Piranha Plants (also known as Piranhas, misspelled as pirana plants[1][2] in early manuals) are large, carnivorous plants encountered throughout the Mario franchise. They are seemingly based on Venus flytraps and eat anything that approaches them.
The head of a Piranha Plant is most commonly either red or green with multiple other colors. Originally, Piranha Plants were found exclusively in pipes, darting out and biting anything near. Currently, Piranha Plants can be found both in and out of pipes, and may constantly bite or wait for Mario to approach to do so.
Despite being plants, Piranha Plants have been depicted as being sentient and capable of speech in a few appearances, though unlike several other enemies in the Mario series, they have never been shown forming societies. Piranha Plant characters such as Petey Piranha, Piranha Bean and Dino Piranha, among others, reveal that some Piranha Plants can have animal-like bodies, making them capable of walking. Mom Piranha, Dino Piranha, and Peewee Piranha are all depicted hatching from eggs, suggesting that Piranha Plants may be oviparious. However, relatives of Piranha Plants, Nipper Plants, are implied to have a different reproduction method as they are shown to evolve from spores in the Yoshi's Island games.
