How to unlock the Purple Onion and White Onion in Pikmin 4

Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin are among the strongest in the game, but to get their respective Onions in Pikmin 4, you’ll have to really work for it. You won’t be able to unlock the Purple Onion and White Onion until around halfway through the game, and you’ll need to be a Pikmin master in order to get them.

You will need to complete timed story missions, as well as special Dandori challenges in order to get the White Onion and Purple Onion. Note that you really do have to complete these challenges on your own — you can’t use Dingo to help auto-complete them the way you can with some of the story bits.

[Ed. note: This guide contains narrative spoilers for Pikmin 4.]

How to access the challenges for the Purple Onion and White Onion

There are a few things you have to do before you can unlock the Purple Onion and White Onion:

1. Clear the part of the story in the Hero’s Hideaway (the fourth area) to unlock Olimar at the ship base.
2. Complete Olimar’s Shipwrecked Tale — which means gathering all 30 ship parts within the 15-day time limit. You can start this by talking to Olimar by his ship at the hub area.
3. Head into the new mysterious cave (“Trial of the Sage Leaf”) that unlocks in the hub area.

This area will have 10 floors of Dandori challenges and you’ll get an Onion for every five floors you complete.

How to unlock the White Onion in Pikmin 4

You’ll get the White Onion as a reward for completing “5th Story: The White Key” in the mysterious cave.

To get the White Onion, you’ll need to utilize Pink, White, and Rock Pikmin to collect billiard balls to unlock a door. Once the door is open, you can have Pikmin carry the White Onion to your ship, adding it to your very own Onion.

Make sure to use your Pink Pikmin as much as possible, as they can fly over some of the gaps, reducing the time it takes to collect treasure.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

How to unlock the Purple Onion in Pikmin 4

You’ll have to complete the 10th floor of the mysterious cave, “Final Story: The Purple Key.”

To get the Purple Onion, you’ll need to use Ice and Purple Pikmin, as well as Oatchi, to help you navigate a labyrinth with a Waterwraith in the way. Unless you’re a Dandori expert, you will likely need Oatchi’s strength to be maxed out — meaning he’ll need to be able to carry 100 Pikmins worth of weight.

If you’re having trouble making it in time, destroy the Waterwraith with Purple Pikmin as soon as you can. However, once you destroy the wheels that it rolls on, you can ignore it, as it won’t really get in your way after this. Use Oatchi to grab the heavy Purple Onion and use your Pikmin to clear a path to the ship.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon