Jack O' Lantern

*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***.
*For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Jack O' Lantern (PvZH).*

## **Jack O' Lantern**

Jack O' Lanterns spray fire down a lane, doing extensive burning damage over a short distance.

## Almanac statistics

###  Damage

300 damage per shot per second while held

### Usage

Tap for single flame burst; tap and hold for more powerful flame jet

## In-game statistics

### Strengths

 (Ignores protecion effect and damages all zombies simutaneously)

###  Unlocked

NA: $6.99 **·** EU: €5.49 **·** UK: £4.99

### Costumes

"Boo! Mwah-ha-ha-haaaaah," opines Jack O' Lantern. Oh, yes. Things and stuff are scheduled to be seriously spooky when he's around. Count on it.

**Jack O' Lantern** is a special-edition premium plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*, tied with the Lawn of Doom 2015 event released with the 4.1 update.

He is a tap-to-use plant that blows a flame jet three tiles in front of him for a few seconds. When not continuously pressed, he will use one of five "charges" to just deliver a short burst of fire, which will deal continuous damage in an area of effect for a very short while, totaling 300  damage per shot. If held, he will deal continuous damage while draining his remaining charges. After holding on him from its full recharge form (five charges), he deals a total of exactly 1800 damage per shot (or effectively 360 damage per single charge), reaching the capability of an instant-kill plant when both are a level 1.

If he is not attacking, he will gradually recharge itself. After fully depleted all of his charges, he takes 5 seconds to the first charge and another 16 seconds to fully recharge himself. He is also a fire-based plant, emitting heat every 1.5 seconds that gradually defrosts frozen or chilled plants in a 3x3 area around him, as well as being immune to all freezing effects himself. Additionally, his fire attack can relight Prospector Zombie's dynamite stick or Explorer Zombie's torch, thawing chilled zombies, as well as not being able to damage Imp Dragon Zombie.

## Origins

Jack O' Lantern is based on a pumpkin, specifically a real life object, the Jack-o'-lantern. These are mostly put out at Halloween, referring to how Jack O' Lantern is only available during the Halloween event "Lawn of Doom" (unless there is a special event).

It's fire based attack and Plant Food ability are based on the "Will-o'-the-wisp", a mythological "Ghost Fire" in European folklore often sighted in bogs, swamps and marshes. This is a play on how "Jack-o'-lantern" also serves as an alternate name for the Will-o'-the-wisp.

## Almanac entry

**Jack O' Lantern**

SUN COST: 225

RECHARGE: 20

TOUGHNESS: 300

DAMAGE: 300

Special: Flame Length

PLANT FOOD POWER: Damage

FAMILY: Pepper-mint

Jack O' Lanterns spray fire down a lane, doing extensive burning damage over a short distance.

Usage: tap for single flame burst; tap and hold for more powerful flame jet
Special: fire recharges over time

"Boo! Mwah-ha-ha-haaaaah," opines Jack O' Lantern. Oh, yes. Things and stuff are scheduled to be seriously spooky when he's around. Count on it."

## Upgrades

### Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Jack O' Lantern summons five to nine green wisps on random tiles on the lawn. The wisps, which resemble Jack O' Lantern himself, continuously do fire damage to zombies, dealing 900 damage. He will also restore all his five charges to full.

### Pepper-mint effect

When boosted by Pepper-mint, Jack O' Lantern's DPS per tick will increase by 550, its flamethrower range will increase to five tiles, and its plant food DPS will increase by 350.

### Level upgrades

\* Per single tap burst of flame. Using a continuous stream from a full charge will deal 6x the amount in total.

\*\* Per second. The wisps last for 7.5 seconds.

## Strategies

The best way to use it is when the plant is fully charged. When zombies are near, hold the plant until you see that all the zombies within its range are burned. This way, you make sure that you fully use this plant.

Since he is a short-ranged plant, it is best to place him near your defensive plants. Using him in the tile behind your Wall-nuts can be useful, as you can stop zombies on the tile of the Wall-nut. Never use him as your only attacking plant, because he is a tap-to-use plant and the player can easily be distracted by other things like the sun collecting or planting. Multi-touch works with this plant, but on devices with smaller screens it is hard to do this. This plant is especially useful when combined with a boosted sun-producing plant and Tile Turnip, because when he activates his Plant Food effect with Tile Turnip, he will almost cover the whole lawn annihilating almost all zombies. However, it should not be used against Imp Dragon Zombies in Arthur's Challenge, as they can't be damaged by it. Outside of that, Jack O' Lantern is good in Dark Ages, due to the absent of Imp Dragon Zombies in normal levels, as well as him being able to bypass tombstones as well as damaging Jester Zombies.

Note that he instantly defrosts frozen zombies, so it is better to use Stunion over Iceberg Lettuce in conjunction with Jack. However, you will not be able to stun mechanical zombies (unless using Dazey Chain as they are not immune to stunning gas) and could be thawed if frozen by Iceberg Lettuce. Use E.M.Peach to stun any robot zombies if they overwhelm your defense.

Jack O' Lantern is a warming plant, making him a good choice for use on Frostbite Caves. However, due to his slow recharge, you may want to add extra sources of warmth for your plants, as well as for general attacking. Putting Jack on the front lines naturally protects your other plants against Hunter Zombie's snowball effect. More importantly, unlike most thawing plants, he will not automatically interfere with ice plants making him more useful.

Jack O' Lantern also does excellent on Glitter Zombies and zombies behind them, as he can defeat them all at the same time.

Using Jack O' Lantern with Dazey Chain can also be quite effective as Dazey Chain can stun a mass row of Zombies while Jack O' Lantern can defeat them all safely. This can be most effective in worlds with lots of high health Zombies, like Far Future.

## Trivia

* He is the second plant related to the Lawn of Doom event. The first is Ghost Pepper, the third is Witch Hazel, and the fourth is Shadow Peashooter.
* Along with Fire Peashooter, he is the second plant to have a unique sound when dug up.
* He cannot be planted on mine carts. Trying to plant one will give the player the message, "You can't plant Jack O' Lanterns on rail carts". The reason is likely similar to Lava Guava, as he would melt the minecart with his flame attacks otherwise.
* His flame jet uses the flame tile's sprite from Lost City.
* He is the only plant to have an apostrophe in his name.
* Aerial zombies cannot avoid his flames.
* Like Fire Peashooter, his flames are not affected by the water in Pirate Seas and Big Wave Beach nor do they receive any penalties.
* Even after the player defeats the final zombie and the reward drops, he can still attack.
* When he is stunned by a Boombox Zombie, he will glitch and starts playing his activation and deactivation sounds repeatedly until the Power Ballad jam is finished.
* His abilities may refer to how in real life jack-o'-lanterns include the use a flame, such as a candle, to make them glow from the inside.
* According to the credits, he is voiced by John Stumme.
* Sometimes, his flame will not light up correctly. He can still be used the same way, but the player will not know how powerful the flame is.
* He is very similar to Fire Gourd in the Chinese version of the game.
	+ They both have a similar fire mechanic, are fired manually, and require a recharge after being used.
* In Jack O' Lantern's Tournament, there are five frozen Jack O' Lanterns on the lawn, which is the only case where this happens.

## See also

* Ghost Pepper
* Witch Hazel
* Fire Gourd
* Firebloom Queen

ru:Светильник Джека