Banana Launcher

Banana Launcher is the fifth and last plant obtained in Big Wave Beach in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It fires explosive bananas that deal 60 normal damage shots to zombies in a 1x3 radius. The player is required to tap on it to arm itself, then tap on any tile for it to launch its projectile, similar to the Cob Cannon. After it launches its projectile, it is required to recharge, similarly to the Coconut Cannon, Carrot Missile Truck and Fire Gourd. It has a 21-second reload time.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 500

DAMAGE: Massive

AREA: Tile

RECHARGE: Sluggish

Banana Launchers can fire explosive bananas at any tile on the lawn.

Usage: tap to arm, tap on target tile to fire

Range: anywhere on lawn

Special: on impact, explodes in small area

It's important to avoid stereotyping as much as possible. Stereotypes are often flat-out wrong. And also hurtful. But honestly ... Banana Launcher is TOTALLY bananas.

Plant Food
When given Plant Food, it will launch four explosive bananas at random targets on the lawn. In Chinese version, it will fire five bananas.

Level upgrade

 * Level 2
 * ???: Reloads 25% faster.
 * Combat Training: Banana Launcher gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
 * Level 3
 * ???: Reloads 50% faster.
 * Cell Activation: Banana Launcher gains another 50% attack power and health (200% of initial).
 * Level 4
 * Ability Awaken: Banana Launcher may be boosted when planted.
 * Fighting Power: Banana Launcher gains 150% more attack power and health (250% of initial).

Costumed
The Plant Food ability launches five bananas and a flaming banana that creates an explosion that deals more damage.

Strategies
Since Banana Launcher is a targeting plant, this gives the player freedom to attack any zombie on screen, regardless of how many other zombies are protecting it. If you do plan on using Banana Launchers, make sure to defend them well, as 500 sun is not easy to collect. Octo Zombies are their weakness. The player should always destroy the Octo Zombies first before using Banana Launcher elsewhere, even if plants are already covered in octopi. If an octopus is thrown at a loaded Banana Launcher, the player is advised to dig it up to get half the sun back from it.

It is also a good plant to use against Fisherman Zombies. Fisherman Zombies don't move, and as such is often protected by nearby zombies from most attacks. However, Banana Launcher's projectile bypasses all those zombies and can directly target the Fisherman Zombies, instantly killing it. Stall Fisherman Zombies from defeating your Banana Launchers with free or low cost plants like Puff-shrooms.

When Gargantuars draw near, attack them with three bananas at once to defeat them instantly without them throwing their Imps. Banana Launchers are also useful in weakening high health zombies (Buckethead Zombies, Pharaoh Zombies, Poncho Zombies, Robo-Cone Zombies, Mecha-Football Zombies, Knight Zombies, and Blockhead Zombies). They work well against shield zombies (Barrel Roller Zombies, Shield Zombies) too, as their projectiles can bypass the shields and damage the zombies directly. Jester Zombies cannot deflect their bananas.

Hurrikales are extremely helpful with Banana Launchers to group a lot of tough zombies in one area, and deal damage to most, if not all zombies in the Banana Launcher's area of attack. This can thin out huge droves of zombies and let your attacking plants focus on the zombies they need to dispose of.

Trivia

 * It takes 3 bananas to kill a Gargantuar.
 * It is similar to the Cob Cannon since both plants are required to be manned by players to shoot its projectiles at zombies, and both plants have explosive projectiles.
 * This, Chard Guard, and Squash are the only plants that speak in game, exclaiming "Banana!" when firing a banana missile.
 * It turns green after the player shoots the banana, similar to how unripe bananas are green in real life.
 * This, Banana, and Banana Tree are the only plants in the Plants vs. Zombies series based on bananas.
 * This and Winter Melon are the plants with the second highest sun cost in the game, the first being Tile Turnip at 16,000 sun after being planted seven times.
 * This and Winter Melon are the only plants in Plants vs. Zombies 2 that cost 500 sun. However, Tile Turnip can cost 500 sun if planted twice.
 * It is also the the highest sun cost plant obtained in Big Wave Beach.
 * This, Lava Guava and Bamboo Shoot from the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 are the only plants that cannot be planted on minecarts. For Banana Launcher, this is because of issues associated with a tap either moving the mine cart or activating the target of Banana Launcher. If the player tries to plant it on a minecart, it will say "Bananas are too slippery for mine carts".
 * However, Banana Launcher can be planted on minecarts in the Chinese version.
 * Although its almanac entry says that its area is within a single tile, its actual area-of-effect is 2x1 tiles, due to how hitboxes work.
 * The almanac states that it has a sluggish recharge, but it does not. This likely refers to the firing speed or is a glitch.
 * Likewise, it does not actually deal Massive damage (90 NDS), rather it deals 60 NDS.
 * Banana Launcher cannot be chosen in Big Wave Beach - Day 23.
 * In Big Wave Beach - Day 23, the player can launch a banana from the Banana Launchers while viewing the lawn from the seed selection screen. However, its face does not change.
 * This, Starfruit, Potato Mine, Bonk Choy, and Tile Turnip are the only plants in the game to only have one visible tooth, with the former two being the only fruits to do so.
 * This plant's projectiles have faint lines on them.
 * The player used to be able to destroy graves using Banana Launcher on any Last Stand level before tapping "Let's Rock". This, however, is no longer possible after the 3.1.1 update.
 * Using only this kind of plant to kill zombies in a Big Wave Beach level earns the player the Banana Storm achievement.
 * Even after the player has defeated the final zombie and the reward has dropped, bananas could still be fired from this plant. This was fixed in the 3.1.1 update.
 * Its eyes are red and straight in the bingo card, while its in-game appearance has brown eyes and they are crossed. Its smile in the bingo card is also different from the one it has in-game.
 * Multi-touch works for this plant on both Android and iOS devices.
 * Banana Launcher gives a daunting look before firing.
 * Its costume has the same design as the pajamas on the characters in Bananas in Pajamas, despite being a beach towel.
 * This, Cob Cannon, Coconut Cannon, Magnifying Grass, and Fire Gourd are the only plants that require player input.
 * This, Citron, and Coconut Cannon are the only plants with a downside to their Plant Food effects, as all three need to recharge after using their Plant Food.
 * In the Chinese version, when fed with Plant Food, it will make firework noises when it launches its bananas and it will shoot 5 of them instead of four like in the international version.
 * It also had the same area-of-effect as a Cob Cannon in the Chinese version, but this was fixed in the 1.4.2 update.
 * Due to a bug, Banana Launcher's costume was not available for any users without hacking.
 * This was fixed in 3.4.4 update.
 * If one excludes tile turnip, Banana Launcher has the highest sun cost out of any plant released after the initial launch.