Fleeting Splurchin

The Fleeting Splurchin is an enemy found in the files of. It is thought to have been either an early design of the Spiny Coppeller, a creature meant to have accompanied it. It resembles a spiky green ball with a teal pattern on its front, empty red eyes, and an appendage on top featuring a pair of long wings at its tip.

=In fanon games=

In Pikmin Sunshine
The Spiky Shearwig appears in Pikmin Sunshine as a rotund mandiblard subspecies. Only Rock Pikmin can attack it because of the spikes covering its body.

In Pikmin: Wide World
The Fleeting Splurchin is an airborne splurchin appearing in Pikmin: Wide World. They may be found hovering through the air, either in place or around a distinct path, at a set elevation above the ground or the surface of a body of water. It completely ignores the presence of Pikmin and leaders, although Pikmin and leaders that are thrown at or forced into it will respectively be skewered on its spikes or harmed. Pikmin that are skewered on a Fleeting Splurchin will eventually die unless they are freed by whistling them. Although Fleeting Splurchins may serve as a hazard to thrown Pikmin and leaders, Winged Pikmin are the most impacted by them as they are also airborne.

Fleeting Splurchins resemble others in the splurchin family, being spherical and covered in spikes. However, they are green in color and have three pairs of translucent insectoid wings distributed evenly around the upper portion of their body.

Like other splurchins, Fleeting Splurchins serve more as obstacles than enemies and require unconventional methods to kill. No Pikmin type is effective against one, not even Rock Pikmin, which can not be skewered by it but also can not inflict any damage to the creature. Purple Pikmin are able to slightly weigh down and slow a Fleeting Splurchin they are skewered on until they are either whistled free or perish. The only way to kill a Fleeting Splurchin is to blow it up with a bomb rock, the explosion of which kills the creature instantly should the blast be at full power. Because it is always airborne, the explosive must be thrown at the creature, and because it is covered in spikes the bomb rock used will explode on contact with the creature. Upon its destruction, a Fleeting Splurchin will leave nothing behind except.