Petey Piranha

The Piranha Plant, known as in Japan, is a fictional recurring plant species from Nintendo's Mario franchise. A recognizable member of antagonist Bowser's army, it first appeared in Super Mario Bros., a 1985 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and is usually seen as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted red or green globe, with a maw lined with sharp teeth reminiscent of those of piranha.

Piranha Plants are typically portrayed as tethered enemies that periodically emerge from green "Warp Pipes" scattered throughout the game world that player character must evade or overcome. Multiple subspecies with different abilities and physical attributes have appeared in various titles; some may simply stick up from the ground, and in some cases even walk freely on their own roots. Making direct physical contact with a Piranha Plant usually results in a player taking damage and losing a portion of their health.

Regarded as one of the most iconic enemies of the Mario franchise, the Piranha Plant has appeared in nearly every video game in the franchise since its debut. This includes its role as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a 2018 crossover fighting game for the Nintendo Switch, being added as downloadable content in 2019. This iteration of the character has been met with a generally positive reception.

Piranha Plants first appeared in Super Mario Bros., a 1985 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. They were originally depicted as stationary green carnivorous plant confined to green "Warp Pipes" bristling out of the game world, lying in wait for prey to come within range like a Venus flytrap. Within the context of video game design, the Piranha Plant is a low-risk hazard tied to a single location within the game world, akin to a trap. The purpose behind its design is to create platforms that are temporarily safe and sometimes dangerous, occupying a role between an environmental challenge and an enemy challenge for the player character.