Cactus


 * For other uses, see Cactus (disambiguation).

"Indeed, Cactus has changed over time, User Dave. Now she fires a thorn for ranged damage, but hides for ground damage when zombies approach."

- Penny

Cactus is a combative, projectile-based plant that was first introduced in Plants vs. Zombies. In Plants vs. Zombies, she is essentially a Peashooter that shoots spikes instead of peas, with the distinction of being able to stretch upwards vertically to pop Balloon Zombie's balloons, as well as the spikes being unaffected by Torchwood. The damage she deals is the same amount as a Peashooter.

On the other hand, in Plants vs. Zombies 2, where she is a premium plant which is advertised alongside Neon Mixtape Tour Side A, she shoots a spike that goes through two or three zombies, and also hides when zombies are close to her while dealing ground damage to zombies that walk over her in this form, similarly to Spikeweed. Each spike deals 30 damage per shot to each zombie it hits, piercing up to three zombies, and the ground damage deals the same damage as the Spikeweed's. Jester Zombies can deflect shots from the Cactus, but still be damaged by her ground attack.

Origins
Cactus could be inspired by any number of members of the genus Cactacae, but she most resembles a saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), albeit with a red flower instead of a white one.

Plants vs. Zombies
Cactus

Cacti shoot spikes that can hit both ground and air targets.

Damage: normal

Range: ground and air

She's prickly, sure, but Cactus's spikes belie a spongy heart filled with love and goodwill. She just wants to hug and be hugged. Most folks can't hang with that, but Cactus doesn't mind. She's been seeing an armadillo for a while and it really seems to be working out.

Cost: 125

Recharge: fast

Plant Food effect


When fed Plant Food, Cactus' spikes become supercharged with electricity, increasing their maximum penetration capability by two. Cactus will also deal doubled damage for the remaining duration of her life, whether she is shooting or hiding underground.

Costumed
In addition to becoming supercharged, Cactus will shoot a bunch of a supercharged spikes, dealing tons of damage.

Plants vs. Zombies
Cactus' main role in the player's arsenal is to shoot down Balloon Zombies before they can get past through the defense, turning them into normal zombies that can be attacked by any other plants. While she will be sufficient in normal levels, the sheer amount of Balloon Zombies that can spawn in Survival Mode, plus its lackluster performance against other threats makes Cactus not a worthwhile choice later on. Cactus also has to compete with Cattail, which can target zombies from any lane and deal twice as much as damage as the Cactus, but suffers from an aiming issue, as well as Blover, which can clear Balloon Zombies from all lanes and ward off the fog in Fog levels.

A column of Cacti should be planted to safeguard the player against potential Balloon Zombies. Cactus is also a possible candidate for getting the Don't Pea in the Pool achievement, but should not be used given her poor damage capability and the lack of Balloon Zombies in Pool levels - most lobbed-shot plants and Fume-shroom are much more suited for this task.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Cactus' main strength is her versatility: She can be planted at the back to shoot incoming zombies, as well as a front-line plant to damage enemies like Spikeweed. Compared to other penetrating plants such as Laser Bean and A.K.E.E., Cactus also boasts a relatively high damage output, which can be further enhanced with Plant Food. However, her unreliable penetration capability makes Cactus not as reliable against large groups of zombies.

Cactus is also a good counter for Shield Zombie, Barrel Roller Zombie, and Pianist Zombie, as her spikes can pierce through each of the zombie's barricades. Because when it hides it acts like a Spikeweed, she can instantly destroy Barrel Roller Zombie's barrel and Pianist Zombie; however, Cactus will be sacrificed, even if she has her Plant Food effect activated. Cactus is also good against Imp Cannon, Zombie King, and Imp Porter as their projectiles can pass through zombies in front of them. It should be noted that Cactus cannot damage Excavator Zombie, even though the thorns bypass the shovel, as well as, Excavator can shovel up hiding Cacti without stepping on her.

In Frostbite Caves, Cactus has a great advantage against Troglobite and Weasel Hoarder as her spikes can hit all ice blocks and multiple Ice Weasels (similar to Zombie Chickens). Watch out for Dodo Rider Zombie as he will fly over hiding Cacti.

In Neon Mixtape Tour, Cactus has an advantage on most zombies encountered in this world, as their jams do not have a major effect on the Cactus: Punk Zombie cannot kick her, MC Zom-B cannot use its microphone attack against Cactus, Glitter Zombies cannot instantly destroy the Cactus and Breakdancer Zombies and the zombies it kicks can still be affected by Cactus' ground attack. This makes the Cactus a great option to use in this world. The only things to look out for are Hair Metal Gargantuar (as even their shockwaves will instantly destroy Cacti, hiding or not), Arcade Zombie's arcade machine (as it can still crush Cacti, hiding or not), Boombox Zombie's boombox (as it stuns all Cacti not hiding) and Bass Zombie's speaker and shock waves. However, Cactus' pierce can directly hurt Arcade Zombie and Bass Zombie.

In Jurassic Marsh, Cactus works great against pterodactyls and ankylosauruses. Zombies carried by pterodactyls will still be damaged by her spikes. Ankylosauruses cannot fling zombies past the Cactus and will not be pushed. In the Chinese version however, one must watch out against Egg Stealer Imps and Egg Roller Imps as their eggs can easily crush Cactus and the baby dinosaurs that come with it can also destroy Cacti easily.

Like Spikeweeds, Spikerocks, Spring Bean and Celery Stalker, Cactus should not be used in Big Wave Beach levels as zombies will eat the Lily Pad and cause Cactus to fall into the water, wasting 175 sun.

However, unlike the first game, it is a bad idea to use this plant against the Balloon Zombie because the Cactus' spikes can no longer pop the balloon instantly.

It is also a bad choice to place Cactus on a Gold Tile close to Imp Porters, as this doesn't prevent them from setting up their tent. In the Chinese version, she is normally really weak for the Legendary rarity. However it extremely recommended to get her costume, because one spike Cactus shoots in her Plant Food effect can destroy a speaker in a single hit. This combined with her upgrades, area-of-effect, fast recharge and quite cheap cost, makes Cactus really worth the effort of grinding to get her to Level 4 and her costume.

General

 * She, her Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare variants, her Plants vs. Zombies Heroes version, Ball Cactus, Tree Cactus, Prickly Pear, and Dusk Lobber are the only plants based on cacti.
 * She, Celery Stalker, Shamrock, Shamrockstar, and Scaredy-shroom are the only plants that hide.
 * Excluding Celery Stalker, all remaining plants above hide when there is a zombie nearby.
 * Out of four plants said, she is the only plant that only hide when there is a zombie in front of them and still attack zombies while hiding.
 * She and Explode-o-nut are the only two plants that vary wildly in function between the original Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
 * Coincidentally, both were made into premium plants.
 * In Cactus' online Almanac picture, it just shows her neck rising up.
 * In the original Plants vs. Zombies, she was always above-ground, but in the second game, she is shown to be partially buried underground, given the dirt that surrounds her.
 * In french, she is referred as a male in the almanac. Il (he) is used instead of elle (She).

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * If stretching, she will be equally the same height to a Tall-nut.
 * However, she cannot block vaulting zombies even if she was stretching at the right time.
 * She cannot work on the slope in Roof levels unless on the fifth column, despite being able to grow taller.
 * She is one of the twelve plants that appear in the seed selection screen after the player gets the Grave Buster on the Web version, the others being Ice-shroom, Lily Pad, Potato Mine, Threepeater, Tangle Kelp, Jalapeno, Spikeweed, Torchwood, Tall-nut, Doom-shroom, and Blover.
 * On the loading screen, her pollen balls are red, but during gameplay, they are yellow. In I, Zombie, her pollen balls are orange.
 * In Portal Combat, Cacti in the lane of Balloon Zombies will attempt to fire at it even if the spike will go through a portal and end up in another lane. However, Cacti in other lanes that have a portal leading to the correct lane will also shoot at the Balloon Zombie.
 * She, Tall-nut, and Garlic are the only plants that appear in I, Zombie, but do not appear in I, Zombie Endless.
 * The plural form of Cactus is represented in-game as "Cactuses" rather than "Cacti."

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * She is one of two plants returning from the first game with significantly different abilities, the second being Explode-o-nut.
 * Although the thorns penetrate various zombies, Excavator Zombie is immune to them, as the spikes hit the shovel, glance off (missing the Excavator Zombie completely) and continue to the next zombie.
 * In Cactus' case, she cannot be eaten (unless a Zombie Bull attempts to); she can only be killed by rolling or smashing attacks, lasers from a Gargantuar Prime or Turquoise Skull Zombie, or if a Jester Zombie can damage her as fast as possible with the "help" of other straight-shooting plants. Additionally, MC Zom-B can hit her in some cases.
 * There's also a glitch, in which the Balloon Zombie with its balloon popped is able to destroy her, because she won't hide from it.
 * An advertisement for Summer Nights event in 2015 accidentally leaked the return of it a month in advance.
 * With her return, all Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare plant classes appear in both Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
 * She does not hide from Zombie Bulls.
 * The vocal noise she makes is from her Garden Warfare appearance.
 * She, Celery Stalker, Potato Mine, Primal Potato Mine and Escape Root are the only "underground" plants that cannot be planted directly on Lily Pads in Big Wave Beach. Despite this, they can technically be planted on Lily Pads if they or the plant behind them is pulled by a Fisherman Zombie, which in turn pushes them onto a Lily Pad.
 * Placing her on the third column from the right (seventh column from the left) will disable the ankylosaurus's attack. The zombies will simply be launched on top of her and stop when she hides. She will not be pushed.
 * This only works if she is out of the ground, not hiding. If she is, the zombie will be launched normally.
 * Like White Radish, Potato Mine, Bamboo Shoot, Carrot Missile, Celery Stalker, Primal Potato Mine and Escape Root, she cannot be planted on planks in Pirate Seas.
 * Cactus and Torchwood are only non-defensive plants that have their Plant Food effect lasts until the plant has been destroyed.
 * Coincidentally, they are both returning premium plants and cost 175 sun.

Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)

 * Similar for Red Stinger, her seed packet is different.
 * Cactus's entire body is visible in the Chinese version's seed packet, while her head and one hand is only visible in the international version's.