Nipper Plant

Nipper Plant
	; A Nipper Plant's spirit artwork from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Latest appearance	Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023)
Variant of	Piranha Plant
Variants
	Fire Nipper Plant; Petit Piranha; Sad N. Plant
Relatives
	Nipper Dandelion; Nipper Spore
Comparable
	Muncher

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Nipper Plants, also known as Walking Piranhas^[1] (also misspelled as Walking Piranas^[2]), White Piranhas,^[3] White Piranha Plants,^[4] and Baby Piranha Plants,^[5] are small Piranha Plants.^[6] They have white heads and short green stems with two leaves on either side. In the Yoshi games, it was revealed that they are produced from Nipper Spores.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3

NES, All-Stars, and Advance 4 Walking Piranhas

They first appear in Super Mario Bros. 3, where they would either patrol an area or wait in place, with both jumping up towards the player when they pass over them. Walking Piranhas can hop around, making it more difficult for the player to land safely, since the plants will harm the player if they attempt to stomp on one. Instead, Walking Piranhas can be defeated by Invincibility, Fire Mario and Fire Luigi's fireballs, Hammer Mario and Hammer Luigi's hammers, Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi's tail attack and Tanooki Mario and Tanooki Luigi's transformation. In subsequent remakes, they were tinted a shade of pink. In all versions, a jumping Walking Piranha is a recolor of two Muncher frames.

A sessile, fire-breathing variety is encountered at the end of World 7-8, and is the only one in the entirety of the game.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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Nipper Plants in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Following a 35-year absence in the Super Mario series (the longest gap between appearances for an enemy in the series to date), Nipper Plants return in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. This time, they are able to walk on walls and ceilings; they no longer jump towards the players when they pass over them, however.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

A Nipper Plant as it appears in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

Nipper Plants make a few appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In these appearances, they behave much like their game counterparts in that they are capable of hopping around. On the show, Nipper Plants sport visible jaws that make them appear to be more menacing than their in-game counterparts.

In "Reign Storm", Mario intends to send via Warp Pipe a letter to Princess Toadstool, in which he prompts her to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. However, a Nipper Plant that was taking shelter inside the Warp Pipe intercepts and eats Mario's letter. The Nipper Plant then travels to King Koopa to inform him about the letter's content.

In "A Toadally Magical Adventure", Cheatsy Koopa uses a Magic Wand to increase a Nipper Plant's size and sends it to attack Mario. However, the plant lunges at the pipe creature that was having Mario in its grip, accidentally releasing Mario. Of note is that Cheatsy only refers to the Nipper Plant as "Piranha Plant".

Super Mario Bros. Print World

Artwork of Nipper Plants appears in Super Mario Bros. Print World, but they are incorrectly labeled as Munchers, the similar, but black-colored enemy from Super Mario Bros. 3 (which the poses of the artwork are borrowed from). There is additional artwork of Mario jumping over a Nipper Plant, labeled as "Mario 1".

"Munchers"
"Mario 1"

Nintendo Adventure Books

Wendy O. Koopa is revealed to have a pet Nipper Plant, which she keeps in a pot in her room, in Koopa Capers; the plant had shredded a note possibly pertaining to her whereabouts. If Luigi chooses to begin his search for the missing Koopaling by looking through her room, he accidentally wakes up the sleeping Nipper Plant when he tries to look under it. Some wild Nipper Plants later appear prowling the stairs leading up to the secret camp being used by Wendy and her rebellion.

Yoshi franchise

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its remake Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Nipper Plants do not jump at the player and are much easier to defeat, but they appear in groups which adds to the challenge of defeating them. They hatch from Nipper Spores that slowly fall to earth and have no visible eyes. These Nipper Plants can be stomped or eaten and turned into eggs; their spores can also be swallowed, though no eggs will be produced as a result.

Yoshi's Story

Nipper Plants and their spores reappear in Yoshi's Story, retaining their behavior in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Additionally, if the Nipper Spore is eaten, a Yoshi will lose health (except for the Black Yoshi and the White Yoshi).

Yoshi's Island DS

Nipper Plants and Nipper Spores return in Yoshi's Island DS, retaining their behavior in its predecessor. A new relative is also introduced: the Nipper Dandelion.

Yoshi's New Island

Nipper Plants and their spore relatives return in Yoshi's New Island, retaining their behavior in the previous Yoshi's Island games. This is the first Yoshi game where they appear with eyes, and the only Yoshi's Island game with this distinction. Unlike their mainline appearance, they eyes do not scowl

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

Nipper Plants reappear in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, acting the same as in previous games.

Yoshi's Crafted World

Nipper Plants also reappear in Yoshi's Crafted World, once again acting the same as in previous games.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

A Chompweed in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Nipper Plants, under the name Chompweed^[7] (also parsed as chompweed)^[8] appear in the Pipe Vault, and cannot be battled. Rather than fighting the player, they jump up and steal a few coins if they get too close. Stolen coins cannot be recovered in the final game, but battle data for them still exists, suggesting that they may have been intended to be standard enemies at one point. Another potential artifact of this is them being among the enemies that can be thrown in the Chomp attack. Aside from this, it also was one of the incorrect answers to Dr. Topper's quiz section in the final level, specifically for "What's the first monster you see in the Pipe Vault?" (This answer only exists in the English version; in the Japanese version, it was instead a reference to Exdeath from Final Fantasy V).

Game & Watch Gallery series

In Game & Watch Gallery 3 and Game & Watch Gallery 4, Nipper Plants appear in the Modern versions of Donkey Kong Jr.

Super Princess Peach

Nipper Plants reappear in Super Princess Peach, where they are identical to the ones that appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. A Gloom vibe-infused variety known as Sad N. Plants also appear in this game.

Mario Kart Arcade GP

Nipper Plants near the right side of the track

Some Nipper Plants make a cameo appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP in the course Bananan Ruins. They are at the right side of the course. They also appear in the course Castle Wall.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Nipper Plants appear as background enemies in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In battle, a Piranha Plant may spit out Nipper Spores into the background, each one instantly becoming a Nipper Plant. Once created, they shoot fireballs at Mario individually, which he must deflect with his hammer to avoid taking damage and to also randomly hit the Piranha Plants in the process.

Occasionally, a Piranha Plant will spit a fireball towards the Nipper Plant, who will bounce the fireball about until each Nipper Plant has touched the fireball at some point, where the last Nipper Plant to touch it sends the fireball towards Mario, who must hammer it back at the Piranha Plant who created it to counter-attack and avoid taking damage. The Nipper Plants are defeated when the Piranha Plant that spawned them is defeated. They can also be defeated by throwing a Taunt Ball at them.

Minecraft

In the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft, Peonies are replaced by a group of Nipper Plants.

Mario Tennis Aces

A Nipper Plant obscured by shadows, behind a toppled column, along with several Munchers in Mario Tennis Aces

In Mario Tennis Aces, two Nipper Plants can be seen bouncing in the background of Petey Piranha's battle in the Forest Monster mission.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

A Nipper Plant appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Novice-class Grab-type primary spirit. It can be enhanced to a Petey Piranha spirit at level 99. The Nipper Plant spirit battle takes place on the Battlefield form of the Super Mario Maker stage and involves eight tiny Pac-Men. To earn the spirit, the player either has to win this battle by defeating all opponents or purchase it from Beedle's Tent for 500 Spirit Points at regular price.

On the Palutena's Temple stage, Nipper Plants are mentioned briefly by Viridi during Palutena's Guidance dialogue for Piranha Plant.

Paper Mario: The Origami King

An origami Nipper Plant

Nipper Plants appear as enemies in Paper Mario: The Origami King. Nipper Plants are mentioned to spit fire in the Musée Champignon description for them, although they do not actually spit fire. In battle, Nipper Plants face either straight or upwards, and attack by biting Mario either solo or with a barrage of bites. If Nipper Plants are facing upwards, they cannot be jumped on without a type of Iron Boots. Nipper Plants are first fought in the purple streamer area, and reappear in the Spring of Jungle Mist.

Unused appearances

Super Mario World

A 2017 interview reveals that Nipper Plants were going to appear in Super Mario World, as shown in a prototype sprite sheet.^[9]

Profiles and statistics

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten

プチパックン
種族しゅぞく　フラワー族ぞく
性格せいかく　活発かっぱつ
登場とうじょうゲーム　3
ちっちゃいけど油断ゆだんは禁物きんもつ
パックンフラワーの子供こども。同おなじ位置いちにいるものと歩あるき回まわるもの、火ひをはくものがいる。上うえを飛とび越こえようとすると、跳とびついてくるので、高たかく山やまなりにジャンプしてよけよう。^[10]

Nipper Plant
Tribe: Flower clan
Disposition: Lively
Game appearances: 3
They may be tiny, but don't let your guard down
Piranha Plant children. Some stay in the same position, some walk around, and some breathe fire. If you try to jump over them, they will jump at you, so jump high and mountainous to avoid them.