Lava Piranha

The Lava Piranha
Lava Piranha.
Species	Piranha Plant
Affiliation	Koopa Troop
Debut	Paper Mario

The Lava Piranha is the giant piranha plant serving as the boss of Paper Mario's fifth chapter.

Background

The Lava Piranha lives deep within a volcano, as lava seems to give it strength (like water to a regular plant, only more effective). With a loud voice and bad grammar, it may seem a bit intimidating, but is really kind of stupid. The Lava Piranha promised to watch the Star Spirit Misstar for Bowser in Paper Mario; Bowser, in return, let them live in Mt. Lavalava and do as they pleased, even if it meant stirring up eruptions. Mario, his partners, and Kolorado arrived, searching for the Lava Piranha's hidden treasures, and found it at what seemed the very bottom of the volcano.

Sushie and the Ice Power and/or Fire Shield badges are an almost must for defeating the Lava Piranha. It and its Lava Buds will breathe fire directly on to Mario. Once the Lava Piranha has been defeated, it will sink into the lava, heal itself, and burst back from the ground with a fiery mane and an even more deadly attack. Of greater note is that the Lava Buds no longer spit fire, but will now spit Petit Piranhas, tiny spores that do six damage if left unattended. Fortunately, any form of ice or water attack will extinguish the flames on the Lava Piranha and Lava Buds, causing them to curl up helplessly for a turn. The Lava Piranha will concede after its second defeat, but not without causing the volcano to erupt one final time. A timely rescue by Misstar, however, prevents this from becoming a disaster.

The Lava Piranha later makes a brief appearance during the parade ending, being entangled around the part of the Lavalava Island float representing Mt. Lavalava. It is uncertain if that is the real Lava Piranha or just an artificial construction and part of the float.

Trivia

• The Lava Buds that accompany the Lava Piranha won't die until the Lava Piranha does; depleting a Lava Bud's HP will only make it curl up for a few turns.
• The Lava Piranha seems to be part of a trend in recent Mario games, where giant Piranha Plants are bosses. Others include Naval Piranha and Petey Piranha.