Fisherman Zombie is the 12th zombie encountered in Big Wave Beach in Plants vs. Zombies 2. He pulls the nearest plant to the right one tile at a time (unless there is a surfboard, then he will pull it across the surfboard) until it reaches the Fisherman Zombie itself, after which he will throw his catch from the lawn, destroying it.
He cannot hook plants considered "low to the ground," such as the Iceberg Lettuce, except for Lily Pad on the water, but they may still be pulled forward from behind via another hooked plant.
The Fisherman Zombie wears a light green bucket hat that is decorated with fishing bait. The bait on it features a white and red-colored egg, a blue and red-colored egg, and a red-colored fish on it. He wears a light red collared aloha shirt with aquamarine colored flowers as designs on it.
Plus, he also wears a green-colored fishing vest buttoned up with a pocket on his lower left and right respectively. The Fisherman Zombie also sports in a black colored lifebuoy with white linings, allowing him to hold his position on the ocean for fishing. His fishing rod is colored orange.
Almanac entry
Fisherman Zombie
TOUGHNESS
Dense
Casts line to pull far plants to him.
Special: Pulls plants to the right Special: Plants next to him are tossed off the lawn
Everyone is tired of Fisherman Zombie's fishing stories. He's always bragging about the size of his catch. Time and time again, he claims to have caught "the big one." But the fact of the matter is, no one has seen him actually catch a fish. Not once. It's more than a little suspicious.
Overview
Fisherman Zombie absorbs 1000 damage and degrades at 500 damage when he loses his left arm, just like the other zombies when they reach half health.
Even though the Fisherman Zombie cannot eat your brains by himself, his special ability can easily allow other zombies, who are capable of eating your brains, through your lawn. Because he does not move and stays at the back column of the lawn, he is often safe from close-range plants like Snapdragon, Chomper, and Bonk Choy, while long-range plants will have trouble killing him before he can drag down multiple plants and ensure that zombies like Surfer Zombies and Deep Sea Gargantuars absorb all of the plants' projectiles.
Planting a column of Banana Launchers, Strawbursts, or Missile Toes in the back-most columns, then a row of defensive plants ahead of the row to be pulled forward by the Fisherman is a very effective strategy. That way, if octopi are on top of your defensive plants, you can bombard them with those attacks. Slowing plants like Winter Melon may also help against these zombies.
The Infi-nut's Plant Food shield is immensely effective as it will block hooks from all lanes. The hooks don't inflict damage to the shield, so this can be used to stall them until the next wave comes.
Like the Octo Zombie, the Fisherman Zombie will always target the front-most plant first, so the player can plant literal "bait" to distract him by using sacrificial plants such as Puff-shrooms or extra Sunflowers and Sun-shrooms, forcing the Fisherman Zombie to waste time hooking them instead. Be careful as the Fisherman Zombie will ignore some types of plants even if they are in the front, such as Potato Mines, and Iceberg Lettuce.
Instant use plants like Blover are also useful to prevent them from hooking plants. Simply put one in the same row as soon as the Fisherman Zombie tries to hook other plants. He will hook the instant use plant and provide it as a one time shield. You could also leave a A.K.E.E., Electric Peashooter, or Laser Bean in the back so they can target all zombies in their lane. A Spring Bean in the tile in front of the zombie, due to the fact that it will be at the floor and can't be hooked. Rotobagas, Ghost Peppers, and Caulipowers are also good distractions since they won't sink without Lily Pads due to them having the ability to fly over water.
Note: Coconut Cannon and Citron are useless against this zombie as they require a clear path to destroy him. Besides, they have a very slow recharge which is their main weakness as Fisherman Zombie acts quite fast. However, feeding Plant Food for them will be helpful to take out the Fisherman Zombie (be aware that in Citron's case, as its light-blue plasma ball may not hurt the Fisherman if there is a Deep Sea Gargantuar in front of it). Electric Blueberry is also a bad choice as they tend to get distracted by other zombies while the Fisherman Zombie can easily drag them around due to its slow recharge.
Fisherman Zombie is at his deadliest in this level. When he pulls an endangered Guacodile, the plant will rush away, causing you to lose the level. Using Infi-nut's force field can neutralize his hooks, while Primal Wall-nut can also help with its fast recharge. Be sure to back the hard shell plants up with some area-of-effect plants like Laser Bean or Fume-shroom or instant kills like Primal Potato Mine(Only can be planted in areas with no water) to prevent hordes of zombies from destroying your defenses.
Fisherman Zombie is one of the hardest zombies to tackle in this Endless Zone. That is due to the fact that he does not move and can instantly kill your plants by dragging them into the ocean. His position makes it hard for close-range plants (Bonk Choy, Chomper, Snapdragon) to attack him without being attacked themselves, while simultaneously protecting him from long-range plants by letting him hide behind faster and stronger zombies (Surfer Zombie, Octo Zombie, Deep Sea Gargantuar).
A combination of Banana Launchers, strong offensive plants (Melon-pult, Winter Melon, Bowling Bulb), and Infi-nut's Plant Food is recommended to stop Fishermen Zombies from dragging plants. Keep a Cherry Bomb, Jalapeno, Squash, Ghost Pepper, Tangle Kelp, or Imitater version ready in case the zombies do break through the Infi-nut's shield.
Please note that only official translations are used.
Language
Name
Description
English
Fisherman Zombie
Simplified Chinese
渔夫僵尸
From yúfū and jiāngshī
French
Zombie pêcheur
German
Fischer-Zombie
Italian
Zombi pescatore
Brazilian Portuguese
Zumbi Pescador
Spanish
Zombi pescador
Trivia
He is the third zombie added to stay at the back of the screen without moving and provide support for the invasion. The first being Imp Cannon, the second being Zombie King, and the last being Carnie Cannon.
This is the only zombie in the specific world that doesn't wear an open shirt, excluding Dr. Zomboss.
Fisherman Zombie and Zombie King do not have their speed listed in the Almanac.
He sometimes raises his thumb when he dies. This is a reference to ending of the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where the T-800 raises his thumb before he finally sunk into the molten steel he had himself lowered into.
When his head falls off, the same sound effect plays as when the Zombie King dies, since they both have the similar dying animations.
If he's killed by an explosive plant such as Cherry Bomb, he will die regularly instead of burning into ashes.
Like Prospector Zombie, Zombie King, and any zombie facing backwards via pterodactyl, he dies instantly if he is the only zombie left on the lawn due to the inability to eat the player's brains.
If his lane has only one plant, when he tries to pull that plant, digging that plant will make his fishing rod move further and suddenly back to his position.
He will pull plants past surfboards if they are a tile behind one.
The plant will hop 2 tiles over, past the tile the surfboard is on.
He can pull Ghost Peppers if the plant behind the Ghost Pepper is being pulled to the furthest right tile.
There can only be one Fisherman Zombie per lane. This trait is shared with Zombie King.
If the player plants on the tile where this zombie will appear, they will be tossed off the lawn. This does not apply to instant-use plants, Ghost Pepper, and Guacodile.
If the plant is somehow invincible, such as a boosted plant via Plant Food, when this zombie spawns on the plant's tile, the game will crash.
Fisherman Zombie is invulnerable for a short period of time after entering the lawn. This trait is shared with Zombie King.
If he failed to hook plants, his fishing rod suddenly came back but after the 3.1 update, if failing, the Fisherman Zombie will drag his rod instead.
In his Almanac entry in the Chinese version, the Fisherman Zombie is on land as opposed to water.
In the 3.5.1 update, when the Fisherman Zombie pulled a plant to the water, the plant would go flying off stage. In addition, Fisherman Zombie could push and pull offstage Rotobagas. It was fixed in the 3.6.1 update.
If a Fisherman Zombie tries to hook a plant and there is a lava puddle in between, the plant will jump over and be hooked to the next tile. This is similar to the case with surfboard and octopus.
The only time his legs are seen is on the banner for Big Wave Beach part 2.
In the Chinese version, the Fisherman Zombie used to lack eye pupils. However, this was fixed.
Fisherman Zombie without eye pupils
The Fisherman Zombie is one of the few zombies that aren't present in Modern Day.
Strangely, the only hypnotized zombie that Fisherman Zombie kills (and also instantly-kills) is Surfer Zombie (but only when he is still holding his surfboard).
He ignores any other hypnotized zombies (or Surfer Zombies without surfboards) when they face him.
HD Fisherman Zombie
Another HD Fisherman Zombie
Fisherman Zombie's sprites and assets
Almanac entry part 1
Almanac entry part 2
Almanac entry (10.5.2)
Almanac icon
Fisherman Zombie in-game
Fisherman Zombie dying
Fisherman Zombie about to pull a Twin Sunflower
Fisherman Zombie pulling a Twin Sunflower
Fisherman Zombie pulling a Twin Sunflower (Animated)
An advertisement with Fisherman Zombie
Another Fisherman Zombie advertisement
Infi-nut's shield can block the attack
Spring Bean cannot be pulled if it is about to bounce a zombie
Fisherman Zombie pulling Sun-shroom over a lava pool
Poisoned Fisherman Zombie
Various examples of underground plants being moved onto a Lily Pad by Fisherman Zombies. Normally they cannot be planted there.
Hypnotized Fisherman Zombie. This can happen in Penny's Pursuit with the Hypnotize Zombies perk.
Almanac sprite
Fisherman Zombie in an advertisement for Summer Nights Thymed Event
Almanac entry (note that he is on land)
English
Simplified Chinese
French
German
Italian
Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish
