Laser Bean


 * For other versions, see Laser Bean (disambiguation).
 * For other usages of beans, see bean.

Laser Bean is the first plant obtained in Far Future in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Every 3 seconds, it will fire a blue laser beam down the entire lane it is in, dealing 2 normal damage shots worth of damage to every zombie. The beam cannot be blocked, reflected or resisted in any way, but does not hurt zombies protected by Glitter Zombie's rainbow, just like all projectiles.

Origins
This plant's name is a portmanteau of "laser beam," a light emitted through a process of optical amplification and "bean," the type of plant that this plant is based on.

Its red cape costume is a reference to Superman. Coincidentally, they can both shoot lasers out of their eyes.

Plant Food effect
When fed with Plant Food, Laser Bean fires a powerful laser blast from its mouth, dealing 90 normal damage shots to all zombies in the lane.

Costumed
It shoots a red laser that deals 135 normal damage shots.

In Adventure Mode
Fires a laser that deals damage to all enemies on target's row with a chance to stun them.

Strategies
Because of its ability to damage all enemies in a lane regardless of zombie density, Laser Bean specializes in cleaning up large clusters of weaker enemies such as Camel Zombies, Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels. Compared to other area-of-effect plants, Laser Bean trades a noticeable amount of firepower for increased reliability - while it only deals as much damage as a Peashooter, its attack has unlimited range unlike Fume-shroom, does not interfere with ice-based plants like Snapdragon, and cannot be reflected like A.K.E.E., Cactus, and Melon-pult. The low firepower output for a plant that costs 200 sun also means that Laser Bean will have trouble against more powerful enemies, as well as ambushes that can spawn zombies close to the player's defense line, so using it as a support plant is recommended. Against Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels, you will likely need more than one column of Laser Beans to destroy all of them.

Laser Bean is effective against zombies that attempt to shield themselves by blocking or reflecting projectiles, such as Barrel Roller Zombies, Jester Zombies and Excavator Zombies. They are also effective against zombies that can use obstacles to spawn threats in endless numbers such as Imp Porters, and Arcade Zombies. It is also a useful plant in Ancient Egypt and Dark Ages as a tool for clearing tombstones, as well as in Frostbite Caves to quickly destroy frozen blocks and neutralize Troglobites attempting to push them.

In Endless Zones, Laser Bean can be used to deter zombies at lower levels, as it might take up to a few dozen levels before the player can obtain a more powerful offensive option. Laser Bean should be replaced if the player wishes to go to higher levels however, as even Buckethead Zombies can pose serious threats to Laser Bean.

Laser Bean's Plant Food ability can simulate an ability identical to how Jalapeno chars the zombies. This gives it limited use against attacking multiple lanes, such as when a group of Gargantuars are nearing defenses. However, unlike Jalapeno, it can kill airborne Imps with its Plant Food ability and is very comparable to Citron's ability, except it is more ideal for crowd control as the ability does not stop at zombies which can take more than one instant kill's worth of damage while Citron's power ends when it meets machine zombies like the Robo-Cone Zombie, or Gargantuars, leaving a chance to the other zombies to charge forward.

Laser Bean and Primal Peashooter make a very efficient combo because they cover each other's weaknesses. While Laser Bean is weak to high hitpoint zombies, Primal Peashooter is weak to swarms. While the Laser Bean vanquishes the weaker horde, Primal Peashooter will stall and destroy stronger units.

General

 * Its Plant Food ability is likely a parody to the Shoop Da Whoop meme and also resembles one of Dr. Zomboss's attacks in the Nintendo DS exclusive mini-game Air Raid from Plants vs. Zombies.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * In the Far Future teaser Piñata Parties, it attacked more frequently, but its Plant Food effect dealt only 30 normal damage shots in its lane.
 * When watering it in the Zen Garden, it looks like it only has a row of teeth in the upper part of its mouth. However, when the Plant Food upgrade is used, two rows of teeth can be seen.
 * In its almanac entry, it says the phrase "horribly right," which is a pun of "horribly wrong."
 * Like most plants that can become airborne, it cannot be blown away by Blover due to being a plant.
 * In August 2013 there was a teaser Behind the Brainz - New Plants and 18 seconds into the video, one of the developers mentioned Laser Bean, which was teasing it before Far Future was even released.
 * Although it does not attack zombies using electricity, its seed packets are still in the Electric Piñatas.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies Online

 * Its laser does 1.5 normal damage shots instead of 2.