Prospector Zombie


 * For the form in Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars, see Prospector Zombie (PvZ: AS).

Prospector Zombie is the 5th zombie encountered in the Wild West. His dynamite detonates after the zombie reaches the 2nd column from the right, launching him behind the player's defenses. He then turns around and eats his way back to the right side of the screen. He functions similarly to the Digger Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies, but instead of burrowing and surfacing at the very left, he appears vulnerably in the lawn and only reaches the back after his dynamite explodes. The dynamite can be extinguished by Iceberg Lettuces, Snow Peas, Winter Melons, Hurrikales and Cold Snapdragons, and it also can be relighted by fire attacks such as the one from Snapdragon. While he is being launched and he is in mid-air, he can be blown away by Blover.

Description
The Prospector Zombie wears an orange tattered cowboy hat with the upper and rear portions folded upward. He has a silver hair and a messy beard. He only has three teeth: the upper right, lower right, and lower left.

Then, Prospector Zombie has a red handkerchief tied to his neck in a cape-like form, and wears a light blue long sleeve stained with small grasses from grasslands, with the right sleeve torn up to his biceps while the left one torn up to his wrist and on the back that is somehow torn up. There is also a blue grass-like pattern extending from his shoulders to his elbow and along with his waist-line and has a gray-like colored belt with four dynamites strapped to his left side. His pants are the same color and are also torn up, with the right leg up to his knees while on his left it is only exposing the knees. Finally, he only has one orange boot on his right foot and a white sock on his left.

Almanac entry
TOUGHNESS: Average SPEED: Stiff

Launches over your defenses when his fuse blows down.

Special: appears on the left side of your lawn when dynamite explodes

"There once was a zombie who got old, spending all his day looking for gold. 'Til one day in the rain, he finally ate the brains… and, wait, where's his other shoe?"

Overview
Prospector Zombie absorbs 11.5 normal damage shots. His appearance changes upon absorbing 6.25 shots (at this point the arm falls off) before he dies at 11.5 normal damage shots.

Encounters
Player's House: Piñata Party

Wild West: Days 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 25, Big Bad Butte, "Electrical Boogaloo" Epic Quest - Steps 7 and 10 and Piñata Party

Modern Day: Days 11, 15, 20, 30, and 32

Weaknesses

 * Plants extinguishing the dynamite: Snow Pea, Iceberg Lettuce, Winter Melon, Hurrikale, Freeze Mushroom, Cold Snapdragon
 * Killing Prospector Zombie (while in mid-air): Blover, Hurrikale
 * Hitting Prospector Zombie from behind: Split Pea, Starfruit, Bonk Choy, Rotobaga, Phat Beet, Celery Stalker, Homing Thistle, Wasabi Whip

Tips
His dynamite detonates after he reaches the second column from the right, making him go all the way to the back and start walking to the right, destroying your defenses. He only has the health of a regular zombie, so that has an advantage for the player. Good choices to destroy this zombie include Split Pea or Bonk Choy, because they can attack forward and backward. In fact, Split Pea is introduced right before this zombie appears. You can also disable the dynamite's fuse by cooling it using freezing plants like Iceberg Lettuce, Winter Melon, or Snow Pea. You can also stun him with butter from a Kernel-pult, giving you more time. Using Plant Food on any catapult plant can be a last resort, as they target every zombie on screen. While they are flying to the left, you can use Blovers, if you do not want to plant Split Peas and freezing plants because you could be using fire instead. Blocking him with defensive plants while his dynamite is active is not a good idea, as it will not stop him from jumping. A column of Ghost Peppers in the back column will also sterilize these zombies, due to Ghost Pepper's range and the Prospector Zombie's low health.

Planting two Spikeweeds or a Spikerock on the rightmost columns will easily take out all Prospector Zombies due to their low health.

In Big Bad Butte, bringing the Blover is recommended as there are some cases where newly-arrived Prospector Zombies cannot be damaged by Winter Melons and may cause a serious damage to your backmost defenses if not taken care of immediately. With its fast recharge, try to time carefully when will they fly, then use Blover to wipe them off, allowing you to save much sun and time for upcoming assaults. This tactic is effectively done in higher levels, four-flagged levels, or in levels with presences of Wild West Gargantuars or other dangerous zombies. Alternatively, use Spikeweeds and Spikerocks to deal with hordes of this zombie.

Trivia

 * Prospector Zombie is based on a gold digger/miner, hence his Almanac description and dynamite.
 * The fuse of the dynamite was going to be longer as seen in the Wild West Trailer.
 * If Prospector Zombie is killed after his dynamite exploded and he lands on the opposite side of the lawn, his head will fall off backwards when he dies. This will happen even if he was launched to the left side and killed by a plant that shoots to the right, like a Threepeater or Peashooter on a mine cart.
 * A Prospector Zombie appears in the Wild West as an advertisement to get more coins if the player's coin balance is low enough.
 * Prospector Zombie and Super-Fan Imp are the only zombies in the entire Plants vs. Zombies series that use dynamite.
 * If a Prospector Zombie is killed by Lightning Reed, Cherry Bomb, Jalapeno, Power Zap, Magnifying Grass and Sun Bean's Plant Food effect, when facing the opposite direction, he will still be facing that direction while turning to ashes.
 * Prospector Zombie, Seagull Zombie, Imp, Barrel Roller Zombie, Jetpack Zombie, Disco Jetpack Zombie, and Snorkel Zombie are the only zombies in the game that fall backwards when they die.
 * Prospector Zombie, Blew Zombie, and Explorer Zombie are the only zombies whose special ability can be prevented with a freezing-effect plant.
 * However, their abilities will be restored if these zombies are harmed by fire.
 * Lobbed-shot plants, Lightning Reed and Starfruit can hit hit in midair.
 * The way that this zombie gets to the other side of the lawn is actually similar to the rocket jump technique used in many first person shooters.
 * If the player listens closely, when the Prospector Zombie's dynamite detonates and he is launched, he coarsely shouts 'Brains!' while in the air.
 * Prospector Zombie is one of the few zombies which do not target the player's house (unless the dynamite has been extinguished), the others being all Zombot variants, Zombie Parrot, Zombie King, zombies carried by a pterodactyl, and Fisherman Zombie.
 * If he gets hypnotized (by a Hypno-shroom) before his dynamite goes off, he will still go to the leftmost column. He just will not eat the plants.
 * A smoke trail will appear behind the zombie when he launches.
 * When chilled while airborne, his smoke will turn blue.
 * He dies immediately when there are no zombies left but himself. This trait is shared with Zombie King, Fisherman Zombie, and any zombie facing backwards via pterodactyl.
 * Even if his dynamite is extinguished and is on the right side, he will still die.
 * He does not die on levels with flowers regardless of the direction he faces so that he can allow to trample them from behind or front and make the player lose the level and to balance the gameplay.
 * However, if he is not programmed to do that situation on these levels, the level will become easier/finish very quickly if only of them are left in a level, so the player will still obliged to kill these zombies before the above situation happens.
 * Prospector Zombie is the only zombie below ten health that Vigorous Broccoli cannot grab.
 * If the dynamite blows up it will not be on the zombie when he reaches the other side of the lawn. However, if you freeze him while he is walking to the right, the dynamite will reappear and will immediately deactivate. The player cannot reactivate it.