Potted Piranha Plant

Potted Piranha Plants, 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; the playable Piranha Plant in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate likewise sports a pot around its torso.

Mario Kart Arcade GP subseries
In both Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, the Piranha Plant is one of Princess Peach's special character items. The Piranha Plant's function in both games is that of eating the items of the user's opponents once it is summoned. 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
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. If the player holds, 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.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
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.

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

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
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.

Mario Kart 8

 * 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.