Buckethead Zombie

The Buckethead Zombie is a basic zombie with a bucket on its head, greatly increasing its toughness. The bucket does not weaken plant effects, however, it does increase the number of hits required to eliminate the zombie. One of their weaknesses is the Magnet-shroom, as it removes the bucket, rendering him vulnerable and much easier to defeat. It is the fifth zombie to be found in Adventure Mode, and the last to be found in Day levels. This zombie is encountered in Level 1-8.

Suburban Almanac Entry
 Buckethead Zombie 

His bucket hat makes him extremely resistant to damage.

Toughness: high

Weakness: magnet-shroom

Buckethead Zombie always wore a bucket. Part of it was to assert his uniqueness in an uncaring world. Mostly he just forgot it was there in the first place.

Overview
The Buckethead Zombie absorbs 65 normal damage shots and its appearance changes upon an absorption of 19, 37 and 55 when the bucket is destroyed and 60 normal damage shots before dying at 65 normal damage shots.

Appearances
Adventure Mode: 1-8, 1-9, 1-10, 2-2, 2-5, 3-2, 3-4, 3-5 (DS, DSi), 3-7, 3-9, 3-10, 4-5, 4-7, 4-9, 4-10, 5-2, 5-5, 5-9, 5-10

Mini-games: Wall-nut Bowling, Slot Machine, It's Raining Seeds, Beghouled, Invisi-ghoul, Seeing Stars, Beghouled Twist, Portal Combat, Column Like You See 'Em, Whack a Zombie, Last Stand, Wall-nut Bowling 2, Dr. Zomboss's Revenge, Buttered Popcorn, Heat Wave, BOMB All Together!, Zombie Trap, Art Challenge Wall-nut, Sunny Day, Unsodded, Big Time, Art Challenge Sunflower, High Gravity, Grave Danger, Bungee Blitz

Puzzle Mode: Vasebreaker (Level), To the Left, Third Vase, M is for Metal, Hokey Pokey, Ace of Vase, Vasebreaker Endless, all I, Zombie levels, all Last Stand (iOS Puzzle Mode) levels

Survival Mode: all levels

Co-op Mode: all levels

Others: Vs. Mode

Strategies
For most beginners, the Buckethead Zombie is highly annoying as it often appears in huge waves or in waves with other kinds of Zombies. In the early levels, it is good to have two Peashooters against. A Snow Pea with three Spikeweeds is strongly sufficient due to the slowing effect which makes the zombie spend more time walking on Spikeweeds.

Although the Snow Pea is also a good weapon of choice, it is not recommended to do so for the sake of Sun being wasted. It is advised, however to use Threepeaters, Repeaters, or Gatling Peas in conjunction with a Torchwood. The Suburban Almanac advises the use of a Magnet-shroom, reducing the maximum absorption to 10 normal damage shots; however, it is not needed. You may want to use Instant Kills for them, such as the Squash. These zombies make up the majority of the offense in Survival: Endless. But one Snow Pea and one Peashooter is sufficient to kill a Buckethead Zombie, mainly due to the slowing effect. If they appear in the Night levels, you can use the Hypno-shroom on the Buckethead Zombie if your defense are not yet set up. Using a Wall-nut and a Repeater works, but the Wall-nut will be eaten or severely damaged if you try that, but it works.

Vasebreaker Endless
Whenever one appears, refrain from breaking more vases within the same lane. A Potato Mine can be used if given enough time, and a Squash or Wall-nut if not. Otherwise, a Snow Pea paired with either a Peashooter, Left-Facing Repeater, or Threepeater can work, although it is not as efficient.

A single Repeater with a Wall-nut is sufficient if the zombie is far back enough.

I, Zombie Endless
Avoid use around nearby Magnet-shrooms, a Squash in the same lane, or a Chomper that is not chewing. Otherwise, deploy when large (but not massive) amounts of damage need to be absorbed. A Snow Pea plus one or two other Plants defending a lane may result in the Buckethead Zombie's death, so be careful there. These are one of the most useful weapons in your arsenal (second to the Ladder Zombie), being cheap while being able to absorb a large amount of damage.

Trivia

 * The Tree of Wisdom said that a Buckethead Zombie is 5x tougher than regular ones, but it is actually 6.5x tougher. It might be referring to the Bucket, but it would also be wrong, as the bucket absorbs 5.5x as much as a Zombie.
 * Maybe the Tree of Wisdom estimated the damage.
 * The Bucket is available as a Hat for your avatar in the Xbox Live Marketplace. It costs 160 Microsoft Points.
 * There are some blood stains on the bucket the Zombie is wearing. This may also be the reason why this game is rated E10+ for animated blood, despite the fact that there is no blood shown in the entire game besides on the bucket and the inside of a zombie' neck when it's head is removed.
 * This may be because the Buckethead Zombie had eaten other Brains before proceeding to Your House. However, it does not state that it has eaten brains earlier in the Suburban Almanac, but it also may be red paint or rust from the bucket.
 * It is odd that the bucket protects the Buckethead Zombie from projectiles and some plants like Spikeweed, as they mostly hit it in the other body parts except for Lobbed-shot Plants.
 * Furthermore, even for Lobbed-shot plants, the Bucket would not be very effective at stopping decapitation as opposed to head damage.
 * The Buckethead Zombie, the Conehead Zombie, the Trash Can Zombie and the Screen Door Zombie are the only zombies that can degrade into a normal Zombie.
 * However, that is only appearance wise, the Trash Can Zombie will be slower than the other three.
 * If Plants vs Zombies: Game of the Year was purchased before May 5th, 2011, the Soldier from Team Fortress 2 will be awarded with a Brain Bucket hat.
 * The Buckethead Zombie and the Screen Door Zombie are the only zombies that have metal but still move at a similar speed to other "normal" zombies.
 * During the final wave of a pool/fog level on the DS version, the Buckethead Zombie's bucket does not have a third stage of damage if it appears as an Ambush Zombie.
 * The Buckethead Zombie is most likely doesn't get stunned by the "clank" sound of the bucket because it has no ear.
 * The Buckethead Zombie is the only zombie that can be used in all of the I, Zombie levels.
 * Despite that the Buckethead Zombie and the Screen Door Zombie has the same health, the Buckethead Zombie in Wall-nut Bowling and Wall-nut Bowling 2 takes only three hits while the Screen Door Zombie takes four hits (one for ricochet).