| “ | | ” |
| —Kernel-pult's Plants vs. Zombies almanac description | ||
- For other uses, see Kernel-pult (disambiguation).
Kernel-pult is a recurring character within the Plants vs. Zombies franchise. Kernel-pult lobs weak corn kernels at sometimes, but has a chance to fire butter instead, which can stun zombies. Like other pults, he can avoid zombie shields.
Kernel-pult is the eldest member of the Pult brothers and according to his Plants vs. Zombies entry, the only one who remembers their birthdays and bugs them about it and joined the Plants' side in battle after watching "Fried Green Tomatoes" according to his Plants vs. Zombies 2 entry. Kernel-pult is always the second of the Pult brothers to be obtained in the mainline games.
As of Plants vs. Zombies 3, Kernel-pult has appeared in five games.
Origins
An example of maize (corn), the plant Kernel-pult is based on
Kernel-pult is based on the crop maize (Zea mays), also known as corn, a type of large grain plant.
His name is a portmanteau of "kernel", the term for the fruit of corn which is what he is, and "catapult", a ballistic device used to hurl larges stones for warfare purpose in ancient times, referring to his ability to hurl corn and butter, which are used together in many dishes in real life.
History
Plants vs. Zombies
- Main article: Kernel-pult (PvZ)
In the original Plants vs. Zombies game, as well as most Chinese spin-off games based on it, Kernel-pult is the third Roof plant obtained. They cost 100 sun and lob like their younger brother Cabbage-pult, but these kernels only deal the same damage as a Peashooter with the same lobbing speed as the other pults. However, there is a 25% chance Kernel-pult will instead lob butter, which stuns the target for 5 seconds.
Kernel-pult appears alongside his brothers as the main offenses against Dr. Zomboss in the final Adventure Mode level and the the final mini-game.
Kernel-pult can be upgraded into Cob Cannon, costing $20,000 to obtain at Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies and 500 sun to plant. Unlike most plants. Cob Cannon requires two Kernel-pults to be side-by-side in order to plant.
Cob Cannon works completely different compared to Kernel-pult, being a manually controlled plant that fires cobs at a selected location, which act like Cherry Bombs when they land, then take 36.41 seconds to recharge.
Plants vs. Zombies 2
- Main article: Kernel-pult (PvZ2)
Kernel-pult returns in Plants vs. Zombies 2, unlocked after beating the first day of Pirate Seas. His ability is the same in this game, but both his kernels and butter deal slightly more damage compared to the first game, and his butter's stun time is 8 seconds rather than 5. Along with this, Kernel-pult's butter can instantly kill Seagull Zombie, Pelican Zombie, Zombie Parrot, and force zombies off their bugs.
Kernel-pult's Plant Food ability has him fire butter at every zombie and obstacle on-screen, stunning all of them for 8 seconds. Along with this, he is a member of the Arma-mint family and can be leveled up to increase their projectile damage and stun time, though their butter chance will always be the same.
Cob Cannon returns, but only in the Chinese version and acts the same as it did in the previous game, to the point where they still need to be upgraded from two side-by-side Kernel-pults to be planted while other upgrade plants no longer have this requirement.
Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars (China only)
- Main article: Corn line
Kernel-pult's next appearance is in the Chinese-exclusive turn-based game Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars as the first plant in the Corn line, evolving into Popcorn-pult and then again into Cob Cannon. Like other games, Kernel-pult attacks by lobbing kernels at zombies and specializes in stunning enemies.
Kernel-pult's abilities are Corn Shelling, which deals damage to 3 random enemies with a chance to stun them for a turn, stunning Seagull Zombies for 2 turns instead, Grilled Butter, which gives his normal attacks a chance to deal more damage and stun for a turn, and Trajectory Correction, which deals 360 more damage and hits with 100% accuracy after a missed attack.
His soulmates include members of the Flytrap line for a damage boost, members of the Watermelon line for a health boost, and members of the Radish line and Dragon line together for a damage boost.
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes
- Main article: Kernel-Pult (PvZH)
Kernel-Pult reappears in the turn-based mobile card game Plants vs. Zombies Heroes as a Colossal Uncommon Corn plant in the 
Solar class. They cost 1
, have 1
/1
and Team-Up.
When played on heights, Kernel-Pult will give a selected zombie -1/-1. Kernel-Pult isn't much on its own, but its Team-Up ability is also a reference to its appearance in Plants vs. Zombies, as Cob Cannon also returns in this game, requiring Team-Up Evolution to use its secondary ability.
Plants vs. Zombies 3
- Main article: Kernel-Pult (PvZ3)
Kernel-Pult's most recent appearance is in Plants vs. Zombies 3, once again lobbing kernels and stunning butter. He is a Common Lobber who costs 5 sun and their attack damage has been reverted back to their Plants vs. Zombies stats, 20 damage per kernel and 40 damage per butter. Along with this, while they have the same 25% chance to fire butter, the butter's stun time has also been reverted back to its Plants vs. Zombies time, being 5 seconds.
Their Plant Food ability is Butter Barrage, which is like their Plants vs. Zombies 2 Plant Food but only hits a certain amount of zombies and their Tacobility effect is Extra Butter which simply increases both the chance of lobbing butter and its stun time.
A similar looking plant, Caramel Popcorn is also in this game, costing 6 sun and lobbing popcorn and slowing caramel puddles, similar to Sap-fling from the previous game. Their Plant Food ability is Hot Toffee, which explodes all the current caramel blobs on the ground and creates new ones in their place while their Tacobility is Super Sticky, which both increases the chance to lob caramel blobs and their slowing power.
Trivia
- In a Q&A stream hosted by Laura Shigihara, she revealed how she made the sound of the Kernel-pult's butter hitting a zombie. She first tried throwing butter into oatmeal, and when that didn't work she asked George Fan if she could throw butter at him. He agreed, and Laura then spent 10 minutes throwing butter at George to produce the sound she needed.
- According to a costume description in Plants vs. Zombies 2, Kernel-pult's favorite color is red.
- A customization for the Kernel Corn in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Noodle Nester, resembles Kernel-pult's pult.
- Currently Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is the only game where Cob Cannon appears but not Kernel-pult.
See also
- Cabbage-pult
- Melon-pult
- Lobbed-shot plants
- Cob Cannon
- Seagull Zombie
- Caramel Popcorn
- Buttercup
- Butternut Squash
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