Boombox Zombie

Boombox Zombie is a zombie encountered in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Upon reaching the sixth column, he will raise his boombox to play the ballad jam for a few seconds, immobilizing all plants on the lawn except Phat Beet, underground plants, instant-use plants and Electric Blueberry. This also overrides any other jam currently playing and significantly slows all zombies on the field.

He was first revealed in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B developer diary, released on September 15, 2015.

Almanac entry
TOUGHNESS: Solid

SPEED: Basic

Holds aloft a boom box that tranquilizes all plants with its heartfelt tunes.

Special: Boom box has no effect on ground plants and Phat Beets

Boombox Zombie doesn't want to buy, sell or process anything; he just really wants to consume your brains.

Encounters
Player's House: Piñata Party

Neon Mixtape Tour: Days 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and Greatest Hits

Modern Day: Highway to the Danger Room (portal only)

Strategies
When you see this zombie, defeat him as soon as possible or he will use his boombox to prevent plants from using their abilities. In Neon Mixtape Tour, he rarely gets far enough into the lawn in order to play his jam, making him not a significant threat.

Highway to the Danger Room
In Highway to the Danger Room, this zombie is far more dangerous as he can spawn through a portal past the third column to the right, thus making him play his jam immediately. However, unlike in Neon Mixtape Tour, Boombox Zombie does not make the zombies slower due to lack of jam speeds in Modern Day.

In lower levels of Highway to the Danger Room, Neon Mixtape Tour portals will generally not spawn enough Boombox Zombies to be too dangerous. The real threat is that in higher levels (Level 30 and above) portals can spawn multiple Boombox Zombies in succession, causing the jam (and stunning effect) to last longer than normal as well as disabling any non-instant plants planted after the first Boombox Zombie plays his jam. If such an event occurs, it is usually better to spend an extra Plant Food per level (if the player does not have Power Lily) in order to prevent stronger zombies such as All-Star Zombie and Robo-Cone Zombie from plowing through the player's defenses while they are stunned.

Tips

 * Plants like Laser Bean or Fume-shroom will defeat Boombox zombies at ease because of their piercing capability.
 * Tap on tap-to-fire plants (such as Strawburst, Coconut Cannon, Magnifying Grass, etc.) that are stabilized by the boombox.
 * Use Plant Food on any attacking plant to get rid of the Boombox Zombie to remove immobilization from the plants.
 * Spikeweeds and Spikerocks are immune to immobilization and are a good idea, as these plants can damage the Boombox Zombie after he used his boombox.
 * Use an Iceberg Lettuce or Stunion if it is recharged, as it cancels out his ability instantly.
 * Phat Beet is immune to immobilization so using the plant is also recommended.
 * It is recommended to use his jam as an advantage to defeat zombies if you have Phat Beets on the lawn as the power ballad jam will significantly slow down all zombies on the lawn and disable all special zombies' abilities.
 * Magnifying Grass is somewhat glitched and is immune to the effects of the Power Ballad jam, as it can still shoot projectiles.

Trivia

 * Boombox Zombie shares his animation with Ra Zombie and Turquoise Skull Zombie.
 * In general, they all share the same walking animation with each other and share the eating and standing animation of Basic Cowboy Zombies.
 * He will only stun plants when he starts playing. If a plant is planted while he is in the middle of playing his music, the plant will not get stunned.
 * If an immobilized plant is fed Plant Food, it will be freed from immobilization and will use its Plant Food ability as per normal.
 * The heart effect when Boombox Zombie stuns plants is the same effect used during Valenbrainz when Valentine Zombies are defeated and when Plant Food is fed on Sweet Potato.
 * Boombox Zombie is possibly based on the character Lloyd Dobler from the 1980s movie Say Anything. His Almanac entry references a line from the film, and he also holds a boombox that plays love songs.
 * Boombox Zombie does not appear to hold his boombox in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B trailer.
 * One of them even sports a blue sleeveless shirt and blueish eyes instead of yellow.
 * Boombox Zombie is the third zombie to play music while using his special ability. The first is Pianist Zombie, and the second is Disco-tron 3000.
 * Electric Blueberry does not react to Boombox Zombie's music, as it still creates storm clouds.
 * Magnifying Grass also is not affected by the music, as it is still able to be tapped, making fire its projectile.
 * Boombox Zombie is the only zombie that can interrupt other jams.
 * Boombox Zombie, Basic Zombie, Dr. Zomboss, Shield Zombie, Knight Zombie, Wizard Zombie, Snorkel Zombie, Octo Zombie, Cave Zombie, Troglobite, Lost Pilot Zombie, Relic Hunter Zombie, Neon Zombie, and Jurassic Zombie are the only zombies that have represented the game icon.
 * Boombox Zombie's jam only lasts for eight seconds, but it can be extended by other Boombox Zombies (as seen on Day 28), as long as they play their jam after the original Boombox Zombie does.
 * Boombox Zombie is the only special zombie in Neon Mixtape Tour that controls when his jam is played.
 * Due to a glitch, Boombox Zombie does not play any music anymore in the 4.4.1 update. Instead, it stops the jam currently playing, but he still stuns the plants when he raises his boombox.
 * The current jam plays again when he lowers his boombox.
 * However, this glitch only happens when he is in Neon Mixtape Tour. If he is in a Piñata Party, he will play the music like normal.
 * Also, if you save and exit then go to another level, the music on that level will not play. Pausing and resuming will play the ballad jam on the level. Pausing and resuming the level again will return the music to normal.
 * If Boombox Zombie is shrunk by a Shrinking Violet and then plays his jam, the Power Ballad jam will sound sped up and high pitched.
 * Boombox Zombie, Dancing Zombie, Party Imp and Tennis Star are the only zombies with afros.
 * If the player defeats a Boombox Zombie before he plays the Power Ballad jam, they will earn the Breaking It Off achievement.
 * Like Peddler Zombie, Boombox Zombie needs to get to the quarter of the lawn to use its ability.