Spore-shroom

Spore-shroom is a mushroom and the fifth plant obtained in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It was first revealed in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B developer diary released on September 15, 2015.

When a zombie is killed by Spore-shroom's projectile, its body will disintegrate and another Spore-shroom will be spawned in its place, provided that the tile it died on is unoccupied by other plants. Spore-shrooms spawned in this method do not provide sun when dug up.

Etymology
Spore-shroom's name and ability are references to how mushrooms reproduce by spores and how they tend to multiply quickly in a proper environment, such as the carcass of fallen animals.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 150

DAMAGE: Moderate

RANGE: Lobbed

RECHARGE: Fast

Spore-shroom fires spores that create new Spore-shrooms out of defeated zombies.

"My favorite arithmetic operation?" wonders Spore-shroom. "I guess I'd have to say, um, addition. Hang on, no... multiplication."

Plant Food upgrade
When fed with Plant Food, Spore-shroom lobs three giant projectiles at three different zombies, each doing 90 damage and spawning a Spore-shroom on the tiles if it defeated its target.

Strategies
Because of its ability to create copies of itself from defeated zombies, Spore-shroom will allow the player to quickly build up defenses without having to spend sun that could be used for more expensive plants such as Winter Melon. Its spores can bypass frozen blocks and arcade machines (unless these obstructions are right in front of it, blocking its attack), attacking the zombies and eventually defeating them. However, Spore-shroom in actuality will rarely be able to utilize its ability to its full potential, as its spawning mechanic means that newly created Spore-shrooms will be placed right next to the horde and usually get eaten in seconds.

Spore-shroom can prove useful in Lost City - not only can it defeat Excavator Zombies, but the newly spawned Spore-shrooms will also serve as distraction as the Excavator Zombie will continue to shovel them up. Spore-shroom can also counter Imp Porters and Bug Zombie because when it defeats them, they turn into Spore-shrooms, rather than dropping their equipment (tent for the Imp and the zombie for the bug). Of course, like most lobbed-shot plants, Spore-shroom is ineffective against Parasol Zombies even if it were boosted.

It is not a good idea to use Spore-shroom on levels with either a limit on present or defeated plants as it can make copies of itself, even on unwanted spots where it will likely get eaten very fast. Last Stand and levels with a sun quota however, are great levels to use Spore-shroom due to the fact making copies of themselves do not count as using sun.

Trivia

 * It is the second new mushroom in international version of Plants vs. Zombies 2, the first being Toadstool.
 * It is the only plant that is able to produce copies of itself without Plant Food.
 * If there is an obstacle in front of it and there are zombies in its lane, its projectile will be blocked and absorbed by the obstacle instead. The same problem is present with Strawburst.
 * This is also true if the player feeds a Spore-shroom with Plant Food when there are zombies right in front of him before the 4.1.1 update.
 * Spore-shroom is the second lobbed-shot plant not to have a characteristic catapult shape, with the first being A.K.E.E.
 * If the zombie that is killed by Spore-shroom between two tiles, the new Spore-shroom will spawn in the left tile.
 * In the 4.0.1 update, despite being obtained after Garlic, it was positioned before it on the seed selection screen and the Almanac.
 * It makes squealing noises when inhaling before shooting its projectile, making it one of the nine plants in the game that makes vocal noises, the others being Squash, Chard Guard, Strawburst, Cactus, Banana Launcher, Lava Guava, Dandelion, and Sweet Potato.
 * It does not turn objects like tombstones, surfboards, frozen blocks, tents, backpack, and arcade machines into additional Spore-shrooms. In some cases, when it kills a zombie that is on the same tile as the object, a Spore-shroom may spawn on top of the aforementioned objects.
 * This is a glitch that may sometimes happen if a zombie is killed while being on the same tile as the object.
 * The face on its paper bag costume resembles the character Plank from Ed, Edd n Eddy.
 * Spore-shroom and Thyme Warp are the only plants that shrink zombies. However, Spore-shroom shrinks zombies after defeating them while Thyme Warp shrinks zombies right after use.
 * If a spawned Spore-shroom is revived by Intensive Carrot, it will still refund sun when dug up.
 * When attacking a zombie that has lost its head, but is technically not dead yet to the game's engine, the zombie will still shrink but will not produce a Spore-shroom.
 * It is one of the 4 mushrooms not to be obtained in the Dark Ages, with the others being Hypno-shroom, Toadstool, and Perfume-shroom.

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