Pole Plant



Pole Plants are cleverly hidden plantlike predators which, at a glance, look like any other pole to be climbed on.

Appearance
Pole Plants are plantlike organisms consisting of a long, flexible stalk and multiple leaf-like appendages. Being black in coloration and accented by a bright red, these appendages flare outwards from the base of the stalk, tend to decrease in length towards the center of the Pole Plant, and flare outwards and upwards towards the end, losing their red coloration.

While the Pole Plant is hidden, its leaves are wrapped around its stalk and it stands straight out of the ground, making it closely resemble a regular pole. The only qualities which visually differentiate a regular pole and a Pole Plant are the reddish tinge characteristic to the Pole Plant, and the relative smoothness of the Pole Plant when compared to a regular pole.

Behavior
Whilst awaiting prey, the Pole Plant hides itself, staying mostly still. Sometimes, as a creature walks past a Pole Plant, a leaf or two may pop out. They may even pulse their leaves outwards, revealing telltale flashes of red. If a creature were to stand directly at the base of a Pole Plant in its dormant state for too long, it may attempt to grab it and pull it down into its den.

When a creature grabs onto a Pole Plant, the Pole Plant reveals its true form, latching onto the creature tightly with its appendages, and proceeds to pull the creature down into its den to be eaten. If the creature manages to escape, however, the Pole Plant attempts to follow its movement.

The pull of a Pole Plant is strong enough to grab even creatures as strong as the.

Detection
Pole Plants can be distinguished from normal poles, as they are slightly redder than real poles and have missing rust spots along the edges. Another way to spot Pole Plants is to open up the map view; as the map only shows solid geometry, 'poles' which are not visible on the map are always hidden Pole Plants instead. Additionally, Pole Plants can be detected by the yellow, which can indicate the Pole Plant's location with the flashing red and yellow predator 'warning' symbol (along with the region's threat music playing, assuming the region has a threat theme).

Grabbing a Pole Plant is the only way to instantly set it off. If a pole plant is accidentally grabbed, the player has a small window to escape before they are pulled in.

Combat
If a piece of is thrown at a Pole Plant, it writhes around in annoyance and enters an active state. While in an active state, Pole Plants tend to grab any creature within range and actively attack any creature that passes by it. Activating a Pole Plant can be an effective way to get away from pursuing predators, such as, as most creatures are afraid of them. If the player is grabbed, hitting the Pole Plant with rubbish or spears causes it to let go.

Hitting a Pole Plant with a spear causes it to writhe around in pain. In this panicked state, the plant cannot actively grab the player; the player has a window in which they can retrieve the spear before the plant retreats underground. Do note that if the Pole Plant is killed by the spear throw, the player may accidentally grab the its corpse instead of the spear, causing the player to be softlocked and trapped in its den until the rain comes.





Trivia

 * Pole Plants cannot be tranquilized by Dart Maggots.
 * Pole Plants tend to face upwards, but can also be found facing sideways (in Sky Islands) and downwards (in one room in Farm Arrays). These variants of Pole Plants are much more difficult to escape when activated due to not having level geometry near them to aid evasion and combat.
 * Certain Pole Plants can lineage into after being killed enough times. This can cause certain routes to become much more difficult, as Monster Kelp tend to be much harder to evade than Pole Plants. However, Monster Kelp may alternatively cause the surrounding area to be safer, as they actively attack other creatures whereas Pole Plants only attack when provoked.
 * The insects released by Beehives do not attempt to attach to Pole Plants. In addition, Pole Plants do not block thrown beehives.
 * Even as they die, Pole Plants can sometimes grab on to creatures that are too close and pull them in.