Balloon Zombie (PvZ)

*For other uses, see Balloon Zombie (disambiguation).*

## **Balloon Zombie**

Balloon Zombie floats above the fray, immune to most attacks.

Balloon Zombie really lucked out. The balloon thing really works and none of the other zombies have picked up on it.

**Balloon Zombie** is a flying zombie in *Plants vs. Zombies* that floats gently above all of the player's plants with a red balloon with an angry face drawn on tied around its waist. The balloon acts as armor and the zombie himself can only be attacked after the balloon is popped by either a Cactus or Cattail and the zombie drops to the ground. He can also be blown away by a Blover or killed by explosive plants besides the Potato Mine while in the air instead.

## Overview

Balloon Zombie's balloon can only be targeted by a Cactus or a Cattail. Their spikes will instantly pop the balloon drop the zombie to the ground, where it will become vulnerable to all normal attacks. If they were floating above a pool lane, they will fall into the water and will instantly die. They can also be blown away by a Blover that instantly kills them.

Balloon Zombie absorbs 210 damage per shot. His appearance changes upon absorbing 20 damage per shot (when the balloon is popped and the zombie becomes vulnerable to ground based attacks) and 115 damage per shot before dying at 210 normal damage shots. He dies after 20 damage per shot over the pool.

## Encounters

* Adventure Mode: 4-3, 4-4, 4-9, 4-10
* Mini-games: Portal Combat, Air Raid, High Gravity, Dark Stormy Night
* Puzzle Mode: Dead Zeppelin, Last Stand: Fog, Last Stand Endless
* Survival Mode: Survival: Fog, Survival: Roof, all Survival (Hard) and Survival (Endless) levels
* Co-op Mode: Co-op Roof, all Co-op Hard levels, Co-op Endless

## Strategies

### Main Game

A Balloon Zombie cannot be stopped by a Tall-nut. The player must use a Cattail or a Cactus to pop his balloon, reducing him to the state of a normal Zombie. If they are popped over a pool lane, they will die immediately, as they will drop into the water and disappear, since he is not equipped for aquatic travel. Alternatively, one could blow them away with a Blover. The player should wait as long as possible before planting a Blover in order to save sun by blowing away multiple instances of them. On pool and fog levels, use Cattails because they can pop balloons and damage zombies in any lane. Since Cattails cannot be used on levels without a pool, use Blovers to blow all Balloon Zombies at the same time and save space for other plants.

Fortunately, they cannot float over the player's Lawn Mowers, Pool Cleaners or Roof Cleaners for a final line of defense.

### I, Zombie

The Balloon Zombie is only available in the Dead Zeppelin level. The player should use them in rows without Cactus. The balloons will pop at the end of each row so that the Balloon Zombies can eat the brain, so sending them is not pointless. If the player really wants to send a Balloon Zombie in rows with Cactus, they can be removed by a Bungee Zombie. Note that Balloon Zombies will not eat Sunflowers that they fly over. It is better to send regular Zombies or Buckethead Zombies rather than the Balloon Zombies. Also, the player should gain a surplus of sun before he or she sends a Balloon Zombie, as they cost 150 sun, and one placed early on will bankrupt the player, making him or her lose Dead Zeppelin quickly.

## Trivia

* Balloon Zombie can be killed by explosives while in the air.
* While scrolling up where all the zombie the player has killed in the iOS leaderboards section, a lone balloon (presumably Balloon Zombie's balloon) can be seen floating around the dead zombies.
* Just like Bungee Zombie, Zombie Bobsled Team, and Zombie Yeti, when a Balloon Zombie with a balloon is hit by an explosive plant, he does not crumble into ash, but turns into a black silhouette and vanishes.
	+ He also turns into a black silhouette if he was killed by an explosive plant when his balloon was popped but before he could start walking.
* An inflating sound is heard before the Balloon Zombie appears. Balloon Zombie, Bungee Zombie, Dolphin Rider Zombie, Zomboni, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, Digger Zombie, and Pogo Zombie are the only zombies that make noises before entering.
* Balloon Zombie and Bungee Zombie are the only zombies to appear both on land and in or above the pool.
	+ Balloon Zombie and Flying Imp are the only zombies to appear on cracked lane in Outsmart the Fire Child
* The propeller hat slightly falls off of the Balloon Zombie's head when he takes a step.
* If a Balloon Zombie is hit by a Lawn Mower while still on his balloon, his balloon will pop and it will turn into smoke, just like a Gargantuar despite the Balloon Zombie being too high to be hit by the Lawn Mower.
* Balloon Zombie cannot be frozen while still floating if an Ice-shroom is used, but will only be slowed down. This also happens with Pogo Zombies still on their pogo sticks.
* Balloon Zombie (while on his balloon), Digger Zombie (while digging), Imp (while airborne), Ladder Zombie, Gargantuar, Giga-gargantuar, Zomboni, and Catapult Zombie are the only zombies that can get past a Tall-nut by themselves without eating them.
* The Suburban Almanac entry for the Balloon Zombie does not list the Cattail as one of its weaknesses, though the Cattail's Suburban Almanac entry does.
* Balloon Zombie is one of nine zombies not allowed for Versus Mode, possibly due to two reasons: it can pass the player's plants without damage, and it only requires two to eat the brains (unless the Lawn Mower in that row has already been used, in which case it would only need one), which means that the Cactus must always be chosen.
* Balloon Zombie is the only non-vaulting zombie that can pass almost every type of plant without trying to eat it.
* Balloon Zombie and Digger Zombie are the only zombies that lack a shoe.
* A rake cannot kill a Balloon Zombie while mid-air.
* Umbrella Leaves cannot deflect Balloon Zombies when they drop directly at them.
* Neither catapult plants nor the Squash can damage Balloon Zombies in the air, despite throwing their projectiles in the air and jumping higher than Balloon Zombie respectively.
* Despite being in the air, he can still scare a Scaredy-shroom.
* Despite having the propeller hat, the hat does not protect him from damage. The other zombies whose have headwear that does not protect them from damage are Zomboni, Target Zombie, Baseball Zombie, Catapult Baseball Zombie, and Gatling Pea Zombie.
* Balloon Zombie is the zombie with the second most visible teeth (seven teeth). The zombie with the most visible teeth is Zombie Yeti (eight teeth).
* Balloon Zombie is one of the only four zombies that cannot damage the player's plants before losing their special item (balloon). The other ones are Pole Vaulting Zombie, Dolphin Rider Zombie, and Pogo Zombie.
* In I, Zombie, it only appears in Dead Zeppelin.
	+ When he reaches the house, his balloon will pop automatically so he can eat the brain.
* The balloon as depicted in the Nintendo DS version is very large in comparison to the zombie using it. In higher quality versions (PC, Xbox Live Arcade, iPad, etc.) the balloon is not much larger than the zombie's head, but in the Nintendo DS version, it is a little over twice the size of his head.
* Despite the Cactus being one of Balloon Zombie's weaknesses, a Cactus planted on the slant of the roof cannot pop the balloon until the Balloon Zombie is right above it.
* He is the only zombie who can be above the pool but not actually swim in it, as he will disappear if his balloon gets popped while over water because he is not meant to swim in it.
	+ Strangely enough, he can walk over crack in Outsmart the Fire Child lawn in Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West without falling. However this was fixed in Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition, where lantern zombie dies, if his lantern destroyed, when he's flying above crack.
* In the canceled mini-game High Gravity, the gravity will cause him to sink lower and lower, until he touches the ground and the balloon automatically pops.

## See also

* Balloon

ru:Зомби на воздушном шаре