Football Zombie


 * For the similar zombie in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, see All-Star. For the similar zombie in Plants vs. Zombies 2, see Mecha-Football Zombie.

Football Zombie is a tough and fast zombie which first appeared in Plants vs. Zombies and then in Plants vs. Zombies Adventures and Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition. Football Zombie itself without a helmet is only as strong as a Zombie, but the zombie cannot be damaged until its helmet is destroyed or stolen by a Magnet-shroom. There is also a giga version that is only found in the Plants vs. Zombies Web Version.

Plants vs. Zombies
Football Zombie first appears in Level 2-6, and it is the eighth zombie encountered in Adventure Mode. The player gets the Hypno-shroom after beating Level 2-5, so he or she can to hypnotize the Football Zombie to make the level easier. Later, the player can use the Magnet-shroom to remove the football helmet to make the Football Zombie very weak. Football Zombie appears in many mini-games and all Survival Mode levels.

Plants vs. Zombies Adventures
Football Zombie is first encountered in U of Z Level 1. It keeps its high health and fast speed. The player gets the Magnet Plant before they go to U of Z. It is recommended to use Magnet Plant to remove its helmet.

Suburban Almanac entry
 FOOTBALL ZOMBIE 

Football Zombie makes the big plays.

Toughness: very high

Speed: fast

Weakness: Magnet-shroom

Football Zombie gives 110 percent whenever he's on the field. He's a team player who delivers both offensively and defensively. He has no idea what a football is.

Facebook description
''He makes all the big plays and gives 110 percent. Also, he has no idea what football is.''

Overview
Football Zombie absorbs 80 normal damage shots, and its appearance changes upon absorbing 24, 47, 70 (at this point, the football helmet is destroyed), and 75 normal damage shots before dying at 80 normal damage shots.

Plants vs. Zombies

 * Adventure Mode: 2-6, 2-7, 2-10, 3-2, 3-5, 4-2, 4-5, 5-4, 5-10
 * Mini-games: It's Raining Seeds, Beghouled, Beghouled Twist, Big Trouble Little Zombie, Portal Combat, Column Like You See 'Em, Last Stand, Dr. Zomboss's Revenge, Buttered Popcorn, Heavy Weapon, BOMB All Together!, Zombie Trap, Sunny Day, Big Time
 * Puzzle Mode: Chain Reaction, M is for Metal, Scary Potter, I, Zombie (Level), All your brainz r belong to us, I, Zombie Endless, all Last Stand (Puzzle Mode) levels except Last Stand: Fog
 * Survival Mode: all levels
 * Co-op Mode: all levels except Co-op Day and Co-op Bowling
 * Others: Versus Mode

Plants vs. Zombies Adventures

 * U of Z: All levels except for 17, 18, 20
 * Frostbite Falls: 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24
 * Mildew Meadow: 6, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26
 * Grey Matter Gardens: 15, 16, 17, 20, 25
 * The Sever Glades: 21 to 26
 * The Sand Dooms: 21, 22, 25
 * Zombitorium Manor: 1, 3, 5, 11, 12, 21 to 30
 * Reclaiming lots: The Flaming Lot, The Police Station Lot, The Bamboo Lot, The Fitness Lot, The Chilly Lot, The Sunny Lot

Adventure Mode and Survival Mode
The Suburban Almanac advises the use of a Magnet-shroom, reducing the maximum absorption to ten normal damage shots. It is very fast and has very good defense. The use of heavy damage plants, such as Melon-pult or movement restricting plants, such as Snow Pea, Kernel-pult, and Winter Melon, are other options. In general, just pile tons of fire power onto it. If these options are unavailable, use an instant kill. Hypno-shrooms are also good against them in earlier levels if the player has not obtained other instant kills. Spikeweed and Spikerock can heavily damage the zombie as it approaches the player's plants. Also, Gatling Pea is useful to weaken their helmets quickly, once the player buys them.

I, Zombie
Deploy this zombie when very large amounts of damage needs to be absorbed (sometimes, it may be more efficient to use a Ladder Zombie, instead of one if there is a Snow Pea, as frequently less damage would need to be absorbed if the zombie in that row was able to move at a normal speed, and the freezing effect can't go through the ladder). Also, avoid using when there are Magnet-shrooms around, as it will remove the football helmet and render the Football Zombie almost useless.

Giga-Football Zombie
Giga-Football Zombie is a black and white Football Zombie that is only seen in the online versions of Survival Mode and Vasebreaker. Giga-Football Zombie has the health of a Gargantuar except that it moves around faster, has to chew on plants to kill them, and has no Imp to throw. Unlike normal Football Zombies, Giga-Football Zombie has spikes on its shoulder plate.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Football Zombie is the only zombie that appears in Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies Adventures but not in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
 * Most zombies lose their left arm when they take enough damage. The Football Zombie loses its right arm instead (unless it has eaten a Hypno-shroom).
 * If a Football Zombie chews on a Garlic, he will not stop and make a face, but he will instead go instantly to another lane.
 * Football Zombie's helmet is available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 160 Microsoft Points.
 * Football Zombie itself has the same healthpoints as a regular zombie (ten healthpoints); the only reason why its toughness is so high is because of its helmet, which absorbs seventy healthpoints. Because of this, Football Zombie's healthpoints is oddly on par with an Imp, despite it being much bigger than the Imp, and it has less healthpoints than a Pole Vaulting Zombie or Ladder Zombie (seventeen healthpoints each).
 * If a Football Zombie is hit by butter while running, it may freeze it in mid-air, while running. This may also happen if it is frozen by an Ice-shroom.
 * Football Zombie is the only zombie that can freeze in mid-air. Balloon Zombies and Pogo Zombies cannot be frozen while they still have their balloon and pogo stick, respectively, even though they can be slowed down.
 * It is the one of the fastest moving headwear zombies, with the others being Balloon Zombie and Digger Zombie while it is underground.
 * Football Zombie, Giga-Football Zombie, Zombie Bobsled Team, Balloon Zombie, Dancing Zombie, Backup Dancers, and Imp are the only zombies that fall backwards when they die.
 * Football Zombie has the second toughest headwear, the toughest being Giga-Football Zombie's headwear.
 * In the Nintendo DS version of the game, when a Football Zombie loses its arm, instead of showing its arm falling off, the game shows the arm of an ordinary Zombie falling off.
 * It is odd that the football helmet protects Football Zombie from projectiles and some plants like Spikeweed, as they mostly hit it in the other body parts except for lobbed-shot plants.
 * A Spikeweed and a Spikerock can still damage Football Zombie when it is in mid-air.
 * Football Zombie (with helmet) makes the same sound when hit as Conehead Zombie and Digger Zombie.
 * Football Zombie is one of three zombies to have facepaint, the others being Gatling Pea Zombie and Giga-Football Zombie. All of those characters all have their facepaint under their eyes.
 * It is unknown how Football Zombie is able to eat with its helmet on, as the mouth guard would prevent that, although its headwear still has holes for its mouth which are pretty big.
 * Football Zombie is the most powerful zombie to show up in a first wave as it was in Column Like You See 'Em (not including Survival: Endless).
 * In the Nintendo DS version of the game, Football Zombie eats and runs faster.
 * On the I, Zombie seed packet for this zombie, its head is bigger than it should be.
 * Football Zombie, Dancing Zombie (when approaching), Zombie Yeti, and the hypnotized zombies (excluding Football Zombie) are the only zombies that lose their right arm before death.
 * Despite what other sources say, a Football Zombie can be more dangerous than a Gargantuar.
 * Newspaper Zombie (after the newspaper is destroyed), Football Zombie, and Giga-Football Zombie are the only Zombies which are looking straight to the players house.
 * It is unknown how Football Zombies can kick up dirt on the Roof.
 * Many promotional images for the game show the Football Zombie as having a piece of dirt stuck in the mouth guard of its helmet.
 * Despite being in the air, Blover cannot blow away a Football Zombie in midair.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars

 * It attacks plants by throwing footballs at them.