Moss

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The Moss is a character and enemy introduced in Pikmin 4. She is a space dog who Olimar met before the events of the game, in Blossoming Arcadia. Olimar allegedly saved her from starvation, as he fed her a bone when they first met. After meeting, they quickly bonded together and proved helpful with Olimar's journey back home. Moss has a leaf on her tail just like the Pikmin have a leaf on top of their head.

History

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Moss appears to be a fully-grown creature of the same species as Oatchi. Her carrying capacity is the same as Oatchi at his max buff upgrade and is the originator of Oatchi's swallow ability but does not seem to have attended any training from a certified individual such as Erma Shepherd, however it does seem like she naturally gained her abilities or was trained by Olimar as implied by Olimar's shipwreck tale. It is shown, however, that she is capable of jumping, and performing the Rush attack, as this is necessary for the mandatory demise of the Porquillion whilst playing as Olimar at the beginning of the game.

Eventually, she appears once again after the player reaches Hero’s Hideaway, where she actively scouts out the player, and attempts to kidnap their Pikmin by brainwashing them with a whistle of her own, similar to the Antenna Beetle. After she has kidnapped the max limit of Pikmin she can at a time, she walks towards the bunker, and dumps any kidnapped Pikmin outside. These Pikmin will not respond to the Idler's Alert (but they do respond to the Homesick Signal). Moss takes damage like any enemy and can even be damaged by other enemies. If she takes a lot of damage, she will run off to a corner of the house in a panic, dropping captured Pikmin along the way. Once she reaches the corner, she will fall asleep so she can heal herself. Waking her up some time after this nap will cause her to become active like normal again. Moss cannot be permanently defeated; when her health is depleted, she will be incapacitated and begin regenerating her health over a period of exactly five minutes. Collin will inform the player when Moss's health is fully restored so they can plan their activities accordingly.

If Oatchi is around, she will periodically stop to bark at him, even if she's busy taking Pikmin away. Oatchi himself will also bark at her at random. If the player approaches her without Pikmin, she will just continue roaming around, with the occasional bark at Oatchi. She ignores Scrummy Bones, and while she will approach and prioritize Pikpik carrots, she will only sniff them and bark at them.

Moss remains on the map until Olimin is defeated.

Moss is unaffected by the cure that was made for Oatchi in the game's final act because of her being born native to the planet, meaning she had to be left behind. It was shown that she took up the mantle as captain once everyone has left the planet, leading the Pikmin to a better, safer life.

Notes

Dalmo's Notes

“Oatchi and Moss are like two peas in a pod. It's quite unprecedented that a space dog should meet such a similar creature on a far-off, unknown planet. You could even call it miraculous. Could they be siblings separated at birth? No, that's just not possible.”

Olimar's Notes

“As far as I can tell, Moss has been a leafling pup since birth, and some of her DNA resembles that of the Pikmin. This is the one point in which she differs from Oatchi. When Oatchi transformed from a standard space dog into a leafling pup, I started to theorize that the Pikmin are, in some capacity, propagating their DNA in other organisms. The phenomenon in which all those castaways, including myself, became leaflings was very likely caused by being absorbed into the Onion. Perhaps that process was also some sort of Pikmin-ification of the body. Pikmin-ified organisms can't leave this planet, so the Pikmin may have been motivated to carry out this process in an effort to secure a permanent leader. Of course, this is all a theory...”

Louie's Notes

“Convenient for procuring ingredients. Compact, with a tight turning radius.”

Strategy

The easiest way to deal with Moss is to just go at her with just Oatchi and the captain. However, this is time consuming, so use Pikmin if you have good reflexes/Pikmin to spare.

Trivia

• It is made apparent that Oatchi and Moss are of a similar or the same breed, but their tails are different. Oatchi's is a white, fluffy ball, but Moss's is a leaf almost identical to one on the head of a Pikmin as a natural evolution to help her acclimate to the environment.
• When Moss steals Pikmin, her whistle is pink. This is a similarity to the Antenna Beetle, who also steals Pikmin with a pink whistle.
• Moss is the only creature to (basically) revive in Pikmin 4.

Gallery

Main Article: Moss/Gallery.

Moss's Voyage Log

A look of Moss often referred to by the community as her 'Death Stare'.

Olimin and Moss together in a Dandori Battle.