Grave Buster

Grave Buster removes graves, Zombie Gravestones, and tombstones, letting the player plant where they could not previously and also stopping zombies from emerging from the ground during the final wave (Plants vs. Zombies) or from them blocking peas (Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs. Zombies Online). The player must simply plant a Grave Buster on a grave to remove it. They should be careful, however, as zombies can eat or crush the Grave Buster while it is working. It takes five seconds to destroy a grave in Plants vs. Zombies and three seconds in Plants vs. Zombies 2. If the Grave Buster is eaten, the process has to be started over again. Once the Grave Buster has finished eating a grave, the player will be rewarded with money, chocolate, or a Zen Garden plant.

In Plants vs. Zombies
Grave Buster

Plant Grave Busters on graves to remove the graves.

Usage: single use, must be planted on graves

Special: removes graves

Despite Grave Buster's fearsome appearance, he wants everyone to know that he loves kittens and spends his off hours volunteering at a local zombie rehabilitation center. "It's just the right thing to do," he says.

Cost: 75

Recharge: fast

In Plants vs. Zombies 2
Sun cost: 0

RECHARGE: Mediocre

Grave Busters consume graves they're planted on.

Usage: single use, must be planted on graves

Special: removes graves

He may appear spiky or ill-tempered, but Grave Buster just wants to give you a big hug. Unless you're a puppy. He's terrified of those.

Adventure Mode
Only select Grave Buster on Night levels (even though it isn't a nocturnal plant, as proved by Versus Mode) when you can see the graveyard in the background, as graves never appear on the Roof, Day, Pool, and Fog areas. Which graves you choose to remove first depends entirely on your defensive strategy. Usually, getting rid of the leftmost ones first is a good idea, as well as getting rid of rows with multiple graves. Removing graves from the places you need to put a specific plant (such as a Wall-nut or Spikeweed) is also a good idea. Be careful when you plant Grave Busters, however, as they can be eaten by zombies. It is a good idea to plant them before a huge wave of zombies comes.

You might want to get rid of all the graves when you have sun to spare, before the final wave. If you have not gotten rid of them all by the end of a level (before you click on the item), zombies will come out depending on which types and if there are still graves left, you can continue to destroy them as long as you have sun. You will still be rewarded with coins, chocolate, or even a present.

Whack a Zombie
Grave Busters are almost essential. If they are not planted, the zombies will probably overwhelm you near the final wave, as there will be a huge number of graves, each rapidly spitting out zombies. It is possible to defeat Whack a Zombie without it though, although it is very difficult.

At the final wave, there will be a large number of zombies and you will may lose if you have a row without a Lawn Mower and/or Potato Mine. Also, if a grave has a Grave Buster on it, it will not produce zombies (unless the Grave Buster is eaten). One of the best times to plant Grave Busters is when there is a pause in zombies coming out of graves, but you should try to plant them at other times as well. This is because one or more new grave appears during each pause, and so if you do not plant them at any other time the amount of graves will never decrease (at least not until the level is over). The best idea is to plant Grave Busters on the graves farthest to the left, slowly taking care of the most dangerously-placed ones. You may also want to plant Potato Mines in front of the lawn mowers in case a grave near your house releases a zombie and you cannot reach it in time. You can plant more in when there are no more zombies, until you can't plant anymore.

Versus Mode
In Versus Mode, Grave Busters play a large role in destroying the Zombie Gravestones the zombie side must create in order to produce brains. They work just like they would on a normal grave, but there is no coin produced when they destroy one. Grave Busters have a very slow recharge in Versus Mode. Your opponent could summon a zombie to eat, crush, bomb or steal the Grave Buster, so be careful.

Survival Mode
Grave Busters are useful in Night Survival games to allow space for more plants. Since graves pop out every second flag of a round, always bring the Grave Buster.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
In this game, only select Grave Buster when you see tombstones on your grounds and the Tomb Raiser Zombie in Ancient Egypt and Dark Ages with the other zombies. Remember the recharge time is a little slow, even though the cost is free. Avoid using Grave Busters if the challenge says to avoid losing a plant. In addition, avoid planting Grave Busters when the "Necromancy" message shows up in Dark Ages. This could be a bad idea, thus causing you to risk spending money on Plant Food and using these upgrades to speed up the recharging time.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * When a Grave Buster is eating a grave, zombies can still come out of that same grave on the final wave. The Grave Buster will continue to eat the grave unless the zombies eat it before it finishes.
 * If the grave which a Grave Buster is planted on is slightly to the right or too big, the right side of the grave just disappears even though it is not hidden by the Grave Buster. This is probably a glitch.
 * There is a glitch that can occur, when the player plants a Grave Buster that is not finishing eating the grave and show the seed selection click Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies or Suburban Almanac and exit back to the seed selection, the player will hear a Grave Buster sound eating a grave. Also when this glitch happens and the player finishes picking seeds the Grave Buster will continue eating the grave without sounds.
 * The name may be a reference to the popular movie Ghostbusters.
 * There is a noticeable border in the place where Grave Buster's teeth start.
 * This is the only plant received in the night levels which is not a mushroom.
 * The Grave Buster is one of the four plants that has a name that does not involve plants (or mushrooms), the others being Gold Magnet, Chomper and Spikerock.
 * When the Grave Buster is flattened, the player can hear the sound of the Grave Buster removing the grave after being crushed by a Gargantuar, Zomboni, or Catapult Zombie.
 * Even though the Grave Buster is only used at night, it is not considered a nocturnal plant and can be raised in the normal Zen Garden, and sold for $8000 instead of $10000.
 * This also happens with the Plantern.
 * The Grave Buster is one of the two non-mushroom plants that have a Night background in the Suburban Almanac, the other being the Plantern.
 * The Grave Buster and the Chomper are the only plants that can eat (not including their Imitater versions).
 * The Grave Buster recharges slower in Versus Mode.
 * The Grave Buster and Cob Cannon are the only plants (according to the Suburban Almanac) that are currently doing work of some kind outside of the arsenal.
 * There is a glitch in the Nintendo DS version when a new grave appears and the player places a Grave Buster a square away from the grave, the Grave Buster can be used and it'll not destroy any graves.
 * If the player uses the Imitater Grave Buster, the player will see that the Imitater is planted in front of the grave.
 * The rocks from the grave the Grave Buster is eating look bigger in the iPhone and iPod versions.
 * The Grave Buster's online almanac entry does not appear to be finished, because when the player clicks on it, it shows the last plant the player checked the entry on.
 * If the Grave Buster is eaten before it destroys a grave, the grave will pop back up, unharmed.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * Grave Buster's appearance is changed to a bunch of thorny green vines with eyes and teeth. It is possible that it's supposed to look more like a plant.
 * Instead of eating a grave, it wraps it in vines and brings it underground. This makes it look as if it were consuming the grave.
 * It is unlocked when the player unlocks the Save Our Seeds minigames but as of version 1.7 onwards, the Grave Buster is now unlocked after beating Day 9 of Ancient Egypt.
 * When there is only dirt on the ground remaining, it can still be eaten.
 * When a Grave Buster is bringing a grave into the ground, plants will still attack it, as if the grave is still there.
 * Grave Buster's Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars appearance is different than its Plants vs. Zombies 2 appearance despite the fact that most plants are the same in both games. In Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars, the Grave Buster looks very similar to its original look in Plants vs. Zombies, but it has larger eyes.
 * Grave Buster is the only plant that was not acquired in the nine first levels before the Dark Ages Gargantuar level (level 10) but is still allowed to be used in the level, despite the fact that you do not have to get Grave Buster in order to progress to the Dark Ages (excluding Potato Mine and Wall-nut).
 * Grave Buster's costume, the fez, resembles a hat worn by Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls, and by the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who.
 * The Treasure Yeti wears the same fez but it does not have a rope, it is a darker red and it had an ankh on it if you're in Ancient Egypt. However, in real life, back in Ancient Egypt, the ankh represents life and it is held by the seven main Egyptian Gods and Goddessess, except Osiris.
 * In Dark Ages, if one looks closely, when planting Grave Buster on tombstone, it disappears rather than bring it to the underground.
 * Plant Food or sun can still be collected by a tombstone in Dark Ages before the Grave Buster destroys it.
 * This, Ghost Pepper, and the Guacodile are the only plants in this game that its first letter is "G".
 * If transformed into sheep by Wizard Zombie, the tombstone will recede to its normal phase but if there are plants that has offensive capabilities and destroyed the grave, the sheep will remain there. Once it returns to Grave Buster again, it will bust nothing. Also when transformed, its dirt will remain.
 * Hypnotized Gargantuars can smash the Grave Buster as it consumes the tombstone but the consumed tombstone will still remain.
 * In the Chinese version, it needs the least amount of puzzle pieces to unlock it as it only needs one.