Potato Mine (PvZ)

Potato Mine is an explosive plant in Plants vs. Zombies. After being planted, Potato Mine will take 14 seconds (about the time it takes a regular Zombie or any other slow zombie to walk three spaces) to arm himself before surfacing, during which Potato Mine is vulnerable to attack. After that, he will explode in a 1x1 area when an enemy comes into contact with him, dealing 1800 damage to all affected zombies and leaving behind a comic-esque "SPUDOW!".

Origins
Potato Mine is based on the real-life potato, the starchy, tuberous root portion of the plant Solanum tuberosum. His name is a combination of "potato" and "land mine," an explosive device concealed under or on the ground designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks. He was inspired by the film Swiss Family Robinson, as George Fan felt it was satisfying to watch a zombie step on the mine so as to be defeated and covered in mashed potatoes.

Potato Mine's word on the speech bubble when he explodes, "SPUDOW!!", is a portmanteau of "spud" and "pow." His costume is a reference to his sneaky nature.

Mines are also an underground cavern, referring to how Potato Mine is an underground plant.

History
Potato Mine is the fourth plant unlocked after the player beats Level 1-5. It takes 15 seconds to arm himself, and cannot be planted on a Lily Pad. Killing a zombie with a Potato Mine will net the player the SPUDOW! achievement.

Almanac entry
Potato Mine

Potato Mines pack a powerful punch, but they need a while to arm themselves. You should plant them ahead of zombies. They will explode on contact.

Damage: massive  Range:  all zombies in a small area  Usage:  single use, delayed activation

Some folks say Potato Mine is lazy, that he leaves everything to the last minute. Potato Min e says nothing. He's too busy thinking about his investment strategy.

Cost: 25

Recharge: slow

Strategies
Because of his low cost and early availability, Potato Mine can be effective in the early part of the level for neutralizing the first few zombies, especially if the enemies in question are Conehead or Buckethead Zombies, who will pose serious difficulty against more conventional offensive plants. However, his arming period greatly hampers his usefulness in the long run, as the massive amount of threats will give Potato Mine little time to arm himself.

Potato Mine should be planted at least three squares or more in front of zombies with Basic speed in order to explode right when the threat approaches him. Defensive plants such as Wall-nut, Tall-nut, Infi-nut, or Primal Wall-nut can buy Potato Mine additional time for arming, as well as gather more zombies to increase Potato Mine's efficiency.

Potato Mine can also be planted behind Wall-nuts or Pumpkins to catch any Pole Vaulting Zombies that try to vault through. Similarly, they can be planted to make a Pole Vaulting Zombie jump early (even when unarmed), in addition to catching later zombies. An armed Potato Mine can also catch a subsurface Digger Zombie and instantly kill him, preventing him from rising up and attacking other plants.

Potato Mines can also be used against Gargantuars, but it should be remembered that two Potato Mines will be required to kill one since they can absorb up to 3600 damage. Potato Mine is highly effective against the Zombie Bobsled Teams, capable of destroying the bobsled along with all four zombies if armed and planted right next to the ice.

If Potato Mine is planted inside a Pumpkin, only a few zombies with unusually large hitboxes can trigger him without eating the Pumpkin first, such as Football Zombie. Therefore, it is generally a bad idea to put Potato Mine inside a Pumpkin. In ZomBotany and ZomBotany 2, Potato Mines cannot be hit by peas, even when armed. But if they are planted in Flower Pots, they can be hit by peas, even if they are armed or not.

Trivia

 * In Plants vs Zombies, he has two teeth, but in Plants vs. Zombies 2, he only has a single tooth.
 * His appearance resembles a mole, as they both are found underground, and both have visible front teeth sticking out.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies: Timepocalypse, one can see Potato Mine's entire body, which resembles the potatoes catapulted when Potato Mine is given Plant Food.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies, Potato Mine's detonator is gray when unarmed then blinks gray and red when armed. While in Plants vs. Zombies 2 his detonator is red when unarmed and then blinks red and orange-yellow when armed.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies, all zombies killed by Potato Mine will simply disappear, but in Plants vs. Zombies 2, only Gargantuars and some other large zombies have this trait.
 * In the Nintendo DS version, Imitater Potato Mine's light will blink.
 * He can only be taken by Bungee Zombie while unarmed, as a Bungee Zombie will die in the explosion if he encounters an armed Potato Mine. A glitch in I, Zombie levels in the Nintendo DS version of the game shows that one can steal an armed Potato Mine and he only shows half of his body.
 * In the online version of the game, instead of getting the Potato Mine on Level 1-5, the player gets Squash.
 * His red light will flash faster as the zombie gets nearer, like a sensor.
 * The Zen Garden Potato Mine will not have a flashing red light normally, but if held by a Gardening Glove or inside a Wheel Barrow, the red light will be permanently on. The red light will also be on when the player is about to plant a Potato Mine but has not planted him yet. This only applies to the PC version of the game.
 * He is the only plant that can be eaten from underground by a Digger Zombie. This only happens when unarmed - If armed, the Potato Mine instead explodes and will destroy the Digger Zombie, which no other plant can do so in the entire game - Magnet Shroom only forces him out of the ground instead of dealing damage.
 * In the Nintendo DS version of the game, right when a zombie reaches the Potato Mine, the zombie's eating animation's frame is shown right before the Potato Mine explodes.
 * If an unarmed Potato Mine is squashed (via Gargantuar, Zomboni or Squash Zombie), an image of a squashed armed Potato Mine instead of a flattened version of an antenna will be shown.
 * In the Nintendo DS version of the game, Potato Mine's look in the game is more reminiscent of its artwork than its PC appearance.