Shrinking Violet

*For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Shrinking Violet.*

* PvZ2
* PvZ2C

Shrinking Violet shrinks zombies in an area, forcing them to take double damage and reducing the bite damage they inflict.

## Almanac statistics

### Usage

Single use, activates when zombies are close

## In-game statistics

### Other special

Shrinks , ,  (seagull only) and  (pelican only) to oblivion

### Other weakness

 (barrel containing two  is immune to her effect)  (Cannot be shrunken)

### Costumes

Shrinking Violet started out shy, but it's remarkable how discovering a magical talent for zombie-reduction can change your whole outlook.

**Shrinking Violet** is a single-use premium plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. She was first revealed in teaser Piñata Parties for Modern Day Part 1 as its associated premium plant. As of the Valenbrainz 2017 update, she costs 89 gems. As of the Luck O' the Zombies 2017 update, she costs 100 gems. It is unknown whether she will return to her original price.

Shrinking Violet has the ability to shrink zombies in a 3x3 area around it, which multiplies all damage that the shrunken zombies take, and has unique effects depending on what type of zombie was shrunk: namely, removing certain abilities and shrinking Imps and other small zombies (like Zombie Chickens) into oblivion. For a detailed list of effects, see its Overview section below.

In the Chinese version, she cannot affect Gargantuars and permanently slows down zombies instead of increasing damage done to them.

## Origins

Shrinking Violet is based on the *Viola*, a genus of flowering plants mostly found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The term *violet*  describes a shy person, and Shrinking Violet is shy according to her Almanac entry, an aspect shown visibly as it hides in its petals and occasionally peeks from them during its idle animation.

## Overview

As mentioned before, Shrinking Violet's minimizing ability has different results depending on the zombie she is being used on: First and foremost, all Imp variants including Bug Bot Imps, Imp Porters, and Super-Fan Imps; Zombie Parrots, Zombie Chickens, Ice Weasels, Seagull Zombies, and Pelican Zombies excluding most Chinese exclusive Imps will be instantly killed (however, in the case of Seagull/Pelican Zombies, she will not directly kill the zombie, but instead will only destroy the bird, therefore effectively destroying the zombie as well) and they also cannot be spawned by shrunken enemies. Most other zombies, however, will have their size drastically reduced, taking double damage (up to triple damage is reachable via Upgrades) and their attack strength halved. The decreased size also comes with a smaller hitbox, and will allow the zombies to evade certain attacks such as a part of Repeater's Plant Food effect, and all of Bowling Bulb's attacks. Certain attacks that can instantly kill plants are exempted from this rule, such as Gargantuar's smash and Explorer Zombie's torch. The entire stunning animation takes two seconds, during which the targeted zombies are immobilized.

Unique effects can be observed in some situations. Shrunken enemies cannot be picked up by pterodactyls in Jurassic Marsh but can otherwise be interacted with other dinosaurs. Barrel Roller Zombies, Troglobites and Arcade Zombies can no longer push their barrels, frozen blocks and arcade machines, respectively. Imp Cannon and Zombie King are also immune to Shrinking Violet, probably due to their immobile nature. MC Zom-B can't hit in a 3x3 area in the rap jam - Only the 1x1 area in front of him. If a Surfer Zombie is shrunk while still holding his surfboard, the surfboard will be shrunk with him, and when he smashes a plant, the surfboard is destroyed and the plant won't be damaged. Finally, all minimized zombies can be thrown away with Power Toss, including Gargantuars which would otherwise have resistance to it.

It is important to note that lawn obstacles (such as tombstones or surfboards, if the Surfer Zombie is not holding it) are not counted as zombies and therefore cannot be shrunken.

Shrinking Violet is an excellent choice in Endless Zones due to its relatively fast recharge for her effect, her large area of effect, and her great Plant Food effect. Shrinking Violet can be combined with Tile Turnip and other plants whose Plant Food effects cover a large area, such as Winter Melon, Strawburst, and Shadow-shroom. A boosted Shrinking Violet can also help.

It is given for Modern Day - Day 3 and Modern Day - Day 33 (if the Zombot battle is the Zombot Sharktronic Sub).

## Almanac entry

**Shrinking Violet**

SUN COST: 50

RECHARGE: 15

SPECIAL: Weaken Zombie

AREA: 3x3

FAMILY: Enchant-mint

Shrinking Violets shrinks zombies in an area, forcing them to take double damage and reducing the bite damage they inflict.

Usage: single use, activates on contact
Range: affects zombies in surrounding tiles
Special: shrinks imps to oblivion

Shrinking Violet started out shy, but it's remarkable how a discovering a magical talent for zombie-reduction can change your whole outlook.

## Upgrades

### Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Shrinking Violet increases in size and shrinks all zombies in play, including those off-screen. She then turns back to her regular size.

### Enchant-mint effect

When boosted by Enchant-mint, Shrinking Violet's damage multiplier will be increased by three, meaning at level 1 Shrinking Violet will have a damage multiplier of five times the original amount of damage.

### Level upgrades

\*The amount of damage the zombies affected take when being shrunk down.

### Costumed (China only)

Zombies will get shrunk smaller than the normal Plant Food effect and will move slower.

### Level upgrades (China only)

 Combat Training
 Cell Activation
 Fighting Power

## Strategies

Shrinking Violet shares her role with a few other plants such as Stallia and Stunion as an instant plant designed for suppressing the incoming enemies, rather than killing them outright. However, Shrinking Violet is still relatively unique when compared to its colleagues, as while stunning and slowing are only temporarily, the shrinking effect can permanently cripple the target by cutting down its health and damage capability. This, combined with the short recharge time and general ease of use makes Shrinking Violet an incredibly useful plant in the game - a Shrinking Violet combined with Imitater can effectively double, or when combined with slowing plants, quadruple the offensive potential of all other offensive plants on the field.

Shrinking Violet's utility is further extended by its more unique effects against certain foes. In the Wild West and Frostbite Caves, Shrinking Violet can be used against Chicken Wrangler Zombies and Weasel Hoarders to prevent them from releasing Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels, respectively. She can also be used to prevent Troglobites and Arcade Zombies from pushing blocks, greatly reduce the effectiveness of MC Zom-Bs and prevent pterodactyls from deploying shrunken zombies on the back of the field in Jurassic Marsh. Last but not least, all imps are directly destroyed by the shrinking effect, making her useful against even Gargantuars and Zombie Bulls.

Don't use her against Zombie Kings or Imp Cannons, as they will be unaffected by her. It is also not a good idea to use her in levels where there's a limit to how many plants you can lose due to her nature as a consumable plant.

Don't plant Shrinking Violet at the rightmost column to shrink Pianist Zombie, because sometimes Shrinking Violet will be destroyed before she can shrink the zombie.

Shrinking Violet along with other plants can make a devastating combination with Tile Turnip. Planting Tile Turnips underneath a Shrinking Violet and several Winter Melons can, in most cases, empty out the zombie horde. First, feed Plant Food to Shrinking Violet. As the zombies are shrunken, a deadly melon rain falls, dealing huge damage, and in most cases, can kill even very dense groups of Gargantuars due to them taking double damage.

It is not recommended to use Shrinking Violet in fast-paced levels such as Neon Mixtape Tour - Day 5. This is because there's a hidden mechanic in the game in which if the zombies are damaged enough, it will immediately start the next wave of zombies, regardless of how their health is reduced. Instead, use Stallia as it won't hurt zombies.

Using Shrinking Violet's Plant Food effect on the final wave of a level is recommended because she shrinks all remaining zombies, even those off screen. This makes it easy to clean off the rest of the zombie horde without any problems.

### *Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)* (China only)

She behaves very differently there, slowing zombies permanently instead of increasing damage done. Thus she becomes a very effective staller, but the effectiveness of the other offensive plants are unchanged.

## Trivia

* All shrunken zombies' sound will be faster and higher pitched. As such, Pianist Zombie's music and Boombox Zombie's ballad jam will also play faster and at a higher pitch.
* Before the 4.5 update, If she was fed Plant Food and Thyme Warp was used at the same time, the game would crash.
* After she shrinks a Zombie Bull, the laughing sound of the Zombie Bull Rider can still be heard, as it's a part of the Bull's Audio and changing the sprite of the bull alone will not alter the sound files in any way.
* In the 4.3 update, zombies took five seconds to be shrunken and did not suffer from reduced damage.
* The Imps in the Modern Day Part 1 trailer do not shrink into oblivion, instead shrinking into a smaller size like most zombies.
	+ This also happens with the Imps controlling the Disco-tron 3000 and Gargantuar Prime and most Chinese-exclusive Imps such as Tiger Imp.
* If she is used on a Dodo Rider Zombie, the Imp rider will shrink into oblivion, only leaving the dodo left.
	+ This is the only way to see the dodo without the Imp riding it.
* If she shrinks a Chicken Wrangler or a Weasel Hoarder before they release their animals, their animals will shrink as well. They will no longer be able to release their animals.
* The fact that this plant is released during Modern Day may be a reference to Big Trouble Little Zombie from the original game, where the player is forced to fight with a supply of Peashooters, Wall-Nuts, Cherry Bombs, and Lilly Pads, against a horde of small zombies.
* Certain straight-shooting projectiles will miss shrunken zombies in Big Wave Beach in the water due to lower elevation. This includes most peashooting plants (lower peas on Pea-nut are unaffected, for example), Bloomerang, Coconut Cannon, Bowling Bulb , and Guacodile. Other plants, such as Red Stinger, Starfruit, Rotobaga, Laser Bean, Fume-shroom, and Citron can still hit zombies as usual.
* Like Grimrose, it is still possible to use a shovel on her to refund sun when the plant's effect was triggered.
* Her original price upon introduction was USD $4.99.
	+ With the 5.8.1 Valenbrainz 2017 update, her price was changed to 89 gems.
	+ With the 5.9.1 Luck O' the Zombies / Springening 2017 update, her price was changed to 100 gems.
* If she shrinks a Gargantuar that is about to throw his Imp, it will still be thrown.
	+ If Magnet-shroom steals armor from a shrunken zombie, the armor stolen is still at full size
* If the player plants a Cherry Bomb or Jalapeno just as zombies have started to shrink, charred zombies will be seen shrinking.
* Due to a sprite glitch, a shrunken Gargantuar's burnt sprite will still contain it's imp.
* She can sometimes be killed by Pianist Zombie, similar to Stallia. However, this can be effectively avoided by planting her directly on the Pianist Zombie.
	+ She can also be killed by one of the Zombot Sharktronic Sub's sharks.
* The inbox for her Epic Quest confirms her to be female.
* She was one of the four plants that were banned in Explode-o-nut’s All Out Tournament. The others were Hypno-shroom, Caulipower and Witch Hazel. Coincidentally, they are all plants in the Enchant-mint family.
* If a zombie is killed while being shrunk, the body will revert back to its normal size but the head is still shrunken.
* She can destroy the backpack carried by the Imp Porter, if he was still carrying it when being shrunk.
* For some reason, Shrinking Violet seed packets won't appear when you get a bonus after opening a World Pinata.
	+ The only way to get Shrinking Violet seed packets is to complete her Epic Quest or obtain them by the Premium Pinata.
* Zombies that have been stunned or frozen by Kernel-pult, Iceberg Lettuce, Stunion, or similar plants cannot be shrunk by Shrinking Violet. However, zombies that have been slowed down by plants such as Snow Pea, Winter Melon, Stallia, and similar plants can still be shrunk.
* Shrinking violet does not get activated when Healer Zombie or Zombie Medusa are near her.

### Specific to Chinese version (China only)

* Her seed packet is different than the international version.
	+ In the international version, only the head is shown, while in the Chinese version, the whole body is shown.
* The Chinese-exclusive Imps (excluding Imp Monk) cannot be shrunken into oblivion.

## See also

* Enforce-mint
* Stallia

ru:Уменьшающая Фиалка
es:Violeta reductora
fr:Violette Rétrécissante