Piranha Plant

Piranha Plants are plant enemies that are common in the Mario series, typically hiding in pipes or the ground.

Behavior
Piranha Plants in Super Mario 64 usually just sleep, waiting until Mario approaches. Once Mario approaches, the Piranha Plant will wake up and start trying to bite at Mario, possibly due to anger of being woken up. However, this is only a common behavior as this behavior tends to vary on the copy.

Enemy Discoloring
Main Article: Enemy Discoloring

Faster Sleep
An uncommon phenomenon is the slight change in time Mario takes to fall asleep when around a sleeping piranha. Normally, Mario turns his head around ten times before promptly stating “I’m-a tired!”, and falling asleep. However, certain reports state that when Mario is near a napping plant, he only looks around five times. Some also claim that this can result in some special event happening, such as being warped to a level, most commonly Mario's Dream.