Olimar never found them before 3, and since he is the one who records the data on these things, he would consider them new. However, Pik 4 seems to want to redo that a little by seemingly being so early in the series, yet having everything from 1-3.

[@TA_Flame]

@@VarietyTelevision could that mean he just never found them or that the onion can evolve as well? I mean the onion fusing together is a clear sign of some sort of evolution

[@VarietyTelevision]

@@TA_Flame Both, probably. Since I'm theorizing that they're essentially living machines, it only makes sense. I think some (most likely red, blue, yellow, and ice) were outright created, whereas others (wings, glows, purples, etc) probably evolved to be the way they are.

[@TA_Flame]

@@VarietyTelevision maybe the ice one was just a blue one that got frozen

[@gelogelo318]

Bulborbs remind me of Mr. Krabs, the size, and color scheme. *Change my mind* (I'll let you know what I think after I finish the video later)

[@VarietyTelevision]

Crabdog

[@MichaelHeide]

Ooh, green screen. I like it.

[@VarietyTelevision]

Thanks! I do need a better backdrop for cleaner keying, but it works for now.

[@flamsey]

the 🐐 is back

[@VarietyTelevision]

Appreciated!!

[@seiyuokamihimura5082]

The siberian ibex is back? Yay!

[@extreme5026]

Very cool

[@gaelmunozplasencia6940]

My man is Jesus Christ 😂

[@skyguyisHOT]

Wait. Hold on. What if the pikmin arent man-made, but actually an invasive species from the Hey!Pikmin planet

[@VarietyTelevision]

I personally think the Hey! Pikmin planet doesn't exist. The ending cutscene of that game seems to imply the events that took place were within Olimar's daydream.

[@aidanhammans9337]

@@VarietyTelevisionWell then how does he have such a detailed dream?

[@VarietyTelevision]

@@aidanhammans9337 A lot of people have very detailed dreams. Some have dreams that feel just like real life until they wake up and realize the truth, just like Olimar.

[@emanuelmoreno2272]

I dont agree with the onion being man made bc if you look inside a cell you also might think is a machine with inteligent design

[@VarietyTelevision]

Maybe, but there are mechanical parts on 3's Onion, so i don't know.

[@TheOnePikGuy]

Wahooo I’m 13 minutes early

[@TheOnePikGuy]

WHAOOOOOOOO

[@MrLraewoo]

4d ago