From Plants vs. Zombies Wiki
Body-Gourd is a galactic legendary plant card in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes and a member of the 
Guardian class. He costs 5
to play and has 3
/6
. He has the Amphibious and Team-Up traits, and his ability immediately fills (all) 8 segments of the plant hero's Super-Block Meter when he is played, given that the plant hero's Super-Block Meter is functional.
Origins
He is based on a gourd, likely the butternut squash (a variety of the the crookneck pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)), a large fruit with hard skin, and a bodyguard, a security guard/government law enforcement officer/soldier who protects important individuals from danger.
His name is a portmanteau of "bodyguard," referring to his ability and appearance, and "gourd," the plant he is based on.
His earpiece and sunglasses allude to the stereotypical outfit of bodyguards.
Statistics
- Class: Guardian
- Tribe: Squash Plant
- Traits: Amphibious, Team-Up
- Ability: When played: Fill your Super-Block Meter to full.
- Set - Rarity: Galactic - Legendary
Card description
He moonlights as a decorative center piece during the fall.
Update history
Update 1.16.10
Strategies
With
On his own, a 3/6 plant along with the Amphibious and Team-Up traits can help you protect a fragile plant behind or block a dangerous threat in one lane. However, the main benefit of this plant is his ability, as it allows you to instantly block the next attack. This ability can be used to survive a single dangerous hit from a strong zombie and get a superpower to turn the tides of the game, unless said zombie has the 
Bullseye trait.
However, the downside is that this plant can deplete the Super-Block Meter easily. Combined with that each hero can only block 3 times during a single match, they mean that you cannot block any more and gain any free-to-play-immediately superpowers once you have blocked 3 times. Therefore, unless the intention is for higher draw chance or just its raw stats, having three or more in the deck may not be consistently valuable, as the latter Body-Gourds might only serve as Team-Up support and nothing else unless your opponent manages to remove some sections from the Super-Block Meter either with Monkey Smuggler or Shieldcrusher Viking.
Additionally, although the full meter is highly defensive, keep in mind that it does not protect against Bullseye attacks, which will not trigger super-blocks, allowing them to inflict damage even if it is full. Alternatively, they can still reduce your charge with Monkey Smuggler or Shieldcrusher Viking; the latter the greatest counter of it as its Bullseye trait guarantees him with resetting the block meter regardless should he hit, therefore wasting Body-Gourd's ability.
Against
While this plant is essentially an Amphibious Wall-Nut with 3, its unique ability allows the opponent to guarantee a block from the next zombie that hits them, so don't rely on just one leftmost zombie’s strength if playing against any Guardian hero. The full Super-Block Meter can be counted in any similar strategy when playing around a meter that is naturally almost-charged from zombie hits.
The best way to counter this ability is by hitting your opponent with Shieldcrusher Viking, who grarantees with his Bullseye trait that he will drain your opponent's Super-Block Meter regardless of Body-Gourd’s effort. Other Bullseye zombies can also be substituted as they bypass the Super-Block Meter and attack your opponent freely, but keep in mind that they are generally less potent than Shieldcrusher Viking in any other situation.
Alternatively, one can counter activate the Super-Block with a cheap (and generally weak) zombie or trick (such as Bungee Plumber) rather than a strong attack as your opponent might have expected, depleting the Super-Block on something pointless rather so the stronger one(s) can land hits with low risks. Beware, however, that this will give your opponent their superpower earlier, which will need to be countered separately.
Gallery
Body-Gourd's grayed out card
SpriteAtlasTexture-3f69e6ab-fc48-46a6-bc29-a66324bcd4e3-512x256-fmt34
Body-Gourd being played (animated)
Body-Gourd activating its ability
Captain Combustible's block meter full due to Body-Gourd's ability; note that Body-Gourd does not belong in the Kabloom or Mega-Grow class
Body-Gourd being featured in a Daily Challenge
Body-Gourd in an advertisement for the Birthdayz Bundle
Old
Body Gourd's textures prior to update 1.2.11
In other languages
Please note that only official translations are used.
| Language |
Name |
Description
|
 English
|
Body-Gourd
|
|
 Simplified Chinese
|
保镖葫芦
|
"Bodyguard Calabash"
|
| Traditional Chinese
|
保鏢葫蘆
|
 Spanish
|
Guardialabaza
|
A portmanteau on "Guardia" (Guard) and "Calabaza" (Pumpkin)
|
Trivia
- Body-Gourd, among with Screen Door Zombie and Imposter, are the very first galactic cards found planned for "Set 2" but unused in the game (by datamining) since update 1.0.11, the game's first release.
- Body-Gourd was originally a galactic super-rare card with the same stats, but lacked Team-Up and Amphibious. His description stats: "When Played: Your Block Meter goes up by a Double Charge.", where 'Double Charge' refers to a deprecated mechanic of charging the Super-Block Meter by 4 (out of 10) sections.
- Body-Gourd is the only legendary card with Team-Up in the game. (Veloci-Radish Hunter does make a copy with Team-Up, but Veloci-Radish Hunter itself does not have said trait.)
- Even if the plant hero's Super-Block Meter has already been depleted of blocks, Body-Gourd's ability animation will still play.
due to Pecanolith's ability
Double Strike trait
Kabloom
Mega-Grow
Smarty
Solar