Banana Launcher

Banana Launcher is the fifth and last plant obtained in Big Wave Beach of Plants vs. Zombies 2. The player can tap on it to arm it, then aim at any tile on the lawn to fire an explosive banana that deals 60 normal damage shots to all zombies in a 1x2 area. After firing, Banana Launcher will have to wait for 20 seconds to rearm itself.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 500

DAMAGE: Massive

AREA: Tile

RECHARGE: Sluggish

Banana Launchers can fire explosive bananas at any tile on the lawn.

Usage: tap to arm, tap on target tile to fire

Range: anywhere on lawn

Special: on impact, explodes in small area

It's important to avoid stereotyping as much as possible. Stereotypes are often flat-out wrong. And also hurtful. But honestly ... Banana Launcher is TOTALLY bananas.

Plant Food effect
When given Plant Food, it will launch four explosive bananas at random targets on the lawn. In the Chinese version, it will fire five bananas.

Costumed
It launches five normal bananas and a flaming banana which creates an explosion that deals more damage.

Strategies
Compared to other controllable plants, Banana Launcher is special in that the player is given the freedom to launch its payload on any tile on the screen, regardless of any possible obstruction between the plant and the designated position. This makes Banana Launcher excellent for eliminating high threat targets which would normally be heavily protected such as Zombie Kings, Fisherman Zombies and Imp Cannons. Its main weaknesses are high cost and cooldown time between firings, which makes it impractical in normal levels.

In Big Wave Beach, Banana Launcher can be used as an improvised countermeasure against Octo Zombies. Not only is it capable of neutralizing them before they can throw their octopi, if the player is fast enough, it can also destroy thrown octopi from anywhere and free the trapped plant. The latter is not recommended however, as Banana Launcher takes much longer to recharge than the time taken for the Octo Zombie to throw another octopus.

Banana Launcher's high damage capability makes it a powerful artillery weapon: Most high health zombies such as Knight Zombies, Blockhead Zombies and Mecha-Football Zombies can only survive up to two bananas, while Gargantuars can take up to three. Its projectile can also not be deflected by any means, so Banana Launcher is effective against Jester Zombies and Parasol Zombies.

Another strategy is to use Banana Launcher with plants that can clump zombies together: Sweet Potato, Garlic, Chard Guard, Hurrikale and Thyme Warp are all capable of funneling or clumping the horde together, and will allow Banana Launcher to hit more enemies with its bananas.

Trivia

 * Banana Launcher cannot be planted on minecarts, due to issues associated with a tap, either moving the mine cart or activating the target of Banana Launcher. If the player tries to plant it on a minecart, the game will say "Bananas are too slippery for mine carts.". However, Banana Launcher can be planted on minecarts in the Chinese version.
 * In Big Wave Beach - Day 23, the player can launch a banana from the Banana Launchers while viewing the lawn from the seed selection screen. However, its face does not change.
 * The player used to be able to destroy graves using Banana Launcher on any Last Stand level before tapping "Let's Rock." This, however, is no longer possible after the 3.1.1 update.
 * Using only Banana Launcher to kill zombies in a Big Wave Beach level will give the player the Banana Storm achievement.
 * Even after the player has defeated the final zombie and the reward has dropped, bananas could still be fired from this plant. This was fixed in the 3.1.1 update.
 * Its eyes are red and straight in the bingo card, while its in-game appearance has brown eyes and they are crossed. Its smile in the bingo card is also different from the one it has in-game.
 * Its costume has the same design as the pajamas on the characters in Bananas in Pajamas, despite being a beach towel.
 * In the Chinese version, when fed with Plant Food, it will make firework noises when it launches its bananas.
 * It also had the same area of effect as a Cob Cannon in the Chinese version, but this was fixed in the 1.4.2 update.