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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 (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 comprises Captain Olimar (the main character of Pikmin) and his band of polychromatic Pikmin, which come in the red, blue, yellow, purple and white varieties. Olimar is very weak without his Pikmin; his unceasingly loyal Pikmin perform his smash attacks, all but one of his aerial attacks, and all of his grabs/throws. They are also crucial to his recovery and ability to camp.

Each Pikmin has different effects for certain attacks. When Olimar plucks Pikmin, they will have a leaf on their head. After a small period of time, their leaf will change into a bud - which, given more time, will bloom. Bumpers do not affect Pikmin. In the original Pikmin games, Olimar is actually 2 centimeters tall (including antenna), so he had to have his size increased for Brawl. Aside from Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar is the only character in the game to have no voice at all. In the Pikmin games, however, he is shown to have a voice, with which he announces his name and grunts.

Olimar ranks 3rd on the current tier list. Many of his attacks are unpunishable alongside being high-powered and quick-hitting. He has great matchups and amazing aerial game, although his recovery is easily gimped.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Has some of the best damage racking abilities in the game with his forward aerial, up aerial, throws, and Pikmin Throw. The latter in particular is especially potent with White Pikmin.
  • Arguably the best defensive game and camping ability in the game making him very hard to approach.
  • Possesses very long ranged grabs, especially with Blue and White Pikmin. Blue Pikmin in particular grant him very strong throws.
  • Great range overall especially with Yellow Pikmin.
  • Strong aerial attacks with Red, Blue, and Purple Pikmin.
  • Extremely powerful smash attacks with Purple Pikmin. This gives him KO power that is very high for his weight class and even exceeds some characters heavier than him.
    • Even without Purple Pikmin, his smash attacks are very useful moves as they are all fast, have good range, and have low ending lag.
  • Pikmin Order has super armor on the majority (though not all) of its animation. This provides Olimar with a strong and reliable defensive tool that can allow him to tank through potentially fatal attacks and increase his survivability despite his light weight.
  • Difficult to hit due to small hurtbox.


Weaknesses[]

  • Lightweight which can make him easy to KO.
  • Sluggish mobility, both grounded and aerial.
  • Aerials have low priority which can lead to them being countered by other aerial attacks.
  • Is almost powerless without Pikmin as the vast majority of his moveset will fail to connect if he does not have any Pikmin available.
  • Terrible recovery that easily edgehogged and edgeguarded, giving him a poor offstage presence.


Pikmin types and effects[]

Red Pikmin[]

  • Delivers the most damage with aerials and has the second highest knockback.
  • Mediocre grab range, with weak throws.
  • Deals fire damage.
  • Immune to fire, including explosions.
  • Drowns instantly.
  • More likely to appear from cloth floors.

Yellow Pikmin[]

  • Slightly larger attack range (particularly on the up smash, both vertically and horizontally) in exchange for slightly weaker smashes and aerials.
  • Second last grab range (though still 4th highest overall) but with good throws, tying with Purple's damage, though not knockback.
  • Travels higher and slower than other Pikmin when thrown (arched trajectory).
  • Deals electric damage.
  • Immune to electric attacks.
  • More likely to appear from metallic floors.

Blue Pikmin[]

  • Has the highest attack range during Forward Smash.
  • Bigger grab range than other Pikmin. Does more damage and knockback when used in throws; Back Throw is most notable for its high KO potential.
  • Immune to water attacks.
  • Can swim forever and does not drown (all other Pikmin will drown).
  • More likely to appear from water-based floors (such as ice or clouds).

Purple Pikmin[]

  • Delivers the greatest knockback.
  • Smallest attack range and slowest attack speed, in both Smash Attacks and grabs.
  • Small forward trajectory when throw; however slams into enemies instead of latching on when thrown.
  • Slow and big, making it easier to hit.
  • Most health of all Pikmin.
  • Delivers great knockback on Down Throw.
  • More likely to appear from certain metal or stone floors.

White Pikmin[]

  • Pummel damage is twice as high as other Pikmin. Pikmin Throw damage is also higher.
  • Flies very far when thrown.
  • Faster than other Pikmin.
  • Deals poison damage.
  • Lowest health of all Pikmin; easily killed.
  • Normal attacks and Smash Attacks do little damage and knockback, but are faster than other Pikmin.

Summary[]

Olimar is a unique and very versatile character. All but six of his attacks rely on Pikmin to perform, each with unique characteristics and suitability for each type of Pikmin. Thus, it is somewhat difficult to quantify the effectiveness of any particular class of Olimar's moves.

Generally, the Pikmin do severe damage if not dealt with. They can block some moves (like Ike's Quick Draw, Ness' PK Thunder and Samus' Charge Shot), they can allow some of Olimar's attacks to continue even if he is hit, and they can combine to become a long tether. Moreover, if the Pikmin are ordered correctly, Olimar can have powerful throws (using Blue Pikmin), the longest grab range in the game (when using White or Blue Pikmin), great aerials (Red, Yellow, and Purple), and the ability to inflict incredible levels of damage with the Pikmin Throw. Overall, Olimar has quick attacks that are difficult to punish, including his useful down aerial meteor smash, and he is the smallest character in the game (along with Squirtle), a trait somewhat obviated by his Pikmin Order's launch resistance should opponents be looking to KO him. He can also be very difficult to approach when wielding many Pikmin (which should be most of the time). Whenever he is hit into the air, his Pikmin fan out around him in a protective formation, becoming the target of the opponent's next attack. Finally, Olimar's three primary Pikmin (Red, Yellow and Blue) are each immune to certain types of attacks (fire, electricity, and water respectively), making them harder to kill in certain match-ups.

At his purest, Olimar is about damage. Aside from Purples, all of Olimar's Pikmin can be continuously thrown at the opponent, racking up damage with alarming celerity, while Olimar has three Pikmin-less moves capable of sucking in the opponent for more damage (his Up Tilt, Neutral Air and Down Tilt). Pikmin Throw is the most damaging projectile in the game (White Pikmin can do up to 54% damage each). Olimar's not bad at killing, either. Rarely can an opponent predict which Pikmin is coming next, or how, so surprise Purples and Reds on potent moves like Olimar's Back Air and Down Smash can cause serious problems. Blue Pikmin-based back and forward throws, along with Purple Pikmin-based down throws, are also cause for concern due to their killing ability.

Olimar's grab range is fantastic on all Pikmin except the Purple ones; the range is good enough to make up for the slight lag of the grab as opponents are occasionally too far away to take advantage of the grab attempt (unless they've sidestepped). Olimar is excellent at popping the opponent into the air for aerial damage with his fast, deceptively ranged (in front) Up Smash, best performed with a Yellow Pikmin for max range. From there, he has a long-lasting up-air which serves as both a superb defense above him and an excellent way to harass opponents returning to the ground. Like Falco, even good players can count on a good Olimar taking the first 50% or so of a stock without a problem, especially if Neutral Attack, Olimar's best setup move regardless of percent, hits.

Though he has incredible strengths, he is not without his weaknesses. Olimar is completely dependent on Pikmin for his smashes, grabs, specials, and four of his five aerials - so if he has no Pikmin nearby, these moves have no hitboxes, leaving him in serious trouble. All Pikmin (excluding Blue ones) drown in water deep enough to swim in, which can make Olimar vulnerable when fighting on water-based stages. He is also a very light and floaty character. His floatiness makes him very easy to juggle.

Another significant weakness is his mobility; both in the air and on the ground, Olimar is fairly sluggish (especially for a tiny lightweight). Olimar players must also plan ahead to maximize the effectiveness of their Pikmin. They must learn what each Pikmin is capable of and must adapt to each one, particularly in the middle of a fight; an inattentive Olimar player can end up whiffing on a Purple Smash Attack or dealing minimal damage on a White air attack. This gives him an extremely high learning curve.

As significant as these problems stated above may be, they pale in comparison to Olimar's single greatest weakness: his abysmal recovery. More than anything else, this holds Olimar back. Although his double jump is decent, he relies on a tether recovery to save himself. While the tether increases in size depending on how many Pikmin are in Olimar's line, it is utterly useless against edge-hoggers and puts him into a helpless state.

On the whole, Olimar is a superb character who has steadily risen through the ranks. His weaknesses are more than compensated for by his strengths, and he has unusually high strategic capability. With his high-powered, quick moves and infuriating Pikmin Throw, Olimar has scaled the ranks with aplomb.

In competitive play[]

When Brawl initially came out, Olimar was not taken seriously by most players who believed that he was just a very gimmicky character who would never actually achieve anything noteworthy in competitive play. His reliance on Pikmin being viewed as a liability (which is the opposite of how it is today) and his extremely poor recovery were the primary reasons for this. Because of this, he was ranked a subpar 18th on the first tier list.

However, players began to realize that the character was much more powerful than initially thought. Olimar's superb damage racking potential, strong camping ability, excellent grab game, and disproportionately high KO power started to gain recognition within the community and he began to rise on subsequent tier lists. In addition to his strengths mentioned above, Olimar has a great set of smash attacks as they are all fast, have good range, and possess low ending lag. When used alongside his camping capabilities and grab range, he is a very difficult opponent to approach as he can throw Purple Pikmin to deter approaches, use his long ranged grab (best with Blue or White Pikmin) and strong throws (best with Blue or Purple Pikmin) to get his opponent offstage or at least within arms length, or use his smash attacks (best with Purple or Yellow Pikmin; Purple Pikmin give him the strongest smash attacks while Yellow Pikmin have larger hitboxes and give the moves more range) to defend his position, pressure the opponent, or even KO at high percents depending on which Pikmin is used. Lastly, although his recovery is rather gimpable, Olimar can be a very difficult opponent to KO thanks to his down special, Pikmin Order. In addition to summoning all of his Pikmin back to him if they are far away, the move has a much more valuable attribute, super armor. The armor lasts for the majority of the move (armor frames active on 2-16) and only leaves Olimar vulnerable during the first frame and the last five frames. Due to this, Olimar can safely tank through many attacks that would have been fatal otherwise which can make him difficult to KO in spite of his light weight and potentially land a counterattack on the opponent to eliminate his disadvantage or even take their stock at high percentages. All of this combined gives Olimar arguably the best defensive game out of the whole roster while also being able to excel offensively.

Olimar is currently ranked 3rd on the tier list in the A+ tier, making him a top tier character with only Meta Knight and the Ice Climbers being ranked higher than him. In order to be successful with him however, players must have consistent Pikmin management and properly use his double jump, down special super armor, and Pikmin Chain while also be unpredictable offstage and at the same time be able to recover. Nonetheless, he has achieved very strong tournament results thanks to players such as Dabuz, Denti, Brood, and Nietono, the latter two of whom took 2nd place at Apex 2010 and Apex 2012 respectively. Not only have his potent strengths been recognized and changed his perception to that of being one of the best characters of the entire cast, but he has also become one of the most detested characters in the game as his powerful camping ability and long range are notoriously difficult to break through while his high KO power and damage racking potential are both extremely threatening, giving him a reputation as being one of the most frustrating characters to deal with.

Moveset[]

Olimar-Only Attacks[]

Normal

  • Neutral Attack (jab) - Olimar headbutts twice, but hits three times. The antenna on his head deals slight damage, but not knockback. 15% damage (the last 10% is on the final hit, which connects with opponents in front of, above, and behind Olimar, in that order).
  • Dash Attack - Olimar does sort of a tripping cartwheel, similar to Diddy Kong's. 11% damage. Primarily vertical knockback. Can be followed up by most of his aerials and even Up Smash depending on the enemy's size, weight and percentage.
  • Side Tilt - Olimar kicks both legs forward quick fastly, falling to the ground. 6% damage and decent knockback at higher percentages. Mainly a defensive maneuver.
  • Up Tilt - Olimar jumps a little and spins in place, hitting multiple times. The last hit has significant knockback. Similar to his Neutral Aerial. 11% damage. Higher priority than his up smash. Has super-armor frames at the beginning.
  • Down Tilt - Olimar does a headbutt, sliding along the ground and gains slight distance. 8% damage. Minimal knockback and decent speed, can be spammed at lower percentages or combo'ed well into Up Tilt or Up Smash early on. Helmet antenna will do 2% damage and knockback if it connects by itself.

Aerials

  • Neutral Aerial - Olimar spins in place, hitting multiple times. The last hit has significant knockback. 12% damage. Excellent in certain short-hop combos. Can be followed up by a Up Aerial or another Neutral Aerial in low percentages.

Pikmin Attacks[]

All of the Following moves use the next Pikmin in line, and knockback and damage depend on the Pikmin's color. After use, the Pikmin goes to the back of the line. (This is assuming it survived; during the up and side smashes, the attacking Pikmin is vulnerable to attack, just as if Olimar had thrown it using his side special). Grabs work the same way. Generally, Olimar's aerial moves have higher priority if used earlier (Particularly his Up Aerial, which interrupts virtually everything if used early enough).

Smash Attacks

  • Forward Smash - Olimar throws a Pikmin in front of him. It deals damage and knockback rather than latching on. A weak hit will occur if the Pikmin connects as it falls, making this move good for edge-guarding - but the Pikmin will die if thrown off the edge unless quickly called to Olimar's side via Pikmin Order.
    • Red Pikmin: 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged;
    • Blue Pikmin: 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged;
    • Yellow Pikmin: 13% uncharged, 18% fully charged;
    • White Pikmin: 9% uncharged, 12% fully charged;
    • Purple Pikmin: 18% uncharged, 25% fully charged.
  • Up Smash - Olimar tosses a Pikmin a short distance into the air. It is Olimar's fastest smash, and it has surprising forward range.
    • Red Pikmin: 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged;
    • Blue Pikmin: 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged;
    • Yellow Pikmin: 14% uncharged, 19% fully charged;
    • White Pikmin: 9% uncharged, 12% fully charged;
    • Purple Pikmin: 16% uncharged, 22% fully charged.
  • Down Smash - Olimar throws out Pikmin a short distance to either side (uses the next two in order). Has horizontal knockback, making it useful against heavyweights and/or characters with short horizontal recovery (i.e. Ganondorf or Marth).
    • Red Pikmin: 13% uncharged, 18% fully charged;
    • Blue Pikmin: 12% uncharged, 16% fully charged;
    • Yellow Pikmin: 11% uncharged, 15% fully charged;
    • White Pikmin: 6% uncharged, 8% fully charged
    • Purple Pikmin: 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged.

Aerials

  • Forward Aerial - Olimar smacks a medium-short range with a Pikmin. Swings in an arc. At the end of the move, the Pikmin will be slightly behind Olimar, dealing a powerful blow to anything there.
    • Red: 15%; Blue: 13%; Yellow: 12%; White: 5%; Purple: 14%.
  • Back Aerial - Similar to the forward aerial, only behind Olimar and more of a horizontal arc. Will deal a powerful blow to enemies close in front of Olimar in the first few frames.
    • Red: 13%; Blue: 13%; Yellow: 12%; White: 5%; Purple: 13%.
  • Up Aerial - Olimar thrusts a Pikmin above his head (multi-hit, with the last hit having significant knockback). Very high priority. Ideal KO move when used with a Red Pikmin.
    • Red: 25%; Blue: 22%; Yellow: 16%; White: 9%; Purple: 22%.
  • Down Aerial - Thrusts a Pikmin under himself. Short-ranged with some level of landing lag. The first few frames can cause a Meteor Smash, the strongest belonging to the Red Pikmin and the weakest belonging to the White Pikmin. The sweet spot for Meteor Smashing is diagonally below the Captain. Can Meteor Smash at low percents depending on weight of victim and recovery trajectory/length.
    • Red: 16%; Blue: 14%; Yellow: 12%; White: 8%; Purple: 14%.

Grabs & Throws[]

Olimar himself does no grabbing or throwing; instead, he has the next Pikmin in order dash forward and do the grabbing and throwing for him (these are all tether grabs). All the Pikmin except Purple clock in for the four longest grabs in the game, ranked Blue, White, Red (tied with Zero Suit Samus) and Yellow, with Purple coming in behind Samus and Link's tether grabs.

  • Pummel - Pikmin attacks with headbutt. The Pikmin deal their respective damage per hit: 2% for Red, 2% for Blue, 2% for Yellow, 4-6% for White, and 2% for Purple.
  • Forward Throw - Pikmin leaps into the air, latches onto the opponent, and then pushes itself off. With Blue Pikmin, it has very high damage and knockback for a throw.
    • Red: 6%; Blue: 13%; Yellow: 7%; White: 6%; Purple: 7%.
  • Back Throw - Pikmin latches onto opponent and jumps backwards while slamming them into the ground. One of the strongest back throws in the game when performed by a blue Pikmin.
    • Red: 7%, Blue: 14%; Yellow: 9%; White: 7%; Purple: 9%.
  • Up Throw - Pikmin leaps into the air (while holding opponent), turns the opponent upside-down, then slams them into the ground. With the Purple Pikmin, it is by far the strongest Up Throw in the game, being able to even star KO under 125%. It is overall the second strongest throw in the game (only Ness's back throw is stronger). Unlike Kirby's Up Throw, this cannot be used to kill both the opponent and the thrower (in this case, the Pikmin); if used next to the very edge, the Pikmin will seem to back up in the air slightly before coming down.
    • Red: 9%; Blue: 12%; Yellow: 11%; White: 6%; Purple: 11%.
  • Down Throw - Pikmin slams opponent on ground, then leaps quite high to land on the victim. Can be used to chaingrab fastfallers and heavyweights, like King Dedede.
    • Red: 9%; Blue: 12%; Yellow: 8%; White: 6%; Purple: 8%.

Special Moves[]

Olimar's Special Moves
Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Pikmin Pluck
Side Special Pikmin Throw
Up Special Pikmin Chain Winged Pikmin
Down Special Pikmin Order
Final Smash End of Day

Taunts[]

Up: Jumps joyfully, similar to his animation in his games when he gains a new part for the Dolphin. Similar to the Ice Climbers' Up Taunt.
Side: Lays down on the ground as if he were asleep, then rolls over and gets up; likely based on the "nap" ability in Pikmin to return to the ship quickly. Similar to Pikachu's down taunt.
Down: Plants feet and spins his hips twice.

Iatchupsn competitive play[]

Role in the Subspace Emissary[]

Olimar in the SSE

Captain Olimar's Pikmin are attacking a huge R.O.B. (even the Purple Pikmin are latched on to the Giant R.O.B., unlike in the game, where they slam the enemy); however, they are so weak they do no damage. The R.O.B. simply spins around, and all the Pikmin that were on him fly in all directions. Most of them die. Captain Olimar starts shivering in fear at the huge robot. A red Pikmin walks up to Olimar and taps him on the side. Olimar turns around and the red Pikmin points out the Blue Falcon speeding their way. Captain Falcon jumps out of the Blue Falcon and Falcon Punches the huge robot right in the face. The R.O.B. then falls back destroyed. Captain Falcon lands and slides to a stop, killing all of the Pikmin except the red one next to Olimar. Captain Falcon stands there, striking a pose, while Captain Olimar watches in shock. Despite this rocky start, Olimar and Captain Falcon decide to team up to fight the Subspace Army.

Upon reaching the edge of the Isle of Ancients, the pair witnesses Diddy Kong attacking some Primids and rescuing Donkey Kong. Captain Falcon and a reluctant Olimar then decide to join forces with the Kongs - and when the duo reaches the Kongs, the Primids return with backup. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Olimar manage to fight them off before they see off Falco Lombardi, who had helped Diddy in bringing him to the large Cargo that DK was held on.

The Cargo takes Olimar and his crew inside the Subspace Bomb Factory, and they begin to move through it. They eventually find the Ancient Minister, along with Pikachu and Samus Aran. A hologram of Ganondorf suddenly appears and commands the R.O.B.s in the room to detonate the Subspace Bombs in the room so he could create a large enough hole in space to fit a Subspace Gunship through. The Ancient Minister reveals himself to be the leader of the R.O.B.s and helps the other heroes defeat the Subspace underlings that Ganondorf sent out. Olimar, along with R.O.B. and the rest, escapes from the island before it is sucked into Subspace. All of the heroes then unite to take down the Subspace Gunship and enter Subspace. Olimar contributes by putting his ship, the Dolphin, at the heroes disposal. His excellent piloting allows him to avoid the huge ship's turrets until Kirby destroys it. Unfortunately, Olimar and the others were doomed to be turned into trophies by Tabuu.

However, hope comes in the form of King Dedede, who created some badges that revive trophies into the original fighter. Olimar and others are rescued by Dedede and his team consisting of Luigi, Ness,and Kirby going solo. With everyone revived, they are able to take down Tabuu and save the world.

Costume Gallery[]

Olimar Palette (SSBB)

Olimars different colors in SSBB

Trophy Description[]

Veteran spacefarers in the employ of Hocotate Freight. After crash- landing on an enigmatic planet, Olimar met the mysterious beings known as Pikmin. He enlisted their aid to find his spaceship parts and help him escape. Once home, he found his employer on the verge of bankruptcy. He was sent back to the Pikmin world with his partner, Louie, to repay the company debt.

Cheer/Crowd Chant[]

  • "Pikmin! Olimar!"

Trivia[]

  • In the Home-Run Contest, Olimar will only pick Purple Pikmin.
  • As soon as Olimar's tether latches onto a ledge, Olimar will hold his arms out in a "T" (blind position), commonly referred to as the "t-pose", which is a position used by game producers while designing characters.
  • If Olimar gets hit, his eyes pop out.
  • When giant or tiny, Pikmin voices do not change pitch while being thrown or dying, although they do change when Olimar plucks them.
  • Olimar, Samus, R.O.B., and Mr. Game and Watch are the only characters that do not talk or make vocal noises in Brawl. However, it should be noted that the Pikmin do most vocal noises instead, especially noticeable when dying from an opponent's attack or when Olimar dies.
  • When Olimar loses in a Stamina match, his Pikmin do not die, but stand around Olimar.
  • Olimar is the only character in Brawl with all three smash attacks being classified as projectiles.

External links[]

PikminSymbol Pikmin universe
Characters Captain Olimar / Alph & Pikmin (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side Characters Assist Trophy Burrowing Snagret
Background characters Red Bulborb  · Pikmin
Stage Hazard Red Bulborb  · Peckish Aristocrab
Enemies Red Bulborb  · Iridescent Glint Beetle
Stages Distant Planet  · Garden of Hope
Item Pellet  · Hocotate Bomb
Music List of Music (Pikmin series)
Collectibles Trophies Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Pikmin series)
Spirits List of spirits (Pikmin series)
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