Mecha-Football Zombie


 * For other uses, see Football Zombie (disambiguation).

Mecha-Football Zombie is a mechanized walker maneuvered by a Future Zombie that appears in Far Future in Plants vs. Zombies 2. He packs a large amount of health and he can push the player's plants back one tile, and eventually out of their lawn. Just like the other machines, he is vulnerable to E.M.Peach which disables him for ten seconds. Once he is near a plant, he will push it one tile to the left. If there are more plants behind it, they will all move one square to the left as well, with the plant on the last tile of the lawn (if there is one) being thrown away from the lawn.

Description
The Mecha-Football Zombie is a bipedal walker with an extremely high amount of health, enough to withstand an instant kill plant. It is piloted by a Future Zombie. The zombie inside uses a steering wheel to control it and pushes a button to push plants away.

The walker is designed to resemble a football helmet as a reference to the Football Zombie from the first game. It has a design of a bone in a cross-like pattern on the top and below the design is a glass window from where the driver can look at the outside. On its side there is a skull insignia with a blue eye and a green eye.

On the front it has a facemask with three spikes and grass sticking out of it that's used to push plants to the side.

Overview
The Mecha-Football Zombie absorbs 120 normal damage shots. His appearance changes upon absorbing 18, 35, 52, 69, 86, and 103 shots before dying at 120 normal damage shots.

Encounters
Player's House: Piñata Party

Far Future: Days 13, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 35, Terror from Tomorrow, and Piñata Party

Frostbite Caves: "Electrical Boogaloo" Epic Quest - Steps 2 and 6

Lost City: "Rescue the Gold Bloom" Epic Quest - Step 8 and "Aloe, Salut!" Epic Quest - Step 4 (portal only in Aloe, Salut!)

Modern Day: Days 1, 10, 11, and 33 (portal only in Modern Day - Day 1)

Strategies
Because he pushes plants across or out of the lawn, you should try to stun him with the E.M.Peach or Iceberg Lettuce right away when he enters your lawn or destroy him with Citron's plant food. Because of this, most defensive plants are useless against him, and Pea-nuts can only attack him, so be sure to put plants near the back of the lawn unless there are Gargantuar Primes on the lawn. This also leaves him invulnerable to Sun Beans, Chili Beans, Hypno-shrooms, and Garlics. Bonk Choys, Snapdragons, Phat Beets, Cold Snapdragons and Wasabi Whips are useful against this zombie as he will push them around instead of eating, allowing them to continuously attack him. However, do not put any plants in front of him (a Wall-nut, for example). When the Mecha-Football Zombie pushes the Wall-nut, he will never get close enough to the Bonk Choy, Snapdragon, Phat Beet, Cold Snapdragon or Wasabi Whip, thus rendering it useless.

Chard Guards, on the other hand, are excellent in dealing with him. They are able to shove him back before he pushes them (and any other plants behind them), making them a sturdy defensive strategy when dealing with him. Spring Bean is useful too if you need to use less sun or have yet to unlock Chard Guard. However, do not use Kiwibeasts as they need to be eaten to send out a powerful attack. Use Spikeweed or Spikerock (which he cannot push) in conjunction with Chard Guard and other slowing plants to damage the Mecha-Football Zombie and keep him at bay until he breaks down. Primal Peashooter is a good choice as they can keep Mecha-Football Zombies away from your other plants by knocking them out of range. Beware of Shield Zombies as they can block their attacks, unless stunned by E.M.Peach. AoE plants such as Laser Bean, Phat Beet, or Fume-shroom work really well with Primal Peashooter. Cactus is very effective against these zombies as when planted in front, they cannot affect Cacti as they will become a Spikeweed. Celery Stalkers can also allow Mecha-Football Zombies to pass through them and attack. However, be aware of any zombies behind the Mecha-Football Zombies, as the Celery Stalker will be exposed to them. Guacodiles are a choice to destroy this zombie as they will rush immediately as soon as they get pushed by this zombie.

These and Gargantuar Primes are considered to be dangerous in Terror from Tomorrow because they can instantly destroy most of your plants. You will need Cherry Bombs, Jalapenos, Ghost Pepper, Grapeshots, E.M.Peaches (possibly along with its Imitater version), Winter Melons, and Melon-pults.

Primal Potato Mines can easily take down groups of Mecha-Football Zombies, this being possible because Primal Potato Mines do 120 damage while the zombie can absorb just the same amount of damage.

Avoid using Chompers and Toadstools as they cannot devour Mecha-Football Zombies and will attack them like normal offensive plants. Using their Plant Food abilities against him is also useless due to their inability to consume him directly, though Chomper's bite and knockback can serve as a quick stall and small damage burst in a last resort situation. Do not use Grimrose as they cannot fully drag down this zombie. Using Plant Food against it is also useless as it only deals a quarter damage to this zombie. Also, it is not recommended to use Spore-shrooms against this zombie as they can create more Spore-shrooms even on unwanted spots, most likely the front of the lawn, allowing groups of Mecha-Football Zombies to easily overwhelm your back-most defenses when it reaches the rest of your plants in the lane. Intensive Carrot is also a bad choice as Mecha-Football Zombie can push the front plant on the square where the defeated plant was, preventing you from reviving the plant. In addition, plants that have been pushed out of the lawn by this zombie also cannot be revived. Hypnotized zombies are also useless since Mecha-Football Zombie will instantly destroy them.

In Pinata Parties, Mecha-Football Zombies are a big threat, since the plants given can be very weak or poor against them. In addition, parties which have flowers or endangered plants will make this even more of a threat. Try and use Plant Food effects against them to efficiently take them out.

Trivia

 * Mecha-Football Zombies will push plants over tombstones, similarly to how Fisherman Zombie pulls plants over surfboards and how Punk Zombie pushes plants over other plants. The plant will fly over the tombstones and land in the next available space.
 * Currently, this is only evident in Piñata Party, because tombstones cannot appear in Far Future.
 * He can push the Infi-nut's force field, destroying it instantly and pushing the Infi-nut to the left if he is on a row where Infi-nut is. Otherwise, he will just push the force field.
 * His Almanac entry suggests that he used to play football, as it says "Now past his prime, Mecha-Football Zombie is ready to be put back into the game."
 * Disco-tron 3000 and Mecha-Football Zombie are the only machines that absorb 120 normal damage shots before dying.
 * He will walk over an unarmed Potato Mine or Primal Potato Mine without pushing it.
 * Despite the fact that a Football Zombie had more health than a Conehead Zombie in Plants vs. Zombies, Robo-Cone Zombie has more health than the Mecha-Football Zombie.
 * This might be because Mecha-Football Zombie's main purpose is to push plants to the side, being a threat to the players defenses, while Robo-Cone Zombie's main purpose is to absorb a lot of damage, protecting other zombies behind him.
 * He cannot push a plant that is using its Plant Food ability.
 * However, this is not the case in the Chinese version.
 * Mecha-Football Zombie pushes plants to the left, while Fisherman Zombie, Qigong Zombie, and QiGong Bronze pull plants to the right. Excavator Zombie uses his shovel to pull plants to the right, but unlike Mecha-Football Zombie, when the plant reaches the furthest three columns from the player's house, the plant will not be flicked off the screen. It will just stay there and 'wait' to be eaten.
 * Mecha-Football Zombie, Punk Zombie (during his jam) and Knife-Wielding Swordsman are the only zombies that can push plants.
 * He can push White Radish in the Chinese version.
 * He pushes any endangered plant along with his "danger tile". If he pushes an endangered plant off the lawn, the screen will still show "The zombies ate your plant!", despite the fact that Mecha-Football Zombie does not eat the endangered plant, but rather flings it off the lawn.
 * If the player looks closely, patches of dirt and grass can be seen between the Mecha-Football Zombie's spike plates, much like how Football Zombie had patches of dirt stuck in the mouth guard of his helmet in most promotional material for Plants vs. Zombies.
 * It is currently unknown if he can push the sheep transformed by Wizard Zombie since he and Wizard Zombie have not been in the same Piñata Party yet.
 * If he pushes a plant with a Guacodile behind him, he will activate the Guacodile, similar to how Fisherman Zombie will activate the Guacodile if he tries to pull the plant.
 * Blover and Hurrikale can be used to stall him, as it cannot be pushed (or pulled, for that matter). Simply plant it behind the plant the Mecha-Football Zombie is trying to push, and until the Blover vanishes, he cannot push any plants on its row.
 * He shares the same feet as Harvester Zombie.
 * Mecha-Football Zombie, Gargantuar Prime, Zombie King, Surfer Zombie, Fisherman Zombie, Troglobite, Imp Porter, Arcade Zombie, and Hair Metal Gargantuar are the only zombies that are able to kill Ghost Pepper.
 * In the Chinese version, his Almanac entry does not translate the word "Special" into Chinese.
 * Since version 1.7.5 in the Chinese version, he got a new attack in PvP Mode. When using Plague Pharmacy, he pulls out a Mecha-Football glove and throws three footballs on three random plants.
 * Mecha-Football Zombie retains the name of the original Football Zombie, but All-Star Zombie, a zombie based entirely on Football Zombie, doesn't.
 * The plant before the mold colonies will be kicked out of the lawn immediately when it pushes a plant on lanes with them.