Piranha Plant (move)

Piranha Plant is 's down special move in Super Smash Flash 2.

Overview
When performed, a pot of dirt appears in Waluigi's hands, which he drops on the ground. Once it lands, a Piranha Plant then sprouts from the pot. When an opponent comes close, the Piranha Plant will grab at them in the form of a bite, dealing 5% damage to opponents bitten. Once grabbed, the opponent will then be thrown either forward, backward, or upward toward Waluigi, dealing an additional 6% damage. Although the throw itself deals weak damage and knockback, it is useful for Waluigi to follow it up with another attack. After throwing an opponent, being active for a certain period of time, or trying to grab an opponent five times, the Piranha Plant will go back into the pot and disappear.

The Piranha Plant also has a hurtbox, allowing it to be attacked by opponents or Waluigi. It can thus be used to block projectiles and most of Waluigi's attacks, and it can take about 12% damage from before disappearing. However, it will immediately disappear when hit by either Waluigi's or an opponent's physical attack. It will also disappear after taking 15% total damage from a flinching projectile or a teammate's physical attacks.

Only one Piranha Plant may be active onstage at a time, as attempting to place another before the first one disappears will simply fail. When used in midair, the pot will fall. This fall has a hitbox that deals 8% damage and weak knockback to opponents hit while it falls, which can make it useful for gimping recoveries.

The move does not have any sort of landing animation, allowing the player to move in the ground while using the attack, if it was started midair.

Wobbling
If the player grabs an opponent who is near the Piranha Plant, the plant will bite the enemy constantly, without throwing them, allowing the player to deal an extremely high amount of damage, re-grab the foe, and even kill confirm combo out of it.

The name of this technique is taken from a similar, albeit infinite ability that the, playable characters in , can perform while grabbing an opponent.

Origin
Piranha Plants are recurring ' enemies that first appeared in ' and attempt to bite Mario and other characters. They primarily live in Warp Pipes, but potted Piranha Plants first appeared in  in the minigame Storm Chasers, in which players must chase a rain cloud to feed their Piranha Plants. Waluigi is notably depicted holding a potted Piranha Plant in official artwork for the minigame, and a Piranha Plant is also Waluigi's default partner in the game's Duel Mode. In ' and ', potted Piranha Plants can also be used to bite nearby enemies or players.

This move also references the Piranha Plant's appearance as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as many of its animations are based on it; this stems from the character's infamy among the Smash community for being included as a playable character in an official  game before Waluigi.

Trivia

 * According to developers, the Piranha Plant in this move is Waluigi's pet Piranha Plant, named Thaddeus "Chompers" DePlant.
 * Each of Waluigi's costumes features a unique color scheme for the Piranha Plant, most of which reference different species of the Piranha Plant and its costumes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
 * Early in Waluigi's development, it was considered that his down special move would instead use the thorny purple vines he uses in his Super Ability and Mega Strike in Mario Strikers Charged. This move would have acted similarly to Piranha Plant but would have trapped opponents caught, similarly to 's Vine.
 * Piranha Plant was ultimately chosen following the Piranha Plant's playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, leading the developers to find it more recognizable and relevant for his moveset.
 * The concept of trapping opponents in the thorny purple vines would later be used for the first part of his Final Smash, Vine Megastrike.