Grave Buster

Grave Buster is an instant-use plant appearing in both main series Plants vs. Zombies series. Its main use is to destroy graves, Zombie Gravestones, and tombstones, freeing up space for planting and preventing ambush zombies from spawning upon them.

Plants vs. Zombies
Grave Buster is obtained by completing Level 2-3, and costs 75 sun to plant. It takes five seconds to fully destroy graves and Zombie Gravestones, during which it is vulnerable to zombie assaults. After completing its objective, Grave Buster will leave behind a random pickup item, ranging from a silver coin to a diamond or Zen Garden plant.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Grave Buster is now unlocked by finishing Ancient Egypt - Day 9. Aside from great changes in aesthetic, Grave Buster has also received modifications in functionality: It is now a free plant, its recharge rate has been increased, and the time to fully destroy a tombstone has been reduced to three seconds. On the other hand, Grave Buster will no longer leave behind a consumable after destroying tombstones. It is unlocked in Ancient Egypt to show the player its ability to clear tombstones.

Plants vs. Zombies
Grave Buster

Plant Grave Busters on graves to remove the graves.

Usage: single use, must be planted on graves

Special: removes graves

Despite Grave Buster's fearsome appearance, he wants everyone to know that he loves kittens and spends his off hours volunteering at a local zombie rehabilitation center. "It's just the right thing to do," he says.

Cost: 75

Recharge: fast

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sun cost: 0

RECHARGE: Mediocre

Grave Busters consume graves they're planted on.

Usage: single use, must be planted on graves

Special: removes graves

He may appear spiky or ill-tempered, but Grave Buster just wants to give you a big hug. Unless you're a puppy. He's terrified of those.

Plants vs. Zombies
Grave Buster serves a vital role in Night levels as the only plant that can destroy graves. This gives the player a noticeable advantage, as not only can graves prevent planting, they can also summon reinforcements during flag, bolstering the already great amount of zombies and putting further pressure to the defending plants. The reward for destroying graves also present an opportunity for farming consumable items. When a Grave Buster is eating a grave, zombies can still come out of that grave. The Grave Buster will continue to eat it but the zombies will try to attack Grave Buster. Therefore, the player should be careful of the time to plant Grave Buster.

Which graves chosen to remove first depends entirely on the player's defensive strategy. Generally, getting rid of the leftmost ones first is a preferred, as the left side is usually used for planting production and offensive plants. However, the player may also wish to destroy graves placed on the right side in order to plant a certain few plants, such as Spikeweed, Cherry Bomb and Doom-shroom. It is also a good idea to plant Spikeweed before a flag, or in tandem with Ice-shroom.

Whack a Zombie
Grave Buster is an essential tool in this mini-game, as while it is still possible to defeat this level without it, the rapidly spawning graves will present a tremendous amount of challenge to the player, especially in the final flag. This is further improved that graves being destroyed by Grave Buster will not attempt to summon zombies, giving the player much needed time for planning and preparing defense.

Grave Buster usage should always be prioritized on the graves closest to the left. One of the best times to plant Grave Busters is when there is a pause in zombies coming out of graves.

Versus Mode
In Versus Mode, Grave Busters play a large role in destroying the Zombie Gravestones the zombie side must create in order to produce brains. They work just like they would on a normal grave, but there is no coin produced when they destroy one. However, great care should be exercised in defending Grave Buster, as the plant has a much slower recharge rate and cannot defend itself from zombie attacks.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Grave Buster continues to find its use in Ancient Egypt and the Dark Ages as a tool for destroying tombstones, preventing them from blocking straight shots, and in the Dark Ages' case, summon zombies through ambushes. However, the task of removing tombstones, while being much more important, has been greatly decentralized - since tombstones can now be destroyed by other offensive plants, the player can utilize area-of-effect plants instead of Grave Buster to quickly destroy multiple graves. Still, Grave Buster remains as a specialized option to clear the field of obstructions, and will prove to be useful in both normal levels and Endless Zones.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Grave Buster's Almanac description and appearance is a common play on the phrase, "don't judge a book by its cover." Despite Grave Buster's fearsome appearance, its Almanac description describes a caring personality, a huge difference from the way it looks.
 * There is a glitch that can occur, when the player plants a Grave Buster that is not finishing eating the grave and show the seed selection click Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies or Suburban Almanac and exit back to the seed selection, the player will hear a Grave Buster sound eating a grave. Also when this glitch happens and the player finishes picking seeds the Grave Buster will continue eating the grave without sounds.
 * The name may be a reference to the popular movie Ghostbusters.
 * Grave Buster is the only Night obtained plant which is not a mushroom.
 * When Grave Buster is flattened, the player can hear the sound of the Grave Buster removing the grave after being crushed by a Gargantuar, Zomboni, or Catapult Zombie.
 * Even though the Grave Buster is only used at night, it is not considered a nocturnal plant and can be raised in the normal Zen Garden, and sold for $8000 instead of $10000.
 * This also happens with the Plantern.
 * Grave Buster recharges slower in Versus Mode.
 * There is a glitch in the Nintendo DS version when a new grave appears and the player places a Grave Buster a square away from the grave, the Grave Buster can be used and it will not destroy any graves.
 * The rocks from the grave the Grave Buster is eating look bigger in the iPhone and iPod versions.
 * Grave Buster's online Almanac entry does not appear to be finished, because when the player clicks on it, it shows the last plant the player checked the entry on.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * If transformed into sheep by Wizard Zombie, the tombstone will recede to its normal phase but if there are plants that has offensive capabilities and destroyed the grave, the sheep will remain there. Once it returns to Grave Buster again, it will bust nothing. Also when transformed, its dirt will remain.
 * Hypnotized Gargantuars can smash the Grave Buster as it is consuming a tombstone. Finally the consumed tombstone will still remain.
 * It's possible for a Punk Zombie to kick a Grave Buster forward. The grave will still be gone as long as the Grave Buster isn't eaten, destroyed, etc.
 * This is only possible in Modern Day - Day 9.
 * Despite having a sun cost of 0, Grave Buster is available in some Last Stand levels, which are Pirate Seas and Wild West ones. It shares this trait with Iceberg Lettuce (Ancient Egypt) and Hot Potato (Frostbite Caves).
 * It is unnecessary to use Grave Buster in these levels, as there are no gravestones.