Oatchi

Lore & Background

Oatchi is a "Space Dog", a bipedal alien species that resembles the appearance of a dog. He has a yellow coat of fur, a tail with a white furry ball at the end that resembles a dandelion's seedhead, and lacks a visible nose. The character is also commonly depicted with a red collar. Oatchi is a type of Space Dog known as a Rescue Pup, a breed raised on the planet Giya. Giya is home to the Shepherd family, a generational line of Rescue Corps captains who have raised Oatchi's breeds for generations. In Pikmin 4, Oatchi is a member of the Rescue Corps, an intergalactic organisation tasked with helping stranded explorers, referred to in-game as "castaways". At the beginning of the game, the Rescue Corps sends out a team with Oatchi led by Captain Shephard, tasked with rescuing series protagonist Captain Olimar from the planet PNF-404. However, upon arrival to the planet the team crash land on the planet and are separated from each-other. The Rescue Corps proceed to task the player character, a new recruit to the organisation, with rescuing the now stranded team. Reaching PNF-404, the player character encounters and teams up with Oatchi to scout out the nearby members of the Rescue Corps team. Upon finding a colony of Pikmin near the Rescue Corps' ship, they cooperate with the player and Oatchi in exploring the planet and finding Captain Olimar. Later in the game, the Rescue Corps are able to find and rescue Olimar. Trying to leave the planet and return home, the team realise Oatchi is unable to leave the surface of the planet due to an illness that sprouts a leaf on his tail (similar to the leaves on a Pikmin's head). Unable to leave, Oatchi and the player search for a cure for the illness. They find the necessary ingredients after defeating a giant dog-like creature, which has the DNA able to create a cure for Oatchi.

In Their Own Story

The character of Oatchi was created as a result of the series' low sales, causing developers to consider ideas for a unique selling point for Pikmin 4 that grabbed people's attention and impacted the game's overall gameplay. In interviews, Pikmin 4 co-director Yuji Kando mentioned how during the early stages of the game's development, himself and other developers toyed with a prototype that allowed the player to control a recurring enemy known as a Bulborb. With this mechanic the player would be able to use the enemy to consume Pikmin, which developers believed would simple to control, be visually striking and give satisfaction to the player. Kando added that they tried to develop ways for the player to control or possess enemies, mentioning Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey as an inspiration, but according to Kando "it was difficult to come up with something that fit the world of Pikmin." As development furthered, developers considered the possibility of being able to control various creatures as well as letting the player ride them, however Kando commented that it had become difficult to connect everything into a coherent game. Developers started to find it difficult to justify having the player control an enemy, so they instead tried to have a character be more associated with the game's narrative of rescuing Olimar. The idea of "rescue dogs" came to mind with developers, which lead to the decision to add Oatchi as a partner to the player character. Kando spoke about how the creation of Oatchi became the starting point in getting the game's narrative and mechanics to come together, giving an example of how the idea of Oatchi being a rescue dog lead to the creation of the Rescue Corp. Pikmin 4 designer and writer Yutaka Hiramuki noted in an interview with 4Gamer.net that Oatchi also led to the creation of Moss as an opponent in the game's Dandori Battles. He mentioned that this led to additions to the narrative to explain the two similar dog-like creatures in the game, which gave Oatchi a greater presence in the game.

Reader's Guide

In Pikmin 4, Oatchi can be commanded by the player to perform tasks to aid in exploring such as destroying obstacles, carrying items and defeating enemies. Oatchi can also function as transport for both the player and the titular Pikmin. These abilities can be upgraded as the player progresses through the game. Additionally, Oatchi can function as a second captain, meaning he can command his own squad of Pikmin which can be used for puzzle solving. Oatchi was developed to have two different aspects to his gameplay; a "Super Pikmin" side where he has the power of ten Pikmin when fighting or carrying an object, and a playable character side where Oatchi can operate separately from the player character and can command his own Pikmin. Hiramuki stated that developers chose a dog to allow his incorporation into the game's narrative as a Rescue Corps member in order to sniff out castaways, as well to train the player to increase Oatchi's utilities such as transport. Hiramuki added that during development, adjustments were made to maintain the balance between the abilities of Oatchi and the Pikmin. Kando mentioned that he was initially worried about the character making battles too easy, but later believed that Oatchi deepened the "strategic nature of the game" and coincided with the theme of Dandori as Oatchi was both controllable by the player and could also be ordered to do tasks independently. Oatchi can be commanded to charge; either to travel more quickly for a short distance or to bash into breakable objects and enemies. Oatchi can be separated from the player to become the game's secondary captain. In this state, Oatchi is able to command and throw Pikmin to perform tasks, which is useful for multitasking and solving puzzles. Oatchi is able to gain new abilities such as swimming, as well as upgrade existing abilities using Pup Drives; points earned by completing tasks that can be exchanged with Captain Shephard.

Did You Know?

• Oatchi's tail has a white furry ball at the end that resembles a dandelion's seedhead.
• Oatchi is a type of Space Dog known as a Rescue Pup, a breed raised on the planet Giya, home to the Shepherd family.
• The idea of Oatchi being a rescue dog led to the creation of the Rescue Corps in the game's narrative.
• Oatchi's creation was inspired by early prototypes where developers toyed with controlling a Bulborb enemy, and later by Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey.
• Oatchi appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2024 as a spirit, a collectable obtained by playing matches under certain conditions.