Shrinking Violet


 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see .

Shrinking Violet is a single-use premium plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. She was first revealed in teaser Piñata Parties for Modern Day Part 1 as its associated premium plant. As of the Valenbrainz 2017 update, she costs 89 gems. As of the Luck O' the Zombies 2017 update, she costs 100 gems. It is unknown whether she will return to her original price.

Shrinking Violet has the ability to shrink zombies in a 3x3 area around it, which in herself has unique effects depending on what type of zombie was shrunk: namely, removing certain abilities and shrinking Imps and other small zombies (like Zombie Chickens) into oblivion. For a detailed list of effects, see its Overview section below.

In the Chinese version, she can also permanently slow zombies when upgraded.

Origins
Shrinking Violet is based on the Viola, a genus of flowering plants mostly found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The term violet  describes a shy person, and Shrinking Violet is shy according to her Almanac entry, an aspect shown visibly as it hides in its petals and occasionally peeks from them during its idle animation.

Overview
As mentioned before, Shrinking Violet's minimizing ability has different results depending on the zombie she is being used on: First and foremost, all Imp variants including Bug Bot Imps, Imp Porters, Super-Fan Imps, Zombie Parrots, Zombie Chickens, Ice Weasels, and Seagull Zombies excluding Chinese exclusive Imps will be instantly killed (however, in the case of Seagull Zombies, only the seagulls that makes Seagull Zombies fly shrink into oblivion; consequently, the Seagull Zombie will perish immediately after) and they also cannot be spawned by shrunken enemies. Most other zombies, however, will have their size drastically reduced, their damage intake doubled and their attack strength halved. The decreased size also comes with a smaller hitbox, and will allow the zombies to evade certain attacks such as a part of Repeater's Plant Food effect, and all of Bowling Bulb's attacks. Certain attacks that can instantly kill plants are exempted from this rule, such as Gargantuar's smash and Explorer Zombie's torch. The entire stunning animation takes two seconds, during which the targeted zombies are immobilized.

Unique effects can be observed in some situations. Shrunken enemies cannot be picked up by pterodactyls in Jurassic Marsh but can otherwise be interacted with other dinosaurs. Barrel Roller Zombies, Troglobites and Arcade Zombies can no longer push their barrels, frozen blocks and arcade machines, respectively. Imp Cannon and Zombie King are also immune to Shrinking Violet, probably due to their immobile nature. MC Zom-B can no longer hit plants in lanes above and below it. If a Surfer Zombie is shrunk while still holding his surfboard, the surfboard will be shrunk with him. When he tries to destroy a plant with it, the surfboard will disappear, without appearing to damage the plant at all. Finally, all minimized zombies can be thrown away with Power Toss, including Gargantuars which would otherwise have resistance to it.

It is important to note that lawn obstacles (such as tombstones or surfboards) are not counted as zombies and therefore cannot be shrunken.

Shrinking Violet is an excellent choice in Endless Zones due to its relatively fast recharge for her effect, her large area of effect, and her great Plant Food effect. Shrinking Violet can be combined with Tile Turnip and other plants whose Plant Food effects cover a large area, such as Winter Melon, Strawburst, and Shadow-shroom. A boosted Shrinking Violet can also help.

It is given for Modern Day - Day 3 and Modern Day - Day 33 (if the Zombot battle is the Zombot Sharktronic Sub).

Plant Food effect
When fed Plant Food, Shrinking Violet increases in size and shrinks all zombies in play, including those off-screen. She then turns back to her regular size.

Costumed
Zombies will get shrunk smaller than the normal Plant Food effect and will move slower.

Strategies
Shrinking Violet shares her role with a few other plants such as Stallia and Stunion as an instant plant designed for suppressing the incoming enemies, rather than killing them outright. However, Shrinking Violet is still relatively unique when compared to its colleagues, as while stunning and slowing are only temporarily, the shrinking effect can permanently cripple the target by cutting down its health and damage capability. This, combined with the short recharge time and general ease of use makes Shrinking Violet an incredibly useful plant in the game - a Shrinking Violet combined with Imitater can effectively double, or when combined with slowing plants, quadruple the offensive potential of all other offensive plants on the field.

Shrinking Violet's utility is further extended by its more unique effects against certain foes. In the Wild West and Frostbite Caves, Shrinking Violet can be used against Chicken Wrangler Zombies and Weasel Hoarders to prevent them from releasing Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels, respectively. Shrinking Violet can also be used to prevent Troglobites and Arcade Zombies from pushing blocks, greatly reduce the effectiveness of MC Zom-Bs and prevent pterodactyls from deploying shrunken zombies on the back of the field in Jurassic Marsh. Last but not least, Shrinking Violet can be used as a quick solution for early level Imps, as well as preventing Gargantuars and Zombie Bulls from throwing them deep into the player's defense.

Don't user her against Zombie Kings or Imp Cannons, as they will be unaffected by her. It is also not a good idea to use her in levels where there's a limit to how many plants you can lose.

Don't plant Shrinking Violet at the rightmost column to shrink Pianist Zombie, because sometimes Shrinking Violet will be killed before she can shrink the zombie.

Shrinking Violet along with other plants can make a devastating combination with Tile Turnip. Planting Tile Turnips underneath a Shrinking Violet and several Winter Melons can, in most cases, empty out the zombie horde. First, feed Plant Food to Shrinking Violet. As the zombies are shrunken, a deadly melon rain falls, dealing huge damage, and in most cases, can kill even very dense groups of Gargantuars due to them taking double damage.

It is not recommended to use Shrinking Violet in fast-paced levels such as Neon Mixtape Tour - Day 5. This is because there's a hidden mechanic in the game in which if the zombies are damaged enough, it will immediately start the next wave of zombies, regardless of how their health is reduced. Instead, use Stallia as it won't hurt zombies.

Using Shrinking Violet's Plant Food effect on the final wave of a level is recommended because she shrinks all remaining zombies, even those off screen. This makes it easy to clean off the rest of the zombie horde without any problems.

In the Chinese version, only at level 3 or 4 will the effects of Shrinking Violet from the international version be replicated. At level 1, Gargantuars are unaffected while at level 2, all shrunken zombies still take and deal the damage they normally would have taken at full size. However, she can be used as a replacement to Stallia, as while Shrinking Violet costs more than the latter, she has a faster recharge and is able to slow down zombies.

Trivia

 * All shrunken zombies' sound will be faster and higher pitched. As such, Pianist Zombie's music and Boombox Zombie's ballad jam will also play faster and at a higher pitch.
 * If she is fed Plant Food, and Thyme Warp is used at the same time, the game will crash.
 * This has been fixed in the 4.5 update.
 * After she shrinks a Zombie Bull, the laughing sound of the Zombie Bull Rider can still be heard.
 * In the 4.3 update, zombies took five seconds to be shrunken and did not suffer from reduced damage.
 * The Imps in the Modern Day Part 1 trailer do not shrink into oblivion, instead shrinking into a smaller size like most zombies.
 * This also happens with the Imps controlling the Disco-tron 3000 and Gargantuar Prime and most Chinese-exclusive Imps such as Tiger Imp.
 * She is the third money premium plant that can be used in a Zomboss battle. The first is the Pea-nut and the second is the Cactus.
 * If she is used on a Dodo Rider Zombie, the Imp rider will shrink into oblivion, only leaving the dodo left.
 * This is the only way to see the dodo without the Imp riding it.
 * If she shrinks a Chicken Wrangler or a Weasel Hoarder before they release their animals, their animals will shrink as well. However once they taken damage and attempt to release their animals, they instantly vanish.
 * The fact that this plant is released during Modern Day may be a reference to Big Trouble Little Zombie from the original game.
 * Certain straight-shooting projectiles will miss shrunken zombies in Big Wave Beach in the water due to lower elevation. This includes most peashooting plants (lower peas on Pea-nut are unaffected, for example), Bloomerang, Coconut Cannon, Bowling Bulb, and Guacodile. Other plants, such as Red Stinger, Starfruit, Rotobaga, Laser Bean, Fume-shroom, and Citron can still hit zombies as usual.
 * The player can still refund some sun by shoveling it up after she shrinks the zombies down before it completely disappears.
 * Her original price upon introduction was USD $4.99.
 * With the 5.8.1 Valenbrainz 2017 update, her price was changed to 89 gems.
 * With the 5.9.1 Luck O' the Zombies / Springening 2017 update, her price was changed to 100 gems.
 * She can sometimes be killed by Pianist Zombie, similar to Stallia.
 * She can also be killed by one of the Zombot Sharktronic Sub's zombie sharks.
 * All bosses are immune to her because if she is able to shrink them, the fight would be too easy.
 * The inbox for her Epic Quest confirms her to be female.
 * She was one of the four plants that were banned in Explode-o-nut’s All Out Tournament. The others were Hypno-shroom, Caulipower and Witch Hazel.
 * Oddly, in Battlez, shrinking imps, weasels and chickens will not increase the player's score

Specific to Chinese version

 * Her seed packet is different than the international version.
 * In the international version, only the head is shown, while in the Chinese version, the whole body is shown.
 * The Chinese-exclusive Imps cannot be shrunken into oblivion.