Cattail


 * For other uses, please refer to the Cattail (disambiguation) page.

Cattail is the upgrade for the Lily Pad. It costs $10,000 to buy from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies and 225 sun to upgrade Lily Pad in the Pool. Its attack is triggered by a zombie appearing anywhere on the lawn, and it fires spikes at the firing speed of a Repeater. It becomes available to purchase before playing Level 4-5 in Plants vs. Zombies.

Cattail returns in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, and has several changes. It can be planted on both water and land and can be planted without Lily Pad.It has improved accuracy so any of its spikes in the air targeting a dead zombie will now target another. Its damage is increased, and it now has a chance to stun zombies for a second.Plus, it also has a very small chance of shooting a giant missile, in which a Level 1 Cattail's giant missile is capable of killing a Level 2 Gargantuar instantly.

Origins
Its tail and name are based on the Typha latifolia, the Cattail or reed, a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. Its face and head, however, are based on the domestic cat, Felis catus.

Its codename in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, "nekotail" is a pun between its English name and "neko" which is Japanese for cat, referencing the stereotype of animé shows (a mainly Japanese medium) using cats a lot.

Plants vs. Zombies
Cattail 

Cattails can attack at any lane and shoot down balloon zombies too.

Must be planted on lily pads

"Woof!" says Cattail. "Woof woof woof! Does this confuse you? Do you expect me to say 'Meow' like a cat because the word 'cat' is in my name and I also look like a cat? That's not how things work around here. I refuse to be pigeonholed."

Cost: 225

Recharge: very slow

Plant Food upgrade
When given Plant Food, Cattail emits a blue laser that gets larger and larger, that tracks down a random target. If the target is defeated, the laser will quickly move to another random zombie, similar to Magnifying Grass' Plant Food effect.

Costumed
It now emits a pink and larger laser at zombies, that does a small amount of splash damage.

Usage
Cattail has the damage and rate of fire of a Repeater. The spikes it fires home in on zombies and can damage zombies regardless of their position on the lawn. It attacks the zombies closest to the plant, although it prioritizes Balloon Zombies. However, they can only directly hit some shield zombies (around their shields). It is very useful for killing Digger Zombies if they are in the back row, as it will kill them before they can even move/attack.

Plants vs. Zombies
Because a single Cattail can cover all six lanes, it makes a good early defensive plant. It also helps deal with Digger Zombies, Imps, and Balloon Zombies. However, they are easily overran because of the ability to cover all six lanes and the priority of targeting the zombie closest to the house. A Cattail may be targeting a Conehead Zombie, then a Pole Vaulting Zombie that is closer to the house draws its fire, letting the Conehead Zombie go on unhindered. Also, all of your Cattails will typically fire at the same target (except under certain conditions) and when that target dies, spikes in the air are wasted. This limits the effectiveness of large numbers of Cattails, so it is recommended that you don't rely solely on Cattails for defense.

It is a good idea to use Cattails in large numbers in Survival Mode that take place in Pool or Fog, as they do well against Balloon Zombies. Don't forget to back them up with more consistent firing plants, such as Repeaters or Melon-pults.

Cattails can be very useful in large numbers as they can destroy zombies rather quickly and will be able to save space in other lanes. However, the fact that they are only available in Pool and Fog limits their utility.

Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)
In this game, it can be used as a more expensive but more versatile alternative to Homing Thistle as while it costs more, it can stun zombies, can be planted on waterand having better accuracy than him.Still, it's expensive so it is not a good idea to use it by itself.

Do not use it against Balloon Zombie as it can't instantly pop the balloon

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Its leaves' filenames in the game are Cat_paw1.png, Cattail_paw2.png, and Cattail_paw3.png.
 * It is the only aquatic plant that is an upgrade and is also the only offensive upgrade plant that upgrades from an unoffensive plant. It is also the only aquatic plant that needs to be planted on Lily Pad.
 * It can be downgraded to a Lily Pad if the player has a Pumpkin on it and try to dig it up, as that would cause the Pumpkin to fall into the water otherwise. Bungee Zombies can also downgrade it with a Pumpkin. This makes it the only plant able to downgrade.
 * It is the most expensive aquatic plant, costing 225 (25 extra for Lily Pad) sun with a 250 sun total. However, this value can rise in Survival: Endless due to the increasing price of upgrade plants.
 * During the ending credits of Zombies on Your Lawn, it is shown next to Laura Shigihara's name. She says it is because it is her favorite plant.
 * When a zombie is defeated, the spikes from Cattails are still aiming for the same direction, it will not damage the zombie behind the defeated one (unlike some other projectiles, which hit the zombies at the back).
 * Its spikes move slower than Cactus'.
 * It and Lily Pad are the only aquatic plants that can have a Pumpkin on them.
 * Its spikes on the Nintendo DS version of the game will sometimes miss the zombies, and keep circling it until it dies, as well as not target zombies, but rather fly straight ahead and rotate slowly.
 * It has the longest range among the shooting plants.
 * It can fire in the most directions. The plant that fires in the second most directions is Gloom-shroom (eight) and the third is Starfruit (five).
 * Despite the fact it can pop Balloon Zombie's balloon, Cattail is not listed as a weakness of Balloon Zombies in the Suburban Almanac entry.
 * It will not aim at a Snorkel Zombie. However, it can fire anywhere on the screen and will aim at Balloon Zombies. This is possibly because it cannot see it. It may also be because it cannot fire at it as the Cattail might not be able to fire heights that low.
 * When a Cattail is targeting a Pole Vaulting Zombie and the zombie vaults, the spikes will act as it would if the zombie already died, but when the Pole Vaulting Zombie lands, the spike will turn around and attack the zombie again.
 * This also happens when a Balloon Zombie loses its balloon or when a Dolphin Rider Zombie loses its dolphin.
 * In the mini-game Heavy Weapon, its tail is pink instead of brown.
 * It can support a Pumpkin even though the Pumpkin looks like it is floating.
 * This is because it is an upgraded version of Lily Pad, and Lily Pad's function is to support plants on water.
 * The player cannot plant a Cattail on a Lily Pad with a plant besides a Pumpkin on it.
 * If it is planted in the very front rows, its spike cannot home into zombies.
 * It will not attack unless there are zombies in the second column or farther.
 * It only has a tongue as a plush toy.
 * In some versions, when a zombie targeted by a Cattail is not killed by it, the spikes fired targeting the dead zombie may circle around the dead zombie's death location. This behavior has been seen in the most recent Android update.
 * It has a counterpart in Plants vs. Zombies 2, which is the Homing Thistle. The only difference between the two is that Cattail fires 2 spikes dealing 1 normal damage shot each, while Homing Thistle only fires a spike, but dealing 2 normal damage shots each.
 * It seems to act like a normal plant on a Lily Pad, as they cannot plant anymore plants on it and it can support a Pumpkin.
 * Even if it can hit zombies from the back, it will still damage Screen Door Zombie's screen door, even if the projectile hits Screen Door Zombie's back.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)

 * In the trailer, instead of shooting a homing missile, it shoots a giant spike instead, suggesting that it originally has this projectile in development
 * It, Plantern, Coffee Bean, Gatling Pea and Cob Cannon are the only Plants vs. Zombies plants to reappear in the Chinese version without appearing in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
 * According to its Almanac entry, it can only speak in meows. However, in its Suburban Almanac entry in Plants vs. Zombies, it speaks English.
 * In addition, Cattail also barks in its Suburban Almanac entry.
 * It looks more artificial than it did in the first game. Also, its hat now looks more like a helmet instead of a beanie.


 * Unlike in the first game, the spikes no longer instantly pop Balloon Zombie's balloon. This also applies with Cactus.