Toadstool


 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Toadstool (PvZH).

Toadstool is a premium plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It was released on June 23, 2015 for $4.99, and its price was reduced to $3.99 after the 2015 Food Fight event. However, its price was restored to $4.99 after Cold Snapdragon was released.

Like Chomper, Toadstool can eat most types of zombies but will take 30 seconds to fully digest an enemy, during which Toadstool is vulnerable to attacks. When confronted with obstacles such as tombstones and surfboards, or an inedible enemy like the Pianist Zombie, Toadstool will use its tongue to attack, dealing 2.5 normal damage shots per attack, which is quarter the damage of Chomper, but at 4x the speed, thus causing the damage per second to be the same. The main differences between the Chomper and the Toadstool are that Toadstool costs 50 more sun, but will produce 50 sun after fully digesting a zombie, and can extend its tongue forward 2 tiles to kill or damage enemies, while Chomper can only eat a zombie that is directly in front of it.

Toadstools cannot consume the following zombies:
 * Gargantuar variants (including Gargantuar Prime, Jurassic Gargantuar and Flying Gargantuar)
 * Barrel Roller Zombie (with its barrel)
 * Pianist Zombie
 * Zombie Chicken and Ice Weasel (will attack them with its tongue but not eat them)
 * Zombie Bull
 * Robo-Cone Zombie
 * Disco-tron 3000
 * Mecha-Football Zombie
 * Zombie King
 * Cavalry Zombie (horse)
 * Fisherman Zombie

When a Witch Hazel is fed Plant Food, it will turn a zombie into a Toadstool.

Origins
Toadstool is based on the term toadstool, another word used to refer to mushrooms. The name is also a play on the word Toad, as Toadstool displays many toad-like attributes, such as its long, sticky tongue and a vocal sac.

Plant Food effect
When fed with Plant Food, Toadstool grabs up to four random zombies in a 5x3 area, chews for a short amount of time and then produces 50 sun for each zombie it ate. If there are only inedible zombies in the area, Toadstool will instead attempt to attack them; if there are no targets available, Toadstool will do nothing (so players should not waste a Plant Food on a Toadstool if there are few or no zombies in its area).

Costumed
When Toadstool swallows zombies, it will release a smog cloud, which stops zombies on contact.

Strategies
Toadstool can be considered an upgrade to Chomper in most cases; while it initially costs 50 more sun, its ability to generate sun from eating zombies means that Toadstool can quickly refund this investment. Its increased attacking range also assists it in combating inedible threats such as Robo-Cone Zombies, Mecha-Football Zombies, and Gargantuars by giving it extra time to damage them. However, Toadstool continues to suffer from Chomper's greatest weakness, namely the long digestion time during which it is rendered vulnerable to attacks, meaning that Chomper's problem of dealing with hordes of zombies is also an issue with Toadstool.

Generally speaking, any plants that is capable of delaying zombies can greatly help Toadstool by defending it while she is digesting zombies. This includes:
 * Stunning plants such as Iceberg Lettuce and Kernel-pult.
 * Slowing plants such as Winter Melon and Sap-fling.
 * Defensive plants such as Wall-nut and Endurian.
 * Plants that can push enemies back such as Primal Peashooter and Chard Guard.

Toadstool is particularly useful in Sun Bombs levels, as it is one of the few sun-producing plants allowed in these levels. While the dropped sun is generally enough for building defenses, the sun generated by Toadstool will give the player much more freedom in using instant plants or repairing defenses. Sun Bean can also be substituted in these levels, and when paired with Toadstool, they can get you more than the expected amount of sun on these levels.

Toadstool can also be used to defeat Chicken Wrangler Zombies from Wild West and Weasel Hoarders from Frostbite Caves without them releasing their respective payloads, although it should be remembered that both worlds have inedible threats that can get past Toadstools - namely Zombie Bulls and Troglobites with their frozen blocks.

Toadstool can eat octopi without needing to chew, making them an ideal counter for the Octo Zombie. Addtionally, it can also be used to counter Arcade Zombie, since she can destroy the arcade machine quickly. Be careful if the latter's jam is playing, however, if Toadstool does not destroy the arcade machine before 8-bit Zombies are spawned, she can get easily overwhelmed if there are no other plants to support her.

Trivia

 * It is the most expensive mushroom (in terms of sun cost) in the whole series.
 * It displays a functional vocal cord in its idle animation; this is illogical however as only male toads have vocal cords, while Toadstool is stated to be female in the Almanac.
 * Toadstool could be a hermaphrodite (genetically being both male and female), which would make sense since most real plants are.
 * In the 3.6 update, it could be used in Last Stand levels.
 * It is referred to as female in the Almanac, but male in the developer diary for Lost City Part 2.
 * It will continue to make chewing noises and produce sun even after the level ends or when the player is on the rewards screen.
 * Despite being a toad, it is not able to be planted in the water in Big Wave Beach.
 * This is similar with Lightning Reed. It is a reed, but cannot be placed on water, with the exception to his Plants vs. Zombies Heroes counterpart.
 * There is a glitch when it sticks out its tongue and consumes a zombie, and the player exits the level and returns to it. It will simply shake up and down, its mouth open, and it will stay that way until the level ends, or if it is consumed or dug up.
 * It is the first mushroom in which its name does not end with the suffix, -shroom.
 * In the Chinese version, zombies grabbed by its tongue become confused. However, this doesn't affect its performance.
 * According to the credits, the Toadstool is voiced by Aaron Schneider.
 * It, Venus Flytrap (Plant Food effect), Chomper and Dinosaur Roar Grass are the only plants that can eat zombies.
 * Unlike Chomper, Venus Flytrap, and Dinosaur Roar Grass, Toadstool can give out sun when it devours a zombie.
 * It is the only premium plant that is able to produce sun.
 * It is the first female mushroom, the second being Grow-Shroom and third being Button Mushroom.
 * If Toadstool is created by a Witch Hazel in a Special Delivery level, it will not produce any sun, similar to Moonflower in Modern Day - Day 34 and Modern Day - Day 44.