Venus Fire Trap

Not to be confused with Fire Piranha Plant.

Venus Fire Trap
New Super Mario Bros. U artwork
General information
Variant of	Piranha Plant
Appearances
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Similar entities
Variants Big Venus Fire Trap Fire Nipper Plant Fire Pakkun Zō Fire Stalking Piranha Plant Jumping Venus Fire Trap Lava Piranha Paper Fire Piranha Plant Petit Piranha Tiny Venus Fire Trap
Relatives Elasto-Piranha Fire Piranha Plant Inky Piranha Plant Poison Piranha Plant Venus Ice Trap
Comparable Chewy Dino Piranha Elasto-Piranha Glad P. Plant Smilax
Notable members Fiery Dino Piranha Mama Fireplant Pakkun Mogura

A Venus Fire Trap is a variety of Piranha Plant that can shoot fireballs, and some have the ability to fire three at a time. They come in either green or red varieties. Its name is a play on the name of a real life carnivorous plant, the Venus Flytrap. The Venus Ice Trap is the polar opposite of the Venus Fire Trap.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 artwork

In their first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, Venus Fire Traps appear as common enemies in most worlds. Their attack pattern basically consist of them hiding in Warp Pipes, much like regular Piranha Plants, and when Mario approaches they would rise from their hiding place and spit an unstoppable fireball in his direction. The only way to defeat them is by using one of the many power-ups available in the game. There is also an another variety of Venus Fire Traps that can spit fire two times in a row.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Venus Fire Trap once again appear as common enemies and have the same attack pattern as in Super Mario Bros. 3. This game is the only one in which they have spikes on their heads.

Super Mario 64

A Venus Fire Trap from Super Mario 64

They also appear rarely in Super Mario 64 in Tiny-Huge Island and Bowser in the Sky, where they are drastically smaller than their previous appearances (or, in the case of the Huge part of Tiny-Huge Island, larger). They attack by appearing suddenly, then blasting a small fireball before disappearing. Like with normal Piranha Plants, they can be defeated by punching them. Larger versions named Big Venus Fire Trap appeared in the same game where they were just as large as Big Piranha Plants. They attack the same and can be defeated with a single punch.

New Super Mario Bros.

In New Super Mario Bros., Venus Fire Traps attack and behave in the same way as in Super Mario Bros. 3. They can be defeated with a Fire Flower, Starman, Shell Dash, or by Mega Mario or Luigi.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Two Venus Fire Traps from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, their behavior is the same as in New Super Mario Bros. and can be defeated in the same way as last time, however they can also be frozen via Penguin Suit or Ice Flower, as well. They first appeared in 1-3. Venus Fire Traps can also be helpful to Mario and the others. They can be found in dark caves where there are no Glow Blocks. However, the fire these enemies spit can light up a small amount of the room, often revealing secret pipes and pits. A Yoshi can swallow the fireball or the Venus Fire Trap itself to be able to spit a fireball out; however this fireball can still hurt other players. Big Venus Fire Traps also appear in this game who are similar to Big Piranha Plants; they are much bigger and take three fireballs to destroy. The fireballs they spit are also larger. Yoshi can also swallow the fireballs, then spit them back out at enemies. If a piranha plant is in a pipe, he'll spit his fireball and retreat in his pipe. If a piranha plant has no pipe, he'll spit his fireball then chomp in the air for a while and spit his fireball again.

Super Mario 3D Land

Main article: Fire Piranha Plant

Although Venus Fire Traps don't appear in Super Mario 3D Land a variant of them called Fire Piranha Plants doe. They behave similarly to a Venus Fire Trap but they are brown with orange spots which slightly resemble Fiery Dino Piranha's colors.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Venus Fire Trap returns as well in New Super Mario Bros. 2. However they return in their appearances from its New Super Mario Bros. prequels, red and white spots. Big Venus Fire Traps also appear in the game. In World 6-2, using a Gold Ring inside a bonus room turns the Venus Fire Trap into a Gold Venus Fire Trap; it acts the same as a normal one, and when they are defeated Coins emerge from the Warp Pipe, like a normal Piranha Plant.

New Super Mario Bros. U

Venus Fire Traps also reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U. They behave and look just like in their New Super Mario Bros. prequels. also there is a new species called Venus Ice Traps. In this game, Venus Fire Traps are always facing up while not spitting fireballs.

Super Mario 3D World

Fire Piranha Plants reappear in Super Mario 3D World.

DiC cartoons

It has been requested that this section be rewritten. Reason: Give Magic Piranha Plants their own page and add info from "Gopher Bash"

A Venus Fire Trap from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

Venus Fire Traps made several appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. Piranha Plants with fireball exhaling abilities similar to Venus Fire Traps also appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! though referred to as a Magic Piranha Plant. In the Super Mario World television series episode "Fire Sale", Kootie Pie kidnaps Mama Fireplant, a Venus Fire Trap from Dome City, and takes her to her ice castle to warm it up.

Nintendo Comics System

In the Nintendo Comics System story "The Fish That Should've Gotten Away", a giant green Venus Fire Trap appears among the large group of monsters attacking and chasing Mario.

Super Mario-kun

In volume 9 of Super Mario-kun, Mario and his friends encounter a Venus Fire Trap which attacks Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. Mario then pulls out a Fire Flower to quickly defeat the Venus Fire Trap and proceeds to pull it out from its pipe. Several Monty Moles are then shown to have been holding onto the stem of the Venus Fire Trap, but Yoshi quickly proceeds to eat most of them. Lighting then proceeds to strike the body of the Venus Fire Trap, along with the bodies of a Monty Mole, Muncher, and Nipper Plant to then proceed to make a fusion of them known as Pakkun Mogura.

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong series

Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Venus Fire Traps also appeared in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, in the worlds Donkey Kong Jungle and Mystic Forest. They look similar to the Piranha Plants' look in Super Mario Sunshine, but have no leaves. They usually appear when Mario is climbing a vine or a ladder, spitting fire at him has he walks by. They are invincible, and don't have teeth.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

They are common enemies in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. They aren't seen commonly in tubes, usually only in the boss fight of Pipe Works. They use their fire breathing ability, and have only one fire ball, keeping their mouths open until they get their fireball back. They are invincible in this game. Two may eat each others fireballs, as if they were playing catch.

WarioWare series

In WarioWare: Twisted!, Venus Fire Traps with their Super Mario Bros. 3 sprites appear in the microgame Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift, as one of the enemies who try to attack the player.

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart DS

In the track Mario Circuit there are two Venus Fire Traps in Warp Pipes that spit fireballs at the racers.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

A few Venus Fire Traps appear at the starting line on one of the courses, spitting fireballs into the air. However, they do not affect gameplay.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Paper Mario: Sticker Star Enemy
Fire Piranha
Max HP	25
Attack	10
Location(s)	Rugged Road, Rumble Volcano
Moves	Fireball (6), Fire Gas (10)

Venus Fire Traps, under the name of Fire Piranhas in the North American version, make their Paper Mario series debut in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. They appear in Rugged Road and Rumble Volcano. They look like regular Piranha Plants, but will eventually start spitting fireballs at Mario as he nears them. In battle, Venus Fire Traps can either spew a fiery gas towards Mario or spit out a fireball at him.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ファイアパックン Faia Pakkun	Fire Piranha
French	Plante Pyro-Piranha	Pyro-Piranha Plant
German	Venus-Feuerfalle	Venus Firetrap
Italian	Piranha Falò Fiore Piranha (Super Mario 64)	Bonfire Piranha Piranha Flower
Spanish (Americas)	Piraña Pirómana	Pyromaniacal Piranha
Spanish (Europe)	Piraña Escupefuego	SpitFire Piranha