Torchwood


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Torchwood is a plant appearing in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games. He is an unlockable plant in the first game, and a premium plant in the second game.

Torchwood lights regular peas that pass through him, turning them into fire peas. These fire peas deal twice the damage of normal peas, but also removes all ice-based effect from the target, such as Iceberg Lettuce's freezing and Winter Melon's chilling effect. The fire peas also do splash damage, but only in Plants vs. Zombies. Frozen peas fired by Snow Pea will thaw, becoming normal peas and losing their slowing ability.

Origins
Although there is a flowering plant family known as torchwood (Burseraceae), which includes frankincense and myrrh, the name may also be a reference to the eponymous organization in the Doctor Who spin-off series. The torch in his name refers to the fact that fire comes out of his head, somewhat like a torch, and the wood refers to the fact that he is wood, as he is a tree plant.

History
In Plants vs. Zombies, Torchwood is unlocked after finishing Level 3-7. Each fire pea generated by Torchwood deals 40 damage per shot worth of damage to the initial target, and 14 splash damage in a 1x1 area. Fire peas will remove ice-based effects from their direct target, but the splash damage cannot. In fog levels, Torchwood will also reveal an approximately 3x3 area around it.

In Plants vs. Zombies 2, Torchwood is available for purchase for $3.99. He became available to purchase for 179 gems for a limited time from September 1, 2015 to September 8, 2015. He became available for 179 gems again from September 10, 2016 to September 12, 2016, but became purchasable for gems again on September 13, 2016 and was available for hours before being changed back to normal. This limited offer is currently unavailable.

Fire peas deal twice as much damage as normal peas, but can no longer deal splash damage, with the sole exception of Primal Peashooter's Plant Food peas which have innate splash damage capability. In Frostbite Caves, Torchwood is also capable of emitting heat every 1.5 seconds that gradually thaws frozen or chilled plants in a 3x3 area surrounding him, as well as being immune to all freezing effects himself.

In Plants vs. Zombies
Torchwood

Torchwoods turn peas that pass through them into fireballs that deal twice as much damage.

Special: doubles the damage of peas that pass through it. Fireballs deal damage to nearby zombies on impact

Everybody likes and respects Torchwood. They like him for his integrity, for his steadfast friendship, for his ability to greatly maximize pea damage. But Torchwood has a secret: He can't read.

Cost: 175

Recharge: fast

Plant Food effect
When Torchwood is fed with Plant Food, his fire will become blue, tripling the damage of all peas that pass through it. This effect lasts until the Torchwood is removed. In Frostbite Caves, Torchwood will also emit heat to warm nearby plants four times as often.

Costumed
Plant Food gives him purple fire that quadruples the damage of peas.

Plants vs. Zombies
Torchwood should only be taken on levels where the player plans to use peas in order to maximize the damage potential. The player only needs one in each lane, but it helps to plant one before placing a second pea-shooting plant in the same lane, as in most cases, the flaming pea's splash damage will be more important than firing twice as fast. The player should keep Torchwoods behind their regular defenses such as Wall-nuts and Tall-nuts, but far enough to the right so that they can place several peashooting plants behind him. One of the most recommended uses for a Torchwood is with Gatling Peas, so the player uses the attack-increasing bonus from the Torchwood and the very fast firing from a Gatling Pea to kill most Zombies very easily. The player should plan ahead if they intend to use Snow Peas, though, and put them to the right of any Torchwoods, as frozen peas melt when they go through a Torchwood. This is usually not worth it, however, as flaming peas will defrost zombies (this includes freezing from other plants as well). Using Torchwood in conjunction with freezing plants is also discouraged, as the freezing will have little or no effect. Keep in mind that a Gatling Pea and a Torchwood is much more effective than 2 Gatling Peas, as it is cheaper, has the same DPS of the latter and has splash damage.

If the player is using Split Peas to defend against zombies that can bypass their defenses, such as Digger Zombies or Imps (thrown by Gargantuars), they can place a Split Pea to the right of a Torchwood so their rear-firing peas will catch fire, doing extra damage. This works best if the player has two or three Split Peas to the right of a Torchwood with other pea-shooting plants behind him.

Although Torchwood can clear out fog in fog levels, it is not recommended because he only clears the fog a small area around him (a 3x3 plus shape). The player should instead use a Plantern or Blover instead unless aiming for the Blind Faith achievement; the player may use the Torchwood in getting this achievement. However, the achievement Nebulaphile (the DS version of the achievement) does not allow even a Torchwood.

Using Torchwood in Survival: Endless is possible, but not recommended, as he only deals splash damage in a very short area and also makes it difficult to slow or freeze zombies, whereas Gloom-shrooms and Winter Melons do better splash/area damage and are compatible with slowing/freezing plants. Only use it if you are using Gatling Peas.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Torchwood is weakened in this game, as he no longer deals splash damage with or without Plant Food, making him completely useless against massive groups of zombies that come early on in the stage. It is also difficult to set up as every lane must have a Torchwood and a Repeater on it, and setting this up will cause zombies to slip past your defenses easily while you are concentrating on a lane. You can use higher sun producing plants to speed up the process, or together with Power Lily. Only use it when you have 2 or more peashooting plants in a lane, as then its cost will be worth it.

Sap-fling and Stallia can slow down zombies, even if they are in contact with fire, so these plants can help Torchwood against strong zombies like Pharaoh Zombies and Gargantuars.

A Plant Food fed Torchwood can deal massive damage, especially with a maxed out Pea Pod as the plasma fire triples damage. It is very hard and risky to pull off correctly; nonetheless, when done well, this setup can easily counter high zombie densities, and this also helps a lot when battling against Octo Zombies, as the plasma peas can defeat the octopi very quickly. They also can help against the zombies in Terror from Tomorrow, but keep in mind that the high health of Robo-Cone Zombie, Disco-tron 3000, Mecha-Football Zombie, and the force field created by the Shield Zombie will absorb a lot of fire peas. It is highly suggested that you bring Citrons, Sap-flings or E.M.Peaches along with Torchwood to stun the zombies, or Blover to deal with Disco Jetpack Zombies blocking the peas.

Torchwood is also a very effective plant in Frostbite Caves as fire has numerous advantages in this ice themed world. When planted on any tile, he produces heat in a 3x3 area, preventing the surrounding plants from freezing or melting their ice blocks. He will also produce heat four times more often if he is fed Plant Food, giving him an advantage over other thawing plants.

Note: Avoid using Torchwoods when you see Jester Zombies, Explorer Zombies, Imp Dragon Zombies, and Excavator Zombies, as Jester Zombies can deflect fire peas, fire peas can relight Explorer Zombie's torch, Imp Dragon Zombies are immune to all fire damage (including flaming peas) and Excavator Zombies block all straight-shooting projectiles.

General

 * According to George Fan's Reddit AMA, Torchwood was originally "this orange pepper thing with fire on it called Torchipotle."

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * In the Nintendo DS version, an Imitater Torchwood is not a grayscale version, but rather a green version with blue fire and eyes.
 * He does not affect peas shot by Peashooter Zombies or Gatling Pea Zombies; instead, the peas will only damage the Torchwood.
 * He has the distinction of being unable to read according to his Suburban Almanac entry, implying that most other plants do know how to read despite them being plants.
 * Excluding upgrade plants, he is one of two plants that rely on another plant to work, the other being Coffee Bean.
 * He is one of the three plants which can affect fog, the others being Plantern and Blover. This makes him an environment modifier.
 * He is one of the twelve plants that appear in the seed selection screen after getting the Grave Buster in the online version; the others are the Ice-shroom, Lily Pad, Potato Mine, Threepeater, Tangle Kelp, Jalapeno, Spikeweed, Tall-nut, Doom-shroom, Cactus, and Blover.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * If huge peas from Repeater's and Pea Pod's Plant Food effect pass through him, a sound of ravaging flames can be heard.
 * Since the 3.6 update, his Almanac entry mentions his abilities in Frostbite Caves.
 * His Almanac entry references Dark Ages and Big Wave Beach before Far Future was even released.
 * He now references Frostbite Caves, as he talks about the warming plants ability.
 * If he is watered in the Zen Garden, its fire goes out, showing that the Torchwood is hollow.
 * His stump is much shorter in this game.
 * He has no effect on Fire Peashooter's pea, however, if a Torchwood receives a Plant Food boost, he can relight the fire peas and turn them into plasma peas.
 * Torchwood, Cactus and Electric Currant are only 3 non-defensive plants that have their Plant Food effect last until the plant has been destroyed. Coincidentally, they are both returning premium plants and cost 175 sun.

Specific to the Chinese version

 * He is the first plant to ignite peas. The second is Match Flower (if his petals are on fire).
 * Unlike the international version, he cannot warm other plants in Frostbite Caves.
 * As of version 1.9.0, he can thaw plants again.

Outside of Plants vs. Zombies

 * This plant could be a possible nod to the British T.V. show by the same name