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For fighter info, see Piranha Plant (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).

Piranha Plants (パックンフラワー, Pakkun Flower) are a species of carnivorous plant and common mob enemies throughout the Mario and Yoshi franchises.

It joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a free (for a limited time) DLC fighter and is the first downloadable character overall.

Character Description[]

Piranha Plants are recurring enemies that are commonly seen living in Warp Pipes. Inspired by venus flytraps, they will periodically pop their red-and-white heads out in an attempt to bite Mario and his allies. They are often seen as stationary enemies but there have been instances where they can move about and even be capable of speech. The standard Piranha Plants first appeared in Super Mario Bros., showing up in every Warp Pipe beyond World 1-1. Variants wouldn't be introduced until Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, where each new installment proceeded to introduce new subspecies, something that later expanded onto the Yoshi series.

Piranha Plants also appear in various spin-off games, usually as obstacles in the sports-based games and as active participants in minigames and boards in the Mario Party series. A Fire Piranha Plant was also made playable in a free update for Mario Tennis Aces on July 1st, 2019. More recently, a Piranha Plant appears as an assistant in the mobile game Dr. Mario World.

Super Mario species[]

Red Piranha Plant
  • Introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3:
    • Fire Piranha Plants - A Piranha Plant that can shoot fireballs. Also known as a Venus Fire Trap.
    • Big Piranha Plants - A giant Piranha Plant. Also known as Pirhanacus Giganticus and Super Piranha Plants.
    • Ptooies - Piranha Plants that hover spiked balls over them with their mouth. They are also capable of walking freely.
    • Nipper Plants / Walking Piranhas - A small, white baby Piranha Plant variant that hop around a specific area.
  • Upside Down Pakkun / Reverse Pakkun - Introduced in Super Mario Land. Piranha Plants that hang upside down from ceiling Warp Pipes.
Upside Down Pakkun
  • Introduced in Super Mario World:
    • Jumping Piranha Plants - Piranha Plants that jump out of pipes with their propeller leaves.
    • Munchers - Small and black variants of Piranha Plants that are impervious to any attacks.
  • Introduced in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars:
    • Chewies - Green and purple stemmed Piranha Plants that use its roots as legs. Commonly found in Bean Valley.
    • Megasmilax - The boss of Bean Valley. A Warp Pipe-dwelling Piranha Plant accompanied by two other Smilax buds that can shoot fire.
  • Introduced in Super Mario 64:
    • Big Piranha Plants shown outside of Warp Pipes, now shown growing in a small field of flowers. They will be asleep by default; however, if Mario comes closer, the Plant will suddenly awaken and attempt to bite him.
    • Big Fire Piranha Plants - A giant variation of the Fire Piranha Plants. Only found in Tiny-Huge Island.
  • Introduced in Paper Mario:
    • Putrid Piranha - A Piranha Plant that spews out a poison breath. Its bite is also capable of inflicting poison.
    • Frost Piranha - Similar to a Putrid Piranha, but instead releases an ice breath. It can also freeze enemies with its bite.
  • Introduced in Super Mario Sunshine:
    • Petey Piranha - A Boss that needs to be defeated using the F.L.U.D.D. Petey would later go on to be a recurring character in several Mario spin-offs.
    • Proto Piranhas / Gatekeepers - Goop-covered Piranha Plants (known in the game as Pakkun Flowers) that only appear in Bianco Hills.
    • Piranhabons - Giant Gatekeepers that resemble the head of Petey Piranha.
  • Introduced in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions:
    • Piranha Bean - A Piranha Plant variant that appears in the Beanbean Kingdom and resembles a miniature Petey Piranha. It is a miniboss near Beanbean Castle Town that is weak to Luigi's Thunderhand.
    • Mom Piranha - A boss found in the Beanbean International Airport. A giant stemmed-Piranha Plant that emerges from an egg and is capable of firing energy beams and sweeping with its large vine-limbs.
  • Pale Piranhas - Introduced in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. A monochrome Piranha Plant that Paper Mario encounters in the Glitz Pit as a member of the Mind-Bogglers.
Pale Piranha
  • Introduced in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time:
    • Elasto-Piranhas - A variant that can be found in Toadwood Forest. A Piranha Plant with elastic limbs that can extend and contract.
    • Piranha Planets - Miniature Piranha Plants wearing space suits and equipped with phasers that inhabit Warp Pipe balls. They are commonly found in the Star Shrine.
  • Introduced in Super Princess Peach:
    • Glad P. Plant - A Piranha Plant variant that hops around and spits fireballs.
    • Glad Ptooie - A variant of Ptooies that are capable of tossing the spiked ball to another location, running after it, and then catching it.
    • Sad Nipper Plant - A Nipper Plant variant that attacks at random intervals due to it being so sad.
  • Introduced in Super Mario Galaxy:
    • Spiny Piranha Plants - Purple Piranha Plants with spiky stems. They will attack Mario by slamming their heads down on the ground.
    • Dino Piranha - An alien Piranha Plant that resembles Petey Piranha. Mario first encounters it as an egg he accidentally cracks and needs to defeat it by hitting it with its own tail. A flaming variant called the Firey Dino Piranha is later encountered in the Melty Molten Galaxy.
  • Piranha Plorp - Introduced in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. A Piranha Plant variant found inside Bowser's body. The head resembles a heart with ventricles and the stems resemble veins.
Piranha Plorp
  • Introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii:
    • Stalking Piranha Plants - A walking Piranha Plant with stretchable stalks.
    • River Piranha Plants - A variant of the Ptooie that live in rivers.
  • Introduced in Super Mario Galaxy 2:
    • Peewee Piranha - A Dino Piranha that is trapped inside its own egg. It is the boss of Sky Station Galaxy.
    • Prickly Piranha Plant - Similar to the Spiny Piranha Plants but now with spiked heads.
  • Inky Piranha Plants - Introduced in Super Mario 3D Land. A black variant that spits black ink to cover the player's screen.
Inky Piranha Plants
  • Bone Piranha Plants - Introduced in New Super Mario Bros. 2. A skeletal variant of the original Piranha Plant in a similar vein to Dry Bones.
Bone Piranha Plant
  • Introduced in New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe:
    • Ice Piranha Plants - A Piranha Plant that can shoot ice.
    • Piranha Pods - Eggs that Lakitu can throw. They will hatch into Piranha Plants once they land on the ground.
  • Introduced in Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury:
    • Potted Piranha Plants - Piranha Plants in pots that can be held. A usable item Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, and Rosalina can use to eat enemies.
    • Piranha Creepers - Large Plants with large stems that can retract each time the head is attacked.
  • Piper - Introduced in Paper Mario: Color Splash. A friendly Ptooie that was best friends with five Toads - Purp, Redd, Greenie, Yella, and Bloo - to which Mario is tasked with reuniting. As Mario assembles the group, he will tell them stories about Piper and his caring and gentle nature.
Piper and his friends
  • Poison Piranha Plants - Introduced in Super Mario Odyssey. A Piranha Plant that shoots gobs of poison and can also eat Cappy. It can only be captured if a rock has been thrown into their mouth.
Poison Piranha Plant
  • Introduced in Paper Mario: The Origami King:
    • Origami Piranha Plants - As the name suggests, they are regular Piranha Plants made out of origami. They are capable of biting and spitting fireballs.
    • Paper Macho Piranha Plant - An extremely rare variant of a Paper Macho Soldier. It is a giant, three-dimensional Piranha Plant made of Papier-mâché.
  • Introduced in Super Mario Bros. Wonder:
    • Wonder Pakkun - Large black Piranha Plants with long stalks that only appear on the Overworld maps, guarding locked areas. Once the cast has collected enough Wonder Seeds to progress, the Wonder Packuns will revert back to normal Piranha Plants and clear the opening.
    • Cloud Piranha - Piranha Plants made of black smoke that protect Castle Bowser.
    • Trottin' Piranha Plant - A variant of the Ptooie, though now with leaves that act like arms and are capable of walking on ceilings. In the "Piranha Plants on Parade" level, all of the Trottin' Plants will perform a song together under the Wonder Effect of the Wonder Flower. There are also giant versions in the same level, as well as bone versions in the "Fluff Puff Peaks Palace" level.
    • Melon Piranha Plant - Piranha Plants that resemble watermelons; they attack by spitting out seeds. If Yoshi eats one, he will also spit out seeds like in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
    • Note Piranha Plant - During the final level, Bowser will fire flaming Piranha Plants with bodies that resemble music notes. He may also throw out giant versions as well.

Yoshi's Island species[]

  • Introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island:
    • Piranha Plants as they appear in Yoshi's Island function a little differently than in the Mario games; they are shown growing on the ground and instead of biting Yoshi, they will eat him instead and spit him back out, causing him to lose Baby Mario. They cannot be jumped on or swallowed and must be hit by an Egg.
    • Naval Piranha - A boss that starts out as a regular Piranha Plant until being enhanced by Kamek's magic.
  • Piranha Pests - Introduced in Yoshi's Story. Plants commonly seen as only a head with propeller stems and long tongues like Yoshi's that attempt to capture Baby Yoshi and shrink him. They only appear in Piranha Grove. There also exists a derivation with feet known as Piranha Sprouts.
Piranha Pest
  • Introduced in Yoshi's Island DS
    • Polterpiranhas - Ghost Piranha Plants that are winged and upside down who attempt to eat Yoshi whole.
    • Bungee Piranhas - Plants attached to ceilings that use their stems as bungee cords.
    • Nipper Dandelions - Nipper Plants that fire Nipper Spores into the air.
    • Big Bungee Piranha - The Boss of World 2. A Bungee Piranha that has been enlarged by Kamek.
  • Spike the Piranha - Introduced in Yoshi's Crafted World. The boss of Acron Forest, who is a Naval Piranha enchanted by Kamek. It is made of a Party Ball, acorns, and thorns.
Spike the Piranha

In Super Smash Bros.[]

Piranha Plant

Piranha Plants appear at random from the Warp Pipes on the Mushroom Kingdom stage. Just as in the original Super Mario Bros., Piranha Plants will not appear when a player is standing on top of the Warp Pipe or directly next to one. A powerful attack will knock it out of the Pipe, although not permanently as another will simply take its place.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]

Petey Piranha SSBB artwork

Boss[]

Main article: Petey Piranha

Petey Piranha, the first boss of The Subspace Emissary, is a type of Piranha Plant. It appears to trap Peach and Zelda in its cages, forcing Kirby to choose one to free and let the other be kidnapped. It attacks by jumping and swinging the cages along the ground.

Stage Hazard[]

A Piranha Plant may sometimes appear as a stage element on PictoChat. However, they don't go up or down, and they stay on the stationary platform.

Trophy Description[]

Piranha Plant Trophy Brawl

A vicious, plantlike monster that typically hides in pipes. Piranha Plants emerge with mouths open, awaiting victims. A poorly timed jump means a chomping--hence the "piranha" name. While there have been exceptions--there are many Piranha Plants with unique traits-- they generally don't appear if Mario waits on top of or just next to a pipe. They hate fireballs.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U[]

Piranha Plant's only appearance is in Trophy form in both versions.

PiranhaPlantTrophy3DS

3DS trophy

NTSC[]

These guys aren't so much carnivorous as Mario...nivorous. Ahem. There are lots of varieties, like Frost, Wild Ptooie, Ghost, Prickly, Dino, Bone, Elasto-Piranhas, Stalking, Naval... A helpful mnemonic is "Fireballs with Ground Pounds defeat baddies, even super nasties."

PiranhaPlantTrophyWiiU

Wii U trophy

PAL[]

These carnivorous plants are hungry for one thing - Mario! There are all sorts of them, including the Naval Piranha, Fire Piranha Plant, Inky Piranha Plant, Piranha Creeper, Bone Piranha Plant, Stalking Piranha Plant... But all you need to know is "plants with teeth want to eat Mario".

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]

Piranha Plant SSBU

Fighter[]

Piranha Plant was revealed in the final Ultimate Nintendo Direct held on November 1st, 2018 making its playable debut for the first time in any game.

Its moveset derives from its multiple subspecies and summons Petey Piranha for its Final Smash, swinging its cages from The Subspace Emissary.

It was made free for a limited time to anyone that pre-purchased and registered the game to My Nintendo before January 31st, 2019. It was released on January 29th, 2019 for those who registered as a part of Ver 2.0.0. It was later made available to purchase separately from the Fighters Pass on February 1st, 2019.

Stage Hazard[]

SSBU-Mushroom Kingdom (SSB)

Piranha Plants also return as a Stage hazard in the Mushroom Kingdom stage, functioning identically to the original game. The sprite has been updated to resemble the ones from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Spirits[]

A Nipper Plant appears as collectible Spirit in the base game. It is a Primary Attack Spirit under the Novice class. Its Spirit battle uses a tiny Pac-Man team, who will constantly jump and attack with Power Pellet and Pac-Jump; this is due to Nipper Plants resembling Pac-Man's classic form as well as the Nipper Plant's tendency to jump up to try to attack Mario. The stage is the Battlefield form of Super Mario Maker and the song that plays is "Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3) - Remix", the latter being a reference to its debut on Super Mario Bros. 3. The Nipper Plant Spirit is also enhanceable; when it reaches Level 99, it will transform into the Petey Piranha Spirit. It is a Primary Grab Spirit under the Ace class.

There is also a separate Spirit of Petey Piranha as it appears in Mario Strikers Charged. It is a Primary Grab Spirit under the Advanced class. Its Spirit Battle uses a giant Ivysaur (a reference to Petey's size) and only Soccer Balls will spawn (a reference to Mario Strikers Charged's gameplay). The stage is the Swordplay Colosseum section of Wuhu Island and the song that plays is "Country Field: Away Team".

An additional Fighter Spirit of Piranha Plant can be obtained after beating its Classic Mode route. As it is a Fighter Spirit, it does not have its own Spirit Battles and cannot be used.

No. Spirit Name Artwork Origin Type Rating Effect Slots
53 Nipper Plant Spirit SSBU Nipper Plant Super Mario Bros. 3 Grab Spirit Enhanceable 2
54 Petey Piranha Spirit SSBU Petey Piranha Mario Super Sluggers Grab Spirit ★★★ Giant 2
125 Petey Piranha (Super Mario Strikers) Spirit SSBU Piranha Plant (Super Mario Strikers) Mario Strikers Charged Grab Spirit ★★ N/A 1
1303 Piranha Plant (Mario Party DS) Piranha Plant Mario Party DS Fighter N/A N/A N/A

Trivia[]

  • Piranha Plant is the only:
  • Piranha Plant is one of six characters to be playable in Super Smash Bros. but not in any other game, following the Wii Fit Trainer, Palutena, the Duck Hunt dog, Ridley, and Dark Samus.
    • This is discounting Petey Piranha (who is playable in several Mario spin-off games) and Fire Piranha Plant (who was made playable in Mario Tennis Aces as a free DLC character) as they are considered subspecies.
  • Piranha Plant is the oldest newcomer in Ultimate, debuting in September 1985.
  • Piranha Plant is one of two generic enemies to become fighters, preceding Zombie and Enderman.
    • It is also the first villain DLC character in Ultimate, later succeeded by Zombie and Enderman, Sephiroth, and Kazuya Mishima
  • Piranha Plant and Corrin are the only two DLC newcomers in Smash to not come with a stage.
    • Of the two, Piranha Plant is the only one to not come with any new music.
  • Piranha Plant is one of five DLC characters to not be human; the other four are Mewtwo, Banjo & Kazooie, Zombie, and Enderman.
  • Piranha Plant is one of four characters to lack a proper "face" of some kind, following Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B., and Dark Samus.
  • Piranha Plant has the longest duration of time of being introduced in Smash Bros. in a non-playable capacity and eventually becoming a fighter, at over 20 years, due to its cameo as a stage hazard in the first Super Smash Bros.
    • Its also one of three fighters to have made a cameo first before become playable, preceeding Min Min and Pyra and Mythra.

Navigation[]

Playable Fighters
Introduced in
Smash 64
Captain Falcon  · Donkey Kong  · Fox McCloud  · Jigglypuff  · Kirby  · Link  · Luigi  · Mario  · Ness  · Pikachu  · Samus Aran  · Yoshi
Introduced in
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Bowser  · Dr. Mario  · Falco Lombardi  · Ganondorf  · Ice Climbers  · Marth  · Mewtwo  · Mr. Game & Watch  · Princess Peach  · Pichu  · Roy  · Sheik  · Young Link  · Princess Zelda
Introduced in
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Diddy Kong  · Ike  · King Dedede  · Lucario  · Lucas  · Meta Knight  · Captain Olimar  · Pit  · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard  · Ivysaur  · Squirtle)  · R.O.B.  · Solid Snake  · Sonic the Hedgehog  · Toon Link  · Wario  · Wolf O'Donnell  · Zero Suit Samus
Introduced in
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Alph  · Bayonetta  · Bowser Jr. / Koopalings  · Cloud Strife  · Corrin  · Dark Pit  · Duck Hunt  · Greninja  · Little Mac  · Lucina  · Mega Man  · Mii Fighters  · Pac-Man  · Palutena  · Robin  · Rosalina & Luma  · Ryu  · Shulk  · Villager  · Wii Fit Trainer
Introduced in
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Banjo & Kazooie  · Byleth  · Chrom  · Dark Samus  · Daisy  · Heroes  · Incineroar  · Inklings  · Isabelle  · Joker  · Kazuya Mishima  · Ken Masters  · King K. Rool  · Min Min  · Piranha Plant  · Pyra and Mythra  · Richter Belmont  · Ridley  · Sephiroth  · Simon Belmont  · Sora  · Steve and Alex / Zombie and Enderman  · Terry Bogard
Stage Hazards
Introduced in
Smash 64
Arwing  · Chansey  · Charmander  · Electrode  · Piranha Plant  · Porygon  · Venusaur  · Whispy Woods
Introduced in
Meleelogo
Banzai Bill  · Birdo  · F-Zero Racers  · Fly Guy  · Klaptrap  · Kraid  · Pidgit  · Tingle  · Wolfen
Introduced in
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Blarggwich  · Cresselia  · Dialga  · Donkey Kong  · Fish  · King Bulblin  · Palkia  · Red Bulborb  · Shellcreeper and Sidestepper  · Shy Guy  · Ultimate Chimera
Introduced in
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS & Wii U
5-Volt  · Bahamut ZERO  · Dark Emperor  · FG II-Graham  · Flipper  · Flying Man  · Ghosts  · Ho-oh  · Ifrit  · Joulion  · Kamek  · Kapp'n  · Koume and Kotake  · Leviathan  · Lurchthorn  · Manaphy  · Metal Face  · Nabbit  · Odin  · Peckish Aristocrab  · Ramuh  · Rayquaza  · Registeel  · Reshiram  · Ridley  · Yellow Devil  · Zekrom  · Zero
Introduced in
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Mimic
MarioSymbol Super Mario universe
Characters Mario (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Luigi (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Princess Peach (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Bowser (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Dr. Mario (Melee  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Rosalina & Luma (3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Bowser Jr. / Koopalings (3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Daisy (Ultimate)
Piranha Plant (Ultimate)
Side Characters Bosses Metal Mario  · Metal Bros.  · Petey Piranha
Assist Trophies Waluigi  · Hammer Bro  · Lakitu and Spinies  · Chain Chomp  · Thwomp  · Flies & Hand
Mii Fighter Costumes Mario  · Luigi  · Princess Peach  · Daisy  · Wario  · Waluigi  · Chain Chomp  · Spiny  · Shy Guy  · Super Mushroom  · Toad  · Geno  · Builder Mario  · Cappy
Background characters Koopa Troopa  · Banzai Bill  · Goomba  · Pidgit  · Toad  · Boo  · Toad Brigade  · Chain Chomp  · Luma  · Pauline
Stage Hazards Piranha Plant  · Banzai Bill  · Birdo  · Shy Guy  · Shellcreeper and Sidestepper  · Kamek  · Nabbit
Enemies Goomba / Giant Goomba  · Koopa Troopa / Koopa Paratroopa  · Bullet Bill  · Banzai Bill  · Bill Blaster  · Chain Chomp  · Flame Chomp  · Hammer Bro.  · Lakitu and Spinies  · Magikoopa  · Shy Guy  · Spike Top
Stages Peach's Castle  · Mushroom Kingdom (Super Smash Bros.)  · Princess Peach's Castle  · Rainbow Cruise  · Mushroom Kingdom (Super Smash Bros. Melee)  · Mushroom Kingdom II  · Delfino Plaza  · Mushroomy Kingdom  · Figure-8 Circuit · Luigi's Mansion · Mario Bros.  · 3D Land  · Golden Plains  · Paper Mario  · Rainbow Road  · Mushroom Kingdom U  · Mario Galaxy  · Mario Circuit  · Super Mario Maker  · New Donk City Hall
Mushroom Kingdom (Adventure)
Items Banana Peel  · Bob-omb  · Boomerang  · Bullet Bill  · Fire Bar  · Fire Flower  · Freezie  · Golden Hammer  · Grass  · Green Shell  · Hothead  · Lightning Bolt  · Metal Box  · Poison Mushroom  · POW Block  · Red Shell  · Soccer Ball  · Spiny Shell  · Super Leaf  · Super Launch Star  · Super Mushroom  · Super Star
Music Lists List of Music (Mario series)  · List of Music (Mario Kart series)
Songs "Main Theme (Super Mario 64)"  · "Paper Mario Medley"  · "Rainbow Road Medley"  · "Jump Up, Super Star!"
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Super Mario series)
Spirits List of spirits (Mario series)
Masterpieces Super Mario Bros.  · Super Mario Bros. 2  · Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels  · Super Mario World  · Super Mario Kart  · Dr. Mario
Related universes Donkey Kong · Yoshi · Wario · Wrecking Crew
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