History NightmareFuel / Pikmin

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_9_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ThatsNoMoon That's an eye...]]]]

** This even extends to creatures that normally don't eat Pikmin. In the Forest Navel, a Wollywog chases a Pikmin up the hill to the Onions just so it can squish it. Since you hunt these creatures to raise Pikmin, it makes them seem much [[ItCanThink less predatory]] and more vengeful. Chilling to think that.

* The Pikmin show a surprisingly dark capacity for revenge in this short too, as they descend on the Bulborb once it's died and start pummeling it so bad ''it's censored by a mosaic when they get off it.'' Sure it's mostly a case of CensoredForComedy but ''jeez!''

* During 'Occupational Hazards', after the Bulborb wakes up, it manages to eat two Pikmin one by one, the first is simply SwallowedWhole, but the other one's top is spit out and the ghost doesn't pop up until afterwards, meaning it felt being chewed up, crushed, swallowed, and didn't even realize it died until it's top was spit out! Painful in the highest extreme!

* First and foremost, the Uncharted Planet that all three games take place in. It is called PNF-404, and one of the first things you will notice is that there is an awful lot of man-made structures such as tin cans and bottles lying around. this goes up to eleven in Pikmin 2, where most of the treasures collected are man-made items such as lipstick and bottle-caps, all of which look huge in comparison to the Hocotatians. This also means that Olimar himself is tiny compared to humans but that raises the question, where are the humans? In a populated city, Olimar, his friends and Coworkers, and his army of Pikmin would all be in danger of being [[AccidentalMurder accidentally]] or [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters deliberately]] stepped on or worse by humans who would probably [[HumansAreCthulhu look otherworldly]] to them, but there are no signs of any human civilization other than the items, remains of buildings, garbage, and some still-functioning machinery. On top of that, the planet itself looks suspiciously like Earth from space. According to WordOfGod, the Distant Planet is indeed Earth hundreds of millions of years in the future after Humanity has [[HumanitysWake long since died out]]! And now the planet is dominated by strange and often dangerous creatures! Makes one wonder what really happened to humanity and whether or not there are any living humans left or they have left...

Sure, ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' ''looks'' like a charming little game, but just beneath the surface lies all sorts of horror...[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maxresdefault_9_7.jpg]]

Please note that creatures ''exclusive'' to one game will be listed in that specific game's folder, not in general. If a future title adds a previous-exclusive, it will be moved to the general folder.

* During ''Treasure in a Bottle'', the Blue Pikmin’s idea is to use some water in the hope of bringing the Red Pikmin trapped in a bottle out. The other Red Pikmin and Yellow Pikmin both agree, and the three ask for the trapped Red Pikmin’s opinion. What follows is an ImagineSpot from the trapped Red Pikmin, showing it flailing in the water as per usual when in water before inevitably drowning, only instead of a soul, its deceased body floats up to the surface face down, after which the trapped Red Pikmin refuses the Blue Pikmin’s idea.

* In the official trailer submitted for the shorts after the 11/5/14 Nintendo Direct, it shows Olimar mixing up some juice and drinking it while the Pikmin look on from the door way. Out of curiosity, the Pikmin enter in to see what's going on... only to catch a glimpse of ''a chopped up Pikmin body, and then Olimar turning around and giving a PsychoSmirk!'' The worst part? The juice from the Pikmin body is ''red!'' Sure, it turns out to be Pikpik carrot juice, but it's a shockingly dark scene from what's normally considered a family friendly developer like Nintendo...

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwOUuC8Y5N0 As we see in end of the Pikmin 4 gameplay trailer]], the fear of sunset may not sound [[RedEyesTakeWarning like just paranoia of being on an alien world at night anymore]]...

** Olimar actually mentions this in a journal entry where he wonders why the Pikmin never bothered to attack him despite their willingness to attack just about anything else, even recounting having a nightmare where he was killed and turned into more Pikmin. In fact, for how adorable they look along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet and tend to not last longer than week because of that (Sometimes even dying on the same day they're born), it's very easy to forget that the [[KillerRabbit Pikmin themselves]] may actually be the most terrifying predators of PNF-404, especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures known for being vicious towards their prey. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give huge amounts of sprouts come from dead bodies, but even when they're idle and a creature just so happens to be near, [[AxCrazy the Pikmin's predatory instincts will immediately kick in]] and they'll start attacking anything that gets too close to the group and try to pummel it to death, ''even if you didn't give the command to.''

** Olimar actually mentions this in a journal entry where he wonders why the Pikmin never bothered to attack him despite their willingness to attack just about anything else, even recounting having a nightmare where he was killed and turned into more Pikmin. In fact, for how adorable they look along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet and tend to not last longer than week because of that (Sometimes even dying on the same day they're born), it's very easy to forget that the [[KillerRabbit Pikmin themselves]] may actually be the most terrifying predators of PNF-404, especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures known for being vicious towards their prey. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when they're idle and a creature just so happens to be near, the Pikmin's predatory instincts will immediately kick in and they'll start attacking anything that gets too close to the group and try to pummel it to death, even if you didn't give the command to.

** Olimar actually mentions this in a journal entry where he wonders why the Pikmin never bothered to attack him despite their willingness to attack just about anything else. In fact, with their cute appearance along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet, it's very easy to forget that the [[GoodIsNotSoft Pikmin themselves]] may actually be the most terrifying predators of PNF-404, especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures known for being vicious towards their prey. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when idle and a creature just so happens to be near, the Pikmin's predatory instincts will kick in and they'll start attacking anything that gets too close to the group and try to pummel it to death.

** This even extends to creatures that normally don't eat Pikmin. In the Forest Navel, a Wollywog chases a Pikmin up the hill to the Onions just so it can squish it. Since you hunt these creatures to raise pikmin, it makes them seem much [[ItCanThink less predatory]] [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes and more vengeful]]. [[NatureIsNotNice Chilling to]] [[RevengeBeforeReason think that]].
** While in the Distant Spring, several Sheargrubs suddenly and spontaneously dig out of a hole in the center of your landing site as soon as night falls meaning they've been there the whole time! The Sheargrubs are a particularly jarring case because out of all the things that can kill Pikmin they're among the weakest, only being able to take down one Pikmin at a time and a single solo Pikmin being able to put up a nasty fight one-on-one. Then you remember how Sheargrubs dispatch Pikmin, they decapitate them, ''slowly'', they also ignore all damage done to them as this goes on so that's nightmare fuel in and of itself.
** The fact that the Pikmin are sentient plants seems to imply that their predators are in fact ''herbivores!'' This may be an unusual and uncommon scenario where [[HerbivoresAreFriendly the plant eaters]] [[SubvertedTrope are what you should be afraid of...]]

** Olimar actually mentions this in a journal entry wondering why the Pikmin never bothered to attack him.
*** In fact, with their cute appearance along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet, [[FridgeHorror it's very easy to forget that the]] [[GoodIsNotSoft Pikmin themselves may actually be]] [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon the most terrifying predators of PNF-404]], especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures [[AlwaysChaoticEvil with a lust for blood]]. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when idle and a creature just so happens to be near, [[CuteAndPsycho the Pikmin's predatory instincts will kick in and they're start attacking anything that gets too close to the group]]. Then there's how they reproduce. Since they need nutrients, and most of said nutrients comes from killed animals, it's very easily to have a mental image of an abducted creature being DevouredByTheHorde and its nutrients [[BizarreAlienReproduction being used as a concoction for the Pikmin inside the Onion to breed more adorable, but highly dangerous predators]]. With all this in consideration, it is little wonder why most [[HorrifyingTheHorror monsters on PNF-404, even ones that aren't predatory,]] [[MookHorrorShow tend to prioritize on killing Pikmin.]]

*** In fact, with their cute appearance along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet, [[FridgeHorror it's very easy to forget that the]] [[GoodIsNotSoft Pikmin themselves are may actually be]] [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon the most terrifying predators of PNF-404]], especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures [[AlwaysChaoticEvil with a lust for blood]]. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when idle and a creature just so happens to be near, [[CuteAndPsycho the Pikmin's predatory instincts will kick in and they're start attacking anything that gets too close to the group]]. Then there's how they reproduce. Since they need nutrients, and most of said nutrients comes from killed animals, it's very easily to have a mental image of an abducted creature being DevouredByTheHorde and its nutrients [[BizarreAlienReproduction being used as a concoction for the Pikmin inside the Onion to breed more adorable, but highly dangerous predators]]. With all this in consideration, it is little wonder why most [[HorrifyingTheHorror monsters on PNF-404, even ones that aren't predatory,]] [[MookHorrorShow tend to prioritize on killing Pikmin.]]

*** In fact, with their cute appearance along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet, [[FridgeHorror it's very easy to forget that the]] [[GoodIsNotSoft Pikmin themselves are may actually be the most terrifying predators of PNF-404]], especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]], another species of tiny and social creatures [[AlwaysChaoticEvil with a lust for blood]]. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when idle and a creature just so happens to be near, [[CuteAndPsycho the Pikmin's predatory instincts will kick in and they're start attacking anything that gets too close to the group]]. Then there's how they reproduce. Since they need nutrients, and most of said nutrients comes from killed animals, it's very easily to have a mental image of an abducted creature being DevouredByTheHorde and its nutrients [[BizarreAlienReproduction being used as a concoction for the Pikmin inside the Onion to breed more adorable, but highly dangerous predators]]. With all this in consideration, it is little wonder why most [[HorrifyingTheHorror monsters on PNF-404, even ones that aren't predatory,]] [[MookHorrorShow tend to prioritize on killing Pikmin.]]

*** In fact, with their cute appearance along with the fact they're eaten by every predator they meet, [[FridgeHorror it's very easy to forget that the]] [[GoodIsNotSoft Pikmin themselves are may actually be the most terrifying predators of PNF-404]], especially since [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] himself said that they were based off on [[AntAssault ants]] a species of highly social animals [[AlwaysChaoticEvil with a lust for blood]]. There's the explicit evidence with the fact that most drops that give sprouts are dead bodies, but even when idle and a creature just so happens to be near, [[CuteAndPsycho the Pikmin's predatory instincts will kick in and they're start attacking anything that gets too close to the group]]. Then there's how they reproduce. Since they need nutrients, and most of said nutrients comes from killed animals, it's very easily to have a mental image of an abducted creature being DevouredByTheHorde and its nutrients [[BizarreAlienReproduction being used as a concoction for the Pikmin inside the Onion to breed more adorable, but highly dangerous predators]]. With all this in consideration, it is little wonder why most [[HorrifyingTheHorror monsters on PNF-404, even ones that aren't predatory,]] [[MookHorrorShow tend to prioritize on killing Pikmin.]]