| Piranha Plant | |
|---|---|
| Mario race | |
 Promotional art by Shigehisa Nakaue (2016) | |
| First appearance | Super Mario Bros. (1985) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Genre | Platform game |
The Piranha Plant, known as Pakkun Flower (パックンフラワー, Pakkun Furawā) in Japan, is a fictional plant species from Nintendo's Mario franchise media. It usually appears as a leafy green stalk topped with a white-spotted red or green globe, with a maw lined with sharp teeth reminiscent of piranhas. Piranha Plants are typically portrayed as tethered enemies which emerge from green-coloured "warp pipes" scattered throughout the game world that player characters must evade or overcome, though multiple subspecies with different abilities as well as physical attributes have appeared in various titles: some may simply stick up from the ground, and in some cases even walk freely on its own roots.
Regarded as one of the most iconic recurring elements or motifs of Mario franchise media, the Piranha Plant has appeared in nearly every video game title in the franchise since 1985's Super Mario Bros., as well as numerous appearances outside of it. Most notably, it has been adapted as a fully mobile playable character, which is made available through downloadable content (DLC) for the 2018 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. This iteration of the character has been met with a generally positive reception.