Musa × paradisiaca
A tall, soft-stemmed perennial herb that trades evenly and heals through long fights, and plays either arena role — an Oceanian native or a pantropical invader.
Banana is a tall, soft-stemmed Perennial herb that fights as a steady, even trader: reliable hits, a couple of self-heals, and no real tricks. It is native to Oceania and invasive across Africa, East Asia, Eastern North America, South America and South Asia, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer that shores up your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a dependable mid-card whose bulk and self-healing matter more than its raw damage.
Its starter attack, Taproot Anchor, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and lands a plain, even hit for about 26 damage as a native and 31 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Seral Persistence, arrives at level 25: Refuses to be replaced: heal 60%, and the foe can't heal. It is a mid-fight mend that stretches its longevity. The advanced attack, Bitter End, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (26 native / 31 invasive), drawing on deep roots for a heavier blow. Most of your bananas sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
Banana keeps a single always-on trait, Resprout, and because it draws only one eligible trait, that slot arrives at half strength on the level 10 riser and matures on the level 68 one. When it works it lets banana survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter of its health — but it fires only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a coin-flip reprieve rather than a guarantee. See Abilities.
Banana carries no special trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin, no spore chemistry — so nothing punishes an attacker for striking it; it is non-toxic, so nothing chemical bites back. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment for a little extra DEF — suits its patient game; as an invasive, offensive gear makes its attacks count.
At level 40 banana reads 103 HP native and 89 invasive, with ATK of 16 native versus 30 invasive — compare the two on your card, as the invasive edge is where its damage comes from. DEF is just 4, at the soft floor of the perennial-herb band, so it soaks hits with almost no armor — damage is diminishing armor (ATK ÷ (ATK+DEF)), not flat subtraction. Its tempo is worth reading off the card: turn 1 runs on its initiative (32) and every turn after on its SPD (34); if SPD sits higher it is a slow starter that cruises, and if initiative leads it opens fast and fades. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, banana swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 28 / 62 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 8 — as a soft herb it buys bulk in health and almost none in armor, so it stays exposed to any real hitter. Retreat rises to 33 Sun as it roots in, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature banana acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys HP and reach; what it costs is speed.
As a perennial herb, banana sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play banana as a native buffer that lends a fragile hitter the HP cushion and overshield, or as an invasive attacker leaning on its higher ATK to actually threaten damage. Its healing ability and Resprout let it grind out long fights, though its soft DEF means it wilts against a real hitter. On economy, banana is an edible fruit plant, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins, while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. It fights as an even-tempo trader early and leans on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 25 as a native and 25 as an invasive — but it is always stronger at higher levels in raw stats, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.