Hot Date

*Bring BIG SURPRISE!*This item is only obtainable during certain events. However, it can still be used if you have already obtained it. It is currently ***not available***.

*Bug Zombie and Bug make a great team.*
The content in this page is either bugged, glitched, or broken. A further update may fix these issues at a later date.

*For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Hot Date.*

## **Hot Date**

* PvZ2
* PvZ2C

Hot Dates attract zombies from lanes above and below them, and then unleash a lane of flame when they're eaten.

## In-game statistics

### Costumes

Hot Date's a charmer. He's polite, well-read, has lots of interesting opinions, and practices active listening. Zombies line up around the block to be incinerated by him.

**Hot Date** is a special-edition premium plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*, tied to the 2017 Valenbrainz event. If a zombie one lane above or below gets close enough to a Hot Date, they will switch lanes to the lane the Hot Date is on, similar to the Sweet Potato. He will also explode like a Jalapeno once eaten.

In version 7.8.1, he became available as a seed-packet-obtainable plant on February 19, 2020. In version 7.9.1, when Penny's Pursuit was released, the first weekly event rewarded the player with Hot Date seed packets

In the Chinese version of *Plants vs. Zombies 2*, he is a former Monthly special plant turned Renaissance Age plant.

## Origins

Hot Date is based on the fruit of the date palm (*Phoenix dactylifera*,) a flowering plant species in the palm family *Arecaceae* that is cultivated for its edible sweet fruit (also called a date); and the phrase "hot date," meaning an appealing person someone is dating.

## Almanac entry

**Hot Date**

SUN COST: 175

RECHARGE: 25

TOUGHNESS: 2000

DAMAGE: 1000

RANGE: Multi-Lane

FAMILY: Pepper-mint

Hot Dates attract zombies from lanes above and below them, and then unleash a lane of flame when they're eaten.

Special: warms nearby plants

Hot Date's a charmer. He's polite, well-read, has lots of interesting opinions, and practices active listening. Zombies line up around the block to be incinerated by him.

## Upgrades

### Plant Food effect

Hot Date will regain all of his lost health and attract zombies to him in a 4x3 area, similar to Sweet Potato.

### Pepper-mint effect

When boosted by Pepper-mint, Hot Date's explosion will do an additional 1800 DPS.

### Level upgrades (China only)

 Combat Training
 Cell Activation
 Fighting Power
 Fighting Power

### Costumed (China only)

When costumed, his Plant Food effect will also give him three seconds of invincibility after attracting zombies.

## Strategies

Hot Date can be treated as a combination of Sweet Potato and Jalapeno. Unlike Jalapeno, he can pull zombies to him, so as to boost his effectiveness even more.

It is a very bad idea to use this plants in levels where you cannot lose plants, because when the Hot Date explodes (even though it kills zombies when it explodes), it counts as losing a plant. Fortunately, it is immune to the freezing wind effects and the Hunter Zombie's snowball attack in Frostbite Caves, since it is a thawing plant that can melt frozen plants. It is also very bad idea to use this against Wizard Zombies and Octo Zombies, since both of them can disable the Hot Date to make the level more challenging. It is a good idea to use this plant against Chicken Wrangler Zombies and Weasel Hoarders, because when released, multiple Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels will arrive to the Hot Date and when multiple of them start eating it, it instantly explodes to destroy the zombies in its path.

**Never** use this plant against Explorer Zombies and Torchlight Zombies in Ancient Egypt and Modern Day levels (only when their torches are lit), because these zombies can easily burn this plant without eating it and causing it to explode.

## Trivia

* There is a bug that, after his Plant Food is used while he is exploding, he will become invisible to zombies, and not be treated like he is on the field.
	+ This is probably due to the plant being both destroyed and not destroyed at the same time, confusing the game for the plant's current state, and eventually getting treated as destroyed.
* His pupils are larger in his seed packet image than they are in game.
	+ Hot Date also has a different eye color in this game than he does in *Plants vs. Zombies Heroes*.
	+ They also seem to be a different color than in-game, being dark blue instead of light blue.
* He reuses some of Boombox Zombie's textures, specifically the particles and hearts that float around him.
* The reason why he was released in the Valenbrainz event is that he is named Hot Date, and dates are commonly found during Valentines.
* There is a glitch where if Hot Date's Plant Food activates and a zombie behind Hot Date turns around, when that zombie gets hypnotized the hypnotized zombie will turn around and walk to your house. The hypnotized zombie will ignore lawn mowers and plants, eventually eating your brains, despite the fact that hypnosis effects are normally unable to change the direction of a zombie walking to the right.
* This is the second premium plant that can be unlocked with seed packets, the first was Blooming Heart.
* This was the first plant to be featured in Penny's Pursuit.

## See also

* Jalapeno
* Explode-O-Nut
* Sweet Potato
* Blooming Heart

vi:Hot Date
ru:Горячий Финиk
fr:Datte Galante