Newspaper Zombie


 * For other uses, see Newspaper Zombie (disambiguation).

Newspaper Zombie is a zombie and the sixth zombie encountered in Adventure Mode. It reads a newspaper that it holds upside-down, acting as a shield for this zombie. When it loses its newspaper, it gets angry and moves faster. It appears to be an elderly person with glasses and heart-patterned boxers. When the player's plants destroy the newspaper, it pauses, a question mark appears above its head, and then it will make an angry sound and then it quickly charges forward at the player's plants in a rage. Melon-pults, Winter Melons, Fume-shrooms, Gloom-shrooms, and flaming peas damage both the zombie and the newspaper at the same time.

It returns in the sequel as the first new zombie encountered in Modern Day. Its abilities remain the same, but now it and its newspaper have significantly higher health and speed than the first game, and when enraged it can eat non-defensive plants instantly.

Plants vs. Zombies
 NEWSPAPER ZOMBIE 

His newspaper provides limited defense.

Toughness: low

Newspaper Toughness: low

Speed: normal, then fast (after losing newspaper)

Newspaper Zombie was *this* close to finishing his Sudoku puzzle. No wonder he's freaking out.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
TOUGHNESS: Hardened

SPEED: Basic, then Flighty after newspaper breaks.

Newspaper protects zombie, who is then enraged when it is destroyed

You can't really blame him for getting so upset; he was THIS close to finishing the crossword (23 down was "Brains").

Plants vs. Zombies
The Newspaper Zombie absorbs 17 normal damage shots and its appearance changes upon absorbing 3, 6, 8 (when the newspaper is destroyed), and 13 before dying at 17 normal damage shots. When the newspaper is destroyed, this zombie will start to run faster due to its destroyed newspaper.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
The Newspaper Zombie absorbs 61.5 normal damage shots and its appearance changes upon absorbing 13.5, 27, 40 (when the newspaper is destroyed), and 50.75 (when his arm is lost) before dying at 61.5 normal damage shots. When the newspaper is destroyed, this zombie will start to run and eat plants four times faster due to its destroyed newspaper.

Plants vs. Zombies​

 * Adventure Mode: 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-4, 3-5 (DS, DSi), 5-10
 * Mini-games: Wall-nut Bowling, It's Raining Seeds, Beghouled, Beghouled Twist, Last Stand, Wall-nut Bowling 2, Dr. Zomboss's Revenge, Buttered Popcorn, BOMB All Together!
 * Puzzle Mode: Last Stand: Night, Last Stand: Fog, Last Stand Endless
 * Survival Mode: all levels
 * Co-op Mode: all levels except Co-op Day and Co-op Bowling
 * Others: Versus Mode

Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * Player's House: Piñata Party
 * Modern Day: Days 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 17-31, Highway to the Danger Room and "Rescue the Gold Bloom" Epic Quest - Step 1

Plants vs. Zombies​
The newspaper is useless against the lobbed-shot plants, instant kills, Fume-shroom, and Gloom-shroom because they can bypass its newspaper. Spikeweed and Spikerock also makes its newspaper useless by attacking below it. The behind of Split Pea can also be used as it hits the behind of the zombie itself. In Wall-nut Bowling and Wall-nut Bowling 2, the zombie loses the newspaper after being hit by one Wall-nut, and dies after a second hit, like the Conehead Zombie. The Newspaper Zombie pauses and charges very quickly towards the end of the row after the player's plants destroy the newspaper, the player will need to be fast in order to kill it. Snow Pea, Winter Melon, or Ice-shroom are effective against this, as they can slow its movement, leaving plenty of time to kill it. If the player is facing multiple Newspaper Zombies, Ice-shrooms can be used effectively to paralyze and kill them, or the player could just use lobbed-shot plants (preferably Melon-pult or Winter Melon).

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Watch out for this zombie since it is a much bigger threat. Do not destroy its newspaper unless you think you have a good strategy to deal with it while enraged. Also forget the use of lobbed-shot plants and area of effect plants, as the newspaper and the zombie is one object altogether so they will still destroy the newspaper first. Effective plants are Shadow-shroom and Chili Bean, as they can kill it ignoring the newspaper. On large groups instant kills are a must. Up to three attacks from Magnifying Grass can also kill one of them without it being enraged.

Without the use of Plant Food, Hypno-shrooms are surprisingly effective against the Newspaper Zombie. When Newspaper Zombie loses its newspaper whilst hypnotized, it will get angry and kill any zombie on the lane very quickly from its increased biting speed. However, it should be noted that this strategy is only effective on lanes with large amounts of zombies, and many zombies at once can overwhelm it. Using Sweet Potato or Garlic can lure more zombies on the same lane as the hypnotized Newspaper Zombie. Immobilizing or slowing plants such as Stunion or Stallia can also be effective so that the hypnotized Newspaper Zombie does not die quickly when biting them.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Newspaper Zombie has the second lowest physical health out of all the zombies in the first game (only the Imps in I, Zombie are weaker, since they only take three normal damage shots). It itself has nine health points and its newspaper also has eight health points, making its total amount of hit points seventeen.
 * Newspaper Zombie's glasses are available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 80 Microsoft Points.
 * When Newspaper Zombie's head falls off, it is a regular Zombie's, not its own. It shares this with Jack-in-the-Box Zombie. However its glasses will still appear falling off.
 * If Newspaper Zombie bites a Garlic and loses its newspaper right after, it will bite the Garlic a second time before switching lanes.
 * If Newspaper Zombie bites a Garlic after losing its newspaper, it will not make its angry expression and it will instead move fast with a normal face.
 * When the player enters somewhere else and Plants vs. Zombies is still running, when they come back Newspaper Zombie will appear above the "Resume Game" tab.
 * It is holding the newspaper upside down.
 * If a Newspaper Zombie gets hit by a Lawn Mower or a Giant Wall-nut, a question mark will appear for a brief moment, as the newspaper gets destroyed before the zombie itself.
 * The title of the newspaper is "ZOMBIE," and there is also a picture of a head on it.
 * There is a glitch on the DS version that sometimes when the Newspaper Zombie loses its newspaper, it will suddenly run on a spot instead of looking down with a question mark.
 * There is also a glitch on the online version that even if it has not lost its newspaper, it will still have angry eyes when eating.
 * Newspaper Zombie is officially and technically considered a shield zombie because it holds the newspaper up in front of it, it protects it from damage, and it has all the traits of a standard shield. However, there is one small exception to its shield capabilities. Its newspaper will protect it from frozen peas, but will not cancel the splash effect of flaming peas. This is understandable because it is made of paper and will burn.
 * However, oddly, there is no burning animation of the newspaper.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies Adventures and Plants vs. Zombies 2, the Barrel Zombie and Pharaoh Zombie is identical in movement characteristics to the Newspaper Zombie, in the sense both move faster after their shield object is destroyed, except the Barrel Zombie runs out of embarrassment, Pharaoh Zombie simply moves faster, and Newspaper Zombie runs out of anger.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * Newspaper Zombie's newspaper now takes significantly more hits than it did in the first game. When it is enraged, it eats plants extremely fast, and also runs as fast as an Ice Weasel.
 * The increase in health may have been from the fact that its area where it resides is a seemingly final world, as opposed for being extremely weak and a very unnoticeable enemy like in the prequel.
 * If it was unchanged, it would have been a weaker Pharaoh Zombie.
 * Newspaper Zombie's newspaper lights on fire when hit by a fire-based plant such as Snapdragon. However, this appears to be purely cosmetic, and Newspaper Zombie does not become enraged due to the fire.
 * The newspaper also does not take a shorter time to destroy.
 * This is probably intended for use of the achievement Hot Off the Presses.
 * In its Almanac icon, its newspaper is always on fire.
 * Oddly, unlike Explorer Zombie's torch, ice plants can't extinguish the newspaper's fire.
 * Grumbling noises can be heard from Newspaper Zombie when it is reading its newspaper.
 * If one listens closely, Newspaper Zombie actually speaks and says things like "23 down is brains".
 * According to the credits of the game, the Newspaper Zombie is voiced by Chris Sampson.
 * Its almanac entry description is a nod to the first game, as both mention the reason why it gets enraged when its newspaper gets destroyed; it was finishing puzzle included in the newspaper.
 * However, in the first game, the almanac entry says that it nearly finished a Sudoku puzzle, while in the second game, the almanac entry states that it nearly finished a crossword puzzle.
 * When its newspaper is gone, it makes the same grunt sound from the first game.
 * Unlike the first game, its eyes do not turn red anymore when it's angry.
 * The newspaper is different in this game, reading "Daily Brains" for the title.
 * The name "Daily Brains" may be a reference to the fact that several news services have the word "daily" in the title.
 * If one looks carefully, they can see what looks like Crazy Dave in the image in the newspaper.
 * The news on the main page is: "Garden gnomes spotted".
 * This could be a reference to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 's Infinity Time mode. However, it is more likely a teaser to the Infinity Time mode, as Garden Warfare 2 came out after Modern Day Part 1.