A Piranha Plant is a Venus fly trap-like enemy in Nintendo's Super Mario video games. Piranha Plants are almost always portrayed as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted green or red globe, almost bisected by a toothy white mouth. Like Super Mushrooms, their coloring resembles that of the hallucinogenic Amanita muscaria and they are one of the most instantly recognizable Mario-related creatures, appearing in almost every Mario game.

Piranha Plants typically hide within pipes, periodically emerging and ensnaring unwary passersby. There are two varieties of normal Piranha Plants: green and red. Green ones don't attack people that are touching their pipes, but red ones will emerge even if someone is standing on top of their pipes. Pipes are usually vertical, but horizontally dwelling Piranha Plants are not unknown, and some even hang from the ceiling. They are most dangerous when their pipes are the only platforms across a ravine. Some species can also spit fireballs or even jump all the way out of their pipes. Others live entirely outside pipes, being either rooted in the ground or even walking about on rootlike legs. Although they are immune to jump attacks, Piranha Plants are vulnerable to projectiles, such as fireballs, Troopa shells, and hammers.

Piranha Plants originally appeared in Super Mario Bros., being, in fact, the third enemy Mario encounters; and they have otherwise changed little since their first appearance. (They were absent from the American Super Mario Bros. 2 due to the game's unusual origins.)

The king of World 7 in Super Mario Bros. 3 is transformed into a Piranha Plant in the original NES game, but in the Super Mario All-Stars version, he becomes a Yoshi.

Games

• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Super Mario World
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
• Super Mario 64
• Yoshi's Story
• Mario Sunshine
• Paper Mario
• Paper Mario 2
• The Mario Party series
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!