Olimar (SSBB)

Next time, I will be that character!

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

Olimar
Olimar
Universe	Pikmin
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Starter
Tier	Middle (18)

Olimar, also known as Pikmin & Olimar (ピクミン＆オリマー, 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.

He ranks 18th on the current tier list, and is speculated to rise in later updates once his tournament wins escalate. He is a quick-hitting, high-powered character, but his abysmal recovery keeps him out of the higher tiers.

Pikmin types and effects

Most 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

• Delivers the most damage with Aerials and has the second highest knockback.
• Attacks imbued with incendiary properties.
• Immune to fire.
• Are destroyed as soon as they make contact with deep water.

Yellow Pikmin

• Range of attack slightly longer than usual.
• Travel in slight arcs when thrown.
• Attacks imbued with electrical properties.
• Immune to electricity.

Blue Pikmin

• 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.

Purple Pikmin

• Doesn’t fly far when thrown.
• Fairly large and easy to land attacks on compared to the other pikmin. This is especially due to it's speed as well.
• Delivers the highest amount of knockback, although not the most damage.
• 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.
• Very slow, in fact, the slowest of all pikmin

White Pikmin

• Flies very far when thrown.
• Quick and light.
• 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.

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.

Attributes

Olimar is a unique character. The clear majority of his attacks rely on Pikmin to perform, each with unique characteristics and suitability to each type of move. As such, it is difficult to quantify the effectiveness of any particular class of Olimar's moves. However, the Pikmin can do severe damage if not dealt with, they can block some moves (like Ike's Quick Draw), they grow more powerful over time, they can allow some of Olimar's attacks to continue even if he is hit, and they can combine to become arguably the best tether recovery in the game. Olimar generally has quick attacks, including his modest down aerial spike, and he is a relatively small target. However, Olimar is completely dependent on Pikmin for his smashes, grabs, specials, and four of five aerials, so if he has no Pikmin, he is in serious trouble. He is also light and quite floaty, and his recovery can be easily edge-guarded. He is also somewhat slow, and can be taken advantage of with juggling by most characters.

Standard Moves

Olimar Attacks

Normal

• 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.

Aerial

• 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.

Special Moves

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.

Trivia

• In the Home-run Contest, Olimar can only use Purple Pikmin. Mainly because the other Pikmin can't grab Sandbag anyway.
• As soon as Olimar's tether latches onto a ledge, Olimar will hold his arms out in a "T" (blind position) , the position used by game producers while designing characters.
• Olimar's eyes do not glow yellow when he obtains a Smash Ball, even when his eyes bug out after being hit.
• When giant or tiny, Pikmin's voices do not change while being thrown or when they die, although they do change when Olimar plucks them. Oddly, a Pikmin's voice changes when Kirby throws a Pikmin.
• Olimar has the only Neutral Special, Pikmin Pluck, that Kirby cannot copy perfectly. This is probably because Kirby's moves do not depend on the pikmin.
• Olimar holds the world record for Level 1 Target Smash (3.93 seconds).
• Olimar can drown despite wearing an air helmet. This may have something to do with being able to eat through the helmet, or breathable gas running low. However, he can go underwater in the pikmin games without drowning.

External Links

• Combo video by Magzillas
• Pikmin & Olimar's page at the Smash Bros. DOJO!!