Boombox Zombie

Boombox Zombie is a zombie encountered in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Upon reaching the sixth column, he will raise his boombox to play the power ballad jam for a few seconds, immobilizing all plants on the lawn except Phat Beet, underground plants, instant-use plants and Electric Blueberry. This also overrides any other jam currently playing and significantly slows all zombies on the field in Neon Mixtape Tour only. In Modern Day, all zombies retain their speed. Because Boombox Zombie stops the Jams from playing, he is considered an environment modifier.

Boombox Zombie's jam only lasts for eight seconds, but it can be extended by other Boombox Zombies (as seen on Day 28), as long as they play their jam after the original Boombox Zombie does.

He was first revealed in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B developer diary, released on September 15, 2015.

Origins
He is named after a Boombox, a common term for a portable transistorized cassette tape recorder/player and AM/FM radio (and, beginning in the 1980s, a CD player) with an amplifier, two or more loudspeakers and a carrying handle.

He is possibly based on the character Lloyd Dobler from the 1980s movie Say Anything. His Almanac entry references a line from the film, and he also holds a boombox that plays love songs.

Encounters
Player's House: Piñata Party

Neon Mixtape Tour: Days 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and Greatest Hits

Modern Day: Day 41 and Highway to the Danger Room (portal only)

Strategies
When you see this zombie, defeat him as soon as possible or he will use his boombox to prevent plants from using their abilities. In Neon Mixtape Tour, he rarely gets far enough into the lawn in order to play his jam, making him not a significant threat. However, if he is left alive for long enough, then he can potentially be very hazardous as plants that are immobilized cannot do anything, leaving other zombies to take down your plants with little to no harm. Also take caution when Breakdancer Zombies or Glitter Zombies are reacting to their jams.

Highway to the Danger Room
In Highway to the Danger Room, Boombox Zombies are far more dangerous as they can spawn through a portal past the third column to the right, allowing them to utilize their ability at the very instant. However, unlike in Neon Mixtape Tour, Boombox Zombie does not make the zombies slower due to lack of jam speeds in Modern Day.

In lower levels of Highway to the Danger Room, Neon Mixtape Tour portals will generally not spawn enough Boombox Zombies to be too dangerous. The real threat begins in higher levels (Level 30 and above) portals can spawn multiple Boombox Zombies in succession, causing the jam (and stunning effect) to last longer than normal as well as disabling any non-instant plants planted after the first Boombox Zombie plays the jam. If such an event occurs, it is usually better to spend an extra Plant Food per level (if the player does not have Power Lily) in order to prevent stronger zombies such as All-Star Zombie and Robo-Cone Zombie from plowing through the player's defenses while they are stunned. You can also bring Phat Beet, though it may not deal with tougher zombies like Robo-Cone Zombies or Gargantuars.

A safer and economically conservative strategy to use is to feed the Iceberg Lettuce with a Plant Food. However, timing is necessary here because another Boombox Zombie might emerge from the portal or another set of Neon Mixtape Tour portals would appear on the lawn which allows further reinforcements of the same type would extend the jam's duration, allowing Modern Day or other zombies from distant worlds to assimilate and press forward to the player's defenses. A Power Lily is also essential for this technique to give the player a spare Plant Food for last resort option. Assuming that the horde has been frozen by the Iceberg Lettuce, either of the two will happen;


 * 1) Another batch of portals will appear accompanied by another batch of Modern Day zombies, whom are leading the assault. If, by chance, no All-Star Zombies or Neon Mixtape Tour portals would appear, conserve the Plant Food that is supposed to be used to the Iceberg Lettuce so that it will neutralize the entire horde (with frozen hordes extending their frozen status). Otherwise, use Plant Food for Iceberg Lettuce.
 * 2) Another batch of Neon Mixtape Tour portals appear, accompanied by other portals from each world, and reinforced by the Modern Day zombies. Wait for the Boombox Zombie to arrive via the portal. If it is 8-bit Zombies, spare Plant Food. Otherwise, use Iceberg Lettuce to freeze the horde. Pattern can be very difficult to study but if the player gets the hang of it, they will have no problem in executing the strategy. Should another Boombox Zombie arrive via the portal and all hordes are frozen, refrain from consuming remaining Plant Foods. Save the rest and wait for the next batch of portals and zombies to appear.

Tips

 * Area-of-effect plants like Laser Bean or Fume-shroom will defeat Boombox Zombies at ease because of their piercing capability.
 * Tap on tap-to-fire plants (such as Strawburst, Coconut Cannon, Magnifying Grass, etc.) that are stabilized by the boombox.
 * Use Plant Food on any attacking plant to get rid of the Boombox Zombie to remove immobilization from the plants.
 * Spikeweeds and Spikerocks are immune to immobilization and are a good idea, as these plants can damage the Boombox Zombie even after he used his boombox.
 * Use an Iceberg Lettuce or Stunion if it is recharged, as it cancels out his ability instantly.
 * Phat Beet is immune to immobilization so using the plant is also recommended.
 * It is recommended to use the jam he plays as an advantage to defeat zombies if you have Phat Beets on the lawn as the power ballad jam will significantly slow down all zombies on the lawn and disable all special zombies' abilities.
 * Magnifying Grass is somewhat glitched and is immune to the effects of the Power Ballad jam, as it can still shoot projectiles.

Trivia

 * Boombox Zombie shares his animation with Ra Zombie and Turquoise Skull Zombie. In general, they all share the same walking animation with each other and share the eating and standing animation of Cowboy Zombies.
 * He will only stun plants when his boombox starts playing. If a plant is planted while he is in the middle of playing the jam, the plant will not get stunned.
 * If an immobilized plant is fed Plant Food, it will be freed from immobilization and will use its Plant Food ability as per normal.
 * The heart effect when Boombox Zombie stuns plants is the same effect used during Valenbrainz when Valentine Zombies are defeated and when Plant Food is fed on Sweet Potato.
 * Boombox Zombie does not appear to hold his boombox in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B trailer.
 * One of them even sports a blue sleeveless shirt and blueish eyes instead of a yellow shirt and normal zombie eyes.
 * Boombox Zombie is the fourth zombie to play music while using its special ability. The first is Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, the second is Pianist Zombie, and the third is Disco-tron 3000.
 * Electric Blueberry does not react to Boombox Zombie's music, as it still creates storm clouds.
 * Magnifying Grass also is not affected by the music, as it is still able to be tapped, making it fire its projectile.
 * Boombox Zombie is the only zombie that can interrupt other jams.
 * Boombox Zombie, Basic Zombie, Dr. Zomboss, Shield Zombie, Knight Zombie, Wizard Zombie, Snorkel Zombie, Octo Zombie, Cave Zombie, Troglobite, Lost Pilot Zombie, Relic Hunter Zombie, Neon Zombie, and Jurassic Zombie are the only zombies that have represented the game icon.
 * Due to a glitch, Boombox Zombie did not play any music in the 4.4.1 update. Instead, he stops the jam currently playing, but he still stuns the plants when he raises his boombox. The current jam plays again when he lowers his boombox. However, this glitch only happens when he is in Neon Mixtape Tour. If he is in a Piñata Party, his boombox will play the music like normal.
 * Also, by saving and quitting, and going to another level, the music on that level will not play. Pausing and resuming will play the ballad jam on the level. Pausing and resuming the level again will return the music to normal.
 * Defeating a Boombox Zombie before he can play the power ballad jam will reward the player with Breaking It Off achievement.
 * If a Boombox Zombie is shrunk by a Shrinking Violet at the same time he plays the power ballad jam, it will sound sped-up and high-pitched.
 * Boombox Zombie, Dancing Zombie, Disco Zombie, his Heroes counterpart, Electric Boogaloo, Party Imp and Tennis Star are the only zombies with afros.
 * If he is defeated when he is about to turn on his music, the music will still be playing, but he won't affect the plants negatively.
 * The music he plays is the "Party time!" music for the Party Rose.
 * Electric Currant reacts to the Power Ballad jam created by this zombie. Its electric current is still present when it happens, but it does not damage the zombies on it.
 * If a Boombox Zombie play his jam at the same time Ghost Pepper is attacking zombies, it will still plays the "haunting" animation, but will not deal any damage. This can happen to Celery Stalker as well.
 * In the Chinese version, plants stunned by Boombox Zombie do not produce hearts.