Author Notes - This is one I was looking forward to writing, mostly because of the Titan Dweevil. Discussing the multiple theories surrounding this enemy was an absolute joy, and allowed me to go full tin-foil-hat on it too. Also, this contains our deepest look yet into Emily's family, who are an important part of her backstory but she doesn't go into deep detail about them much.
DWEEVIL FAMILY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Pseudoinsecta
Order: Quadropod
EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES
That Titan Dweevil has had me scratching my head for hours. Days even. Captain Olimar's notes are filled with nothing but theories, and I need answers dang it! And don't tell me that searching for answers is the entire point of my job. To that I say…! Wait, you're right. The point is that I NEED ANSWERS!
Even aside from the epic Titan Dweevil, these guys are pretty neat! I mean, they can each use an elemental attack to fight back. That's really cool! And, fortunately for me, my suit already has all the upgrades. It's kinda the only good part about my company - they're very willing to shell out money for good spacesuits. Oh crap… you don't think my company is listening to me right now, do you?
The five little Dweevils and the big Momma Dweevil (as I've come to call her) remind me of... my own family, actually. Like... the caustic one is definitely Felicity, who had one heck of an acidic attitude. The fiery one's gotta be Hannah, thanks to that hot-blooded temper of hers. The gassy one has to be Georgia, who was always proud of her impressive belches. That electric guy might be Ida, since she was a ball of energy too. Kinda had to be, seeing as she had to keep up with four little sisters. Our mother, obviously, is that powerful Titan Dweevil. That would make me the exploding one, which... seems about right.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCES
All known members of the Dweevil family resemble arachnids, albeit with only four legs. The four legs are significantly longer than the comparatively tiny body, so thin they resemble sticks with two joints. The body is comprised of a head and abdomen, with four eyes and mandibles attached to the head. The mandibles are accented with three feather-like feelers.
Between all known species, with the exception of the Mandarachnia gargantium (Titan Dweevil), the only difference in appearance is their colour. The variants and their colour includes: the red Mandarachnia napalmens (Fiery), the yellow M. volticula (Anode), the blue M. sulfurnid (Caustic), the purple M. pungetis (Munge), and the orange M. explodus (Volatile).
The 'main' colour isn't the only colour that changes between these four species. Eye and feeler colour also changes. In the same order as mentioned above, the respective colours are: green/purple, blue/pink, orange/green, indigo, and green/red. Note that the colour scheme of Volatiles may be hard to tell due to their habit of always carrying large explosive devices on their backs.
Titan Dweevils, however, look much different despite retaining the same basic body structure. Not only are their bodies bigger in proportion to their legs, but they have two small 'arms' to accompany their feelers. The biggest difference, of course, is their much bigger size. While common Dweevils are 6-7 cm in height, Titans can easily reach heights of up to 20-25 cm. They are typically a pale yellow in colour, but have demonstrated the ability to change to four different colours - red, yellow, blue, and purple. This colour-changing capability is unique among members of the Dweevil family.
HABITAT
Dweevils have never been found above ground and live exclusively under the planet's surface. They can be found in all sorts of caverns, anywhere between concrete to tiles to even rusted metal. If you see one, you can be sure there's a few more nearby.
Each Dweevil is associated with a 'hazard', and often live where such hazards are abundant. For instance, Anodes are associated with electricity and can usually be found around high amounts of electrically-charged wires. Dweevils appear to be attracted towards their respective 'hazard', hence why they gather around, though it is also likely other Dweevil types simply cannot live around the incorrect 'hazard'. If there are a mixed collection of these hazards, there will often be mixed groups of Dweevils.
The Titan Dweevil, unlike its fairly common small counterparts, is an incredibly rare creature. Only a few are known to exist, potentially making it a critically endangered species. This is due to its habitat existing deep below the planet's surface. The closest most explorers can get is the bottom sublevel of the Dream Den, in a big sink-like structure in the middle of a massive tiled floor. Those who go deeper to find more rarely come back alive.
That being said, it has been confirmed by other explorers (many of whom willingly sacrificed themselves) that every given region with common Dweevils has a Titan hiding somewhere deep, even if it cannot be reached by most explorers. These areas include: the Distant Tundra, the Awakening Wood, the Perplexing Pool, and the Wistful Wild.
DIET AND DEFENCES
Most members of this family are herbivorous, only using their extraordinary attacking methods for self-defence. They will drink the nectar from any plant growing underground, typically eating the moss that grows on the earth or between tiles if there is no nectar around. Of course, there is little to no plant life in the metallic caverns, so Dweevils in such habitats must scavenge meat from expired Dirigibugs or Anode Beetles, occasionally eating Cannon Beetle Larva carrion too. All Dweevils are capable of sustaining a carnivorous diet and are technically omnivores, but will always consume plant matter above all else if it is available.
A common trend among Dweevils is to carry and mimic objects or animal corpses that they carry on their backs, as a method to keep themselves out of harm's way by fooling other creatures. The weight of the object is seemingly irrelevant, as the common Dweevils are capable of carrying up to 50 times their weight. The much bigger Titans, as they naturally weigh more, are only capable of lifting 5 times their weight.
All common Dweevils are capable of unleashing a quick burst of their respective element, an attack only ever used for self defence. Fiery Dweevils, as their name suggests, fight using fire. This is created by flammable internal gasses that it ignites and spews from its jaws. Anodes send out a burst of electricity that it produces through a special organ. Caustics spit out their own bodily fluids, which not only drown organic beings, but is also an acidic liquid capable of burning through hard hides and metal. Munges produce two chemical compounds in their body, which when mixed and released create a toxic cloud of gas.
Volatiles and Titans defend themselves a little differently, due to an inability to create their own elemental weapons. Volatiles can best be described as suicide bombers, as they have a habit of carrying and wielding explosion devices. When the bomb it is carrying detonates, the Dweevil will die. Why on earth it does so is yet to be properly understood. Titans rely solely on their massive size and impressive legs to deal with most foes, though they will often use weapons they carry on their backs. Typically, they do not have the knowledge to wield these weapons properly, but sometimes something is a little off…
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Dweevils are social creatures, preferring to stay in tight groups. The sizes of these groups can range anywhere between merely two to 14 (the current highest recorded number), and all members of this group commonly interact with each other. Friendly Dweevils are often shown to rub feelers together, and will do so regardless of species or sex. Larger groups usually consist of one male and multiple females, while smaller groups are often all male. The biggest of the groups (10-14 members) have a sex ratio of approximately 4 females to 1 male.
Titan Dweevils play an interesting role in Dweevil society in a manner that can best be described as a 'motherly' fashion. It appears that all Titan Dweevils are female (though this is difficult to confirm, due to their rarity), and will be protective of her little ones. If a Titan Dweevil finds that the smaller variants are dying in unusually high numbers, she will find the perpetrator and 'avenge her fallen sweeties' as it were. This is why Titans are often much more aggressive than their smaller counterparts.
Of course, she will only know about the deaths of her little ones if she is there to witness it. If she could not possibly find out that the little Dweevils are dying, then she should not be any more aggressive…
COURTING AND CHILDREARING
Once a male Dweevil is sexually mature, he will traverse the land for a female to mate with. If there are other males in the group, they may follow him or go their own way. For the bigger groups, the females will seek out the few males in their gathering and initiate the mating themselves.
If a wandering male manages to find a female available for mating, he will mate with her. After doing so, the female will consume him to give her eggs more nutrients. After all, he is unlikely to find another female during his short lifespan and it is best that he uses his body for something. The female(s) will lay her eggs wherever is safe, digging a burrow if she can or settling for a rusty pipe if she cannot. She will always attempt to lay them near a source of moss or nectar. While she is defending her eggs, she will be noticeably more aggressive than usual.
When the eggs hatch after a week, the mother leaves them to defend themselves. After eating the leftover egg shells, the hatchlings will do nothing but eat as they grow bigger and bigger by the minute. They grow up surprisingly fast - they fully mature after only a couple of weeks - but they are often hunted by Careening Dirigibugs (see 'Dirigibug') or Sheargrubs (see 'Mandiblard'), depending on where they hatched.
Dweevils typically only mate with their own species, but mixed breeding is possible if they are pushed to it or are otherwise forced to. The offspring have a 50-50 chance of inheriting either their mother's 'element' or their father's. As an example, the offspring of a male Caustic and a female Munge has the same chance to be a Caustic as a Munge.
Titans, due to seemingly being all-female, require genetic material from a common Dweevil. Which kind of Dweevil mates with her is irrelevant, though typically only the biggest get such an opportunity. The Titan's genes are highly dominant over the male's, and will always result in a Titan. She only lays one egg at any given time, and only rarely for an overpopulating Titan could wreck the very ecosystem and the Dweevil social structure. This egg remains dormant until the Titan dies, whereupon the hatchling emerges and takes over as the region's Titan.
THEORIES REGARDING THE TITAN DWEEVIL
The questions regarding the Titan Dweevil are innumerable. This is thanks to Captain Olimar's reports, after he fought one during his third trip to the planet. A co-worker of his - a low-ranking delivery boy named Louie - was found sitting on top of the giant Dweevil's back, alongside a large heaping of treasure. The Titan Dweevil in question fought back far more violently than most of her kind, despite having no way of knowing about the deaths of her little ones several floors above.
This raises several questions, but they all boil down to one basic thing - what on Koppai happened? The short answer is that there is no way to truly know, but the long answer is as follows…
Though the test is near-impossible to replicate without violating some sort of moral code, due to Louie being a person, every single theory has a connection: Louie is the main and perhaps sole reason for this creature's anomalous behaviour. It appears the man in question has a strong connection with bugs, which easily could have driven him towards the mighty pseudoinsect. Further details, however, get rather fuzzy.
While some believe he was merely 'kidnapped' by the Dweevil, many others believe he was in fact controlling her mind. The Hocotate Ship - a(n annoying) beaut of a ship with her own AI - once described it as Louie 'hijacking [the] colossal insect's brain'. If his 'wavelength' is similar to those of bugs, it is not too farfetched to say as such. Louie himself has refused to confirm, but does prefer being called the 'King of Bugs', giving this theory credence.
I, however, have my own theory regarding this creature. Dweevils carry objects on their backs in an attempt to mimic them, as stated before. For example, if it carries the body of a Bulborb, it will attempt to mimic the behaviour of Grub-dogs. With 'Man' upon her back, the Titan Dweevil attempted to mimic him. As 'Man' is known for its impressive capability of using weapons, for better or worse, it is a possibility that the Titan was trying to mimic Man's destruction and love for weapons.
Regardless of the real reason such an incident happened, something becomes quite clear: a Titan should normally never be able to use four different weapons so efficiently, especially when said 'weapons' are actually regular appliances usually used peacefully. But, when Man - in this case, the 'King of Bugs' - is thrown into the mix, it learns how to wreak havoc that nature should not normally allow.
OTHER NOTES
Consumption of the Caustic Dweevil will cause the consumer to gain the sudden desire and enthusiasm when it comes to the task of cleaning crockery and silverware. This has no importance regarding this paper; I just thought this was necessary to share.
NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS
Fiery Dweevil -
The amount of creatures who can use fire on this planet astounds me. Why is it such a common feature? Is it just the norm here, or did they evolve to use fire to battle up against non-Red Pikmin? Either way, without the Scorch Guard it HURTS. - Alph
Okay, so you've got spiders. Pretty bad already, right? But here's the kicker: this spider can SET YOU ON FIRE! I just… WHY IS THIS PLANET LIKE THIS SOMETIMES!? - Brittany
The amount of warriors on (and in) this planet that weaponise flames astounds me. I feel like we should learn something from them. Wait, I got it. Next time I summon my soldiers to battle, I'll make sure they're all packing flamethrowers! - Captain Charlie
Anode Dweevil -
This is definitely one of the more shocking creatures on this planet. … I got nothing else. I wanted to tell that stupid joke, and now I don't know where to go from here. Anything non-Yellow is in for quite the shock. … Help me! I can't stop! - Alph
I hate this thing. See, I let it pick me up and carry me around. And it was actually fun at first. But then a Yellow Pikmin felt the need to attack it, and next thing I know… ZAP! I STILL haven't managed to straighten out my hair! - Brittany
This planet is packed with unique battle tactics! I never would've thought of electrocuting the enemy. Of course, that seems a little TOO harsh, and it's really hard to weaponise that without getting electrocuted yourself. - Captain Charlie
Caustic Dweevil -
It appears to be attacking with water, but it's actually a water-like acid that can damage our suits. Yet, it still functions as water regarding Pikmin. Non-blues are sure to drown. Perhaps Blue Pikmin have a sort of acidic resistance? - Alph
Okay, the acid kinda sucks, but this creature does after its uses. After I got a good lick at one - don't ask - I hadn't gotten all the dishes washed so quickly before! In fact… I think I'll go for another round! - Brittany
Ever since we found one of these, Brittany's been washing the dishes at an alarming rate. Usually I'm against her licking all the strange creatures we find, but… for once, I'm not complaining. - Captain Charlie
Munge Dweevil -
This is just about the only one of these Dweevils an upgrade-less captain can face without any worry. But it makes up for it by being quite a bit hardier than the others. Do you think it KNEW that its attacks would be useless against us, or…? - Alph
The gas this thing releases actually doesn't look that bad. It doesn't really SMELL so good though. Thank goodness for the air-filtering suits. I can't imagine what would happen if I inhaled this thing's gases! - Brittany
Now this is a typical battle strategy. Poisonous gases are used quite a lot in wars. I'm not sure how I feel about such a tactic. At least this kind can be easily seen, so you won't perish slowly to an invisible danger… - Captain Charlie
Volatile Dweevil -
I question the decisions made to create this model. Yes, it is quite powerful, but it always results in the creature's death. This seems a bit… anti-natural-selection, doesn't it? - Alph
Okay, how was THIS one made? 'Oh yeah, you know those bombs.' 'Yeah?' 'How about we make bombs that can WALK?' 'Brilliant idea!' Congrats, you've made one of the SCARIEST things on this planet! Isn't it just fun walking through a lovely cave only for a WALKING BOMB TO DROP DOWN ON YOU?! - Brittany
Suicide tactics are shockingly common in war, no matter what side you're on. I'm willing to go down for my team, but luckily the situation hasn't come up yet. I've lost many soldiers willing to throw their lives away to protect others, and they always make me proud. I cannot hate you, Volatile Dweevil, because I know how brave you really are. - Captain Charlie
Titan Dweevil-
The questions surrounding this model are numerous, and fascinating. If only I could know just what the designer was thinking… there's so many amazing creations out there and I'll never know just how most of them were made! - Alph
I can't help but think there's some sort of metaphor about humanity's habit of wielding weapons to make themselves appear stronger somewhere in here. I can't be sure, though. Maybe Alph could write a neat poem about it... - Brittany
The power of man is one to be feared… whether this creature is in control of its own actions or not, it is still powerful only with the use of manmade weaponry. Without that, it's practically harmless. Makes you wonder what else man has done to nature... - Captain Charlie
Author Notes - I didn't want to say what was happening for sure, because I feel that can kinda ruin the fun of the mystery. So, I threw in my own theory and made it clear that any theory is equally valid. After all, even the smartest scientist in the world doesn't have all the answers. That's literally how science works. No, that's definitely not an excuse for laziness.
In case anyone is wondering, Emily referring to the ship as having 'her own AI' isn't necessarily me saying that the Hocotate Ship has actually been female the whole time. It's more so Emily just calling it a 'she' like we often do with boats and stuff. Of course, the Ship is usually referred to as an 'it' by Olimar, but he rarely adopts 'he/him' for it and yet that could easily be seen as a 'male pronoun is the default' thing. I could go into further details, but I don't wanna start something.
ANYWAY, love will be in the air when we deal with those GODDAMN ANNOYING Blinnows!
