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. It fires spikes at any lane 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 functions similarly to Homing Thistle. Its damage is increased, and it now has a chance to stun zombies, similarly to Kernel-pult. Plus, it also has a very small chance of shooting a giant missile, which is so strong that a Level 1 Cattail's giant missile can instantly kill a Level 2 Gargantuar.

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.

Suburban Almanac entry
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

Chinese version
发射导向针刺攻击僵尸，并有概率造成麻痹效果.

特点： 发射导向针刺攻击僵尸，并有概率造成麻痹效果.

植物特征：白色植物、十万伏特

猫尾草接受采访时，记者问到：“您是怎么看待与导向蓟之间的竞争关系？”猫尾草面不改色地回答：“喵喵喵~”翻译过来的意思是--“没什么问题是卖个萌解决不了的~”

In English:

Cattail launches homing spikes at zombies, that can stun them for a moment.

Special: launches homing spikes at zombies, that can stun them for a moment.

Plant feature: White plant, 100 000 volts

When Cattail was being interviewed, the journalist asked, "how do you look at the competitive relationship between you and Homing Thistle?" Cattail factly replied, "Meow meow meow~" which translated to "nothing can't be solved with being cute."

Plant Food upgrade
When given Plant Food, Cattail emits a 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 Lightning Reed's Plant Food effect.

Costumed
It now emits a purple and larger laser at zombies, that does more 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.

Strategies
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 limited 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.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Cattail's leaves' filenames in the game are Cat_paw1.png, Cattail_paw2.png, and Cattail_paw3.png.
 * Cattail 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.
 * Cattail, Gloom-shroom, Split Pea, and Starfruit are the only plants who can shoot backwards. However, Cattail can attack any lane. Gloom-shroom can only attack one block near it, while Split Pea and Starfruit cannot attack other lanes backwards.
 * Cattail does the damage of a pea and rate of fire like a Repeater, making it an aquatic version of a Repeater. However, its shots are homing. On the other hand, they cost 50 more sun (25 for the Lily Pad and 25 extra sun for the Cattail), and Cattails can get even more expensive in Survival: Endless.
 * A Cattail can be downgraded to a Lily Pad if the player has a Pumpkin on it and try to dig up the Cattail, as that would cause the Pumpkin to fall into the water otherwise. Bungee Zombies can also downgrade a Cattail with a Pumpkin. This makes the Cattail the only plant able to downgrade.
 * Cattail 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.
 * 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).
 * Cattail is a pun upon the Typha latifolia, commonly known as a cattail, as evidenced by Cattail's cat's head and its tail having a Cattail seed structure.
 * Cattail's spikes moves slower than Cactus's.
 * Cattail, Starfruit, Gloom-shroom, Cob Cannon, Cherry Bomb, Winter Melon, or Melon-pult (splash damage), Doom-shroom, and Threepeater are the only plants that can hit zombies in other lanes.
 * Cattail and Lily Pad are the only aquatic plants that can have a Pumpkin on them.
 * Cattail is one of the two plants with a tail, the other one being the Cob Cannon.
 * Cattail, Cactus, and Sea-shroom are the only projectile-shooting plants that use a projectile that is colored significantly differently from the plant itself.
 * Cattail's 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.
 * Cattail has the longest range among the shooting plants.
 * Cattail, Imitater, and Gatling Pea are the only plants with headwear.
 * Cattail 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).
 * Cattail is one of four plants which can fire at a Digger Zombie, the others being Gloom-shroom, Split Pea, and Starfruit.
 * Cattail is also one of three plants who can get rid of Balloon Zombies. The others are Blover and Cactus. However, Cattail is not listed as a weakness of Balloon Zombies in the Suburban Almanac entry.
 * Cattail 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.
 * Cattail, Marigold, and Starfruit are the only plants with one tooth.
 * 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.
 * It is the fourth and last aquatic plant that can be unlocked.
 * In the mini-game Heavy Weapon, Cattail's tail is pink instead of brown.
 * The Cattail can support a Pumpkin even though the Pumpkin looks like it is floating.
 * The player cannot plant a Cattail on a Lily Pad with a plant besides a Pumpkin on it.
 * If Cattail is planted in the very front rows, its spike cannot home into zombies.
 * Cattail will not attack unless there are zombies in the second column or farther.
 * Cattail only has a tongue as a plush toy.
 * Cattail is the only upgrade plant that can be planted only in water.
 * Cattail is the one of two plants in the game with a nose, the other being Pumpkin. However, Pumpkin's nose is just a hole, but Cattail's nose is real.
 * 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 NDS each.
 * Cattail seems to act like a normal plant on a Lily Pad, as they cannot plant anymore plants on the Cattail and it can support a Pumpkin.
 * Even if Cattail can hit zombies from the back, Cattail will still damage Screen Door Zombie's screen door, even if the projectile hits on Screen Door Zombie's back.
 * A Wall-nut in Wall-nut Bowling 2 can kill the Screen Door Zombie when the said zombie is hit from the side.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)

 * Cattail is the eighth direct upgrade of an existing plant, Homing Thistle, regarding factors like sun cost, effect and recharge.
 * It can now be planted on land.
 * In the trailer, instead of shooting a homing missile, it shoots a giant spike instead.
 * This, Plantern, Coffee Bean and Gatling Pea 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.
 * It, Melon-pult, Pomegranate Machine Gun, and Agave are the only plants to have a sun cost of 325.
 * Threepeater also had a cost of 325 in Plants vs. Zombies.