Piranha Plant

Piranha Plant
Origin	Mushroom Kingdom
Type	Plant
Debut	Super Mario Bros.

The Piranha Plant is a type of carnivorous, sentient plant that acts as a recurring enemy within the Super Mario series.

Information

There are many different kinds of Piranha Plants, but most have similar physical characteristics. They typically have a large, round head with white spots, and their only facial features are a mouth full of sharp teeth. Their heads are usually atop a long vine or stem growing from either a pipe or the ground. There are also some types of piranha plants whose vines and leaves form structures that act similar to legs or entire bodies. Their heads are most commonly red, but there are also green and yellow variations.

Traditionally, mostly within the 2-D appearances, Piranha Plants pop out of Warp Pipes while snapping their mouths upward and then recede back into the pipe moments later. Because of their teeth, they cannot be stomped on and have to be defeated through other means. Fireballs are traditionally considered to be an effective weakness for most of them. In other appearances, mostly the 3-D ones, Piranha Plants grow out of the ground and snap forward at anyone nearby. In those appearances, it is possible to stomp on their heads and defeat them. Additionally, some Piranha Plants have the ability to spit fireballs at enemies. One that spit fire are often referred to as Fire Piranha Plans.

Piranha Plants commonly grow to large sizes, and smaller Piranha Plant buds can often be found on larger piranha plants. Because of this, Piranha Plants are often the subject of boss enemies. This is usually achieved by increasing the Piranha Plant's size in some way. The earliest example of this was Naval Piranha, which was a normal Piranha Plant that had its size increased by Kamek during Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Other large Piranha Plant bosses have included Megasmilax from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Lava Piranha from Paper Mario, Mom Piranha in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Big Bungee Piranha in Yoshi's Island DS, the Dino Piranha in Super Mario Galaxy and the Peewee Piranha in Super Mario Galaxy 2. The most prominent and only recurring Piranha Plant boss has been Petey Piranha, one of the few Piranha Plants who has a body. Petey has been described as the boss of the Piranha Plants.

Another example was Megasmilax, which was grown by a Shy Away in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. There was also the Mom Piranha, a boss in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Mom Piranha, and other Piranha Plants in that game, . One of the most well known examples of boss Piranha Plants, however, is Petey Piranha. Unlike the other Piranha Plants, he is actually capable of walking around and has made numerous appearances. He is also described as the boss of the piranha plants.

Variations

• Bungee Piranha - Appearing in Yoshi's Island DS, the Bungee Piranha is attached from the ceiling and drops down to attack, using its vine as a bungee chord. A boss version, Big Bungee Piranha, also appears.
• Chewy - The Chewy is a stronger version of the Piranha Plant found in Super Mario RPG that are green instead of red. They are only found in the Bean Valley area.
• Elasto-Piranha - A variation from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. This piranha plant would stretch up to the top screen and attack with fireballs.
• Frost Piranha - A variation from the Paper Mario series. The Frost Piranha could grow in icy areas and had ice breath. They appear in the Shiver Snowfield area of Paper Mario, the Fahr Outpost of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and the Underwhere in Super Paper Mario.
• Glad Piranha Plant - In Super Princess Peach, this is a yellow piranha plant that can fly similarly to Petey Piranha and spit fireballs.
• Glad Ptooie - A happy version of the Ptooie found in Super Princess Peach. This version will spin around while bouncing the spiked ball.
• Pale Piranha - From Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, this is a monochrome Piranha Plant which had changed color to adapt to life in the Boggly Woods.
• Piranha Planet - This strange enemy was a small piranha plant living within a meteor. It appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time on Star Hill and may be the Shroobian counterpart of the Piranha Plant.
• Piranha Plorp - In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, this is an enemy found within Bowser's body that resembles a cross between a piranha plant and a vein. They spit poison and also exhume clouds of gas to obscure their target's vision.
• Piranhacus Giganticus - A giant version of the Piranha Plant that only appears in certain areas such as the Big Land of Super Mario Bros. 3, Tiny-Huge Island in Super Mario 64 and Supermassive Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2.
• Ptooie - The Ptooie is a walking piranha plant. it will usually walk back and forth while bouncing a spiked ball on its mouth while facing upwards. These enemies appear in Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Princess Peach and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• Putrid Piranha - A variation from the Paper Mario games. This piranha plant lives in the jungle and has poison breath. They are found within Lavalava Island's jungle in Paper Mario, the Keelhaul Key in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and in Chapter 5's prehistoric areas in Super Paper Mario.
• Stalking Piranha Plant - A type from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This Piranha Plant can walk around and stretch its body high into the air.
• River Piranha Plant - A type from New Super Mario Bros. Wii that is found floating in rivers. They are similar to Ptooies in that they spend all of their time blowing spiked balls into the air.

Appearances

Piranha Plants originally appeared as enemies in Super Mario Bros.. They returned for the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, where they also came out of overhead pipes for the first time. They make similar appearances in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Land. In Super Mario World, the traditional Piranha Plant appears in only one level, whereas the Jumping Piranha Plants appear primarily throughout the game and also in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Piranha Plants appeared frequently. However, the Piranha Plants featured in this game were not based in pipes and would pop in and out of areas of the ground to attack. Other Piranha Plants in the game spit out Needlenoses at enemies. In this game, they can usually be defeated with one or more eggs. The Piranha Plants of Super Mario 64 also were also found coming out of the ground. In various areas of the game, Piranha Plants would be found napping, but when if approached quickly or attacked the Piranha Plant would awaken and attack the intruder violently. They could be defeated by beating them down, the most effective method being to sneak up on them while they are sleeping.

They are also found in the wild in Yoshi's Story. One particular area, called Piranha Grove, is thriving with many Piranha Plants. Super Mario Sunshine also features Piranha Plant enemies that are composed entirely of goop. They act almost like mini-boss characters and can be defeated by continuously spraying them with water from FLUDD. They also appear as enemies in the Donkey Kong Jungle world of Mario vs. Donkey Kong as well as in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. They also appear in New Super Mario Bros. and its sequels, where they behave identically due their appearances in the original games, and in Super Princess Peach. In Yoshi's Island DS, Piranha Plants appeared commonly and attacked similarly as in the first Yoshi's Island.

Piranha Plants also appeared in Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World. These Piranha Plants were similar to the Super Mario 64 plants except they did not nap and thus were more dangerous. They were most easily defeated by smacking green bulbs into them or by stunning them with Star Bits and then attacking them. After being defeated, on certain planetoids vines would grow from the defeated Piranha Plant's resting place. Super Mario Galaxy 2 also had Piranha Plants with spikes on their heads, and they could only be defeated by hitting them with Stretch Plants. In Super Mario Maker, the classic versions of Piranha Plants were among the enemies that could be placed in stages, along with several of the different Piranha Plant variations. It was also possible to place wings on Piranha Plants, making them into Para Piranha Plants.

In Super Mario Odyssey, fire-spitting Piranha Plants appeared as enemies in several areas. It was possible to stun them by making them swallow Cappy. It was also possible to capture one with Cappy, at which point it could be controlled by the player to spit fireballs freely. Additionally, Bowser attempted to propose to Princess Peach with a bouquet of miniature Piranha Plants.

The Piranha Plants are also often used as enemies in the RPG games, which have introduced a variety of unique variations. In Super Mario RPG, piranha plants attacked while based within pipes. The Paper Mario games had a number of Piranha Plants adapting to different habitats, all of which were free-moving Piranha Plants. In Paper Mario, Piranha Plants were found in Forever Forest. Strangely enough in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the 'normal' Piranha Plant was only found in the Pit of 100 Trials. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Piranha Plants were only found at the Beanbean National Airport during Mama Piranha's attack. These ones were healed by fire and vulnerable to lightning when red, but healed by lightning and vulnerable to fire when blue. They also appeared as normal enemies in Super Paper Mario, similar to their appearance in previous Mario games.

Sports

Within the various sports/kart racing games, Piranha Plants have commonly appeared as obstacles/hazards on different courses, while Petey Piranha has appeared as a recurring playable character.. Piranha Plants have also appeared as an item in several Mario Kart games. In Mario Kart Arcade GP and its sequels, it is a personal item of Princess Peach's that can be deployed to consume opponents' items. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it causes the Piranha Plant to drag the user's kart forward, attacking anyone in its way and causing a small speed boost. Within other sports games, Piranha Plants were mostly regulated to obstacles, but a Fire Piranha Plant, later made its first playable appearance as a downloadable character for Mario Tennis Aces. It could be unlocked by taking part in an online tournament during the month of June 2019 or could otherwise be added to the game automatically through a patch in the following month.

The Piranha Plant has appeared in all of the Mario Party games, both in and out of minigames. There was even a minigame that revolved around singing Piranha Plants. In the Duel Mode of Mario Party 3, Piranha Plant appeared as one of the Duel Partners. It had 3 Attack Power, but only 1 Stamina, and a Salary of 5 coins. It was the default partner of Waluigi. In the later games of the series, the Piranha Plant also appeared as a capsule item. A piranha plant also appeared as the first boss of the Story Mode in Mario Party DS, where it had terrorized Wiggler's garden.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Piranha Plants appear as enemies in several sidescrolling areas of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Similar to their portrayal in the Mario games, the piranha plants rise from pipes. They are vulnerable to attack from most of Link's weapons. In the Switch remake, a figurine of the Piranha Plant could also be won from the Trendy Game and displayed at Tarin's house.
• A Piranha Plant makes a cameo appearance in Captain Rainbow within Lip's garden.
• In Lego City Undercover, it is possible for the player to grow a Piranha Plant that will spit fireballs at the player.
• In Sonic Lost World, Piranha Plants appeared as enemies in the DLC stage called Yoshi's Island Zone, based on their appearance in Yoshi's Island.
• Piranha Plants appeared as common enemies in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.
• In Nintendo editions of Minecraft, Piranha Plants can appear in rose bushes as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Super Smash Bros.

Within the Super Smash Bros. series, Piranha Plants initially appeared as a stage hazard in the 8-bit Mushroom Kingdom stage that was seen in Super Smash Bros. and returned in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There, they popped into and out of pipes as in the original Super Mario Bros.. Trophies of the Piranha Plant also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Piranha Plant was made available as a playable fighter through the game's DLC and was the game's first DLC fighter. For players who purchased the game by the end of January 2019 and had it registered with My Nintendo, it became available as a free download on January 29, 2019. It then became available for purchase through the eShop days later, on February 1st. In battle, the Piranha Plant moved around and attacked while based within a pot that resembled a Warp Pipe. It had special attacks which channeled the abilities of other Piranha Plant variants, such as spitting a spiked ball into the air like a Ptooie. It would also change color to the coloration of a Purtrid Piranha when using its Poison Breath. For its Final Smash, it would summon Petey Piranha to attack its opponents.

After being downloaded, a Fighter Spirit of the Piranha Plant became available. It also gained its own Classic Mode route, called New Bloom, where its opponents consisted of all of the game's newcomer fighters, and the boss faced at the end was Rathalos. Its addition to the game also came with a new Palutena's Guidance conversation in which Viridi listed numerous types of Piranha Plants from Mario history, including Nippers, the RPG variations (even Chewies and Megasmilax from Super Mario RPG), the Piranha Plant bosses and the variations of Petey Piranha. She also claimed to have written her thesis on Piranha Plants.

Trivia

• Piranha Plants were referred to Pakkun Flowers in Super Mario Land, which is their Japanese name. This was rectified in the 3DS port's accompanying instructions.

See Also

• Nipper
• Petey Piranha