Sea Serpent Zombie

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Sea Serpent Zombie is a General zombie that can only be found in Arena and Penny's Pursuit in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Just like the other General Zombies, he only advance to the 8th column and having several different stages of attacks.
His first ability is called "Sinking Floor", which summons water tiles onto the lawn, which will drown plants that are already on it and are not amphibious or flying after 5 seconds. Within those water tiles, he can use his second ability "Serpent Servant", to summon Sea Serpents, they will drag plants from the left to right until they drown on the water tile, similar to Fisherman Zombie. They cannot drag flying or amphibious plants, Infi-nut's force field or Resistance Radish, and Guacodile will charge when dragged. Sea Serpents have health and can be defeated, but will reappear unless a plant is planted on top, such as Lily Pad. Sea Serpent Zombie's final ability is called "Drowned Unsubmerge", and will summon any type of Ducky Tube from any of the water tiles. Both "Serpent Servant" and "Drowned Unsubmerge" cannot be summoned past the 3rd column closest to your house.
Like Roman Caesar Zombie, he is able to be stunned or poisoned, but not hypnotized, turned into an Imp by Imp Pear's Plant Food, being shrunk or knocked back.
When he retreats or dies, the water tiles and the Sea Serpents on the lawn will still remain, meaning taking out Sea Serpent Zombie will not revert everything.
==Origins==
He is based on Sea serpents, a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies. They are classed as a cryptid since science can not tell for certain whether or not such creatures truly exist, though most scientists would agree the legends about man-eating and ship-destroying Serpents were a myth. There are various mythologies that have sea serpents or related creatures, most notably Mesopotamian, Judaeo-Christian, Greek, and Norse.
In the Simplified Chinese translation, he is instead named after Shen, or the Shen Dragon, a type of aquatic dragons that create mirages. While the two are quite different, they share some similarity such as being dragon-like, living in water etc.His outfit and summoned Sea Serpents are based on a more modern interpretation of the sea serpents, being fearsome monsters that resemble a dragon without arms. Their large size is based on how some sea creatures within the deep sea are very huge, way bigger than their normal counterpart out of the deep sea.
His ability to summon water tiles is somewhat original, but in some of the myth sea serpents have the ability to create huge tidal waves strong enough to overturn and wreck ships with their large body, which is part of the reference. It also relates to Jörmungandr, a sea serpent In Norse mythology who dwells in the world sea, with the theme of it being in the ocean relates to how Sea Serpent Zombie controls water, as well as the overall theme of the deep sea relating to the water summoning power as well. It is further explained in the Chinese version, where he is named after Shen who can create mirages, which is also part of the inspiration for the water tiles summoning.
Summoned Sea Serpents' ability to drag plants is based on how sea serpents are known to drag ships underwater as they would kill any sailor that disturbs them in the myth as well as number of reports about them. His ducky tube summoning ability is based on this as well, being the dead sailors that drowned and became zombies.
==Almanac entry==
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|-|Sea Serpent Zombie=
|-|Sea Serpent=
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== Stages and overview==
Sea Serpent Zombie degrades visually in all phases at 25%, 50% and 75% phase damage taken, at 25% one of his horns will fall off, at 50% his right arm will fall off, and at 75% his entire body looks damaged.
Phase	Length 	Health 	Points on defeat	Attacks
1 	40 seconds	12,000 damage	90,000 	Summon 1-2 water tiles (Sinking Floor)Summon a Sea Serpent if there is a water tile (Serpent Servant)Summon a Ducky Tube or a Ducky Tube Conehead (Drowned Unsubmerge)
2 	35 seconds	14,500 damage	120,000 	Summon 1-3 water tiles (Sinking Floor)Summon 1-2 Sea Serpents if there is a water tile (Serpent Servant)Summon 1-2 of any Ducky Tube or their variants if there is a water tile (Drowned Unsubmerge)
3 	30 seconds	17,000 damage	145,000 	Summon 1-4 water tiles (Sinking Floor)Summon 1-3 Sea Serpents if there is a water tile (Serpent Servant)Summon 1-3 of any Ducky Tube or their variants if there is a water tile (Drowned Unsubmerge)
== Audio ==
Sound	Description
 	Sea Serpent Zombie summons water tiles or Ducky Tubes.
 	Sea Serpent Zombie summons Sea Serpents.
 	Sea Serpents pulling plants.
==Encounters== 
*Arena (certain tournaments)
*Penny's Pursuit (certain levels)
==Strategies==
Sea Serpent Zombie is a big threat, mainly due to his ability to summon almost unplantable tiles and Sea Serpents that can drag plants. While his Ducky Tubes summoning ability isn't as strong, it is still threatening when there are a lot of zombies. Therefore it is recommended to damage Sea Serpent Zombie while dealing with his summons. You can also stun him just like Roman Caesar Zombie, though his summoned Sea Serpents on the other hand can't be stunned, moved or anything beside damage.
Firstly, his water tiles summoning ability, or "Sinking Floor". It can destroy some of your plants, making holes in your defense for other zombies to advance. It can potentially take out sun-producers, your main attacking plants or even Infi-nut for Sea Serpents to grab your plants. As the lawn he appears in isn't Big Wave Beach, you can't pre-plant Lily Pads to stop him from drowning your plants, meaning the only way is to quickly plant a Lily Pad while the plant is drowning. This require the player to always be quick and pay attention to the lawn. If there are multiple water tiles drowning your plants, your best bet is to save the most important plants, mainly an attacker, a high cost plant or Infi-nut. You can try imitating the Lily Pads as well, but it might not be worth it considering it would take up another seed slot when you could use it for more important plants. You can also prevent this if you're mainly using flying or amphibious plant as they can't be drowned, some even get extra power from being in water like SeaFlora. Avoid using Gumnut against him, as she doesn't work in water, Sea Serpent Zombie will just summon water tile under the trapped zombies to free them, similar to how Z-Mech teleports zombies. Also avoid using underground plants like Cactus or Potato Mine as they can't be used on Lily Pad, limiting a lot of places they can be used on.
Secondly, his Sea Serpents, or the "Serpent Servant" ability. They serve as mini Fisherman Zombie, and is the most dangerous ability Sea Serpent Zombie has. They appear from water tiles, knock away the plants on the that tile and drag plants one by one towards themselves until they drown on the water tile. This can be stopped by a flying or amphibious plant at the front. However this isn't reliable as most of them don't have high defenses and when paired with Ducky Tube summoning, can be destroyed and leave ways for Sea Serpents to drag other plants in. The best way to stop this is with Infi-nut's Plant Food, which has high health and can block Sea Serpents just like how it counters Fisherman Zombie. Although beware of Sea Serpent Zombie from summoning water tile under them in an attempt to destroy them. Sea Serpents themselves have Protected health so they can be defensive by protecting Sea Serpent Zombie. To stop them from reappearing, the best way is to use a Lily Pad as they have fast recharge, low sun cost and allow other plants to be planted there. Reminder that Blockoli cannot block Sea Serpents from dragging it unlike Fisherman Zombie, so don't use them like you would against the Fisherman Zombies. In Penny's Pursuit, the Penny Shield and Penny Multi shield perks can both function like Infi-nut's Plant Food effect to block them, but they aren't reliable due to the fact that you can't control when or where they appear, it can be an alternative to the previously mentioned method, but don't rely on them too heavily.
Last but not least, Ducky Tubes summoning ability, or "Drowned Unsubmerge". While it might seems underwhelming at first, these zombies combo well with his other abilities as they can eat through plants that Sea Serpents can't normally drag. Their ability to swim faster in water also apply to water tiles, giving them extra speed to close in on your plants. Even with a simple Conehead can eat through one or two of your plants if you aren't ready, especially to inexperienced players who will have trouble taking care of the Sea Serpents, they take advantage of that weakness and may cost you a victory. They can be killed by Tangle Kelp in the water, but it is not adviced to bring them in a level as Tangle Kelp would be useless everywhere else. Instead piercing plants such as Laser Bean or SeaFlora can take them out along with damaging Sea Serpent Zombie. When out of options, you can use knockback plants to push them back. You shouldn't spend most of your instant-killing plants on them since they will always be summoned back unless they are very close to eating a plant or your brain, instead focus some of your strongest attack on Sea Serpent Zombie to ensure they won't be summoned again. For both this and "Serpent Servant", Sea Serpent Zombie can't summon them or Sea Serpents past the 3rd column closest to your house, so you can take advantage of this and put your attackers at the first column so that they can't be easily eaten. Celery Stalker can also be useful by camping both them and Sea Serpents when they spawn, however since they can't be planted on Lily Pad this can only work on lower phases when there aren't as much water tiles.
For Sea Serpent Zombie himself, even though he will disappear eventually, in Arena he is worth a lot of points, so using Power Mints and combo them with high level plants of your own is recommended. He himself has little to no protection outside of the summoned Sea Serpents, so focusing your power plants like Pea Vine + Torchwood and others when there's no other zombies on the lane can destroy them easily. Do remember that even after taking out Sea Serpent Zombie, all of his summons will not disappear, meaning you can't focus all of your power on him and ignore the rest. Instead, as mentioned above, focus some of the stronger power on him and some of the weaker ones on his summons, and spend your sun accordingly. If you're near the end of an Arena match, try using all of your remaining Plant Food on them to take him out one last time, rewarding you with more points. If you can't take him out, using stunning plants like Kernel-pult or Headbutter Lettuce can help stun him, especially Dazey Chain who can pierce through the entire lane, temporarily stop him from performing any ability.
In the Chinese version, Resistance Radish can actually be very helpful against the Sea Serpents by blocking them, along with Spinnapple who can fly above water while defending zombies, other Sky City plants that can fly and more amphibious plants that get stronger in water like Lotuspot and Narcissus, making him less of a threat. Though don't underestimate him as the level scaling in the Chinese version can be crazy at times, giving him and his summons extremely tanky health and strong damage output.
==Gallery==
File:Sea Serpent Zombie HD.png|Sea Serpent Zombie HD
File:Sea Serpent HD.png|Sea Serpent on a water tile HD
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Degrade 1.png|First degrade
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Degrade 2.png|Second degrade
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Degrade 3.png|Third degrade
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Lawn.png|Sea Serpent Zombie on the Penny's Pursuit Lawn
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Almanac.png|Almanac Icon
File:Sea Serpent Almanac.png|Sea Serpent's Almanac Icon
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Ability Showcase 1.png|His first ability "Sinking Floor"
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Ability Showcase 2.png|His second ability "Serpent Servant"
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Ability Showcase 3.png|His third ability "Drowned Unsubmerge"
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Advertisement.png|Sea Serpent Zombie's Teaser/Advertisement
File:Sea Serpent Zombie Screenshot.png|In-game Screenshot of Sea Serpent Zombie arriving to the lawn.
==In other languages==
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|-|Sea Serpent Zombie=
|-|Sea Serpent=
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==Trivia==
* When Sea Serpent Zombie first appears on the lawn, he is invulnerable until the waves disappear and he starts his attacks. This is shared with Z-Mech.
* Many sounds from him and the Sea Serpents are reused.
*Just like every General Zombie, his almanac incorrectly state his Toughness as Hardened and his Speed as Creeper.
**This is not shared with his Sea Serpents, who have the correct Toughness and Speed.
*In the almanac, Sea Serpent and its water tile's spot is in an impossible place on the lawn, it is because Sea Serpent wouldn't fit into the almanac otherwise.
*In all levels where Sea Serpent Zombie is present, all aquatic only plants are available to be picked.
*He is one of the three zombies to be featured in an advertisement before actually being released in the game, the others being Roman Ceasar Zombie and ZCorp Consultant.
**Unlike the other two, he isn't tied with other sets of zombies, and the advertisement is more of a teaser for him rather than advertising anything else.
*His design was originally going to feature a tail, but DMdarkmatter forgot when drawing the art so it stayed this way.
*Both him and the Sea Serpents were going to be in different color depending on their phases, similar to how Cardio Zombie has different treadmill depending on the phases, but was scrapped.
*This is the first contest entry by DMdarkmatter that is a zombie.
**He is also the first general zombie by DMdarkmatter.
**He is the first seasonal contest win as well as the first featured page by DMdarkmatter!
*Originally he was going to hold a staff akin to Healer Zombie, but it was changed to a baby Sea Serpent because its "Funnier" and "Crueler".
*Other concepts DMdarkmatter thought of for the Deep Sea-son contest include an Anglerfish plant and a Loch Ness Monster zombie.
Category:Zombies with "Creeper" speed
Category:Zombies with "Hardened" toughness
Category:Zombies that summon other Zombies
Category:Aquatic zombies
Category:General Zombies
Category:Penny's Pursuit
Category:Instant-kill zombies
Category:Zombies that don't attack your house
Category:Zombies that don't move
Category:Supporting Zombies
Category:Ranged Zombie
Category:Plants vs. Zombies 2 zombies
Category:DarkMatter Creations