Note

"Is that a brain grill?"

- Crazy Dave, talking about the note that the player received from Ancient Egypt - Day 7.

Notes are pieces of paper dropped and written by the zombies in Plants vs. Zombies and its sequel. Each note precedes a conveyor-belt level, the last level of a stage and alerts the player towards this fact (except for Java version). The normal notes have horrible grammar and handwriting, since all the zombies are unintelligent. However, because of his intelligence, Dr. Zomboss has excellent grammar and very neat cursive handwriting with a brush script style.

Plants vs. Zombies
In Plants vs. Zombies, the note is earned after completing the ninth level in an area. When the player picks it up, the note will disappear into some stars. The screen will then fade, and the note will be revealed to the player. If the player clicks the "Next level!" button at the bottom of the screen, the tenth level will start.

Help Note
The "Help" section of Plants vs. Zombies can be accessed from the main menu (in the iPod Touch and iPhone versions, it is accessed by the option menu and in the European Nintendo DS and DSi versions, it is known as "Hint"), and turns out to be a sloppily written note (similar to those seen at the ninth level of every stage of Adventure Mode and at the end of the last level) appears.

However, this note is not in the PS3/XBox360/PSVita version, as it is replaced by an actual help menu (although it is on a piece of paper that looks like a note from the zombies).

Help for Plants and Zombies Game

When the Zombies show up, just sit there and don't do anything. You win the game when the Zombies get to your houze.

-this help section brought to you by the Zombies

About the Help Note
There is no doubt that this was put in as a joke as the player gets some help when first playing the game (as well as a digital manual that comes with computer versions of the game, readme.html, and an instruction booklet with the Nintendo DS version), and as it says it was made by the zombies. For some versions, instead of an in-game help section, PopCap Games decided to put in a unique feature, the Tree of Wisdom, that gives the player tips on playing the game the higher it is grown. It will stop giving tips after it is grown it to 1000 feet (after 50 feet, it will only give 'milestone tips', tips until grown to 100, 500 and 1000 feet).

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Notes return in Plants vs. Zombies 2. The note still drops on the lawn like in the predecessor, but the writing itself is based on the timeline it is found in. They are dropped on levels prior to the Gargantuar battle.
 * In Ancient Egypt, the note is an Egyptian papyrus.
 * In Pirate Seas, the note is a treasure map.
 * In Wild West, the note is a "Wanted" poster.
 * In Frostbite Caves, the note is a stone tablet.
 * In Lost City, the note is a treasure map.
 * In Far Future, the note is a partially broken futuristic file.
 * In Dark Ages, the note is a medieval scroll.
 * In Neon Mixtape Tour, the note is not shown, but it is mentioned by Crazy Dave.
 * In Jurassic Marsh, the note is a meteorite.
 * In Big Wave Beach, the note is a bingo card.
 * In Modern Day, the note is a fake taco.

Plants vs. Zombies

 * The note the player receives before facing Dr. Zomboss has a background on a lawn, instead of the roof, where it was obtained.
 * However, the note after the player has defeated Dr. Zomboss is on the Roof during nighttime.
 * The Dr. Zomboss Roof note was made using the font Brush Script MT.
 * The note the player gets in the Fog levels says that it is his or her mother. This is the only place where it says the player has a mother in the game. However, the note seems to be from the zombies, as it has the same font the zombies write. Also, the words "is" and "mother" are misspelled.
 * The zombies ask the player to leave him or her front door open and their lawn unguarded while he or she leaves the house, but the zombies cannot eat his or her brains if the player is not in the house.
 * It is possible there is more people in the house.
 * Although it says to leave their house unguarded, there are still Lawn Mowers in the level.
 * In Java version, The Note is also used for replacing some plants, like Melon-pult or Garlic.

Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * The notes now include a dialogue with Penny and Crazy Dave.
 * In the Ancient Egypt note, above the "brain grill," he or she can see a Wall-nut with a ladder next to it, referencing the Ladder Zombie from the first game.
 * Also viewed in the note: Peashooter, Sunflower, Lawn Mower, Potato Mine, shovel, Cherry Bomb, a zombie rising from a grave and a mustache appear.
 * There also is what could be small face of Crazy Dave.
 * Far Future note is a reference to Error 404, which means the information does not exist. Also, this is one of the notes that is not a piece of paper as it is instead a futuristic screen. The others are the stone tablet note in Frostbite Caves, the meteorite in Jurassic Marsh; and the taco in Modern Day.
 * In the Dark Ages note, a human monk is near the brain.
 * This is the second human shown in Plants vs. Zombies 2, with the first being Crazy Dave.
 * The note received after Big Wave Beach - Day 15 features a Bingo card with pictures of plants introduced in Big Wave Beach, a zombie head and brains. The brains and the zombie head are encircled, making it a "bingo."
 * It also previews the plants in Part 2 (Homing Thistle, Guacodile and Banana Launcher).