Crystal

Crystals are obstacles that appear as translucent rock. Crystals can contain objects and their main purpose is to serve as blockades. Despite there being different types of crystal-related objects, all of them need Rock Pikmin or bomb rocks to be broken; other Pikmin types will just tap away, only to give up after a bit. Gates made of it are called crystal gates. Some fanon games feature glass, which is usually identical to crystal, and ice, which is similar to crystal but can freeze upon contact.

Large crystals can contain fruits, fragments, data files, and even spray nectar and Onions. Small crystals don't contain major objects, usually just pellets, but they can block geysers. Crystal nodules are very small crystals that are usually weaponized by enemies, most notably Skutterchucks, and are sometimes present in large, seemingly inexhaustive piles called crystal nests. Crystal stalactites hang from ceilings and fall when leaders or Pikmin pass underneath them.

=In fanon games=

In Pikmin 2... Again?
Crystal return in Pikmin 2... Again?. For the most part, they function as they do in, being static obstacles that may contain useful items, but crystal nodules can roll along angled terrain and have objects suspended within. A new form of crystal is amethyst, a purple mineral much like normal crystal, but only Original Pikmin can destroy it. Amythest can function like clogs, blocking the entrances to caves until an accessible one is cleared, as well as gates, preventing access beyond them. Clearing the Nightmare Den will also clear the amethyst gate blocking access to the Original Pikmin.

In Pikmin: Dual Worlds
Crystals appear in Pikmin: Dual Worlds exactly as they do in. Horned Skutterchucks can obtain crystal nodules, which are found in Feverpitch Forest and Quinacridone Quarry, from certain crystalline structures such as large crystals and crystal nests.

In Pikmin: Shipwrecked Stargazers
Crystals in Pikmin: Shipwrecked Stargazers are largely unchanged compared to how they were in. The Venowraith's titular venom is also shown to have the ability to rapidly crystalize into a solid, typically into a condensed, nodule-like form. This, in conjunction with its many blunt force attacks, means Rock Pikmin are advised for its battle. Venom crystals also appear as scenery in its greater habitat, the Nomadic Butte.