Rubynite Emperor Bulblax

The Rubynite Emperor Bulblax is a grub-dog appearing in Pikmin 2: New Year as a relative of the Emperor Bulblax. It remains burrowed into the ground with only its eyestalks and eyeballs exposed, and when Pikmin or leaders come close, it erupts from the ground to reveal its true form. It will then stomp towards its prey, attempting to lap them up on its massive tongue when in range. If its prey is under its body, a Rubynite Emperor Bulblax will jump in place to crush them under its weight. Additionally, when critically injured, it will roar, sending Pikmin into a panic and Mitites up from the ground.

Compared to ordinary Emperor Bulblaxes, Rubynite Emperor Bulblaxes have a more vivid yellow face and an armored backside that is partially red.

Because they can only be attacked from the front, Rubynite Emperor Bulblaxes can be a tricky foe in combat. The optimal strategy against one is to throw Pikmin between its eyestalks while it is buried and continue throwing them onto its face after it erupts from the ground, often resulting in a fast kill when many Pikmin are used. If this fails and the creature survives the attack on it, there are two backup strategies to counteract this: one is a hit-and-run tactic involving throwing a few Pikmin onto its face before it can lick them up from the ground, and the other involves leaving the creature alone so it burrows into the ground again and the initial tactic can be reattempted.