Potted Piranha Plant

This article is not to be confused with the course obstacle, Piranha Plant.

Potted Piranha Plant
A Potted Piranha Plant from a Super Mario game.
Information
Description	Eats Items of opponents, and also chomps other racers and gives a speed boost in Mario Kart 8.
First Appearance	Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005)
Most Recent Appearance	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)

The Potted Piranha Plant (鉢植えのパックンフラワー), originally known simply as the Piranha Plant (パックンフラワー), is an Item originally from the first two games of the Mario Kart Arcade subseries, and now a member of the main console series' roster of Items since Mario Kart 8. Consisting of a Venus flytrap-like plant confined to a small clay pot, this Item chomps at enemy Items, and depending on the game, can even dispose of racers.

In its first two incarnations, the Potted Piranha Plant belonged to only Princess Peach as her Special Item, but in Mario Kart 8 and its remake, it's available to all players in about the 7th to 4th place range.

Usage

Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

Defense

Peach's pink Piranha Plant.

If a player is using Peach as their racer, they'll be open to the Potted Piranha Plant (known only as the Piranha Plant in these two games) as one of their Special Items. This highly useful defensive Item can be used to eat enemy Items that might be aimed Peach's kart. Because of the huge amount of Items and Item Boxes, not to mention that a great deal have targeting abilities, this can be insanely helpful to retain a place and even move up in the latter of the race.

Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Offense

Mario Kart 8 and its remake added even more powers to the Potted Piranha Plant, making it a highly useful assault weapon as well. Whenever a racer is near, the Piranha Plant will not hesitate to lash out at them with an absurd accuracy, which makes them roll over and lose valuable time and Coins. This can either be done automatically or manually by smashing the Item button. The plant, however, will be stunned for a short amount of time if it attempts to bite on racers who are using the Starman item or a bullet bill.

The piranha plant has a timer when it's active, as seen in the top left corner around the item icon. The timer goes down automatically, and with each chomp, the timer goes down by a fixed amount. The plant vanishes into clouds when the timer reaches zero.

Defense

The Potted Piranha Plant also retains its ability from its arcade incarnation by being able to eat any stray Item- whether that be a lone Green Shell, a hurtling Boomerang, or even an annoying, ink-squirting Blooper.

Recovery

Another new edition to the latest Piranha Plant in a pot is that each time in chomps, it thrusts the player forward with its momentum, giving the driver a speed boost about equivalent to a blue Mini-Turbo. It will also eat Coins, giving additional top speed AND purchasing ability.

Protection

A Piranha Plant defends Yoshi's Wild Wiggler.

Fortunately for non-Peach drivers in Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, the Piranha Plant only eats your Items, so it's not that formidable to your race game... it's mainly just a benefit for the user. However, in Mario Kart 8 and onwards, you'll have a lot more to worry about. The best antidote is to stay away from a person equipped with one of these at all costs (use the rear-view camera). A barrier of Triple Green Shells or Triple Bananas will buy you maybe 1 second of time, as the Piranha Plant will rapidly chomp the 3 Items as an appetizer and then have YOU as the main course. A well-timed Starman will deter your chances of being a meal by a lot.

Also, the piranha plant does not send out warning signals if its close behind you, so again, use your rear view mirrors. The piranha plant may provide mini turbo boosts with each chomp, but they won't give the user a speed boost as massive as a mushroom, and it won't help the user navigate through shortcuts. Therefore, you may want to utilize your mushrooms to run away from a piranha plant if you can, since wasting your mushrooms is better than getting bit and drop back places.

Last but not least, you can hit the piranha plant player with a Red Shell from behind, and it will probably hit as the user cannot trail any items while using the plant. Just remember to give some respect to the plant and go around it from a considerable distance as you pass, as it will be pleased to eat you in an attempt to protect its user and buy them time to recover.

Trivia!

• The first Potted Piranha Plant in Mario Kart, used by Princess Peach, was pink instead of red, keeping in line with her other three Special Items.
• In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Potted Piranha Plant sits in front of the user's kart, basically in a pot with small wheels. Originally in the arcade games, it was much smaller and carried in Peach's gloved hand.
• Other Mario series games allow players to pick up Potted Piranha Plants and use them against enemies as well, such as Super Mario 3D World.

Gallery

Shy Guy about to be devoured by Yoshi's carnivorous plant.

Artwork of Wario with the Potted Piranha Plant from Mario Kart 8.

Potted Piranha Plant In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate