Prickly Piranha Plant



Prickly Piranha Plants are a purple variant of Big Piranha Plant first appearing in the game Super Mario Galaxy. They are bigger, purple Piranha Plants whose stems are covered in spikes. To attack, a Prickly Piranha Plant attempts to slam its head into Mario or Luigi. It can be defeated by hitting it with Stretch Plants, by stomping it after it has slammed its head on the ground or shooting it with a fireball as Fire Mario. Some are necessary to be defeated in order to make a Sproutle Vine grow so Mario (or Luigi) can proceed. Shooting one with a Star Bit makes the Prickly Piranha Plant act immediately.

They reappear in Super Mario Galaxy 2 with the same behavior, though they are very rare. One appears in Throwback Galaxy near the elevator and another appears in the Rightside Down Galaxy. The game also introduces a new variation called the Spiny Piranha Plant, which attacks in a similar way, but is black and cannot be stomped due the spikes on its head. There is only one Spiny Piranha Plant in the game, in Sky Station Galaxy.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Prickly Piranha Plants (just called Prickly Piranhas) are mentioned briefly by Viridi during Palutena's Guidance dialogue for Piranha Plant. However, in the order listed in the English translation, they seem to have been swapped with Spiny Piranha Plants.