Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Super Mario Series – 09 Piranha Plant 

Debut

In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. (1985) 

In the Super Smash Bros. series

• As a background element: Super Smash Bros. 64 (1999)
• As a playable character: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Boxing Ring Title: Bloom of Your Doom

Theme Song: Underground Theme – Super Mario Bros.

Piranha Plants are common enemies throughout the Super Mario series. Most reside in pipes, waiting for someone to try and jump over them so they can bite them, others stay planted firmly in the ground and attack anyone who approaches them, and some even live in potted plants. A majority of these carnivorous plants serve as minions under Bowser's Koopa Troop, where they are occasionally led by their leader, Petey Piranha. Still, there are some Piranha Plants who are willing to work under other characters, like Tatanga, Wario, and Waluigi; while others are unaffiliated with anyone.

Piranha Plants make their debut in Super Mario Bros., where they emerge from pipes while trying to bite Mario and Luigi. If the brothers happen to be standing near - or on - the pipe, the Piranha Plant won't pop out. Notably, the Piranha Plants are colored green here.

Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels would introduce Red Piranha Plants. Unlike their green brethren, they emerge from their pipes even if Mario or Luigi are near it, and pop out out much faster, making them a bit more dangerous to get past. Though just like their green variant, they would not pop out at all if Mario and Luigi stood on top of the pipe.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, the behavior of the Red Piranha Plants was changed to have them function identically to the green ones. The only difference between the two was that the red ones are slightly longer. This game would be the last appearance of the green variant, as red would become the default color scheme for the Piranha Plants going forward, starting with Super Mario World.

When the series made the jump to 3D, so did the Piranha Plants. However, since they are now lurking in a 3D environment, their behavior was changed. Instead of hiding in pipes, the Piranha Plant is out in the open, where it peacefully sleeps. However, if Mario runs near it, it wakes up and tries to attack! In order to defeat it, Mario had to slowly approach it, then either jump on it or punch it.

This game would also give the Piranha Plants green lips, though besides a few games here and there, this would be reverted back to their white lips.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Piranha Plants only appear in Bianco Hills, where they are terrorizing the village under the orders of their leader, Petey Piranha. They emerge from goop piles and try to spit black goop at Mario. The plumber could only defeat them by spraying them with water.

Piranha Plants would make the jump into space in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, where they try to stop Mario by biting him when he approaches. Unfortunately for them, Mario could defeat them by jumping on them, or performing a Star Spin near them. Certain Piranha Plants, upon being defeated, would release a Sproutle Vine that Mario could use to get to another area.

Piranha Plants also appear in Super Mario 3D World where they use the same strategy they did in Super Mario Galaxy. Additionally, a helpful version was introduced called Potted Piranha Plant, who resides in... well, a pot. Upon picking one up, a Potted Piranha Plant would attack any enemy that approaches the heroes, as well as grab any nearby Green Stars for them. Potted Piranha Plants can also attack the player, but luckily, all it does is briefly stun them.

Piranha Plants also make frequent appearances in the RPG series, such as the Paper Mario series. In Paper Mario 64, Piranha Plants first show up in Forever Forest. While appearing to be immobile, they would immediately burrow themselves underground to approach Mario, after which they would quickly emerge and try to bite him. The Piranha Plants would take on a black-and-white color scheme in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where they were referred to as Pale Piranhas. Super Paper Mario would revert the Piranha Plants back to their usual color scheme. 

Piranha Plants make some minor appearances in the Mario & Luigi series. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, they attack the Beanbean International Airport. While they can be fought, they will simply return after Mario and Luigi leave. To defeat them for good, they would need to be sprayed with water, then Luigi would have to use his Thunderhand ability to electrocute them. They also show up in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team in Dreamy Driftwood Shore as common enemies, where they often fought alongside Fly Guys.

Piranha Plants would also venture into the Yoshi series, making their debut in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. This game would be the first time they are seen out in the open instead of a pipe. Piranha Plants shrink themselves to look like harmless red flowers, but when Yoshi approaches, they enlarge themselves and try to chomp him! If they succeed, they swallow him whole, spit out Baby Mario, then spit Yoshi out a few seconds later. They could easily be defeated by having an egg thrown at them, an enemy/projectile tossed at them, or getting hit by watermelon seeds.

Of note, there are a wide variety of Piranha Plant subspecies. To go over all of them would take a long time, so instead, here are a few examples.

Super Mario Bros. 3 would see the debut of Fire Piranha Plants, who spit fireballs at Mario and Luigi; Ptooies, who would patrol an area while keeping a spike ball afloat in the air; and Nipper Plants, who are essentially baby Piranha Plants who also patrol a certain area, and try to leap at the heroes whenever they jump over them.

Super Mario World would introduce Jumping Piranha Plants, who function like the regular versions, except that they go flying out of their warp pipes before slowly descending back in.

Paper Mario 64 sees the debut of Putrid Piranhas, who are capable of spewing toxic gas from their mouths, which may poison Mario and his partners! While they look pretty similar to the regular version, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door would give them a yellow color scheme with red spots to make them stand out better.

Super Mario Galaxy has Spiny Piranha Plants. They are larger than the regular version, and try to flatten Mario with their head. However, that leaves them open for Mario to jump on them! Super Mario Galaxy 2 would introduce stronger versions called Prickly Piranha Plants, who are covered with thorns. Mario and Luigi can only defeat these spiky foes by hitting the circular-shaped plants at it.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduces the Stalking Piranha Plant, who patrols a certain area. However, whenever the heroes got close, it would extend its stem in order to block their path, as well as attack.

A few games would also introduce some Piranha Plant characters. While not the first one, the most recognizable would be Petey Piranha from Super Mario Sunshine. Petey is a member of Bowser's Koopa Troop, and serves as the leader of the Piranha Plants. He's a bit cheeky and quite laid-back, often seen taking naps now and then. Despite that, he can get easily angered, and if pushed too far, he can become frightening. Petey Piranha also appears to be omnivorous, willing to eat pretty much anything if he feels like it.

Now to the spin-off titles, which the Piranha Plants have also starred in! Just like in the mainline games, Piranha Plants tend to serve as obstacles that the characters need to avoid. Petey Piranha usually serves as their playable representative.

In the Mario Golf series, Piranha Plants make their first appearance in the Mario's Star course in Mario Golf 64. If the golf ball hit them, it would bounce off of them. In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, if a golf ball hit them or entered their pipe, they would swallow the golf ball and spit it out somewhere else. In Mario Golf: World Tour, Pirnaha Plants appear in the Castle Club mode as well.

Petey Piranha would also make his playable debut here as an unlockable character, and is the strongest character in the game. (barring Neil and Ella if they are transferred over from Mario Golf: Advance Tour, as they could potentially become even stronger than him.)

In the Mario Tennis series, Piranha Plants show up in the Piranha's Challenge Mode of Mario Tennis 64. The Piranha Plant spits a tennis ball towards the player, and they must return it while making sure the opponent on the Piranha Plant's side doesn't hit it back. This game mode would return in some future installments, like Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Tennis Aces. A Fire Piranha Plant would also make a playable appearance in Mario Tennis Aces, where it served as a a participation bonus for joining in the June 2019 online tournament, and made available for everyone to play as starting on July 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, Petey Piranha makes his debut on the courts in Mario Power Tennis as an unlockable character. Petey also shows up in Mario Tennis Aces as a boss in the game's story mode, guarding the first Power Stone Mario and Toad are trying to collect. Petey Piranha would later become a playable character in the game's 2.0 update. Notably, he uses his leaf appendages to hit the ball instead of the tennis racket he used in the previous game.

In the Mario Kart series, Piranha Plant mostly serve as obstacles to avoid, with their first appearance being on the Choco Island race courses in Super Mario Kart. Mario Kart Arcade GP would make a Potted Piranha Plant an item exclusive for Princess Peach to use. They would chomp on any item that an opponent could use against Peach. Mario Kart 8 would make Potted Piranha Plants available for any racer to potentially use. They would lunge at any approaching racer in front of the user, as well as any potential items like Koopa Shells and Bloopers. Each lunge would also give the kart a small speed boost.

Petey Piranha also shows up as an unlockable playable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash, where his partner is King Boo. In this game, Petey was classified as a heavyweight, meaning he could easily push everyone around, but had poor acceleration.

In the Mario Party series, Piranha Plants often appear in various minigames, such as "Piranha's Pursuit" in Mario Party 1 where three players must help a Piranha Plant catch up to the other player who's trying to escape from it, or "Pop Star Piranhas" in Mario Party 5 where the players must figure out which Piranha Plant is dancing differently compared to the other four. A Piranha Plant also serves as a boss fight in Mario Party DS, where it is terrorizing Wiggler's Garden.

Petey Piranha also shows up in the Mario Party series, making his debut in Mario Party 10 where he is a boss fight. Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars has him take over the role of the Piranha Plant in the game's remake of Piranha Pursuit.

Despite being plants, a lot of games show that Piranha Plants are sentient and capable of speech. Their language mostly consists of snarls and growls, though a translation of what they're saying is always provided. Compared to other enemies throughout the series - like the Goombas or the Koopa Troopas - Piranha Plants have never been seen forming societies. While most are planted firmly in the ground - or residing in a pipe - some Piranha Plants are shown to have bodies, allowing them to walk and jump about. How Piranha Plants are born varies. Some games imply that they come from eggs, such as Dino Piranha from Super Mario Galaxy. The Yoshi series, on the other hand, suggests they are born from Nipper Spores, which transform into Nipper Plants (Baby Piranha Plants) upon hitting the ground.

In Super Smash Bros., this particular Piranha Plant has decided to go toe-to-toe with the best of the fighters. It borrows various elements and attacks from the various Piranha Plants to do battle against its foes. Who would've thought that this little plant could hold its own? Go out and do your best, little potted plant! 

Special Moves

Neutral Special: Ptooie

Piranha Plant spits out a spiked ball, and will continuously keep blowing at it to keep it in the air if you hold the Special Button.

Pressing left or right will have Piranha Plant blow it away in that direction. Or you can let go of the Special Button to have Piranha Plant swallow it back up.

There can only be one spike ball out in the battlefield per Piranha Plant, so if either you blow it away or the spike ball hits someone, you’ll have to wait a few seconds until it disappears before Piranha Plant can spit out another one.

Inspired by the Ptooie enemies in “Super Mario Bros. 3,” who try to attack Mario and Luigi by blowing a spike ball above itself. In "Paper Mario: Color Splash," Ptooies would actually blow their spike ball towards Mario to attack.

Side Special: Poison Breath

Piranha Plant begins preparing some poison in its mouth. Once that's all charged up, using this move again will have Piranha Plant spew out Poison Breath. The poisonous gas will rapidly damage opponents, but won’t make them flinch. The longer you charge it, the longer the Poison Breath lasts and the more distance it travels.

After spewing out the Poison Breath, Piranha Plant will have to wait until the poison gas disperses before it can use Poison Breath again. Otherwise Piranha Plant will blow nothing but wind and leave itself open for attack!

Inspired by the Putrid Piranha’s main method of attack in “Paper Mario 64.” The color scheme that Pirnaha Plant takes on while using the move is the design the Putrid Piranhas received in "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door," which has stuck ever since.

Up Special: Piranhacopter

Piranha Plant begins spinning its leaf appendages around its body, allowing Piranha Plant to fly! Moving the control stick either left or right will have Piranha Plant fly in that direction. Nearby opponents will dragged along with Piranha Plant, taking damage before being flung away.

Seemingly inspired by the Jumping Piranha Plant’s main method of attack in “Super Mario World,” were they would jump out of their pipes to attack Mario and Luigi, and then slowly descend back down into the pipe. 

Down Special: Long-Stem Strike

By holding the Special button, Piranha Plant ducks into its pot to hide. During this, Piranha Plant can tank a certain amount of hits without getting flung. Tilting left or right will have Piranha Plant’s pot fall over in that direction.

After a few seconds pass – or if you let go of the Special Button – Piranha Plant lunges out, biting at anything in its path!

The longer you hold the Special Button, the further Piranha Plant will extend to attack its enemy! Just be careful not to carelessly use this move, because if Piranha Plant misses, an opponent can attack its extended stem to damage Piranha Plant!

Inspired by the Stalking Piranha plant’s main method of attack in “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” where they could extend their stems to try and attack Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad. Prior to that, Elasto-Piranha from "Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time," where they are shown to be able to stretch their stems. They even resided in a mobile Warp Pipe.

Final Smash: Petey Piranha

Piranha Plant summons Petey Piranha! Petey Piranha proceeds to hop around the battlefield, swinging his cages around. Anyone who gets hit by the cages get trapped inside, though Petey can only capture two people. Petey will jump in the direction Piranha Plant is facing, and will jump that way even more so if Piranha Plant is moving in that direction.

After Petey’s done hopping around, he pulls the cages up to his face and breathes fire on them. He then slams the cages towards the ground, injuring anyone nearby and freeing his captured victims, though said captives will also get flung upwards upon being set free, which could potentially KO them.

Be careful as you’re “controlling” Petey Piranha, as you can accidentally have him hop off the stage if there’s a pit. (if that happens, any captured victims he has get flung upwards a bit, giving them a chance to save themselves) Also keep in mind that the opponent can still attack Piranha Plant while Petey Piranha is around, so don't end up accidentally KOing yourself!

Inspired by Petey Piranha’s boss fight in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” where he held Princess Peach and Princess Zelda captive in separate cages. Kirby had to attack one of the cages to free one of the princesses. Attacking Petey's head would only deal small damage to both cages. Should both of the cages health points get reduced to zero, then the game would randomly pick which princess would be rescued.

Petey Piranha has never been shown being able to breath fire in any of the Super Mario games. He’s usually spewing poisonous goop instead. Petey’s ability to do this seems to be inspired by the Fire Piranha Plant that debuted in “Super Mario Bros. 3,” although they only ever shot Fire Balls instead of breathing a stream of fire.

Additional Notes 

If Piranha Plant is jumped on while its crouching...

It’ll retaliate by biting the offender!

Piranha Plant mostly rides around in its pot, but in certain alternate costumes – namely 2, 4, 6, and 8 – Piranha Plant rides around in a pipe instead.

One of Piranha Plant’s victory animations has Piranha Plant biting Mario and then flinging him away. This victory animation can play regardless if Mario was in the battle or not.