Petey Piranha

Petey in Super Mario Sunshine.
Petey Piranha
Species	Piranha Plant
Affiliation	Bowser, Shroobs (formerly)
Eye color	None
Voiced by	Toru Minegishi
Debut	Super Mario Sunshine

Petey Piranha is a recurring boss character from the Super Mario series who was first introduced in Super Mario Sunshine and has gone in to appear in both adventure and sports game within the series. He is the boss of the Piranha Plants who was apparently created through some sort of mutation. Petey resembles a giant version of other Piranha Plants, but he has yellow petals and features a lower torso (similar to the Ptooie variant from Super Mario Bros. 3) rather than a purely vine-based body.

Background

Early Appearances

Petey Piranha existed long before his original appearance in Super Mario Sunshine, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. In the "past" segment of the game, he was used by the Shroobs to dispose of their prisoners at the Gritzy Ceves. Although Princess Peach appeared to be fed to Petey Piranha, it was simply a ploy. In the sewers, Mario and company then witnessed Kylie Koopa being eaten by Petey Piranha. Afterwards, Mario and Luigi battled Petey Piranha, who had most of his abilities from his other appearances, aside from lacking in goop-related powers. Upon Petey's defeat, he left behind Kylie and a Cobalt Star shard.

Mario first officially met Petey Piranha in Super Mario Sunshine. This giant piranha plant was the source of the goop in Bianco Hills on Isle Delfino. Mario first confronted Petey Piranha on top of the windmill, but their combined weight broke the roof and so they battled within the windmill, Petey Piranha fought by spitting out brown goop, but Mario was able to defeat him by filling him up with water and then slamming down on his belly button repeatedly. Mario later battled Petey Piranha again, but that time Petey was able to fly and terrorized the local villagers. Mario used the same trick to defeat him, only by spraying him out of the air first.

Petey Piranha appeared as the first boss of Mario Pinball Land, where he was fought within a windmill at the Grassy Greens Srage. The battle he had to be fought again in the game's final stage. He next appeared as the boss of the World 5-Castle in New Super Mario Bros. There and Mario were sealed within an ice-covered room. In battle, Petey flew overhead and occasionally stopped to make an attempt to pound down on Mario. If Petey missed, he would slip on the ice and fall over, leaving himself open to an attack. Three hits was enough to defeat him. If Mario defeated Petey as Mini Mario, then World 7 would be unlocked instead of World 6.

He also appeared in Super Princess Peach as the boss of the Ladida Plains. This time, Petey attacked by creating shockwaves and spitting out Nippers. To defeat him, Princess Peach had to use the tears from her Gloom powers to make plants grow high enough to stand on and then to feed her tears directly into Petey's mouth whenever he prepared to spit out the Nippers. This acted as a substitute of the FLUDD attack from Super Mario Sunshine, filling him with water until he fell over, at which point Peach could stomp on his belly button to hurt him. After three hits, he turned red and began flying. He was then defeated after five hits.

Later Appearances

In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, he appeared as the boss of Rumble Volcano, the game's fifth world. He was empowered by a Green Royal Sticker and ate many Spear Guys from a local tribe, as well as swallowing Mario's partner Kersti. During their battle, he used some of his usual tactics, such as spitting out goop, flying around and trying to slam down on Mario. He also used spinning attacks that could make Mario dizzy, but they made him dizzy as well and could cause his belly button to appear. Once his belly button was struck, he would spit out Kersti, as well as possibly Dry Bones and other stickers. Eventually, he was defeated and destroyed, leaving behind a Royal Sticker.

Two versions of Petey Piranha appeared in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, both of whom were fought at the Sunbeam Plains at different points in the game. One was the 'normal' Petey Piranha, while the other was Paper Petey Piranha, based on his Paper Mario design, as the game's plot involved Paper versions of various characters being accidentally released from their storybook. The original Petey Piranha appeared as the game's first boss and was released by the Bowsers to act as a distraction while they escaped with the princesses. His attacks and weakness were similar to past battles, in addition to being weak against fire. Later on, Paper Petey Piranha was battled in the same area while Mario's group were on their way to the Gloomy Woods. He was chasing a Toad when he came across Mario's group and battled them instead. He stole Paper Mario's Copy Block and used it to make copies of himself, but he was still defeated.

In Paper Mario: Color Splash, he appeared as Petea Piranha and a mini-boss faced at Plum Park. He was similar to his other appearances, aside from having a teabag attached to his head. Apparently, some Snifits stuffed him into a stolen teapot in place of a teabag. He emerged from the teapot when Mario and Huey tried to squeeze it, and he battled them, ultimately being defeated. He also appeared in Dr. Mario World as Dr. Petey Piranha after he was added to the game in April 2021 as one of the playable characters who could be unlocked through the game's Staffing feature. He was the last character to be added to the game, and his skill could clear objects from the bottom of each column.

In Other Mario-Related Games

Sports, Kart Racing and Party Spin-Offs

Following his debut, Petey Piranha has also appeared in a number of sports games. He is typically portrayed as a heavyweight character.

• Golf - Petey Piranha appeared as a playable character in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, in which he was unlocked by completing all side games on every difficulty level. While he did not directly appear in Mario Golf: Open Tour, a costume of him can be unlocked for Miis, and a golf club and ball based on him could also be purchased within the game.
• Kart Racing- Petey Piranha was playable in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (unlocked by completing the Star Cup in Mirror Mode and partnered with King Boo), Mario Kart Tour (first unlockable in July 2022) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (as a paid DLC character made available in July 2023). Tour also included a Mii Racing Suit based on his appearance and a gold variant of Petey Piranha that was first made available in October 2022. Petey also made cameo appearances in Mario Kart Wii, where his image could be seen on a billboard for "The Mushroom Moon" on Moonview Highway, and there was also a kart for heavyweight characters called the Piranha Prowler which had a design that seemed to be based on Petey.
• Tennis - Petey was playable in Mario Power Tennis (where he is unlocked by beating the two Special Tournaments in Doubles) and Mario Tennis Aces (unlocked by participating in a December 2018 Single online tournament or through a free update in the following month). He also acted as a boss in the Adventure Mode of Aces. A Petey Piranha costume and a tennis racket associated with him could also be unlocked for Mii characters in Mario Tennis Open.
• Baseball - Petey was playable in Mario Superstar Baseball (unlocked by completing Challenge Mode with Wario) and Mario Super Sluggers.
  • Within the Challenge Mode of Mario Super Sluggers, Petey Piranha appeared within a certain flower pot in the Peach Ice Gardens after Princess Peach used her Heart Power on it. After being awakened, he would seek a mission, and after his scout mission was completed, he would be impressed enough to join the baseball team.
• Soccer - Petey couls be unlocked as a playable captain in Mario Strikers Charged by beating the Striker Cup, the game's final cup.
• Other Sports - Two Petey Piranhas made a non-playable appearance as the living basketball hoops of the Daisy Garden court featured in Mario Hoops: 3-on-3 and Mario Sports Mix. Players should only dunk into Petey's mouth when he is sleeping, or he will attack. He is also featured in a minigame in Sports Mix called Feed Petey, which revolves around throwing as much fruit as possible into his mouth within a time limit.

Mario Party

He also also made appearances in the Mario Party games as a boss character. In Mario Party 10, he was the boss faced in the Mushroom Park board, in a boss minigame where players had to throw bombs at him, which he tried to spit back at them. He made another appearance as a boss in Mario Party: Star Rush. Additionally, he replaced a giant Piranha Plant in a remake of "Piranha's Pursuit", a minigame from the original Mario Party, that was featured in Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Petey Piranha appeared as an unlockable character in Yakuman DS.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Petey Piranha has appeared as a boss character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and as Piranha Plant's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Brawl, he was faced in the game's story mode, where he worked under the Ancient Minister for the Subspace Army. He was the first boss in the game and wielded cages containing Princess Peach and Princess Zelda as weapons. He was defeated and exploded after one of the two cages was broken. In Ultimate, he would be summoned by Piranha Plant's Final Smash and wielded the same cages (now empty) from Brawl. He attacked by spitting fire off to each side and then slamming the cages down in the center of the stage.
  • Petey Piranha has also been represented as a trophy (gained by using a Trophy Stand to defeat him in the boss fight) and two stickers (from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Strikers Charged) in Brawl and as two Primary Spirits in Ultimate. One was a Legend-rank Spirit (which could make the player character giant) that was gained by enhancing a Level 99 Nipper Spirit. The other Spirit was an Advanced-rank Spirit of Petey Piranha from Mario Strikers Charged. That one could be obtained through a Spirit battle in which Petey's Spirit possessed a giant Ivysaur and battled on a field filled with soccer balls.
• In Nintendo releases of Minecraft, Petey Piranha was included as a possible character skin as part of the "Super Mario Mash-up Pack.
• In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition, Petey appeared as the boss of World 5-7 and World 8-3, and he can also become an ally of the player.
• In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Petey himself does not appear, but one of the Rabbid bosses, known as Pirabbid Plant, has a design that is partially based on Petey Piranha.

Canceled Appearances

• Petey Piranha was originally planned to appear in Mario Party DS with his own board, which would have been called Petey's Greenhouse. He was ultimately replaced by Wiggler in the final game, with its board being Wiggler's Garden.
• An unused player mugshot was found for Petey Piranha in Mario Kart Wii, indicating that he was intended to appear as a playable character during development.

Other Media

• Petey Piranha made an appearance in the Super Mario-kun manga during a chapter based on Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. He was depicted as acting sweet and feminine until angered.

Trivia

• His patched-up belly button is quite similar to and is likely based on Naval Piranha's weakspot.
• Ever since his introduction, some games have featured bosses with similar appearances that seem to be inspired by Petey Piranha, such as the Bean Piranha in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and the Dino Piranha in Super Mario Galaxy.
• In the Glossary of Super Princess Peach, he was instead referred to as Boss P. Plant, which was a literal translation of his Japanese name (Boss Pakkun).
• In Mario Party Advance, his name appears as an incorrect answer for a trivia question posed by a Pokey. The question asked about someone who "golfs, parties and rides on a kart", with the correct answer being Mario. At the time, Pokey had appeared in two of the three subseries referenced by the question (Mario Golf and Mario Kart) and had only not yet appeared in a Mario Party. While he has since appeared in several Mario Party games, it has only been as a non-playable boss or enemy character.
• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Petey Piranha and two of his variations (Paper Petey Piranha and Petea Piranha) are mentioned in Viridi's list of different Piranha Plant species during the Palutena's Guidance conversation about the Piranha Plant.