Balloon Zombie

Balloon Zombies are flying zombies that float gently over all of the player's plants via a red helium balloon with an angry face drawn on it and tied around his waist, which can only be targeted by the Cactus and the Cattail, or blown away by a Blover or killed by any explosive besides the Potato Mine. It is the seventeenth zombie encountered in Plants vs. Zombies.

Suburban Almanac Entry
 Balloon Zombie 

Balloon Zombie floats above the fray, immune to most attacks.

Toughness: low

Special: flying

Weakness: Cactus and Blover

Balloon Zombie really lucked out. The balloon thing really works and none of the other zombies have picked up on it.

Overview
The Balloon Zombie absorbs 11 normal damage shots and its appearance changes upon an absorption of 1 normal damage shot (when the balloon is popped and the zombie becomes vulnerable to ground based attacks) and 6 normal damage shots before dying at 11 normal damage shots. However this zombie dies after 1 normal damage shot over the pool.

Appearances

 * Adventure Mode: 4-3, 4-4, 4-9, 4-10
 * Mini-games: Portal Combat, Air Raid, High Gravity, Dark Stormy Night
 * Puzzle Mode: Dead Zeppelin, Last Stand: Fog, Last Stand: Endless
 * Survival Mode: Survival: Fog, Survival: Roof, all Survival (Hard) and Survival (Endless) levels
 * Co-op Mode: Co-op Roof, all Co-op Hard levels, Co-op Endless

Strategies
A Balloon Zombie cannot be stopped by Tall-nuts. The player must use two Cattails or a column of Cacti to pop their balloons, reducing them to the state of a normal Zombie. If they are popped over a pool lane, they will die immediately as they will drop into the water and disappear as it's not equipped for aquatic travel. Alternatively, one could blow all of them away with the Blover; the player should wait as long as possible before planting a Blover in order to save sun by blowing away multiple instances of them. On pool and fog levels, use Cattails because they can pop balloons and damage zombies in any lane. Since Cattails cannot be used on levels without a pool, use Blover to blow all Balloon Zombies at the same time and saves space for other plants.

Fortunately, they cannot float over the player's Lawn Mowers, Pool Cleaners or Roof Cleaners.

I, Zombie
The Balloon Zombie is only available in the Dead Zeppelin I, Zombie level. The player should use them in rows without Cactus. The Balloons will pop at the end of each row so that the Balloon Zombies can eat the brain, so sending them is not pointless. If the player really wants to send a Balloon Zombie in rows with Cactus, they can be removed by a Bungee Zombie. Note that Balloon Zombies will not eat Sunflowers that they fly over. It is better to send regular Zombies or Buckethead Zombies rather than the Balloon Zombies. Also, the player should gain a surplus of Sun before he or she sends a Balloon Zombie, as they are 150 Sun, and one placed early on will bankrupt the player, making him or her lose Dead Zeppelin quickly.

Trivia

 * While scrolling up where all the zombies the player has killed in the iOS leaderboards section, a lone balloon can be seen floating around the dead zombies. It is unknown why it doesn't keep flying up.
 * Just like the Bungee Zombie, Zombie Bobsled Team and Zombie Yeti, when a Balloon Zombie with a balloon is hit by an explosive instant kill, it does not crumble into ash, but turns into a black silhouette and vanishes.
 * An inflating sound is heard before the Balloon Zombie appears. The Balloon Zombie, Bungee Zombie, Dolphin Rider Zombie, Zomboni, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, Digger Zombie and Pogo Zombie are the only zombies that make noises before entering.
 * The Balloon Zombie and the Bungee Zombie are the only zombies to appear both on land and in or above the pool.
 * The Balloon Zombie seems to have a hunchback; this might be because of the balloon that is tied to his belly and makes himself curved.
 * The Propeller Hat slightly falls off of the Balloon Zombie's head when he takes a step.
 * The Balloon Zombie can be killed by explosives while in the air.
 * If a Balloon Zombie is hit by a Lawn Mower while still on its balloon, its balloon will pop and it will turn into smoke, just like a Gargantuar. This is odd, as the Balloon Zombie is too high to be hit by the Lawn Mower.
 * The Balloon Zombie can't be frozen while still floating if an Ice-shroom is used, but will only be slowed down. This also happens with Pogo Zombies still on their Pogo Sticks.
 * The Balloon Zombie (while on its balloon), the Digger Zombie (while digging), the Imp (while airborne), the Ladder Zombie, the Gargantuar, the Giga-gargantuar, the Zomboni and the Catapult Zombie are the only zombies that can get past a Tall-nut by themselves without eating them.
 * The Balloon Zombie does not appear during the battle with Dr. Zomboss.
 * The Suburban Almanac entry for the Balloon Zombie does not list the Cattail as one of its weaknesses, though the Cattail's entry does, possibly because the Balloon Zombie is first encountered before being able to purchase the Cattail.
 * The Balloon Zombie is one of nine zombies not allowed for Versus Mode, possibly due to two reasons: it can pass the player's plants without damage, and it only requires two to eat the brains (unless the Lawn Mower in that row has already been used, in which case it would only need one), which means that the Cactus must always be chosen.
 * The Balloon Zombie is the only non-vaulting zombie that can pass almost every type of plant without trying to eat it. Ballonzombie.gif
 * The Balloon Zombie is also the only zombie that can be killed or affected by a Blover.
 * The Balloon Zombie's balloon has an evil face-like drawing on it.
 * The Balloon Zombie, Prospector Zombie, and the Digger Zombie are the only zombies that lack a shoe.
 * A rake can't kill a Balloon Zombie, due to it floating over the rake.
 * Umbrella Leaves can't deflect Balloon Zombies when they drop directly at them.
 * Neither catapult plants nor the Squash can damage Balloon Zombies, despite that they actually throw their projectiles in the air or jump higher than the Balloon Zombie respectively.
 * Despite being in the air, it can still scare a Scaredy-shroom, possibly because the Scaredy-shroom is afraid that the Balloon Zombie will fall down on it.
 * Despite having the propeller hat, the hat doesn't protect it from damage. The other zombies whose have headwear that doesn't protect them from damage are Zomboni, Target Zombie, Baseball Zombie, Catapult Baseball Zombie and Gatling Pea Zombie.
 * The Balloon Zombie is the zombie with the second most visible teeth (seven teeth). The zombie with the most visible teeth is the Zombie Yeti (eight teeth).
 * When flying, the Balloon Zombie is faster than a normal zombie.
 * Balloon Zombie is one of the only four zombies that can't damage the player's plants before losing their special item (balloon). The other ones are the Pole Vaulting Zombie, the Dolphin Rider Zombie and the Pogo Zombie.
 * It is unknown how exactly the Balloon Zombie floats above the ground without significant changes in elevation; it is possible, however, that there was more than one balloon before the Balloon Zombie appears.
 * If a Balloon Zombie gets his balloon popped and lands on the ground when an instant kill explodes, then the Balloon Zombie will be a black silhouette.
 * In I, Zombie, Balloon Zombie only appears in Dead Zeppelin.
 * The Balloon as depicted in the Nintendo DS version is very large in comparison to the zombie using it. In higher quality versions (PC, Xbox Live Arcade, iPad, etc.) the Balloon is not much larger than the zombie's head, but in the Nintendo DS version, it is a little over twice the size of his head.
 * The flying Balloon Zombie's speed is same as Catapult Zombie's.
 * Despite the Cactus being one of Balloon Zombie's weaknesses, a Cactus planted on the slant of the roof cannot pop the balloon until the Balloon Zombie is right above it. This is the reason why a Blover is recommended for roof levels.