Nipper Plant

A Nipper Plant is an infant Piranha Plant. They are rather small and are usually white. They resemble Munchers.

Super Mario Bros. 3
They first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 (with the name of Walking Piranhas, misspelled as "Walking Piranas" in the manual) where they would patrol an area and jump up towards Mario when he passes them. Nipper Plants can hop around, making it more difficult for the player to land safely. In subsequent remakes, they were recolored pink rather than the usual white. In all versions, a jumping Nipper Plant is a palette swap of a Muncher.

A sessile fire breathing variety is encountered at the end of World 7-8. There is only one of these fire-spitting Nipper Plants in the entire game.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Nipper Plants make a few appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In these appearances, they behave much like their game counterparts in that they are capable of hopping around. On the show, Nipper Plants sport visible jaws that make them appear to be more menacing than their in-game counterparts. A Nipper Plant is also referred to simply as a "Piranha Plant" in one episode. In the episode "Reign Storm", a Nipper Plant is given a minor speaking role, where it speaks in a very deep voice reminiscent of a stereotypical drill sergeant.

Nintendo Adventure Books
Wendy O. Koopa is revealed to have a pet Nipper Plant, which she keeps in a pot in her room, in Koopa Capers; the plant had shredded a note possibly pertaining to her whereabouts. If Luigi chooses to begin his search for the missing Koopaling by looking through her room, he accidentally wakes up the sleeping Nipper Plant when he tries to look under it. Some wild Nipper Plants later appear prowling the stairs leading up to the secret camp being used by Wendy and her rebellion.

Yoshi series
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its remake Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Nipper Plants do not jump at Yoshi and are much easier to defeat, but they appear in groups which adds to the challenge of defeating them. They hatch from Nipper Spores that slowly fall to earth and have no visible eyes. These Nipper Plants can be stomped or eaten and turned into eggs; their spores can also be swallowed, though no eggs will be produced as a result.

Nipper Plants and their spores reappear in Yoshi's Story, Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Nipper Plants were renamed Chompweeds in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. In this game, Chompweeds could not be battled. Instead of fighting Mario, these plants would jump up and steal a few Coins if the plumber got too close. Stolen coins could not be recovered in the final game, but battle data for them would still exist. This implies that they may have been intended to be enemies instead at one point.

Super Princess Peach
Nipper Plants also made an appearance in Super Princess Peach, which were identical to the ones that appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. A Gloom vibe-infused variety known as Sad Nipper Plants also appeared in this game.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
Some Nipper Plants made a cameo appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP in the course Bananan Ruins. They are at the right side of the course. They also appear in the course Castle Wall.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Nipper Plants appear as background enemies in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In battle, a Piranha Plant may spit out Nipper Spores into the background, each one instantly becoming a Nipper Plant. Once created, they can shoot fireballs at Mario individually which he must deflect with his hammer to avoid taking damage and to also randomly hit the Piranha Plants in the process.

Occasionally, a Piranha Plant will spit a fireball towards the Nipper Plants, who will bounce the fireball about until each Nipper Plant has touched the fireball at some point, where the last Nipper Plant to touch it sends the fireball towards Mario, who must hammer it back at the Piranha Plant who created it to counter-attack and avoid taking damage.

Gallery

 * For pictures, see the Piranha Plant gallery.

Names in other languages
Pianta Tenaglia