Big Piranha Plant

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Big Piranha Plant
Big Piranha Plant
Artwork from Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
First appearance Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Latest appearance Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (2024)
Variant of Piranha Plant
Variants
Notable members

A Big Piranha Plant (also known as Piranhacus Giganticus,[1] Super Piranha Plant[2][3] or Mega Piranha Plant[4]) is a larger variety of Piranha Plant that debuted as an enemy in Giant Land from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Its original English name, Piranhacus Giganticus, is rendered as binomial nomenclature, the scientific way of delineating species, with the words "piranha" and "gigantic" altered to fit the Latin grammatical form, itself a practice known as Dog Latin.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]

Piranhacus Giganticus

In Super Mario Bros. 3, they only appear in Giant Land. Although they are huge, a single fireball will destroy them, and they are mostly the same as any other typical Piranha Plant, other than presenting a larger target and obstacle; however, the ones in giant pipes will pop out even if Mario is next to them, like the red normal-sized Piranha Plants in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. In the NES version, most of them have red heads and red leaves, except for the ones in World 4-6, which have green heads and green leaves. In the remakes, all of them have red heads and green leaves, though they also have orange lips.

New Super Mario Bros.[edit]

Super Piranha Plants are found in the game New Super Mario Bros. Unlike their previous appearance, Super Piranha Plants are never seen in pipes due to their size. Fire Mario must shoot three fireballs at one to destroy them. When defeated, they give up eight coins instead of the usual one coin.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii[edit]

A Super Piranha Plant
Super Piranha Plant in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Piranha Plants function the same as before. Upon defeat, they now give up three coins instead of eight. Its fiery counterpart also makes its debut in a sidescroller.

Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

Super Piranha Plant and Big Paragoombas in Supermassive Galaxy
Mario finding a Super Piranha Plant and two Big Paragoombas in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Super Piranha Plants appear alongside Giant Goombas, Big Paragoombas, and Giant Koopas in Super Mario Galaxy 2, where they appear in the Supermassive Galaxy. They are shown in giant pipes similar to how they appear in Super Mario Bros. 3, only much bigger. However, in contrast to their original appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, they are invincible, thus serving more as an obstacle than an enemy. They can, however, be stunned with a spin or a Star Bit, but that just hinders the player as it stops the plant from going back in the pipe.

New Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, Big Piranha Plants are among the enemies that are affected by the Gold Ring. When defeated, the location they once stood upon spouts coins. They once again exclusively appear outside pipes, just like in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

New Super Mario Bros. U[edit]

Big Piranha Plant
A lone Big Piranha Plant in New Super Mario Bros. U.

In New Super Mario Bros. U, Big Piranha Plants are seen in numerous stages, such as Rise of the Piranha Plants. One Big Piranha Plant is also featured in the Boost Rush level Piranha Plant Hideaway. A shortcut for this level is to have the player utilizing the Wii U GamePad rapidly tap on the Big Piranha Plant, creating room for the player to jump over its head, reaching the goal ring. Notably, Jungle of the Giants is the only level to feature the classic pipe-dwelling Big Piranha Plants, making this the first game to show them alongside the newer grounded variant.

New Super Luigi U[edit]

Giant Swing-Along, the first level of Soda Jungle in New Super Luigi U.
Luigi encountering the Big Piranha Plants of Soda Jungle.

Both forms of the Big Piranha Plant reappear in New Super Luigi U. Piranhas in the Dark introduces upside-down versions in dirt, and Giant Swing-Along introduces upside-down versions in pipes.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World Bowser's Fury[edit]

Mega Piranha Plant in Mount Beanpole
Mega Piranha Plant in Super Mario 3D World

Mega Piranha Plants appear in Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario 3D World Bowser's Fury. Like normal-sized Piranha Plants in modern 3D games, these can be stomped to be defeated, but two stomps are required to do so, with the first stomp merely stunning them. Their size and behavior is very similar to the Spiny Piranha Plants from Super Mario Galaxy. This is their second appearance in a 3D Super Mario game.

In Bowser's Fury, cat versions appear with the same appearance as regular-sized Cat Piranha Plants.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS[edit]

Big Piranha Plants reappear in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. The player can enlarge a normal Piranha Plant with a Super Mushroom, and it will transform into its larger variant.

Super Mario Odyssey[edit]

Main article: Big Poison Piranha Plant

While regular Big Piranha Plants do not appear in Super Mario Odyssey, Big Poison Piranha Plants appear, where they can be found in the Wooded Kingdom, the Metro Kingdom, and the Dark Side.

Super Mario Maker 2[edit]

Big Piranha Plants return in Super Mario Maker 2, where they behave in a similar manner from its predecessor; additionally, they attack by lunging at the player in the Super Mario 3D World style.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder[edit]

Big Piranha Plants return in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, first appearing in Piranha Plants on Parade. Some appear in giant Warp Pipes similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U, along with its related expansions and ports, while others appear outside of them similar to the New Super Mario Bros. games. In addition, a new Trottin' Piranha Plant variant of them make their debut.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island[edit]

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a regular Piranha Plant named Naval Piranha is transformed by Kamek into a giant-sized Piranha as a boss of World 3.

Mario Golf: World Tour[edit]

Big Piranha Plants reappear as obstacles in Mario Golf: World Tour. This is the first appearance of Big Piranha Plants in a Mario Golf game.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]

Exclusively in the Wii U version of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, one Big Piranha Plant reappears in the bonus level, Shadow-Play Alley.

Mario Kart series[edit]

Mario Kart Arcade GP VR[edit]

Big Piranha Plants in Mario Kart Arcade GP VR

Big Piranha Plants reappear in Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, where they appear in the start of the track, where they bite down on patches of dirt making any racer who touches them spin out.

Mario Kart Tour[edit]

In Mario Kart Tour, Piranha Plants come in a range of sizes, though they are all labeled in-game as simply "Piranha Plant". Big Piranha Plants that reside in large pipes appear in Paris Promenade, Paris Promenade 2, and Paris Promenade 3. They are also usually added as stage hazards in the R, T and R/T variants of various courses (with RMX Choco Island 1R/T featuring the largest Piranha Plant in the game), and are also often found in the Steer Clear of Obstacles bonus challenges. A variant that is found on the ground can be seen in SNES Choco Island 2R/T and the Steer Clear of Obstacles bonus challenge on GCN Yoshi Circuit.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]

Big Piranha Plants reappear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass in DS Peach Gardens and Tour Paris Promenade, reprising their roles from Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Party series[edit]

Mario Party: The Top 100[edit]

A Big Piranha Plant appears in the Mario Party: The Top 100 version of Tug o' War where it eats the loser(s) that gets tugged into its jaws.

Mario Party Superstars[edit]

Big Piranha Plants reappear in Mario Party Superstars, being grown from large Piranha Pods thrown by Lakitus in Peach's Birthday Cake. If an opponent lands on the Event Space where the Big Piranha Plant is stationed, they lose a Star to the player that planted it. They also eat and spit out the losers except for the winner at the end of a game. In addition, one also reprises its role in Tug o' War.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Big Piranha Plants (just called Big Piranhas) are mentioned briefly by Viridi during Palutena's Guidance dialogue for Piranha Plant. Unlike most other variations generally mentioned in order of appearance, they are listed amongst New Super Mario Bros. Wii debuts. Nipper Spores, Big Fire Piranhas, Small Piranhas, and Fire Stalking Piranhas are similarly listed out of order.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]

In the climax of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a Big Piranha Plant briefly traps Invincible Mario and Invincible Luigi in its mouth, before they force it to spit them out.

Gallery[edit]

Additional names[edit]

Internal names[edit]

Game File Name Meaning

Super Mario Galaxy 2 SystemData/ObjNameTable.arc/ObjNameTable.tbl でっかパックン (Dekka Pakkun) Huge Piranha

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese 巨大パックンフラワー[5]
Kyodai Pakkun Furawā
Giant Piranha Plant
大パックンフラワー[6]
Dai Pakkun Furawā
Big Piranha Plant
でかパックンフラワー[7]
Deka Pakkun Furawā
Chinese 大吞食花[?]
Dà Tūnshíhuā
Big Piranha Plant
Dutch Reuze-Piranha[?] Giant Piranha
French (NOA) Plante Piranha géante[?] Giant Piranha Plant
French (NOE) Maxi-Plante Piranha[?] Maxi-Piranha Plant
German Riesen-Piranha-Pflanze[?] Giant-Piranha Plant
Super-Piranha-Pflanze[?] Super Piranha Plant New Super Mario Bros.
Italian Pianta Piranha gigante[?] Giant Piranha Plant
Korean 점보뻐끔[?]
Jeombo Ppeokkeum
Jumbo Piranha
Portuguese (NOE) Planta Piranha Gigante[8] Giant Piranha Plant
Russian огромное растение-пиранья[?]
ogromnoe rastenie-piran'ya
Huge Piranha Plant
Spanish Grande Planta Piraña[?] Grand Piranha Plant

References[edit]

  1. ^ June 1990. Nintendo Power Volume 13. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 8.
  2. ^ Loe, Casey (May 15, 2006). New Super Mario Bros. Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). ISBN 1-59812-009-3. Page 13.
  3. ^ Bueno, Fernando (November 15, 2009). New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-46592-4. Page 14.
  4. ^ Musa, Alexander, and Geson Hatchett (November 22, 2013). Super Mario 3D World PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-804-16249-4. Page 23.
  5. ^ 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario Bros. 3 section. Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 36.
  6. ^ 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, New Super Mario Bros. section. Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 114.
  7. ^ 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook. Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 145, 160, 195, 210, and 226.
  8. ^ Canal New Super Mario Bros. U (February 6th, 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Desafios: Nas Nuvens sem Moedas (Wii U) video description. YouTube (European Portuguese). Retrieved May 22, 2024.