Naval Piranha

"You fools! Do I have to teach you penalty for removing the spell? You get to come for supper... MY supper!!"

- Naval Piranha

A Naval Piranha is an artificially enlarged Piranha Plant boss with thorned stalks and two or more Naval Buds growing from it. The original Naval Piranha debuts in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where it starts out as a normal Piranha Plant, but is altered by Kamek's magic. Its localized name refers to both the aquatic area it is found in its original appearance as well as its large bellybutton (i.e. its navel). Later depictions of Naval Piranhas are found in other habitats and sometimes lack the bellybutton, causing the name's meaning to be lost. However, the name in the original Japanese referred instead to its enlarged size, as is the case with most of the game's bosses.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Naval Piranha is the boss of World 3 in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and reprises the role in the Game Boy Advance version. After being magically enlarged and enhanced, he battles the Blue Yoshi by spitting out Nipper Plants and charging, though he will sometimes do a mock charge. Blue Yoshi must throw eggs at its only weak point, which is its large and bandaged bellybutton. After being hit with enough eggs, Naval Piranha is defeated.

Exclusive to this boss is that if the player stands on the very edge of the ledge Naval Piranha is rooted to (or if the player jumps from the water and aims) without triggering the scene, the player can simply throw an egg at its "unmodified" form to defeat it in one hit. A surprised Kamek then approaches, shouts "OH, MY!!!" and flies away, and thus the player clears World 3 without fighting Naval Piranha.

Naval Piranha and Raphael the Raven are the only world bosses in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island to use the extended variation of the boss theme.

The official English website for Super Mario Advance 3 misspells its name as "Naaval Piranha". In the original strategy guide for the Super NES version of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Naval Piranha is referred to as a male; however, in the guide for the Super NES Classic Edition, Naval Piranha is referred to as a female.

Tetris Attack
In Tetris Attack, Naval Piranha, allied with its Naval Buds, is in the tenth level and the last boss of Easy Vs. mode. It appears in place of the Dragon from the original game, Panel de Pon.

Yoshi's Island DS
During the introduction to Yoshi's Island DS, Naval Piranha makes an appearance alongside the other castle bosses in the game as the events of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island are recapped. Naval Piranha also has a successor in the form of Big Bungee Piranha, the boss of World 2.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
"Wake up, Naval Piranha! It's supper time! The main course is Yoshi! Bon appétit!"

- Kamek

Naval Piranha reprises the role of a boss in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, in this case being the boss of World 4. Not including Baby Bowser, Naval Piranha is one of the only two bosses from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island that make an appearance in Yoshi's Woolly World, the other being Burt the Bashful. After being enlarged by Kamek's magic, it jumps to a pipe in the background, and calls forth its Naval Buds. Shy Guys will then throw bombs at the foreground; which Yoshi must swallow and spit out at Naval Piranha's open mouth, causing it to swallow the bomb and reveal its weak spot: its belly button. Yoshi must ground-pound it to deal damage. Then, the Naval Buds will create a series of attacks that Yoshi must avoid. Repeating the process two more times will end the boss battle.

Similar to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island; Yoshi can throw a yarn ball at the sleeping Piranha Plant before triggering Kamek's appearance. This causes a slightly different scene, but Naval Piranha cannot be skipped and must be fought this time in order to progress to World 5.

Naval Piranha reappears in level 4-S, where it chases Yoshi through an auto-scrolling level. Yoshi can throw a yarn ball at Naval Piranha to make it disappear temporarily, though this does not stop the auto-scrolling and it reappears after a few seconds. It is unknown whether this is the same Naval Piranha as the one fought in the boss level, as it has red vines as opposed to the boss' green vines. If it is able to gobble up the Yoshi while he is moving through the level, he will be instantly defeated.

Naval Piranha also reappears in the Boss Tent. It is fought the same way; however, it attacks faster making it harder to hit it.

Mario Party Advance
A Naval Piranha makes a reappearance in Mario Party Advance. At the Bowser Lab, choosing to see the "scary monster" that he built unveils his Naval Piranha. Afterward, Bowser has the player face it in the minigame Koopa Kurl. After winning, the player gets to keep the minigame. The end of game credits say it now lives and thrives in the desert.

Other appearances
The Lava Piranha from Paper Mario is designed to resemble Naval Piranha, though its name in the Japanese script indicates it is simply an abnormally designed Fire Piranha Plant, and is not indicated to be enlarged from a previous form.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Naval Piranhas are mentioned briefly in plural by Viridi during Palutena's Guidance dialogue for Piranha Plant.

Trivia

 * The normal Piranha Plants in Yoshi's Story, the Spiny Piranha Plants from Super Mario Galaxy, and the Piranha Creepers from Super Mario 3D World all somewhat resemble Naval Piranhas due to their large size and thorned stems.