Catapult Zombie is a zombie in Plants vs. Zombies that rides a vehicle that rolls onto the player's lawn (or roof), crushing plants, and occupying one to two tiles of the lawn or roof. After 5.5 seconds, it stops its vehicle and starts lobbing basketballs at the last plants (closest to the house, or the chimney on the roof) in its lane.
Once this zombie kills a plant, it moves forward slightly and continues attacking the next plant. When it runs out of basketballs or if it kills all the plants in the lane, Catapult Zombie drives towards the player's house in a fashion similar to that of a Zomboni.
In the process, its vehicle will crush any plants it comes into contact with, except for Spikeweed, Spikerock and any instant-kill plant other than Chomper in its chewing stage and directly planted into the vehicle and zombie which destroys it instantly. It is the 23rd zombie encountered in Adventure Mode.
Toughness: medium Special: lobs basketballs at your plants
Of all the things Catapult Zombie could launch with his catapult, basketballs seemed like the best and most obvious choice.
(China only)(Archived content)
投石车僵尸
投石车僵尸操作着重型机器。
强度： 中
特点： 对你的植物投掷篮球 [sic]
投石车僵尸可以用弹射器来发射任何东西，但肉腿似乎是绝佳选择，也是最明显的选择。
In English: Catapult Zombie
Catapult Zombie operates heavy machinery.
Toughness: medium
Special: lobs basketballs on the near player house
Catapult Zombie could launch anything with the catapult, but meat loaves seemed like the best and most obvious choice.
Overview[]
Catapult Zombie absorbs 660 damage and its appearance changes upon absorbing 290 and 580 damage, where it begins to vibrate and smoke. After 700 damage, the front bumper of the catapult shows damage before exploding. Each basketball inflicts 75 damage to the plant which means it takes 4 shots to kill a normal plant, while the catapult vehicle itself takes an instant kill damage meaning if the plants are run over by it or they are planted directly into the zombie either if it is moving or planting on tiles within the Catapult Zombie's hitbox which reaches until the basketball pole if in idle animation to throw basketballs, they will be crushed. It is worth 5 points in zombie spawning.
Use a Spikeweed or Spikerock to pop the tires. Alternatively, use Umbrella Leaves to block the basketballs while your offensive plants take care of it. Using Umbrella Leaves to protect your plants from the basketballs is key when you encounter Catapult Zombies on roof levels, as you cannot use Spikeweeds and Spikerocks in any roof level.
This is also a good idea if you have any expensive plants like Twin Sunflowers or Cob Cannons in the back. Keep in mind that if you plant a Spikeweed or Spikerock beneath the back tire of the Catapult Zombie's vehicle, it will not kill it. You also should not plant any non-instant kill plant other than the Spikeweed or Spikerock on tiles where the Catapult Zombie is because it will crush them while they occupy them and the tiles are within their hitbox.
In Survival: Endless, the Umbrella Leaf is a must because any Spikeweeds or Spikerocks you plant will quickly be destroyed by the hordes of stacked Catapult Zombies, Zombonis, and Gargantuars. Magnet-shrooms are useless against it, even though the machine is made out of metal. However, unlike Zombonis, Catapult Zombies can be slowed or frozen by Snow Pea, Winter Melon and Ice-shroom.
Also, if you don't have an Umbrella Leaf you could also plant a Wall-nut or a Tall-nut in the leftmost row, so the other plants can focus on killing the Catapult Zombie. A Catapult Zombie takes 5.5 seconds to throw its first basketball, and the time doubles if it is slowed down. Therefore, Umbrella Leaves are not necessary if one has a proper instant or Ice-shroom cycle to suppress them before they can inflict any damage.
Note:Pumpkins are useless for directly defending plants against it because Catapult Zombies aim for the plant inside the Pumpkin first before they go for the Pumpkin.
Versus Mode[]
With[]
Catapult Zombie is one of your best bets for taking out opposing Sunflowers. He is one of the few zombies who specialize in attacking the leftmost columns, which most zombies will have a hard time doing - and since two Sunflowers are pre-planted on the first column in this mode, most players will instinctively place the rest there as well.
It is advised to defend your Catapult Zombies for as long as possible so they can clear out your opponent's rear defenses. Keeping your catapult functional until the zombie runs out of basketballs is especially desirable, as the zombie will then proceed to mow down the plants in front of it. For this reason, Catapult Zombie is one of the best units to pair Trash Can Zombies with, though other durable zombies like Buckethead Zombie and Football Zombie are also good choices.
Avoid pairing him with Bungee Zombie as that is a major incentive for your opponent to pick Umbrella Leaves.
Against[]
Umbrella Leaves and the Wall-nut/Tall-nut strategy listed above are key for guarding your defenses against Catapult Zombie in this mode. If you do not have any of these plants in your arsenal, you will have to avoid placing Sunflowers and any plant with a high sun cost and/or slow recharge in the rear. In this case, putting such plants in the middle is optimal.
As Catapult Zombies remain in the zombie player's zone while launching basketballs, Spikeweeds and several instant kills like Potato Mine and Cherry Bomb are poor options as the zombie will be beyond their reach. Instead, Jalapeno is your best bet for taking them down quickly.
It is also advised to end the match as soon as possible - Catapult Zombies are especially deadly in Sudden Death because at that point you cannot replace the Sunflowers they destroy, not to mention they recharge three times faster.
Please note that only official translations are used.
Language
Name
Description
English
Catapult Zombie
Simplified Chinese
投石车僵尸
Traditional Chinese
投石車殭屍
Dutch
Katapultzombie
French
Zombie catapulte
German
Katapult-Zombie
Italian
Zombi artigliere
Japanese
カタパルトゾンビ
Russian
Зомби на Катапульте
Spanish
Zombipulta
A portmanteau of "Zombi" (Zombie) and "Catapulta" (Catapult).
Trivia[]
Catapult Zombie's health is on the high end of the zombies with "medium" toughness, with the Digger Zombie's being at the low end.
Although it has higher health than most plants, Garlic only takes six basketballs before dying.
Although Catapult Zombie ignores Spikeweed and Spikerock, a Pumpkin on them will "trick" the Catapult Zombie to attack the plant inside. A Spikeweed takes 5 basketball shots, while a Spikerock takes 7 before dying.
However, with proper positioning of basketballs and a certain number of Catapult Zombies in the same lane, it is possible for a Spikeweed and Spikerock to be destroyed without the Pumpkin which is done when many basketballs hit on a tile with the said plants.
Apart from Digger Zombie, Catapult Zombie is the only zombie in the original game to attack the plants in reverse order (until it runs out of basketballs).
If there are no plants in Catapult Zombie's row, it will drive towards the house or the chimney while crushing any plants that were planted between the zombie and directly on the catapult vehicle.
The same happens if Catapult Zombie runs out of basketballs.
On the homepage of the official Plants vs. Zombies website, the Catapult Zombie is seen holding a sign saying "Try the Zombatar!", not riding its catapult vehicle, and wearing glasses.
If a plant is planted on tiles of a roof or lawn where the Catapult Zombie is (regardless if it is moving or in idle animation to throw basketballs), the plant will automatically be crushed.
This does not include Spikeweed, Spikerock, or any instant-kill plants other than Chomper when they are planted on the zombie or within the catapult's crush radius, in which the first two plants will pop the tires of the Catapult Zombie instead and in case of any instant-kill plants, even if they are planted at the zombie except for Chomper, they will still kill the zombie without killing the plant. The vehicle also does not crush plants if buttered or frozen with an Ice-shroom.
The basketball pole is part of the Catapult Zombie's hitbox so if the player plants a plant on a tile where the pole is, it still make the plant to be crushed.
When the Catapult Zombie stops at the rightmost tile, only the Pumpkin and the plant inside it, and a Tall-nut (and also a Flower Pot if the Pumpkin, Tall-nut, and other plants for the latter through third party programs is planted on it), will be crushed by catapult vehicle's front wheel due to Pumpkin's and Tall-nut's larger hitbox thus both plant meets with the Catapult Zombie's/catapult vehicle's hitbox (with the front wheel being part of the zombie's/vehicle's hitbox) if planting near the vehicle.
If a Flower Pot with or without a plant or a plant without a Pumpkin or Tall-nut are planted on column 8 and the Catapult Zombie appears on the same lane as them, the plants are still intact if the zombie arrives and stops its catapult vehicle and they will only be crushed if the player plants a Pumpkin and Tall-nut over the already placed plants or Flower Pot while it is idle after arriving and still alive. The reason for this is that a Pumpkin on a Flower Pot, a plant inside a Pumpkin, a Flower Pot with a plant and Pumpkin, and a Tall-nut on a Flower Pot and plants on the same tile as them through third party programs are considered by the game as a single unit planted on a tile.
When Catapult Zombie is frozen or paralyzed, the vehicle can't crush plants. This is because when the catapult is paralyzed or frozen, it does not move thus its crushing ability will not perform.
Catapult Zombies cannot be defrosted by fire peas
When hit on a Catapult Zombie, fire peas cannot splash damage nearby zombies. This is similar to Zombonis, Screendoor Zombies, and Ladder Zombies. Similarly, a Catapult Zombie will not defrost after being hit by fire peas.
The catapult vehicle's crush radius can range from one to two tiles depending on the Catapult Zombie's position.
The vehicle only covers one tile if Catapult Zombie occupies column 9 and an area where the zombies arrive, and where the lawn mowers or roof cleaners are located and column 1, while two if it occupies the part of a lawn or roof between the roof cleaners or lawn mowers and zombies' spawning zone. Its hitbox can reach until its basketball pole.
There is quite a resemblance between Catapult Zombie's head and Digger Zombie's.
Catapult Zombie's speed is the same as a flying Balloon Zombie's.
Catapult Zombie is the zombie counterpart of Carrot Rocket, as both shoot the last plant or zombie in the row.
It has fewer basketballs in the DS version (about 5–6).
Catapult Zombie is similar to Cardio Zombie, Z-Mech, #caketank, Roman Caesar Zombie, and Zcorpion Zombie where he can crush any plants when approaching the lawn and before throwing basketballs, and even while in idle animation to throw basketballs, the vehicle has still the ability to crush plants.
The difference is that Cardio Zombie, Z-Mech, #caketank, and Zcorpion Zombie do not eat the player's brains in which they will leave the lawn, self destruct, or stay on tiles until defeated, while Catapult Zombie is able to reach the player's house. When he reached the player's house, the game still displays "THE ZOMBIES ATE YOUR BRAINS!" despite that Catapult Zombie does not eat plants (although it is possible that he gets off of his vehicle off-screen after entering the house of dropping down the chimney to eat the brains making him the only time that he can eat).
The same goes for other, non-eating zombies such as Dr. Zomboss (who will never even reach the player's house), Zomboni (which is also possible to get off his vehicle out of the screen to eat the brains like Catapult Zombie), and Gargantuar (if the Gargantuar with the Imp reaches the player's house, it is possible for a Gargantuar to let its Imp eat the player's brains off-screen, while if it reaches the player's house without its Imp, the Gargantuar will drop a telephone pole/wildlife crossing sign/zombie to eat the brains).
Catapult Zombie has a limited ammo of 20 basketballs.
The basketball sprites inside the vehicle's basket are independent of the vehicle's sprite. Stored basketballs will disappear from the storage basket and immediately transferred to the score basket once the Catapult Zombie is using up their last four basketballs.
The order where the last four basketballs are used, and will disappear from the basket are:
Front right
Rear right
Rear left
Front left
Despite his legs not showing in-game, he has sprites of his legs in the game's files.
Catapult Zombie, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, and Dr. Zomboss are the only zombies that have two or more different ways to attack and destroy plants, with the first lobs basketballs and the catapult's ability to crush plants even if the zombie is moving or in idle animation, second eats plants and uses jack-in-the-box to destroy them, and the third summons zombies, fireball and iceball attack, throwing an RV, and stomping on plants if planted on a flat part of the roof.
Catapult Zombie, Peashooter Zombie, Gatling Pea Zombie, and Jalapeno Zombie are the only zombies where they can perform two attacks simultaneously, with the first lobs basketballs at the same time the vehicle has the ability to crush plants even when the zombie is in idle animation to lob the said projectile, second and third being able to eat plants while shooting peas, and fourth there is a chance that it will explode while it eat the plants.
Catapult Zombie is the weaker version of the Zomboni due to the catapult's ability to crush plants.
Catapult Zombie still can move and perform the catapult's ability to crush plants when it is about to explode (except for when it is killed by Spikeweed and Spikerock or buttered and frozen). This can also happen with Zomboni.
If Catapult Zombie is popped up by Spikeweed/Spikerock and blown up by explosive plants, he will despawn similar to when Dr. Zomboss is defeated, using explosives on a body of a headless zombie when dropping into the ground, on Level 5-5 and Bungee Blitz and upon Dr. Zomboss' defeat, Gargantuar, Giga-gargantuar, Bungee Zombie when hit by explosive plants seconds before grabbing a plant, and Tall-nut Zombie with its head still intact that drop into the ground, skipping the exploding animation and sound when dying. Same can also happen with Zomboni.
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