Digger Zombie is a zombie that digs beneath the yard using his pickaxe, eventually emerging on the left side of the lawn to attack the player's plants from behind. He wears a helmet to protect himself. He pauses for five seconds after resurfacing before proceeding to eat the player's plants. He is not present on Roof levels, as there is no soil to dig through, but does appear on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3's Co-op Roof level. Without advance preparation, they have the potential to do devastating damage to lanes of plants. Note that he eats the plants from left to right like Prospector Zombie and zombies carried by pterodactyls in the second game. He never makes an attempt to get into the player's house, unless if his pickaxe gets stolen by a Magnet-shroom. He is the 18th zombie encountered in Adventure Mode.
Toughness: medium Speed: fast, then slow Special: tunnels underground and appears on the left side of the lawn Weakness: split pea and magnet-shroom
Digger Zombie spends three days a week getting his excavation permits in order.
(Archived content)(China only)
土地公僵尸
这种僵尸通过挖隧道来穿过你的防御。
强度： 中
速度： 快，而后慢
特点： 穿过地下隧道并出现在草坪的左侧
弱点： 双向射手和磁力菇
土地公僵尸每周花费三天时间往返在不同的寺庙里收集供 [sic] 品。
In English: Tudigong Zombie
This zombie bypasses your defenses by digging tunnels.
Toughness: medium
Speed: fast, then slow
Special: tunnels underground and appears on the left side of the lawn
Weakness: split pea and magnet-shroom
Tudigong Zombie spends three days a week collecting offerings from different temples.
Overview[]
The Digger Zombie absorbs 370 damage and his appearance changes upon absorbing 40, 80 and 100, when the hard hat is destroyed, and 235 damage before dying after 370 damage. He will dig under your defenses, and eat them from the back. If he encounters an armed Potato Mine while digging underground, it will be triggered and will blow him up. If Magnet-Shroom steals his pickaxe, he stops in confusion for a second, before popping out of the ground and becoming a zombie that attacks as typical zombies.
You can use Magnet-shrooms to steal the zombie's pickaxe so he cannot dig any further. When a Magnet-shroom steals his pickaxe, the Digger Zombie will pause, a question mark will appear over his head, and he will surface and advance as usual. However, this is not a valid strategy against him if you are solely picking a weapon against him, especially in Survival: (Hard), as there is a possibility of him bypassing as the Magnet-shroom recharges, and he has the chance to cause him to eat your brains if he steals his pickaxe when it transverses behind your main attacking forces. Also, try using Potato Mines, as they explode if the Digger Zombie digs underneath them. However, make sure they are armed or else they will be eaten. Alternately, place Gloom-shrooms or Spikerocks at the back of the lawn or use Split Peas, Starfruits, and/or Cattails to kill it if he reaches to the left side of the lawn. You can also use Pumpkins on your back column, allowing your other plants more time to kill him. Instant kills, especially the Jalapeno, are good in emergencies. A Magnet-shroom that has just refreshed may snatch the Digger Zombie's mining pick while he is in the middle of your Plants, forcing him out of the ground in an inconvenient location. Before you have the Pumpkin, you may want to put Wall-nuts at the back. Having a Pumpkin, Ice-shroom, or Jalapeno available can counter this situation. In Survival: Endless or similar levels that include many Digger Zombies, the Gloom-shroom (you can use only two to save space for other plants) or Spikerock setups are the best to take care of them, because your Magnet-shrooms, Split Peas, Cattails, and/or Starfruits will not be able to keep up, making them almost useless and creating a necessity to remove them, and saving space. Note that explosive Instants can kill Digger Zombies while they are mining, so Doom-shrooms make very short work of them due to the large area, although other instant kills like the Squash, do not work while they are underground. However, the easiest (but slowest) way to take care of them is to use Potato Mines, due to them exploding as soon as a Digger Zombie goes beneath an armed one, and how they can be set up in advance. Also, if a Chomper is planted on the square one emerges from, he can eat him.
I, Zombie[]
In I, Zombie, you can use this zombie to destroy lanes that have no offensive plants that attack other lanes or backwards (Threepeater, Starfruit, Split Pea), although inconvenient, they can still be used in these rows. Rows with Squashes, Magnet-shrooms, or Potato Mines are effectively impervious. They can survive a Starfruit in column two from the left or a Split Pea in the first column from the left. It is especially useful in I Zombie, Endless.
A player can send a Digger Zombie to distract a Magnet-shroom. Then, after a few seconds, they can send another Digger Zombie and make sure that the pickaxe will be absorbed by the Magnet-shroom. That is a good way to make a Digger Zombie dig under the obstacle and eat the brain.
Gallery[]
Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Digger Zombie.
Zombi picado (Original PC and Nintendo DS versions) Zombi Excavador (GotY version) Zombi Paleto (Tree of Wisdom's advice mistranslation)
"Chopped zombie" "Digger Zombie" "Gawky Zombie"
Trivia[]
Digger Zombie can lose either his left or right arm, depending on which way he is going. Also, when Digger Zombie is not facing the lawn, his left leg is twisted and has a shoe.
While digging, Digger Zombie is the fastest zombie in the game, with the exception of a Dolphin Rider Zombie that still has his dolphin. But, after finishing the digging, he is the second-slowest zombie in the game behind the Trash Can Zombie.
Digger Zombie's health is on the low end of the zombies with medium toughness, with Catapult Zombie's health being at the high end.
In the Nintendo DS version of Plants vs. Zombies, Digger Zombie has an unusual hitbox, as when he stands on a Spikeweed he does not receive damage until near the edge when eating a plant.
He also can't be eaten by Chomper in this version.
Even after Digger Zombie surfaces, a Magnet-shroom can still steal his pickaxe.
Digger Zombie does not make a zombie's disgusted face when biting a Garlic; instead, a zombie's disgusted sound is heard while the Digger Zombie changes lanes.
Digger Zombie's hard hat is available in the Xbox Live Marketplace as a hat for one's avatar. It costs 160 Microsoft Points.
Digger Zombie can eat defensive plants with ladders on them, as the ladders are on the opposite side from him.
He and Newspaper Zombie are the two zombies that can have a question mark over their head, but in the mini-game Zombie Trap, if a zombie attracted to a brain gets too far away from the brain, the zombie will have a question mark on the zombie's head and walk towards the house.
Digger Zombie, Snorkel Zombie, and Balloon Zombie are the only zombies that lack a shoe. This, however, excludes Zombie Yeti, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, and Imp (which do not wear shoes). This is also assuming Dr. Zomboss wears both shoes, as his feet are not visible.
When Digger Zombie dies while moving away from the house, his head will fall off facing the opposite direction. This also happens to Zombie Yeti when it is running away.
His helmet's light does not work on level 4-10, as the level itself is supposed to be dark.
Even while underground, Digger Zombie will still scare Scaredy-shroom.
In I, Zombie, Digger Zombie first appears in Can You Dig It?.
A bug in the Nintendo DS version of Plants vs. Zombies is that if a plant is on the leftmost block on the lawn and a Digger Zombie (facing the right) eats the plant, the Digger Zombie will walk towards the right but still eat the plant and make the eating noise. This is the only way to let a zombie walk and eat a plant at the same time, not counting the Incorrect Eating Animation glitch in the Android version caused by the same thing that causes the Floating Cone/Bucket/Helmet Glitch.
Digger Zombie does not appear on the roof in most versions, because it is impossible to dig through the panels. The other zombies that do not appear on the roof are Dancing Zombie, Backup Dancer, Ducky Tube Zombie and his variants, Dolphin Rider Zombie, Snorkel Zombie, and Zombie Bobsled Team. Despite this, he appears in Co-op Roof for an unknown reason.
If timed correctly, the player can make a Digger Zombie eat a Potato Mine while both of them are underground.
Catapult Zombie's head looks similar to Digger Zombie's, however Catapult Zombie has an oil stain around his mouth.
The Digger Zombie likes pink tricycles, as seen in the Zombies on Your Lawn video.
According to the game's composer Laura Shigihara regarding the cover art for the Plants vs. Zombies Original Soundtrack, Digger Zombie may actually have a softer side to him, considering his like for pink tricycles, implying he actually has no direct hate for the plants.
Like the in-game Football Zombie, the Digger Zombie's eyes are colored red instead of yellow.
If they are killed with explosive plants while underground, they will despawn.
Through hacks, if a Digger Zombie with a pickaxe appears in front of the house, he will spin infinitely while the "THE ZOMBIES ATE YOUR BRAINS!" cutscene plays until the "GAME OVER" dialog box appears after the said message.
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