Starfruit

Starfruit is a plant appearing in both main series Plants vs. Zombies series game. It is an unlockable plant in the first game, and a premium plant in the second game.

Starfruit attacks by projecting stars in five different directions whenever a zombie is in its line of fire: one to the left, one going up, one going down, one going to the upper right (gradient of 1/2), and the last going lower right (gradient of -1/2). Each star deals one damage. If a zombie is exactly in front of it, with or without eating it, the zombie will be damaged by two of the five sides of Starfruit.

Origins
Starfruit is based on the real life fruit of the same name, which belongs to the plant Averrhoa carambola, a species of woody plant in the family Oxalidaceae.

Plants vs. Zombies
Starfruit is unlocked after completing Level 4-6. It costs 125 sun (175 in Versus Mode) to plant. In this game, Starfruit has its own mini-game called Seeing Stars, where the player is required to fill up certain tiles with Starfruit to form a giant star in order to complete the level.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Starfruit returns in the Far Future update. It is a premium plant which is available for purchase for $3.99. Its sun cost has been increased to 150 sun.

Plants vs. Zombies
Starfruit

Starfruits shoot stars in five directions.

Damage: normal

Range: five directions

"Aw, man," says Starfruit. "I went to the dentist the other day and he said that I have four cavities. I've got --count it-- ONE tooth! Four cavities in one tooth? How does this happen?"

Cost: 125

Recharge: fast

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sun cost: 150

DAMAGE: Normal

RANGE: 5 Way

RECHARGE: Fast

Starfruits shoot stars in 5 directions.

Range Details: fires in five directions

Just a small town fruit that travelled to the big city and found his way to the future. His favorite modes of transportation: conveyor belts, hoverboards, and rockets. WEEEE!

Plant Food effect
When fed with Plant Food, Starfruit will shoot ten giant stars in five directions, each dealing four normal damage shots worth of damage to a single enemy.

Costumed
Plant Food ability has a longer duration and the projectiles will spin counterclockwise.

Strategies
Starfruit stands out from other projectile-based for specializing in attacking lanes other than the lane it is planted on. Its strength lies in its relatively high firepower potential for its cost, as well as the ability to neutralize enemies attempting to attack plants from the back, such as Digger Zombie in the first game and Prospector Zombie in the second. However, this is hampered by Starfruit's awkward firing pattern, which makes the plant incapable of defending itself from direct assault. Because of this, the plant is likely going to be deployed in columns, in which each Starfruit can cover each other.

The player can improve Starfruit's performance by funneling the zombies away from the plant, reducing or avoiding the risk of direct attacks altogether. Possible methods include planting Starfruit on water lanes in Pool levels where there are less pressure from zombies, utilizing ice floes in Frostbite Caves, or guiding the horde with Garlic and Sweet Potato.

Seeing Stars mini-game
To win the mini-game, the player must plant Starfruit on the designated tiles - the only other plant that can be placed there is Pumpkin. Because of this, Pumpkin will prove to be highly useful in defending Starfruits in more vulnerable positions. Other strategies that normally work with Starfruit can also be used in this mini-game to help fending off the horde until the objective is completed.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Starfruit faces competition from Rotobaga, whose firing pattern also allows it to hit enemies from adjacent lane. Compared to Rotobaga, Starfruit exchanges firepower for greatly increased range, since it can attack enemies from much further compared to Rotobaga and therefore will find more use against fragile enemies that can instantly crush plants. Performance against backward-moving targets is debatable however: While Starfruit can shoot directly to the back and hit enemies more consistently, Rotobaga's superior damage output helps it neutralize tougher targets such as Jurassic Fossilhead deployed by pterosauruses more easily. Finally, Rotobaga also benefits as it is not a premium plant, and is able to be planted on water tiles in Big Wave Beach without the aid of Lily Pad.

A lawn full of Starfruits is good against Octo Zombies, as the Starfruit's rapid, multi-directional attack can quickly destroy octopi.

General

 * Starfruit is the first projectile plant that is incapable of attacking a zombie on the same lane that is farther away from the player's house, with the second being Rotobaga.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Starfruit does not try to harm a Bungee Zombie that is stealing it. But if a zombie is in the Starfruit's range and a Bungee Zombie is trying to steal another plant, all five stars will shoot at the Bungee Zombie until the zombie is out of the Starfruit's range.
 * Starfruit, Wall-nut, and Cob Cannon are the only plants with mini-games featuring themselves.
 * Starfruit and Threepeater are the only plants that have a different cost and a slower recharge time at the same time in Versus Mode.
 * In the Nintendo DS and DSi versions, sometimes a zombie is within its range, but the star projectile will just bypass the zombie instead of hitting it. This most likely occurs if the zombie is in a lane above the Starfruit, regardless of position.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * For some reason, in the Chinese version advertisement of its Plant Food upgrade the first picture shows the Starfruit with both its international costume (afro and mustache) and its Chinese costume (antennae) on the same Starfruit. It does not have the afro and mustache costume in the Chinese version.