Choose your seeds.
Mutant plants and fungi (created by Bloom & Doom Seed Co.) that the player uses to defend their home from the zombie hordes. The plants are sorted by the levels they debut in, or if they differ greatly.
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In general:
In general
- Abnormal Ammo: Most long-ranged plants shoot these.
- Ambiguous Gender: Several plants' genders aren't mentioned in the almanac.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Being plants, quite a few are fruits and vegetables.
- Badass Adorable: Most of the plants: beady eyes, friendly, and capable of vanquishing wave upon wave of invading undead.
- Badass Army: Especially the more powerful offensive plants. This trope seems to be played up in the Garden Warfare spin-off, as both the plants and zombies look more militarized.
- Bullet Seed: Most plants (most notably all the Peashooter variants) attack by spitting or launching their seeds or spores at zombies.
- Cooldown: Plants are given cooldown/recovery time after planting; some plants have longer cooldown than others. A few certain plants also have their own cooldown after action.
- Critical Existence Failure: All plants' performance will stay the same even if they're at the brink of death. Exceptions are the defensive plants (in a visual sense, anyway; their ability to block advancing zombies stays the same).
- Death Trap: Some of the plants act like this, such as Potato Mine and Tangle Kelp.
- Edible Ammunition: As a good number of the shooting plants are based on edible fruit or vegetables, the attacks they fire out also tend to be fruit, vegetables, or seeds.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Fire plants in general do not work well with ice plants in tandem.
- Fungi Are Plants: Various kinds of mushrooms are among the titular "plants" that players can grow on their lawns. The catch is, they’re nocturnal, and are only useful when it’s night out (unless you give them a Coffee Bean).
- Lighter and Softer: All the plant designs in the sequels have rounder edges, larger eyes, and pudgier features.
- Long-Range Fighter: A variation — most plants that shoot projectiles work at any distance, but you'll want them as far in the back as possible so they have more time to shoot at approaching zombies.
- Must Have Caffeine: All mushrooms need a Coffee Bean to stay awake during day levels.
- No Mouth: Many plants have this design, while usually having at least a pair of eyes. Seeing as they're plants, it's weirder that they have eyes than that they don't have mouths...
- Plant Person: They at least have faces, and according to their Almanac entries, they're quite human-like in personality.
- Pun-Based Creature: Most of the plants' appearances and abilities are derived from puns on their names — Wall-Nut is a walnut used as a barrier, Plantern makes light, Blover is a clover that makes wind, Imitater is a potato that copies other plants, and so on.
- Super Spit: Several straight-shooting Plants attack via spitting seeds or spores or spikes, most notably all the Peashooter variants.
- The Smurfette Principle: The male plants far outnumber the female ones.
Day Levels:
Peashooter
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
How can a single plant grow and shoot so many peas so quickly? Peashooter says, "Hard work, commitment, and a healthy, well-balanced breakfast of sunlight and high-fiber carbon dioxide make it all possible."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"What is it like being famous?" asked the Peashooter while sipping his bottled water, "I can't talk right now, I'm finishing my merchandising deal. Hold my fir coat."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
To say Peashooter "just" shoots peas is like saying pizza "just" tastes delicious, and skylights "just" let a bit of natural light through a ceiling. "Just" ridiculous!
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
The first plant acquired in most Plants vs. Zombies games. They fire moderately-damaging peas at zombies at moderate rate of fire. Costs 100 sun in both games, and recharges fast. In the second game, if given Plant Food, he temporarily becomes a Gatling Pea and shoots 60 peas in rapid succession.
- Boring, but Practical:
- You're going to end up using more flashy plants later in the game, but the Peashooter gets the job done most of the time.
- In Plants Vs Zombies 2, his relatively low power is compensated by an extremely fast level gain, allowing him to start dealing much better damage while costing way less sun.
- In the Chinese version of PvZ2, he can get his level-ups through Plant Adventures and Star rewards. His level-ups give him a special ability to randomly fire 5 peas at a time and boost his stats significantly.
- Cool Helmet: Gains one during his Plant Food ability.
- Crutch Character: In the original game, Peashooter is the first plant unlocked and therefore the backbone of your defense for the first few levels. Once you start getting more specialized or more powerful options, though, Peashooter will be retired very quickly.
- Disc-One Nuke: In the Chinese version of PvZ2. Combine the aforementioned level-ups with the fact that Torchwood, a plant that boosts pea plants, is unlocked very early on, and you get the most powerful offensive plant in your arsenal for quite a while.
- Edible Ammunition: Peas, obviously.
- Famed In-Story: In the second game, he's famous for his role in defeating the zombies in the first game.
- Frankenstein's Monster: His Halloween costume in the second game turns him into this.
- Gatling Good: In the second game, his Plant Food ability.
- Legendary in the Sequel: At least in the second game, it is mentioned that he has become famous.
- More Dakka: His Plant Food ability fires a burst of 60 peas in quick succession. Also, his upgrades in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Later on, you get flashier plants with better side effects, making the peashooter less useful. But it's rather cheap and very reliable.
- Promoted to Playable: In Garden Warfare, he's one of the playable classes.
- Pun-Based Creature: "Peashooter" is slang for a small, weak gun. In this case, it's an actual pea plant that fires its seeds like bullets from a gun.
- Shout-Out: His design resembles a Bellsprout.
- Starting Units: He's the first plant you get in most versions of Plants vs. Zombies.
- Stealth Pun: Peashooter is also a slang term for "weak weapons", and he's fittingly the most basic offensive plant in the game.
- Took a Level in Badass: At merely level 7, he's able to kill regular zombies in just four shots. Furthermore, he's also one of the plants that levels up very quickly.
Sunflower
Click here to see her PVZ2 appearance
Sunflower can't resist bouncing to the beat. Which beat is that? Why, the life-giving jazzy rhythm of the Earth itself, thumping at a frequency only Sunflower can hear.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
After the release of her first major Youtuber video "Zombies On Your Lawn," Sunflower's Youtuber channel has been bursting with fun. She is currently putting the final touches on her reality show TV pitch "Sunflower Thinks She Can Dance."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
The second plant acquired in most Plants vs. Zombies games, and among the first in the second game. Sunflowers produce sunlight (to be exact, 25 sun in the first game, and 50 in the second) which the player needs to plant plants. Recharges fast and costs 50 sun. Can be upgraded to Twin Sunflower, although she is a standalone plant in the sequel. When given plant food, Sunflower will produce 150 sun.
- Boring, but Practical: Sunflower doesn't attack zombies or do anything, but they can produce sun. The more Sunflowers you plants, the more you can build your defense.
- Damsel in Distress: In a few minigames in the second game, you have to secure a bunch of them from zombie attacks. Lose just one, and it's game over.
- Demoted to Extra: In the third game Sunflowers cannot be used and instead the player has a sun counter that automatically goes up every few seconds.
- Famed In-Story: Becomes popular in the second game, due to her "Zombies On Your Lawn" video going viral.
- Flower Motifs: The flower motif of choice in artwork related to Plants vs. Zombies, at least most of the time.
- Legendary in the Sequel: The second game mentions that she has become famous.
- Perpetual Smiler: Fitting for a plant that literally personifies Sunny Sunflower Disposition, she's always seen smiling no matter what happens.
- Power Glows: Whenever she's about to produce sun.
- The Power of the Sun: While this includes all plants except a choice few, the Sunflower specifically makes bundles of sunlight.
- Promoted to Playable: In Garden Warfare, she's one of the playable classes.
- Series Mascot: Semi-officially, at least. Sunflower appears in promotional material, and even sings the theme song.
- Starting Units: In the second game, along with Peashooter, Potato Mine, and Wall-Nut.
- Suddenly Speaking: She sings the theme song "Zombies on Your Lawn" at the end of the game.
- Sunny Sunflower Disposition: A smiling, happy bouncing sunflower.
- Support Party Member: By giving suns.
- Took a Level in Badass: Gains the ability to attack in Garden Warfare and All Stars.
- Worker Unit: She's responsible for generating your primary resource, thereby sustaining your entire defense.
Cherry Bomb
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
"I wanna explode," says Cherry #1. "No, let's detonate instead!" says his brother, Cherry #2. After intense consultation they agree to explodonate.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
The Cherry Bomb Brothers attempted to start their own band. "We tried to figure out what the sound would be, but we kept explodonating speakers, stages, fans, and of course, zombies. Look for our LP next year."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
The Cherry Bomb explodes in a 3x3 area around itself, insta-killing most zombies. Recharges very slowly and costs 150 sun.
- Action Bomb: Takes out a large crowd of zombies. It also explodes very quickly after planting.
- Conjoined Twins: Both heads are brothers.
- Face of a Thug: Downplayed. While they look terrifying and are rather hotheaded, they're just trying to protect your lawn from zombies.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look closely
◊, before they explode, their expressions change from angry to This Is Gonna Suck. - Multiple Head Case: Has two heads that argue with each other and are brothers.
- One-Hit Kill: Its explosion deals enough damage to kill most zombies in a 3x3 area.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: A rare subversion when both Grapeshot and Bombegranate came out. While Grapeshot and Bombegranate are direct upgrades in all ways, the fact that all three can be used together effectively cuts the recharge time for a 3x3 area One-Hit Kill. Pair either with an Imitater and you have a far shorter recharge time.
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: They can't decide whether to explode or detonate, so they decide to explodonate instead.
- Pun-Based Creature: They're a literal take on "cherry bombs", a kind of firecrackers.
- Shout-Out: Their homburg-and-shades costume in the second game is a Shout Out to The Blues Brothers.
- Splash Damage: Hits all zombies in a 3x3 area.
- Unsound Effect: "POWIE" in the first game, and "CHA-BOOF" in the second game, for the explosion.
Wall-nut
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
"People wonder how I feel about getting constantly chewed on by zombies," says Wall-nut. "What they don't realize is that with my limited senses all I can feel is a kind of tingling, like a relaxing back rub."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Having retired from his days as a champion bowler in the Pro Leagues, Wall-nut is looking forward to a real challenge on the front lines of home defense. DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Wall-Nut is about more than getting gnawed on by zombies. He's also great at holding your place in line, filling seats at award shows, and listening.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
The Wall-nut acts as a defensive wall, giving other plants more time to defeat zombies. Recharges slowly, costs 50 sun. If given Plant Food, he'll add a layer of armor that boosts his health.
- Action Bomb: In the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, leveling him up gives him the ability to explode. Unlike most examples of this trope, it bounces zombies back rather than damaging them.
- Bandage Mummy: His Halloween costume in the second game.
- Bash Brothers: According to Tree of Wisdom, Wall-nut is one with Chomper. They were also college roomies.
- Call-Back: His Almanac entry in the second game references the Wall-nut Bowling in the first game (specifically about how he's a former bowler champion).
- Deployable Cover: His function in a nutshell is to block off zombies and protect your plants.
- Distressed Dude: He has to be guarded in one minigame in the sequel, but is a lot tougher than the Sunflower.
- Elemental Powers: In the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, he gains a trio of elemental orbs once he gets to level 5, which he uses to attack zombies that come near.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Wall-nut is a wall that is a nut, and resembles a walnut.
- Feel No Pain: According to the Suburban Almanac, Wall-nut feels a light backrub when being eaten.
- Fish Eyes: Becomes reduced to this once nearly eaten in the second game.
- The Juggernaut: The Giant Wall-Nut in Wall-Nut Bowling is unstoppable and will mow down everything in its path.
- One-Hit Kill:
- In the console versions, there's a very rare chance for a normal zombie to get a nut allergy on their first bite on a Wall-Nut, causing its face to bloat up as it dies regardless of health.
- The Giant Wall-Nut, if hacked into Zomboss' level, can and will instantly kill both Gargantuars as well as Zomboss himself.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: In the second game, he's pretty much outclassed by the game's new "wall" plants:
- For 25 extra sun, the Primal Wall-Nut has a lower toughness, but comes with a fast recharge and can survive two Gargantuar smashes.
- For the same sun cost, slightly less defense, and a much faster recharge, the Explode-O-Nut performs the same function as him, plus blowing up like a Cherry Bomb on defeat.
- There's also Endurian, who has a higher sun cost, but can damage zombies as they eat him.
- Infi-nut has a slightly higher cost than a Wall-nut, but this is made up for because Infi-nut can regenerate his health, meaning you only ever have to plant one in a row while Wall-nuts need replacing as they are eaten.
- Pinball Projectile: In Wall-Nut Bowling, his specialty is ricocheting multiple zombies and killing them at once.
- Pun-Based Creature: A walnut that serves as a literal wall.
- Rolling Attack: Is given one during Wall-nut Bowling mode.
- Scarf of Asskicking: He has one as a costume in the second game.
- Shows Damage: As Wall-Nut takes damage, his shell cracks and his expression gradually changes to a frown.
- Starting Units: In the second game, together with Sunflower, Peashooter, and Potato Mine. Also one for the survival levels, the only plant that is present from the start in all of them.
- Stone Wall: The Wall-nut has no combat abilities (except in the mini-game "Wall-nut Bowling"), but can take a lot more bites than most plants.
- Super-Toughness: His Plant Food ability in the second game gives him an armor that can withstand a Gargantuar smash as well as a Turquoise Skull Zombie's laser, the latter being an attack that can kill a hypnotized Gargantuar instantly.
- Support Party Member: By acting as defense.
- Twitchy Eye: Does this if he's eaten enough.
Potato Mine
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
Some folks say Potato Mine is lazy, that he leaves everything to the last minute. Potato Mine says nothing. He's too busy thinking about his investment strategy.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Believe it or not, SPUDOW! did not happen overnight. Having been forced to try out new catchphrases and focus testing as many variations as possible (Tubular? Really?), Potato Mine weeded out the competition to stick with what he knows best.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Potato Mine works hard even under scorched earth. You think he may be little, until you see his real body anyways.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry.
Potato Mine doesn't SPUDOW! for the glory, the fame, or the multi-movie deal he's negotiating with Starchmore Studios. He does it because he's got a crush on Sweet Potato. He's counting on his bestie, Sun Bean, not to spill the beans.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Explodes and damages all zombies on the tile it is planted on. Takes 15 seconds to be activated. Recharges slowly, costs 25 sun. If given Plant Food, he will instantly arm himself and then releases 2 armed mines in 2 empty tiles to his right.
- Action Bomb: It works much like a land mine.
- Cool Mask: It gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Distressed Dude: You need to save a bunch of Potato Mines from being harmed by zombies in one level in the Big Wave Beach. Unfortunately, their placements are right next to the "low tide" line, meaning that during low tides, the zombies can quickly breach the place to get to them.
- Emergency Weapon: It can be used at the start of any level when there aren't many zombies to attack yet, to conserve sun for your stronger plants.
- Foreshadowing: The Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 implies that he's much bigger than he looks. Fast forward to Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, and we got to see Potato Mine completely unearthed through the massive Spudow.
- Lazy Bum: Other people in-universe think Potato Mine is this, that he tends to leave everything to the last minute.
- Logical Weakness: Due to being an underground plant, he cannot trigger if an Airborne Mook gets near him, and his explosion will leave flying foes unaffected in the second game.
- No Body Left Behind: In the first game, zombies killed by him are instantly disintegrated.
- Not Enough to Bury: In the sequel, zombies killed by him have only their heads remain, falling to the ground. In the first game, they simply disappeared outright.
- One-Hit Kill: Once armed, Potato Mine destroys most zombies within about one tile's range on contact.
- Self-Duplication: If given Plant Food. Higher levels allow him to produce more duplicates.
- Starting Units: In the second game, along with Peashooter, Wall-Nut, and Sunflower.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: He's effective against Zombie Bobsled Team (if the bobsled hits the mine) and Digger Zombie (as the armed mine is still underground). Conversely, Digger Zombies can also eat unarmed Potato Mines because they're underground.
- Unsound Effect: "SPUDOW!" for his explosion. Lampshaded in the second game, where it's noted that "SPUDOW doesn't happen overnight".
Snow Pea
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
Folks often tell Snow Pea how "cool" he is, or exhort him to "chill out." They tell him to "stay frosty." Snow Pea just rolls his eyes. He's heard 'em all.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
As a professional table tennis player, in the off-season he also enjoys skiing, playing the bongos, and spelunking.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Although he might come off as quite cold, Snow Pea really like his friends, and loves and respects people of all ages. What's his specialty at a party? Heating up the whole audience with his cold jokes, of course.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry
Snow Pea is the hostess with the mostess. Her shindigs are famous for their elaborate ice sculpture zingers. Her best one was of Dr. Zomboss pushing on a door marked "Pull." The sculpture cried as it melted. Now THAT's cold!
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Similar to normal Peashooter, but their peas have freezing properties and can slow down zombies. Costs 175 sun (150 in the second game), recharges fast. His name is a reference to the real life snow peas, a variety of pea that grows in the end of winter. When given Plant Food, he'll generate an ice trail in front of him that slows down all zombies on said lane, then fires 60 peas. At level 5 and above in the sequel, he'll also get a small chance to completely freeze zombies in their tracks when damaging them.
- An Ice Person: Fires icy projectiles that chill zombies, slowing them down. In the Chinese version of the second game, he can be upgraded to fire actual icicles.
- Balance Buff: In the sequel, Snow Pea initially could only chill/freeze one zombie at a time. A later patch allowed it to splash chill/freeze all zombies near the one it hit in a single-tile radius, significantly increasing its usefulness.
- Downloadable Content: One of the purchasable plants in the second game.
- Edible Ammunition: She shoots peas.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: In both games, using Snow Pea with Torchwood will either freeze-unfreeze the affected zombie, or the pea will turn into a normal pea before hitting the zombie. In the second game, he's the counter for Prospector Zombie and Explorer Zombie's fire-generated equipment.
- Gender Bender: She's female as of Plants vs. Zombies 3.
- More Dakka: When given Plant Food, it fires a burst of 60 icy peas in quick succession, in addition to freezing the ground.
- Never Heard That One Before: He's often subjected to painful ice puns.
- Pun-Based Creature: Snow peas are a breed of domestic peas that are typically eaten whole in the pod. This one is a variant of the pea family of plants that shoots icy projectiles.
- Status Effects: Causes a temporary Slow status on zombies he hits. At level 5 and above in the sequel, he also gets a small chance to cause a Freeze status on zombies he hits, stopping them entirely for a few seconds.
- Support Party Member: By slowing the zombies down. Downplayed as they also can deal damage on their own.
Chomper
Click here to see his PVZ2 appearance
Chomper almost got a gig doing stunts for The Little Shop of Horrors but it fell through when his agent demanded too much on the front end. Chomper's not resentful, though. He says it's just part of the business.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Everyone appreciates what Chomper does. His appetite has saved them on numerous occasions. But truth be told, Chomper's friends think that eating zombies is gross. And his breath! No one has the heart to tell him, and he never gets the hint when you offer him a mint.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Chomper is the spokesplant for Flawless Floss. Sadly, she can't ever deliver the tag line—"Gets zombie limbs out of your grins!"—because her mouth is always full. Thankfully, the producers got Imitater out of retirement to overdub the line with his flawless Chomper impression.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Chompers can eat a zombie in front of them whole, but will be left vulnerable while eating. Based on the Venus Flytrap plant. Recharges fast, uses 150 sun. When given Plant Food, he'll suck 3 closest zombies on his lane towards his mouth, devours them, and then releases a burp that pushes other zombies on his lane backwards.
- All Animals Are Dogs: He sometimes scratches the place where the ear should be with his leaves where the feet would be. Even though he is a plant.
- Balance Buff: In 2, it's now capable of eating multiple zombies before becoming full, instead of just one.
- Bash Brothers: With Wall-nut, being his roommate.
- Big Eater: Can eat twice as fast in the second game.
- Black-Hole Belly: No matter how big the zombie was (even Zomboni, Catapult Zombie, or the Zombie Bobsled Team with the bobsled — but strangely, not the Gargantuar, unless you feed him Plant Food first), once he swallows a zombie, it'll go easily down his stem.
- Blow You Away: When given Plant Food. He is also capable of blowing zombies back a little by burping with the help of Chinese version level-ups.
- The Cameo: Was this at first in the second game, mentioned by Crazy Dave in the Dark Ages' final level.
- Close-Range Combatant: He can only attack zombies that are one tile away. Can be Averted in the Chinese version if you get him to Level 5.
- Cool Down: He needs to finish eating a zombie before he can eat another.
- Downloadable Content: She's one of the purchasable plants in the second game.
- Eyeless Face: One of a few plants with no eyes.
- Gasshole: In the second game, he always burps after eating a zombie. Giving him Plant Food weaponises this by making him let out a burp which pushes all the zombies in his row to the far end of the screen.
- Gender Bender: Is female as of Plants vs. Zombies 3.
- Good Counterpart: To the zombies, as he's a plant who can eat zombies instead of the other way around. Dr. Zomboss even notes that he "has the appetite of a zombie".
- Handy Mouth: In the comics where his intelligence is played up significantly more, he frequently uses his mouth to hold objects passed to him.
- Interspecies Romance: Dr. Zomboss claims that Chomper has been getting "ultra cozy" with Bikini Zombie, although this is probably just a poor attempt at making you distrust Chomper.
- Knockback: His Plant Food ability and Chinese version upgrades do this.
- Man-Eating Plant: More like a Zombie-Eating Plant.
- One-Hit Kill: Instantly devours a zombie at close range, except for Gargantuar, who's too big to be eaten (although Chomper will still bite it for minor damage).
- Overshadowed by Awesome: In the second game. By the time they're introduced, their ability to eat a single zombie every so often looks pretty weak as a choice to reinforce a Wall-Nut, compared to Bonk Choy's and Snapdragon's ability to attack multiple zombies at once constantly. At the very least, their chomping time is reduced. They're also overshadowed by several other plants — the Toadstool can eat zombies from a greater distance and produce sun after digesting, the Olive Pit spits out oil to slow down zombies and can't be attacked by most enemies, and the Snap Pea can eat zombies from farther away and spits out their heads as a projectile.
- Squishy Wizard: Can swallow a zombie whole, but is then vulnerable because he has to digest it.
- Vacuum Mouth: When given Plant Food.
- Virtuous Character Copy: They're obviously an Expy of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, sharing similar appearances and being a plant with an appetite for human flesh. But where Audrey II wants to eat innocent humans like Seymour, the Chomper wants to eat zombies that would eat you instead. In fact, Chomper's Almanac description in the first game outright states that he nearly got a gig as Audrey II's stunt double.
- You Need a Breath Mint: According to the Almanac, eating zombies gives him bad breath.
Repeater
Click here to see his PvZ2 appearance
Repeater is fierce. He's from the streets. He doesn't take attitude from anybody, plant or zombie, and he shoots peas to keep people at a distance. Secretly, though, Repeater yearns for love.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"Everyone always asks me if we've met before." says Repeater. "Everyone always asks me if we've met before. Wait, did I just say that?"
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
"If you treat Repeater well, he will treat you with double the respect; if you anger him, he will respond with double the pain. He has very good connections with people, but that's probably because everyone loves lending him money."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry
Similar to Peashooter, except that they shoot peas twice in a row. Recharges fast, uses 200 sun. Can be upgraded to Gatling Pea. When given Plant Food, he'll turn into a Gatling Pea that quickly shoots 90 peas, plus a giant pea that deals 30 damage.
- Awesome, but Impractical: A lot of times it is more efficient to plant simple Peashooters as they cost less and can be planted a lot faster. They're also enough to take down most zombies as armored ones can be killed with cheap instas like Squash or Potato Mine.
- Angry Eyebrows/Big Ol' Eyebrows: The most visible difference between him and Peashooter.
- Backwards-Firing Gun: Only in the Vasebreaker minigame, there exist reversed variants of Repeater.
- Cool Helmet: Temporarily gains this when given Plant Food.
- Horny Vikings: He gets a Viking-style helmet as a costume in the second game.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Perhaps as a reference to his name, he has a tendency to repeat what he says.Almanac entry in the second game: "Everyone always asks me if we've met before." says Repeater. "Everyone always asks me if we've met before. Wait, did I just say that?"
- Edible Ammunition: It shoots peas.
- Gatling Good: Like Peashooter, he temporarily turns into this when fed Plant Food in the second game.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: His Almanac description in the first game mentions that deep down, beneath his tough exterior, he yearns for love.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's cold and fierce, lives on the streets, and doesn't waste time on dealing with any threats with his repeating shots. But secretly, he yearns for love.
- Overshadowed by Awesome:
- ZigZagged in the first game. He's unlocked 2 levels before night. Since no sun falls at night, Sun is much scarcer making him more costly to acquire as opposed to two Puff Shrooms which cost nothing. This is also when you have the cheaper but much more useful Fume-Shrooms. During Pool, he does have some time to shine especially with Torchwood. But after that, the angle of Roof levels makes him and other pea plants highly unusable. Even in Survival Endless, Repeater->Gatling Pea strategies don't fare well compared to Cob Cannon setups due to having less AOE damage even with Torchwood. Torchwood also conflicts with the slowing of Winter Melons, making peas less viable in Endless.
- Also ZigZagged in the second game. Fire Peashooter does the same amount of damage for 25 less sun and also warms nearby plants, while Red Stinger does more damage for 50 less sun when planted in columns 1-3. Repeater can be used with Torchwood while these plants can't. Repeater also benefits more from level-ups and Pea Vine support compared to these two.
- Pun-Based Creature: Re-pea-ter. As well as being, well, a reference for a "repeater" kind of rapid-firing guns.
Night Levels:
Puff-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"I only recently became aware of the existence of zombies," says Puff-shroom. "Like many fungi, I'd just assumed they were fairy tales or movie monsters. This whole experience has been a huge eye-opener for me."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Puff-shroom is hip to all the latest social networks. He loves to surf Sporebook, FungusedIn and ShroomstaGram. But he sometimes misses the simple camaraderie of a good ol' fashioned Lawn Area Network party.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
"I can't wait to try virtual reality!" says little Puff-Shroom. "I can finally ride the rides I've always been too small for in real life. First up: 'City Bus'! WOO!"
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night (but in the second game, he becomes diurnal). Attacks by shooting moderately-damaging spores at zombies if they come 3 squares in front of him. Costs 0 sun, recharges fast, but has lowered health and a limited lifespan of 60 seconds in the sequel. If given Plant Food, he and all the other Puff-shrooms on screen will fire 30 spores and their life span will be reset.
- Alpha Strike: In the second and third games, if you give one of your planted Puff-shrooms Plant Food, all of them will rapidly fire forward at enemies without needing Tile Turnip. It also has the nice side effect of resetting their limited lifespan.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite living in a world of sentient plants and fungi, he had trouble believing in zombies.
- Boring, but Practical: One of the weakest offensive plants in the game, but it's free, and it can still take out a regular zombie by itself. This makes it highly effective at letting you save up sun at the start of night levels.
- Close-Range Combatant: Has a limited range of attack despite being a projectile-shooting plant.
- Crutch Character: Before you've planted your sun producers, the Puff-shroom is excellent at fending off the first few zombies, but stronger enemies will be able to overpower it. More of an example in the second game, where it can't be relied on for the whole level due to the stronger zombies.
- Distressed Dude: In a certain level in the second game, you have to protect some Puff-shrooms from harm. This also means you can't let them disappear either (save some Plant Food for them).
- Emergency Weapon: Good to be used as this, as he can be planted multiple times and costs nothing, so you can have some offense ready while you build up sun for your bigger guns — er, plants.
- Horned Humanoid: Well, horned plant, but he gets horns as his costume in the second game.
- Lethal Joke Character: Sure, they don't do that much damage individually, even when given Plant Food; but if you feed just one Puff-shroom... every Puff-shroom onscreen will simultaneously rapid fire, potentially wiping the entire screen clean of zombies.
- More Dakka: When given Plant Food. See directly-above to see how scarily effective this is when it applies to Puff-shrooms.
- Nerf: Received a pretty big one in the second game, where he only lasts 60 seconds and has his health reduced by half. Spamming Puff-shrooms all over your lawn for free becomes a lot less effective as a result, unless you're able to keep them alive with Plant Food.
- Non-Standard Game Over: If they're an Endangered Plant, they cause a unique Game Over message when they expire from their lifespan running out: "PUFF-SHROOM DID NOT SURVIVE!"
- Not the Intended Use: Despite sleeping during the day, Puff-Shroom occasionally sees play on daytime levels as Deployable Cover as free fodder for zombies to chew on while you build up sun for actual attacking plants.
- The Social Expert: In the second game, he's described as a social media addict.
- Squishy Wizard: In the second game, he can die in 2 hits. This gets very much subverted once he levels up a few times.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Perhaps as to mitigate their cheapness, in the second game, Puff-shrooms have finite lifespan of 60 seconds. You can extend them if you give one of them Plant Food, though. Leveling them up also causes them to get a longer lifespan.
Sun-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Sun-shroom hates sun. He hates it so much that when it builds up in his system, he spits it out as fast as he can. He just won't abide it. To him, sun is crass.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Oh sure, Sun-shroom is known for his ever-present grin and sunny disposition. But truth be told, even he has his dark days. It ain't easy keeping things light when you live in the shadows.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night (but in the second game, he becomes diurnal). Like Sunflower, he produces sun, but he starts out small (and gives small suns), then continually grow bigger (once in the original, twice in the sequel) and gives more suns. Recharges fast, costs 25 sun. If given Plant Food, he'll instantly grow big and gives 225 suns.
- Cool Mask: He gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Magikarp Power: Very cost-effective and eventually produces more sun than a Sunflower, but needs a while to reach full size.
- Oxymoronic Being: Despite looking sunny and producing sun, he actually hates the stuff and tries to get rid of it from his system.
- Perpetual Smiler: Despite the apparent hatred of the sun he produces and inner darkness, Sun-shroom smiles through it all.
- The Pollyanna: Downplayed. Sun-shroom is known for his ever-present grin and sunny disposition, but even he has his dark days. It ain't easy keeping things light when you live in the shadows.
- Power Glows: He glows slightly in his seed packet in the second game. He also glows when he produces sun.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the sequel, he has a third 'stage', where he'll produce 75 sun, compared to Sunflower's 50. Plant Food can "evolve" him immediately.
- The Power of the Sun: Like Sunflower, he specifically makes bundles of sunlight. Ironically, he says he hates the sun (being a mushroom).
- Support Party Member: By supplying sun.
- Worker Unit: The resource generator of choice in night levels, due to its cheaper cost.
Fume-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"I was in a dead-end job producing yeast spores for a bakery," says Fume-shroom. "Then Puff-shroom, bless 'im, told me about this great opportunity blasting zombies. Now I really feel like I'm making a difference."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"I think of myself as a pretty confident shroom and an all-around fungi," says Fume-shroom. "But sometimes, when I'm eating Plant Food, I hear them chuckling. I hear them calling me 'Balloon-shroom'. I don't think they know how much that hurts."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night (but in the second game he becomes diurnal). He sprays fumes forward that covers 4 tiles in front of him and hits all zombies on them. In the first game, he deals the same damage as a peashooter at a similar rate of fire; in the second game, he deals double the damage at a slightly slower rate. Recharges fast, uses 75 sun (125 in the second game). Can be upgraded to Gloom-shroom. If given Plant Food, he'll fire a large amount of fumes that will push zombies back and deals 75 peas worth of damage.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Fume-shroom's fumes can pierce through shields and harm the zombie behind them.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Downplayed. He tries to be confident, but it always hurts him inside whenever he's called "Balloon-shroom".
- Herd-Hitting Attack: His fume shots can hit a lot of zombies at once, which is a key to his effectiveness.
- Knockback: His Plant Food ability in 2 pushes back all zombies hit.
- Nerd Glasses: Gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Out of Job, into the Plot: He's mentioned as working in a bakery before Puff-shroom asked him to join the zombie-busting business. He's delighted.
- Weaponized Headgear: He fires fumes from his mushroom cap.
Grave Buster
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Despite Grave Buster's fearsome appearance, he wants everyone to know that he loves kittens and spends his off hours volunteering at a local zombie rehabilitation center. "It's just the right thing to do," he says.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
He may appear spiky or ill-tempered, but Grave Buster just wants to give you a big hug. Unless you're a puppy. He's terrified of those.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Grave Busters destroy graves, then leave something behind (only in the original). Recharges fast (mediocre in second game), costs 75 sun (0 in the second game). At Level 6 in the sequel, he also gains the ability to explode after busting a grave.
- Action Bomb: In the sequel, he will explode when he eats a grave once he's level 6 or above.
- Anti-Structure: He excels at destroying gravestones instantly, but can't do anything else. Even at level 6 in the sequel, he still needs to be planted on a grave to cause an explosion.
- Face of a Thug:
- Despite Grave Buster's fearsome appearance, he wants everyone to know that he loves kittens and spends his off hours volunteering at a local zombie rehabilitation center. "It's just the right thing to do," he says.
- According to the almanac in the second game, he may appear spiky or ill-tempered, but Grave Buster just wants to give you a big hug.
- Highly Specific Counterplay: They're only useful in levels with graves. The second game makes it useful in more places (such as dealing with Tomb Raiser Zombies), but it's still confined to a very narrow niche.
- Made of Explodium: At level 6 and above in the sequel, he explodes after busting a grave. This is enough to One-Hit Kill most zombies, and despite having a "SPUDOW!" explosion like Potato Mine, it can affect flying zombies too.
- One-Hit Kill: Once he gets to level 6 in the sequel, he'll explode when he finishes busting a grave. This is damaging enough to kill most normal zombies that are nearby.
- Support Party Member: By disposing of graves.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's afraid of puppies.
- You Don't Look Like You: In the first game, he's some kind of tree stump. In the second, he's a bunch of green vines.
Hypno-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"Zombies are our friends," asserts Hypno-shroom. "They're badly misunderstood creatures who play a valuable role in our ecology. We can and should do more to bring them round to our way of thinking."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Hypno-shroom has no trouble persuading zombies to fight on behalf of the plants. But he has yet to convince one to cluck like a chicken. "One day," he says. "One day."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night (but in the second game, he becomes diurnal). When a zombie eats him, it'll turn back and eat other zombies in its way. Costs 75 sun (125 in the second game), recharges slowly. When given Plant Food, he'll glow; when a zombie eats him, it'll turn into a Gargantuar and start fighting for your side.
- Downloadable Content: He's one of the purchasable plants in the second game.
- Goggles Do Nothing: He can get a pair of glasses that he only puts on his cap as his costume in the second game.
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: He induces this in zombies, although he insists that it's More than Mind Control.
- Magic Mushroom: He's a mushroom that causes hypnosis when eaten.
- Mind-Control Eyes: Has spiral eyes, though he's the one who hypnotises the zombies rather than being hypnotised himself.
- No Zombie Cannibals: Averted when a normal zombie and a hypnotized zombie meet, as they start eating each other.
- One-Winged Angel: His Plant Food ability causes any zombie who eats him to transform into a hypnotized Gargantuar.
- Power Glows: When given Plant Food, his cap starts to glow to indicate the zombie that eats him will become a Gargantuar.
- Support Party Member: By turning a zombie to fight for you.
- The Worf Barrage: He's ineffective against zombies that don't eat.
- Zombie Advocate: Thinks zombies are Not Evil, Just Misunderstood and uses his hypno-powers to make them work for the plants.
Scaredy-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"Who's there?" whispers Scaredy-shroom, voice barely audible. "Go away. I don't want to see anybody. Unless it's the man from the circus."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"How did I get talked into this? I wish I was at home."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As it is a mushroom, it's only active at night (but in the second game, it becomes diurnal). Shoots long-ranged moderate damage spores, but hides if a zombie walks too close. Recharges fast, costs 25 sun.
- Arbitrary Weapon Range: Of a sort. If a zombie gets too close, it'll hide in the ground and do nothing.
- Art Evolution: In the sequel, it has a more purplish hue to its skin, more tears in its mushroom cap, and most notably, more detailed eyes instead of simple dots.
- Long-Range Fighter: Even more so than other long-ranged shooters in that it's ineffective at close range.
- Lovable Coward: It's so cute when it hides from a zombie.
- Situational Sword: Its niche is only relevant at night (namely, being the only long-ranged mushroom and a very cheap long-ranged attacker), as during the day, the requirement of a Coffee Bean to activate it essentially makes it a worse Peashooter.
- The Bus Came Back: After a very long absence, Scaredy-shroom finally returns in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Ice-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Ice-shroom frowns, not because he's unhappy or because he disapproves, but because of a childhood injury that left his facial nerves paralyzed.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"It's not easy re-inventing yourself" says Ice-shroom after returning from an intensive stint of training in the coldest parts of the Antarctic. "It's not often you get a second chance, but I'm back now, and this time I won't be letting my fans or any of my friends down". Cheering erupts as Ice-shroom steps onto the lawn."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As he is a mushroom, he's only active at night. Freezes all zombies on-screen and makes them move slower for a duration afterward. Recharges very slowly, costs 75 sun.In the second game, he is more expensive and his powers got a full-on overhaul. He can now hit zombies up close and make an area that not only chills zombies but also boost Winter Mint plants around him.
- Action Bomb: Although he doesn't induce a One-Hit Kill unlike most Action Bombs.
- An Ice Person: Freezes all the zombies on the screen when planted.
- Area of Effect: One of his new powers in the sequel is he reutilizes his ice powers to form a chilly area that can slow down nearby zombies and boost any nearby Winter Mint family plants.
- The Bus Came Back: He finally returns 14 years later in the sequel, though with brand new powers as a result of his old abilities being given to Iceberg Lettuce and Ice Bloom.
- Close-Range Combatant: His other new power in the sequel is that he can bash his icicle scattered head on zombies in front of him.
- Death from Above: His Plant Food ability has him rain huge icicles down on the zombies.
- Frozen Face: In his childhood, he got struck on an accident that left his facial nerves disabled, turning him into a Perpetual Frowner.
- Scratch Damage: While it's very much overshadowed by the freeze effect, Ice-Shroom does inflict a single pea's worth of damage to all zombies it freezes.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Doesn't appear in It's About Time, where similar freezing abilities are instead given to new plant Iceberg Lettuce (when given Plant Food) and then later, Ice Bloom.
- Inverted way later when Ice Shroom finally comes back, but because of the aforementioned plants already having his powers from the first game, he got new ones.
- Support Party Member: By freezing all zombies. In the Invisi-ghoul minigame, he can also be used to mark the position of the zombies by showing chunks of ice forming beneath the zombies' legs.
- Downplayed in the sequel, where he can support other Winter-mint plants in an Area of Effect around himself and slow down zombies, but can also headbutt zombies that get close to him.
- Took a Level in Badass: After extensive training in the Antarctic, Ice-shroom goes from a single-use plant in the first game to being able to freeze and support Winter-mint plants in the sequel.
- Trick Bomb: He freezes all zombies when planted.
- Use Your Head: His method of fighting in the sequel, bashing zombies with his icicle head.
Doom-shroom
"You're lucky I'm on your side," says Doom-shroom. "I could destroy everything you hold dear. It wouldn't be hard."
As it is a mushroom, it's only active at night. Creates a giant explosion and leaves an unplantable crater on the tile it was planted upon that will recover itself after 180 seconds. Recharges very slowly, costs 125 sun.
- Action Bomb: The most powerful among them all, in fact.
- Anti-Hero: It claims that it can destroy everything you hold dear if it wanted to and it's only because it's on your side that it doesn't do it.
- Awesome, but Impractical: While it is capable of quickly wiping out every zombie on the screen, it also leaves an unplantable crater, which can be highly detrimental, especially in Survival Mode.
- The Cameo: It doesn't actually appear in 2, but a giant balloon of it (named the "Doom Balloon" that explodes with its trademark DOOM!) is Boom Balloon Flower's Plant Food effect.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: It even explodes with a giant DOOM!
- Fantastic Nuke: A mushroom that creates unquestionably the biggest explosion in the first game, and one of the biggest in the series.
- One-Hit Kill: One of the most spectacular in the game, destroying most zombies in a huge area in a massive explosion.
- Perpetual Frowner: In every appearance, it has nothing but a cruel scowl.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has red eyes, looks ominous, deals heavy damage in a huge area, and even claims that it could easily destroy your house if it wanted to.
- Smart Bomb: Its explosion radius is large enough to be used this way.
- Stealth Pun: It's a mushroom which creates a nuclear explosion, with a mushroom cloud.
- You Nuke 'Em: It gives a new meaning to "mushroom cloud".
Pool Levels:
Lily Pad
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Lily Pad never complains. Lily Pad never wants to know what's going on. Put a plant on top of Lily Pad, he won't say a thing. Does he have startling opinions or shocking secrets? Nobody knows. Lily Pad keeps it all inside.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Not many people know this, but Lily Pad absolutely loves square dancing. There he is, a circular plant gliding across the dance floor making squares. He loves how it pushes his boundaries and really makes him think outside the sphere.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
An aquatic plant that is primarily used as a platform for other plants to be put onto. Recharges fast, uses 25 sun. Can be upgraded to Cattail. In the second game, he can now be planted after another plant is planted (but only on the Big Wave Beach levels' wet sand section). If given Plant Food, he can create one more Lily Pad on each adjacent unoccupied tile. At level 5 and above, he becomes completely free.
- Cool, but Inefficient: It's more efficient to just put another Lily Pad instead of wasting Plant Food on it. It's still good in a pinch, though.
- Deployable Cover: It's not his intended use, but he can be used as this if you want to delay a zombie's advance on water for just a little longer.
- Extreme Doormat: He doesn't care one bit whenever you put a plant onto him and he keeps his thoughts all inside.
- Hidden Depths: The almanac in the second game does reveal his secret: He loves square-dancing. According to him, it helps him think outside the sphere.
- Lily-Pad Platform: Acts as this for landbound plants, allowing them to be planted on water.
- No Mouth: Lily has only two eyes. Averted in the sequel; it still doesn't have a visible mouth, but it can occasionally be seen blowing bubbles during its idle animation, suggesting that it's just submerged
- Self-Duplication: When given Plant Food.
- Situational Sword: He's only useful in Pool/Fog levels and Big Wave Beach levels.
- Stealth Pun: Because of what he does, he's a support plant.
- Support Party Member: By allowing non-aquatic plants to be planted on the water. Taken even further once he reaches level 5, where he becomes absolutely free to plant with no sun cost.
Squash
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"I'm ready!" yells Squash. "Let's do it! Put me in! There's nobody better! I'm your guy! C'mon! Whaddya waiting for? I need this!"
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Squash is actually his stage name. His birth name was Tracy.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
The best gift Squash ever got was a clock that had the word "Squash" instead of numbers, so it was always Squash O'Clock. It broke (he squashed it), but it's still right twice a day.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Squash squashes a zombie to the left or right of his tile, doing heavy damage. Based on a Chayote Squash. Recharges slowly, consumes 50 sun. If given Plant Food, he'll jumps onto the two strongest zombies on the screen, one after another, squashing everything on the tiles. At level 3 and 9, he gains the ability to squash more times.
- Blood Knight: The Almanac entry has him getting very excited on getting into action.
- Downloadable Content: In the second game.
- Emergency Weapon: Like Potato Mine, Squash is useful in the early part of levels to cheaply kill individual zombies as you build up sun to be used for more effective offenses, or to kill stronger zombies making it through your defences.
- Face of a Thug: Always angry eyes, and a huge grimace to match his brute strength.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: When he notices a zombie near him, Squash raises his eyebrow with disapproval.
- Fluffy the Terrible: This rough-and-tough looking plant who squashes zombies flat was named Tracy, if the sequel's almanac is true.
- Gender-Blender Name: According to the Almanac in the sequel, his real name is Tracy.
- Ground Pound: Squash attacks zombies by jumping into the air and coming down hard on them, crushing them.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: His attack hits all zombies on a single tile. Very useful for thinning out dense waves.
- Martial Arts Headband: Gains this as part of his costume in the second game.
- One-Hit Kill: He destroys most zombies by... well, squashing them. Like Potato Mine, it hits zombies within about 1 tile's radius, but doesn't require arming.
- Pun-Based Creature: A squash whose purpose is to squash zombies.
- Screen Shake: The screen shakes when a Squash squashes zombies.
- Squashed Flat: To attack, he crushes Zombies flat.
- Stout Strength: Seemingly because he's a plump squash and he's really strong.
- Took a Level in Badass: Squash is already quite useful as an emergency weapon, but once he gets to Level 3, his usefulness jumps threefold. This is because he can squash two times, jumping back to his spot after the first squash... and jumping back to his spot counts as a squash attack in itself. Essentially, if you plant this on a Gargantuar, he'll squash once, and then jump back to his spot, hitting the Gargantuar again and killing it without the Gargantuar throwing the Imp since it'll be busily attacking the Squash. If there are no zombies behind him and he's planted directly on a Jurassic Gargantuar, he'll be able to kill the Jurassic Gargantuar all by himself for 50 sun!
Threepeater
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Threepeater likes reading, backgammon and long periods of immobility in the park. Threepeater enjoys going to shows, particularly modern jazz. "I'm just looking for that special someone," he says. Threepeater's favorite number is 5.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Threepeater loves playing multiplayer in video games, but split-screen never works because the left head always cheats.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Similar to Peashooter, except that Threepeaters can shoot peas to three lanes at once. Recharges fast, consumes 325 sun (300 sun in the second game). If given Plant Food, he'll rapidly spread-fire peas in a leaf pattern.
- Arc Number: Subverted. None of his activities are related to 3 in any way, and he says that his favorite number is 5.
- Bucket Helmet: Variant with pot helmets, much like Crazy Dave, as a costume in the second game.
- Edible Ammunition: It shoots peas.
- More Dakka: When given Plant Food, his heads will rapidly fire a huge amount of peas in a wave pattern across the screen.
- Multiple Head Case: His heads all enjoy playing games, but they always have problems because the left head always cheats.
- Pun-Based Creature: A further derivation of the Peashooter, in this case shooting three peas at once.
- Spread Shot: It shoots peas across three lanes; its spread is expanded to cover more ground when it's given Plant Food.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the sequel, he becomes far more cost effective as he levels up, dealing more damage at a reduced sun cost. Furthermore, he's also one of the plants that levels up very quickly.
Tangle Kelp
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"I'm totally invisible," Tangle Kelp thinks to himself. "I'll hide here just below the surface and nobody will see me." His friends tell him they can see him perfectly well, but he'll never change.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Tangle Kelp likes to go deep. He majored in philosophy. Grab a root beer with him, and he'll go on and on about Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zucchini" or hold forth on Kant's "Critique of Petunia Reason." It's cool and all, but sometimes you just want to keep the conversation light. Sometimes you just want to talk about the temperature of the water.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
An aquatic plant used as a trap for nearby zombies; works similarly to a Squash on ground. Recharges slow, uses 25 sun. If given Plant Food, he'll drag 4 random aquatic zombies underwater. At level 4, he can drag zombies underwater twice, and at level 10 he will be able to do it thrice.
- Combat Tentacles: Used to pull zombies under.
- Emergency Weapon: Same deal as Squash, but it only kills one zombie.
- Hellish Pupils: He gains them in the second game.
- Hidden Depths: Interestingly, he likes to go deep and he majored in philosophy.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: He insists that he's invisible, even though his friends keep telling him that they can see him.
- It Only Works Once: Tangle Kelp can only drown a single zombie. Averted in the sequel once you get him to level 4, where he'll be able to drown another zombie.
- No Mouth: His only visible features are a pair of red eyes.
- One-Hit Kill:
- On aquatic zombies. Against Deep Sea Gargantuar though, he just deals high damage.
- In the second game, though, he doesn't instantly kill zombies; he instead immobilizes them first before pulling them down after a few seconds. If something else killed the immobilized zombie, Tangle Kelp will stop, and can be used to drown another zombie.
- Outside-the-Box Tactic: He can be used to jam Zombot Sharktronic Sub's turbine in the sequel, stunning it for a while.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has red eyes, and drags zombies into a watery grave.
Jalapeno
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"NNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!" Jalapeno says. He's not going to explode, not this time. But soon. Oh, so soon. It's close. He knows it, he can feel it, his whole life's been leading up to this moment.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
This jalapeno is one spicy character by day and The Macramé Vigilante by night. You might be wondering what his secret weapon is... it's knots.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
When planted, he'll burst into a trail of flames covering the whole lane he's put onto. Costs 125 sun, recharges very slowly.
- Action Bomb: Lampshaded in his Almanac in that he expects to explode anytime.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Based on a very spicy pepper, and appropriately enough, deals a massive amount of fire damage to a single row of zombies.
- Downloadable Content: He was one of the purchasable plants in the second game, before being changed to cost gems.
- Fedora of Asskicking: He gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Living a Double Life: His Almanac entry in the second game mentions that he is one spicy character by day and The Macramé Vigilante by night.
- One-Hit Kill: Its explosion incinerates all but the most powerful zombies in its lane.
- Playing with Fire: He sets a whole row on fire to destroy most zombies.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: The perfect counter for Zombonis as his fire melts the ice trail too.
- Twitchy Eye: A sign of how close he is to exploding.
Spikeweed
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Hockey is Spikeweed's obsession. He's got box seat season tickets. He keeps close track of his favorite players. And he consistently cleans up in the office hockey pool. Just one problem: he's terrified of pucks.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Although Spikeweed grew up on the seedy side of town, his acupuncture business has been blooming.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Anyone that steps on Spikeweed finds he's kind of like a sharp carpet. A "sharpet," if you will. He prefers "carparp," but that's him.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Spikeweed damages any zombie who walks on him. He deals around 5 pea shots of damage when a zombie walks on him, assuming the zombie runs on normal speed. Can only be destroyed by vehicles, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, and Gargantuar, and in the sequel, Barrel Zombie and Piano Zombie. Upgradable to Spikerock, although the latter is a standalone plant in the sequel. Costs 100 sun, recharges fast. When given Plant Food, Spikeweed will attract all zombies on his lane onto himself while popping multiple spikes on said lane, dealing heavy damage.
- Anti-Vehicle: It will One-Hit Kill any vehicle zombie that passes over them.
- Caltrops: It acts as a spike strip variant against vehicle zombies.
- Face of a Thug: Despite his appearance, he's a decent fellow who's into hockey.
- Hellish Pupils: He gets these in the second game.
- Ironic Fear: Despite liking hockey, he apparently fears pucks.
- Mundane Utility: In the second game, he opens a business of acupuncture therapy. No points of guessing how he becomes successful.
- No Mouth: Nothing but spikes and and a pair of eyes.
- One-Hit Kill: Only against vehicles (i.e Zomboni and Catapult Zombie), as well as Piano Zombie and Barrel Roller Zombie's barrel.
- Pop the Tires: Possible with vehicle-riding zombies.
- Shields Are Useless: He can bypass shielded zombies by his attacks, except for the Excavator, who digs him up before he can do so.
- Spikes of Doom: Acts as this to most zombies, damaging them if they walk on him. Played even straighter if they're vehicles or rolling zombies, who get instantly killed should they run over him.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Aside from being an Anti-Vehicle plant, they can also provide a buffer for Chicken Zombies or Weasel Zombies should Lightning Reed be unavailable. They're also great for whittling down most zombies, as they are ignored by most of them.
- You Will Not Evade Me: His Plant Food ability is best at grouping zombies together for massive damage.
Torchwood
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Everybody likes and respects Torchwood. They like him for his integrity, for his steadfast friendship, for his ability to greatly maximize pea damage. But Torchwood has a secret: He can't read.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Torchwood and Snapdragon have become fast friends. They like to hang out at either the Tiki Lounge or the Renaissance Faire.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Torchwood sets on fire peas that pass through him, doubling their damage. Also clears up fog in a small area. Recharges fast, costs 175 sun. If given Plant Food, his fire will turn blue and triple the damage of the peas passing through him. In the sequel, he also gets extra toughness, the ability to damage zombies attacking him, and sets off a lane-wide fire trail when eaten.
- Birds of a Feather: Platonic example with Snapdragon; the two are great friends who hang out together.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Averted in the sequel, where he provides a warming effect in Frostbite Caves and also damages zombies that are attacking him directly.
- Cool Shades: More like Cool Goggles, as his costume in the second game.
- Defog of War: Downplayed. Can clear fog around itself, but the range of the effect is negligible.
- Downloadable Content: He was one of the purchasable plants in the second game, before becoming a plant unlocked with seeds, which are given to new players over the course of a week.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Takes out Snow Pea's snow effect, thaws frozen and slowed zombies, and thaws plants and zombies who are frozen in Frostbite Caves.
- Face of a Thug: Despite his fierce looks, he's very sociable.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: In the second game, if you feed him Plant Food.
- Incendiary Exponent: His main purpose is to empower peas with his flame.
- Never Learned to Read: His deepest secret.
- Playing with Fire: Can set pea projectiles on fire. In the sequel, he also damages zombies near him and creates a flame trail upon death.
- Pun-Based Creature: It's a reference to the actual species of plant, the fact that he's a torch made of wood, and the Doctor Who spinoff.
- The Social Expert: He's well-liked by everyone and fairly friendly.
- Status Buff: His Plant Food ability permanently boosts the degree to which he makes peas more damaging.
- Support Party Member: By strengthening your peas and clearing fog. Also thawing the frozen plants nearby in the second game.
- Taking You with Me: In the sequel, he explodes into a line of flames when eaten, dealing a good bit of damage to zombies in his lane like a weaker Jalapeno.
- Technicolor Fire: When given Plant Food, his flame glows blue.
- Took a Level in Badass: In a later update for the sequel, Torchwood was revamped considerably. Now he's tougher, can deal damage to zombies attacking him like Endurian, and when eaten, he sets off a lane-wide burst of fire.
Tall-nut
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
People wonder if there's a rivalry between Wall-nut and Tall-nut. Tall-nut laughs a rich baritone laugh. "How could there be anything between us? We are brothers. If you knew what Wall-nut has done for me..." Tall-nut's voice trails off and he smiles knowingly.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Tall-nut is opening a chain of stores for Tall and Taller gentlemen. "I'll shell out the savings to you!"
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Similar in purpose to a Wall-nut, but tougher and can't be vaulted over or passed over by most flying zombies in the sequel. Apparently, Wall-nut's big brother. Recharges slowly, uses 125 sun. When given Plant Food, he'll gain a layer of armor that boosts his health.
- Anti-Air: Anti-air defense, that is — it's used to impede the progress of flying zombies (only in the sequel, though; Balloon Zombies can fly right over it in the original game).
- Baritone of Strength: He's mentioned to have a baritone voice, and can take a huge amount of bites before going down. Like most plants, though, he never actually talks in-game. In Garden Warfare, his deep voice can actually be heard when planted as Cactus' ability.
- Cool Helmet: Gains one as his Plant Food ability.
- Deployable Cover: His function in a tall nutshell is to block off zombies from advancing and protect your plants. He even works against zombies that can jump over other defensive plants.
- One-Hit Kill: In the console versions, there's a very rare chance for a normal zombie to get a nut allergy when taking their first bite on a Tall-Nut, causing its face to bloat up as it dies regardless of health.
- Pun-Based Creature: It's a further derivation of the Wall-Nut, in this case simply being a taller version of it.
- Shows Damage: His shell visibly breaks apart as he gets eaten. At low health, he also sports a Single Tear.
- Single Tear: One will drop from his eyes if his health goes low enough.
- The Stoic: His determined expression never changes even as zombies continually chew on him. Subverted in the sequel, though.
- Stone Wall: He's even tougher than Wall-nut in this area.
- Super-Toughness: His Plant Food effect gives him an armor that can withstand a Gargantuar smash as well as a Turquoise Skull's laser, the latter being an attack that can kill a hypnotized Gargantuar instantly.
- Support Party Member: By acting as defense.
Fog Levels:
Sea-shroom
Sea-shroom has never seen the sea. It's in his name, he's heard loads about it, but he's just never found the time. One day, though, it'll go down.
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night. He's much like Puff-shroom in his functions, except that he's an aquatic plant. Costs 0 sun, recharges slowly.
- Close-Range Combatant: 3 tiles of range, same as Puff-shroom.
- Non-Indicative Name: It is mentioned that despite his name, he has never seen the seas because he doesn't have the time.
- Situational Sword: Usable in fog levels as a free early-game defender, and that's about it. Requiring a Coffee Bean makes it very inefficient in pool stages, while the other environments don't have water to plant it on.
- Useless Useful Spell: Their recharge time is slower than Puff-shroom, so it is often better if you put a Lily Pad and a Puff-shroom instead of a Sea-shroom to put up defenses quicker. If you have the time, however, Sea-shrooms help you save your sun.
Plantern
Plantern defies science. He just does. Other plants eat light and excrete oxygen; Plantern eats darkness and excretes light. Plantern's cagey about how he does it. "I'm not gonna say 'sorcery,' I wouldn't use the term 'dark forces,' I just... I think I've said enough."
Planterns emanate light, clearing up the fogs in the Fog setting and showing you what's inside vases around him in Vasebreaker minigame. Costs 25 sun, recharges slowly.
Returns as an unlockable plant in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 in the Dark Ages. When given plant food, he emits light in a 5x5 area for a short while.
- Black Magic: He isn't gonna say that it's the source of his unique light ability... but then he claims that he has said enough.
- Defog of War: Removes the fog around him from the fog levels.
- Glowing Flora: He produces light that removes the fog around him, and also reveals the contents of vases around him in Vasebreaker levels.
- Pun-Based Creature: A portmanteau — it's a plant that's also a lantern.
- Situational Sword: Plantern is only useful in Fog levels.
- Support Party Member: By clearing fog and letting you see through vases.
Cactus
Click here to see her PVZ 2 appearance
She's prickly, sure, but Cactus's spikes belie a spongy heart filled with love and goodwill. She just wants to hug and be hugged. Most folks can't hang with that, but Cactus doesn't mind. She's been seeing an armadillo for a while and it really seems to be working out.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Things have really changed for Cactus lately. Book deals, movies, truck show appearances... she's just trying to focus on staying humble and launching thorns like always.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
She shoots moderately-damaging spikes at moderate rate of fire at enemies, which can pop the balloons of Balloon Zombies. In the sequel, she shoots spikes that damage the three targets closest to her, and when zombies get too close to her, sinks into the ground to damage their feet with her thorns as they walk on her. If given Plant Food, she becomes permanently electrified, fires an energised thorn with extra penetration that does fairly heavy damage to all zombies to her right, and increases the damage that she does in sunken mode. Based on the Saguaro Cactus. Recharges fast, costs 125 sun in the first game and 175 sun in the sequel.
- Action Girl: A female plant and also a pretty strong attacker, especially in the sequel.
- Anti-Air: Works well against Balloon Zombies. Otherwise, she's similar to a Peashooter with more sun cost and without being able to be powered up by Torchwood. In the second game, a later update gave her the ability to once again pop Balloon Zombies' balloons.
- Composite Character: In the second game, she functions somewhat like a Bloomerang, but digs under and functions like a Spikeweed if someone gets close, making her somewhat like a Scaredy-shroom.
- Discard and Draw: In the second game, she lost the ability to instantly pop the balloons of Balloon Zombies in favor of firing penetrating thorns and hide in the ground as spikes; it wasn't until a later update when the former ability was re-added to her. Lampshaded by Crazy Dave and Penny.Penny: "Indeed, Cactus has changed over time, User Dave. Now she fires a thorn for ranged damage, but hides for ground damage when zombies approach."
Crazy Dave: "That's so Cactus... always varying her attack and defensive profiles!" - Downloadable Content: Costs real-life money to buy in the second game.
- Dual Mode Unit: In It's About Time, she acts as this, being a Spike Shooter when zombies are far, and Spikes of Doom when zombies get close.
- Face of a Thug: According to her almanac entry in the first game, she may look prickly, but she just wants to give hugs. Understandably, people don't want that, but she doesn't mind.
- Famed In-Story: Mentioned in her almanac entry for the second game.
- Highly Specific Counterplay: One of the most notorious examples in the first game. It shoots down Balloon Zombies, but against everything else, it's a worse Peashooter... and it wasn't even the only plant that could defeat Balloon Zombies. Pretty much the only thing it was designed for was making sure the player could deal with Balloon Zombies in its introductory stage, since Cattail becomes unlockable immediately after and Blover a few levels later.
- Interspecies Romance: The first game's almanac entry for her states she has one with an armadillo.
- Master of None: In the first game, while she can hit both air and ground targets, she's the best option for neither (Peashooters costing less sun for the same damage and Blover being able to One-Hit Kill all Balloon Zombies onscreen). At the very least, she saves up a seed slot if picked instead of using Peashooter and Blover together.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Using Blover is less space-consuming and potentially capable of decimating many Balloon Zombies at once, while Cattail, aside from directly doing what Cactus does, also has the added perks of a doubled rate of fire and homing capabilities (at the higher sun cost), making Cactus obsolete.
- One-Hit Polykill: In the sequel, her spikes can penetrate up to three enemies.
- Power Glows: Her spikes glow upon getting Plant Food.
- Same Character, But Different: The only plant introduced in the first game who has completely different powers in the second game.
- Spikes of Doom: In the sequel, she retracts into the ground when enemies are near, acting like Spikeweed when zombies step over her.
- Spike Shooter: Spits spikes at the Zombies. In the original game, this helped to pop balloons, in the sequel, this penetrates zombies instead.
- Stance System: Has two different kinds of attacking in the sequel: shooting thorns or becoming a spiky trap.
- Status Buff: Giving her Plant Food will cause her to be permanently electrified, causing her attacks to deal more damage while penetrating an extra enemy.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: In the sequel, she can stop zombies that are pushed by the Ankylosaurus without being knocked back. However, she needs to be above the ground in order to do so.
- The Bus Came Back: She's back in August 19th of 2015 in the second game.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the second game, she gains the ability to pierce through zombies with her spikes and hide underground when in danger. A much later update then returned her ability to pop the balloons of Balloon Zombies.
Blover
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
When Blover was five he got a shiny new birthday cake. Blover made his wish, huffed and puffed, but was able to extinguish only 60% of the candles. Instead of giving up, though, he's used that early defeat as a catalyst to push himself harder ever since.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
The luckiest stunt clover around, Blover is the most recent recipient of the Stunty Award. You can see his work in "Bulb Fiction," "Rooty," and "Finding Flower." He also teaches stunt class on Tuesdays at the community center.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Blovers blow away fogs and Balloon Zombies. In the second game, he's also able to blow any zombies that are in midair. Recharges fast, costs 100 sun (50 sun in the second game).
- Anti-Air: It blows away all Airborne Mooks in both games, with the exception of bosses.
- Blow You Away: Creates a huge gust of wind to blow away Airborne Mooks.
- Combination Attack: Known for being very useful when paired up with plants, at least in the second game. He will blow away any zombies flung into the air by Spring Bean and Chard Guard, as well as any zombies being knocked back by Primal Peashooter. He'll also help Dandelion do a stronger attack.
- Defog of War: In the first game, he removes all the fog for a limited period of time.
- Highly Specific Counterplay: Blover can clear fog and Balloon Zombies, and does nothing else. The sequel takes it out of this category by introducing more zombie types that Blover can defeat.
- One-Hit Kill: To Balloon Zombies, as well as any midair zombies in the second game.
- Pun-Based Creature: A clover that produces wind, its name is a portmanteau of "blow" and "clover".
- Specs of Awesome: Gains one as a costume in the second game.
- Support Party Member: By blowing away fog. Also, he can help Dandelion fire lots of bombs.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Blows away airborne zombies for a One-Hit Kill. He also helps against thrown Imps (second game only), Breakdancer Zombies, and Velociraptors (who kick zombies forward into the air).
Split Pea
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"Yeah, I'm a Gemini," says Split Pea. "I know, big surprise. But having two heads—or really, one head with a large head-like growth on the back—pays off big in my line of work."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"It's my turn with the eyebrows," said Frontie. "Fine, we'll split them," said Backie. Sprouted two minutes apart, their eyebrow war is eternal.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Another variant of Peashooter with a second head that points backwards. Shoots peas to 2 directions; one at a time forward, two at a time backward. References the actual split pea. Costs 125 sun, recharges fast. When given Plant Food, the effect is a mix of Peashooter's and Repeater's for the respective heads.
- Angel Face, Demon Face: As a costume in the second game, the front head gets a Holy Halo while the back one gets horns.
- Backwards-Firing Gun: His back head is used for this, allowing it to mow down zombies that somehow get behind your defenses.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: The back head of the pair gets eyebrows similar to those of the Repeater (likely as a nod to it shooting two peas at a time, even though it's mostly meant for balance purposes), and they're constantly feuding over them.
- Conjoined Twins: A Peashooter head and a Repeater Head.
- Edible Ammunition: It shoots peas.
- More Dakka: When given Plant Food, it performs both Peashooter and Repeater's effects at once: the front head rapidly fires 60 peas, while the rear head fires 90 followed by a giant pea shot.
Starfruit
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"Aw, man," says Starfruit. "I went to the dentist the other day and he said that I have four cavities. I've got —count it— ONE tooth! Four cavities in one tooth? How does this happen?"
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Just a small town fruit that travelled to the big city and found his way to the future. His favorite modes of transportation: conveyor belts, hoverboards, and rockets. WEEEE!
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Starfruit is by far the most famous, beloved plant of all—just ask him! If only he could get everyone else to realize that...
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Starfruit shoots normal-damaging stars in 5 directions. Costs 125 sun (150 in the second game), recharges fast. If given Plant Food, he'll rapidly shoot giant stars (deals 4 damage each) in 5 directions.
- Backwards-Firing Gun: One of his five projectiles is fired backwards.
- Distressed Dude: In one level in the second game, you have to guard some Starfruits from getting eaten by zombies.
- Downloadable Content: in the second game.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Like most shooting plants, Starfruit takes a moment to start shooting when an enemy enters its detection range and won't stop shooting until no enemies are left. Unlike most plants, zombies can walk out of its detection range, since it shoots to the sides instead of straight forward. The firing delay means a single zombie can walk out of range before being shot too much, but zombies in hordes take much more damage since the numerous angles Starfruit covers mean that it'll always have something to shoot at when zombies come in waves.
- Keet: He likes having fun with the futuristic transportation.
- Magikarp Power: Due to their wonky firing pattern, a lone Starfruit is fairly poor for its cost, being barely able to even kill a single regular Zombie and is completely defenseless against zombies in its lane. But because they essentially fire five shots at once, a lawn full of them becomes a widespread carpet of bullets that can shred hordes with ease, especially since it's one of the very few plants that can attack any lane.
- More Dakka: If given Plant Food, it rapidly fires gigantic stars in all directions.
- Playful Cat Smile: More apparent in the second game, but he has this.
- Spread Shot: Shoots stars in a spread of 5 directions. Two diagonally forwards to cover the lanes, one up, one down, and one directly backwards.
- Star Power: Fires out star projectiles that deal pretty good damage, especially if he is leveled up and/or placed all around the lawn.
Pumpkin
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Pumpkin hasn't heard from his cousin Renfield lately. Apparently Renfield's a big star, some kind of... what was it... sports hero? Peggle Master? Pumpkin doesn't really get it. He just does his job.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Pumpkin may be a hollowed-out shell, but he still has a rich inner life filled with feelings, fantasies, and surprisingly disappointing opinions.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Pumpkin acts as a defensive layer for most plants. About as tough as a Wall-nut. Costs 125 sun, recharges slowly. Is a premium plant in the sequel, acting as the vine equivalent for the Reinforce-mint family.
- The Bus Came Back: It was added to PvZ2 in October 2019, six years after the game's initial release and ten years after its appearance in the original.
- Deployable Cover: Much like the Nut brothers, his function in a pumpkin-shell is to block zombies and protect your other plants. The difference being that he can be planted over other plants.
- Face of a Thug: He looks as ugly as the Jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but he's a good guy who protects other plants.
- Grandfather Clause: Is classified as a "Vine" plant in the second game despite not being one (although pumpkins do grow on vines, the vine isn't depicted in-game). Given he predates vines as the first plant you can plant down around another plant, it could just as well be said all the vines are Pumpkin plants.
- Pokémon Speak: When given plant food, he shouts "Pumpkin!" as he shields up.
- Shout-Out: To Renfield, the pumpkin head in Peggle, in his Almanac entry.
- Shows Damage: Pumpkins visibly break down as they get eaten.
- Stone Wall: He has no offensive capabilities, but is very tough.
Magnet-shroom
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Magnetism is a powerful force. Very powerful. Sometimes it scares Magnet-shroom a little. He's not sure if he can handle that kind of responsibility.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Despite his unusual appearance, Magnet-shroom doesn't have a problem attracting girlfriends. But he does have a problem keeping them. It's the same thing every time. In the end, they always find him too clingy.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
As he's a mushroom, he's only active at night (but in the second game, he becomes diurnal). He attracts metal objects from the closest zombie around him, either weakening their defense or taking their unique abilities away. Recharges fast (mediocre in the second game), costs 100 sun. Can be upgraded to Gold Magnet. If given Plant Food, he'll attract all metal objects in range, then fire them off rapidly.
- Afraid of Their Own Strength: His magnetism powers always scare him. He's not sure that he can handle that much responsibility.
- Anti-Armor: Uses magnetism to remove metal objects zombies use to make them weaker defensively.
- Badass Cape: Gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Chick Magnet: He's mentioned to be this, with his magnetic personality. Problem is, all of the girls find him too clingy.
- Cool Down: He has a cooldown time after he attracts a metal object. Because of this, he can't handle too many metal-tool zombies at once, but he can with Plant Food.
- Distressed Dude: In one level in the second game, you have to protect some Magnet-shrooms from zombies.
- Magnetism Manipulation
- Selective Magnetism: Oddly, he can't attract small things that the zombies may wear on their clothing. He also can't attract robots, but he can attract the Zombot Dark Dragon's nose ring and Punk Zombie's heavily-studded head.
- One-Hit Kill: Against Punk Zombies, since due to the metal piercings in their head, he is able to instantly decapitate them.
- Power Glows: He glows blue whenever he attracts an object.
- Situational Damage Attack: His Plant Food ability deals varying damage depending on how many metal objects he can attract when he begins the move.
- Support Party Member: By taking away zombies' metal objects. Downplayed that he can also attack zombies, but only with Plant Food, and can also One-Hit Kill Punk Zombies.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors:
- He makes most metallic-item zombies useless by taking away their protection or tools.
- In the sequel, he can also One-Hit Kill Punk Zombies, attract the Dark Dragon's nose ring, and is one of the few plants that can affect zombies under Glitter Zombie's protection (which otherwise causes zombies to No-Sell everything else).
Roof Levels:
Cabbage-pult
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Cabbage-pult is okay with launching cabbages at zombies. It's what he's paid for, after all, and he's good at it. He just doesn't understand how the zombies get up on the roof in the first place.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Cabbage-pult received his doctorate in pulting from Harvest University. He knows a thing or two about launching his way to the top. He also makes a mean soup.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
One of the oldest, wisest plants, Cabbage-Pult has had a long time to reflect on Botanical Ontology. "Newer sprouts ask me if it's strange that I throw other cabbages," Cabbage-Pult recounts. "Of course not, my young friend! Some plants have thoughts and feelings, while others don't and are perfectly ok to throw. Just make sure you don't pult away any cabbages with eyes. You should have seen the look on Cousin Cabbot's face!"
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Lobs cabbages at half the rate of a Peashooter, but does double the damage. He, like all of the lobbed shot family, is best used when shooting straight is not an option (either in the Roof levels, or in Ancient Egypt and Dark Ages). Recharges fast, costs 100 sun. When given Plant Food, he'll fire loads of giant cabbages to the air which lands on all zombies.
Second game's almanac entry: Cabbage-pult received his doctorate in pulting from Harvest University. He knows a thing or two about launching his way to the top. He also makes a mean soup.
- Badass Family: With Kernel-pult and Melon-pult. He's the youngest of the family.
- Death from Above: His Plant Food ability is this.
- Edible Ammunition: It fires cabbages.
- Lampshade Hanging: He seems to be the only one who noticed that zombies climbing the roof is unusual.
- Martial Arts Headband: Gains one as his costume in the second game.
- Pun-Based Creature: It's a portmanteau of "catapult" and "cabbage".
- Overshadowed by Awesome: He, like Peashooter, is a mediocre damage-dealing plant that has no special features, while the other lobbed shot plants do. He's also the only lobbed-shot plant to lack any upgrade in the first game. His Plant Food ability is also among the weakest in the game. However, he's more reliable than Kernel-pult (because his damage output is consistent) and cheaper than Melon-pult.
- Shields Are Useless: The lobbed-shot plants (that includes him) can safely hit zombies who cover themselves by holding a shield-like object, except for Surfer Zombie, who holds his surfboard upward (at least once he's out of the water) and the Parasol Zombie, whose parasol deflects them off.
- Took a Level in Badass: At merely level 7 in the second game, he's able to kill regular zombies in just two attacks. Furthermore, he's also one of the few plants that levels up very quickly.
Flower Pot
"I'm a pot for planting. Yet I'm also a plant. HAS YOUR MIND EXPLODED YET?"
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Flower Pot must be the most relaxed plant around, there's no need to fight, and the roof is nice and sunny. Yes, as a plant, Flower Pot needs to photosynthesize.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry
It's a plant that allows you to plant another plant on otherwise unplantable surface. Costs 25 sun, recharges fast.
- Artistic License – Biology: Obviously, a flower pot isn't actually a plant, but it is made so in this game.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, 12 years after its debut appearance.
- Character Select Forcing: Flower Pot is all but required on the Roof levels, as otherwise you're stuck with a grand total of three columns to plant on, which likely won't be nearly enough for a proper defense.
- Department of Redundancy Department: While the Flower Pot's only use is to give you a plantable surface on the roof, there's nothing stopping you from bringing it to the front and back yards (although the game discourages you from doing so).
- Deployable Cover: It's not the intended use, but it can be used to block zombies whenever you absolutely need some more protection for about three seconds.
- Situational Sword: It's only useful in the roof stages.
- Support Party Member: By allowing plants to be planted on the roof.
- Version-Exclusive Content: Only shows up in the second game's Chinese version, due to the Memory Lane gamemode bringing back the Roof area.
Kernel-pult
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Kernel-pult is the eldest of the Pult brothers. Of the three of them, Kernel is the only one who consistently remembers the others' birthdays. He bugs them about it a little, too.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
While working as an usher at the local movieplex, he saw "Fried Green Tomatoes" and found his higher calling. He packed up his husks, his kernels, his butter, and enlisted.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Getting hit by Kernel-Pult is like having ten movie theatre popcorn machines land on you before getting thrown in a hot tub full of piping-hot butter-like flavor-topping.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Another of the lobbed shot plants, he normally lobs normal-damaging kernels at enemies, but has a chance of lobbing double-damage butter that immobilizes a zombie for 5 seconds. He, like all of the lobbed shot family, is best used when shooting straight is not an option (either in the Roof stage, or in Egypt and Dark Ages). Recharges fast, uses 100 sun. Can be upgraded to Cob Cannon. When given Plant Food, he'll fire loads of butter into the air, immobilizing all zombies on screen.
- Anti-Air: In the second game, his butter can instantly kill certain airborne zombies. Against Dodo Riders, it makes them drop to the ground.
- Badass Family: The eldest of the Pult brothers.
- Edible Ammunition: It fires kernels and butter.
- Martial Arts Headband: Gains one as his costume in the second game.
- One-Hit Kill: On Seagull Zombies, Parrot Zombies, Swashbuckler Zombies (when they're still swinging), and Bug Zombies (only the bug) in the second game, but only with butter.
- The Paralyzer: The butter acts as this.
- Random Number God: It's random whether he throws the block of butter or the kernel, which means that if you're unlucky, the zombies will be able to get close, whereas if you're lucky, they won't even be able to move.
- Shields Are Useless: The lobbed-shot plants (that includes him) can safely hit zombies who cover themselves by holding a shield-like object, except for Surfer Zombie who holds his surfboard upward (at least once he's out of the water) and the Parasol Zombie whose parasol deflects them off.
- Support Party Member: Has one of the weakest base attacks of any offensive plant, but compensates with the potential to stun enemies with butter.
Coffee Bean
"Hey, guys, hey!" says Coffee Bean. "Hey! What's up? Who's that? Hey! Didja see that thing? What thing? Whoa! Lions!" Yep, Coffee Bean sure does get excited.
'Plants vs. Zombies entry
"Hey guys, get up to see God! " Coffee Bean likes to use the phrase of his favorite movie lines to wake people up. Not to mention really, this method is quite effective. At least each time his friends open their eyes they will see a figure of a birdman.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry
Coffee Bean can be planted on a mushroom to wake them up during the day. Uses 75 sun, recharges fast. Doesn't appear in the sequel, since all mushrooms are diurnal by default. However, he appears in the Chinese version, filling a similar role to his original appearance in waking up any plant he's attached to.
- Balance Buff: In the Vs. Mode in the console versions, Coffee Bean's price is significantly reduced, from 75 sun to just 25 sun. By extension, this works as a Balance Buff to all mushrooms as well.
- Keet: He sure does get excited.
- Motor Mouth: His Plants vs. Zombies 1 almanac entry has him rapidly pepper someone else with questions and conversation topics. Lions get involved at some point, for some reason.
- Must Have Caffeine: It helps your mushrooms stay awake in the daytime (and, in the second game's Chinese version, wakes them up if an Archmage Zombie puts them to sleep).
- Power Floats: In the Zen Garden, he floats slightly over the pot.
- Regional Bonus: Only shows up in the second game's Chinese version, due to the zombie he counters also only appearing there.
- Situational Sword: In 1, he's only useful in day levels to wake up mushrooms. In the Chinese version of 2, he's only useful if an Archmage Zombie is on the field, who will put your plants to sleep.
- Support Party Member: By waking up mushrooms.
- Winged Humanoid: Well, plant in this case and exclusively in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 as well.
Garlic
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Lane-diversion isn't just Garlic's profession. It's his passion. He carries an advanced Doctorate in Redirection from the Brussels University. He'll talk all day about lane vectors and repulse arrays. He even pushes things into alternate avenues at home. Somehow his wife puts up with it.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Good against zombies, as well as proof against any vampires who might accidentally wander by.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Garlic's dream is to star in a show called "Garlock Holmes," about a brilliant detective solving crimes by belching garlicky breath on stuff. Six seasons and a movie, baby!
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Garlic redirects zombies who bite him away from the lane he's planted on. Uses 50 sun, recharges fast. If given Plant Food in the sequel, he breathes a cloud of stinky gas forwards that diverts all zombies it hits.
- The Bus Came Back: It's reintroduced in Neon Mixtape Tour Side B.
- Breath Weapon: His Plant Food ability has him breathe out a huge cloud of stinky gas that diverts zombies.
- Garlic Is Abhorrent: How his lane diversion works. Zombies take a bite out of him and jump into the nearest lane rather than continue doing so.
- Nerf: It has a lot less HP in the sequel.
- Reduce Aggro: It functions by turning zombies away from his lane.
- Serious Business: Garlic sees redirection as this for him. He even has a doctorate on it.
- Shows Damage: When he gets eaten enough, he shows bites on his body, eventually crying when at his biggest degrade stage.
- Single Tear: One drops out when he's at low health.
- So Last Season: He's much less useful in the sequel, not only because of his lower health, but also because several zombiesnote can easily counter him or hamper his ability, mainly because they don't eat. At least some of the aforementioned zombies can still be redirected with his Plant Food ability.
- You Need a Breath Mint: His Plant Food effect has him breathe out a cloud of stinky gas which forces all zombies in his lane to move away.
Umbrella Leaf
"SPROING!" says Umbrella Leaf. "Didja like that? I can do it again. SPROING! Woo! That's me popping up to protect stuff around me. Yeah. Just like that. EXACTLY like that. Believe it."
She protects the plants around her (3x3 tiles with her in the center) from Bungee Zombies and Catapult Zombies' projectiles. Based on a mayapple plant. Uses 100 sun, recharges fast.
- Highly Specific Counterplay: She’s only useful to defend against Bungee Zombies and Catapult Zombies.
- Improvised Umbrella: Uses this to bounce away any lobbed projectiles and Bungee Zombies.
- One-Hit Kill: Any Bungee Zombie who attempts to land on her or the 8 squares around her will immediately get bounced away and removed from the fight.
- Sizeshifter: When she activates her ability.
- Support Party Member: By acting as defense against aerial threats.
- Unsound Effect: SPROING! in her almanac entry.
Marigold
Click here to see her PVZ 2 appearance
Marigold spends a lot of time deciding whether to spit out a silver coin or a gold one. She thinks about it, weighs the angles. She does solid research and keeps up with current publications. That's how winners stay ahead.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Marigold has dedicated herself to the Zen lifestyle. She's a team player, and gives it her best there in the garden. But if she never has to confront another zombie on the lawn again it will be too soon.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
She drops coins on regular intervals. In the second game, she's only in the Zen Garden. Recharges slowly, uses 50 sun.
- Demoted to Extra: In 2, she only appears in the Zen Garden and can't be planted in battle.
- Informed Species: While marigolds do exist in her color, she looks more like a daisy than a marigold.
- Money Grinding: She's mainly used for this, largely because she doesn't do anything other than give money.
- Palette Swap: In Zen Garden, she comes in a variety of colors.
- Power Glows: When she's about to drop a coin.
- Pun-Based Creature: A marigold that drops golden coins.
- Serious Business: She does a lot of thinking for when she wants to drop a silver coin or a gold one.
- Support Party Member: By dropping coins.
Melon-pult
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
There's no false modesty with Melon-pult. "Sun-for-damage, I deliver the biggest punch on the lawn," he says. "I'm not bragging. Run the numbers. You'll see."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
"Everyone says my head looks like a melon," said the middle child of the Pult family, "And they would be right." Don't ask him if he's seedless or not though, it offends him and frankly it's none of your business.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
Melon-Pult loves giving back to the community. If he's not on the lawn, he's probably volunteering at the soup kitchen, making his hard-to-swallow melon noodle soup.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
Another of the lobbed shot plants, he lobs big watermelons at enemies that does heavy direct damage and light spread damage at a halved rate of the Peashooter. He, like all of the lobbed shot family, is best used when shooting straight is not an option (either in the Roof stage, or in Egypt and Dark Ages). Costs 300 sun (325 in the second game), recharges fast. Can be upgraded to Winter Melon, although it is a standalone plant in the sequel. When given Plant Food, he'll launch loads of giant watermelons which fall onto all zombies.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Although he isn't one for bragging, he's not known for false modesty.
- Badass Family: With Cabbage- and Kernel-pult. He is the middle child of the family.
- Berserk Button: He's offended whenever someone asks whether he's seedless or not.
- Big Little Brother: At least when compared to his big brother Kernel-pult.
- Captain Obvious:
Second game's almanac entry: "Everyone says my head looks like a melon," said the middle child of the Pult family, "And they would be right."
- Death from Above: His Plant Food ability rains melons onto all zombies on the screen.
- Edible Ammunition: It first watermelons.
- Mighty Glacier: Lobs melons at half the speed of a Peashooter's shots, but each melon packs a heavy punch and deals Splash Damage.
- Nerf: Had his sun cost increased slightly in the second game.
- Shields Are Useless: The lobbed-shot plants (that includes him) can safely hit zombies who cover themselves by holding a shield-like object, except for Surfer Zombie, who holds his surfboard upward (at least once he's out of the water) and the Parasol Zombie, whose parasol deflects them off.
- Splash Damage: When a watermelon hits a zombie, its chunks will spread over the tiles around where it lands, dealing minor damage to zombies on that area.
Upgrade Plants:
Gatling Pea / Mega Gatling Pea
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Gatling Pea's parents were concerned when he announced his intention to join the military. "But honey, it's so dangerous!" they said in unison. Gatling Pea refused to budge. "Life is dangerous," he replied, eyes glinting with steely conviction.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
When a certain research center exploded, a reed happened to be hit by lightning, and thus he became the Lightning Reed; at the same time, a Peashooter handling a machine gun was also struck, and so this is how our new hero — Gatling Pea was born.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry.
"I used to be an upgrade," says Mega Gatling Pea with uncharacteristic shyness. "Now I'm my own plant, with my own ambitions, dreams and gym club memberships!"
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry for Mega Gatling Pea.
An upgrade for the Repeater, Gatling Pea shoots peas 4 times in a row. Must be planted on an existing Repeater. Costs 250 sun (+200 from Repeater), recharges very slowly.
Returns as a premium plant in the Chinese version of Plants vs Zombies 2, and as Mega Gatling Pea in the international version. Mega Gatling Pea costs 400 sun and has a chance to randomly Plant Food himself. When given plant food, the Chinese version shoots 180 peas in spread across three lanes, while the international Mega Gatling Pea fires out 150 peas and upgrades itself to shoot 5 shots at a go instead of four.
- Ascended Extra: In the international version of Plants vs Zombies 2, he went from merely being a cameo in Peashooter's/Repeater's Limit Break into a proper plant on his own after many years.
- The Bus Came Back: After being Peashooter's and Repeater's Plant Food effect, he finally became a plant on his own in the sequel, known as Mega Gatling Pea.
- The Cameo: He only appears as Peashooter and Repeater's Plant Food upgrade in the international versions of the second game... until he returned in full as Mega Gatling Pea.
- Critical Hit: Exaggerated with Mega Gatling Pea, who has a small chance to use his Plant Food attack whenever he attacks.
- Carpe Diem: A variant. Gatling Pea's Almanac entry shows that he's not afraid to do what he wants, even if it's dangerous.Gatling Pea's parents: But honey, (joining the military) is dangerous!
Gatling Pea: Life is dangerous. - Cool Helmet: Wears one on his head. Mega Gatling Pea's helmet has a rank symbol that upgrades if he uses Plant food.
- Facial Markings: Ones underneath his eyes, fitting for a soldier.
- Gatling Good: Fires peas at a rapid rate. In the sequel, he becomes Peashooter and Repeater's Plant Food effects, and as such gives off even more of this! The Mega Gatling Pea takes this up to eleven — after using its 150-shot Plant Food, it permanently shoots 5 peas at a time instead of 4.
- Limit Break: His sole appearance in the sequel before his debut as Mega Gatling Pea was appearing in Peashooter and Repeater's Plant Food attack. Mega Gatling Pea also has a small chance to randomly use his for free whenever he attacks. Afterwards, he permanently powers himself up to fire 5 instead of 4 shots.
- More Dakka: IF everything else hasn't given it away, the Gatling Pea line is this in a nutshell, blistering rates of fire and typically the highest potential damage output of any plant in the game it's in in exchange for high cost and simplicity. This also encompasses his appearances in the sequel, either being a Plant Food attack that fires 60 to 90 peas in only a few seconds, or being an independent plant that can randomly fire 150 peas for free.
- Power Creep: Mega Gatling Pea completely overshadows the Pea Pod, by costing cheaper at similar levelsnote but also having the ability to randomly Plant Food himself and then shooting even faster. His only real downside is his unwieldy starting cost, which high-level players can easily ignore with lategame sun-gathering methods.
- Simple, yet Awesome: The Gatling Pea in all its incarnations is just a Peashooter revved up to greater rates of fire. He doesn't do splash damage, he can't aim to other lanes or bypass obstacles in his line of sight, and is affected by all the counters Zombies have for regular peashooters. But in the same way, he also benefits from the broad range of support given to peashooters.
- Took a Level in Badass: Went from being a plant upgrade in the first game to not only being his own plant in an update for the second game, but also has a chance of randomly activating his Plant Food ability and upgrading to shooting 5 peas at a time afterwards.
Twin Sunflower
Click here to see her PVZ 2 appearance
It was a crazed night of forbidden science that brought Twin Sunflower into existence. Thunder crashed overhead, strange lights flickered, even the very roaring wind seemed to hiss its angry denial. But to no avail. Twin Sunflower was alive, ALIVE!
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Twin Sunflower's super-chic line of ultra-expensive sunglasses has been a huge hit wherever she goes. Due to this she has been unable to travel without being swarmed by the Poppyrazzi.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
An upgrade for the Sunflower, Twin Sunflower gives 2 times the amount of sun given by Sunflower. Must be planted on an existing Sunflower. Costs 150 sun (+50 from Sunflower; just 125 sun in the second game), recharges very slowly (mediocre in the second game). Becomes a standalone plant in the second game; if given Plant Food, she'll give 250 suns.
- Artificial Human: More of an Artificial Plant, but it is mentioned that she's born from a forbidden science.
- Famed In-Story: Becomes this in the second game, where she now manages a line of popular, expensive sunglasses.
- Flower Motifs: The flower motif of choice in artwork related to Plants vs. Zombies, at least most of the time.
- Multiple Head Case: A Sunflower with two heads.
- Perpetual Smiler: Just like Sunflower, she's always smiling.
- Power Glows: Whenever she's about to produce sun, both of her heads glow.
- The Power of the Sun: Produces sun, much like Sunflower.
- Sunny Sunflower Disposition: A smiling, happy bouncing sunflower.
- Support Party Member: By giving suns.
- Worker Unit: More costly than the other options but also generates more sun over time, making her ideal for long levels like Survival stages, but her slow recharge and high cost make Twin Sunflower fairly clunky for regular levels. Her cost and recharge reduction in the second game make her much easier to use.
Gloom-shroom
"I've always enjoyed releasing heavy fumes," says Gloom-shroom. "I know a lot of people aren't cool with that. They say it's rude or that it smells bad. All I can say is, would you rather have your brain eaten by zombies?"
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Gloom-Shroom may look a little down, but they also look up, left, right, and diagonally. No matter what direction life goes, Gloom-Shroom always keeps the same expression. This makes them very good at poker, taking passport photos, and receiving gifts they don't like.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 entry
As they are a mushroom, they're only active at night. An upgrade for Fume-shroom, Gloom-shroom fires fumes four times in a 3x3 area around where they're planted. Must be planted on an existing Fume-shroom. Costs 150 sun (+75 from Fume-shroom), recharges very slowly.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When people points out that their job is dirty and unpleasant, they counter with "would you rather have your brain eaten by zombies?"
- The Bus Came Back: Returns in Plants vs. Zombies 3 after being absent in Plants vs. Zombies 2 (and subsequently replaced by the functionally similar Gloom Vine).
- Close-Range Combatant: Can only attack zombies in the squares around them.
- Multi-Directional Barrage: Shoots spores to all squares around them at a rapid rate.
- Nerf: Their fumes no longer pass through multiple targets in the third game.
- Shields Are Useless: Works much like Fume-shroom, but it can attack in a 3x3 radius around themselves.
Cattail
"Woof!" says Cattail. "Woof woof woof! Does this confuse you? Do you expect me to say 'Meow' like a cat because the word 'cat' is in my name and I also look like a cat? That's not how things work around here. I refuse to be pigeonholed."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
When Cattail was being interviewed, the journalist asked, "how do you look at the competitive relationship between you and Homing Thistle?" Cattail factly replied, "Meow meow meow~" which translated to "nothing can't be solved with being cute."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry.
An upgrade to the Lily Pad, Cattail shoots 2 thorns in a row that homes in to nearby opponents. Must be planted on a Lily Pad. Costs 225 sun (+25 from Lily Pad), recharges very slowly.
Returns as a separate plant in the Chinese version of Neon Mixtape Tour. Her tail has since been replaced with a Lightning Gun that can be upgraded to shoot actual sparks instead of needles, and can be fed Plant Food to discharge a full 100,000 volts at zombies.
- Anti-Air: Effective against Balloon Zombies by popping their balloons.
- Author Avatar: Of Laura Shigihara.
- Characterization Marches On: Her Almanac description in the first game mentions that she actively avoids speaking in meows and can speak clear English. In the Chinese version of 2, though, she speaks exclusively in meows despite her refusal to be pigeonholed.
- Cuteness Proximity: How she shrugs off her one-sided rivalry with Homing Thistle:
Cattail: Nothing can't be solved with being cute.
- Homing Projectile: Their projectiles will home in on the nearest zombie to the Cattail. While this lets a batch of them decimate priority targets quickly, it also makes them very weak against hordes due to their tendency to overkill.
- Lightning Gun: In the Chinese version of the second game, her tail gets replaced with one. It still shoots needles, but can be upgraded to periodically shoot actual sparks instead.
- Planimal: Half lily pad, half cat.
- Pun-Based Creature: Cattails are a type of shore reeds; this one is a literal cat head on a lily pad, with the actual reed for her tail.
- Sequel Non-Entity: In the west, she was absent for several games before finally making a reappearance in Heroes. She didn't even appear in Garden Warfare as potted plant, unlike the similarly-absent Doom-Shroom and Ice-Shroom.
- Spike Shooter: Fires spikes that home in on zombies and pop balloons.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: She woofs instead of meows because she hates being stereotyped. Averted in the Chinese version of the sequel, where she speaks exclusively in meows.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Her Wave-Motion Gun effect in the Chinese second game sends a whopping 100,000 volts into unsuspecting zombies, as per the Almanac.
- Wave-Motion Gun: What her Plant Food effect is, sending a total of 100,000 volts into the enemy.
Winter Melon
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Winter Melon tries to calm his nerves. He hears zombies approach. Will he make it? Will anyone make it?
Plants vs. Zombies entry
You may recognize Winter Melon's voice from such incredible documentaries as "It's Cold Up Here," "Ice Bingo," and "Surfin' Swedes."
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
An upgrade to the Melon-pult, Winter Melon lobs cold watermelons that does splash damage and can slow down multiple zombies at once, at a halved rate of the Peashooter. He, like all of the lobbed shot family, is best used when shooting straight is not an option (either in the Roof stage, or in Egypt and Dark Ages). Must be planted on a Melon-pult. Costs 200 sun (+300 from Melon-pult; 500 in the second game), recharges very slowly (fast in the second game). He is a standalone plant in the sequel. When given Plant Food, he'll launch loads of giant cold watermelons which fall onto all zombies.
- An Ice Person: Throws icy melons that chill zombies, slowing them down.
- Artistic License – Biology: The real life winter melon is only distantly related to actual watermelons.note
- Death from Above: His Plant Food ability rains icy melons onto all zombies on the screen.
- Edible Ammunition: It fires watermelons.
- Famed In-Story: His almanac entry in the second game states that he's voiced a few very successful documentaries.
- Pun-Based Creature: Winter melons in real life are a kind of whitish gourd superficially similar to watermelons. This one is a variant of the watermelon plant that shoots freezing projectiles.
- Shields Are Useless: The lobbed-shot plants (that includes him) can safely hit zombies who cover themselves by holding a shield-like object, except for Surfer Zombie, who holds his surfboard upward (at least once he's out of the water) and the Parasol Zombie, whose parasol deflects them off.
- Splash Damage: When a cold watermelon hits a zombie, its chunks will spread over the tiles around where it lands, dealing minor damage to (and slowing down) zombies on that area.
- Support Party Member: By slowing down zombies. Downplayed as they can also deal heavy damage.
Gold Magnet
"How did I end up here?" asks Gold Magnet. "I was on the fast track - corner office, full benefits, stock options. I was gonna be Vice President of Midwestern Operations. Now I'm here, on this lawn, in serious danger of being eaten to death. Ooh! A coin!"
An upgrade for the Magnet-shroom, Gold Magnet attracts coins and diamonds nearby. Must be planted on a Magnet-shroom. Costs 50 sun (+100 from Magnet-shroom) and recharges very slowly.
- The Artifact: Its whole purpose is to make collecting coins easier for PC players, as that version otherwise requires players to click each coin to collect them. Many other versions of the game let the player collect coins by simply moving their cursor/finger near them or even shaking the device, both of which are obviously faster and cheaper than buying a plant for that purpose.
- Artistic License – Biology: Magnet-shroom is a mushroom and Gold Magnet is a plant. That's ignoring the fact that a mushroom can have magnetic current, or the fact that gold and silver (much less diamond!) are non-magnetic...
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!:
Its almanac entry: "...Now I'm here, on this lawn, in serious danger of being eaten to death. Ooh! A coin!"
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The only plant from the original game to never appear in the series again. It didn't even get to appear in Plants vs. Zombies All Stars, where plants got a 3-stage evolution line, where it could have been an evolution stage for Magnet-shroom.
- Discard and Draw: It loses the Magnet-Shroom's ability to remove metallic objects from zombies in favor of attracting coins and no longer needing a Coffee Bean to function during the day.
- Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Being a literal gold magnet, it sports a distinct sheen compared to other plants.
- Money Grinding: It is popular to use it as this, alongside Marigold (if only to cut down on the amount of clicking you have to do).
- Power Glows: When it attracts money.
- Power-Up Magnet: It attracts the coins and gems that zombies drop.
- Support Party Member: By collecting coins for you.
- Unlucky Everydude: It was enjoying its safe, rich business before it got drafted to the lawn.
Spikerock
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
Spikerock just got back from a trip to Europe. He had a great time, met some wonderful people, really broadened his horizons. He never knew they made museums so big, or put so many paintings in them. That was a big surprise for him.
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Being the most metal plant, Spikerock has decided to hold his ultimate metal plant concert at Madison Rock Garden. Tickets have been sold out for many harvests.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
An upgrade to Spikeweed, Spikerock damages any zombie who walks on him. He deals the same damage as a Spikeweed at twice the rate of fire. He can take up to nine vehicle/Gargantuar hits in the first game (although Jack-in-the-box Zombie can kill him instantly) and three barrel/piano/Gargantuar hits in the second. He must be planted on a Spikeweed, although he is a standalone plant in the sequel. Costs 125 sun (+100 from Spikeweed; 250 in the sequel), recharges very slowly (fast in the sequel). When given Plant Food, Spikerock will attract all zombies on his lane onto himself while popping multiple spikes on said lane, dealing heavy damage.
- Anti-Vehicle: Pops tires to destroy vehicle-based zombies on contact, much like Spikeweed. Unlike Spikeweed, though, it can survive the process.
- Artistic License – Biology: Spikerock is technically a rock and not a plant. Assuming he's not a Spikeweed species that has a shell.
- Cool Shades: Gains a pair as a costume in the second game.
- Deployable Cover: It's not his intended use, but he can be used as this against vehicles and Gargantuar (the latter won't stop trying to hammer at Spikerock until he's destroyed completely).
- Face of a Thug: Despite his appearance he's a decent fellow who likes museums and traveling. Downplayed in the sequel where he becomes a heavy metal musician.
- Nerf: He has his health reduced from nine vehicle zombies/Gargantuar smashes to three and his sun cost slightly increased in the second game. On the other hand, he recharges much faster.
- One-Hit Kill: Only against vehicles (i.e Zomboni and Catapult Zombie), as well as Piano Zombie.
- Pop the Tires: Possible with vehicle-riding zombies.
- Shields Are Useless: He can bypass shielded zombies by his attacks. Except for the Excavator, who digs him up before he can do so.
- Shows Damage: He'll lose his 3 big spikes one-by-one whenever a vehicle or Gargantuar runs onto him.
- Spikes of Doom: Acts as this to most zombies, damaging them if they walk on him and at an even faster rate than Spikeweed. Played even straighter if they're vehicles or rolling zombies, who get instantly killed should they run over him.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Aside from being an Anti-Vehicle, they can also provide a buffer for Chicken Zombies or Weasel Zombies should Lightning Reed be unavailable. Also great for whittling down most zombies as they are ignored by most of them. They can also stall out Gargantuars.
- You Will Not Evade Me: His Plant Food ability is best at grouping zombies together.
Cob Cannon
What's the deal with Cob Cannon, anyway? He went to Harvard. He practices law in a prestigious New York firm. He can explode whole areas of zombies with a single corn launch. All this is common knowledge. But deep inside, what really makes him tick?
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Just how did the Cob Cannon the Colonel of Texas come by? Well, he once studied at Harvard and worked at a New York-based law firm, but don't ask me why a lawyer would eventually go to Area 51, after all, this is an era when blind men can be lawyers.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version entry
An upgrade for Kernel-pult, Cob Cannon launches big cob missiles at your command; click on him, then click at any part of your lawn to make him launch a missile to the designated place. Said missile explodes in a 3x3 area around the target. After firing, it'll take time for him to reload. Must be planted on 2 side-by-side Kernel-pults. Costs 500 sun (+200 from 2 Kernel-pults), recharges very slowly.
Returns as a monthly special plant in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2. When given plant food, he lauches explosive kernels around his radius for 6 seconds.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Outside of Survival levels at least, since normal levels are short and they're very costly. You're better off using Cherry Bombs in most regular levels since they'll end long before a single Cob Cannon pays for itself. Oh, and if zombies start eating him, he's gone in three seconds.
- Badass Bookworm: He studied in Harvard and worked as a lawyer.
- BFG: By far the biggest plant in the series, and fires off explosive corn cob rounds.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: His almanac entry mentions several facts about his education and life... and finishes by saying that he can "explode whole areas of zombies with a single corn launch."
- Cooldown: He needs some reload time before he can fire another cob.
- Death from Above: His launched cob missiles drop from above like a bomb.
- Difficult, but Awesome: In Survival Mode, the Cob Cannon is a very difficult plant to unlock, but well worth the price. Even a single one can turn the tide of battle, and getting a full row into play can annihilate entire waves with no effort.
- Edible Ammunition: A whole cob of corn. It is called an ICBM - Intercontinental Ballistic Maize.
- Glass Cannon: Can take down whole groups of zombies with cob missiles, but is very fragile.
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: The only plant in the first game that's manually controlled, as the Cob Cannon's attack is triggered by tapping/clicking it and then designating a target location. It's also the only plant in the series that takes up multiple tiles, meaning it can't be protected by a Pumpkin or abducted by Bungee Zombies.
- One-Hit Kill: Every zombie short of Gargantuars will go to dust when hit with an explosive corn cob.
- The Stoic: Nobody knows what makes him tick.
Imitater
Click here to see his PVZ 2 appearance
"I remember the Zombie Wars back in '76," says Imitater in a raspy, old-man's voice. "Back then, we didn't have all these fancy peashooters and jalapenos. All we had was guts. Guts and a spoon."
Plants vs. Zombies entry
Having studied French Theater at Julienne, the Imitater went to the streets with his art, and has perfected his technique he calls "Potato stuck in a box".
Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry
A special plant that can copy any plant except upgrade plants and himself. He can be used to effectively cut the recharge time of plants in half, although he takes up another seed slot. His recharge time, sun cost, and other properties depend on what plant he copied.
- Cooldown Manipulation: By copying a plant, he effectively halves their cooldown time by allowing you to use two of the same plant, at the cost of an extra seed slot.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Whatever he copies will be monochrome to differentiate him from the actual plant. He himself is monochrome. Averted in the sequel and the mobile ports of the first game.
- Ditto Fighter: Of the Tsungxpert variety; Imitater copies a (non-upgrade) plant of your choice when picked for a level.
- Downloadable Content: in the second game.
- Grumpy Old Man: He in the first game has the vibes of this, being an Old Soldier.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Only in the sequel — when he's planted and transforming, no zombie can harm him until he fully transforms.
- Pun-Based Creature: It's a potato that imitates other plants, so its name is a portmanteau of "imitate" and "tater", a slang term for potatoes.
- Stealth Pun: Him being a mime in the sequel is a reference to his copying ("miming") ability.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Inverted. The Imitater in the second game is different than the first. Even then, the two still work the same way.
- Transformation Is a Free Action: Subverted in the first game where he can be killed before he fully transforms. Played straight in the sequel, though, where he's completely invulnerable when doing so.
- Transformation Sequence: He'll spin a few times before turning into a plant when he's planted.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Transforms into another plant of the player's choosing.
