Imp



The Imp is a small zombie thrown from the back of the Gargantuar that can really cause your defenses to go downhill quickly, due to the fact that it get thrown into the middle of your plants, and can take up to nine shots to kill. It is very fast, but the weakest zombie too, the normal variety taking exactly 3 normal damage hits to kill, but those thrown from Gargantuars take 6 hits instead. However, if it is thrown deep into your defenses, it will most likely cause quite a lot of damage if your defenses are not internally strong enough. Imps are small enough to chew on a plant with a Spikeweed or Spikerock in front of it without being damaged. In I, Zombie, regular Zombies will eventually be replaced with Imps, so it may become necessary to use stronger zombies instead.

Giga-Imp
Giga-Imps are Imps launched from Giga-Gargantuars. Like the Gigas compared to normal Gargantuars, Giga-Imps have 50% more health (9 hits) than those thrown by normal Gargantuars, almost as much as a normal Zombie.

Strategy
When a regular Gargantuar is hit by an instant kill (but is not killed) or loses half of its health, it will throw the Imp off it's back approximately 6 squares forward. Covering the back three rows of land with Pumpkins is a good idea to protect against Imps. The fourth row might need a Pumpkin as well if an instant kill is launched when the Gargantuar just walked onto the lawn. In Survival: Endless, Gloom-shrooms with a laddered Pumpkin are often used as the Imp climbs over the ladder without hurting the Pumpkin and will be killed by the Gloom-shroom. Another method is to replace the Sunflower of the last column with plants, and the best choice is Melon-pult and Winter Melon because they can quickly kill the Imps and may also kill the Gargantuar. If there is not enough sun, replace the Sunflower with Twin Sunflower.

In the I, Zombie Puzzle Mode levels, although Imps can hardly withstand any damage, they're useful to send down an undefended lane to eat a Sunflower or a brain due to their speed.

Trivia

 * In I, Zombie, the Imp can survive a lane defended just by a Spikeweed due to its speed being faster than other zombies. However, one more normal pea, or anything that deals the same damage as a normal pea will kill it after it has passed the Spikeweed.
 * In I, Zombie, the Imp is small enough so that if there's a Spikeweed in front of a Wall-nut, the Spikeweed cannot attack the Imp while it is eating the Wall-nut.
 * The Imp's burnt head model is identical to that of the Catapult Zombie and the Zomboni.
 * The Imp's head becomes smaller than its body when decapitated.
 * The Imp is one of only three zombies with feet that don't wear shoes, the other two being the Jack-in-the-Box Zombie and the Zombie Yeti. (This is assuming that Dr. Zomboss and Catapult Zombies both wear shoes, as their feet are not visible.)
 * If a Gargantuar that is carrying an Imp dies before throwing the Imp, the Imp will hide in the trash can it is riding in and will die with it.
 * The Imp has no standing animation as seen in the Suburban Almanac, same with the the Backup Dancer Zombie.
 * If a Ladder Zombie places its ladder on a Wall-nut, an Imp will not climb it, but will just pass through .This does not happen if the ladder is on a Tall-nut.
 * If a Gargantuar gets killed from an Instant Kill plant while in the process of throwing an Imp, the Imp will simply disappear.
 * The Imp is the only zombie that sits down when it dies.