Maneating Plant

The Maneating Plant, also known as Man Eater or Stone Rose, is an enemy in the Castlevania series. They are carnivorous mutated plants that grew and developed a taste for human flesh.
==Description==
The Maneating Plant is a huge plant that uses projectiles of some kind; these range from seeds, fireballs, petrifying skulls, or poisonous gas. They have appeared in several Castlevania games and their general appearance is comprised by a bulky mass of roots, branches and leaves at the bottom which makes them either stationary or almost immobile; a long and highly mobile stem; and a big corolla of curling petals, all in conjunction giving them the appearance of a dinosaur-like creature moving its long neck and attacking by spewing projectiles from its mouth. This effect is accentuated by the red color of their petals, which makes the flower look like a mouth with red lips.
==Appearances==
===Castlevania II: Simon's Quest===
First appearance of Man-Eating Plants in the series. In this game, they are stationary and won't attack unless Simon approaches them and stands at their same height. They attack by spewing fireballs straightforward and in succession. These can be deflected by using the shield granted by equipping Dracula's Rib.
There is concept art in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection that describes these as "Anthropophagous Plants" that drag and devour players if they get too close.
===Castlevania: Rondo of Blood===
Only one Maneating Plant appears in the entire game and it's actually located in the very first stage. It can be found by breaking a wall and going through the secret route out of Aljiba, and then breaking yet another wall after dropping down a large shaft.
What makes this creature's appearance very mysterious is that it doesn't drop anything upon defeat and the room where it is found in is a dead end, which raises the question of the purpose of placing one of the largest and best animated enemies in the game in such a hidden location.
===Castlevania: Bloodlines===
The Maneating Plant in Bloodlines is actually composed of several entities, which include a giant flower that sprays down poisonous seeds, a thorny vine that swings near the flower, and a long vine that can encircle and ensnare its victims. All variants are only found along the garden section at the beginning of Versailles Palace.
===Castlevania: Symphony of the Night===
Only three of these enemies appear in the game, in the longest corridor of the Marble Gallery. As its name implies, the Stone Rose will give Alucard his first taste of the Stone status ailment by spewing seeds that bounce a short distance and that will petrify anything it comes into contact with. Novice players may have a hard time surviving these creatures, not expecting being suddenly transformed into a stone statue, unable to move and with lowered defenses, while still learning the basics of the game. Shields can block these seeds.
Once the Stone Rose has been damaged enough, it will open its petals and produce slowly moving swarms of seeds that can be destroyed by any weapon. The Stone Rose is one of few enemies that respawn in the same room if Alucard moves away from where they appear and comes back. It's the only enemy in the game that is weak to the Cut attribute and, as such, will take double damage from swords and other Cut-based weapons. It's also resistant to Water (H2O), an element that Alucard can't attack with since there are no Water-based weapons or spells available to him in the game.
The Sega Saturn port of Symphony of the Night introduced an exclusive enemy called the Venus Man Trap, which, as its name implies, is a giant Venus flytrap of gigantic proportions that eats entire humans.
===Castlevania: Circle of the Moon===
In Circle of the Moon, this enemy is referred to as the Man Eater, which could bring some confusion with the actual Man Eater creature, a flying giant skull. This plant monster will occasionally spew out a stream of seeds, which can be deflected just by spinning the whip around. It may drop a Heart (item) or the rare Diana DSS card when killed.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
The Man-eater is one of only two enemies in Harmony of Dissonance which is weak to two elements (Fire and Ice), the other being the Melty Zombie (Ice and Wind).
Exploiting its vulnerability to Ice, and because of its shape and manner of attacking, the Hail Stone (Axe + Ice Book) Spell Fusion is very effective against these carnivorous giant plants, as it summons an icy rock to drop from the sky, which attacks the monster from the top (potentially destroying any seeds it has spewed), likely killing it in a single hit.
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
While there are several Skeleton Flowers in the Garden Forgotten by Time, only two Man-Eating Plants appear in the entire game. They are gigantic, bulky and move very slowly. They initially have their petals closed in a bud-like fashion, resembling a giant rose, and will occasionally sprout human skulls to damage the enemy. Every time they are attacked, they'll be pushed slightly backward, and when they've sustained enough damage, the petals will open revealing their pistil, which is their weak spot.
Their main purpose, however, may be not so obvious at first; when they open, their petals can be stepped on without the player sustaining any damage. In both rooms where they appear in, there are high ledges with doors that lead to other areas of the garden. The player thus must lure and/or push the Man-Eating Plants near these ledges and make them open in order to use them as stepping platforms.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
While the Stone Rose retains the same sprite and attacks from previous installments, it can prove to be a difficult foe to deal with this time around due to the irregularity of the terrains it is usually encountered on and/or the condition of the terrain it dwells at. A few Stone Roses can be found sitting on top of ground formations, from where the seeds they spew have a high chance of rolling down and bump on the player, dealing moderate damage. This, in conjunction with it flower's high mobility, may allow it to spew several seeds from that vantage point while the player is in a disadvantageous position to fight back.
Stone Roses start appearing in the second section of Oblivion Ridge, after Gravedorcus's boss room. They are also encountered in the next stage, Argila Swamp, where they usually lie in the middle of swamps, which greatly slow down the player's mobility, and often in company of other enemies.
One of the Stone Roses found in Oblivion Ridge is actually useful for reaching a ledge and pick up a Chamomile lying on it, without resorting to come back later in the game. The player has to let the plant erect its flower/head and jump kick it at the precise moment in order to (double) jump back from it and reach the ledge (in a case similar to how Soma Cruz could enter the room with the Ninja Suit in Dawn of Sorrow).
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
Maneating Plant - Simon's Quest - 01.png|Man-Eating Plant from the Japanese Simon's Quest instruction booklet.
Anthropophagous Plant Concept Simon's Quest Crescent Moon.png|Anthropophagous Plant concept art for Simon's Quest published in The History of Castlevania.
Kid Dracula Carnivorous Plant.JPG|Shades the Carnivorous Plant from the Kid Dracula (GB) instruction booklet.
Maneating Plant - Circle of the Moon - 01.jpg|Man Eater from the Circle of the Moon instruction booklet.
HoD 036.png|Man-eater enemy list entry from Harmony of Dissonance.
032.png|Man-Eating Plant from Lament of Innocence.
Dxc 029.png|Stone Rose enemy list entry from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night.
Giant Demon Flower MR.jpg|Giant Demon Flower artwork from Moonlight Rhapsody.
==Trivia==
*The Maneating Plant is likely inspired by Audrey II, the main antagonist of the 1986 rock musical comedy horror film Little Shop of Horrors (a film adaptation of the musical based on the 1960 film of the same name), a malevolent plant that came from outer space who feeds on human flesh and blood.
==See also==
*Venus Man Trap
Category:Film Based Monsters
Category:Plant Monsters
Category:Stone Enemies
Category:Bloodlines Enemies
Category:Circle of the Moon Enemies
Category:The Dracula X Chronicles Enemies
Category:Harmony of Despair Enemies
Category:Harmony of Dissonance Enemies
Category:Kid Dracula (GB) Enemies
Category:Lament of Innocence Enemies
Category:Moonlight Rhapsody Enemies
Category:Order of Ecclesia Enemies
Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies
Category:Rondo of Blood Enemies
Category:Simon's Quest Enemies
Category:Symphony of the Night Enemies