Cardio Zombie

Advances to a set spot on the board, then tosses buffing brains at other zombies until he's chased away or retreats on his own.

## Almanac statistics

### Special

Throws buffing brains that make zombies stronger

## In-game statistics

### First seen

Arena - Electric Peashooter's Tournament.

Cardio Zombie is all about health, healthiness and healthy lifestyles. He refuses to consume carbs, downing nothing but high-protein brains for every meal. In his opinion, other zombies really need to up their game. NO EXCUSES!

**Cardio Zombie** is a zombie that can only be found in Arena and Penny's Pursuit in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. He will advance to the 7th column when spawned and will crush any plant with his treadmill. After reaching the 7th column, he will throw brains at his fellow zombies, significantly increasing their health and speed. After a while, he will leave the lawn.

He is immune to the following effects:

* Hypnosis by Caulipower and Enchant-mint
* Gas clouds
* Freezing
* Being shrunk
* Imp Pear's Plant Food Ability
* Knockback

## Almanac entry

**Cardio Zombie**

TOUGHNESS: Hardened

SPEED: Stiff

Advances to a set spot on the board, then tosses buffing brains at other zombies until he's chased away or retreats on his own.

Cardio Zombie is all about health, healthiness and healthy lifestyles. He refuses to consume carbs, downing nothing but high-protein brains for every meal. In his opinion, other zombies really need to up their game. NO EXCUSES!

## Stages

 2
 3

## Encounters

* Arena (certain tournaments)
* Penny's Pursuit (certain levels)

## Strategies

### General

Cardio Zombie is a major threat as he will boost other zombies, making them even more dangerous. Since Cardio Zombie has an extremely high amount of health, he will reward a lot of points in Arena.

He also does not eat plants as he will crush them with his treadmill, meaning plants like Chili Bean and Sun Bean are useless against him. He can also crush underground plants such as Spikeweed, Cactus, and instantly destroy the Spikerock.

Also, not only Cardio himself but the buffed zombies who have received his buffed brains are also immune to Imp Pear's Plant Food.

Depending on your Arena league, defeating Cardio Zombie may or may not be possible regardless of your plant's levels. In lower leagues, Squash is a viable response, but in higher leagues, Cardio Zombie has too much health to be able to be defeated.

### User contributed

Step 1: Go to an Arena Practice (preferably Goo Peashooter's Tournament Practice) that has a Cardio Zombie in it.

Step 2: Choose plants such as Moonflower (only if you aren't playing the Goo Peashooter Tournament Practice), Kernel-Pult, Squash, Celery Stalker, Bonk Choy, and/or Guacodile (if you have it, you can use Parsnip instead of Bonk Choy and/or Guacodile).

Step 3: Plant 2 or 3 Kernel-Pults on the third row, then wait for Cardio Zombie. When he arrives, plant a Celery Stalker behind him, a Bonk Choy just in front of him, and several Guacodiles on him.

Step 4: He'll be defeated after a while. Do this with the other 2 Cardio Zombies in that Arena Practice.

Tip: Bonk Choy's, Parsnip's, Guacodile's, and Kernel-Pult's Plant Food effects are very helpful. Mastery Threepeaters combined with a napalm Torchwood along with a Tile Turnip will eliminate the threat quickly. Just make sure there is enough sun and no Jesters or Excavator zombies to block the peas.

Note: This strategy is most likely to help you defeat Cardio Zombie in Goo Peashooter's Tournament Practice.

## Gallery

Almanac entryAlmanac entry (part 2)Cardio Zombie Icon.PNGAlmanac iconSprites and texturesSprites and textures (brain)Almanac textureHD Cardio ZombieCardio Zombie in an adThree Cardio Zombies in an ad via main menuAbility animationCardio Zombie leavingPoisoned Cardio ZombieCardio Zombie about to throw a brainButtered Cardio ZombieA brain used by Cardio Zombie to boost zombiesCardio Zombie's arm degradeDefeated Cardio ZombiePrimal Potato Mine defeating Cardio Zombie as a glitch (note that Cardio Zombie has no head)Cardio Zombie in Lost City
## Trivia

* In his in-game ad, the background is stylized the same as Neon Mixtape Tour's in-game ads.
* When he leaves, the Cardio Zombie turns around, but his treadmill does not, and the treadmill's conveyor is still moving in the original direction, which would have ejected him off-screen instantly.
* It has the second-highest health of all zombies, only losing to Dr. Zomboss' robots.
* Like Gargantuars, he can appear to be poisoned but will take little damage.
* The brain he uses to boost zombies looks different from the brain that can be seen on a game over screen.
* Despite the fact that he is only encountered in Arena, the lawn that is used in his Almanac entry the Modern Day lawn.
* Prior to the 7.1.3 update, his speed listed in the Almanac has changed from 'Creeper' to 'Stiff'.
* Cardio Zombie is similar to Catapult Zombie from the first game where he will crush any plant when approaching the lawn and before going into an idle animation. Even in idle animation, the treadmill still has the ability to crush plants.
* Lawn mowers and E.M.Peaches have no effect on him.
* If one listens closely, when Cardio Zombie enters the lawn, he makes a low wheezing noise.
* A glitch can occur that when a Primal Potato Mine explodes and it defeats Cardio Zombie, his defeated animation would play, but he would have no head.
	+ This glitch can occur even if he appears for the first time in the lawn in a match.
* Cardio Zombie has four different treadmills, each one more resistant looking than the other. His almanac icon has the 1st treadmill, but the animation is used from the fourth treadmill that was not used in Arena.
* He also has two different death animations. On the first two treadmills, when defeated he trips once, then the treadmill explodes violently and he zips backwards at instant speed. On the third treadmill, he trips multiple times before the treadmill explodes, except its head pops off and rolls a bit on the ground.
* A glitch could occur if too much damage is dealt to the Cardio Zombie, his head will disappear, leaving himself headless.
	+ This could happen on all phases.
	+ In the case of the third phase, he loses his head directly without having his head rolling on the ground.
* Electric Blueberry and Caulipower cannot target him.

## See also

* Arena
* Brain
* Dark Alchemy
* Roman Caesar Zombie

fr:Zombie Cardio