Ptooie

"You make me so mad I could spit!"

- Ptooie

Ptooies, or Ptooie Plants, are a type of Piranha Plant that can hover spiked balls over their mouths. Many of them are also capable of walking, though some are stationed within pipes instead. Their name comes from an onomatopoeia for spitting.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Ptooies make their debut in Super Mario Bros. 3 as regular enemies. A Ptooie can be identified by the spiked ball it suspends in the air over its mouth. Occasionally, Ptooies will blow the spiked ball high into the air in order to inflict damage on passing travelers. As with standard Piranha Plants, Ptooies can be destroyed with fireballs, hammers, Koopa Shells, or Raccoon or Tanooki Mario's tail whips. Additionally, the spiked ball can be crushed by Tanooki Mario (in statue form) for 2000 points.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Ptooies make a few appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where they always attack Mario and/or his friends on sight. They are sometimes used as guns. Unlike in the game, where they are limited to blowing a single spiked ball in the air, Ptooies can shoot a whole barrage of spiked balls in any direction.

Ptooies in the show are capable of speaking in the episode "Never Koop a Koopa", despite the fact that most members of the Piranha Plant family never speak at all.

Nintendo Adventure Books
Two Ptooies appear in Koopa Capers, presumably brought to Dark Land by Wendy O. Koopa, who needs one to season a potion she intends to create. Encountered by Luigi in a Fortress, the plumber escapes the plants by jumping over them while absentmindedly wondering what they are doing wandering around in a dark and dank fortress, instead of being outside.

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, if Princess Peach uses Rage to pound the ground or simply uses Poundbrella nearby, the ball will be lost, but Ptooie will survive. They will then simply move back and forth slowly until defeated. Even without the ball, Ptooies cannot be stomped. In this game, Ptooies had a green skin coloration similar to the Wild Ptooie Piranha, a species of Piranha Plant found in the Yoshi franchise. A species of Ptooie under the Vibe Scepter's spell called Glad Ptooies appear.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
"Sometimes I just get the urge to beat up a Ptooie. You ever get that urge? They're just so annoying!"

- Huey

After a long absence, Ptooies return in Paper Mario: Color Splash, found in Mossrock Theater and The Emerald Circus. In battle, they can blow their spiked balls with enough force to fall on Mario, but without them, they bite him. They can be summoned by Lemmy Koopa to assist in battle, along with Circus Bros. and Juggler Bros.

There is also a character named Piper that is a Ptooie.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Piranha Plant can produce a spiked ball and hover it in place in the same fashion as a Ptooie. In addition, it can direct the spiked ball to other fighters and attack them. This Piranha Plant also has feet like the Ptooie, but does not leave its flower pot in order to move. On the Palutena's Temple stage, Ptooies are mentioned briefly by Viridi during Palutena's Guidance dialogue for Piranha Plant.

Other appearances
Ptooies were originally going to appear in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, but they were removed for unknown reasons.

Despite Ptooies not appearing in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, similar enemies called Stalking Piranha Plants and River Piranha Plants appear in World 5 as common enemies and in World 6 as rare enemies.

Trivia

 * In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario Party and Mario Party 3, Piranha Plants walk on their roots, somewhat resembling Ptooies.
 * In Japanese, the spiked balls thrown by Ptooies and Spikes are named "shūringan" (シューリンガン). The name shūringan is taken from the Japanese rakugo folktale , from which the Japanese names of Lakitu (Jugemu) and Spiny Eggs (Paipo) are also derived.