Poncho Zombie

Sometimes has a hidden armor plate.

The grate is his most prized possession. The poncho is there just to protect it from getting rusty. Also, he's looking for his mechanical horse.

**Poncho Zombie** is the seventh zombie that is found in the Wild West. It is first encountered at Day 5. Once damaged enough, its poncho falls off, revealing either a grate that has the same amount of health as a bucket or nothing to protect it at all.

## Appearance

The Poncho Zombie wears a black hat with a combination of blue and green colored circles next to the flat part of the hat. It has hair although it is not that exposed as it is mostly covered with its hat, only revealing the side hair, a semi-circle shaped left eye, and a beard. It wears a poncho for mild protection against threats. Ponchos are normally designed to keep the person's body warm. Its poncho is slightly torn out on its edges, and it has an "x" mark just below the pendant the Poncho Zombie wears.

Deep inside its poncho, it wears a yellow collared shirt with green cross-lingins as its design. On its right and left sleeves, the shirt is torn up as the right one has the edge of the sleeve while the left one does not. It wears a black belt, a light-blue colored torn up pants, and a cowboy boots with a semi-light red color star logo on its sides.

In *The Five Days of Feastivus*, Poncho Zombie's attire has been redesigned, it now wears a bonet with brown circular fluffings and simultaneous colors aligning and touching its forehead, now has a scarf that presents a violet and a darker version of it placed also in a simultaneous manner, has a red color poncho that presents four white diamonds with two big ones that is adjacent to the wrist (to the right) and to the elbow (to the left side) and two small ones adjacent to the big diamonds respectively but the inner outfit and shoes remain the same, and finally, the metal grate that its wears for protection is encased in a red gift wrap with yellow ribbon that completely seals the metal grate.

## Almanac entry

**Poncho Zombie**

TOUGHNESS: Hardened

SPEED: Basic

Sometimes has a hidden armored plate.

Special: randomly wears a protective metal grate

The grate is his most prized possession. The poncho is there just to protect it from getting rusty. Also, he's looking for his mechanical horse.

## Overview

### Without metal grate

The Poncho Zombie absorbs 250 damage per shot, and its appearance changes upon absorbing 60, when the poncho is destroyed, and 155 damage per shot when its arm falls off, before dying.

### With metal grate

The Poncho Zombie absorbs 1350 damage per shot and its appearance changes upon absorbing 60 (when the poncho is destroyed), 427, 794, and 1160 (when the metal grate is destroyed), and 1255 normal damage shots when its arm falls off, before dying.

## Encounters

Player's House: Piñata Party and "Rescue the Gold Bloom" Epic Quest - Step 4

Pirate Seas: "Rescue the Gold Bloom" Epic Quest - Step 6

Wild West: Days 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, Big Bad Butte, and Piñata Party

Frostbite Caves: Piñata Party

Modern Day: Days: 24, 32, and Highway to the Danger Room (portal only)

## Strategies

### With poncho

The Poncho Zombie is a very simple zombie at first, but there is a chance that a metal grate may appear. You can never tell whether or not he has a metal grate before destroying the poncho or using Magnet-shroom, so be prepared to take necessary action. Any instant-kill plants will destroy it, regardless of whether or not it has a metal grate. However, in the Chinese version of the game, instant kill plants will only destroy the poncho, so it is better to use them when the poncho has been removed.

### Without metal grate

The Poncho Zombie without its grate is very simple, like all of the first zombies in other worlds (i.e. Ra Zombie, Swashbuckler Zombie, Basic Zombie). Defeat it as you would defeat them easily.

### With metal grate

Treat it as a Buckethead Zombie whenever a Poncho Zombie has a metal grate on its body. A five-headed Pea Pod or a Winter Melon will take care of it easily. Any instant-kill plant will instantly destroy it in one hit, even if it is wearing its poncho. Iceberg Lettuces or Stunions will also work if your defenses are weak. Another good plant to use is Spikerock, which will deal more damage with Plant Food. Magnet-shroom is also recommended, because it can steal the grate. If there are too many Poncho Zombies, you can feed Plant Food on Magnet-shroom to remove all or most of the grates on screen. A Shadow-shroom can also help, as its poison effect bypasses the metal grate, killing the zombie easily.

## Trivia

* Its appearance is based on the Man with No Name, the main character from the "*Dollars Trilogy*" of western films who is played by Clint Eastwood.
	+ Its method of hiding a metal grate underneath its poncho is a reference to the first film *A Fistful of Dollars*, where the character performs this trick.
* While most likely unintentional, it walks similarly to Eustace Bagge, a character from the Cartoon Network original series *Courage the Cowardly Dog.*
* It is the only zombie to have two different healths, 250 and 1350, taking 50 damage per shot more than a Basic Zombie or a Buckethead Zombie.
* Before the 2.4 update, a metal-grated Poncho Zombie could survive a direct hit from a Coconut Cannon, but if a Poncho Zombie took a direct hit with its poncho still on, it will kill it whether it has a grate or not. This could suggest that its health was always assumed as 12.5 before the poncho is knocked off. This could also happen if it is still intact and is hit by a Citron or a Magnifying Grass.
* It is one of the six zombies who received a new Christmas look for the 5 Days of Feastivus.
	+ The others are Pianist Zombie, Camel Zombies, Gargantuar, Imp, and Swashbuckler Zombie.
* All Poncho Zombies (except the first one) in Wild West - Day 25 contain metal grates on their body.
* When it loses its left arm, its bone is not shown like the other zombies.
	+ This is the same with Chicken Wrangler Zombie and Excavator Zombie.
	+ Though when they die, the bone is visible.
* Even if it has no metal grate, the poncho always makes a metal clanking noise.
* In the Chinese version of *Plants vs. Zombies 2*, a Poncho Zombie wearing a metal grate can survive an instant kill.
	+ The same also used to be possible in the international version.
* It, Camel Zombies, and Jester Zombie are the only non-variant zombies to have more than one event costume.
* Its "mechanical horse" mentioned in the Almanac Entry is shown in the trailer (see gallery)
* In the Almanac, he doesn't wear his poncho.

### Specific to *Plants vs. Zombies Heroes*

* It and Gargantuar Prime are the only zombies appear cameo in *Plants vs. Zombies Heroes* when player received Spudow, despite not being a card.

## See also

* Poncho
* Magnet-shroom

ru:Зомби с пончо