Potted Piranha Plant

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Potted Piranha Plant
Piranha Plant in Mario Kart 8
First appearance Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
“Potted Piranha Plant… Now that's a tongue twister! Can you say that five times fast? 'Potted Piranha Plant', 'Potted Piranha Plant'… Pick up one of these bad boys to attack enemies. Plants are so cool!”
Play Nintendo[1]

Potted Piranha Plants,[1][2] also simply referred to as Piranha Plants, are items that, if carried, attack enemies and other players within close range. Piranha Plants in pots have appeared in several media before their debut as an item, such as in the Mario Party 3 minigame Storm Chasers and in World 6-3 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii; the playable Piranha Plant in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate likewise sports a pot around its torso.

History[edit]

Mario Kart series[edit]

Mario Kart Arcade GP sub-series[edit]

Piranha Plant as it appeared in Mario Kart Arcade GP

In both Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, the Piranha Plant is one of Princess Peach's special character items, and can be summoned to eat the items of any opponents within reach. In Mario Kart Arcade GP, it is differentiated from normal Piranha Plants by its bright pink coloration (possibly in reference to Peach herself). It returns in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]

The potted Piranha Plant also appears in Mario Kart 8 and its enhanced port, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as an item. The Piranha Plant is set up in front of the user, biting opponents, items such as Bananas, Bloopers, shells, and objects such as coins and traffic cones that they pass until its timer runs out and it disappears. The timer is also reduced faster every time that the Piranha Plant bites. It also gives the user a speed boost every time it lunges out to chomp, which it automatically does every few seconds. The player can manually force it to chomp by pressing L Button. If the player holds L Button, the Piranha Plant will constantly bite at the road ahead. The plant can only chomp items that are in front of it and slightly to the side, meaning that the player can be hit from other directions. In this game, the pot has wheels on the side. These wheels turn sideways when going into anti-gravity. The Piranha Plant will spin around as the result of a trick.

In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Piranha Plant is used in the game's exclusive battle mode, Renegade Roundup, for the authorities to capture opponents on the other team. In that mode, the Piranha Plants have a strobe light on top of their head. When an opponent is nearby its strobe light will turn on and its siren will blare. The color of the Piranha Plant and its strobe light varies depending on which team it is on. If a player with a Piranha Plant is hit with an item in this mode, stars will appear over the Piranha Plant's head to indicate that it is stunned and unable to capture an opponent. If the player drives into a wall or rim, the Piranha Plant will disappear until the player drives away from the wall or rim. The renegade team will never get a Piranha Plant. In the North American overview trailer, the item is misspelled Pirahna Plant.[3]

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[edit]

The potted Piranha Plant is an object that can be used by any playable character in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch port. The Piranha Plant eats most enemies and is able to grab Green Stars out of reach of the playable characters. Before being picked up, it can be seen sleeping. They first appear in Shadow-Play Alley, and last appear in Champion's Road. Players can also defeat them by jumping on them or throwing an item at them. Potted Piranha Plants also attack other characters; however, the characters get stunned and knocked aside rather than powered down. Shadow-Play Alley's Stamp is a potted Piranha Plant. Like their regular counterparts, they have a cat variant in Lake Lapcat.

Super Mario-kun[edit]

A potted Piranha Plant appears in the Super Mario 3D World arc of Super Mario-kun as one of Mario's partners.

Mario head smaller.png This section is a stub. You can help the Super Mario Wiki by expanding it.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]

In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, potted Piranha Plants appear with the same behavior they had in Super Mario 3D World. They are only found in Shadow-Play Alley. They do not return in the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS ports of the game.

Profiles[edit]

Mario Kart 8[edit]

  • Instruction manual bio: Attaches temporarily to the front of the vehicle. When the Piranha Plant bites at something, the momentum of its lunge provides a slight speed boost.
  • Nintendo of America's social media accounts: Not only does the Piranha Plant item in Mario Kart 8 bite the competition, it also lunges for items like coins.[4][5]

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese 鉢植えパックン[6]
Hachiue Pakkun
Potted Piranha

Chinese 盆栽吞食花[7][8]
Pénzāi Tūnshíhuā
Potted Piranha Plant

Dutch Piranha Plant in een pot[9]
Piranha Plant in a pot
Italian Pianta Piranha in vaso
Piranha Plant in vase
Portuguese Planta Piranha Vaso[10]
Flower Pot Piranha Plant

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Play Nintendo (April 30, 2022). Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury 😸🔥 10 Power-Ups! | @Play Nintendo. YouTube. Accessed May 30, 2022. (Screen captureMedia:YT Play Nintendo 2022-04-30 screencap Potted Piranha Plant full.jpg.)
  2. ^ Musa, Alexander, and Geson Hatchett. Super Mario 3D World PRIMA Official Game Guide. Page 11. "You can pick up items (such as Shells and potted Piranha Plants) by holding Y Button (or X Button) and touching them."
  3. ^ Nintendo. (March 10, 2017). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Overview Trailer - Nintendo Switch YouTube. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  4. ^ NintendoAmerica (June 30, 2014). Twitter. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (Archived May 18, 2020, 23:40:10 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  5. ^ MarioKartEN (June 30, 2014). Facebook. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (Archived July 23, 2023, 22:33:15 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  6. ^ Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario 3D World section, page 223.
  7. ^ Nintendo HK官方頻道 (January 13, 2020). 《超级马力欧 3D世界 + 狂怒世界》介绍视频(简体中文). YouTube. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Nintendo HK官方頻道 (January 13, 2020). 《超級瑪利歐 3D世界 + 狂怒世界》介紹影片(香港). YouTube. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  9. ^ Nintendo Nederland (January 13, 2021). Beleef samen een wereld vol speelplezier in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury! (Nintendo Switch). YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Nintendo Portugal (January 13, 2021). Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury! - Explorem um mundo de diversão Mario em conjunto. YouTube. Retrieved January 13, 2021.