Naval Piranha
Artwork of the Naval Piranha and two buds forYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
First appearance	Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
Latest appearance	Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World (2017)
Variant of	Big Piranha Plant
Relatives Lava Piranha Smilax
Notable members Big Bungee Piranha Spike the Piranha

“You fools! Do I have to teach you penalty for removing the spell? You get to come for supper... MY supper!!”

—Naval Piranha,Tetris Attack

ANaval Piranha is an artificially enlargedPiranha Plant boss with thorned stalks and two or more buds growing from it. The original Naval Piranha debuts inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where it starts out as a normal Piranha Plant, but is altered byKamek's magic. Its localized name refers to both the aquatic area it is found in its original appearance as well as its large bellybutton (i.e. its navel). Later depictions of Naval Piranhas are found in other habitats and sometimes lack the bellybutton, causing the name's meaning to be lost. However, the name in the original Japanese referred instead to its enlarged size, as is the case with most of the game's bosses.

History

Yoshi's Island series

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

Blue Yoshi battling Naval Piranha

“Give up, Yoshi, you egg-throwing maniac! Ooops... Forget that!”

—Kamek,Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Naval Piranha is the castle boss ofWorld 3 inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and itsGame Boy Advance version. After being magically enlarged and enhanced, it battlesBlue Yoshi by spitting outNipper Plants and charging, though it will sometimes do a mock charge. Its two buds also lazily move toward Blue Yoshi and can leap straight up to him. Blue Yoshi must throw eggs at its only weak point, which is its large and bandaged bellybutton. After being hit with enough eggs, Naval Piranha is defeated.

Exclusive to this boss is that if the player stands on the very edge of the ledge Naval Piranha is rooted to (or if the player jumps from the water and aims) without triggering the scene, the player can simply throw an egg at its "unmodified" form to defeat it in one hit. A surprisedKamek then approaches, shouts "OH, MY!!!" and flies away, and thus the player clears World 3 without fighting Naval Piranha.

Naval Piranha andRaphael the Raven are the only world bosses inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island to use the extended variation of the boss theme, the former which was eventually used in all other bosses inYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3.

The official English website forYoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 misspells its name as "Naaval Piranha".^[1] In the original strategy guide for theSuper NES version ofSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Naval Piranha is referred to as a male;^[2] however, in the guide for theSuper NES Classic Edition, Naval Piranha is referred to as a female.^[3]

Yoshi's Island DS

Naval Piranha with other bosses

During the introduction toYoshi's Island DS, Naval Piranha makes a cameo alongside the other castle bosses in the game as the events ofSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island are recapped. Naval Piranha also has a successor in the form ofBig Bungee Piranha, the boss ofWorld 2.

Tetris Attack

InTetris Attack, Naval Piranha, allied with its buds, is in the tenth level and the last boss of Easy Vs. mode. It appears in place of the Dragon from the original game,Panel de Pon.

Paper Mario

TheLava Piranha fromPaper Mario is designed to resemble Naval Piranha, though its name in the Japanese script indicates it is simply an abnormally designedFire Piranha Plant, and is not indicated to be enlarged from a previous form.

Mario Party Advance

A Naval Piranha makes a reappearance inMario Party Advance. At theBowser Lab, choosing to see the "scary monster" that he built unveils his Naval Piranha. Afterward, Bowser has the player face it in the minigameKoopa Kurl. After winning, the player gets to keep the minigame. The end of game credits say it now lives and thrives in the desert.

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

“How dare you come this far...? HOW DARE YOU, I SAY! Wake up, Naval Piranha! It's supper time! The main course is Yoshi! Bon appétit!”

—Kamek,Yoshi's Woolly World

Naval Piranha as it appears inYoshi's Woolly World

Naval Piranha reprises the role of a boss inYoshi's Woolly World andPoochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, in this case being the boss ofWorld 4. It appears in the levelNaval Piranha's Sewer. Not includingBaby Bowser, Naval Piranha andBurt the Bashful are the only bosses fromSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island to make an appearance inYoshi's Woolly World andPoochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. Naval Piranha's boss battle is the only one where there are no enemies or objects to turn intoyarn balls, which may be because the boss fight cannot be completed by using yarn balls. The arena is a long stretch of a red Warp Pipe, with a green warp pipe in the background and a network of purple warp pipes beyond that. There are six openings in the purple pipes, but none are in the middle of the screen behing the green pipe, creating two sets of three openings. As with the battle with Naval Piranha inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi has to walk into the arena rather than the door taking them directly inside. Naval Piranha is sleeping as Yoshi approaches. Once Yoshi arrives and Kamek orders Navel Piranha to attack, Kamek enlarges the plant with his magic. Naval Piranha wakes up and jumps to the green pipe in the background, pops out at full size, and calls forth its buds. Only Naval Piranha's spiky stem, it's open of its mouth, and the heads and stems of its buds, can hurt Yoshi. Everything else has no effect outside of Yoshi colliding with it, including the sides of Naval Piranha's head.

Naval Piranha attacks by ducking into its pipe, then appearing on side of the screen opposite of Yoshi. It fully extends itself across the ground to eat Yoshi. This can be avoided by running all the way to the opposite side of the arena,flutter-jumping over it, or throwing an yarn ball orPoochy Pup into its mouth. The latter will end the attack early. If Yoshi is eaten, Naval Piranha reels back off screen, pops out from the pipe, and spits Yoshi back onto the center of the red pipe. Only landing from this spit inflicts damage. Naval does the same if it misses or eats a yarn ball/Poochy Pup, but without spitting. Regardless, Poochy Pups used in this way return to Yoshi. Following this, fourBomb Guys appear from the purple pipes in the background to throw a bomb each into the foreground. The middle pipe in each set of three is skipped. The buds hide during this attack. The Bomb Guy's bombs land on the ground then explode, giving Yoshi time to eat one. These bombs are core to the boss battle; the primary way to damage Naval Piranha is to spit a bomb into Naval Piranha's open mouth as it tries to eat Yoshi. The resulting explosion knocks the plant over. It flops onto the red pipe, leaving its belly button in Yoshi's plane and vulnerable to attack. The buds also droop over. Yoshi can jump on the belly button but bounces off. They mustGround Pound the belly button to deal damage. Naval Piranha slinks backward off the red pipe, then reappears from its green pipe. If left alone, Naval Piranha eventually recovers and repeats the process. Alternatively, many watermelon seeds from awatermelon, ice breath from anice watermelon or fire breath from afire watermelon can knock over Naval Piranha during its eating attack. All of these have no effect on the belly button.

After taking damage, Naval Piranha responds by covering the arena in four thorny vines and then slowly sliding them in one direction across the arena. The direction is variable. The vines are initially spaced in the arena such that the center is clear, leaving two on each side. The vines loop around such that another will enter the screen when one leaves. These vines can be jumped over. Alternatively, the vines can be destroyed with Poochy Pups (not yarn balls), watermellon attacks or with the shockwaves from Ground Pounds created using the "Power up Ground Pound!"Power Badge. Once done, the vines retreat.

After this, Naval Piranha leads on the Bomb Guys' attack. There are still four of them, but now the two pipes closest to the middle are skipped, so the bombs only come down closer to the screen edges. Naval Piranha follows up by having eight buds appear and slam down on most of the arena. The center remains clear, but Naval Piranha uses its pipe to warp below the center of the red pipe to attack. The vines retreat just before Naval Piranha extends upward a little to eat Yoshi again. If Yoshi has a bomb in his mouth Naval Piranha will retreat back below the red pipe and track Yoshi for a short time to bite a second time, then do so again for a third time. Naval Piranha calls the attack off early if Yoshi takes damage in any way. The buds can be defeated with bombs or with any of the other attacks, and they will not respawn for the next cycle. This can leave more room to dodge the initial lunge.

After being damaged a second time, Naval Piranha will again use the sliding attack, except that the vines stretch and retract they slide, which extending the portion within the arena upward and brings it back down to normal height. Yoshi can run under or jumping over the the vines, depending on their current height. After several seconds of this, the vines will stop in place before quickly sliding across the arena in the opposite direction for a few seconds. Precise jumps or a single set of repeated Flutter Jumps can avoid this attack.

Once complete, Naval Piranha lets the Bomb Guys lead again. This time, six Bomb Guys will throw bombs, using all the exits in the purple pipes However. this now occurs in a wave motion starting from one of either left or right so the bombs arrive one after the other and explode one after the other. Once they all explode, a bud will appear, slam down on one side of the arena, and then sweep across the arena. It will repeat this process, and during this second sweep a second bud comes down to perform two more sweeps starting from the opposite side of the screen the first bud started from. They can be jumped over or destroyed, as before. Following this, Naval Piranha extends upward from the pipe, holding at the top of the screen over Yoshi before dropping down to eat them. Again, it will only do this once if Yoshi does not have a bomb, but will repeat two more times if Yoshi does. It re-selects a target between each bite. The buds do not leave until after this biting attack concludes, but are off the edges of the screen so this is not important. After being hit for a third time, Naval Piranha is defeated. Instead of falling back from the red pipe The portions of Naval Piranha separate and tumble off the screen.

TheSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island reference, with Naval Piranha being prematurely shot again.

Similar toSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi can throw ayarn ball at the sleeping Piranha Plant before triggering Kamek's appearance. The Piranha Plant gets wrapped in yarn, and a different cutscene occurs where Kamek is aghast at the situation. Kamek still transforms the Piranha Plant into Naval Piranha, meaning the battle cannot be skipped as it could inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Collecting all five of theWonder Wool in Naval Piranha's Sewer reknitsNaval Piranha Yoshi, who is a playable character.

Naval Piranha reappears in World 4-S,Naval Piranha 2: Now It's Personal!, where it chases Yoshi through an auto-scrolling level. It only appears after Yoshi advances near the firstYarn Basket, at which point it appears from the left side of the screen and starts the autoscrolling to the right. If Naval Piranha takes damage from any source, up to and including the shockwaves from the "Power up Ground Pound!" Power Badge, it gets knocked off screen. This does not stop the auto-scrolling and Naval Piranha reappears after a few seconds. The red circular vines extending from Naval Piranha taking up the left edge of the screen defeat Yoshi instantly, as does getting eaten by the plant. Eating Yoshi is an attack, meaning the effects of anInvincibility Egg prevent it. Naval Piranha knocks over the wood that makes up the non-vine portions of terrain of the level as it advances.. Near the end, Naval Piranha stops, charges up, then rushes more vigorously. This equally affects the auto-scrolling, and Naval Piranha becoes immune to all attacks. At the end, Naval Piranha winds up, then extends its stem to lunge at Yoshi. This extends far enough to envelop the final bouncy leaf that leads to theGoal Ring's platform. The screen stops autoscrolling. After this, Naval Piranha backs off and leaves off the left edge of the screen. It is unknown whether this is the same Naval Piranha as the one fought in the boss level, as it is significantly larger and has red vines as opposed to the boss' green vines.

Naval Piranha also reappears in theBoss Tent in a Boss Challenge. This reprises its appearance from Naval Piranha's Sewer. However, it moves and attacks faster.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, Naval Piranhas are mentioned briefly in plural byViridi duringPalutena's Guidance dialogue forPiranha Plant.

Profiles and statistics

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

• Official Nintendo Player's Guide:That's not an alligator living in the sewers of the castle at the end of World 3, but a dino-eating plant. Judging by how slow he moves, though, Naval Piranha hasn't encountered many snacks as shrewd as Yoshi. Have you heard of the Achilles heel? Well, Yoshi knows that this ferocious foliage has an Achilles Adam's apple!
• Super Power Club Cards bio:^[4]
  • Description:Ravenous water plant. Will chow down on anything in sight but prefers a diet of dinos.
  • Favorite Movie:Little Shop of Horrors
  • How to Beat Him:Ricochet your eggs off the wall. They'll skip over the water and whack Naval's stem. When he charges, jump over him. Wait until the pods he shoots hatch, then eat the eggs they produce.
• Shogakukan guide: 下水に住むパックンフラワーの親玉。花のくせに、出ベソがコンプレックスという変わり者。^[5] (The head of the Piranha Plant family that lives in the sewers. He is a flower with a complex about his protruding belly button.)
• Shogakukan guide (Game Boy Advance version): 下水に住むパックンフラワーの親玉で、ワールド3-8のボス。花のくせにデべソがコンプレックスらしい。タマゴをかべに反射させ、へソに3回当てよう。^[6]
  

(The boss of World 3-8, the master of the Piranha Plants that lives in the sewers. He seems to have a complex about being a flower with a fat belly. Reflect the egg on the wall and hit the belly button three times.)

Tetris Attack

In-game Character profile

I'm Naval Piranha Plant.

Hey Yoshi! Ready to give in yet? Do you still dream of defeating me? Har-har! Go see yer momma, you little green lizard. Go home and cry, baby.

Japanese language selected

あたいが ビッグパックンよ♥

あら ヨッシーちゃん
この あたいに かなうと おもうのかい？
さっさと うちに かえって ママの おっぱいでも⋯
おっと とかげにゃ おっぱいは なかったわねぇ

(I'm Naval Piranha.♥)
(Hey, Yoshi. Do you think you can compete with me? Go on home, have some of Mama's milk... Oops, I didn't find any milk in the barn.)

Gallery

• 

  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island artwork

• 

  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island artwork

• 

  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island artwork

• 

  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island sprites

• 

  Kamek looking shocked at what happened to Naval Piranha

• 

  Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

• 

  Yossy Island Jumbo Carddass 3

• 

  Tetris Attack

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (SNES)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Tetris Attack (Game Boy)

• 

  Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 wallpaper

• 

  Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

• 

  Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

• 

  Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

• 

  Mario Party Advance

• 

  Mario Party Advance

• 

  Yoshi's Woolly World

• 

  Super Mario-kun

Names in other languages

Notes

• The normal Piranha Plants inYoshi's Story, theSpiny Piranha Plants fromSuper Mario Galaxy, and thePiranha Creepers fromSuper Mario 3D World all somewhat resemble Naval Piranhas due to their large size and thorned stems.

References

• Piranha Plants
• Playable characters
• Mario Party Advance characters
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island bosses
• Tetris Attack
• Yoshi's Woolly World bosses
• Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

• Articles with unsourced foreign names