Puffstool

The Puffstool is an enemy in Pikmin 1 that appears to be a huge walking fungus. It has a red capped mushroom head and a tender yellow torso which is vulnerable to swarming. Not much is scientifically known of it, but minimal details are supplied.

The Puffstool will try to run when attacked, but its legs are clearly not made for sprinting and it trips easily, landing on its head with feet in the air. Since the cap is invulnerable to attack, Pikmin must be thrown onto its undersection once it's on the ground. After a few seconds, the Puffstool will right itself up and blow out a purplish cloud of spores which cause a strange change in nearby Pikmin, which the Puffstool acts as a Captain for. Affected Pikmin turn purple and grow small brown mushroom caps on their stalks. These Pikmin are known infamously as Mushroom Pikmin, Zombie pikmin, or Toadmin.

Pikmin:Redemption
In Redemption the puffstool is actually a boss and is quite hard. The how to kill section is above. Your reward, however, is a special egg that allows you to store 100 pikmin inside of it. The best part is that it is portable so you can take 200 pikmin with you to places without them being on the field. Cool, huh? This is tougher than you think it is. For starter, this puffstool is inside a cave so you can't only attack it with the captains. Secondly, it can release purple Spore Bombs that release puffstool spores when they explode. keep on throwing pikmin at this wandering creature but watch out it might extract poison which will cause some pikmin who are still in its range into killer mushroom pikmin who will attack olimar and other pikmin these pikmin will soon die after a short period of time. after deafeting it its body will flatten and you can take it back to the onion for a load of whooping 30 seeds.

Pikmin: Secret of the Earth
The Puffstool is confirmed as an important character in the plot, presumably antagonistic as the story is a tribute to the Pikmin fanfic, "Spored."

Pikspore
PS undefined The Puffstool is an uncommon enemy in PikSpore, appearing in a few caves. Several subspecies and a Darkfreeze-infused form exist as well.

Pikmin 3: The New Exploration
The Puffstool is found around wet areas and even in your landing site. This time they can control your Pikmin by making them go through hazards.

Olimar's Notes

''This creature is harmless unless provoked. It will let out a strange substance that turns any kind of Pikmin into Mushroom Pikmin.

Pikmin: Return to the Distant Planet
The Puffstools in PRDP act very much like their Pikmin 1 counterparts. The only difference is they can only control 10 pikmin at a time, and they usually spawn(7/10 chance) with 10 pikmin following them. Once defeated, you can keep the Mushroom Pikmin, which will be idle and attack nearby enemies, or will start following another Puffstool if another one is present.