Grave Buster


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

Grave Buster is an instant-use plant and environment modifier appearing in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games. Its only use is to destroy graves, Zombie Gravestones, and tombstones, freeing up space for planting and preventing ambush zombies from spawning from them.Grave Buster resembles a withered tree stump on PvZ 1, but a thorn bush in the second.

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 in clearing 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 flags, 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 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.

Whack a Zombie
Grave Buster is an essential tool in this mini-game, as while it is still possible to defeat this level without him, 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, summoning 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.

Grave Buster is best used at the start of the level when there are barely any plants or zombies on screen, so that the Grave Buster will have almost no opposition when freeing up space. While it generally best to destroy the tombstones closest to the house, making way for sun producing or offensive plants, clearing graves closer to the zombies to make room for plants like Cherry Bomb and Spikerock is another viable option.

General

 * Its appearance varies vastly between both Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2. In the first game, it resembled more of a tree stump, while in the second, it resembles a bunch of thorny vines.
 * It is the one of two plants to receive a drastic redesign like this. The other one is Citron between Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, there is a Hat for the Sunflower called "Grave Buster" which resembles the Grave Buster from Plants vs. Zombies.
 * Its name could be a reference to the popular movie Ghostbusters, although it may just be coincidence.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Its 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.
 * It is the only Night obtained plant that is not a mushroom.
 * When Grave Buster is flattened, the player can hear the sound of it removing the grave after being crushed by a Gargantuar, Zomboni, or Catapult Zombie.
 * Even though it is only used at night, it is not considered a nocturnal plant and can be raised in the normal Zen Garden, and is sold for $8,000 instead of $10,000.
 * This also happens with the Plantern.
 * It 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, it can be used and it will not destroy any graves.
 * The rocks from the grave it is eating look bigger in the iPhone and iPod versions.
 * Its 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.
 * It can still be selected on any level that is not a night level, but they cannot be used, therefore it wastes one seed slot.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * If transformed into a sheep by a 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.
 * It is the first plant in this game that went through a major redesign. The other plants are Spikeweed, Starfruit and Tangle Kelp.
 * Instead of kicking Grave Buster when its Jam is playing, a Punk Zombie will bite the Grave Buster.
 * This is only possible in Modern Day - Day 9.
 * Despite having a sun cost of 0, it 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.