Scarecrop

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Scarecrop is a recurring multi-use instant-kill featured throughout the franchise. He is featured in the original as one of the last three obtainable in the game, costing to purchase at after beating twice. Scarecrop returns in as a premium introduced during the 2019 event and in the 7.6.2 update as part of the 'Scarecrop’s Spooky Season!' season. In , Scarecrop is once again featured. 
When planted, Scarecrop waits for zombies to approach and instantly devours them. After consuming, he chews and becomes vulnerable, with variable digestion times depending on the zombie's health, also causing zombies in a 1x3 area to divert to another lane. In both Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs. Zombies 3, Scarecrop gains the additional ability to also make permanently leave the lawn when he attacks.
==Origins==
===Physiology, Naming and Imagery===
Scarecrop is based on real-life scarecrows, a type of mannequin typically made from hay and featuring old clothing. These are placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently sown seeds and crops. Culturally, scarecrows are a notable symbol of farming and the countryside. Scarecrop is also inspired by real-life crops, such as wheat and, in particular, pumpkins. Pumpkins are culturally associated with Halloween (the inspiration for the Plants vs. Zombies ) due to the plant's growth during the fall season and the tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns.
Scarecrop's name is a portmanteau of the words 'Scarecrow', referring to the man-made object; 'Scare', indicating his ability to scare off ; and 'Crop', alluding to the crops featured in Scarecrop's design, such as pumpkins and hay.
===Creation===
Scarecrop is a plant that was originally created on September 25th, 2019, for the Lawn of Doom 2019 Contest hosted by DsFanboy. He started off as a 250 -cost plant that lobbed pumpkins at zombies, with an additional ability to scare off such as or . In the results of the contest, Scarecrop came out on top, beating out entries like Zombified Zombie (which later became a Featured Article itself), Frankenthyme, and Balloon Stump. This led to Scarecrop becoming a Featured Article on October 14th.
On September 8th, 2021, almost two years after the release of the original page, a version of Scarecrop dropped. This was the first-ever page on the wiki related to the game, releasing before pages for the game had even been added to the Plants vs. Zombies Wiki. Costing 6 sun, Scarecrop retained all the abilities he had in , with the added ability to lob over slopes in and levels.
The Plants vs. Zombies 2 version of Scarecrop remained unchanged until July 19th, 2022, when he received a sun cost reduction from 250 to 175 and an increase in recharge time. Along with these balance changes, a new Epic Quest unlock criteria were introduced, along with a tweaked page design and new art from Emius. Scarecrop was eventually removed as a Featured Article on August 2nd, 2023; where he remained unchanged until March 22nd, 2024, when the first part of a remake of Scarecrop was released, featuring a redesigned Plants vs. Zombies 2 version of Scarecrop. The second part of this remake, featuring a new Plants vs. Zombies 3 version of Scarecrop, was released on April 30th, 2024. The third and final part of the remake was released on May 8th, 2024, becoming a Featured Article again on May 29th.
==Overview==
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When planted, Scarecrop behaves similarly to , waiting for zombies to approach before attacking and devouring them, instantly killing the zombie. After consuming a zombie, Scarecrop begins to chew, becoming vulnerable to zombie attacks. Unlike Chomper or similar variants like and from Plants vs. Zombies 2, Scarecrop does not have a set digestion time. Instead, he takes a variable amount of time to chew on zombies, digesting a total of 20 damage worth of zombie health per second. This damage is deducted from the zombie's current health, so if a zombie has already been damaged by another plant, such as a , Scarecrop can digest that zombie more quickly. These times are rounded up, so for a zombie with 190 health, instead of taking 9.5 seconds to digest, it will take 10.
For undamaged , Scarecrop requires a total of ten seconds to completely digest them before being able to attack again. However, for undamaged , this time increases to sixty-nine seconds, significantly higher than Chomper's base forty-two second chewing time. When faced with inedible targets, such as the , , or , Scarecrop will instead bite them, dealing 60 every 1.5 seconds.
During attacks, all zombies within a 1x3 area in front of Scarecrop will instantly divert to another nearby lane, similar to the effect of a . This diversion still occurs when attacking inedible targets.
As a grounded plant, Scarecrop cannot be planted on and therefore is not able to be planted on at all. Additionally, Scarecrop's lane diversion does not push zombies into water lanes; instead, they move to the nearest open ground lane above or below them.
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Scarecrop behaves similarly to his counterpart in the original , waiting for zombies to approach before devouring them, nearby zombies to another lane upon attacking, and exhibiting variable eating times based on the zombie's health. 
He did get a buff, costing 150 sun instead of 200; but the most significant alteration between games lies in the rate at which Scarecrop digests zombie health per second, increasing from a mere 20 per second in Plants vs. Zombies to 50 damage per second. Consequently, for undamaged equivalents, Scarecrop only requires four seconds to completely digest them before being able to attack again. However, for undamaged equivalents, Scarecrop requires 26 seconds to chew, compared to flat 17 seconds (due to the Chomper buff). This timer can be reduced based on the damage the zombie has sustained beforehand.
When confronted with inedible targets such as and boss zombies, Scarecrop will still bite them, inflicting 60 damage every 1.5 seconds. Additionally, he remains unable to be planted on .
Another divergence between games is that all "" (as listed below) will vacate the lawn when Scarecrop attacks and will not return. This occurs regardless of whether he is attacking an inedible target or not.
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Scarecrop acts almost exactly the same as he does in Plants vs. Zombies 2, with the biggest change being the fact that instead of a 1x3 area in front of him where he diverts zombies when attacking, it is instead a 1x2 area in front of him. Additionally, who are not previously exposed will not divert to another lane, allowing clear access for the Imp to attack Scarecrop.
There is only a single zombie Scarecrop can scare away in this game, which is spawned by ; only being able to scare pigeons away when he attacks.
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== Upgrades==
=== effect===
When given , Scarecrop burrows underground and devours the highest-health zombie on the lawn, regardless of whether the zombie in question is edible or not. Like with other attacks, this will divert all zombies in a 1x3 area to the right of the attack and scare off any nearby .
=== effect===
When boosted by , Scarecrop's chew time increases to 600 damage worth of zombie health per second and gains the ability to devour all inedible zombies, including .
===Level upgrades ===
Level	 	 	Upgrades	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades	Upgrades
Level	 	 	Cost 	Recharge 	Toughness	Area 	Range
1 	0 	0	150 	13 seconds	300 	1x3 	Close
2 	50 	0	150 	12 seconds	350 	1x3 	Close
3 	100 	0	125 	12 seconds	400 	1x3 	Close
4 	200 	0	125 	11 seconds	450 	1x4 	Close
5 	300 	0	100 	11 seconds	500 	1x4 	Close
6 	400 	0	100 	10 seconds	550 	1x4 	Close
7 	500 	0	100 	10 seconds	700 	1x5 	Close
8 	600 	0	75 	9 seconds 	700 	1x5 	Close
9 	800 	0	75 	9 seconds 	800 	1x6 	Close
10 	1,000	0	75 	8 seconds 	900 	1x6 	Close
===Mastery upgrades===
*Chance to Boost
*Damage Pierce
*Toughness Bonus
==Strategies ==
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Scarecrop presents a unique addition to a player's arsenal, resembling in some aspects yet diverging significantly in strategy. While Chomper excels against high-health threats like , thanks to his consistent eating time regardless of zombie type, Scarecrop shines against medium or low-health zombies, optimizing his efficiency to those where Chomper may seem pointless to use. In Plants vs. Zombies speedrunning, Chomper serves as a core element due to his quick-recharging instant-kill capability, whereas Scarecrop, with the same recharge rate, falls short in this regard due to the higher cost. Instead, Scarecrop thrives against larger hordes of zombies, swiftly consuming and digesting them while grouping the remaining undead, facilitating the use of crowd-control and splash-damaging plants like , or . He acts as a strategic funnel for these plants, particularly synergizing well with by enabling it to target an additional lane, with one lane of zombies being moved to another.
Given Scarecrop's vulnerability during chewing, pairing him with defensive plants like becomes imperative, offering a layer of protection against incoming zombie hordes. or may prove as superior alternatives compared to Pumpkin in certain scenarios, as they concentrate the zombie horde in front of them and synergizes with Scarecrop's diversion ability, potentially even allowing to decimate large groups in a single go.
Scarecrop's utility extends beyond crowd-control strategies due to his digestion time accounting for already dealt damage to zombies. This versatility enables him to efficiently clean up straggling zombies near the front lines of or -based loadouts or decks with and , thanks to his quicker chewing time.
However, Scarecrop's effectiveness is tempered by a couple of core weaknesses. His inability to be planted on renders him severely weaker in or levels. Therefore, it is also not recommended to use Scarecrop in , , , , or . Furthermore, he struggles against , but this threat can be mitigated by having an near Scarecrop. , who completely avoid Scarecrop's attack, can also be countered with .
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In Plants vs. Zombies 2, the distinctions between and Scarecrop become starkly evident, with both plants receiving significant buffs during the transition between games. Chomper has been granted the ability to consume an additional zombie before needing to chew again, and his chewing time has been significantly reduced from 42 seconds in the original game to just 17 seconds. Scarecrop has also undergone notable changes, with a significant reduction in cost from 200 sun to 150 sun, making him the same price as Chomper to plant down. Furthermore, Scarecrop's digestion rate has been significantly boosted, reducing the time between attacks by 250%. This adjustment is primarily in response to the faster pace and more frequent appearances of higher-health zombies like and . The former change in gameplay style plays better to Scarecrop's strengths, which emphasizes area-of-effect abilities rather than raw , which complements Scarecrop's diversion ability. However, the abundance of high-health zombies can hinder his attack significantly, reducing his ability to divert zombies on average. Consequently, Chomper may be better suited for use in levels featuring bigger threats, while Scarecrop may excel in synergizing with other plants on the lawn.
Single-lane slowing plants such as and synergize effectively with Scarecrop. They help prevent zombies from multiple tiles away in the lane from reaching Scarecrop while he is vulnerable. Scarecrop's lane diversion ability also pairs well with . Placing Scarecrop to the right of him forces zombies to divert into lanes with the most electric fences. However, it's worth noting that Scarecrop's effect can activate in any lane, unlike 's Plant Food, which diverts all zombies in a lane. This means Scarecrop doesn't synergize as overtly as plants like in Currant-based seed decks.
Scarecrop excels in worlds like due to his animal-scaring ability. His quick eating time allows him to swiftly deal with , consuming an undamaged one in just four seconds, preventing them from spawning . If Ice Weasels do appear, Scarecrop's animal-scaring ability can eliminate them with a single attack. Scarecrop is also effective against and , with the latter posing a significant threat if players are unprepared when entering a level.
Avoid using Scarecrop in a world like , where the zombies can easily overpower and destroy him. can counter Scarecrop before he can devour him, and 's arcade machine spawns waves of quickly, overwhelming Scarecrop. Additionally, can stun Scarecrop, leaving him vulnerable, especially when combined with the aforementioned threats. Also avoid using Scarecrop in due to his inability to be planted on .
In levels, Scarecrop proves to be an excellent choice. His ability to instantly eliminate most zombies, including formidable foes like and , makes it invaluable. His attack diversion also prevents nearby zombies from attacking endangered plants. Scarecrop is particularly good in levels, especially in weeks where players face the . Here, Scarecrop can eliminate , which can quickly bypass defenses if not addressed quickly.
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In Plants vs. Zombies 3, Scarecrop becomes a more powerful option to use in-game, and while he is tied for the most expensive plant in the game, costing a total of six (the same as a ), Scarecrop has many counters that make him invaluable on the field.
The biggest one is that he retains his animal-scaring ability that he first gained in Plants vs. Zombies 2, allowing Scarecrop to scare away whenever he attacks. With the reduction of high-health threats, such as which were in the second game, compared to the third, it means that Scarecrop is able to attack much quicker overall than he is typically able to. Although (the zombie that spawns Zombie Pigeons) can be countered easily by planting a defensive plant, such as or in front of him, the recharges on defensive plants mean that it is not always a possible option to counter him, making Scarecrop a good alternative.
Scarecrop has a great pairing with Decomposing Pumpkin as the fact that Decomposing Pumpkin can be planted on top of Scarecrop means that Scarecrop is able to have some sort of protection while he is chewing, which also will stall zombies such as and Pigeon Feeder and force them to deactivate their cloaking ability and stop spawning Pigeons respectively.
Scarecrop's lane diversion is something to keep in mind though due to the lack of splash damage present in the game, having only , an instant-kill plant and , who attacks slowly, as the main options for crowd control. If the lane swarms up too easily, you may have to consider using power-ups such as a or . Stealth Imp is unaffected to this lane diversion ability, so make sure that you have some attacking plants on the same lane as Scarecrop in order to properly deal with him if he begins to attack.
==Related achievements==
==Costumes==
		
==Gallery ==
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ScarecropHD1.png|HD Scarecrop (made by , the artist behind Plants vs. Zombies)
ScarecropIn.png|The in-game variant of Scarecrop
ScarecropHD2.png|A larger version of the in-game variant of Scarecrop
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ScarecropHDNew.png|HD Scarecrop (made by Instartist)
ScarecropHDCostume1.png|Scarecrop's first costume [titled 'Farmer']
ScarecropHDCostume2.png|Scarecrop's second costume [titled 'Candle']
ScarecropHDCostume3.png|Scarecrop's third costume [titled 'Matagourd']
ScarecropSeed1.png|Scarecrop's seed packet
ScarecropSeed2.png| seed packet
ScarecropSeed3.png|Seed packet with cost
ScarecropSeed4.png|Imitated seed packet with sun cost
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Scarecrop (2).png|HD Scarecrop (made by Vander Graaf)
Scarecrop Seed Packet.png|Scarecrop's seed packet
===Other===
ScarecropOldHD.png|First design for Scarecrop, made by Aster
ScarecropScareHD.png|First design scaring animals
ScarecropHDBig.png|First design with a Pumpkin projectile
ScarecropScareHD2.png|First design with a Pumpkin projectile, scaring (said to be 'Impossible to find')
ScarecropNaked.png|An image of Scarecrop mid-way through being designed by Aster, which shows the original stick design of Scarecrop that is more hidden in the final design
ScarecropMain.png|An image of Scarecrop being featured on the Main Page after becoming a Featured Article
ScarecropFeatured.png|Scarecrop in the Featured Article list of October 2019 (Note other removed Featured Articles such as Applycot and Vampine)
Scarecrop Wiki Background.png|Scarecrop featured on the Wiki Background as part of the wiki's Halloween 2020 celebrations alongside Plantern
ScarecropNew.png|A version of Scarecrop created by Spark
ScarecropHD3.png|A version of Scarecrop created by Bits-16
ScarecropCustom.png|A version of Scarecrop created by Hyper
HDScarecrop3.png|The original Plants vs. Zombies 3 design of Scarecrop, made by Aster
Scarecrop Seed Packet PvZ3.png|PvZ3 version's seed packet
Scarecrop PvZ3.png|Original sketches of PvZ3 Scarecrop's head
Stalk Scarecrop.png|A completed version of PvZ3 Scarecrop's head
ScarecropHD.png|Second design of Scarecrop, made by Emius 
Scarecrop Seed (3).png|Second design's premium seed packet
Scarecrop Seed (1).png|An version of the seed packet
Scarecrop Seed.png|Second design's seed packet, featuring cost
Scarecrop SeedImitate.png|An imitated version of the seed packet, featuring sun cost
Scarecrop Heading.jpg|Original sketches done by Instartist of the head (Note the appearance of in the top right)
Scarecrop Sketch.png|A completed sketch of Scarecrop
Scarecrop Unused.png|A scrapped third costume for Scarecrop, being a medical outfit
Scarecrop Sketching.png|Original sketches done by Vander Graaf of the Plants vs. Zombies 3 version of Scarecrop
Scarecrop final render.png|The final sketches of the Plants vs. Zombies 3 version of Scarecrop alongside the final result
ScarecropImage.png|The final sketches done by of the Plants vs. Zombies version of Scarecrop, showcasing both the final results and the in-game versions
ScarecropTwitter.png|Rich Werner's X (formerly Twitter) post showcasing the Plants vs. Zombies version of Scarecrop
PvZCCs 13th Anniversary.png|Scarecrop featured on a Plants vs. Zombies Character Creator Wiki anniversary banner, alongside other plants such as Baa-shroom and Durian-pult
Making of 13th.png|Original sketches for the anniversary banner
==See also==
*The original Scarecrop page
*The original Scarecrop (PvZ3) page
*Pearwolf
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==Trivia==
* Scarecrop is the single longest plant page on the wiki.
* Scarecrop is the first ever article on the wiki to become a Featured Article, have the category removed and then become a Featured Article again.
** It is also the first Featured Article to contain content.
* Out of all the remakes Aster has done, this was the first planned one.
*Whilst this is Aster's first -inspired plant, Scarecrop wasn't his last, being followed up by Pearwolf the next year.
**Ironically, even though these two plants are well-received, Aster himself does not celebrate Halloween in any way.
* Scarecrop has had three different family changes. He was originally apart of the family. This was changed on July 10th, 2022 to due to his lobbing abilities and now to due to the change from being a lobber plant to a multi-use instant kill.
*Scarecrop has actually had a long history with the ability to scare off , originally being planned for the first version of the plant but being scrapped due to being able to completely stop the "Bot Swarm!" . 
**This was reinstated for the remake of Scarecrop, as since the ability now only triggers when he attacks, it makes the ability of scaring off a slight bit more situational.
*In a March ranking Aster gave to the community to rank all of his plants, Scarecrop ranked first with an average of 3.5.
*Scarecrop's design was mostly inspired off previous iterations of the plant, such as having the eye slits from the original return as well as the hole in the shirt and the underbite.
**The eye slits specifically were a request from Aster as it would give Scarecrop a more cartoony silhouette to match the approach that Plants vs. Zombies 3 is going for.
*Scarecrop's entry is based off the entry he had in Plants vs. Zombies: Road Trip, which had featured Scarecrop until March 17th, 2022, when he was scrapped.
* This is the first time in wiki history where a past or previous representative from has worked on a page on the wiki itself.
** Surprisingly, this is from the game's original artist, , who drew the version of the plant.
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