Jalapeno


 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, see Jalapeño.

Jalapeno is an instant-kill plant available in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games. When planted, he will explode and cover the lane he is placed on in fire, dealing 90 normal damage shots worth of damage to and removing all ice-based effect from every enemy in the lane.

Origins
Jalapeno is based on the real life Jalapeño, a cultivar of the plant Capsicum annuum valued for its spicy flavor.

Plants vs. Zombies
Jalapeno is obtained after beating Level 3-5. Aside from the primary effect, Jalapeno can also melt the Zomboni's ice trail and Dr. Zomboss' iceballs, and remove ice-based effect from zombies.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Jalapeno returns as a premium plant available for purchase at $2.99. In the Frostbite Caves, Jalapeno is also capable of melting frozen blocks instantly regardless of health and damage any trapped zombie directly, unlike other instant plants which are weakened by frozen blocks.

After the 4.0 update, Jalapeno is used to represent the difficulty of all the worlds except for the Player's House, ranging from one to five.

Plants vs. Zombies
Jalapeno

Jalapenos destroy an entire lane of zombies.

Damage: massive

Range: all zombies in a lane

Usage: single use, instant

"NNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!" Jalapeno says. He's not going to explode, not this time. But soon. Oh, so soon. It's close. He knows it, he can feel it, his whole life's been leading up to this moment.

Cost: 125

Recharge: very slow

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sun cost: 125

DAMAGE: Massive

AREA: Lane

RECHARGE: Slow

Jalapenos destroy an entire lane of zombies.

Usage:  single use, instant

This jalapeno is one spicy character by day and The Macramé Vigilante by night. You might be wondering what his secret weapons is... it's knots.

Level upgrade
Note: Jalapeno can't be upgraded to level 4.

Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars
Fire Blast: Spits fire to all enemies in its lane and burns them. It needs Brave Plant Food to activate.

Strategies
Jalapeno focuses on dealing heavy damage to all enemies on a specific lane, as opposed to a limited area over multiple lanes like Cherry Bomb. Because of this, Jalapeno will be more suited for quickly neutralizing threats that have come far into the player's defense such as Imps being thrown by Gargantuars, rather than general crowd control. The fire-based nature of Jalapeno can be considered to be both a blessing and a curse: While this means Jalapeno is highly useful against several ice-based threats, this also means any surviving enemies, predominantly Gargantuars, will have their freezing effect removed if previously frozen, rendering Ice-shroom and Iceberg Lettuce useless.

Jalapeno can benefit from use of Imitater, as he will effectively halve the recharge time and allow more liberal use of the plant. Creating choke points via the use of Garlic or/and Sweet Potato can also boost Jalapeno's efficiency by allowing him to damage more zombies.

Plants vs. Zombies
Jalapeno is an useful plant against Zomboni as he is capable of melting the ice trail, freeing space for planting and preventing Zombie Bobsled Teams from entering. He is also an useful tool for destroying ladders placed by Ladder Zombies; certain strategies in Survival: Endless utilize ladders against thrown Imps however, and Jalapeno should never used in these cases.

Level 5-10
Jalapenos is provided in this level as the only means of neutralizing Dr. Zomboss's iceball attack. Unlike Ice-shroom which can be placed anywhere on the lawn to negate fireball, Jalapeno must be planted on the lane where the iceball is spawned. The player should exercise moderation when using Jalapeno, and always keep a stock in case more dangerous enemies arrive, or an iceball is spawned. Using Jalapeno while the Zombot's head is down can also deal heavy damage and greatly speed up the fight. However, it's not recommended to use it while it is frozen or else the Zombot will become unfrozen.

Column Like You See 'Em mini-game
Jalapenos can be planted in a column of pots to effectively wipe the entire screen of enemies, and heavily damage any surviving Gargantuars. These are usually obtained once or twice, so they should be saved for either when huge waves two and three when Gargantuars appear or when Ladder Zombies have placed ladders on your defensive plants. Jalapenos will also melt the ladders placed on the defensive plants, if any. Jalapeno cannot be used however, if the player plans to obtain the Chilli Free achievement.

General
Jalapeno can be used to neutralize Barrel Roller Zombies while preventing the barrels from releasing Imp Pirate Zombies. He is also useful for cleaning up tombstones in Ancient Egypt and the Dark Ages, or ice block in the Frostbite Caves - the latter is a special case, as unlike most other instant plants which will only destroy the ice and leave the trapped zombie mostly unscathered, Jalapeno can instantly melt the ice and kill the zombie at once.

It should be noted that because he attacks by using fire, Imp Dragon Zombies are immune to his attack, therefore making him useless against them.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * There are two achievements that involve the Jalapeno, Chill Out and Chilli Free. One involves the player using a Jalapeno and the other involved the player not using a Jalapeno.
 * A Jalapeno can clear a lane of daisies made by killed zombies (if "daisies" was typed).
 * In the Suburban Almanac, the Jalapeno is shaking fast while in the Zen Garden it shakes slowly. However, on the iOS and Android versions, it shakes fast in the Zen Garden. It will also shake fast if the player gives it a Chocolate (only when it is happy).
 * If Jalapeno or any other explosive plant (with the exception of Potato Mine) is used to destroy a zombie in ZomBotany, he will turn the zombie black, but he will not fall into ashes.
 * A Chili Pepper T-shirt is available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. It costs 80 Microsoft Points, and is a white T-shirt with a picture of the Jalapeno on it.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * Jalapeno's explosion plays additional sounds absent from the previous game. He makes a "wheeee" sound and maracas during the explosion.
 * Upon Neon Mixtape Tour Side B's release, Jalapeno makes an appearance on the world map as a difficulty rating for the different worlds.
 * In the Chinese version, Jalapeno is one of two instant-use plants that has level upgrades, the other being Cherry Bomb.
 * In the Chinese version, the flame trail created by him looks like the trail created by Power Flame instead.