Banana Launcher

Banana Launcher is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It is unlocked after completing Big Wave Beach - Day 27. It fires explosive bananas at zombies that deal 60 normal damage points and have an area-of-effect of 1x3. The player is required to tap on it to arm itself, then tap on any tile for it to launch its projectile, similar to the Cob Cannon. It has a 21-second reload time, similar to the Coconut Cannon, Carrot Missile Truck, and Fire Gourd (although they have different reload times).

Almanac Entry
Sun cost: 500

DAMAGE: Massive AREA: Tile RECHARGE: Sluggish

Banana Launchers can fire explosive bananas at any tile on the lawn.

Usage: tap to arm, tap on target tile to fire Range: anywhere on lawn Special: on impact, explodes in small area

It's important to avoid stereotyping as much as possible. Stereotypes are often flat-out wrong. And also hurtful. But honestly ... Banana Launcher is TOTALLY bananas.

Plant Food
When given Plant Food, it will launch four explosive bananas at random targets on the lawn. In Chinese version, it will fire five bananas.

Level upgrade

 * Level 2
 * Combat Training: Banana Launcher gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
 * ???: Reloads 25% faster.
 * Level 3
 * ???: Reloads 50% faster.
 * Cell Activation: Banana Launcher gains another 50% attack power and health (200% of initial).
 * Level 4
 * Ability Awaken: Banana Launcher can be boosted sometimes when planted.

Costumed
The Plant Food ability launches five bananas and a flaming banana that creates an explosion that deals more damage.

Strategies
Since the Banana Launcher is a targeting plant, this gives the player freedom to attack any zombie on screen, regardless of how many other zombies are protecting it. If you do plan on using Banana Launchers, make sure to defend them well, as 500 sun is not easy to collect. Octo Zombies are their weakness. The player should always destroy the Octo Zombies before using the Banana Launcher elsewhere, even if plants are already covered in octopi. If an octopus is thrown at a loaded Banana Launcher, the player is advised to dig it up to get half the sun back from it.

It is also a good plant to use against Fisherman Zombies. The Fishermen don't move, and as such is often protected by nearby zombies from most attacks. However, the Banana Launcher projectile bypasses all those zombies and can directly target the Fisherman, instantly killing it. Stall Fisherman Zombies from defeating your Banana Launchers with free or low cost plants like Puff-shrooms.

When Gargantuars draw near, attack them with three bananas at once to defeat them instantly without them throwing their Imps. Banana Launchers are also useful in weakening high health zombies (Buckethead Zombies, Pharaoh Zombies, Poncho Zombies, Robo-Cone Zombies, Mecha-Football Zombies, Knight Zombies, and Blockhead Zombies). They work well against shield zombies (Barrel Roller Zombies, Shield Zombies) too, as their projectiles can bypass the shields and damage the zombies directly. Jester Zombies cannot deflect their bananas.

Trivia

 * It is similar to the Cob Cannon since both plants are required to be manned by players to shoot its projectiles at zombies, and both plants have explosive projectiles.
 * This and Chard Guard are the only plants that speak in game, exclaiming "Banana!" when firing a banana missile. When a Banana Launcher is fed Plant Food, it shouts ”BA-BA-BA-BANANA!”, which might be an allusion to Despicable Me.
 * It turns green after the player shoots the banana, similar to how unripe bananas are green in real life.
 * This and Banana are the only plants in the Plants vs. Zombies series based on bananas.
 * This and Winter Melon are the plants with the second highest sun cost in the game, the first being Tile Turnip at 16,000 sun being after planted seven times.
 * This and Winter Melon are the only plants in Plants vs. Zombies 2 that cost 500 sun. However, Tile Turnip can cost 500 sun if planted twice.
 * It is also has the highest sun cost of all the plants obtained in Big Wave Beach.
 * This and Bamboo Shoot from the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 are the only plants that cannot be planted on mine carts. For Banana Launcher, this is because of issues associated with a tap either moving the mine cart or activating the target of Banana Launcher. It will say "Bananas are too slippery for mine carts".
 * However, Banana Launcher can be planted on mine carts in the Chinese version.
 * Although its almanac entry says that its area is within a single tile, its actual area-of-effect is 3x1.
 * The almanac states that it has a sluggish recharge, but it does not. This actually refers to the firing speed.
 * Likewise, it does not actually deal Massive damage (90 NDS), rather it deals 60 NDS.
 * Banana Launcher cannot be chosen in Big Wave Beach - Day 23.
 * In Big Wave Beach - Day 23, the player can launch a banana from the Banana Launchers while viewing the lawn from the seed selection screen. However, its face does not change.
 * This, Starfruit, Potato Mine, Bonk Choy, and Tile Turnip are the only plants in the game to only have one visible tooth, with the former two being the only fruits to do so.
 * This plant's projectiles have faint lines on them.
 * The player used to be able to destroy graves using Banana Launcher on any Last Stand level before tapping "Let's Rock". This, however, is no longer possible after the 3.1.1 update.
 * Using only this kind of plant to kill zombies in a Big Wave Beach level earns the player the Banana Storm achievement.
 * Even after the player has defeated the final zombie and the reward has dropped, bananas could still be fired from this plant. This was fixed in the 3.1.1 update.
 * Its eyes are red and straight in the bingo card, while its in-game appearance has brown eyes and they are crossed. Its smile in the bingo card is also different from the one it has in-game.
 * Multi-touch works for this plant in both Android and iOS devices.
 * Banana Launcher gives a daunting look before firing.
 * Its costume is a reference to Bananas in Pajamas.
 * This, Cob Cannon, Coconut Cannon, Magnifying Grass, and Fire Gourd are the only plants that require player input.
 * This, Citron, and Coconut Cannon are the only plants that need to recharge after using their Plant Food.
 * In the Chinese version, when fed with Plant Food, it will make firework noises when it launches its bananas and it will shoot 5 of them instead of four like in the international version.
 * It also had the same damage range as a Cob Cannon in the Chinese Version, but this was fixed in the most recent update.
 * Due to a bug, Banana Launcher's costume was not available for most users. This was fixed in 3.4.4 update.