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Spike projectiles
Spikes (also referred to as thorns) are a type of projectile or a sharp piece of certain plants that are used for damaging zombies in both cases. Spikes can be shot by Cactus, Cattail, Homing Thistle, Foxtail, Liontail, and Dogtail. Plants including Spikeweed, Spikerock, Endurian, and Rose Swordsman use spikes as a part of their body to damage zombies. Spikes are also used as long range projectiles by Cactus and its variations in the Garden Warfare games.
Plants vs. Zombies
In Plants vs. Zombies, spike projectiles deal the damage of a pea. They are also the only projectiles that can shoot down Balloon Zombies. In this game, only spike shooting plants are Cactus and Cattail. Cattails shoot two spikes at a time and their projectiles hit the closest zombie in any lane, being able to change directions and even traveling back while Cactus' spikes travel strait. Spikes cannot be set on fire by Torchwood.
In the game, spikes are also essential parts of the plants Spikeweed and Spikerock. Most of the zombies walk over these spikes, hence they constantly get damaged by the aforementioned plants, as long as they stand on them. Spikerock's spikes deal twice as much damage as Spikeweeds's. Both of the plants can instantly kill Zombonis and Catapult Zombies, however they get hurt by them as well, Spikeweed vanishing in one vehicle destruction, and Spikerock vanishing in nine.
Plants vs. Zombies 2
Spikes return on Plants vs. Zombies 2, with a similar appearance. In this game, Homing Thistles shots homing spikes towards zombies similarly to Cattails but their spikes are slightly different looking green spikes, which deal twice as much damage but are thrown one at a time, when compared to Cattail. When fed with Plant Food, Homing Thistles shoot a number of blue needles at once, which deal heavy damage to the zombies they hit.
Cactus returns in this game, but her spikes work differently than the first game. Cactus' thorn spikes can now pierce through a maximum of three zombies. When fed Plant Food, Cactus' spikes become blue, and thus Cactus starts shooting narrow blue spike projectiles which appear to be charged with electricity. These blue spikes pierce can through four zombies and deal twice as much damage.
Spikeweed, Spikerock, and Endurian also use the spikes/thorns on them to damage zombies. Similar to Plants vs. Zombies, Spikeweed and Spikerock hurt zombies that walk over them while Endurian blocks zombies, simultaneously damaging them. Spikeweed's, Cactus', and Spikerock's spikes can instantly kill Pianist Zombies as well as instantly destroy the barrel the Barrel Roller Zombie rolls. However, the former two plants die in one, and the latter plant dies in three destructions. Cactus hides into the ground and uses her thorns as appendages rather than projectiles to damage zombies in a similar fashion to Spikeweed on Plants vs. Zombies 2 when zombies get close to her.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) (China only)
Aside from the aforementioned plants, Rose Swordsman, a monthly special plant, uses its thorn to damage nearby zombies by stabbing them, using it similarly to a sword.
Cattail also returns in this version. Acting how she did in the first game with a few changes. She can be planted on the land and can also stun zombies or fire a stronger spike. She can also fire a missile so strong, it can instantly KO a level 2 Gargantuar.
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes
Cactus and Cattail return in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, though these are simply projectiles the plants fire at zombies, and have no special effects. Cactus' spikes deal 1 damage normally and have the 
Bullseye trait, making it so the spikes don't charge up the opponent's Super-Block Meter.
Cattail's spikes normally deal 3 damage and have no special effect. Cattail can be planted on both land and water in this game.
Prickly Pear is a new plant introduced in this game, and uses their spikes to hurt zombies if they're hurt. Once a Prickly Pear is hurt by a zombie, they release these spikes to deal 4 damage to the zombie that hurt them.
Galacta-Cactus and Astro Vera were introduced in the Galactic Gardens update, and use their spikes to attack during combat. Galacta-Cactus also uses its spike to do damage to everything when it is destroyed, including both heroes.
Spikeweed returns in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes as an environment called Spikeweed Sector. This environment uses spikes to deal 2 damage to zombies in said environment before combat in that lane.
Heartichoke uses spikes to attack during combat or when using her ability, which is to deal damage to the zombie hero whenever a plant or plant hero is healed.
Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars (China only)
Cactus, Cattail, Spikeweed, and Spikerock return on Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars, and with the upgrade system of the game, new plants that use spikes are added as upgrades to the said plants. Both Spikeweed and Cattail have evolution families in the game.
- Ball Cactus → Cactus → Tree Cactus
- Cattail → Dogtail → Foxtail
- Spikeweed → Spikerock → Diamond Spikeweed
Cactus attacks the enemies by shooting spikes at them correspondingly to its behavior in Plants vs. Zombies. In the game, it is also given an evolution family, as it is the mid-tier on it. Ball Cactus, the downgrade of Cactus attacks zombies by lobbing spiky cactus balls at them. Tree Cactus, being the upgrade of Cactus, attacks zombies by sending sharp spiky shockwaves at them.
Cattail can be planted on the land in this game and it shoots a spike every turn. Dogtail, its upgrade, can shoot five long spikes at once, while Foxtail, the highest upgrade in the evolution family shoots three big spikes at once. Liontail, a scrapped plant, was once planned to be the highest upgrade of Cattail, but later, was replaced by Foxtail.
Spikeweed goes underground in this game; and similar to the other games in the series, hurts zombies that walk over it. Spikerock acts the same way, dealing more damage to the zombies. Diamond Spikeweed, upgrade to Spikerock and thus the highest upgrade in the Spikeweed evolution family, attacks all the enemies in its lane by going underground and spinning in place.
Plants vs. Zombies Online
There's only one spike-related plant currently in Plants vs. Zombies Online. Durian is a plant that uses their spikes to attack zombies that bite at them, pretty much acting the same as Endurian in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Cattail and Rose Swordsman also make an appearance in the game, but only appear in the game's RPG mode, also known as Adventure Mode.
Gallery
Plants vs. Zombies
Plants vs. Zombies 2
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes
Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars (China only)
Plants vs. Zombies Online (China only)
Trivia
- Cattail's spikes travel slower than the Cactus' spikes and the Homing Thistle's thorns.
- This is untrue in the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2.
- Spikes cannot pop Balloon Zombie's balloon in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
- In Sky City, the Air Raid Brain Buster consists of spikes and other projectiles from zombies.
| V · T · E |
| Plants | Pea · Spore · Fumes · Spike · Star · Lobbed shots · Butter · Melon · Corn cob · Boomerang · Coconut · Plasma ball · Bolt · Arrow · Iceball · Fireball · Bulb · Pit · Banana · Droplet · Lotus seed · Rutabaga · Stinger · Explosive seed · Pomegranate seed |
| Zombies | Basketball · Bullet · Fireball · Iceball · Imp · Fishing net · Snowball |