Piranha Plant

Piranha Plant ("Pakkun"/"パックン" in Japan), sometimes spelt as Pirana Plant and also known as Piranha Flower or simply Piranha, is a recurring enemy in the . It is an enemy that resembles a venus fly trap, almost always portrayed as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted red head, bisected by a white lip mouth with sharp teeth. Instead of eating flies, he eats Mario and Luigi. They have shown up many times in the series, typically hide within pipes (sometimes pipes Mario can go into) and come out whenever something passes close by. Some species can also spit fireballs, called Venus Fire Traps. Others live entirely outside pipes, being either rooted in the ground or even walking about on root-like legs. When Mario is standing on a pipe, they have the tendency to stay in the pipe. Piranha Plants made their debut in the first Super Mario Bros., making them one of the first and oldest enemies in the entire franchise.
On the television series based on Super Mario Bros., Piranha Plants made various appearances, usually acting as obstacles for the heroes, much as they do in the games. In the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon, Venus Fire Traps and Ptooies were used in a manner similar to guns. In Super Mario Galaxy, they would instead be planted in a flower patch and moves as far as its stem will let it and try to attack Mario.
==In ==
===Super Mario Bros.===
Piranha Plants first appear in this game on the second level of the game Super Mario Bros.. They tend to pop out of Warp Pipes, attempting to bite Mario or Luigi. In later levels, Piranha Plants tend to appear near areas where Mario or Luigi must time their jumps carefully before landing on the Piranha Plants. Piranha Plants in this game can be defeated with fireballs from Fire Mario or Invincible Mario. Defeating a Piranha Plant earns the player 200 points.
===Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels===
Piranha Plants return in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels behaving the same as they did previously, in this game, they are more commonly found near dangerous pits making timing more crucial. Once again, Piranha Plants can be defeated with the effects of the Fire Flower or Starman.
===Super Mario Bros. 3===
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Piranha Plants act the very same as they did in the original except now there are a new species known as Hanging Piranha Plants, Venus Fire Traps, Piranhacus Giganticus, Nipper Plants, Munchers, and Ptooies. Venus Fire Traps are new types of Piranha Plants that can spit fire at Mario or Luigi with high accuracy. They can generally be defeated with the Fire Flower or any other damaging power up. Piranhacus Giganticus are larger Piranha Plants found in large pipes, Nipper Plants hop in the air trying to nip at Mario or Luigi, and Munchers are stationary Piranha Plants commonly found in rows and are indestructible. Ptooies are Piranha Plants that have a hovering spiked ball over their lips. Some Ptooies can walk, while most are stationary. All types of Piranha Plants in this game (except the Munchers) can be defeated with the effects of the Fire Flower, Starman, Hammer Suit, Tanooki Suit, and the Super Leaf. Defeating a Piranha Plant earns the player 100 points.
===Super Mario Land===
Here, they are named Pakkun Flower, and are the only enemy in the game to have previously appeared in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.
===Super Mario World===
In Super Mario World, the Venus Fire Trap and Piranha Plants are present in this game (Stemmed ones are scarce; jumping plants are much more common). This game also introduces the Jumping Piranha Plants, which can leap from their Warp Pipes and bite Mario or Luigi at great heights. Piranha Plants may also be perched on specific areas where Mario or Luigi must use a power-up to take them out and safely cross. The Jumping Venus Fire Trap is also seen in this game. The Piranha Plants can be defeated with the effects of the Fire Flower, Cape Feather, or the Starman. Defeating a Piranha Plant earns the player 200 points like in Super Mario Bros..
===Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins===
Piranha Plants return as enemies once more.
===Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS===
In Super Mario 64, Piranha Plants can be found in the levels Whomp's Fortress and Tiny-Huge Island. In this game, the Piranha Plants are always found sleeping, and a soothing song can be heard whenever they are sleeping. However, if Mario walks too fast, the Piranha Plant will wake up and start biting, making it hazardous to go near. Mario can either move back until it goes to sleep or take it out with the nearby Super Mushroom (only for Whomp's Fortress). Piranha Plants can be defeated with basic attacks (but only while they're asleep), they drop a Blue Coin upon defeat. At Tiny-Huge Island, giant Piranha Plants can be found. During one mission, the Piranha Plants must be taken out to earn a Power Star from that level.
In Super Mario 64 DS, Piranha Plants behave the same as they did in the original but this time, their appearance has been updated to match their look in the more recent games and to overall be more modernized. This time Piranha Plants can also be found in the new Goomboss Battle course. The same attacks can defeat them but Yoshi can also quickly defeat them by tossing an Egg at them.
===Super Mario Sunshine===
In Super Mario Sunshine, regular Piranha Plants don't appear but several sub-species of Piranha Plants appear in the form of Polluted Piranha Plants, which was caused by Shadow Mario. A larger version of a Piranha Plant known as Petey Piranha appears as a boss in this game in the stage Bianco Hills. He mainly attacks with head smashes, tornadoes, and a goop spraying attack. Sphere-like Piranha Plants called Piranhabons and Piranha Heads are also formed from the goop.
===Super Princess Peach===
Piranha Plants return in Super Princess Peach behaving as they did in the Yoshi series. They appear asleep but as Peach approaches, they start snapping. If she makes contact, they will swallow her only to spit her out thus doing damage. Peach can defeat a Piranha Plant by whacking it with Perry or by using Rage. Other types of Piranha Plants including the Glad P. Plant, the Nipper Plant, and the Sad Nipper Plant are also seen in this game. The boss of Ladida Plains is Boss P. Plant otherwise known as Petey Piranha.
===New Super Mario Bros.===
Piranha Plants reappear in New Super Mario Bros. commonly being found in Pipes just like the original Super Mario Bros., there are some Piranha Plants that also appear on the ground and are endlessly snapping away. Piranha Plants can be found in all 8 of the games Worlds. The Venus Fire Trap also returns in this game and can be found in both pipes and on land, the game also introduces a new larger variety of the Piranha Plant called the Super Piranha Plant. Petey Piranha also appears in this game as the boss of World 5. Piranha Plants can be defeated with the effects of the Fire Flower, Blue Shell, Mega Mushroom, Starman, or basically with any projectile. Defeating a Piranha Plant is worth 200 points.
An unused fully functional Big Venus Fire Trap also exists in the games files but was never used in any levels. It was going to act the same as a regular Venus Fire Trap only larger.
===Super Mario Galaxy===
Piranha Plants make a return in Super Mario Galaxy behaving as they did previously. In this game, They attack by attempting to bite you as you approach, they can easily be defeated with a jump or a spin. Some sub-species of Piranha Plants such as the Prickly Piranha Plant also appear in this game. Two larger mutant Piranha Plants Dino Piranha and Fiery Dino Piranha also appear as bosses in the Good Egg Galaxy and the Melty Molten Galaxy respectively.
===New Super Mario Bros. Wii===
Piranha Plants appear again in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In this game, they behave as they did before either emerging out of Pipes or perched on land snapping away. The Venus Fire Trap and the larger varieties of both Piranha Plants make a return in this game. The Piranha Plants appear in most of the games Worlds and can be defeated with either the effects of the Fire Flower, POW Block or Starman. They can also be frozen with the effects of the Ice Flower. Yoshi can also eat a Piranha Plant.
===Super Mario Galaxy 2===
Piranha Plants return once again in Super Mario Galaxy 2. In this game, they are much more common and are found in many different Galaxies throughout the game's 7 Worlds. They behave the same as they did in the first Super Mario Galaxy game. The Prickly Piranha Plant makes a return in this game alongside the new more dangerous Spiky Piranha Plant. Piranhacus Giganticus also appear in this game making their only appearance in the Supermassive Galaxy. A common Piranha Plant can be defeated with jumps, spins, and basically any other method of attack. Piranha Plant bosses in this game include Petey Piranha (in the Sky Station Galaxy) and the returning Dino Piranha and Fiery Dino Piranha (in the Boss Blitz Galaxy).
===Super Mario 3D Land===
Piranha Plants return in Super Mario 3D Land where they behave the same as they did in the Super Mario Galaxy games. They can be found in many different levels of the game (more commonly in the plains and underground) and can be defeated with the effects of the Fire Flower, Starman, Super Leaf, Statue Leaf, and Invincibility Leaf. Two new sub-species of Piranha Plants also appear in this game including the Inky Piranha Plant (which spits ink at the screen obscuring your view a tad similar to the Blooper from the Mario Kart series), and the Fire Piranha Plant (which spits fireballs at you when you're within range similar to the Venus Fire Trap from earlier installments).
===New Super Mario Bros. 2===
Piranha Plants are back in New Super Mario Bros. 2 where they act the same as in previous 2D platformers, they can either be piped or grounded once again. They can be defeated with the effects of a Fire Flower, Starman, Super Leaf, Gold Flower, Mega Mushroom, or Invincibility Leaf. Piranha Plants can be found in many different levels regardless of the environment (as shown by their appearance in World 6-2). The Venus Fire Traps, Big Piranha Plants, and Big Venus Fire Traps return in this game behaving as they did previously as well. Some new sub-species of Piranha Plants also appear in this game called Dry Piranha Plants and Super Dry Piranha Plants.
Piranha Plants are also among the enemies to be affected by the Gold Ring. Defeating them provides bonus Coins. If the Piranha Plant is piped, Coins will fountain out of the pipe it was in upon defeat.
===New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Luigi U/New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe===
Piranha Plants make a return in New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. They are commonly found in grass-themed areas and behave the same as they did previously, the effects of the Fire Flower or Starman can defeat them and they can once again be frozen with the Ice Flower. The Venus Fire Trap, Big Piranha Plant, Big Venus Fire Trap, and the long missed Piranhacus Giganticus all return in this game alongside a new varitey of Piranha Plant the Venus Ice Trap. These Piranha Plants behave identically to a Venus Fire Trap but they spit iceballs (which can freeze you) instead of fireballs. Yoshi as well as the Baby Yoshis can also swallow Piranha Plants to defeat them.
===Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury===
Piranha Plants appear again in Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury behaving as they did in more recent 3D Mario games. They can commonly be found in grassy plains and athletic worlds and can be defeated with the effects of the Super Bell, Fire Flower, Starman, Super Leaf, Invincibility Leaf, Invincibility Bell, Mega Mushroom, and the Boomerang Flower. Some sub-species of Piranha Plants also appear in this game including the Fire Piranha Plant, the Big Piranha Plant (which makes it's debut in a 3D Mario game), and the Piranha Creeper making it's debut. The Bowser's Fury side of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury also introduces the Cat Piranha Plant, the Cat Fire Piranha Plant, and the Cat Piranha Creeper.
===Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS / Super Mario Maker 2===
Piranha Plants appear in Super Mario Maker as well as it's two sequels as placeable enemies. They can be placed in any style (except the Super Mario World style where they're replaced with Jumping Piranha Plants). They can also be placed on land, walls, or ceilings to munch endlessly. Piranha Plants shaked to turn it into a Venus Fire Trap (Fire Piranha Plant in the Super Mario 3D World style). A Super Mushroom can be applied to a Piranha Plant to turn it into a Piranhacus Giganticus (Super Piranha Plant in the Super Mario 3D World style) and wings can be applied to a Piranha Plant to turn it into a Para-Piranha Plant. Piranha Plants can be defeated with the use of the Fire Flower, Cape Feather, or Starman and can also be spun upon harmlessly.
===Super Mario Run===
Piranha Plants return in Super Mario Run behaving as they did in past 2D games. They can be defeated with the use of the Starman and commonly live in Pipes.
===Super Mario Odyssey===
While regular Piranha Plants are absent, two new Piranha Plant types, the Poison Piranha Plant and the Large Poison Piranha Plant, appear in the game. Poison Piranha Plants and their larger variant are found in Iron Road in the Wooded Kingdom, the underground section in New Donk City, and in a challenge area in the Dark Side. The Venus Fire Trap makes a return in the Luncheon Kingdom.
==In Yoshi puzzle series==
===Yoshi===
Piranha Plants are one of the drop from above and have to be matched.
===Yoshi's Cookie===
In all versions, after round 10, a Piranha Plant is a game piece which replaces one of the cookies.
==In ==
Piranha Plants are commonly found throughout the Mario Kart series as common hazards in as early as Super Mario Kart, where they are obstacles in the Choco Island courses. Here, if a racer drives into a Piranha Plant, they lose four coins.
Piranha Plants return in more installments, including Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. They can either be snapping at the air in place (usually off road) or perched on a pipe snapping at any racers that come close. Contact with either will either spin you out or knock you about costing heaps of time and allowing your opponents to catch up. Piranha Plants can be stunned if a Bob-omb is tossed at them, a Lightning is used, or while under the effects of a Bullet Bill or a Starman. Piranha Plants can be found in Mario Raceway, Mario Circuit (for GCN, Wii, and Wii U), Piranha Plant Slide, and various other courses. Piranha Plants appear in Yoshi Desert swallowing any racers that fall in the Quicksand. Petey Piranha also appears as a playable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
Other variants of Piranha Plants appear in several courses throughout the series including the Pit Plant, Venus Fire Traps, Dry Piranha Plants, and Raving Piranha Plants.
==In ==
===Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island===
Piranha Plants appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. In this game, a Piranha Plant's head starts off very small until a Yoshi approaches it, upon which the Piranha Plant's quickly grows larger and starts snapping at Yoshi. If Yoshi makes contact with a Piranha Plant, he will be swallowed before being spat out and having to retrieve Baby Mario before the Countdown Timer runs out. Yoshi can beat a Piranha Plant by tossing an Egg, burning/freezing it with fire or ice breath, or by spitting another enemy or object out at it. Piranha Plants also have their own variants such as Hootie the Blue Fish, Nipper Plants, Nipper Spores, and the Needlenose-spitting Wild Ptooie Piranhas. The boss of World 3 is a giant Piranha Plant named Naval Piranha who comes aided with her Naval Buds.
===Yoshi's Island DS===
Piranha Plants appear in Yoshi's Island DS where they behave the same as they did before. Once again, they will make attempts to swallow Yoshi but Yoshi can beat them by tossing an egg at them, scorching them with his or Baby Bowser's fire breath, or by spitting another enemy or object at it. The Wild Ptooie Piranha returns alongside the Nipper Plants, Nipper Spores, and Nipper Dandelions. A new Piranha Plant sub-type called the Bungee Piranha also appears. The boss of World 2 is a overgrown Bungee Piranha called Big Bungee Piranha who is aided with his bodyguards the Bungee Buds.
===Yoshi's New Island===
Piranha Plants return in Yoshi's New Island acting as they did previously. Their attacks and ways to be defeated are the same as before. Their appearance has also been updated to match their look in the more recent games. They are more common at earlier points of the game and appear less towards the end.
==In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars==
Piranha Plants are only found in the Pipe Vault of this game. The Piranha Plants act much like they did in the other games as being enemies in Warp Pipes. If Mario comes into contact with a Piranha Plant, it will engage him and his party in battle. The Piranha Plants mainly use Fire-elemental moves in this game and can be easily taken out with Mallow's Snowy move.
There are also two different types of Piranha Plants known as the Megasmilax and the Smilaxs, which appear as bosses in this game. They are fought on Bean Valley and are extremely weak to Mallow's Snowy like the other Piranha Plants. The Megasmilax is capable of using the deadly Petal Blast move while the Smilax attacks with simple bite attacks.
== In the Mario & Luigi series ==
=== In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga ===
Piranha Plants appear as enemies in the Beanbean International Airport, where they grow on the landing strip to prevent the plane that Princess Peach is coming in from landing. If destroyed via regular combat, they respawn when the Bros. leave the area. The Piranha Plants can be destroyed permanently by filling their mouth with water and then zapping them with lightning. After the Bros. destroy all of the Piranha Plants, a giant Piranha Plant named the Mom Piranha appears as the boss of the area and must be engaged in battle to free up the runway for good.
Another Piranha Plant boss named the Piranha Bean appears. He has the ability to shrink his meals, as seen in his defeat scene where one of his victims, Prince Peasley, got devoured and was freed only to appear micro-sized. More members of the Piranha Bean's species can be seen in the 3DS remaster's Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser sidequest as enemies, and a fire-based variant of the Stalking Piranha Plant can be recruited as an ally.
=== In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time ===
Two new sub-species of Piranha Plants can be found here: the Elasto-Piranha and the Piranha Planet. Elasto-Piranhas can extend their stems to attack from above, while Piranha Plantets are balls of pipes teeming with Piranha Plants that wear space suits and wield laser guns. The former can be found in Toadwood Forest while the latter appears in the Star Shrine.
=== In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story ===
An enemy called the Piranha Plorp can be found as an enemy in Bowser's body, more specifically the Energy Hold. These Piranha Plant-esque monsters attack by shooting poison balls. Additionally, two massive Piranha Plants have to be destroyed by Bowser leaping into their buds in Princess Peach's Castle, which Fawful had corrupted and taken over, after the Koopa King gets his shell set on fire.
=== In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team ===
Regular Piranha Plants appear as enemies, where they are found in the Dream World version of Driftwood Shore. Piranha Plants spit fire in the direction they face upon coming out if the Mario Bros. are close to where the plants lurk. If the player rotates the gravity the Piranha Plants retreat underground briefly while gravity changes.
In combat, Piranha Plants may spit a large fireball or a Fly Guy, with the former having to be jumped over or ducked, the latter requiring no input. They can also spawn Nipper Plants that send fireballs that must be deflected with the hammer and can throw a fireball into the background for the Nipper Plants to bounce around before the fireball flies at the Bros., who must send the fireball away via the hammer; the target can be identified by the direction the fireball flies in. Due to their nature as plants, Piranha Plants take increased damage from fire-based weaponry; this does not include the Piranha Plants' fireballs, which deal normal damage to them.
=== In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam ===
Regular Piranha Plants do not appear, but Venus Fire Traps (here called Fire Piranha Plants) appear in both regular and paper versions.
==In ==
In Paper Mario, regular Piranha Plants can be found in the Jade Jungle. Out of the other variations, including Putrid Piranhas and Frost Piranhas, the regular Piranha Plants are the strongest and can even attack with a poison bite. The Piranha Plants serve under the Lava Piranha, who lived in Mt. Lavalava. It should be noted that all of the Piranha Plants in this game show their mouths forward instead of upward, which means that Mario can jump on Piranha Plants without worrying about taking damage.
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Piranha Plants can be found in the Pit of 100 Trials. They attack the same as the previous game except now, their mouths are pointed upward, and Mario cannot jump on them anymore (unless he is wearing the Spike Shield badge). The regular Piranha Plants are now the strongest type of Piranha Plant in the game, having very high stats. The other kinds of Piranha Plants return in this game, and a new type of Piranha Plant is shown known as Pale Piranhas. The Pale Piranhas are the weakest type of Piranha Plant in the game.
In Super Paper Mario, Piranha Plants can now attack freely at Mario and the others. The Putrid and Frost Piranhas can use distance attacks, which can poison or freeze Mario and the rest forcing the player to shake the Wii Remote to break free.
In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Piranha Plants are only present in World 3 and World 5 of this game. The Venus Fire Traps mainly appear in this game and are renamed "Fire Piranhas." They can attack by either biting Mario or spitting fireballs at him.
==Crossover appearances==
===Super Smash Bros. Ultimate===
Piranha Plant is the first downloadable playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but he was made available for free for whoever pre-ordered the game. Piranha Plant's Final Smash involves summoning Petey Piranha to trap characters in cages (a reference to the Petey Piranha boss fight from Super Smash Bros. Brawl).
==Statistics==
== Trivia ==
*While performing Palutena's Guidance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Viridi lists every Piranha Plant variant.
*Piranha Plant is the first character in the Super Smash Bros. series to be a generic enemy.
*It kinda resembles Audrey II from 'Little Shop of Horrors'
*Piranha Plants are similar to Toothy Terrors from Cuphead, as they both bear spots, leaves, teeth, and both aim to defeat the heroes.
==Gallery==
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